Search This Blog

Nov 29, 2022

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Though Bhagavan generally refused to take medicines that were sent to him, there was one occasion when he alarmed everyone by volunteering to eat them all simultaneously. 


The following account comes from Bhagavan Smritulu, and is narrated by Roda McIver:
'Many devotees used to bring or send medicines for Bhagavan. Some were for external application to his rheumatic joints while others were supposed to be ingested for strength. Since Bhagavan rarely touched such donations, bottles from many different medical systems accumulated. One day Bhagavan asked for a big empty bottle to be brought and then asked for all the medicines that had accumulated to be poured into it. When this task had been accomplished, he asked his attendant to give him one spoonful of the mixture every day. Some of the medicines were poisonous and were only meant to be applied externally.


""How can you make such a request?" someone asked in amazement. 
'Bhagavan answered, "People send these medicines because of the love they feel towards me. How can I apply or drink all of them? If I mix them all together and eat a portion every day, everyone can be satisfied that I am taking a little of his medicine. This is the best way to dispose of all these things." 
The ashram doctor was sent for and when he heard what Bhagavan was proposing to do, he came running to the hall. He was shocked when he saw what was in the bottle. There were ayurvedic, allopathic and homeopathic medicines and various poisonous oils that were not meant to be drunk at all. 


Everyone, including the doctor, begged Bhagavan not to take any of the mixture. Someone nearby even attempted to hide the bottle so that Bhagavan would not have access to it.'
The matter was eventually resolved when one of the devotees had the bright idea of invoking Bhagavan's legendary sense of equality.
'You always share everything with the devotees in the hall,' he said. 'How can you eat all this by yourself and not give any to the people around you?'


Bhagavan accepted this point, but since he knew that the mixture might make everyone present ill, he agreed that his attendant could dispose of the whole bottle, without anyone having to sample it.


- The Power of The Presence, T P Ramachandra Iyer, P154-55