Prayers will be answered

Prayers will be answered

H. Ghosh, M.A., was Principal of Holkar College, Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

He describes:

When I first had the good fortune of being introduced to the Great Sage of Arunachala, my imagination was struck by the austerity and simplicity of his sublime countenance. This austerity is indelibly marked on his face and cannot escape the attention of even a casual observer. One great outcome of this austere simplicity is humbleness of the mind.

We are enjoined by the Maharshi to forsake, once and forever, our petty selves and to approach our divine self. The noblest pursuit, according to the Maharshi, is the pursuit of our Overself. The joys are perennial and the pursuit eternal.

Sri Bhagavan is not a mere mystic. He does not look into some future world, but gazes intently on what is real and eternal in him. Heaven to him is not a far-off place: here in your heart and nowhere, the soul of all things is to be found. Only those who have put away all selfish longings may see clearly the radiance of happiness. Something of this happiness the worst sinners among us will feel in the presence of this exalted and self- illumined Sage of Arunachala.

Many devotees go to Sri Bhagavan for a miraculous cure of their physical ailments or for a wondrous change in their worldly destiny. Sri Bhagavan rightly warns us against the allurements of miracles or clairvoyance or prophetic powers. But if anyone invokes Him in a spirit of absolute trust, his prayers will be answered.

In all humility I confess that I am the least competent to write about Sri Bhagavan. The finite can never know the Infinite and the Illimitable. A silent look or an encouraging word from Him will do much more good than all the sermonic literature of the world.

Face to Face with Ramana Maharshi
H. Ghosh
Item 27