yoga teacher training and certification,Raj yoga ebook

PRAYERFUL DEDICATION TO BHAGAVAN SIVANANDA
Lord!
Condescend to accept this humble flower, fragrant with the aroma of thine own divine
glory, immeasurable and infinite. Hundreds of savants and scholars might write hundreds of tomes
on your glory, yet it would still transcend them all.
In accordance with thine ancient promise:
yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanamadharmasya tadatmanam srijamyaham
paritranaya sadhoonam vinasaya cha dushkritam
dharmasamsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge
(Gita IV–7, 8)
You, the Supreme Being, the all-pervading Sat-chidaranda-Para-Brahman, have taken this
human garb and come into this world to re-establish Dharma (righteousness). The wonderful
transformation you have brought about in the lives of millions all over the world is positive proof of
your Divinity.
I am honestly amazed at my own audacity in trying to bring this Supreme God, Bhagavan
Sivananda, to the level of a human being (though Sage Valmiki had done so while narrating the
story to Lord Rama) and to describe the Yoga of the Yogeshwareshwara, the goal of all Yogins.
Lord! I cling to Thy lotus-feet and beg for Thy merciful pardon.
If, however, these pages do inspire some others to take up Thy cross and follow Thee, my
Gurudev, I shall have been amply justified in this misadventure. What is Sivananda’s Cross ?
It is:
Meditate
|
Love– |–Serve
|
Realise
This is what has been dealt with in this humble attempt at the presentation of Sivananda
Yoga.
Sivanandarpanamastu.
SIVA-PADA-RENU
(Dust of Sivananda’s Feet),
Swami Venkatesananda.
iii

CONTENTS
PRAYERFUL DEDICATION TO BHAGAVAN SIVANANDA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
A LITTLE OF ALL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Yoga Asana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Diet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Pranayama. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Health Redefined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
THE SECRET OF SELFLESS SERVICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Compulsive Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Spontaneous Overwhelming Generosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Trying Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Razor’s Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Fearlessness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The Refuge Of Destitutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
The Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
See God In All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Training Of Disciples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
SEE GOD IN ALL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Mantra Repetition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Religious Freedom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
True Catholic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Worship Of God In An Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Worship Of The Omnipresent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Vibhuti Yoga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Devotional Singing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Satsanga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Faith In God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
VIRTUE AND VISION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Yama-Niyama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Renunciation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Pratyahara (Abstraction of the Senses) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Meditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Siddhis (psychic powers) or (perfection) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
The Mighty Intellect Of Gurudev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
SELF-KNOWLEDGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Gurudev’s Preceptor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Sravana, Manana, Nididhyasana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
iv

CHAPTER ONE
A LITTLE OF ALL
In the history of the world there have been sages, saints and prophets who have practised
and preached one or the other modes of approaching the goal, which is self-realisation. It was
Gurudev
, the prophet of integral yoga, who insisted “It is not enough to practise any one kind of
spiritual discipline, however well you may strive to do so. Every aspirant should incorporate in his
spiritual programme all the items of all the yogas or modes of approaching God.”
Gurudev had no doctrine of his own. He re-delivered the same message that has from the
beginning of time been given to us by the divine. His were the lips of God. He was one with God.
Yet, if we can audaciously read a doctrine into his teaching, his own unique approach to the science
of yoga can be called “The Yoga of a Little” or the yoga of synthesis. He warned us that only the
harmonious development of the entire being could take us easily to the goal. A weak spot anywhere
in the structure would ruin the whole.
He composed a rather simple but beautiful little song, which he himself sang in the
Mahamantra tune at every meeting he addressed, especially during his All-India-Ceylon Tour in
1950.
hare rama, hare rama, rama rama, hare hare
hare krishna, hare krishna, krishna krishna, hare hare
Eat a little, drink a little;
talk a little, sleep a little.
Mix a little, move a little;
serve a little, give a little;
Work a little, rest a little;
study a little, worship a little.
Do asana a little, pranayama a little;
reflect a little, meditate a little,
Do japa a little, do kirtan a little,
write mantra a little, have satsanga a little.
Do all these, little, little. You will have time for all.
Was the Master against doing more of these wonderful things–like japa, asanas, or
meditation? You ask, “Why only a little, why not much?” Then, we go on to interpret this to mean,
“Do at least a little .. ..” But he really meant just this, “Do a little of each, don’t specialise.” That was
the message–because the thing that clamours for specialisation is the ego, for the specialist is
admired by the crowd. Specialisation fattens one’s ego, weakens the spirit of tolerance and
understanding, and creates contempt and hatred.
1

In this work, “Gurudev”, “Swamiji and ” the Master refer to Swami Sivananda.

Yoga is harmony. A beautiful, symmetrical and integral development of the total being,
which means exercising every aspect of your personality every day. Otherwise there is an
imbalance of personality, which is no yoga. In Gurudev’s way therefore you cannot spend too much
time per day on any one practice, whatever it may be. A true follower of Swami Sivananda can only
do a little of all. Thus there is harmonious development, health (wholeness) of body, mind and
spirit.
Gurudev, while still a senior student at the medical college, was very eager that people
should know the art of healthy living rather than the technique of healing. The need for curative
treatment arises only when you have been foolish enough to fall ill. Why not prevent it? Soon after
leaving college, he started a magazine called “Ambrosia” and in that magazine he published every
little hint, secret or non-secret, that he could unearth. People must be educated on how to prevent
themselves from falling ill, not so much on how to find a cure. Curing is only emergency treatment.
Throughout his life he was passionately devoted to making knowledge and service available
and free to as many people as possible. These two were unique passions of the Master–health and
service. He had no use at all for secrets (“I have this special exclusive remedy, come to ME.”) If he
came upon a secret theory, it had to be published the next morning. Once when someone in the
ashram wished to prepare a correspondence course from Swamiji’s writings, publishing one lesson
a month and making money from the project, Swamiji agreed. But once it was done, Swamiji
immediately put the lessons back into book form and had them published for immediate
distribution, mostly free.
He was a professional doctor, who sought by every possible means to help you not to go to a
doctor. Even so the practice of yoga asanas, which he enthusiastically commenced with the aid of
some books while in Malaya, became part of this whole approach to health. His book on hatha yoga
contains the fundamental essence of the basic ancient texts. The importance that hatha yoga played
in the total scheme of his teachings was how to keep yourself healthy, really healthy.
How to be healthy? What does ‘health’ really mean? Health by definition means
WHOLENESS. You cannot have physical health at the expense of mental health. There is no such
thing as physical health. Health being wholeness cannot be divided into physical, mental and
spiritual. A harmonious development of both body and mind was Gurudev’s speciality. Frequently
in his writings on yoga physical culture, he comes back to mental health, spiritual well-being. If the
mind is completely, disorganised and neurotic, the body cannot be healthy, however many asanas
you practise, for however long, however perfectly.
Yoga Asana
Gurudev did not neglect his yoga asana practice even for a day. He himself only started
practising them when he was nearly thirty. He insisted, “It is never too late to start, and there is no
condition under which the asanas should be given up; even in disease the asanas should only be
modified to suit the condition of the body.” At the best of times he did the sirasasana (headstand) for
five or ten minutes. He also did sarvangasana (shoulder stand), and to these two he added a few
more; a little forward bending, mahamudra, paschimottanasana and halasana.
2
SIVANANDA’S INTEGRAL YOGA

Similarly, some mild physical exercises formed part of Gurudev’s daily routine. “Sitting on
your bed, just after you wake up you can finish these exercises in five minutes” he used to say.
Sitting cross legged, he bent forward, then leaned backward, supporting the trunk with the palms
planted on the bed, then twisted the trunk left and right. Catching hold of the toes he would roll and
swing backward, making a seesaw with the back. Getting out of bed he would stand and lean
forward against a wall and do some mild trunk twisting exercises. Anyone can do these, they are so
easy and the benefits are incalculable.
What Gurudev loved he enthusiastically encouraged others to do. He was by no means a
yoga asana specialist, yet if he talked to you about it his enthusiasm was so infectious that you
would feel, “Oh I must start right away.” While still in Malaya, Gurudev’s cook, Sri Narasimha
Iyer, was also swept up by the doctor’s enthusiasm and eagerly joined him in the yoga asanas (Many
years later he became his Sannyasin-disciple). Swami Sivananda often taught yoga postures to
young men wherever he happened to be, on the platform of a railway station, or on the pavement.
He used to call it ‘aggressive service.’ “Don’t wait till someone comes to you, pays your
subscription and joins your class. Teach him here and now, wherever you are.” Gurudev was not
fond of theories which say: ‘This is the perfection in this asana.’ His teaching was: “Do what you
can now today, to the best of your ability, sincerely, seriously, honestly–this is perfection.” If you
reach out to that today and if you are regular, it is possible you might develop a little more, and a
little more. But do NOT look at somebody else, with envy or to copy.
This was another unique feature of Swami Sivananda–he could really genuinely and
sincerely appreciate someone who did something better than himself. There was not even a trace of
jealousy in him. It was remarkable. For instance if some great hatha yogi visited the ashram (and
many did) and this man performed some fantastic feat, Swamiji would talk about this man for years
to come, with no reservations: “He is a yogi! He must be unique in the world!” He would openly
glorify his own disciples too.
The Master was also fond of gymnastics and sports, and he loved walking. Even as a school
student he was so efficient at gymnastics that his instructor often made him teach the class. In the
early years in the ashram life, he used to run around the bhajan (prayer) hall. Can you imagine this
large man, this great world renowned Swami Sivananda, sage of the Himalayas, the Great Yogi of
India, etc. etc. tying up his dhoti (cloth around his waist) and jogging around a public hall? He was
not self-conscious at all. With an old tennis racket and a ball, he also used to play with himself
against the wall.
In summer Gurudev loved to swim. He had a bald head, and he would sit on the Ganges
bank, naked except for a loin cloth, and rub his body nicely with oil. He had his own health hints and
sunbathing ideas. Not only must your skin be exposed to the sun, but your tongue and teeth also. He
would sit there, right in the open, smiling, and grinning at the sun, sticking his tongue out, bathing
them in the sunlight.
Health is a vital pre-requisite for spiritual practice, and even for enjoying life or for running
your business efficiently, but health must include the body, mind and soul. There must be emotional
balance, and rest and diet are also important.
3
A LITTLE OF ALL

Diet
“This is right and that is wrong.” I have never heard him lay down such categorical
imperatives. You find them in his books–but there he is only relaying traditional teaching. As
regards diet he used to say: “Take sattvic food”, food that does not excite you, throw you off
balance, or disturb your equilibrium. You have to understand the principle, understand the teaching,
and then see what suits you at the particular stage you are at. The Master himself took very hot,
spicy, pungent food–but that was alright for him. You cannot copy him. You must discover what
sattvic food means to you; as Swamiji also used to say, “Use your common-sense.” That seems to
be difficult!
With food, as with asanas, Gurudev emphasised more the psychic effects: psychic in the
sense of the effect on the nervous system, the mind, and the inner psychic principle, rather than
mere physiological reaction. So one has to put all this together and imbibe the spirit–the truth being
neither “this” nor “that” but something in between.
Pranayama
Gurudev was a great believer and exponent of pranayama. He loved it. His ideal being
integral yoga, both exercise of the body and control of breath (and thereby the life-force) had their
place. Pranayama floods the system with peace and bliss. It is an astonishing fact that Swami
Sivananda devoted several hours of his extremely busy day to his practice.
He was extremely fond of what he called ‘Sukha Purvaka’ or the ‘Simple Pranayama’ very
easy and comfortable. In the winter he also did bhastrika: it was beautiful to watch him do this. He
did not insist that you should hold your breath as long as possible (as the orthodox texts seem to
imply) but as long as comfortable. Do you immediately notice the problem? “Inhale as long as
comfortable. Hold as long as comfortable. Exhale as long as comfortable.” Two words are equally
important–’long’ and ‘comfortable’. It is not as ‘short’ as comfortable–then just anything will do.
No. It must be prolonged. This made Gurudev’s yoga a bit more difficult than the traditional
approach, where a definite rule or measure is laid down to guide you.
Gurudev’s pranayama involves vigilance. There must be watchfulness, seriousness,
sincerity. You must set out to find your limit, but not to exceed it. There must be no violence, no
force, and no tension at all. In this way inner harmony is promoted. Yoga has to be practised
seriously but without violence, without the sprit of competition. It is a beautiful thing. This is
Sivananda’s yoga.
Invariably he woke up before 3.00 a.m. which was well before the time he asked all the
spiritual aspirants to rise. At this time he used to devote over an hour to pranayama alone, and
during an extremely busy day, he would spend at least another three hours in this practice, in several
sessions, whenever he found the time. In the last year of his life, when he was not able to do very
much in the way of yoga asanas, he said, “At every opportunity I do pranayama; even lying down I
do pranayama and especially at night if I can’t (don’t) sleep.” If he could, he would prop himself up
on some pillows and do it. This was his advice to almost everyone who met him, “If you can’t do the
yoga asanas properly, just do the best that you can, but practise a lot of pranayama.” He realised that
4

pranayama, not merely breathing exercises, has a direct effect on the nervous system and on the
mind. It promotes an inner state of well-being quite different from that we conventionally call
health.
Health Redefined
If someone hasn’t been to a doctor for the last six months, we think that is health. In
Gurudev’s case health meant something more. He had diabetes from the age of about thirty-five and
lumbago later on and there were other problems. But his face was radiant and shining, his eyes
sparkling with energy and humour and his every movement full of love and wisdom. His mind, his
brain, was supremely alert even when the body was weak. Even physically he was extremely
attractive. A robust figure, which if it had belonged to somebody else might have been ugly and
uncouth, only added to his charm, added to his majesty. Even the skin was clean, clear, sparkingly
well maintained. His clothes were always spotlessly clean. Even when his body was ill, there was
that extraordinary glow, that radiance.
Once he was down with typhoid, and his body had been so weakened that on one or two
occasions we thought he would pass away. Even then, his eyes were sparkling, his face radiant. He
had been confined to his room for about three weeks and wanted to see the sun and the Ganges.
Slowly we brought him outside and he lay in his favourite chair. If you had looked at him then you
would have said that there was nothing wrong. He was beautiful to look at and he was laughing,
joking, and talking to people. After about an hour or so he said, “Alright, let me go back to bed.
Wait, I’ll try and get up by myself.” He planted both his feet on the floor and holding the arms of the
chair tried to lift himself off ... and collapsed ... luckily, back into the chair itself. Perhaps you can
visualise the whole scene. You and I would probably have been full of gloom, despair. As he was
collapsing, he started to laugh, “Hm, my legs have lost their strength.” These were his exact words.
“My legs”, not “I.”
The way he reacted to the many ailments and illnesses that assailed his body can be used as a
revolutionary re-definition of the whole concept of health. Health is a state of mind, a state of inner
well-being which enables you to function, to do your work, your allotted task without moaning,
grumbling. Health is not the body being declared medically free from illness. Gurudev didn’t mind
taking medicines at all; on the other hand, there was a whole plate full of them after lunch. His
philosophy was that if you can take food for the body, you can also take some other thing called
medicine.
Never once through all his illnesses did he moan or groan and when doctors entered his
room, it was hard for us to convince them that he was sick. Swamiji would ask, “And how is your
health?” Likewise when some of the ashram swamis went to see him, he was only concerned about
their health, and requested them to look after themselves. Who was the patient, who was the doctor?
Lying in bed he used to continue his work marvellously well. He was so tremendously alert and
there was always this state of inner well-being. Sometimes the body functioned 100% sometimes
only 80% or 70% and he was prepared to adjust, prepared to take the body along with him. It looked
as though he graciously allowed some ailments to dwell in his body.
5
A LITTLE OF ALL

Once he remarked: “There are two or three things I need. So I’m very careful about them.”
He was careful with his eyesight. His voice was also very important to him. He had a ringing
bell-metal voice throughout his life and he had his own special exercises for it. He was careful with
his teeth. He said: “If you don’t have proper teeth, you can’t speak well and you can’t eat well.” He
would adopt any measure that any doctor recommended to keep them clean. Brushing his teeth in
the morning was a big ceremony with him.
Thus he protected certain organs. He did not want to be totally and completely dependent on
others. Also, he did not want to lose the instruments with which he served humanity. When later on
he couldn’t move about freely, he used a walking stick. He would give it to somebody else to carry,
just in case the need arose. “Keep it with you, if I feel a bit giddy, I’ll take it from you.” The body
should not be helped too much as this would weaken it. Later it became a bit more difficult and he
himself used to hold the stick and walk; then, even this was not sufficient and he would hold
somebody’s hand. But the body was nor excused; what had to be done, had to be done. The Master’s
mind was alert, vigilant, energetic, powerful. He refused to give in to the whims of the body. When
the legs would hardly move on account of lumbago and rheumatism, he still insisted: “I’ll come out.
I’ll work in the office”.
What is that state of mind that is able to overcome physical ailments? What is that state of
mind which sees that though the body is weakening, it is still capable of some functions and those it
should be made to perform cheerfully, whole-heartedly, brilliantly? That is health.
At one stage he used to spend about half an hour in my room before he went to the office.
The steps next to the room were very steep, and he had to climb them to get to the office. It was
alright for some time when the body was in good health. Then when he had lumbago and could not
walk so easily, he asked for a long stick with the help of which he used to climb those stairs. Why
did he have to go that way? Nobody knew. One day he could no longer even use his stick and
literally bent down and crawled up. He could easily have said ‘I am not well, come to my room.’
There was absolutely no despair, no excuses, no moaning at all; there wasn’t even
self-consciousness.
That spirit, that state of mind is called health, where even an ageing body cannot dampen or
weaken the inner spirit even for a moment. He had this sense of spiritual well-being at all times
throughout his life.
One might attribute some of these to what is popularly known as the kundalini shakti being
awakened. This was never discussed. From within him came an abundance of energy. It filled him
and flowed from him constantly.
In 1953 the Parliament of Religions was held in the ashram. Hundreds of visitors had come
and for three days the ashram was a hive of activity. The last day’s programme was prolonged by
Swami Sivananda and concluded after midnight, and then Swamiji retired. One of the visitors, the
Speaker of the Indian Parliament, wanted to leave very early the next day, and had asked Swami
Sivananda, “Can I have your darshan (audience), just to see you before I leave?” and Gurudev had
agreed. The Speaker called on the Master at five o’clock that morning. We could hardly keep our
eyes open, but there was not a trace of fatigue on the face of Swami Sivananda. He had hardly gone
6

to bed two or three hours before and here he was, talking and chatting freely. That was an
extraordinary feature. No matter how hard he worked, or how much he worked (and let us not forget
that while we were only in our twenties, he was in his sixties) he always had more physical and
mental energy which filled him and overflowed, filling others with enthusiasm–call it awakened
kundalini, call it self-realisation, call it anything you like.
In 1950 he was sixty three when he undertook an intense two month tour of the whole of
India. During this period he had to address over five or six mass meetings a day. At each of those
meetings Gurudev spoke, sang and danced as though he could give his very life to those he
addressed. There were small private gatherings too and informaly visits to same institutions, and
there also Gurudev would speak and sing with the same zeal and fervour that he displayed whilst
addressing mammoth gatherings. Even if the audience consisted of only four members of a family,
to him it was an opportunity to spread the Gospel of Divine Life, the glory of the Divine Name, and
the gist of all spiritual teachings. To him it was as great an opportunity as that of addressing five
millions.
To him the moment mattered more than the years to come. To the work of the moment he
gave his heart and soul without reserves. While in Malaya, where for ten years he unceasingly and
untiringly served the people as a doctor, he took upon his shoulders the work of a number of his
colleagues. He expended every ounce of his energy. He could not withhold anything because he
was enthusiasm itself. Anyone else in his position would have grown old at 38, when he renounced
the world and started a new life!
The life that awaited him in Rishikesh was in no way helpful to the restoration of the energy
spent in Malaya. The meagre fare of an anchorite, food that he was not accustomed to, and the
conditions of life that prevailed, far from replenishing what was lost, could only have been expected
to drain off what energy was left in him and hasten the advent of old age.
But it was not so. In 1930, after seven years of rigorous austerities, when Gurudev addressed
his first audiences in U.P. and Bihar, they found in him a full-blown yogi, youthful, with ebullient
vigour, his powerful voice ringing with a soul force that had conquered old age and put weakness to
shame. What power Gurudev’s words had! They came from his heart, from his soul.
Once after returning from a tour in 1930, Swamiji received a letter from a parent of a student
of a high school that he had addressed in Sitapur. It said that after hearing Gurudev speak their son
had run away from home, leaving behind a note: “I am going to meet my real Father, Swami
Sivananda.” Similarly, Dr. Roy joined the ashram as its medical officer soon after the All-India
Tour in 1950, having heard Gurudev’s lecture at Chidambaram. Such was the awakening and
transforming power of Gurudev’s words.
Gurudev ascribed this continuously bursting inner fountain of energy to the regular practice
of asanas, pranayama, meditation, and the repetition or the Lord’s name, but particularly to
pranayama. This endowed Gurudev with a phenomenal memory and a marvellous capacity to do
ashtavadhana (doing eight things simultaneously). Pranayama purifies the nadis (the subtle energy
channels) and the nervous system, and strengthens the mind. Gurudev’s powerful brain could give
directions for work to a hundred people at the same time. Every visitor to “Ananda Kutir” (literally
7
A LITTLE OF ALL

translated as the “Abode of Bliss” which was Gurudev’s room, and thus the nucleus of the now
world-renowned Sivananda Ashram) knew that he was registered in Gurudev’s mind and that even
after a decade, he would still be recognised should they meet again. He could remember a face for
30 or 40 years even if the face had changed. If someone whom he had seen as a little girl went back
after thirty years he would remark: “You look like a little girl I saw...” and she would say, “Yes,
Swamiji, that was me.”
There are instances galore. During the All-India Tour, he met the then Chief Minister of
Mysore, Sri K. C. Reddy at Bangalore airport, and conversed with him for a few minutes. Two years
later Mr. Reddy came to Rishikesh and Swamiji recognised him instantly, though Mr. Reddy was
dressed differently. Sadhu Murugadas visited the ashram in 1940 and sang beautiful bhajans (songs
of praise of the Lord). He visited again in 1948 and gave another wonderful programme. When he
was about to conclude Gurudev reminded him: “What about the beautiful prayer with which you
concluded last time–’asato ma sat gamaya’?” Murugadasji was surprised at Gurudev’s exceptional
memory.
There was something extraordinarily special about Gurudev; that attractiveness, that
glowing and sparkling vitality and effervescent energy. Swami Paramananda once said: “If the
Master just walked along any road, he would gather a crowd around him. It is not necessary that
there should be any advance propaganda. Let him merely walk along a road in London, he would
attract a whole crowd there.” Once we went to Dehra Dun, a town not far from the ashram. It was
winter then and Swamiji had a huge overcoat on, so that looking at him you wouldn’t say that he
was even a swami. As he was walking along the shopping centre, quite a crowd gathered around
him for no reason. They just wanted to walk with him!
Why do we want all this health? Why do we even want the body to be alive? Is health so
important in itself? Don’t forget that Gurudev was a medical doctor and as such it is inevitable that
he should have seen the futility of pampering to the body. He had no illusions concerning human
life, no illusions concerning vitality. He knew that the physical energy supply is limited; that there
comes a time when the body ages and the energy level falls. He knew that.
Once Swami Sivananda was walking up a flight of steps to go to the temple and about half
way he sat down on a step. Just then a young boy who was also living in the ashram came running,
tumbling down the ‘steps. Swamiji looked at him, full of admiration. “Haah, he is full of energy. I
also used to be like that once, but now for this body it is not possible.” He knew that.
Only once have I heard him refer back to his life in Malaya with a touch of regret. He said:
“If I had known then that I would be engaged later in this kind of activity which benefits not only
one patient or one neighbourhood, but everyone in the world, I would have conserved a little more
energy in my youth. I would have taken better care of myself and would not have spent so much
energy in Malaya.” He knew that because the energy supply is limited, it has to be spent fruitfully,
intelligently, wisely. He knew that death is inevitable however long you live. Therefore he was not
fond of ‘health’ for its own sake. He would not have loved to live in that body if it was not of some
service to others. And therefore he declared once: “I live to serve. I live to serve all.” Every moment
of that life, the body was whipped into service–not just cajoled, but whipped into service. It was
looked after very well, and work was extracted from it also very well.
8

CHAPTER TWO
THE SECRET OF SELFLESS SERVICE
Gurudev Sivananda was such a radiant person that just to look at him was already an
inspiration. I think the greatest service that he did was to make himself so easily available, so
accessible to everybody at large. This was a unique factor. In the ashram, he was the most easily
accessible person. At least three times a day he was out in the open. He took part in the morning
“classes”, the worship in the temple and from about ten a.m. he worked in the office. It was open,
anybody could walk in. Children would even run in and ask, “Swamiji, what is the time now ?”–and
he answered them. People who walked along the road could feast their eyes on him, “Aah, there is
Swami Sivananda!” Just that was a remarkable service, Karma Yoga.
What is Karma Yoga? An American businessman had come to the ashram in 1947 for a few
days visit. It was the custom that visitors addressed the evening satsang on their last night. The
American visitor had wandered around the ashram and observed us doing various things. He said,
“Some of you practise bhakti yoga, some of you practise hatha yoga, and so on. We in the United
States practise karma yoga. We are all working very hard, working day and night, earning a lot of
money.” Later Swamiji told him, “This is not really karma yoga. Karma yoga is different.
Isavasyamidam sarvam–God alone pervades all. God alone is Truth. He is omnipresent,
omnipotent, omniscient. He who has this vision, he alone is a karma yogi.” Karma yoga is not some
form of service which we pretend is unselfish, but karma yoga is the spontaneous action, the
non-volitional action, the non-egotistic action, the totally unselfish action of an enlightened person,
in whose eyes only God exists, within and without.
Karma yoga is perhaps not what a student of yoga practises, but rather how a perfected sage
lives. It is not karma yoga if the action is done with any motivation whatsoever. It is not only a
matter of the action being motivated by selfishness, egoism or vanity. True spontaneous action is
possible only when the mind has become totally unconditioned. As long as even the feeling persists,
“I do this”, the action is still within the bounds of selfishness; there is some motive there, however
noble it may be.
We must remember however that the Master wanted all aspects of yoga to go hand in hand
every day of our life. For us, karma yoga is any sort of service that involves the least selfishness.
Karma yoga as a spiritual discipline is what purifies the heart of selfishness. It is prescribed as a
preliminary purificatory practice before entering the inner court of contemplation and Gurudev
amply demonstrated this during his life in Malaya and Swarg Ashram.
In order to understand the spirit of karma yoga, one has to live with Someone who is an
exemplar of this. Otherwise there is misunderstanding!
For instance, Swami Sivananda has said something very beautiful in his ‘Song of a Karma
Yogin’: “Scrutinise always your inner motive”. We often pretend to ourselves, “I am scrutinising
my inner motives.” We do not ask ourselves, “But why am I doing so?” for the answer might well
be, “In order to prove to myself that I am spiritually taller than the next man.” What is the inner
9

motive for scrutinising the inner motive? Are you even a little bit closer to God for doing this? If
you scrutinise your inner motive, motivelessly, you will be. That is what we saw in Gurudev. But
for the example the words are lifeless.
But, can you see someone else do something and ask yourself, “Oh God in that situation,
would I have acted as he does?” Without justifying your defects or idolising the ideal? (Don’t make
a mistake–I have the greatest devotion to the Master. I worship him in every way. In the ashram
every other day someone performed padapuja (worship) when we would wash his feet and drink the
water. All that is good and important. But you must not merely idolise him). There is the ideal–you
have seen it, you have observed it, watched it. Perhaps it is far, far above you. It is not for you to
look at as we look at a cloud, but to be imbibed just as the fruit of the cloud (the rainwater) is. We
must enter into this perfection. Otherwise there was no need for Swami Sivananda to have lived
among us.
It was not when Dr. Kuppuswamy became a renunciate that this spirit of karma yoga was
born in him. Even as a child it was there in him. Gurudev’s elder brother’s wife who looked after
him after his mother had died told me, “He was a normal boy, there was nothing extraordinary about
him. He was mischievous. He was energetic, very energetic and he could also bully and fight. But
one thing–he loved to share whatever he had with others.” In later life that became more or less a
mantra with him. “Share whatever you have with others.” (Another characteristic that this lady
mentioned was that he liked good food and it had to be prepared exactly right; if it was a little less
than perfect, he would not have it. That was also there throughout his life). He could never eat
anything hiding himself behind the cupboard. He always had to call a few friends and have a party.
This party spirit was always there. He could never do anything alone, enjoy anything alone, which
extended to cover even the bliss of self-realisation. He was a compulsive giver. He had it in his
blood.
Free distribution of literature was born with the medical journal ‘Ambrosia’ which he
published as a young doctor. In Malaya Gurudev shared his knowledge of medicine, especially
preventive methods. Also he would give away food, money and clothing. Patients were not treated
as patients but as friends. The doctor would bring them into his house if necessary, make provision
for their convalescence so that they could receive a proper diet; give them train fares home, help
them to find suitable jobs, and follow up their welfare personally, socially, etc. No sacrifice was too
great for him in the service of ailing persons. Gurudev concerned himself more with the poor than
with the rich–that the poor could not pay did not matter to him.
Gurudev was charity itself. Indiscriminate and unrestrained charity. Those who attended the
sraddhas in his house (sraddha is an annual ceremony in memory of one’s parents) used to receive
an offering of ten dollars in addition to valuable presents in clothes, silver vessels, etc. In most other
homes they might get two dollars. A monk who once visited the Master’s house in Johore-Bahru
was warmly welcomed and treated like a prince. When he left Gurudev gave him a hearty send off
and a first class train ticket to his destination.
That Gurudev lived a simple life goes without saying. A simple life is one of the
prerequisites for charity and any self-sacrificing activity. If you love luxury, then neither of these is
possible. Gurudev gave and gave and gave, and he also received–obviously, you can only give out
10

of the cash box what it contains, not more than that. He emphasised what he described as
‘spontaneous, overwhelming generosity......’ I can still hear these words ringing in my ears. He
gave and he received and in his case on both occasions he was thankful to the other person. If you
gave him something, he would be delighted and when he gave you something, once again, he was
delighted and full of gratitude–to you for having received and for having given him the opportunity
to serve you. I have heard it from his lips a million times–When there is a poor or a sick man at your
door whom you have the opportunity to attend to, know that it is God himself, who has come in this
form to give you an opportunity to serve. Thank the Lord for having come here?
When Mr. Narasimha Iyer had joined the doctor as his cook, they had agreed upon a certain
salary, say 30-40 dollars, plus food, clothes and household expenses. On the first day of the
following month, Gurudev ran into the kitchen with a tray in his hands. On it were fruits, flowers,
new clothes and about 50 dollars. In Indian houses, this is how they welcome and honour a guest, a
holy man or a brahmin–as God. The cook was expecting his wage, and looked questioningly at the
doctor; Gurudev prostrated in front of him saying, “This is your sambhavana, Iyer......is it
adequate?” The word ‘sambhavana’ has a holy connotation. It implies “an offering made with
devotion and reverence.” Gurudev would never use words like ‘pay’, ‘salary’ or ‘wages’. He
looked upon his servants as manifestations of God. This was his attitude throughout his life.
Whatever he gave, including his service, was always a humble offering unto God.
Compulsive Sharing
Whatever Gurudev had was available to anyone who was in need. When a beggar comes
and stands in front of someone’s house it is usual (to our disgrace) to dispose of “garbage”. You
have a bunch of bananas and have eaten the best ones. What is left is overripe and rotten. If a beggar
comes to your door, he gets them! You could never persuade Gurudev to do that. I saw it at least
once: He was about to eat something and found that it had become a bit stale and someone
suggested, “Keep it, Swamiji, we can give it to the cow or the monkeys.” He replied, “No. Throw it
away. What is not fit for my consumption, is not fit for anybody’s consumption.”
Here is a typical oft-recurring incident: A beggar comes to the door of the doctor (Gurudev)
in Malaya. What does he expect? A few odd coins, or some scraps? There is just enough food for a
meal, and the doctor is about to sit and eat when the beggar calls at the door. The cook says: “I’ll go
and give him something,” but the doctor fetches him inside and the astonished beggar is made to sit
down in the kitchen and is served with food first. There is not enough food to feed three people!
Together the doctor and his cook share what remains of the meal. The doctor tells the cook: “Come,
you have satisfied a hungry, man, now we can share whatever remains. His satisfaction will satisfy
our hunger too.” That is the spirit of karma yoga.
Above all, it was feeding people that gave him the greatest delight. He was happiest when he
could persuade people to eat a little more, and therefore one of his own Twenty Spiritual
Instructions was ignored by him as soon as you entered the ashram. “Eat a little, drink a little....”, he
11
Mr. Iyer rejoined the Master who accepted him as an ordained disciple. Much of the material concerning the Master’s life in
Malaya was gathered from him.

used to sing, but you could only do so when you got back home! When he gave prasad–or some
fruits or sweets–he would scoop out with his huge hands and give you. And you had to eat it
immediately, right in front of him. As he watched you, it gave him endless delight. He was thrilled,
thrilled to see about a hundred or two hundred people sit down and eat to their heart’s content. I
don’t think that he ever felt that this was a contradiction to his teaching. In the beginning he used to
be rather strict with regard to some observances, like fasting on Ekadasi (eleventh day of the lunar
fortnight), but later even these rules were relaxed. People brought fruits and sweets into his office
and in no time the whole lot was distributed to those around him.
Once this turned into a rather tricky situation. A very good devotee, a South Indian lady
from Bombay, had come to the ashram and had brought a very special sweet preparation that she
knew Gurudev was fond of. She was an expert in preparing this and had obviously gone to much
trouble. She knew of the Master’s habit of distributing to others and had taken that into account, but
she was almost in tears when she saw Gurudev handing the plate around to everyone and not taking
any for himself. Her heart was sinking. Gurudev turned to tell the distributor, “You must also give a
portion to her,” when suddenly he noticed her expression. He “ordered” the Swami distributing it,
“Stop it, stop it...... Oh Swami, wait, bring it here, the rest is for me, I’m going to eat it. Don’t give it
away.” He saw the lady’s face begin to blossom, her cheeks become rosy. “Bring it here. I’m going
to eat it.” He put one bit in his mouth and somehow again the plate went round. The joy that he had
when he shared, and especially food, fruit, or books, was indescribable.
On another occasion–this was even worse. It was in 1948 or ‘49 when the ashram was very
poor and fruit was not only rare but expensive. If anyone entered his kutir they had to receive
something. I had taken him some work and Gurudev asked his cook if there were any oranges. The
cook had bought some oranges exclusively for Gurudev. He had tremendous devotion to his Guru
and he wasn’t going to move. In the meantime Gurudev walked into the kitchen. He could see
where the fruits were. So he picked one up and gave it to me. Before long he had given some to the
monkeys and fish as well, and one by one all the oranges were finished. Such was his compulsive
giving nature. If oranges were rare then even the fish and the monkeys should also enjoy their share!
There were only about ten or twelve people in the ashram in 1944-45 and ordinarily all of us
used to come to the kitchen and eat. What became the dining hall later was used more as an office in
those days. Sometimes Gurudev would come and sit on one of those cement benches and talk to us,
and say: “You think it’s a small place now, but one day you’ll see. From here to Lakshman Jhula
people will sit and eat.” It happened. We didn’t actually serve people all along the road, but if you
lined up all those that ate in the ashram in 1958-59, it would have been at least one mile–easily four
to five hundred people. That vision he had.
Once he had typhoid and he couldn’t even stand. He was very weak and dizzy. To go to the
bathroom, he literally hung on two people’s shoulders. From the bathroom one day he was looking
out of the window at the Ganges. He asked, “Who is that sitting there?” One of us answered. “Oh it
is very hot there,” Gurudev replied. “Go and tell her that she should not sit there. How long has she
been sitting there? Perhaps she hasn’t had any lunch.” He told his cook, “Go and ask her if she has
eaten, if not, ask her to come here and take something.”
12

That was his sole wish! You must be fed nicely, you mustn’t suffer, you mustn’t go without
anything. I have never seen anybody else behave like that. First food for your body and then food
for your soul. This giving was totally indiscriminate. It had to be done. Both food and books were
distributed completely indiscriminately. Charity–giving, giving, giving, all the time–had to go on;
and in that there was a vision which we can possibly not even contemplate. If we try to understand it
intellectually it is reduced to a set of words.
Spontaneous Overwhelming Generosity
Once a wandering beggar come to the ashram. Swamiji enquired how he had travelled since
he did not look at all tired. The beggar replied that he had travelled first class on the train, since
those coaches were emptier, and in that way he was not inconveniencing the overcrowded third
class passengers. This beggar also happened to have a very good voice and a wonderful innate
musical talent. Gurudev asked him if he could sing. “Swamiji, I guess every beggar knows how to
sing a little bit.” “Wonderful. Today we’ll have your concert during the satsang.” All the ashramites
and visitors gathered in the Bhajan Hall. For once this poor beggar was really in trouble. You have
never seen a more frightened face! He didn’t know what a satsang was; he had never given a concert
in his life. He was put up on a platform, and when he saw a swami coming with a garland, he froze.
He didn’t know what to do–and he didn’t know how to run away either! On top of all this Gurudev
gave him a nice title, “Sangita Ratna”, which means, a music expert. It is impossible for either him
or anyone else who witnessed this whole scene never to forget it.
Once in a while, overwhelm the other man with your generosity; when he expects just two
cents, give him a few dollars and see what happens. See that glow in the other person’s face, feel the
delight in his heart. Perhaps that is the ‘light of God.’
Why don’t we practise such overwhelming generosity? There seem to be two inhibiting
factors. The first is “Well you know, if I do this once, he will expect me to do it again and again and
I’ll become bankrupt in ten days.” Quite true. Swami Sivananda also didn’t do it every
day–obviously–for then he would not have been able to build even a small cottage, let alone an
ashram. But, once in a while do yourself a treat, two dollars is nothing to you–but when it is given to
a poor man, to this beggar, all at once, when all he expects is a few cents, it creates a tremendous
reaction. “Hah!” He looks at you. “My God, you have really given this to me?” Once in a while give
yourself a blissful, beautiful feeling, a heavenly pleasure.
The second inhibiting factor is; “How do I know that he deserves it?” (If God started asking
that question we wouldn’t even be alive. If God asked himself: “How do I know these people
deserve all that fresh air?”, what would be the answer?). Such a question arises only when we
contemplate some charity! What about the new dress that you bought yesterday?
Gurudev had no use at all for what is called ‘discriminating charity.’ During the Kumbha
Mela (a festival) in 1950 there was a continuous stream of pilgrims passing along the road that went
through the ashram. We had set up a sort of ad-hoc office on the roadside and Gurudev used to sit
there for an hour or two giving darshan to the pilgrims. A small band of young men with a few
musical instruments were singing. Gurudev heard it. “Call them.” Swami Paramananda called the
whole band. The Master was delighted. “Come on, sit down here and sing for an hour or so.” They
13

did, and sang beautifully. Gurudev took out some money, put it on a plate with some fruits and
flowers and gave it to the leader of the band. Someone noticed this, and remarked, “They are
hawkers, Swamiji. They are selling cigarettes. They are not devotees singing the names of God. The
‘Hare Rama, Hare Krishna’ is probably only to attract the crowd”. I still remember the mischievous
look on Gurudev’s face, “Is that so? Then add some more money. Give them another ten rupees.
They were singing Mahamantra, singing God’s names very beautifully. Charity is charity. You
must give. What he does with it is not our business. That is God’s work.”
Spontaneous, overwhelming, unquestioning generosity. It had no motives at all. Where you
find some need, give. And I have never heard him refer back to it. The feeling one got watching the
Master do this was–do charity in exactly the same manner in which you will drop your body, when
you die.
Trying Situations
You can well imagine that it was a headache to the secretary, and the treasurer, and so on, of
an organisation, i.e. the ashram, to have a person like Swami Sivananda as the head. He just went on
giving, giving, giving–he did not seem to have any notion where the money came from or where it
went. But, I think he knew, though others thought he did not. He was aware all the time that the
source is also the goal. “It comes from Him and returns to Him: We are merely channels. We think
we are running this institution, this ashram, but we are only trustees.”
At least once a year the ashram experienced a financial crisis. Gurudev would seriously
consider the position and say; “We will be very careful. We won’t admit any new aspirants into the
ashram.” Usually this only lasted a few days. Soon a poor man would walk in without even a change
of clothes asking to stay at the ashram, Swamiji would say: “Yes, yes......... better let him stay.
Where else will he go? Do not worry about expenses. Every man brings his own ration with him.
Before God sends him here, God has already delivered to the kitchen the food supply that he will
need.”
These were not just words; if you looked into his face, into his eyes, you knew he was
speaking the truth. In him there was no doubt at all, there was no questioning. In him this truth lived.
He knew that what you and I call God’s will, alone prevailed. If we are going to be bankrupt, we will
be bankrupt in any case. There is nothing to worry about! And the secretary submits “Alright,
Swamiji.” And then the flood-gates are open again–otherwise the next financial crisis wouldn’t
come so soon.
Another time we had a classical tragedy. A young man joined the ashram. He was a
ceaseless and untiring worker, brilliant in every way. He had captured the heart of the Master.
Gurudev loved him and admired him, and took him into his confidence. He had made him nearly the
all-in-all. He was the post-master, he was the treasurer, he was almost the secretary too,
unofficially. He was the cashier and on top of all this he was also doing some literary work for
Gurudev. He was such a dynamic personality, and it was only half an hour after he had left the
ashram one day that it was discovered that he had embezzled, heaven only knows how much! He
was the cashier and the post-master, so nobody could really estimate to what extent the ashram had
14

been robbed. All we knew was this–there was not a single cent in the entire ashram, which was
heavily in debt to local shopkeepers.
So for once we started with a minus balance, and the news spread to Rishikesh. Once again,
the grocers very politely told the secretary, “For some time it is better to pay cash for whatever you
take,” because the ashram owed a lot to them already. That was the worst calamity I have ever seen
in the ashram’s life. And what did the Master do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He was enjoying
the whole thing as a big joke: “How was it possible for him to cheat us like this? He was such a good
man! He must be a genius.” Two things he went on repeating. “He must have been a genius to do
this.” And, “But he did a lot of work.” He added, “We must have owed him some money–-but he
could have asked me, I’d have given him.” What is that vision, that realisation, established in which
one can say this? That is the vision of God.
One more example of this. In 1946 a businessman came to the ashram from South India. He
knew that the Master was very fond of dissemination of spiritual knowledge and that the shelves
were full of books which had been printed and published by the ashram. So, he said to Swamiji, “I
can distribute and market all your books in South India. He took a large consignment. Six months
later the secretary wrote to the address given by the businessman–the letter was returned, ”No such
address! The secretary was amazed. Gurudev said, “Ohji, if you think that you are the self of the
man who cheated you, you won’t be disappointed.” If God is one, omnipresent, what is stealing?
Stealing is only transferring the object from the right hand to the left hand. You think that you are
Swami So-and-so, and that you have an ashram, and that those books belong to the ashram, and
someone else took them, and made a profit, and so on. This makes you angry. “If you see your own
self in that other person, not only would you not feel sorry, but you may even feel happy.” Nothing
more was said about the whole affair.
“Be equanimous; balanced, even-minded in success and failure, gain and loss.” It is not
grinning and bearing it–not at all. “He who cheats me, and that which I call ‘me’, are but the two
hands of the omnipresent being, who alone exists!”
But sometimes, to the discomfiture of the authorities of the ashram, Gurudev could make a
big joke of this whole thing. One night the ashram temple was broken into, although a number of
people were sleeping on the covered verandah which went around the four sides of the temple. The
silver pot and other silver vessels were missing. The priest who had discovered the loss, reported
the theft to the Master. But instead of getting serious, the Master was curious. “People were
sleeping right there at the time when the theft was taking place?” Then he burst out laughing. “He
must be a very clever thief. If he is found, I’ll award him a title ‘Chora Shikhamani’ (which means a
super-expert in stealing).”
That was all. Gurudev made it look as if there was no theft. He who needed them took them
away. He used a very beautiful expression. He used to call it ‘Gupta Daan’–secret charity, in which
the receiver saved you from even the trouble of giving it! He needed it–he took it.
Once we decided that instead of Swami Sivananda, he should have been called Swami
Givananda–he who rejoices in giving. He knew that the supply came from the source, and to the
source it returned. Material considerations of accounting did not bother him at all. He proved in his
15

own life that in such generosity, there was no bankruptcy. He used to say very often, “Giving has
never made a person poor; charity has never made a person poor.” In 1924, the Master arrived in
Rishikesh, with only the clothes that he had on his body. In 1973, hardly fifty years later, the ashram
that he had built was worth a few million rupees, and yet he went on giving, giving, giving. He
himself used to say, “Such an attitude puts you in direct communion with the inexhaustible source
of all prosperity.”
Gurudev’s service was the sun before which all the mists of distinctions of colour and creed,
caste and sex, vanished. As a doctor in Malaya, he served all nationalities, all castes, everyone,
especially the poor. Similarly in Swarg Ashram, where he lived as a mendicant, his service
especially of the sick was his first concern. Later, the doors of the Sivananda Ashram were ever
open (and still are) to people of all castes, creeds, and nationalities–South Indian Brahmins,
non-Brahmins, Christians, Europeans, Americans, Jews, Muslims, Parsees, and Buddhists were all
received by Gurudev with equal respect and were entertained with uniform love and hospitality.
Swami Sivananda never bothered about what your religious faith or belief was; he never
interfered with all that. He never suggested that one religion was valid, and another was false, or
that one was superior to another. Once the Master was scheduled to meet a multi-millionaire, who
was a fanatical Hindu. All he wanted to hear was these few words. “The Sanatana Dharma
(Hinduism) is alone the truth.” While the Master was being escorted to this meeting the secretary of
this millionaire, dropped a few hints, that the wealthy man could be of great help in Gurudev’s
mission. The Master listened to him. Gurudev was gloriously received by this rich man, and as
predicted, he asked the standard question, “What do you think, Swamiji, of Islam, is it also a
religion?” “Oh yes. Yes yes. Yes yes.” “The Qu’ran is also the word of God?” asked the millionaire.
“Yes yes, yes yes, yes,” replied Gurudev. Gurudev returned with a plate of fruits, most of which he
distributed there itself! Swami Sivananda was not for sale! Your religion is what appeals to you.
Ultimately, religion is an adventure between you and God. Gurudev was not interested in imposing
his doctrines, his belief, his faith, even his realisation on others.
The Razor’s Edge
Where service was concerned, even the distinction of sex disappeared. Once during his
early days in Rishikesh, a young South Indian lady who was staying at the Kalikamliwala rest house
fell ill. The manager there advised her to consult Gurudev, which she did. Swamiji gave her some
medicine, but since the lady was modest and shy, he gave up the idea of massaging the patient’s
feet, although he considered this more beneficial than medicine. On returning to his kutir he
reflected on the matter and decided that he should not have neglected what was necessary for her
welfare. “After all the same Atman (self) that dwells in me dwells in her too. I should not have
shrunk back from this service.” Early the next morning Gurudev along with his disciple called on
the lady again and having given her the medicine, explained to her that he saw only the Divine
Mother of the Universe in her to allow him, her child, to massage her feet. She made a speedy
recovery.
Gurudev would never tire of warning the monks against moving too closely with members
of the opposite sex, and he sternly admonished them not to spend the night in a room adjacent to
which a lady is sleeping alone–this is the code of morals. But there is a superior code, the code of
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service. Once, while at Lucknow, Gurudev discovered that the old Maharani (his hostess) was
seriously ailing with acute rhinitis and he then slept in the corner of her room, ready at hand should
she need someone to attend to her. Even her own family would not serve her with such solicitude.
When the need arose, Gurudev was ready to do any kind of service.
In Gurudev, the fear of public criticism was conspicuous by its absence. We should not be
arrogant and violate the laws of society, but yet we should dare to do what we know is right. “If you
are convinced that you ought to wear an overcoat in order to carry on your spiritual practices
undisturbed and to serve humanity best, and if the thought enters your mind that people may
criticise you, at once put on the overcoat! This is the way to overcome the fear of public criticism.
People may criticise you, but soon they will understand you.”
The question he asked himself constantly was, “What is the appropriate, the right thing to do
in these circumstances?” and never, “What will people think?” The old Maharani of Singhai
frequently used to visit Rishikesh. If she walked along the road in the hot sun, Gurudev clad in the
fiery robes of a sannyasin, would hold an umbrella above her head; and his fellow monks would, in
their pride of sannyasa, laugh at this bold renunciate serving the mother instead of treating her as a
mere householder and asking her to bow at his feet.
Once Swami Sivananda went with the Maharani on a pilgrimage to Ganga Sagar (the holy
confluence of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal). En route the pilgrims had to wade through the sea
for a few yards and the old lady could not do that. Gurudev at once lent her his broad and muscular
shoulders. The Maharani was reluctant, but without the least hesitation, Gurudev picked her up and
carried her to the boat. On another occasion, at the Maharani’s palace in Lucknow, a lady mendicant
became infuriated when the Maharani declined to satisfy her inordinate demands for money to
perform some kind of worship. In the frenzy of anger this mendicant lost all control and fell down
unconscious. Gurudev carried her on his shoulders to the nearby hospital and had her attended to.
The Maharani had a liking for soda, which she invariably took early in the morning. Her servants,
often lax in their duties, might neglect to give it to her at the appointed hour; but the honoured guest,
Gurudev, whom the Maharani revered as her preceptor would anticipate his disciple’s needs and
would, without her knowledge, make sure that the soda was ready waiting for her, ready at hand.
However, when the Maharani planned to make Gurudev stay permanently in the palace as
the Royal Preceptor, he quietly slipped away from there and undergoing great sufferings and
hardship en route, walked back to Rishikesh. He walked, without informing anyone at the palace,
without even taking a blanket when it was midwinter; he suffered cold and hunger on the way but he
was determined to rescue himself from even the least touch of worldliness.
In the life of this single, mighty individual, selfless service flowed along many different
channels. He used especially to exalt the service of the sick and the poor. He had seen disease and its
consequent suffering at very close quarters from his very youth and he intensely felt the pain that
afflicted another man. An old friend of Gurudev from Malaya visited the ashram and told us, “We
could not recognise Swamiji’s greatness in those days. We had more or less concluded that he was
full of unusual eccentricities.” It was the spirit in which he served, which was unique in Gurudev
17

Sivananda. He was dynamically, busy, active all day–not in order to gain anything, nor to lose
anything, not out of fear, without any expectation of.........
There was no ‘because’ in his case at all. So, why did he do it? How does a person who has
no ambitions, no desires, no cravings, no hopes, no expectations, function at all? We are trapped in
this idea that without some motivation, man would be idle. Swami Sivananda questioned, “Why
should we be idle? When you do something you ask ‘Why should I do that?’, but when you don’t do
it, you don’t ask yourself, ‘Why do I not do that?” When the self is seen to be non-existent, you are
neither interested in doing anything nor interested in refraining from doing anything, in being lazy,
idle. Idleness is useless. Idleness is just another form of vanity or egoism. When the self is seen to be
non-existent, the energy and the consciousness in you (which we call God) function. This is where
the expression ‘God’s will’ or ‘God’s grace’ is appropriate. In the life of Swami Sivananda, that is
exactly what we saw.
Fearlessness
There is no danger in true selfless service; rather it is the Divine Realm where the faithful
have absolute immunity. During the early days of Gurudev’s life at Swarg Ashram he earned a
reputation for daring to venture into regions which anyone who valued his life would avoid from a
great distance. Cholera and typhoid cases were earmarked for him as were most contagious and
infectious diseases. When Swami Anantanandaji was suffering from cholera of a most virulent
type, and people feared to approach his hut, Gurudev was in constant attendance at the Swami’s
bedside. Gurudev had absolutely no revulsion or dislike to handle the offensive discharges of
patients. He would with his own hands clean the bedpan and wash the excreta from the patient’s
body. When Swami Anantananda was very ill, Gurudev readily and without the least hesitation
inserted his own fingers into the rectum of the Swami and removed the faecal matter, without
revulsion, without fear. This was an assurance which was not born even of medical knowledge–I
can wash myself in antiseptic solution. I have never seen him wash his hands in antiseptic solution.
At best he used just pure water. Similarly, when Sri Veeraraghavachari’s disciple was suffering
from cholera, it was again Gurudev who volunteered to attend him. People were wonderstruck at
Gurudev’s service; and many were like Sri Kalyanandaji who, when he fell sick, would send for
Gurudev alone–no-one else would do. “Whatever you do with your miraculous healing hand will
cure me”, he would say.
Much later in 1948-49, Gurudev lived in a basement apartment and upstairs was a family
man stricken with the most virulent smallpox. The man’s skin was not visible at all. Only the
eyeballs were sticking out and the rest of the body was covered with smallpox. And the Master was
still there downstairs. Nobody could persuade him to leave that place and go somewhere else in the
ashram. One could see from his face that there was no anxiety at all. In the same way, when he
himself had typhoid, it did not bother him.
On the psychological level too, as we have seen, he was utterly fearless–fearless first of all
of public criticism. It is very important to distinguish this fearlessness from callousness or defiance.
There was no defiance in him. I have seen this; if he wanted to do something and one of his own
disciples said, “No Swamiji, it should not be done like this, it should be done that way”, he would
very meekly and simply say, “Yes, alright, let us do it that way.” However when it came to what the
18

whole of him wanted to do, he did not bother at all who said what. In the early years of this century,
till he changed the fashion, it was unthinkable for a swami wearing the flaming orange robes to sing
and dance, even if it was the Mahamantra–Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare; Hare
Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. A Swami was not even allowed to bow down to
others. It was Swami Sivananda who started bowing down to all. He was criticised! H.H. Sri Swami
Tapovanji vividly recalled how Gurudev used to carry three little cloth bags wherever he went. One
contained leaflets, pamphlets and notebook; one had sweets and biscuits or some fruits, and the
third had some common drugs like aspirin, dressings etc. On the roadside he would stop at a
hundred places making enquiries about anchorites and villagers and he would distribute the
pamphlets and give medicines to anyone who needed them. The sweets he gave to children. While
he was at Swarg Ashram Gurudev lived only on alms (from the almshouse) which consisted of soup
and dry bread (rotti). After he had left his home in South India, someone discovered that an
insurance policy of his had matured and was valued at about five thousand rupees. If he had been
rigid he would have refused the money, but instead he used it to buy medicines, fruit and curd for
the sick and to serve the sadhus. He established the Satyasevashram Dispensary where all patients,
both anchorites and laymen, received medicines, food and money if they needed them and also
sincere gratitude and Sashtang Namaskar (complete prostration) much to their embarrassment. The
patients were treated as living divinity.
Gurudev was criticised for all this by the swamis and holy men who used to say about him,
“Oh, he is a house-holder swami though he wears the orange robe, because he handles money and
he publishes all this literature. A swami should walk absolutely bare-handed. He shouldn’t even
carry his own water pot–a disciple should do it.” They who had adopted this as their rule, naturally
criticised him but he was not moved nor did he react. Only weak men react. Later I myself heard this
from one of the critics. He was a wonderful man and he said, “We all used to criticise your guru and
now we have all joined him. He was right and we were wrong.”
It is not that the Master ever wanted to prove that he was right. It was so natural–it had to
happen. He was so totally and absolutely fearless. Fearless because the false identification that ‘I
am the body’ had gone. The body is the body and the ‘I’ does not exist. What functions is the Chit
Shakti or the power of God. This is karma yoga. Only such a one could afford not to hate anyone,
not to harbour a trace of ill-will. It was only pure love and humility embodied in this gigantic figure
that could openly face an assailant and at the same time bow down and fondly look after a little
child.
When Gurudev moved over to the present ashram locality, he again established a dispensary
and all the ashram inmates were put through a rigorous training in service of the sick. Gurudev
would “aggressively” catch hold of pilgrims returning from pilgrimages in the Himalayas and rub
their bruised legs with turpentine liniment; he would ask another disciple to rub the other leg, thus
giving his disciples practical training in selfless service. It is this Sat-Sankalpa (holy wish) that has
taken the shape of the Sivananda Eye Hospital and the gigantic Sivananda General Hospital with all
its modern equipment. When Gurudev had lumbago in 1953, we took him to a nearby military
hospital for dio-thermy treatment for his back. He said, “What about buying a dio-thermy machine?
Then all the poor people in the area can use it free.” That was his temperament.
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The Refuge Of Destitutes
The three greatest hallmarks of Gurudev’s selfless service were compassion, tolerance, and
a resolute determination not to see evil. His compassion did not demand any justification for giving
away food and money to old and destitute people who walked into the ashram without the least idea
of leading a life of renunciation.
They approached him seeking only to be fed, clothed, and provided with shelter. “Where
will he go? We will have to look after him.” This expression very often amazed the ashram
authorities and visitors too. Gurudev took over responsibility for maintaining a destitute who called
at his door with the simple logical reason that the destitute person had been prompted by the Lord
within him, to seek refuge at Gurudev’s feet. How was the ashram to maintain those people? The
question was answered by Gurudev with equal ease, “The Lord who sends them here will provide
for their maintenance also. At present the State is not looking after these aged people, so it is my
duty to do so, as best as I can.”
Among the destitutes were widows, whose husbands’ untimely death had left them
helpless; women who had been driven out of their homes by the ill-treatment of husbands or
parents-in-law, and orphans and old people. To all of them doors of the Sivananda Ashram were
ever open. To them all, Gurudev was mother and father. He never questioned them about their past,
nor about their future plans; they were in need, and first that need was satisfied. Invariably, after a
month or two a ‘miracle’ would happen. They would rise in the estimation of their kith and kin, and
the wound would be healed. There was often a happy reunion of broken families. Once a destitute
person was lying outside Rama Ashram. No one even cared to look at him, but as usual, as soon as it
came to Gurudev’s notice, he had the man brought into the ashram and made everyone of the
disciples attend to the man. Often Gurudev stepped in at the most crucial psychological moment for
a person and saved that person’s life. Many, who in utter despair, stood on the brink of life and
death, and preferring death to a miserable existence here, were directed by the supreme mercy of the
Lord, to the divine compassionate embrace of Gurudev’s love. A miraculous transformation would
take place in their lives, gloom and despair yielding to peace and hope.
This sort of service was rendered by Gurudev even in Malaya. Narasimha Iyer told us how
young men, completely broken and hopeless had stumbled into the doctor’s house. They wished to
end their life and their misery, and the doctor always showed them how to end the misery, and gain a
new lease on life. He would look after them as he would his own brothers, pursuing their life’s
careers until such time as they could take their place honourably in society.
Throughout his life this service continued, and the only reason given for admitting such
persons into the ashram was, “God has sent them to us in order that we may serve them.” People
who were suffering severe shocks, whether due to the loss of beloved ones, or set-backs in their
official and social careers came to Gurudev for protection. They found that they were welcomed.
Gurudev’s Abhaya-Hasta (the hand that guarantees fearlessness) granted them freedom from all
kinds of tensions and anxieties allowing the sun of hope and joy to dawn in their lives. Such
indiscriminate protection is granted only by the Lord.
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It was this attitude that made Gurudev assert that there was no one in the world who did not
deserve his service, no one in the world who did not deserve charity. It is this feeling that was
behind his indiscriminate service and charity–and that is the key to yoga.
The Spirit
Are there not in the world, individuals and institutions that render one or more, or even all
the types of services described? Perhaps there are. So, what is it that distinguished Gurudev in this
respect? What is it that a mere social worker often misses, which if it had not been overlooked
would have raised him to the level of Godhead? It is this inner bhava (attitude) which later blossoms
forth as anubhava (experience). If while being engaged in service, one reminds oneself that all
hands and feet are HIS, then the service becomes a sacred duty. The rendering of the service is itself
the greatest reward, and no result is even anticipated.
That then is the secret of Gurudev’s untiring training of aspirants, even if a number of them
proved false and unworthy, and of serving them even if they had behaved badly towards him. Had
you offered him an opportunity to serve you, he would have done so without a second thought.
What you might do in return to him, was not his concern. The service has already fulfilled itself.
This attitude was the secret of Gurudev’s perfect detachment.
Gurudev’s tolerance had no limit. If some Swami X had once done some service to the
ashram and then began to lead a life of comfort without doing any work, Gurudev wouldn’t ask him
to work again or to leave the ashram. On such an occasion, he said: “For the work that he has done, I
am bound to look after him for five or six lives to come.” Gurudev himself was busy twenty-four
hours of the day, every day of the year–no holidays, no Sundays, nothing. Even when he was sick he
was active; active in the service of humanity, yet he would never find fault with another for not
following his example.
See God In All
Gurudev could see no evil at all anywhere, and there was nothing that he could not forgive.
His power in this capacity was also tested to the very limit of human endurance. This happened on
the night of the 8th January, 1950. We did not have electricity in the Bhajan Hall in those days. On
the altar there stood pictures of Rama and Krishna and just a wick lamp. For the readings we used a
hurricane lantern and as soon as the reading part of the satsang was over, it was put away. So it was
quite dark in the satsang. The Master always sat immediately next to the door, the entrance.
Once someone asked him, “Why do you sit there, why not sit somewhere a bit less
draughty?” and he replied, “You know, I have loose bowels and I’m diabetic, and sometimes I may
have to get up and go to the bathroom, I don’t want to disturb the whole satsang. So I sit here. Also I
might come late. I don’t want to cause any disturbance.” Never once did he actually leave the
satsang. He was never late either; usually he was the first there.
On this particular day the satsang had started, the readings were over and the light was put
away. It was winter and the Master used to wrap a shawl around his head but usually he would
remove it immediately on entering the hall. For an unknown reason he did not do so that night. A
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young man, disgruntled and probably mentally deranged, walked into the satsang with an axe in his
hand. He knew where Swami Sivananda usually sat and he aimed three blows at Gurudev’s head.
The first blow that came down fell on the turban. Nothing happened. There was only the sound of
something hitting something. So, hurriedly the assailant raised the axe again and in doing so he hit
one of the pictures hanging on the wall above Gurudev. More noise was created, by which time this
man had become thoroughly nervous and even though he aimed another blow, he somehow hit the
open door, and only slightly grazed Swami Sivananda’s arm. People got up and caught hold of the
man, thus discovering the whole horrible truth. All that Gurudev was interested in at this stage was
that satsang should be continued and brought to its usual end with all the concluding prayers and so
on. Some of us were working down in the office when someone rushed in and told us. Immediately
we ran up, and then I heard the whole congregation chanting “sarvesam svasti bhavatu, sarvesam
santir bhavatu...” and I said to my companion, “Swamiji must be alright,” because only he could
have the nerve, the calmness and the presence of mind to continue the satsang and treat the whole
incident as if nothing had happened. Gurudev was sitting there calmly repeating all the mantras!
Later we discovered that this was Gurudev’s second miraculous escape of the day. This
man, whom Gurudev maintained in the ashram out of purest compassion, without asking him for
even a scrap of his time and energy in service of the institution, had calculated another attack. He
had been waiting for Gurudev at the turn of the road, at the time when Gurudev usually walked up
for the morning meditation. The Master always walked alone. But that morning was the one
morning that he missed the meditation and he was unhappy about it. When he came to the office
later he said, “Today I slept so heavily...... I don’t know what happened–I just overslept.” Only later
we discovered that if he had come, probably he would have lost his life, as this man had been
waiting. Having missed that chance he came to the hall in another attempt.
After the incident, this man had been taken to a room near the present printing press.
Gurudev went there and stood before the assailant, folded his palms and said, “Are you angry with
me? Are you satisfied? Do you want to give me some more blows?” It was a beautiful scene. What
love! The next morning the police inspector said, “We are going to charge him.” Swamiji replied,
“No. There is no charge. He has done nothing; only my karma has been worked out. Why should he
be punished for that?” The police wanted to take proper action. So Swamiji eventually agreed that
the man be sent back to his home town in South India. The morning of his departure Swamiji
himself went down to the police station with a plate on which he had put a flower garland, fruits,
clothing, books and money for the train fare and pocket expenses. He garlanded this man, fed him,
and worshipped him, falling at the assailant’s feet in prostration. None but Gurudev could have
done this. Then he said, “God Himself came in that form for His own reasons. God comes to you not
only as your benefactor, as a beggar, as a sick person, but God comes to you even as your murderer.
Even that person is none but God.” He still continued to walk to the bhajan hall in the dark. He still
took his regular evening walk all alone. This is called faith. It is easy to see God in one who has
murdered your enemy, but if you are able to see God in one who has come to kill you, then you have
gone beyond all division.
Gurudev said, “Honour those who have bad characters. Serve the rogue first. Treat him as a
future saint, or as a saint himself; this is the way to purify your heart and to elevate him also.” In one
of his earliest letters to Swami Paramanandaji (1934-35) he wrote, “I want around me a number of
people who will abuse me, insult me, vilify and injure me. I want to serve them, educate them and
22

transform them.” In a crowd he would seek out the bad characters first, whether they be in white or
ochre robes and greet them with folded palms. He would address them in the most respectful terms.
Gurudev said, “Acclaim the rogue as a saint; publicly honour him and he will be ashamed to
continue his evil doings. Persistently tell an ill-tempered man, ‘You are an embodiment of peace’
and he will be ashamed to lose his temper. Call a lazy man a dynamic worker and he will plunge
himself into service. But the praise must come from the very bottom of your heart and you must
pour your soul force into every word, sincerely feeling that behind the apparent negative quality,
there is a resplendent positive virtue latent, waiting only to be established. If you do this both of you
will be benefited.”
If this spirit of karma yoga is awakened within our hearts, then our every action must
necessarily reflect this attitude. In the Master’s case one could see that he felt the presence of God,
not only in shrines, temples, in holy people and holy places, but even in plants, in animals, and also
in inanimate objects. The way he closed his fountain pen was a delight to watch. He would place
it–not drop it–on the table. It was beautiful. It was an art. There was a delicacy about it. When he
picked up a shawl and wrapped it around himself, there was beauty. The art was there, because the
heart was behind. Even when Gurudev was bedridden and someone gave him a parcel, though he
couldn’t reach the floor, you could see how much he would strain not to drop it. I don’t think he ever
broke anything. Only once a monkey picked up his fountain pen and took it away and later
somebody gave it a banana–it dropped the pen. Otherwise I don’t remember an accident ever
happening to the things that he used. People; especially foreign visitors, often used to give him
things, then he would give the old ones to somebody else. Nothing ever went out of order. Even in
these things he could feel the presence of God.
It is not that in order to practise karma yoga you must go and seek out some poor people to
do charity, or find the sick (or even make them sick) to render them some service. For Swami
Sivananda, everything was sacred. All the Objects in the world were sacred. The Master did not
confine karma yoga to special departments. He was definite and emphatic, “Unselfish, motiveless
action is possible wherever one may be, whatever one’s lifestyle or profession. The right spirit
demands–do your allotted duty or work, without any motivation whatsoever and your actions will
be peaceful, blissful and fruitful.”
Training Of Disciples
In the Master’s ashram in Rishikesh, swamis themselves were engaged in every kind of
activity you can think of. Once Gurudev himself said, “Not only do I work hard, I know how to
extract work from others.” It is a beautiful expression. How did he do this? Sometimes he would
lean back in his chair and put his spectacles up; sometimes he would close one eye and look just
look. And then he would smile. What was there in that voice, in those few words, in that mere look?
And something in that face, something in those eyes was bewitching. He conquered by love.
Gurudev was extremely patient with sloppy work, with inefficiency, mistakes. These he did
not mind at all. There was virtually nothing he would not put up with, except, he used to say,
laziness. How does one make another person work? The first answer is that you must set an
example. Swami Sivananda was himself the best example.
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There was another method which he adopted. If you were lazy, first you would get from the
Master some fruit, and milk and coffee, and some other gifts. Whenever you went near Swami
Sivananda, he would greet you and praise your good qualities. This was an indirect way of
suggesting, “You are such a wonderful man, why don’t you do something about it ?” Sometimes
you take the hint, and at others you say, “I am meditating six hours a day,” and he would respond
eagerly, “Very good, you must meditate, do some kirtan and bhajan.” You think he is encouraging
you to do that and you become even more lazy. Even the fruit and the coffee do not inspire you,
stimulate you. Then in your presence he starts talking about somebody else; “What a dynamic man
he is. Everybody ought to be like that.” This applies to you, but you already have an image of sitting
and meditating for six hours and so do not heed it. If all this does not work, he might say, “For a
change, get up and do something.” He could come down like a thunderbolt for a few minutes and
then he would be milk and honey again. If even that failed, when there was a financial crisis the first
ones to go were the lazy people. Laziness, he would not tolerate. Even when he had typhoid and
therefore he was extremely weak, he often enquired about lazy people in the ashram. “We should
not entertain lazy people here.” He himself was never lazy. The body was looked after very well,
and then it was made to work hard. Why do you want to drop a healthy body in the grave for the
worms to consume? Squeeze it; extract the last ounce of “juice” from it before you throw it away.
Gurudev was more than father and mother for the aspirants in the ashram. If someone
manifested the least trace of a hidden talent, he would almost dedicate himself to awakening it,
cultivating its unfoldment to the fullest manifestation. Gurudev would incessantly contemplate
ways and means to do this. Each must express himself fully for the benefit of mankind. One young
man who said he knew the technique of paper manufacturing walked into the ashram. The next
morning Gurudev asked for the pit to be dug, and raw materials were ordered. Gurudev encouraged
this man to experiment with his ideas, though he had absolutely no credentials and Gurudev never
asked for any.
A good musician joined the ashram and the very next day a new harmonium and tabla were
ordered for him. Gurudev himself would take such a keen interest in all these enterprises, that you
would think that he had been waiting just for you to come along and help him in this work. Such was
his enthusiasm that in a short while, he would be giving the adept in his field, hints for improving his
work.
Swami Saradananda joined the ashram in 1947. When Gurudev found that he had an
aptitude for photography, immediately a photographic department was formed, and Gurudev was
all encouragement. Eventually, it was one of the best equipped studios in the country. One must
remember that all this took place at the foot of the Himalayas, not in a technologically advanced
metropolis.
Another interesting event occurred when a cook, who had not come to stay at the ashram,
was encouraged by Gurudev to open a restaurant and carry on a business for his own profit.
Gurudev’s attitude was: “First make him stay here, and then slowly convert him to spiritual
practice.”
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All ashram departments were run by the swamis themselves. The swamis did all the
correspondence and maintained accounts. These activities were not shunned as “worldly”
activities.
Gurudev was not ashamed to do whatever had to bo done. In the early days of the ashram,
Swamiji used to conduct yoga camps for a week during the Christmas and also the Easter holidays.
Visitors used to come from all over India, as well as from abroad. Some of them were magistrates,
police officials, advocates, business people, but in the ashram they were treated as spiritual
aspirants. One morning the Master would announce, “Today is karma yoga. Come on, we are all
scavengers–today we shall clean the roads.” And there were no distinctions at all, the Master was
there first. When you set out to clean the roadside in some of the villages in India you may find
anything–cow dung, dead rats etc. Now comes the problem: the professional road-sweeper has his
broom with which he shoves all the dirt away, but we may not do that. That is not the right spirit at
all, because even in that cow dung there is the divine presence. When Gurudev carried that dripping
basket of cow dung on his head, it was not as though he was carrying cow dung at all, it was the Lord
who was seated on his head. And everyone had to do this, such was the training; special training no
doubt, but here we were taught that it is not what you do that matters so much as the inner spirit.
Sometimes we would be asked to work in the kitchen, peeling potatoes and cutting
vegetables, and he used to insist that during all this we keep repeating God’s name, and sometimes
we would all sing together, “Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama...” and go on doing the job, and
the chant or whatever it was, would keep reminding us that it is God that does it, and unto God it is
done. The subject is God, and the object is also God, and therefore the action in itself becomes
divine.
One day we were all working in the office, right in front of the Master. Some of us were
typing, some writing, some doing the accounts. He had a very lovely way of indicating when he
wanted to say something funny. He wore spectacles, he would put them up on to his forehead and
close one eye and look. He had his elbow on the table looking at us. There was this radiant and half
mischievous smile when he said: “Were you not doing this kind of work in Delhi also?” “Yes,
Swamiji.” “So what is the great purpose in coming here? You go to an ashram, a holy place looking
for moksha, for liberation, and there you do exactly the same thing that you did before in the
government service. Why do you have to come here at all? Isn’t it possible for each one, remaining
in his own station in life to practise karma yoga?”
All of us were silent. Then he himself provided the answer. “It is here that the spirit is
awakened.” It is very difficult, while you are still engaged in the battle of life, when you are
confused, to cultivate the right spirit. Only if you live at the feet of a master can you discover this
spirit. When you return to the world, it is still the same world, but you are not the same, and
therefore the world is not the same either. You have a new vision. To train you in this, was the role
of Gurudev’s ashram.
The real, sincere, thirsting aspirant was Gurudev’s God. He lived for such aspirants. The
only comparison one can draw to this is the relation between a father and an only son, born to him
late in life, and on whom the father lavishes all his love, and for whose welfare he considers no
sacrifice too great.
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Not only in the field of work but in the field of spiritual practice also, Gurudev created the
atmosphere necessary for each aspirant to evolve in accordance with his own individual
temperament and aptitude. Never was an aspirant compelled to change his mode of spiritual
practice. If you liked to study Vedanta, he would provide you with all the comforts and
conveniences necessary so that in seclusion you could study and evolve. He would never ask you to
do any work and he would openly praise your wisdom and make you a Professor of the Yoga
Vedanta Forest Academy. Similarly with earnest aspirants pursuing other modes of spiritual
practice.
Gurudev worked ceaselessly so that the most fortunate aspirants who had taken shelter at his
holy feet could be saved from experiencing the difficulties that he himself had had to face during the
early days of his life at Rishikesh. He would go to any length to save them from wasting precious
mental energy in anxiety over the ordinary creature comforts of the body–food, clothing, shelter
and medical care–so that they might be free to pursue the path they had chalked out for themselves.
No one in the ashram had greater physical disability than Gurudev himself, and yet there was no one
who worked harder than he did. The moment he found an aspirant not well, even if it was only a
mild headache, he would say, “Please go and rest”, and depute a doctor and half a dozen others to
attend to him. However when he himself was ailing, he would sternly brush aside the doctor’s plea
that he should rest the body a little. This was one aspect in which there was a vast difference
between Gurudev’s precept and practice. He practised self-sacrificing service which cared not for
comforts, but to others he preached “Please take care of your health.” His love for the sincere
spiritual aspirant was incomprehensible.
In 1946, we were fairly poor and did not have many rooms, nor did we have many
conveniences and comforts. We didn’t even have secure protection against the monkeys that used
to invade the ashram. There was a very small room, which we called the office, with a couple of
rickety doors and adjacent to this was a room with a low ceiling and a low entrance. Gurudev used
to call this the ‘humility entrance.’ Unless yon bent down you would lose your head–which is true
of life also. Between these two rooms was an interconnecting door. One midsummer’s midday, it
was hot, so we had closed the door of the office, as well as the interconnecting door and were in a
small adjacent room. When the Master had his lunch, he would always ask for another plate and he
would take a portion of whatever he ate and put it on that plate. After finishing his lunch, without
resting, he would take that plate in his hand, cover his bald head with a thin piece of cloth, and walk
around from room to room, giving each of his disciples a little of that food. In those days, this in
itself was an extraordinary thing, because many of the swamis wouldn’t let their disciples, or
anyone else, even see what they ate! Gurudev was an exception to the rule. Whatever I eat, whatever
I have, you must also have, you must also share–that was the spirit. So about 1 o’clock in the
scorching sun, he came walking to the office, plate in hand. Seeing all the doors closed, he
presumed that we were sleeping. He went into the kitchen which was just next door, and found a
swami there. Gurudev gave him two or three cups of something or other and told him, “Those three
boys are resting, please do not disturb them, but when they wake up, give this to them.” A couple of
minutes later, one of us laughed and the swami in the kitchen, hearing it, came in with three cups
saying, “Swamiji came and gave these for you. He thought that you were resting.” That was
Gurudev’s spirit; throughout his life he was more considerate of others than he was of himself.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why his body was so riddled with illnesses–the body just could not
take it.
26

When you lived with such a person, it was difficult even to watch him. You had to have
eagle-like vision to see through all these masks and to perceive the real Master and his teachings.
How does one study the teachings of such a great Master who had this perfectly symmetrical dual
relationship with his students? No doubt he wanted to teach, to train his disciples, but he loved them
so much that the teachings were heavily sugar-coated, so that quite often we just sucked off the
sugar and threw the pills away. You had to have great persistence to suck through all that sweetness
and then come to the (maybe bitter) pill. Both sides of this relationship were equally powerful: his
eagerness to teach his disciples being matched only by his love for them. The desire to teach sprang
from the love, and the love sprang from the desire to teach.
When he did something, you had to look into his face, look into his eyes, and there you saw
something quite different from what we are used to. When he gave you something, when he did
something for you, in that face there was no pride, there was no look of arrogance, no suggestion of
smug self-satisfaction.
In that face, in those eyes, there was humility, there was love, and what was even more
important, there was gratitude.
When it came to teaching, the Master had a delightfully beautiful and intelligent method. He
said: “You cannot attack the commander-in-chief, but you can tackle the army. Selfishness is not a
single soldier who comes to attack you, but he comes with a retinue, a big force. If you are sincere,
and careful, you can easily detect one or other of the members of this army. Greed, lust, anger, fear,
the pursuit of pleasure, desire, hatred, jealousy, ambition, the desire to dominate and the desire for
power, position and wealth, all these spring from selfishness–deal with them.”
How does one deal with even the retinue? How do you know what desire means, what
craving means, what jealousy means? How do you deal with them? It is here that the guru becomes
valuable. It was in Gurudev’s training of his disciples that we saw the best way in which to deal with
inner evil, evil habits, evil thoughts and emotions and vicious nature. It is only when it comes to the
master-disciple relationship that these can be easily overcome.
The greatest service that a saint can render to humanity, is to leave behind him many images
of himself. Gurudev was like the Philosopher’s Stone and with a magnetic force he attracted all
metal to himself and transformed it into pure gold. He had the knack of turning stones into precious
gems.
Not all people who sought the shelter of Gurudev’s lotus feet were good spiritual aspirants.
Many were the products of modern civilisation, who before they could renounce the world, had
already been stung and injected with its insidious poison. Furthermore, not everyone could shed
these evils on the road to Rishikesh. What was Gurudev’s reaction to them?
He was the Sun of Supreme Good, before which no shadow of evil existed. He saw only the
good in the new aspirants; to the evil, he was blind. This purest form of love would never condemn a
person, could never even be hard on someone who might manifest an unfortunate evil trait.
27

When a disciple’s misdemeanour was reported to him, unless he saw it with his own eyes,
he refused to believe the complaint. If you pointed out that so-and-so had some evil qualities he had
a counter-list of his own–that person’s many good qualities. First he refused to recognise it.
Secondly, for the next few days Gurudev would shower his love and affection on this person. If the
complaint still persisted, it meant there was some truth in it. He would send a great beam of love
flowing from him to you and only when he was sure that he had you in his grip, that your heart had
been completely conquered, completely won over, only then would he gently drop a hint. Very
gently. Remember, he would not even drop his fountain pen. So even this hint was not allowed to
hurt you, because if criticism hurts, it is counter-productive. You are merely going to rebel against it
and turn away. He would never allow that to happen. For the sake of the good that surely everyone
has in him, Gurudev would give a long rope to the evil, thus gaining one more brother to the
spiritual family.
To him, there was no wicked man on this earth who did not have his own good points. None
was incorrigible. In his vision the eternal sinner did not exist. Seeing God and godliness
everywhere, this vision and the supreme dynamism in him transmitted his own soul force which
instantly awakened the dormant good in all and strengthened virtue where it already existed. Even
the beneficiary was often unaware of this. It was in his attitude towards the spiritual aspirants that
Gurudev manifested the highest degree of adaptability. No sacrifice was too great in this work of
moulding men into saints.
If it was a mere surface defect, like a bad eating habit, the seeker would soon get over it in
the spiritual atmosphere. Lest the aspirant should be tempted away by other minor weaknesses or
love of luxury, Gurudev would himself provide these, thus immediately preventing the great
downfall, with the conviction that sooner or later the aspirant would overcome the weakness and
abandon the luxury. Even if it was deep-seated enough to prevent him from rising very high in
spiritual practice, he would work as an instrument in Gurudev’s divine hands and that work would
elevate thousands of others. This was the magic of Gurudev. The very person whom the world
scoffed at was taken up by Gurudev and transformed into a very useful citizen. The magic wand
was–concentrate all your attention on the good and magnify it. There is only gain for everybody
concerned in this. To spurn a man for the evil that you may see in him was a terrible loss. Gurudev
never did that. He would get very good work out of even the devil.
Gurudev often illustrated this by an example. “If you are walking near a thorny bush and
suddenly there is a gust of wind and the shawl you are wearing round your shoulders gets caught in
the bush, you can’t just drag it. If you do, your shawl will be torn. You have to stop your movement,
and very gently disengage each one of those thorns. Such patience is necessary if one is to deal with
one’s own evil nature.” It was Gurudev who gave us wonderful, actual and almost daily
demonstration of this attitude. If you had lived with Gurudev for a couple of years, you would have
been astounded at the way in which he trained aspirants.
The first class disciples resorted to his lotus feet in the way in which aspirants resorted to the
Guru in the days of yore, with the blazing fire of renunciation, dispassion and discrimination. They
might become established in God-realisation by a mere glance from Gurudev’s eyes, or by a mere
word from his holy lips. They were few. The vast majority with whom Gurudev worked were
lukewarm aspirants, who might scale great heights in spiritual experience after receiving some
28

training imparted by him. But even the worst aspirants were soon transformed by his limitless
forgiveness, inexhaustible patience, boundless charity and supreme love. Adhikari-bheda (the
classification of aspirants according to their fitness) may govern the rapidity of their evolution to
sainthood, but is was certainly not a criterion that Gurudev applied. He himself had (most) often to
sow the seeds of vairagya (dispassion) in them. It is perhaps easier for you to infuse vairagya into
your own son, than for Gurudev to do so in a young man joining the Ashram. Gurudev’s heart was
all love, and not even for the sake of securing moksha (liberation) for him would he give the
aspirants the least offence, put him to the least deprivation, or ask him to lead an austere life.
I have myself heard Gurudev overestimate the difficulties that face the aspirant and say,
“What a mysterious thing this mind is! How to control it? And then, over and above all this, how is
man to apply himself to strenuous spiritual practice and deep meditation? I think God should give
liberation to all, even if they utter His Name only once a day, or if a man does even a few good acts
of service in his lifetime.” If Gurudev had been appointed in the realm of Gods to preside over the
destinies of mankind, he would have (in the words of Winston Churchill) actually “presided over
the liquidation of the empire” of maya (ignorance or the illusive power of the Lord) and granted
liberation to everyone.
If there was a misunderstanding or quarrel between two aspirants, Gurudev would often
pacify both, but sometimes one or the other might wish to leave the Ashram. Gurudev would do
anything to prevent an aspirant straying away from the path, or retracing his steps. There was no
offence or sin which he would not pardon. He would often tell the aspirants: “It is extremely
difficult to acquire a little bit of sadhana-wealth and very easy to lose it again. It is like bouncing a
ball up the stairs with great effort–the moment you neglect it even for a few seconds, it bounces
back to ground level immediately.”
An aspirant might yield to the sage’s sculpturing of his personality; indeed he was then truly
blessed. Or, he might manifest his weakness and even rebel against his own benefactor. Gurudev’s
forebearance was often severely tested. Falsely imagining that he was a saint even at birth, a foolish
aspirant would resent the chisel with which Gurudev tried to create a form out of the ungainly mass
that the aspirant was. A beloved son might anger his father by such behaviour, but Gurudev would
merely suspend the chiselling and shower his love upon the ignorant man, allowing him time to
come to his senses. The young man might even go away from the protective shelter of the Master
and strangely enough, the very Master who took the greatest interest in shaping the aspirant, would
then look on apparently unconcerned as the misguided aspirant, yielding to egoism, anger or greed,
shattered in a moment the beautiful edifice, constructed with years of patient and persevering
labour. Gurudev seemed to immediately forget all about it–but no. It was then that Gurudev
performed the greatest miracle. Before he coolly gave the aspirant leave to go, he would
unobtrusively spread over him the invisible armour of his blessings that one day surely would bring
the aspirant back. Where else in this world could he get such a Master? Where else in the whole
universe would a Master serve thus? Where else in the world would a guru obey the will of the
disciple? The cool shade of Gurudev’s benign presence had obviously lost its glory for him on
account of over-familiarity. There was a need for the aspirant to learn a few more lessons, a need for
him to walk a few more paces in the scorching heat, on the burning sands of the world, before he
could truly appreciate the oasis, nay the paradise, that was the lotus feet of the Lord. He would
return.
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A swami who was senior to all of us, though he was not very old, had left the Ashram after
some trouble. After a few years, he returned around Durga Puja time, 1948. The Master was sitting
on the roadside and I happened to pass near. He called me and said; “You know Swami ....... has
come?” He closed one eye, “He is a big man! There’s a long story .... ” He didn’t want to tell the
story nor to perpetuate the scandal. I said: “Yes Swamiji, I’ve heard about it.” Now, immediately,
suddenly and dramatically he changed. He said, “But that was before; he might have been a bad
man before. Probably he has changed now. A wicked man can become a good man.” Then he
added: “Let’s give him another chance; I’ve asked him to stay.”
People often use the expression: ‘Forgive and forget’, but this is more easily said than done.
Gurudev used the one and only foolproof method: Judge not. Suspend all judgment whatsoever. If
he does something which you don’t approve of, take appropriate action then. but realise that he
himself is not a wicked person.
On another occasion he mentioned the two-way traffic. He was writing a book called
‘Ashrams and Saints in India.’ In it he had to give a brief biography of a holy man who subsequently
got married–not a commendable thing for a swami to do. Gurudev remarked: “He was a great man
but he fell into disgrace. But good people become bad and bad people become good. One should not
judge.” The biography was included in the book. Once you see that this two way traffic is possible,
then you are vigilant, constantly vigilant. I have never heard Gurudev mock at such people, even in
jest.
When such an aspirant returned to the Ashram, Gurudev would treat him as though he had
always been part of it and had never left. Yes, and so it was in reality, for wherever he might have
been, he was always in Gurudev’s heart. Swamiji would dance with joy and glorify him in the
presence of all, for this man was living proof of the victory gained by Gurudev’s supreme love. The
aspirant too, would then be in a better position to appreciate Gurudev’s indescribable glory, and to
open himself with greater receptivity to his grace. These disciples of Gurudev are the inestimable
assets of humanity.
Gurudev held out a fair hope even to wicked men and sinners. He, who was the incarnation
of love, understood that the wicked man, being full of evil impressions, finds it almost impossible to
take even the first step towards the divine.
Lord! you do not even wait for us to take refuge in you. You attract us by your sweet songs
and your inspiring lectures, your loving conversation and inimitable humour. With amusing
pictures and films, delicious prasad (sweet-meats offered to the Lord), good food and life full of
comforts and free of care, you literally drag us to You. You demand nothing from us and you give,
give, always. You understand our difficulties, and sympathise with our frailties, leading us by the
hand. You infuse devotion into us, You inspire us with dispassion. You breathe wisdom into our
souls. Lo, one day the world finds that your disciples are wise and talented, but little does it realise
what infinite pains you have taken upon yourself to perform this miracle. To you, the Good
Shepherd, it was not pain. You took real delight in running after the lost sheep. Lead us Lord, lead
us to Thy Lotus Feet.
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CHAPTER THREE
SEE GOD IN ALL
What is bhakti yoga? The word ‘bhakti’ is taken to mean devotion to God, love of God or
surrender to God. One of the Master’s favourite expression was “See God in every face, see God in
all. Serve God in all.” Gurudev, this God incarnate in human form, who descended to this earth in
order to fulfil His promise to take birth over and over again, to subdue wickedness, protect virtue
and uphold dharma, gave us precious and practical instructions. For our sake, in order that we might
watch, admire and emulate, the divine in human garb undertook spiritual disciplines. To him,
narayanabhava was swabhava. (The attitude that the Lord indwells all beings was his innate nature).
He was therefore best qualified to teach us how to cultivate this narayana-bhava (feeling of God’s
omnipresence) and how to sustain it.
Mantra Repetition
If you had met the Master personally, you might have come away with the impression,
depending upon when you approached him, that he was tremendously and overly fond of people
repeating a mantra, repeating God’s name. This is true. This was one of his fortes no doubt. Every
day, people young and old would come to the Ashram in Rishikesh and ask a very simple question:
“I want to practise yoga; I want to lead a spiritual life. What must I do first?” and instead of beating
about the bush with splendid theories about God, and about self and non-self, the Master used to
say, “Repeat Ram Nam, repeat God’s name.” These people who came asking to be his disciples
were of varying temperaments and belonged to different religions. But the answer was always the
same; “I’ll give you a mantra. Repeat it day and night.” And this answer was very soon followed up
with, “What would you like, tea or coffee?” No further questioning or discussion was encouraged.
“What is God? What is your conception of God?” The Master avoided all these speculative
expressions.
What would happen if someone, a scholar, descended on the scene and asked a highly
metaphysical, philosophical question? Once, in 1947, a brilliant man appeared at our office at 8
a.m. and asked Swami Sivananda to explain the difference between savikalpa samadhi and
nirvikalpa samadhi. The three of us who were working in the office looked up expectantly, though
we would never have dared to ask this question. Swamiji, who had been doing some work, suddenly
put his pen down and looked at the visitor. There was total silence for a couple of minutes and then
the Master asked, “Ohji, what would you like to have–some milk, tea, coffee?” When the Master
asks a question you have to give the answer first, before he answers your question. So this professor
replied, ‘I think I’ll have some coffee, Swamiji. “And some fruit, some idli?” (idli is a South Indian
breakfast dish). “Yes, Swamiji,” the man replied. The Master asked a disciple to get all these. Then
Gurudev asked another man, “Bring me some books for the doctor.” About ten minutes passed in
this way. In the meantime coffee and breakfast arrived. Gurudev went on instructing attendant on
how to serve the professor. In the meantime, his wife had been looking for him. He had come to the
office alone. A few minutes later she walked in, gave him one stern look and said, “How long are
you going to stay here? Get up! Let us go.” Meekly the professor got up and left. After he had gone
the Master burst out laughing. He laughed and laughed with his whole abdomen trembling, and
31
SEE GOD IN ALL

wiping his eyes he said, “He wants to know the difference between nirvikalpa and savikalpa
samadhi and the wife merely looks at him once and says, Get up, get up, and he gets up, and walks
quietly behind.”
Gurudev had no patience for vain discussion. His message was: “Repeat Ram Nam. Take
God’s name, do japa. You will discover the answer to all these questions within yourself.”
There was another incident which was highly revealing. A renowned political leader came
to the Ashram, sat down and presented Swamiji with a picture of India in the context of the present
world situation, as he saw it. He spoke for forty-five minutes. The only audience he wanted was
Swami Sivananda. One had to admire the Master’s patience. Gurudev had his elbows on the table,
looking straight into the visitor’s eyes, listening. He never said a word. This politician gave a
beautiful lucid synopsis of the world situation. When he had finished he looked at Gurudev as if to
ask, “well, what is your advice? What is your solution to all this?” Now the ball was in the Master’s
court. He looked at somebody, he looked at somebody else. Poverty, hunger, overpopulation,
oppression, suppression, depression, compression, the whole lot–what is the solution? His response
was beautiful–he said: “Only Bhagavan Nam. Only God’s name is the remedy. Repeat God’s
name.” I think this poor politician felt that the floor was slipping under his feet. He expected
Gurudev to say, “You must become Prime Minister, or form a new party to reconstitute, change,
destroy, and so on.” But Gurudev replied, “Repeat God’s name.”
Gurudev said this a million times. As far as he was concerned this was the solution for all
problems. It was THE solution to ALL problems. For anything, repeat God’s name, whether it was
a personal psychological problem, a health problem, a social problem, or a national, international or
universal problem–all these problems are solved by just one thing; by the devout and dedicated
repetition of the divine name.
Does it seem too simple? What is your trouble? Is there any trouble apart from the
restlessness of the mind? Is there any maker of anxiety, any source of sorrow, other than the mind?
When the mind is not functioning (as in sleep), there is no anxiety, no sorrow, no problem at all.
There is no sense of responsibility, no wish to work for ‘world peace’–then the world IS peaceful. It
is only the active, uncontrolled and undisciplined mind that creates all problems and makes you feel
that the problem is so tremendously important that you MUST solve it. Why not dissolve it? When
you see that all problems spring from a restless and undisciplined mind, then you merely provide an
activity which–if nothing else–is harmless. Of course these mantras have great spiritual value in
themselves, they have mind-and-soul purifying effects. But by merely allowing the mind to be
constantly engaged in this mental repetition of a mantra, you are engaging the mind, and utilising its
energies in a positive, non-harmful way. It forgets to bother you, forgets to create problems. Thus
the creator of the problems is dissolved.
Life takes its own course. Life does not stop, and therefore the mantra should not be
repeated as a substitute for life’s activities. When the Master said, “Repeat the mantra day and
night,” he actually meant that the mantra should be repeated simultaneously, along with all life’s
activities. He used to demonstrate it very nicely. They make chapatties (flat round unleavened
pancakes) by the clapping movement of the hands. He used to say, “As you go on doing this, keep
singing Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram,–both jobs get done at the same time.”
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If Gurudev gave you a mantra and a mala (rosary) and you said, “I am going to do japa for
three hours in the morning, three hours in the afternoon and three hours in the evening without
doing any other work,” he would say, “Throw your mala away and come and do some work.”
Someone who goes on endlessly turning the beads without caring even to give a cup of water to a
thirsty man, is a hypocrite and a pseudo-devotee. You don’t have to sit down and look at your nose
to repeat your mantra. You can also do that sometimes. But the mantra can go on throughout the day
and night. The Master was extremely fond of cultivating “the background of thought,” as he called
such practice.
Some of us thought that by doing a lot of work we would please the Master more. I
remember one day in 1946. Gurudev descended on me like a thunderbolt: “How much meditation
did you do today? How much japa? Throw your typewriter into the Ganges; and all these other
things too. Go and do some japa and meditation.” ‘All work and no worship’ was not after
Gurudev’s heart. ‘Work is worship’ is indeed the motto, but in practice it should mean ‘work and
worship.’ So, it was in working out a balance in which nothing was neglected at any time, that
Gurudev excelled.
Cultivate this background of thought. Whatever be the mantra or name chosen, whether it is
a Hindu, Christian, Muslim or a Jewish mantra, it does not matter. Whatever be the chosen formula,
repeat it in such a way that it forms a background of thought.
The technique is quite simple. As soon as you wake up in the morning, even before you get
out of bed, mentally repeat your mantra and let the mantra be synchronised with your breathing.
This is the trick. In a way, it is making use of the mind’s own habit, trapping it in its own rhythm.
When the mind finds something rhythmic, it wants to get lost in it. Make it automatic.
Automatic–not mechanical.
Afterwards get out of bed, wash your face and then sit down for an hour or half an hour’s
deliberate repetition of the mantra. Once again associate the mantra with the breathing so that it
becomes smooth, delightful and then effortless. There is no effort at all involved in this. Gurudev
used to say, “The greater the intensity of the japa done in the early morning and the greater the
intensity with which HIS divine presence is felt within and without during the meditation in the
brahmamuhurta (the period of an hour and a half before sunrise) the more perfect will be the attitude
with which service is done throughout the rest of the day”. Immediately on waking up Gurudev
would do japa for some time even before stepping out of bed to wash his face. You could correct
your watch and set it at 3.30 a.m. when the light was switched on in Gurudev’s kutir (cottage). He
was extremely punctual in getting up at this hour. At the stroke of 4 a.m. he would be back in his
asana (meditation seat) for the practice of japa and pranayama. Every disciple of Gurudev’s knows
why he always insisted upon japa and meditation in the early morning hours. Just after we return
from the grip of sleep our mind is at its most impressionable state.
After this early morning meditation, get up, do whatever you have to do. If the mind has also
to participate in the work you do, you will not be aware of the mantra. But as soon as this job is over,
sit back, relax, quietly breathe with awareness and if the mantra goes on in the background, the
mind will easily and effortlessly slip into it.
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SEE GOD IN ALL

If you have been watching your own mind you will notice that it is not when you are really
and truly engaged in some work, mental or physical, that the mind cooks up the problems, but when
it is doing nothing. When you are gazing at the ceiling, all these problems drop from there. With the
practice of japa, as soon as the particular job you are engaged in is finished, the mind slips
automatically into the japa, so that there is never a vacuum for the mind to create some mischief in.
This can go on throughout the day at intervals.
The Master used to recommend, in addition to the japa mala that you wear and use, another
small mala (rosary)–in India it is called a ‘smarani.’ The Catholics also use something like this–a
wrist mala or finger mala that can be kept in your pocket–nobody need notice it. Whenever there is a
small break in whatever you have been doing, and when the habit of mental repetition of a mantra
has not yet been formed, this might help. This rosary around your finger reminds you to repeat the
mantra. I have seen the Master do this: he might be talking about some big plan or other and when
he did not want the burden of this discussion to be carried over to the next job (which is what most
of us do) he would withdraw the attention into himself, silently repeating a mantra. Soon he was
ready for the next job. If this interval is not created, you are loading the brain more and more and
more until there is a break down–called a ‘nervous breakdown.’
The Master, on completing the office work in the evening, would go into his room and pace
the verandah up and down, gently intoning “Ommmmm OOOMMM...... OOOMMMMMMMM,
OOOMMMMM”, and one could literally see the involvements of the day being shed like scales.
This is what keeps the mind constantly fresh, full of energy and therefore full of wisdom.
The effect will be all the more wonderful if we can “take japa into our very sleep itself so
that even during sleep we manage to carry on subconscious japa” as Gurudev exhorted us to do.
How can we do this? By making japa habitual. The Master often said, “Last night I did not sleep
very well, I woke up at about 2 a.m. and did japa for about half an hour. I fell asleep and got up again
at the usual time.” If we thus train ourselves to utter the Lord’s names whenever possible, our mind
will become filled with God-thought. When japa becomes habitual, the brahmamuhurta meditation
will become intense and the presence of God will be felt not only then but throughout the day’s
activities.
It is not so much the number of malas of japa that counts, but rather it is the perfection of the
concentration of the mind and the depth of consciousness from which the name springs which is
more important. Once Gurudev revealed to us that early in the morning he used to repeat quite a
number of mantras: VASUDEVAH SARVAM: “All this is God (Vasudeva)”, SARVA
BHUTASTAM ATMANAM: “One Self, God, pervades all beings.” YAT-CA KINCIT JAGAT
SARVAM DRISYATE SRUYATE PI VA ANTAR BAHIS-CA TAT SARVAM VYAPYA
NARAYANAH STHITAH: “Whatever there is in this world, whatever is seen or heard, Lord
Narayana, God, pervades all, inside and out.”
Gurudev once remarked, “Sri Sastriar says that unless one has done worship of the Divine
Mother through a special branch of knowledge called Sri Vidya (Sri Vidya Upasana), one could not
achieve as much material success in life as I have done. I am a worshipper of Sri Vidya. I repeat the
Sri Vidya mantra a couple of times each morning as also whenever I happen to meet a lady; I
34

mentally prostrate to her, feeling that she is an embodiment of the Divine Mother Tripurasundari.
This constitutes my Sri Vidya upasana.”
The Master was also fond of repeating a few chosen mantras while standing in the Ganges
water. He was certain that this was productive of the quickest mantra-siddhi (perfection in the
practice of mantra-japa). To the busiest man in the ashram, Gurudev often said, “Even if you cannot
find time to do one rosary of japa, when you take your Ganges-bath, stand in the Ganges water for a
few seconds and repeat the mantra three times–this is equal to three million repetitions.”
Mantra-writing was also greatly eulogised by Gurudev as a spiritual practice that would
enable the aspirant to achieve concentration of mind very easily. Once he told us. “Always keep
with you wherever you go, a pocket note-book for mantra-writing, a rosary and a pocket Gita.
Whenever you have a little leisure, instead of building castles in the air, or allowing the mind to
remain idle, write a few mantras in the note-book, silently roll a few beads, or read a few verses of
the Gita. This is the best way to acquire perfect control of the mind.”
Besides this he gave us quite a number of other ways in which the likhita japa
(mantra-writing) can be woven into our daily life. For instance, begin every note you write with the
mantra “Om Namo Narayanaya”. You and the recipient of the letter or note will be benefited by
this. Also if you write any article, your daily account, etc., start with a line or two of mantra-writing
thus:
OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM
OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM
Religious Freedom
It is good to remind ourselves at this point that technically the Master was a non-dual
Vedantin. He belonged to what is known as the advaita cult. Perhaps this doesn’t mean very much
to you. Belief in a God is not an essential part of the advaitins’ doctrine. The non-dual doctrine
implies the total absence of all duality. There is a distinction between monotheism and monism.
The Master’s official cult was monism, not monotheism. Monotheism still has some sort of duality
built into it. It implies the unity of Godhead–God is one, so that “we” are all still outside that.
Monism says, “There is only ONE”, and it is only because you are standing in front of me that I say
so, otherwise I shouldn’t even do that. So it is true to say, as did the monists, that God is not in an
idol, or in a temple, in the sense that he is not confined to that form. BUT God, being omnipresent, is
everywhere.
When this doctrine is heard, the obvious question that arises in the mind is, “Then why do
you want to worship a God in a temple, in a church, in a synagogue, why don’t you worship God
everywhere?” But when you look at this paper, you see it as paper, not as God! For the mind has
been so conditioned and it is not able to drop this conditioning. You seem to be trapped. So that in
practice Gurudev had a rather interesting and remarkable theory which was reflected in his own
daily life. He didn’t ridicule the views of people belonging to other sects who were opposed to
monism and who declare that “God and man are eternally separate, and it is ridiculous to say that
man can ever become one with God”.
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SEE GOD IN ALL

Paradoxically the Master was both a bhakta (devotee) and a jnani (sage). He did not say that
he was a bhakta and would therefore not study Vedanta or meditate. No, he preferred the integral
yoga approach–not merely this, not merely that, for the simple reason again that the mind is capable
of playing all these tricks. Both the bhakta and the monist, by each denying an aspect of yoga, are
caught in the same ego illusion.
The Master never criticized either attitude. That was his genius. He tried to include all this,
knowing that at a particular stage, to a person of that temperament, all this is essential. He knew that
all these are steps that lead to the same goal. He knew that if once in that idol worship you recognize
or touch the core, you are bound to realize that that which you worship there in that image is here in
‘you’ too. As it is said in the Upanihsad, “That which shines in the sun, is also that which shines in
me.” The genius of the Master was in the blending of these, what superficially appear to be,
conflicting doctrines.
In Rishikesh, when he first came there, there were these two completely opposite camps.
One which said, “Forget all your Vedanta, your enquiry and meditation. To have a vision of God is
the highest goal. For this you must worship an idol.” The other camp called them idolaters, men
who were unfit for meditation and who did not understand the sublime philosophy of the
Upanishads.
It was given to the Master to bring one group up and the others down a little, and this was
done in a very beautiful and subtle way. I have seen the Master deal with all these people; never
once did he challenge anyone. If someone said, “God is in this idol,” immediately he would agree
and add “Come on, build a small shrine for your image. Worship there.” Then someone else came
along and declared : “I don’t believe in all this, Swamiji. I can raise my consciousness to the seventh
plane.” And the Master never argued with him, never. He was prepared to understand and did not
condemn even the fanatic, because this person sees something and is just not mature enough to see
that it is not the whole picture. He must be allowed to come to maturity in his own time. So, often
Gurudev bowed down to satisfy even the fanatics.
In the ashram temple there used to be puja three times a day–morning, noon and evening.
Swami Sivananda who lived on the Ganges bank at the foot of the hill would climb all the way up to
be there three times a day. This was when his health was still good. But a younger swami who was
living nearer the temple would not attend the worship. What was Gurudev’s attitude? As soon as the
arati was over and the prasad (food offering which was also our breakfast in those days) was about
to be distributed, he would call one of us, “Take some prasad to Swami So-and-so.” But that is not
the end of the story. That swami is not in the ashram now, he has since set up an ashram of his own,
and I believe that there, puja and chanting of mantras goes on 24 hours of the day and that he insists
that his devotees worship some form of God or other in a small private shrine in their rooms. If that
is not the miracle of the ‘prasad’, I don’t know what else it is. That maturity must happen within
yourself. Gurudev did not even fight with fanatics. If you fight with a fanatic, you become another
fanatic.
This was a marvellous aspect of the Master’s teachings. He was eager to listen to everyone;
even to someone holding a diametrically opposite view. You pursue your own path, you have your
own philosophy of life. You don’t have to abandon your religion, your method of worship and
36

meditation, or your mode of life. The others may also have something interesting to say. Study
others’ points of view and develop friendliness, affection and understanding. One of our Master’s
most famous sayings was, “Break down the barriers that separate man from man.” He repeated this
hundreds of times, whenever he spoke, and it is ringing in my ears even today. As long as there is a
feeling that you are completely and totally different from me, either because I am a Hindu and you
are a Christian, or because I am an Indian and you are a European, or for any other reason, the
danger of hatred and destruction is also there. Swami Sivananda said, “Realize that you are a human
being, What your religion is, is your personal affair.”
One scholarly and very devout orthodox Muslim used to come to the ashram. As an
orthodox Muslim he would not do certain things, and certain other things he would do. Gurudev
instructed his disciples thus, “He will be doing namaz (Muslim prayer) now, so please don’t disturb
him. He doesn’t like this, don’t give it to him. He likes that, let him have it. Keep a prayer mat in his
room.” He had great respect for the other person’s religious practices.
This is an important point to remember, Gurudev had faith in all these, but he himself
practiced what he wanted to practice. He adopted his own mode of life, undisturbed by what others
said. It is not possible for one to practice many different faiths. All roads lead not to Rome, but to
‘roaming’.
Know that there are many roads, and if possible get acquainted with them, but continue to
tread your own path to the centre.
True Catholic
In India, even amongst Hindus, there were in those days a few major cults, as there are in
other religions. One day Gurudev received a visitor to the ashram, who was the head of the Siva
cult, which meant that he should not adore Rama, Krishna or Vishnu, only Siva. This Swami had
written to Gurudev explaining that he was going on a pilgrimage to the Himalayas and would like to
stay at the ashram for a few days. Gurudev had replied, “Most welcome.” The day before this holy
man arrived, Gurudev called us all and said, “As from tomorrow for three days, only Lord Siva’s
picture must be kept on the altar, and don’t sing ‘Sri Ram Jaya Ram, Jaya Jaya Ram’, but only the
names of Ganesha and Siva. And don’t read the Gita or the Vishnu Puranam, only scriptures
relating to Siva, everything Siva”.
Does it sound hypocritical to you? The Master was not a hypocrite. He was the purest crystal
that reflected “the other” without the least conflict. “This Swami is devoted to Siva, as I am to the
truth that God dwells in all.” Gurudev’s attitude was not, “He is as devoted to Siva as I’m devoted to
Krishna or Christ”. That might breed conflict. But it was, “I feel that all religions are one, all
religions are equally valid, equally great, equally sharers of truth.” Whoever came to the ashram
gave us an opportunity to serve him and an opportunity to hear him–however fanatical he might be.
One type of fanatic cannot cure another. Why offend the other person, why even provoke him? The
principle is to deal with people at their human level. It is possible that each religion represents a
partial view–there is no perfect total view. If you look out of the window, you see the sky. It is not
the total sky, it is only a small portion of sky. Nobody in the world has seen the total sky, the whole
space, nor the whole truth, nor God. You can never have a vision of the whole–that is God. But,
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SEE GOD IN ALL

what you are seeing is the sky, let us not forget that. You are not seeing the total sky, but you are still
seeing the “sky”.
Can you regard religion as your own extremely private encounter with God, your personal
spiritual adventure, and in relation to others in society, remain a human being? Swami Sivananda’s
extraordinary genius taught us what it was, not merely to tolerate, but to understand one another.
What is understanding? Respect–I respect your views even if you don’t respect mine–that is the
beauty. Gurudev also used to say, “Even he who denies God, affirms the existence of God, because
the very self of the denier is God. That substratum for the intelligence that says, ‘God does not
exist’, is God”. In the evolution of that person, maybe this is a necessary step.
The Master never challenged anyone, never forced anyone to go against his own
conscience. Never. In the ashram his own disciples held widely divergent doctrines and views but
they were all loved and respected by Gurudev. To me, this seems to be the essence, the cream of the
realization that God is omnipresent. Not the word, not the concept, but the realization of the
omnipresence of God. This realization lived as Swami Sivananda.
Another remarkable incident nearly shook everyone out of their wits. In 1953, Swami
Sivananda organized what was known as the Parliament of Religions. A number of learned scholars
belonging to different faiths had been invited, and there were other people who had come merely to
participate in the function. Obviously this was an occasion when the congregation was not made up
entirely of disciples and devotees of Swami Sivananda, and the mood of the audience was a bit
difficult to gauge. Because it was a cosmopolitan crowd, the proceedings were conducted mostly in
English except for one or two swamis who could not speak English (they spoke Hindi or Tamil or
some other language).
On the second day, one swami who was sitting on the platform passed a note to one of the
organizers, “I want time to speak.” The organizer said “No, there is no time.” Gurudev, who was
also seated on the platform, watched this through the corner of his eye. The note was passed to him.
Gurudev said, “Let him speak. I won’t speak today, let him speak.” What did this man do? He stood
up and grabbed the microphone so that no one could snatch it from him and for ten minutes spewed
forth nothing but criticism and abuse of Swami Sivananda. Nothing else. He went on, “He is living
in North India, where the language is Hindi, yet he writes in English, speaks in English.” This was
meant to be a parliament of religions, not a parliament of languages, but this man was totally
unconcerned with all that. He had come merely with the intention of attacking the Master in public.
You should have seen Gurudev’s radiant smile. He kept saying “Very good, very good”, (in Hindi
of course). You could see the steam coming out of other people’s ears, their brains were boiling, but
Gurudev was quite calm, as if to say, “That is your opinion, your view, your path–go on”. He did not
even want to try to justify himself in this man’s eyes or convince this man that because there was a
world-wide circulation of Gurudev’s books he had to write in English. That was our Master’s
wonderful attitude and therefore again, it was extremely difficult to pierce through all these veils
and come face to face with his real nature.
It does not make any sense at all to give up being a Christian, or a Hindu or a Muslim. What
for? What are you going to be instead? Will you practice a new religion, a universalist religion?
What is a universalist? The Universa ‘list’ has a list all of his own, in which there is condemnation
38

of every other religion. This is a waste of time. Be what you are. Gurudev tells you, “Seek God
wherever possible. See God in all.”
Worship Of God In An Image
But what exactly was the Master’s own practice? Right from his Swarg Ashram days, when
he was a mendicant ascetic, till the last moment of his physical life, he was not only a believer, but a
firm practitioner of what you would call idol worship. Sometimes he used a picture of Siva but most
often he used the picture of Lord Krishna with the flute in hand. It is a beautiful picture and once
Gurudev himself referred to it saying, “The artist who painted it must have had a vision of Krishna.
It is highly inspiring.” This picture was kept in his own puja (worship) room all the time, and there
was not a single day when his body could move from the bed, that the ritualistic worship of that
picture was neglected. Every day, as soon as he had had his bath, he would go and offer a flower at
the feet of Krishna, take a lamp and do arati. He once said that he did not know very many mantras,
but whatever few he knew, he used in the worship.
This is how we saw the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita embodied in Gurudev’s own life.
There is a verse in this scripture whose meaning is as follows: ‘Whatever my devotee offers to me
with love, even if it is only a leaf, a flower or a little water, all that I accept with great relish’. And
here was this holy man, this sage, who when he had some charity to perform, or some fruit or some
money or clothes to give to his own disciples would repeat the first two words of this verse, “patram
pushpam” (leaf or flower) indicating “I am the devotee, you are my God, and I am offering this, just
a little nothing–patram pushpam. Please accept it.” Such worship can be performed to an image
(murthi-puja) or to the Lord seated in one’s heart (manasic puja) or to the omnipresent being
(para-puja) who dwells in all beings.
Gurudev did not neglect any of these. The whole world was to him the manifestation of the
Lord and he lived every minute of his life in this consciousness. Greeting the sun in the morning, he
would offer mental worship to it repeating “Om suryaya namah”, (the mantra for propitiating the
Sun God)and mentally offer dhupa, deepa, naivedya, and archana (incense, lights, food-offering
and offering of flowers) in the order in which they would come to his heart. Sitting on the bank of
the Ganges, gazing at the sparkling divine water, he would offer mental worship to the river with
milk, flowers etc.
On no account would the Master take his afternoon meal without first offering formal and
ceremonial worship to the Lord at the small shrine in his own cottage. In only this one item of his
daily routine, did Gurudev claim and insist upon privacy–perhaps only to illustrate his own precept
that you should pray to Him in secret for the sake of obtaining His Grace and not ring the bells and
sound the gong in order to attract public attention and earn appreciation for your “marvellous
devotion”. He attached no value whatsoever to ostentation. Only once did one of Gurudev’s
personal attendants by chance witness the moving spectacle of the Master lying down on the ground
in full prostration before the deity. There was nothing mechanical in this worship or prostration. It
was symbolic of total self surrender, in his case the symbolism was real and whole-hearted.
To Gurudev, the deity whom he worshipped, either mentally or physically, was more real
than the things that are solid realities to us. For some time I used to do the puja, the worship, in the
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SEE GOD IN ALL

ashram’s Vishvanath Temple and Gurudev used to come quite often to participate. When he offered
some bael leaves and looked at the little bull (Nandi) and the Siva lingam there, it was clear that
Gurudev did not treat them as statues at all. When he looked at the beautiful Krishna there, the
expression on his face was much the same as that on ours when we meet and greet a life-long
beloved friend. You could see it in his eyes. It was a beautiful thing to watch. Indescribable.
If you can commune with what may be called an ‘idol’ like this, already there is a
transformation within. If once you learn to cognise what it is to be in the presence of God, to cognise
the divine in some name and in some form, you can go out and recognise “Thee in all these names
and forms.” This vision of God, as it expands, does not restrict itself to what the mind labels as
‘good’. Whatever Gurudev did in his life, was related to this expanding consciousness.
As long as you have a body treat it as an instrument in the hands of God. As long as you have
the ‘I-am’ consciousness, recognise God in all, serve and love God in every being, and at the same
time try to discover His omnipresence. This is the magic and mystery of what is known as ‘idol
worship’.
Bhakti is expansion of consciousness, expansion of vision, expansion of the heart. You
begin by seeing God somewhere, perhaps in a temple, an image, perhaps in a saint or holy man, or
perhaps in some natural phenomena, and gradually, step by step, the vision is allowed to expand and
expand, continuously and unceasingly until all division is abolished, until even the artificial
distinction between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ is lost. It is then that one attains cosmic consciousness.
On no account would the Master let us confine our devotional practices to the shrine only.
Worship in a shrine is no doubt the necessary initial training ground but the aim of this (which he
constantly hammered into our hearts) was to treat the entire universe as Vishva Brindavan (abode of
Lord Krishna) and every being in it as Lord Vasudeva Himself–VASUDEVAH SARVAM.
Worship Of The Omnipresent
There were a number of other ways in which Gurudev performed this worship of the cosmic
being. We have already discussed how he treated service of the sick itself as worship of the Lord.
At his insistence special varieties of worship were instituted at the ashram; like the worship
of the virgins during Navaratri and worship of scavengers on Gandhi’s birthday. On the sacred
Guru Purnima day (when worship is offered and homage paid to the great-grand-preceptor, Sri
Vyasa, who commenced writing the Brahma Sutras on that day). On these and many other holy
days at the ashram Gurudev would keep plenty of flowers ready with him. As devotees poured into
his abode or office he himself would worship them.
On the days when worship was offered to his own feet by some ardent disciple, Gurudev
would himself go round, flowers in hand, individually worshipping all the devotees who had
worshipped him. Only those who intently observed the mood reflected on his face and the
expression of devotion in his eyes, would realise that to Gurudev every devotee standing before him
was a veritable manifestation of God.
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Once on Sivaratri (a day sacred to Lord Siva) we were engaged in the all-night worship of
Lord Siva, which consists of pujas (worship) performed four times during the night every three
hours. On the temple verandah continuous chanting of the holy five-syllabled formula of Lord Siva
(Om Namah Sivaya) was being conducted by Gurudev himself. After the last session, flowers were
offered to the Lord, and the devotees filed into the sanctum sanctorum, devoutly placing the sacred
bael leaves on the Siva lingam (the symbol or idol of Lord Siva). Some threw the bael leaves on the
lingam: some half sleepily allowed the leaves to slip from their hands. A few pious devotees
performed this ceremony as a religious duty; to them the Siva lingam was but a stone which
somehow represented God–they did not know how. Last of all came Gurudev, bael leaves in hand.
His radiant face shone with an extraordinary light. He let a few leaves drop at the foot of the holy
bull, Nandi–very softly, sweetly and devoutly seeking his permission to worship the Lord. When
Gurudev gazed at the lingam, before offering the bael leaves, he neither prayed nor recited hymns,
nor did he repeat the Lord’s name aloud but his eyes spoke to the lingam. For him it was a living
presence; such tenderness, such gentleness, characterised every movement. Right then, in the
twinkling of an eye, and unnoticed by anyone else, he turned around and worshipped the
worshippers with the flowers. ‘God is not only there, he is everywhere’. Gurudev worshipped the
Lord in all, worshipped the cosmic form.
Vibhuti Yoga
Gurudev was the greatest and perhaps the only recent exemplar of the Vibhuti yoga (the
yoga dealing with the glories and the manifestations of the Lord) as described in the 10th Chapter of
the Bhagavad Gita. Those who heard his inspiring lectures either during his epochal All-India Tour
or on important occasions at the ashram itself, could not have failed to notice how the Master laid
the greatest emphasis on this practice. He exalted it, putting it on a par with raja, bhakti, karma and
jnana yoga. It is a dynamic jnana-bhakti yoga. To the list of vibhutis (glories or manifestations)
given by Lord Krishna in the Gita, Gurudev added quite a few of his own. He sang the Song of
Vibhuti Yoga:
soham soham sivoham soham
om om om om om om om om om
I am neither mind nor body, immortal self I am
I am witness of three states, I am knowledge absolute
I am fragrance in jassamine, beauty in flowers
I am coolness in the ice, flavour in coffee.
I am greenness in the leaf, hue in the rainbow,
I am taste bud in the tongue, essence in orange.
I am mind of all minds, prana of all pranas,
I am soul of all souls, self of all selves.
I am atman in all beings, apple of all eyes,
I am sun of all suns, light of all lights, etc. etc.,
I am that I am, I am that I am
I am that I am, I am that I am.
This is obviously what the Lord meant in the Gita, where He only indicates the line of
approach to this practice, and Himself admits that He has not exhausted the list of his vibhutis.
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How did Gurudev practise vibhuti yoga? Everything reminded him of the manifestation of
God. When he came out of his room and saw the Ganga, he would remember Krishna saying, “I am
Ganga among rivers”, and while gazing at the Himalayas, “Among the immovables, I am the
Himalayas”. The sun, the moon, the stars, the peepul tree, intelligent people, and even robust
wrestlers, boxers and gymnasts, are manifestations of God. When you look at their strength, you
realise it is something divine. Often it looked as if Gurudev favoured wealthy people, but to the
Master this man’s affluence was just another vibhuti of God, that prosperity, that brilliance of his
intellect is divine. Lord Krishna said, “I am the brilliance of the brilliant”. It needs some training to
see, not the human physical personality, but rather the spark–the light–a manifestation of the divine.
Even things which normally ‘feed the senses’ appeared in a different light to him. Delicious
food not only tickled the nerves of his palate, but reminded him of God who is the deliciousness in
all dishes. Music, rather than drawing his consciousness outwards and disturbing his mind, helped
to preserve his sahaja avastha (the natural and continuous superconscious state). He saw only the
power of the Lord in all these. The silence in the forest was no longer frightening; it was the
manifestation of the Lord. Thus in everything the loving beloved Lord was seen and realised. This
Continuous awareness of the presence of God is sahaja avastha.
This practice is not as easy as it might appear at first sight. The mind is a creature of likes
and dislikes–clinging to or shying away from objects. The senses have been accustomed to regard
the objects as food and sources of pleasure and run riot at the least chance. These have no place in
the practice of vibhuti yoga, the practice of the presence of God, where the ruling characteristic is
one continuous unbroken love for all beings, for the Lord who dwells in all beings.
To get the spiritual aspirant established in this habit of seeing God in all, Gurudev taught,
“First see God in all the special manifestations of divinity. Look up. See the vast infinite blue sky.
Doesn’t this remind you of God? Look at the resplendent sun and contemplate the self-luminous
self. Gaze at the holy waters of the Ganga and see the Lord. Mentally prostrate to these
manifestations. Gradually the vision will expand to behold the Lord in even asses and donkeys.
Root out the idea of evil from your mind. When you see someone whom your mind regards as a
wicked person, mentally repeat, ‘God is the gambling in the cheat’ (dyutam chalayatamasmi). See
God in him and all contempt will vanish at once. You will neither hate nor dread the dacoit, for the
Lord himself is the chief among them–’taskaranam pataye namah’. In course of time you will be
firmly rooted in the practice of the omnipresence of God. To aid and intensify this practice,
Gurudev asked the aspirant to select some good mantra, verse or formula to use in conjunction with
the object seen. For example:
(1) akasavat sarvagata nitya (Brahman is all-pervading and eternal like the sky).
(2) pusannekarse yama surya prajapatya vyuhar-asmin samuha tejo yatte rupam
kalyanatamam, tat te pasyami yosavasau purusas-sohamasmi (Upanishad) (O Sun, our
nourisher, the sole traveller of the Heavens, controller of all. O Surya, son of Prajapati, I
behold thy glorious form. I am He; the Purusha within thee).
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(3) jyotisamapi tat jyotih tamasah paramucyate jnanam jneyam jnanagamyam, hridi
sarvasya visitam (Gita) (That, the light of all lights, is said to be beyond darkness;
knowledge, the knowable, the goal of knowledge, seated in the hearts of all).
Closely related to this practice of vibhuti yoga, is namaskara yoga–the yoga of humble
prostrations. A practitioner of this yoga, without entertaining the idea of high and low, invariably
offers humble prostration to all beings, even to asses, trees and seemingly inanimate things etc., and
thereby succeeds in effacing his inordinate and unbending ego, the little self, to obtain serenity of
mind and purity of heart–the two prerequisites for any higher attainment in spiritual practice.
This valuable practice had been totally neglected, especially by monks and the great
paramahamsa sannyasins of Rishikesh, until Gurudev made it an integral part of his spiritual
practice. Having clothed their unwillingness to bend with the high philosophical question, “Who is
to prostrate to whom?”, they discovered a missing link in their practice and learnt from Gurudev
that in the absence of wisdom, the vanity stemming from spiritual practice, philosophical thinking,
dispassion for and renunciation of worldly objects, is a more powerful factor to contend with than
the vanity born of wealth, birth and education etc. Namaskara yoga done with the correct attitude is
one of the best ways of keeping this subtle vanity away. In his own disciples, Gurudev constantly
strove to instil this natural humility. The Master treated all his disciples as though they were gods.
He would not even send for his disciples (even when he was over sixty) if he had something to ask
or tell them, or some work to be done, but would himself go from room to room and the expression
on his face was indescribable, as if he was saying, “You are my Master, you are my God.”
Swami Paramanandaji, Gurudev’s first disciple, recalled this very beautiful incident that
happened to him very early in his contact with the Master, in Swarg Ashram in the 1930’s. This
young man–he was not a swami then and still very young–came to the Master, seeking to become
his disciple and Swami Sivananda asked him, “Do you know how to behave towards a swami, how
to greet one?” He himself provided the answer: “Stand there, this is how one does it,” and he fell flat
on the floor, prostrate at the boy’s feet.
Visitors to the Ashram and those whom Gurudev contacted during his tours, recall that
whenever they met the Master, it was he who first bowed down and touched their feet. Often they
would only later be able to touch his, but this never made the slightest difference to the Master. He
went on with his practice and eventually the contagion spread to others who also came to
understand that nothing that enables one to cultivate real humility should be neglected. I am not
suggesting that just because he bowed down or fell at somebody’s feet that that is humility. No, you
had to look into his face and into his eyes, to see that he was not seeing ‘you’ at all. With the
prostration Gurudev would invariably repeat, “Om namo Narayanaya” (salutations to the Supreme
Lord) signifying that he was not bowing to the physical being of that person in order to curry favour
but to the Lord who is manifest in all beings in the universe. A beautiful peace and radiance was on
his face. Afterwards he might talk and joke with you, but when he greeted you it was if he was
standing in front of God Himself. It mattered little therefore to him whether the person was a
renowned monk, venerable anchorite, pious householder, devil’s disciple or habitual criminal;
everyone received his salutation–even people far below him in age. Age belongs to the unreal body
and not to the eternal Narayana hidden in it. This salutation was not an empty show, but one which
sprang from the core of Gurudev’s heart, from the direct realisation of the all-prevading oneness of
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SEE GOD IN ALL

God, and it was coupled with a genuine veneration of all. This humility I have not seen in any other
person on earth.
This walking divinity and world preceptor would always use the respectful plural mode of
address for anyone, even a child; “Aap” in Hindi. “neengal” in Tamil. Not one harsh word or insult
could ever escape his lips, not even in a dream. He never spoke to people as human personalities but
regarded everyone as God.
Gurudev’s disciples therefore had to undergo this unenviable experience daily. Not only
would the Master fold his palms and reverently bow to the disciple, but he would repeat the
disciple’s name in the same manner in which the Lord’s name is repeated. Here is the sacred
formula with which he greeted his disciples as he emerged from his abode in the morning to go to
the office:
“Haro hara, tat-twam-asi, om shanti, banami khuda mubarak, namah sivaya, namo
narayanaya, namo bhagavate vasudevaya, namo bhagavate ...... (using the name of the particular
disciple), namo bhagavati ganga rani, hari om tat sat.”
We have heard of preceptors extracting service from their disciples and lovingly imposing
hardships and enforcing stern discipline upon them in order that they might evolve. They taught
their disciples using the rod if need be, admonishing them at every turn. One of the traditional
interpretations of the guru is, ‘one who grabs you by the hand and leads you to God-realisation: to
whom you dedicate tan, man, dhan, (lit... body, mind and wealth)’. You hand over to the guru
everything that you possess and after such surrender he imparts to you the knowledge of the truth.
Gurudev was unique because, first of all he did not expect his disciples to surrender
themselves to him. He gave them complete and total freedom because he pointed out that you
should in yourself, of yourself and for your own self, free yourself from the self and the world at
large. He served his disciples, and willingly imposed hardships upon himself in order that they
might have all the facilities necessary for their practice and spiritual evolution. He would never
dream of enforcing any kind of discipline on his disciples. The only method by which he taught was
EXAMPLE, and this without even directing the disciple’s attention to that example. Daily, he
would go on demonstrating the tenets of divine life, so that one day, someday, the disciple might
learn–to be humble, to bow down to all, to see God in all.
Devotional Singing
Sankirtan is the devotional singing of the Lord’s names. Sankirtan and Gurudev are almost
synonymous terms. Sankirtan was revived through him and in this, as in several aspects of his life
and mission, Gurudev represented a synthesis of the foremost saints of recent times. Like Gauranga
Mahaprabhu, he danced and sang the Mahamantra (the greatest mantra for this age of Kali which
easily bestows liberation on those who resort to it) on countless platforms throughout India. The
mantra is:
Hare Rama, Hare Rama: Rama Rama, Hare Hare
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna: Krishna Krishna Hare Hare.
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With Sri Chaitanya, Gurudev shared erudition in the scriptures and a firm grounding in
Vedanta which meant that his sankirtan was born of wisdom and not of mere blind sentiment. Like
Mirabai he sang songs full of devotion, and like Kabir he composed lyrics full of the spirit of
dispassion and wisdom.
In fact Gurudev’s whole mission started with sankirtan conferences which he presided over
in Punjab. He had a good singing voice and musical talent, so that through his sankirtan, he was able
to inspire and transform the lives of many, and convert atheists into devotees.
He loved to sing and dance. The Master’s was an imposing and marvellous figure whether
he was dancing or not and it was delightful, beautiful, inspiring to watch him dance, singing;
“Chidanand, Chidanand, Chidananda Hum.” It seems this was what he had set himself to do in the
beginning, in the early thirties. He had written in a letter to Swami Paramananda, “This is what we
must do–sing kirtan and through sankirtan alone, we should conquer, change and bring about a
spiritual revolution in India and the world.”
The whole mission started by his allowing himself to be associated with societies
established to promote such singing and dancing and other such devotional practices. But then very
soon he discovered that where a devotional society got established the society predominated more
and more and devotion grew less and less. He thought it was dangerous. He also discovered that
mere chanting developed into emotionalism. This would not do. So, the Divine Life Society was
formed, where sankirtan was integrated with all the other forms of yoga.
His philosophically inspiring songs contain the very essence of his teachings, and are
couched in the language which has enabled them to travel throughout the world. Here is one of
them:
“sunaja sunaja sunaja Krishna
tu-gita-wala jnana sunaja Krishna–
Serve. Love. Give. Purify. Meditate. Realise.
Be good, do good, be kind, be compassionate.
Enquire ‘who am I’ know the self and be free.
Adapt. Adjust. Accommodate.
Bear insult. Bear injury. (This is) highest sadhana.
Be honest, be sincere, be truthful.
Be patient, be obedient, be tolerant.
Be gentle, be humble, be noble,
Be bold, be pure, be wise, be virtuous.
Be still, quiet, know thy self.
Purification, concentration, reflection, meditation.
Illumination, identification, absorption, salvation.
These are the eight stages to self-realisation
Inspiration, illumination, revelation.
Ecstasy, rapture, vision of truth
These are the signs of spiritual progress.
Find the knower, find the hearer, find the taster.
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SEE GOD IN ALL

(Find the seer) (find the smeller)
You’re not this body, not this mind, immortal self you are.
Devotion, dedication and discipline,
service, sacrifice, sublimation.
Simplify, purify, intensify.
Simplify your life and purify your heart,
Intensify your sadhana and meditation
Intensify your vairagya (dispassion) and mumukshutva (yearning for liberation)
Satsang, santosh and shanti (peace, contentment and company of truth)
Seclusion, silence and sat-vichar (pure thinking)
Re-integrate, rejuvenate, renovate,
Co-operate, collaborate, co-ordinate.
D.I.N., D.I.N., D.I.N.,
Do it now, do it now, do it now.
T.I.N., T.I.N., T.I.N.,
Try it now, try it now, try it now.
K.I.V., K.I.V., K.I.V.,
Keep in view, keep in view, keep in view.
Nishta, bhav, mahabhav, prem (grades of relationship with God)
Seek, find, enter and rest,
Enquire, discover and recover.
This is the way, this is the truth, this is life divine.
The Mahamantra was of course Gurudev’s favourite.
Hare Rama, Hare Rama; Rama, Rama, Hare Hare.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna; Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare.
It is a divine boon to the people of this age and the Master left no stone unturned to enshrine
it in the heart of every aspirant. In fact, he was so fond of this Mahamantra that he instituted the
continuous chanting of this great mantra at the ashram on the 3rd December 1943, and this chant has
been going on there continuously day and night, generating an all-powerful spiritual current,
invisibly helping all aspirants in their spiritual endeavour. Gurudev encouraged all organisers of
conferences and other functions and celebrations of importance to arrange for the continuous
chanting of this mantra to synchronise with the event, and assured them success in their endeavour.
A remarkable characteristic of the Master’s songs is that they are non-dualistic at base. They
vividly portray his ultimate realisation of godhead and his catholic understanding that the Lord is
thought of and worshipped in an infinite variety of ways by people of various temperaments and
spiritual equipment. Though the mahamantra is more or less a common feature at the Ashram
gatherings, Gurudev had his own special songs for invoking various deities each day of the week.
The Sun God on Sunday, Lord Siva on Monday, Divine Mother and Lord Subramanya on Tuesday,
Lord Krishna on Wednesday, Guru (preceptor) on Thursday, Divine Mother on Friday and
Hanuman on Saturday. During the festivals Gurudev would always sing songs in honour of the
particular deity adored, such as Durga, Lakshmi, and Sarasvati during Navaratri; Lord Siva on
Sivaratri, Lord Rama on Sri Ramanavami and Lord Krishna on Janmashtami days.
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Gurudev’s love of all religions was amply portrayed by his songs on Jesus, Allah, Zoroaster
and Buddha. These were sung on all important occasions in the Ashram and also whenever the
prayer meeting was attended by people belonging to various religions.
Again, by his own example, the Master showed aspirants how to sing hymns for the sake of
the Lord, and not for showing off. He had no use for much noise and instrumental accompaniment,
neither did he set much store by the frenzied singing of the Lord’s names, which is often followed
by a state of nervous exhaustion, frequently mistaken for the superconscious state. He said, “Sing
the hymns sweetly, melodiously and softly, always feeling that the Lord, seated in your heart, is
listening. Such singing will lead you to superconsciousness (samadhi).”
Satsanga
Another vital spiritual practice that the Master emphasised was satsanga. Sat means truth,
God, reality, or that which exists. Sanga means keeping company, association, sitting together.
Satsanga also means getting inspiration from a holy man. It is not so easy to be inspired by a holy
man. How do you even recognise a holy man unless you are also holy? It is for this reason that there
is so much insistence on self-purification. Purify yourself, prepare yourself and equip yourself with
the proper insight, then of course you will recognise the truth, you will recognise holiness wherever
it is found.
What is holiness, what is truth, what is God? You cannot measure the degree of holiness in
everyone that you meet. You must keep the company of holiness, the company of truth. Satsanga is
that company in which your mind, your thoughts and your inner being draws closer to truth, closer
to God. One who enjoys this satsanga finds that within him something is awakened. Satsanga
merely reminds you of something that has somehow been overlaid with the ashes and the dust and
dirt of modern living. In satsanga an inner glowing and blossoming is experienced, as the ashes that
have piled up on this inner truth are blown away.
Two of the greatest oriental scriptures exalt satsanga in just this fashion–the Bhagavatam
and the Yoga-Vasishta. The Bhagavatam–the Book of God (which is comparable to the Holy
Bible), tells us that it is in satsanga that we are reminded of the glory of God and of the evanescence
of life.
The Master explained why such frequent reminders are so important. He used to say,
“Maya, or illusion, the illusory power of God, the power that deludes and confuses the mind cannot
be described. It is as indescribable as God. However it is possible to point out what this Maya is
capable of doing. For instance there is what is known as ”smashana vairagya (dispassion which
arises during a funeral. There you are reminded that you too will die, perhaps tomorrow, so you
resolve that from today you will be good. The resolution does not even last until you get home. That
illusive power which makes you forget your resolve as fast as that, is called Maya. Gurudev
declared that it was satsanga that sustains wisdom and saves us from such delusion.
The Yoga Vasishta also mentions that there are four gate-keepers to the mansion of truth,
and one of them is satsanga. It says: “Keep company with satsanga and he will let you in very
easily”.
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SEE GOD IN ALL

The Master was so very fond of this satsanga that we had it every night in the ashram, seven
days a week, every week of the year, without one day being missed. The number of people who
attended did not matter. Sometimes there were three, sometimes thirty, sometimes three
hundred–who was there and who was not there was also not important. The personalities were not
important at all, but rather it was the spirit in which we get together that mattered.
Even though over the years the satsanga underwent quite a lot of change, still the basic
structure was preserved. Gurudev began at one stage to celebrate events like Christmas, New
Year’s Eve, his own birthday and some auspicious holy day in the Hindu calendar, as part of the
satsanga. On New Year’s Eve the satsanga lasted until quarter past twelve, when the Master would
look at his watch, “The New Year is rung in–OM. Hari Rama ......... ” Easter was also celebrated as
well as some of the holy festivals of all religions in the world. The Durga puja was celebrated on a
very grand scale every year. The Master was not at all averse to rituals; on the contrary he loved
them. Sometimes dramas or plays were enacted. All these were incorporated into the basic
framework of the satsanga, which remained unchanged.
In 1924 when the Master entered his little town called Rishikesh at the foot of the
Himalayas, he had only just become a swami and was still a mendicant and almost unknown. He
was about forty and as such fairly junior to the other great holy men in Swarg Ashram. But as a bold
and practical idealist, Gurudev discovered even then that Satsanga was the fan to keep alive the fire
of God-love in the spiritual aspirant’s heart. Gurudev’s work then was to bring all these holy men
together in satsanga. Previously they had all had their own followers and it was he who suggested,
“Why doesn’t everybody get together on the same platform, so that all the people may see you and
listen to you?” This was Gurudev’s genius.
He used to stay in the background and said, “I am not so important. I am not even necessary
for the satsanga, except to create the platform, spread the mats and prepare seats for these holy men
to sit on.” When he moved over to the present ashram site, the first thing he did was to ensure that
there was a satsanga every night in the ashram–summer, winter, rainy season or monsoon. In winter
they used to go up the hill where it was less cold and in summer satsanga was on the Ganges river
bank, where it was cool. Even when his body’s health was deteriorating, he did not miss a satsanga,
and we were blessed that he did not, for it was he who was the Sat in the Sanga: i.e. the divinity
whose company was sought by those who gathered there. He was a holy man; he didn’t need
anybody’s company, and yet, walking with the aid of a long stick, he used to come to the prayer hall
every night. When the body didn’t allow even that much of walking, he used to hold the shoulders
of two people and walk–still he came to satsanga. Nobody could prevent him from doing that. Later,
when he was not quite sure whether the legs could even sustain the body, hold it up, he said, “Oh,
the legs are a bit wobbly, what are we going to do?” He was a doctor, so of course he knew the
solution. “Bring me a wheelchair.” I don’t know if I can convey this to you. A Swami, a Yogi, who
but a few years before that was in radiant health, wonderful health, better health than all of us put
together, this holy man was not reluctant at all to be wheeled in this chair to the satsanga. Later he
couldn’t even sit in the satsanga. I wonder if you can enter into the spirit of this–for instance it is
even considered improper for someone to lie down during a church service, but he said, “I am not
able to sit. I will come to the satsanga, lie down there, but I must come.”
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To the aspirants who made the ashram their abode and to those disciples who lived in the
hundreds of cities where Divine Life Society branches function, Gurudev gave this wholesome
advice: “Pray together, meditate together, sing together”. If any aspirant missed a satsanga, saying
that he was engaged in individual spiritual practice, Gurudev, with a mischievous smile playing
upon his eyes and lips, would enquire, “And you had a wonderful superconscious state?” Often he
remarked, “All that individual practice means is sleep; in congregational prayer and meditation
however, a powerful current is generated and the individual aspirant’s mind is elevated to great
spiritual heights.”
Gurudev’s satsanga was itself unique in many ways. It was very beautiful and wonderful,
and combined songs in praise of the Lord, chanting his names, music, study of scriptures,
discourses etc. It catered and appealed to the needs and temperaments of all; it satisfied everyone’s
hunger. In the early days, there were only about ten or fifteen of us and perhaps ten visitors. We all
sat in two rows and there was a little altar with a wick lamp on it. There was also a hurricane lantern
on a small stool, which had to be passed around to help some of us read from the scriptures. The
satsanga started with:
om om om
jaya ganesha jaya ganesha jaya ganesha pahimam
sri ganesha sri ganesha sri ganesha raksha mam
jaya guru siva guru hari guru ram
jagadguru paramguru sadguru shyam
adi guru advaita guru ananda guru om
chidguru chidghana guru chinmaya guru om
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare
hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare
(later this was greatly expanded)
Then the lamp was passed to the first person sitting on the Master’s left, who would read a
chapter of the Gita, with or without translation. As soon as that was finished, that person would lead
in chanting a kirtan and then the lantern would be pushed to the next person, who read from some
other scripture. This person would also lead the next kirtan. And so it would go round.
Sometimes the Master used to ask somebody or other to read an article which he had written
that day. This was very interesting. Someone might have gone to him to complain that someone else
rebuked him in anger. The Master did not rebuke the person who rebuked because it might hurt him.
Instead he would write a nice article, “The danger of anger”. (Sometimes he would give it to the
person concerned to type.) He would bring it to the satsanga to be read by the one who lost his
temper. It hits home! It is meant for him.
From there on, everyone had to lead in singing a kirtan. It was not enough to sing in chorus.
The Master would not accept any excuse or explanation. He pointed out that shyness was an
obstacle to spiritual progress. When everyone had finished, the Master would conclude with the
mahamantra kirtan and the mahamrityunjaya mantra. The satsang concluded with arati and the
most sublime peace chants, beautifully expressive of his innermost feelings;
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SEE GOD IN ALL

Om sarvesam svastir bhavatu,
sarvesam santir bhavatu,
sarvesam purnam bhavatu,
sarvesam mangalam bhavatu,
sarve bhavantu sukhinah,
sarve santu niramayah,
sarve bhadrani pasyantu,
ma kaschit duhkha-bhagbhavet.
asato ma sat gamaya,
tamaso ma jyotir gamaya,
mrityor ma amritam gamaya.
Om purnamadah purnamidam
purnat purnamudachyate
purnasya purnamadaya
purnameva vasistyate
Om santih santih santih
The spirit of the above chants is as follows: “May all be blessed with well-being,
auspiciousness, peace and fullness. May all be happy and free from illness. May all see only good;
and may no ill befall anyone. O Lord, lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light and
from mortality to immortality. The Lord is full; the creation is also full. The latter has appeared in
the Lord, and yet the Lord is everfull. Om. Peace. Peace. Peace.”
After this the Master would walk away very quietly so that the profound thoughts and ideas
heard from the scriptures would still be fresh and ringing in our minds and heart as we went to bed.
This was the whole basic structure of the satsanga. Gurudev encouraged people to have
satsanga in their own homes, perhaps with a few neighbours, choosing their own scriptures.
Gurudev was one of the greatest living votaries of practical prayer, prayer which rises from
the heart and thus pervades and nourishes every cell of man’s being, even as the heart’s blood
pervades and nourishes the body. At satsanga and at other times too, one would often hear Gurudev
say, “Mr. So-and-so passed away today. Let us pray for the peace of the departed soul”, or “Today is
Mrs. So-and-so’s birthday, let us pray for her health and long life”. Then he himself would conduct
the congregational chanting of the Lord’s names and conclude with a two minute silent meditation
and prayer. Only subtle eyes of intuition could notice the powerful spiritual current generated by a
whole gathering of devotees at the holy feet of this incarnate divinity, offering silent prayer to the
Almighty to bless the person on whose behalf the prayer had been offered. This prayer has literally
wrought miracles.
Prayer
Apart from this the Master always insisted on our praying for all, and absolutely unselfishly.
For instance, while praying for the health and long life of someone visiting the ashram, Gurudev
50

would always sing, “May the Lord bless Mr... and family, and the whole world, with health,
long life, peace, bliss and immortality”. And after giving the usual three cheers, “Long live Mr.
So-and-so and family”, he would give the fourth cheer to the whole of mankind.
This prayer was not confined to human beings. An injured dog or monkey would invariably
evoke from Gurudev, the mahamrityunjaya mantra (the holy formula dedicated to Lord Siva),
which wards off all kinds of accidents, bestows health and long life and ultimately confers
immortality on one.
om tryambakam yajamahe sugandhim pustivardhanam
urvarukamiva bandhanan mrtyor muksiya mamrtat.
(We worship the Lord who promotes health and strength. May he liberate us from death). A
dead lizard on Gurudev’s path would earn the mahamantra prayer for the peace of the soul. To
Gurudev, all beings were equal and prayer was always universal.
Gurudev asked us to make our entire life one long prayer, by living for the realisation of God
and for the service of humanity. Until prayer becomes habitual, Gurudev exhorts us to take the help
of any prop that is available. Temples, idols, images, pictures, saints and sacred books etc., all these
should be made the best use of to keep up the constant current of prayer. Pictures of Gods and
Goddesses were hung in the office and the prayer hall. Gurudev did not, as almost everyone does,
hang a picture up with the best of intentions, and then forget all about it. He wove their existence
into his daily life. As soon as he entered the office, he would glance at them all–they were part of his
‘staff’–as if to affirm: “So, here am I, to do Thy will, as Thy instrument”. A moment’s silent prayer
was offered before Gurudev commenced his work. When one task was completed and the next job
was about to begin, or when one visitor left and the next was about to enter, he would lean back in
his chair, close one eye and with the other just throw a glance at one of the pictures of God. That
split second was eternity, infinity, supreme peace and bliss–thus the contact with the absolute was
continuously kept up.
The Master was so serious about this practice that if one picture was disturbed or removed,
he would at once notice it and have it restored. What need had Gurudev, the supreme being, to resort
to these props of devotion? He was consciously rooted forever in Brahmic consciousness! Only to
set an example for us to follow.
This is the beautiful and soul-elevating Universal Prayer which Gurudev composed:
O adroble Lord of mercy and love
Salutations and prostrations unto Thee
Thou art sat-chid-ananda (existence, knowledge, bliss absolute)
Thou art omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient;
Thou art the Indweller of all beings.
Grant us an understanding heart, equal vision, balanced mind, faith, devotion and wisdom.
Grant us inner spiritual strength to resist temptations and to control the mind.
Free us from egoism, lust, greed, anger and hatred.
Fill our hearts with divine virtues.
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Let us behold Thee in all these names and forms.
Let us serve Thee in all these names and forms.
Let us ever remember Thee.
Let us ever sing Thy Glories.
Let Thy name be ever on our lips.
Let us abide in thee forever and ever.
There is no doubt that one who offers this prayer morning and evening will obtain the
Lord’s choicest blessings and rapidly evolve towards Godhead, to shine as a liberated soul here and
now.
Faith In God
The Master used to say very often, “You are talking about God’s grace. Do you know how
to experience God’s grace? Not by paying lip service. If you want to enjoy God’s grace, depend on
nothing else for sometime. Without telling anybody, leave the ashram and walk away. When you
feel hungry, somebody may give you food. When you feel tired, lie down. Live like this for a few
days, you will then come to know what God’s grace is. You will find that an unknown person,
someone whom you have never met in your life, might come and say, ‘Where are you coming from?
Won’t you come in and have a cup of tea?’ You will look into his face and see God’s grace. You will
feel, ‘Here is God’s grace. I don’t deserve it. I have done nothing for this man and he is probably
very poor. He offers me a cup of tea.’ This is God’s grace. You are lying down somewhere,
someone sees you shivering with cold and comes and throws a blanket over your body. You look at
him and realise, ‘This is God’s grace.’ Somebody may even slap you–that too you enjoy as God’s
grace.” God’s grace is not something which the brain can invent. It has to be experienced.
The Master himself did this in 1941 when there were still only a few people living with him.
No one has been able to discover why he decided to leave the ashram. One afternoon the Master did
not return to his office as usual and his room was empty. They found a note, “I am retiring. I have
appointed Swami Paramananda to be the president after me and I would like the work to continue.”
He had gone. It seems he kept walking towards Hardwar. One night he spent in a temple and the
next morning he went on walking aimlessly. Aimlessly–that was the aim. When night fell, he
looked around, there was a haystack so he got in there and fell asleep. The next morning he
discovered it was a muslim’s house. This muslim looked after him for a day or two. Then Gurudev
kept moving and was eventually picked up by a man who had a small sugar-cane farm. This man
made him stay there for a few days and gave him sugar-cane juice. In the meantime everyone in
Rishikesh, Hardwar and throughout the entire district knew that Swami Sivananda was missing. A
swami had gone in search of the Master, and finding him, begged, “Oh, please come back to the
ashram.” It was only then that this sugar-cane man realised that he had been host to a very great sage
of the Himalayas. This man then became a great devotee of the Master’s and every year he used to
bring two big drums of sugar-cane juice in commemoration of that wonderful event. And Gurudev
also used to point out straight away, “I stayed at his house for two days.”
It is when you have such experiences that you begin to have faith in God. From belief, you
have graduated to faith. It is still only faith, but it is strong enough to sustain us, in life until one day,
by God’s grace again, we have a direct experience of God’s omnipresence and realise that God
52

alone is, nothing else is. At this stage one realises that ‘I’ cannot realise God. God alone is real.
When the ego dissolves, then God knows Himself. Self-realisation is the cancellation of the self.
God-realisation is God realising Himself. ‘I’ does nothing at all, it is God who does all unto himself.
This is the heart of bhakti yoga, the essence of God-realisation.
Though as the natural ‘fruit’ of Gurudev’s bhakti yoga practices he enjoyed the visions of
divinities and sages, though his prayers for the sick healed them and his prayers for the afflicted
removed their afflictions and even altered the destinies of devotees (many of these are recorded in
the book “Miracles of Sivananda”), his utter egolessness was the supreme manifestation of bhakti.
Such egolessness is indeed love that is God.
CHAPTER FOUR
VIRTUE AND VISION
In raja yoga, as in all the other yogas, the first step is discipline. This has been emphasised
by all spiritual Masters, some more than others, some of them preferring the extremes, and others
not. In raja yoga this foundational discipline is called yama. Yama in sanskrit means ‘the restrainer’
as also ‘death’. Gurudev said, “Remember God and remember death.” Bring death into your daily
life, this is called yama.
According to the Yoga Sutras, this yama is five-fold, Ahimsa–non-violence or
non-aggressiveness; Satyam–truthfulness; asteya–non-stealing or non-hoarding; brahmacharya–a
state in which the mind dwells constantly in God (or in a more restricted sense, celibacy, purity) and
aparigraha–non-greediness. The observances or niyamas consist of saucha (internal and external
purity), santosha (contentment), tapas (austerity), svadhyaya (study of religious books) and
ishvara-pranidhana (self-surrender to the Lord). Some Masters suggest that unless you are already
equipped with all these, you should not set foot on the path of yoga. Gurudev however with a
twinkle in his eye and a beautiful smile on his lips would say, “If you wait till you acquire all these,
it may take you ten lifetimes. By all means cultivate them, but side by side go on with your japa and
meditation and other yoga practices, however imperfect they may be”.
Even among great Masters, Gurudev Sivananda was endowed with an abundance of
common-sense. When it came to discipline, he often pointed out, “Don’t make any violent efforts to
control yourself, as there will be a reaction”. If on the other hand the discipline comes from within
you, it is so natural that there is no effort involved in it at all. Any imposition will cause an inner
rebellion. Gurudev said it so often, “Don’t go to extremes. Beware of the reaction.” The Master was
not fond of such extreme asceticism, extreme rigidity, any extremes. Even vows he didn’t like.
Though he used to encourage people to make resolves, he clearly distinguished between the two.
Resolves yes, vows no.
I remember a rather unpleasant incident when there was a misunderstanding between two of
Gurudev’s disciples. One accused the other of impertinence–of insulting behaviour. The Master
53
SEE GOD IN ALL

was resting on his easy chair, when both of them arrived. The man who had misbehaved was
standing near the Master’s feet, when suddenly he was overcome with some sort of sentiment or
emotion, and lifting up his hands, he said, “Swamiji, I take a vow...”. “Oh, stop it, stop it,” said the
Master and would not let him complete the sentence. This man was going to vow that thereafter he
would never again insult anybody. Gurudev said, “How do you know what you will do later on?
You take a vow now, and tomorrow if you break it, you will be haunted for doing so. Rather say, ‘I
will try not to... I resolve to... Please God, may I...’ Resolves, yes; vows, no.”
One can tell another, “This is good and this is not so good.” It is good to lead a simple life,
eat moderately, not take spicy food, etc., but to impose this on another does not work. I have never
seen the Master do that.
In 1944, the Master, en route from Rishikesh to Bombay, was passing through the Delhi
railway station. Some of us youngsters, who were working in Delhi at the time, and who were also
conducting the Delhi branch of the Divine Life Society, went to see him at the railway station. And
Gurudev arrived there and was talking to us–bubbling with energy and enthusiasm. One had to see
him to understand and appreciate what a radiant personality meant. He asked us all, “How are you
and what are you doing, etc. etc.” Amongst us there was one married man and Gurudev asked him,
“How is your wife?”. “She’s not here, Swamiji. She’s gone home to Madras.” “Let her remain
there,” said Gurudev. “Lead a single life, an independent life. Let her stay there.” But this man was
very fond of his wife. He said, “But how long will I have to remain alone, Swamiji? I don’t feel so
very happy about it”. “Is that so? Oh, in that case immediately bring her back.” He had said what he
wanted to say, but if you had other views he changed immediately. It was amazing to watch this
happen.
Another incident. A fairly young man, already a renunciate, a mendicant, had come to the
ashram. He had a wonderful flowing beard. He said to Gurudev, “I would like to stay here as your
sanyasi-disciple.” “Then you will have to shave your head and beard”, said Gurudev. He
hesitatingly consented. Noticing this, the Master quickly added, “But you can grow it again
immediately afterwards. The shaving is only for the initiation ceremony.” That was the beauty.
Gurudev said what he wanted to say, but he watched very very carefully, very cautiously, to see if
you were responding to it joyously, happily, or whether you were responding because you felt you
were under some compulsion–in which case he would immediately pull back. It was a fantastic and
remarkable thing to watch.
Whatever discipline the Master advocated, it had to enter into you, and then blossom like
flowers from within. The flowers come from within the tree. You and I have to go to the florist to
buy a bunch, the tree does not. This is the difference between something that is natural and
something that is artificial. The artificial discipline which comes into being, because you were
made to under duress, does not last–usually it leads only to a dreadful reaction. This was not the
Master’s way at all.
For some time, he was an extreme ascetic. Something else came along and he was prepared
to adapt all the time. He could sleep on the floor, and if you provided him with a little mat he would
sleep on that with equal joy and cheer. He could sleep on the most comfortable bed also if that was
there. Rigidity, as also extremes, I never saw in our Master. And no vows were taken. In prayerful
54

mood, you contemplate the virtues and the disciplines you wish to cultivate. In a prayerful mood,
meditate and remember these things every morning and let them grow in you. This was beautiful
and wonderful teaching.
Yama-Niyama
The divine qualities that constitute the first two angas (limbs) of the ashtanga yoga,
Gurudev had at birth. Each quality might require several births for an aspirant to acquire, but all of
them had become second nature to him, whose very actions portrayed the perfection that is
attainable in these. Ahimsa, for instance, was inevitable to him. He was incapable of wounding the
feelings of anyone. Those who met him knew that his words were full of honey and nectar. Not a
harsh word, nor an unkind remark could ever escape his lips, for they were not in his heart at all. He
was not able to entertain a thought of hatred or ill-feeling towards anyone. I have seen that nothing
in the world could make him restless except the thought that perhaps a well-meant word,
misunderstood by a disciple, might have hurt his feelings. It happened only once in all the years I
was with Gurudev–a guilty conscience was pricked (hurt) by a noble piece of advice given by the
Master. And the extent to which he went to reassure that devotee that he had only the highest
opinion of him, and that he lived only to serve that disciple, was incredible.
No doubt Gurudev’s writings are full of admonitions, and his lectures too, contained quite a
few of them. However, in conversation he was always all-love, all-praise, all-encouragement.
“Never hurt others’ feelings: be kind to all.” This was one of the most emphatic teachings of
the Master and there was no one who practised it to perfection more than he. In practice, he
disapproved even of righteous indignation and in a case where other Masters would demand and
justify, “the use of rod,” Gurudev adopted none other than the methods that he himself had placed
before us, “Serve, Love, Give, Meditate.” Serve the person you wish to mould and re-form; love
him, meditate and pray for him. This is the path of non-violence. In Gurudev, non-violence became
the positive virtue of cosmic love; love in thought, word and deed; love in everyday life, every
minute, with every breath. It pervaded even the way he walked. He was a gigantic figure but the feet
fell so softly, so lightly, no one could even hear. When Gurudev walked along the road, it was a
delight just to stand and watch. Sometimes he used to hold a bag in one hand and a hurricane lamp in
the other. In that step there was non-violence, in that foot-fall there was love; so that even if there
was a dry leaf it wouldn’t be crushed, even if he trod on ants they would not be injured; so soft were
his movements.
The touchstone of one established in non-violence is that he cannot bear for a moment the
sufferings of others, without literally running to relieve their pain. If Gurudev was taking a bath in
the Ganges and a living insect came floating by, struggling for life, he would, without a second
thought, take in into his palm and place it on the bank. Once he revealed to us without the least trace
of disgust on his face, “If a worm or an insect is struggling for life in faecal matter, I remove it and
protect it.” He would not allow others to harm any being on earth.
I have seen this with my own eyes. An ashramite had taken out for airing the cot on which
Gurudev used to sleep and discovered that it was an abode of bugs. Devotion to the guru surged in
his heart and he prepared to exterminate them. But Gurudev appeared on the scene and said, “Ohji,
55
VIRTUE AND VISION

please don’t do this. Rather take the cot and leave it in the jungle for a few days; in the meantime
give me another bed.”
Similarly was his protection of the rats that had taken refuge in his dwelling. A few of them
had begun to eat away the papers and destroy the bedding and clothes. The attendants working there
had managed to catch them, but all that they were allowed to do, was to give the rats a joy-ride to the
forest in a cosy gunny-bag, and they invariably returned to Gurudev’s cottage the very same
evening. They even began to appeal to Gurudev’s mercy by nibbling at his fingertips at night, and
for a diabetic this was dangerous. An expert arrived at the ashram and gave his expert advice on the
elimination of the rat nuisance–which was of course, the simple solution of poisoning them.
Gurudev who always listened sympathetically to every kind of topic, whether pleasant or
unpleasant, sacred or secular, for the first time refused to listen. He vigorously shook his head, “The
rats should not be killed. On the contrary, we should take care of the things that we wish the rats
should not destroy. Manuscripts should remain in a steel cabinet, bedding and clothes too, should be
well protected against them. The rats should never be killed.” If the expert had said anything more,
he would have earned a regular food supply for the rats, just as others had done who pleaded that the
monkeys living in the ashram’s neighbourhood should be driven away. This suggestion had been
quickly countered by Gurudev’s sanctioning a regular supply of nuts for the monkeys.
Gurudev was an apostle of love and peace, spreading harmony amongst all beings by
placing his own sublime life before them as an example for all to emulate. Whenever the occasion
arose and Gurudev ascended the platform, he discoursed not upon high philosophical themes but on
the practical application of the understanding that one common consciousness pervades all beings,
i.e., self-less service and cosmic love. His apostolic mission was not confined to platform lecturing
and pamphleteering, but to the adoption of practical methods of enabling all those who gathered in
his fold and all those whom his message reached to love all and to serve all beings. Thus this
incarnation of God radiated the principles of non-violence, in order that the rays of love might
dispel the gloom of hatred, disharmony and ill-will. Gurudev assured us that anyone who cultivated
ahimsa to a high degree of perfection, would automatically become the abode of all virtues; and he
himself was the proof.
Satyam: Absolute truthfulness in thought, word and deed was Gurudev’s very breath. Truth
does not only mean that you speak the truth concerning everything, concerning your life and your
environment; facing the facts without bluffing yourself. What is the truth concerning life? Life is
subject to death. Life is subject to illness, disease, ups and downs, success and failure, happiness
and unhappiness. Face that.
Gurudev’s discipline brought death into life. He died every day, every minute and this was
one of the secrets of his perpetual youthfulness. There is no sudden death, one is dying all the time.
The body is growing old continuously, moving towards death all the time, If you see this, then you
are not afraid of sickness or death, nor of what is called old age. Laugh and smile, surely, but also
know that these things are there. Then you are free at once. Truth is an extremely simple discipline.
Become aware of the fact or the truth concerning life then it is possible that you will also see that
there is something, beyond–beyond that happiness and unhappiness there is something else,
something more valuable in life.
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Gurudev sang,
“Is there not a nobler mission, than eating, drinking and sleeping?”
First you must face the fact that your life is being spent day in and day out, in eating,
drinking and sleeping. Whatever you do is also motivated by these! Till you face that, there is no
sense in sitting looking at your nose and saying, “I am the immortal self.” You are not the immortal
self; you are very much the body. Have you asked yourself why you should eat at ail, why you
should live at all, what is meant by life, what is meant by death? Only when you face the truth
concerning life, will you find out, not otherwise.
Gurudev lived and moved and had his being in the Supreme Being and therefore practised
the highest kind of brahmacharya (continence). Asteya (non-stealing) and aparigraha
(non-covetousness) being the concomitant virtues of truthfulness and continence, were natural to
Gurudev; it was our blessed good fortune that he committed a truly wonderful theft–he stole our
hearts and took away from us all our sins.
The niyamas: Gurudev was a living illustration of the three-fold austerity described by Lord
Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 17, verses 14-16. For instance, as regards austerity of
speech, he would not utter words that, even though truthful and beneficial, were even likely to be
unpleasant; instead he would, in his own words, “Leave it to God.” Gurudev had absolute control
over his speech. He did not waste one word. His words were measured, calculated to educate the
listener and elevate his soul. Vain philosophical discussions and worldly topics dared not waste his
breath. He was not fond of showing off his knowledge and would shame a poking pundit with his
studied silence.
As regards self-control, it was there in him to the extent of cell control. There was nothing
involuntary about him; every cell of his being obeyed him. One who watched him remain seated for
hours on end, attending a satsanga which dragged on till past midnight, would hardly believe that he
had chronic diarrhoea or diabetes or lumbago, and neither sleep nor tiredness could compel him to
retire.
The supreme austerity that he and perhaps he alone practised (even among saints of his
calibre) was what he called the highest yoga: “BEAR INSULT, BEAR INJURY.” No austerity is
greater than this. If you begin to practise this, you will know that this is real austerity; there is terrific
burning ‘inside’. If it is allowed to die away within, without fuming outside, it will burn away all
your evil impressions and tendencies; burn away your vanity and egoism. I have seen it with my
own eyes; Gurudev smiling and blessing his own disciples, people who were unfit to brush his
shoes, when they insulted him and tried to injure his feelings. I shudder at the very thought.
Gurudev’s austerity was, as was everything else about him, complete and
all-comprehensive. Absolute surrender to the divine will was the supreme factor that characterised
every act, resounded in every word and radiated through every thought of Gurudev. Thus he
became one with God. His actions were aimed at the bringing about of human weal, his words were
truthful, soothing and beneficial as also authoritative and life-transforming and his thoughts were
ever divine.
57
VIRTUE AND VISION

Renunciation
Basic however to all other disciplines, there is one discipline and one virtue and in the
Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna confines himself to only these two terms, Abhyasa and vairagya.
Abhyasa means constant and repeated practice. Vairgaya (dispassion or renunciation) is the turning
away from the pursuit of pleasure; curbing the pleasure-seeking mentality; turning desire or craving
back upon itself.
Unless you renounce the world, you cannot attain self-realisation or God-realisation. Unless
you let go of your attachment to this world, you cannot reach your (spiritual) destination. The
Master expressed this in his own song; “Detach the mind from the objects, attach it to the Lord.”
Detach the mind from your worldly desires, ambitions and cravings, and attach it to God. This
renunciation is basic to any spiritual life. If it is not there, there is no spiritual life. In this respect
again, the Master had no dogmas, neither in his teachings, nor in his own life. He was not fond of
dogmas.
When you think of a holy man, a swami, Swami Sivananda, the basic idea that occurs to you
is that he is a man of renunciation. “Swami Sivananda renounced the world”–that is the expression
we use, but it is not quite correct. It was Dr. Kuppuswamy who renounced the world. A swami is
what remains after a man has renounced, it is when the spirit of renunciation has matured that one
becomes a swami.
The spirit of renunciation was there in the case of Swami Sivananda, right from childhood.
At one stage it meant that he had to abandon something and pick up something else–as all of us do.
You abandon your toys and pick up something else, which you call friends, you abandon the
friends–again for something else, called children, etc., and so it goes on: eventually you are picked
up by somebody else. This is done by everybody, but when it is done by someone who has the spirit
of renunciation, it has a different character. The spirit of renunciation as distinct from the form of
renunciation, is extremely difficult to understand.
Renunciation is not done by the ego. What “I” renounces–what the ego renounces is not
renunciation. It is like the barometer which you keep outside for maximum-minimum temperature
readings. The quantity of mercury is the same–if this thing goes up, that one goes down. When you
renounce “this”, there is something within you that keeps growing, growing and growing–egoism,
vanity, tremendous vanity, inconceivable vanity. If ‘I’ truly renounce the world, I do not touch the
world again. If ‘I’ have given up all idea of ‘mineness’, then I do not go about saying, “This is not
mine.” When people keep telling you what they have renounced, it only means that they have not
renounced. If you have truly renounced, why talk about it? When you say it, the desire for the object
is still there; some attachment is still there, while you pretend and profess that it is not. The person
who consciously undertakes renunciation does not renounce. He treats it as a form of ritual. He
rigidly avoids what he thinks he has renounced.
Gurudev never magnified his renunciation. On the contrary, he always exalted the little
renunciation of a mediocre aspirant. He had given up much wealth, a prosperous career, princely
comforts and a great position overnight, to wander about as a penniless, homeless mendicant.
Nevertheless, he extolled the spirit of renunciation of one who had given up an insignificant slavish
58

job which had earned him thirty rupees a month. He would point to an austere seeker, who did not
wear a shirt in winter as one who far excelled him in austerity and would not reveal that during his
Swargashram days, he had put himself through far greater austerities, when he would give away all
the good blankets that devotees gave him and sleep on gunny. He called himself “an overcoat
swami” as though to belittle himself. Yet, when he presented an overcoat to a young disciple, he
would explain, “Why imagine that an overcoat is something other than a mere woollen blanket ?
Wrapping oneself in a blanket is clumsy and unsuited to active service. We are wearing the same
blanket, only cut and stitched so as to move about and work more efficiently.”
This is the way to overcome the formidable sannyasa-abhimana (the vanity of being a monk
or swami). It is a difficult practice and it is only Gurudev’s grace and God’s blessings that enable
one to know when spiritual practice ends and vanity begins; when licentiousness masquerades in
the garb of the absence of vanity.
Gurudev was an embodiment, a manifestation of this continuous spirit of renunciation.
Living with such a sage–being in his very presence, one can see it and probably admire it: rarely is
one able to be inspired by it. To ‘inspire’ is to inhale. Unless you are alive, awake and mature, the
inhalation or inspiration is of no use to you.
The first thing that the Master had to abandon, and this was very difficult in those days, was
the vanity and pride of the caste into which he was born–the Brahmin vanity. When Gurudev was a
young man, his fancy took him to an expert in fencing, who, by caste, was an untouchable. Gurudev
himself belonged to an orthodox family of Saivite Brahmins (persons of the highest caste in the
Hindu social system who consider Lord Siva to be the highest being), and to him to approach a
pariah (untouchable) was to invite the fury of the elders in the family. After only a few days’
lessons, Gurudev garlanded his teacher, and gave him rich presents–guru dakshina (humble
offerings to the teacher) and worshipped the outcaste. For Gurudev to bow down and fall prostrate
at the feet of this peasant meant abandoning much social pressure and conditioning. This was the
first thing to go: the pride of caste and ancestry. Incidentally, this also shows how much Gurudev
valued honouring, worshipping and serving the teacher.
Gurudev was an extremely loving and lovable person and there is no doubt that in his
younger days, he must have been capable of being very attached. When one watched him meet
some old men who were his boyhood friends–a few of them came to the ashram–one realised that
Gurudev must have been very fond of them, because even after a separation of half a century, they
returned to his contact. When Gurudev was 65, his schoolmaster came, the seventy-five years old
postmaster of his birth place came, several others also came and Gurudev was so familiar, so
affectionate, so friendly in spite of the fact that he was a swami and that fifty years had elapsed in
the meantime. He was so playful with them that one could easily see that he could have been
positively attached to them before. To suddenly drop them and go off to Malaya was a wonderful
act of renunciation.
In Malaya too, the then Dr. Kuppuswamy built up a nice circle of friends. A prosperous
career had earned for him a wonderful reputation. He was a great friend-maker, a very sociable
person. His friends from Malaya also came to the ashram and I too contacted a few others who were
still there when I later went to Malaya. They remembered him vividly. One of Gurudev’s
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VIRTUE AND VISION

colleagues had a daughter who was about 4 or 5 when Gurudev was in Malaya and she remembered
him. So, the Master had had a wonderful time there with plenty of opportunity for practice and
service, and plenty of friendship. The Master once said that in his young days he was very fond of
good clothes and also jewellery. He led a very good life in Malaya. His old cook used to narrate to us
stories of what a charming young man he was.
Perhaps in his youth Gurudev was greatly helped by the fact that he took up medicine.
People who constantly deal with the sick, the dead and the dying tend to become completely
immune to it. Either they become immune or become like Swami Sivananda. As a doctor, at one
stage or another, the question had to arise, “What is the use of all this? What am I doing all this for?
Why earn money? I am earning money in order to enjoy my life. What is this enjoyment?” If a
doctor treats a patient and even if he is cured, another illness develops. It is progressing from bad to
worse. Everyone must die–no doctor can prevent that.
Such a meaningless life had to be given up. Gurudev liked the service and the work there.
He was also attached to the people. All this was given up. For such a sociable person to suddenly
abandon the whole thing and walk out is renunciation of a very high, degree. The renunciation of his
career in Malaya was not born of disappointment or failure or despair. He was a very successful
person. Nor was there a craving for something else, for psychic or spiritual development or to
become a great swami. It was also not craving for reputation, name and fame, or a great following
etc., that drew him from Malaya. It was a supreme act of self-surrender. Like the Buddha he was
able to see, from what went on around him, the truth concerning life. Renunciation is incidental to
the realisation of the truth. This spirit of renunciation kept Gurudev company throughout.
In answer to a query by Sri Indrajit Sharma, one of Gurudev’s biographers, the Master said,
“The one consuming thought with which I came back to India was, ‘I MUST REALISE GOD
NOW’, I Never wanted to build an ashram, or to found a society. I wanted to efface myself
completely, sit under a tree, sing the praises of the Lord and do japa.”
That was the moment when Gurudev surrendered completely at the lotus feet of the Lord, all
the aims, ambitions and ideals that had motivated his life until then. Human will had burnt itself up
in the fire of intense yearning for the realisation of God. Even the desire to render selfless service to
the sick and suffering had temporarily been offered as it were into this fire of self-surrender. All was
surrendered to the will of God. The man who had been offered as oblation into this fire emerged as
God Himself. This was God-realisation in the truest sense of the term. From then on, God became
the only reality; God’s consciousness became Gurudev’s consciousness; God’s will became his
will and his life became one with the divine life.
Gurudev had renounced his career, his profession and his wealth. He came back to his
village, got down at the railway station and hired a cart. He had quite a lot of baggage. The cart
carrying the heavy load of his personal effects (the small portion of his Malayan wealth that he had
brought over to India) halted in front of his ancestral home in South India. Gurudev let the relatives
unload his things and pretended to supervise this operation. In the meantime he had kept aside a
small cloth bag into which he had stuffed a change of clothing and a few rupees. When no one was
looking, quietly he slipped away and walked back to the railway station. They thought that he must
have gone to the temple or to a neighbour and did not take any notice of it. He got into a train and
60

left. Whatever had been weighing him down had been given up, abandoned. It is extremely
important to understand this phrase. Whatever was weighing him down was abandoned. The
feeling, “I am a doctor, a very popular doctor, a wealthy man. I am this, I am that” all that had to go.
He took the train to Benares. Somehow he thought Benares was close to the Himaiayas. He
wanted to go to the Himalayas to do penance and meditate. The little money he had left, he gave
away. It was bitterly cold and he was not used to the cold, he was used to the warm climate of South
India and Malaya. He had no idea what the North Indian winter could be like. Perhaps he had just a
shawl and it was totally insufficient. During the epochal All-India Tour in 1950, Gurudev himself
pointed out the railway station platform which he had exchanged for the comfortable house in
which he lived in Malaya. He had renounced the world and its possessions, everything had gone.
There he was, crouched beneath the railway platform, shivering, but his mind was soaring far above
the earth, helping the body to ignore the cold and neglect the hunger. The first phase of the austerity
had commenced, but to Gurudev, reaching the goal was of much greater importance than bothering
about the body.
Gurudev did not know the local language. He knew only English and Tamil. Later a ‘Good
Samaritan’, observing this wonderful man shivering with cold but so indifferent to it that he would
not ask anyone for a blanket, said, “Here, take this and cover yourself, otherwise you’ll die of
pneumonia.” A blanket was the first charity Gurudev received. The hand that gave and gave to
all–and in plenty, for the first time received alms. This has to be experienced to understand the
magnitude of this austerity. It would perhaps have been easier to say, “I don’t want it. I am a
renunciate.” That is a trap called ‘renunciation’. He threw that rigidity slightly aside and received
the blanket.
Then came the next problem. He was a wealthy man from a respectable family. He did not
know what to do in order to beg for food. Nobody came to him and offered food. He was a strong,
healthy looking young man, why must someone offer him food? So he suffered for a few days. Soon
he decided that this was not where he wanted to be and someone gave him a ticket and guided him to
Pandharpur, a famous place for devotees, yogis, and so on. He wandered about here and there in this
strange land amongst strangers who neither understood his language, nor the ways of this educated
robust young man. When hunger tormented him he started begging from door to door for a few
days. But how to do this? How to beg? He developed a formula: he would stand before someone’s
house and say “I am a Madrasi Brahmin, I am hungry. Please give me some food.” Sometimes they
gave him and sometimes they did not. He never questioned or grumbled. He would humbly take
what was given, silently bless the giver and walk away. It requires a discerning heart to understand
this austerity.
What really worried him was not being turned away, but the possibility of standing in front
of a poor man’s house, and depriving him of his food. He used to say this quite often to us: “How
can you accept charity from someone without deserving it?” Begging was foreign to Gurudev’s
nature, even though it is in accordance with scriptural sanction for a monk to beg for his food. To
accept charity without giving something in return didn’t please or appeal to him at all. So the next
thing that had to be renounced was the idea “I am going to be a mendicant.” Even that had to go.
When that wandering mendicant life became an obstacle in itself, he abandoned it. Later he often
used to make fun of it. Whenever amongst his own disciples somebody rebelled against the ashram
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discipline and said, “I want to go away and wander about,” Gurudev would say, “Here when two or
three people order you and you don’t want to obey them you think of running away from the
ashram. You think that this is freedom. You will soon discover that it is not, because from morning
till night you will be meditating on who will give you your next meal. That life is also bothersome,
also an obstacle.” So Gurudev abandoned this wandering life.
Gurudev thought, “Instead of wandering around like this, let me go and get a job.” The thing
that had been abandoned in Malaya had to be picked up again. The spirit of renunciation is still
there, but it is not rigid, it is alive. It keeps burning like fire and it burns whatever you throw into it.
“That job there with all its paraphernalia was weighing my self down, so I gave it up. Mendicancy
means that I am a parasite on society, so this also must go, I must accept a job which is not very
strenuous.” So he accepted a job as a postmaster’s domestic servant. Here you see a beautiful new
approach to the gospel of renunciation. What is it that is renounced? Not food, not clothing, shelter,
medical attention, study and service. What is renounced? The thing that is pulling you down, tying
you down to this earthly life, whatever it may be. In the personal service of this postmaster,
Gurudev would draw water and hew wood. For this he was given some money and that was enough
to live on. This job involved no strenuous responsibilities. Somehow the postmaster soon realised
the greatness of his domestic servant. He found out that Gurudev was not a beggar, but a doctor and
so on. The postmaster was a bit embarrassed. He sent Gurudev away explaining the set-up in
Rishikesh. “You want only simple food, clothing and shelter without troubling others. In Rishikesh
you will get all you need without having to be a domestic servant.” So that was the next thing to go.
In Rishikesh Gurudev joined an ashram, an institution whose purpose it is to provide free
food, clothing and shelter, to swamis. Yet again, he did whatever he could in whatever way he could
to contribute to the welfare of the institution. Renouncing the world did not mean renouncing
service. He was a doctor and the divine will sought to utilise his medical talents. The healing grace
of the Lord made Gurudev’s hands its instruments, flowing through them once again to bring
comfort, relief and solace to the distressed.
Gurudev had settled down in the Swarg Ashram which he found quite congenial. He could
easily have stayed there. It was quite comfortable and he had no problems at all. He often said that it
was an ideal place. The swamis who lived there did not have to own anything, possess anything or
do any work at all. Medical facilities were also available. There were facilities for seclusion, which
is equally important. “I must be able, wherever I am, to tear myself away from all company for a
short while,” Gurudev used to say. Lastly, there was a library close at hand, which meant that the
mind and intellect would not be starved. He said that an ideal place should have these. He found all
these in Swarg Ashram, where he settled down to practise his austerities. ‘Swarg’ in Sanskrit means
‘heaven’ and it was heaven, as far as Swami Sivananda was concerned. He had no responsibilities,
nothing to weigh him down at all.
During this period, Gurudev performed all the common forms of austerity, such as standing
in the freezing waters of the Ganges and repeating the Lord’s name; sleeping on the bare ground;
fasting for days on end, etc. In the latter days however, he deprecated such practices as being of not
much spiritual value.
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You may call it God’s will or Karma, or God’s grace, but he had attracted a few of his own
admirers and devotees who provided whatever other things he needed. A few young men had also
come to join him as his own personal disciples. The Swarg Ashram rules allowed two young
swamis as personal disciples for each of the senior monks living there. The ashram would look after
them, so that they could serve their guru. Gurudev had his two disciples, that was no problem, but
soon the two became four and the four became eight. That created a problem in the organisation.
Although the Master himself never mentioned this, there was some trouble. Once while
Gurudev was away, the disciples wrote urgently to him, “There is trouble, please come back.”
Gurudev sent them a letter in telegraph form, “Out of evil comes good. Bear it. Keep quiet.”
Gurudev returned and without any recrimination, or retaliation, without justifying his actions,
without condemning, he just went to the head of the institution, folded his palms and said quietly,
“I’m leaving, going across the river,” and walked out. It was beautiful. In Swarg Ashram there was
freedom, but limited freedom, restricted freedom (restricted freedom is not freedom). So he had to
renounce that too. Not for a moment did Gurudev’s heart entertain the least dissatisfaction. With the
result that even when he had his own ashram he was still on excellent terms with Swarg Ashram.
As early as 1948 the Master and some of us went over to his old ashram. Gurudev had
become a world renowned swami with a great number of disciples, and his own ashram had grown
and prospered. He was greeted and welcomed by the management of Swarg Ashram, and we spent a
couple of hours there. You should have seen him there. He was giving them ideas, and asking us to
help them in various ways. It was fantastic.
Gurudev moved over to the other side of the river. Once again there was a little bit of
mendicancy, but not so hard as before. There was a bit more freedom, a bit more elbow room. But
the four or five people who were with him at the time had also to walk three or four miles twice a
day, to get a little food. At this stage Gurudev thought that if he could get a roof over his head, it
would be possible to do some stable work. So they found a stable to do the stable work. It was an
abandoned cowshed, which they cleaned up and occupied. As no one questioned them they did not
investigate to whom it belonged. It was disused, misused, so it seemed better to clean it and sit down
and get on with some work. They got a rickety typewriter and started.
Now again this might puzzle you. Can I go and occupy somebody’s house while he is away
on vacation or pilgrimage? But then from their point of view it was the purest manifestation of the
spirit of renunciation, “We don’t own this place, we are merely utilising it and if the owner comes
along and demands, we will get out at once and hand it back to him.” That was the spirit. They were
not going to fight and stay. They were not going to claim that they owned it. They were merely
using it, just as we are using this body.
As soon as they moved to the new abode, the Master and his first disciples had already
commenced the mission. They started working very hard. Today at the ashram we have first-class
printing presses, beautiful books and tape-recorders, but if you knew under what conditions all this
started, you would be shaken. At this stage, there was no money to buy paper. What did he do? He
would cut open the envelopes containing the letters that people wrote to him, cut them right
through, so that the inside could be used as writing paper for recording his thoughts. They could
work at night, but what about light? There was no electricity in the ashram till as recently as
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VIRTUE AND VISION

1952-53. There was not even enough money to buy a proper lamp. So, they found some old bottles
with the old-style cork tops, they made a hole through the cork, made a wick from a few threads of
material and filled the bottle with kerosene. It became a lamp.
How did this great man find his first publishers? He did not know anyone. Gurudev used to
write some notes, some instructions on bits of paper, put them together and send them...to whom?
To the postmaster of just any town. Every place has a postmaster, even though it may have very
little else. He would address the packet to (for instance)–The Postmaster, Madras, with a covering
letter saying, “These are the thoughts that occurred to me yesterday. I think they are inspiring. So
please have a small leaflet printed. You can distribute them. Print as many as you like but please
send me a hundred copies.” One such recipient actually did it and sent Swami Sivenanda the 100
copies of what he had printed saying, “I admire your confidence.”
Slowly an ashram seemed to be growing around him; growing and growing and Gurudev
allowed it to grow. There was no haughty pride of renunciation to block it. Earlier, Gurudev had
insisted that no ashram should be built or disciples accepted. This was now confronted with the
divine will which had it all otherwise, and there was no “rebellion.” The comfort of staying alone,
independent and free–even that had to be renounced.
When you feel that you are being weighed down by your own resolutions and dogmas, by
your own personal, individual will drop them. It is easy to give up your shirt, but it is very difficult
to give up this vanity. This is the acid test in which even saintly souls have failed. Afraid of losing
face, they cling to the expressed ideas of their spiritual childhood, never allowing themselves to
grow in the garden of divinity.
Renunciation is not a practice; not something you do one fine morning. It is a continuous
and never-ending process which concerns both your inner and outer life. This continuous spirit of
renunciation burns within, breaking all ideologies down. It manifests as freedom, non-attachment;
freedom from your own image, your own internal ideas, ideologies, schemes, hopes, fears, freedom
from being dominated by yourself. It is easy to renounce wife, children and so on. But it is not so
easy to renounce the ego unless one discovers this spirit of renunciation without which there is no
renunciation at all. This spirit of renunciation, even when it applies to external relationships,
springs from within. Therefore, it is a spirit not a mechanical, physical, material action. This is the
Master’s song:
“The eye is not a fetter;, form is not a fetter Jaya Jaya Ram.
The excited desire is a fetter, Sita Ram.”
And in the same way, he has given a whole lot of them–Sound is not a fetter, music is not a
fetter etc. The excited desire is within you, not outside. If you do not understand this, you keep the
excited desire even more excited, while pushing everything else away. Nothing binds you except
the ‘excited’ desire.
In the Yoga Vasishtha there is a beautiful little verse which says, “For one whose feet are
covered with leather shoes, the whole world is covered with leather.” You don’t have to reform the
world, you don’t have to renounce the world. Wrap your inner being with the spirit of renunciation;
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it will destroy all the obstacles on your path. Therefore Gurudev once said that he had no obstacles
whatsoever in his practice of yoga.
Swami Sivananda was not a floating feather, to be wafted where the wind chose. He had his
own ideal, but in the words of Jesus Christ, “But not my will; Thy will be done.” Can this spirit of
renunciation be kept alive every moment of your existence without saying, “I don’t care what
happens,” (which is callous indifference) nor saying, “No! I have vowed to do this, and it shall be
so,” (which is being an egotist). That was Gurudev’s secret.
This total surrender meant that Gurudev’s life was never a mechanical life, never a
repetitious life; so much so in fact that it might suggest a series of contradictions. If for example you
had come to the ashram in 1944 or ‘45, and said, “Swamiji, I have bought a pair of kartals (small
cymbals); can I play them in satsanga?”, he would have replied, “No, when you sing kirtan, you
should sit as if you are sitting for your meditation and enter a meditative mood.” Yet if you had gone
back around 1953, you would have found them singing and dancing with tablas, harmonium and all
sorts of instruments. When there is no sense at all of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ then the whole stream of life is
allowed to flow on, without interference, without stopping it, without pushing it. As the ashram
grew, Gurudev had to make enormous changes from day to day, from moment to moment, as each
new situation developed.
Gurudev’s whole mission had started with sankirtan conferences, but soon the whole thing
was changed. He discovered that any form of specialisation leads only to vanity and greater vanity,
whereas renunciation must reduce vanity, make it thinner, and make the heart more transparent. So
Gurudev decided, “Sankirtan alone will not do. We must combine something more, we must
combine service and study and also meditation.” So, the Divine Life Society was formed. In its first
constitution it said that the Society should spread the knowledge of the ‘Hindu’ religion. That was
the first framework, the prevailing concept and sentiment and it was accepted–but not for long.
When the Master’s radiant personality and teachings attracted people from other faiths, he
re-drafted the constitution–modified it and widened it. One had to live with him to understand this.
We ourselves did not know where we were from day to day because that renunciation was not only
progressive but aggressive and constant. He did not allow anything to stay stagnant.
The Divine Life Society was started in 1936 and towards 1947 Gurudev had the idea of
starting what was called the Yoga Vedanta Forest University. For this he had some stationery
printed. He told those of us who were in charge of correspondence: “Hereafter, don’t use the Divine
Life stationery–use this. You must popularise the Yoga Vedanta Forest University.”
Watch and see where a new bondage arises and snap the thread then and there. This spirit of
renunciation or inner watchfulness will stop all forms of bondage without preserving some–even as
fire burns everything! In Gurudev’s case this fire went on unceasingly breaking down all
ideologies, all barriers, whatever they were.
At one time the Master had said that women should not be allowed to stay in the ashram, but
when one came to stay he said: “Alright, change the rule.” In the words of Christ, “The sabbath was
made for man, not man for sabbath.”
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VIRTUE AND VISION

The renunciation of Gurudev’s also manifested as a unique form of non-attachment. Most
of us do not know the difference between love and attachment, nor between non-attachment and
indifference. Perhaps this is not possible to explain, one has to see it–watch it, to appreciate its
beauty. I have never seen a man who loved humanity more than Swami Sivananda did. It was most
easily evident in his attitude towards his disciples. There was virtually nothing he would not do,
virtually nothing he would not put up with. Yet ..........
There was a swami in the ashram who was working heart and soul. We all thought that
without him the ashram could not go on. He was so vital, so important and he was deeply devoted to
the Master, who in turn had tremendous admiration for him. One day this swami was bitten by a
rabid dog. Such was the strength and vitality of this young man that even though he had been
mauled from head to foot, he recovered in two or three weeks. And how the Master looked after him
during his convalescence is not for words to describe. This swami started working again, when
suddenly he developed a pain in his left arm. Someone went and told the Master. Immediately a taxi
was hired, this swami, accompanied by a doctor, was sent about two hundred miles away to a
special hospital. The Master himself told the doctor, “Do all that you can for him. Never mind what
the expense is.” The next day, we received a telegram from them; “Swami improving.” We gave it
to Gurudev. Oh joy, joy. What delight shone in his face! He was thrilled. Two or three hours later,
the Master had just finished having his bath and was preparing for lunch. Another telegram arrived.
The man who had brought the telegram was so choked he could not even read it. He gave it to the
Master. Gurudev didn’t even put on his spectacles, he looked at it. I have never seen such profound
shock on any face. He exclaimed; “Ha! He is dead?” The telegram said he was dead. The sage of
self-realisation, a great yogi, is not inhuman. We have strange notions regarding yogis and sages
and think that they would behave as if they were marble statues. You had to see Gurudev to
appreciate that a yogi is the purest of humans; perhaps he is the only human being. After the initial
shock, he said: “Alright, ask the doctor to bring the body here. Consign it to the Ganges, that is what
he wanted.” So suddenly one thinks, “Ah, here is one person that the Master is attached to. He likes
him so much.” The next morning the taxi arrived with the body. The Master was on his way to the
office. He didn’t even turn to look. As long as the person was alive, he did all that he could. Once he
was dead, he did not pay any attention.
Within minutes, the Master was in the office, carrying on with his work, as though nothing
had happened. This holy man, who but twenty-four hours before had dropped everything so that
this one person could receive all attention and be carefully looked after, who had sent away his own
doctor to accompany him to Simla, the same Master, once that person was dead, wouldn’t think of
him again, except in the evening satsanga when he conducted prayers for the peace of the departed
soul. You must see a living example of one who loves without being attached, who is unattached
without being indifferent.
Out of this spirit of renunciation is born true humility because this renunciation does not
stop only with burning what is outside (your attachment to others), but continues to burn deep
within you, freeing you from yourself.
That is what we repeat in the Universal Prayer that he wrote: “Free us from egoism (that’s
the first thing), lust, greed, anger, hatred and jealousy.” When you pray, “Free me from egoism,
lust, greed, anger, hatred and jealousy,” it means that all these are in you, perhaps in their manifest
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state, or may be in their potential, hidden or latent state. Even the most amateurish attempt to
overcome egoism involves the direct realisation that it is there, and it is in this that true humility lies.
Often Gurudev used to say these wonderful words in Tamil:
kadeshi varaikkum ushaaraa irukkanam
“You must be vigilant until the end.” The knowledge that egoism is potentially there as long
as the body lasts, enables one to be truly humble–not hypocritically or superficially humble, but
truly humble, with the humility that comes only when one’s whole being is possessed by this
burning fire of renunciation.
This incident happened on the last day of the All-India tour. The Master had been round the
whole of India and Ceylon. He had been literally worshipped by millions of people. Of course you
realise that it was not possible for Gurudev to literally fall at the feet of all these millions of people
who crowded round him, though he would have loved to do so. On the last day he was in Delhi. His
health was not good and he was resting, not at the place where the organisers had arranged but in the
house of a devotee, an army officer. Gurudev was sleeping after lunch. He was supposed to meet
someone at 3.15 p.m. At five past three we heard Gurudev clear his throat...He got up and asked,
“Isn’t it time for us to go? Has the car arrived? We said, ”Yes, Swamiji, the car is here, and
immediately he got up, took his bag and his towel and got into the car. From inside the car he looked
into the hall and saw the officer’s wife standing there at the door. He asked us: “Are we coming
back here?” We were not. Gurudev turned to her and took leave of her with folded palms. The car
moved. Two or three minutes later he said, “Ask the driver to go back to the house.” The car came to
a halt at the entrance to the house. It was a beautiful scene there. He got out and went inside. The
lady of the house was not in the lounge, she was in the kitchen, so he went right through without
even calling or making a sound. He stood in front of that lady, folded his palms and said, “Please
forgive me.” It was an unforgettable scene. He was tall and hefty and she was shortish, lean and
thin. He bowed down, “Please forgive me,” and with tears in his eyes, he repeated “Please forgive
me.” She couldn’t say anything; she started to cry. Gurudev said, “I should have come and taken
leave of you properly, I said ‘thank you’ from the car. I should have come in and taken leave
properly. Please forgive me.” This poor lady was in tears. She didn’t know what to do, she
collapsed, caught hold of his feet. Then Gurudev went back and sat in the car, “Right, let’s go.” As
we moved on he did not talk for about five minutes. Then he turned to me and said, “From
somewhere a little vanity tried to creep in. One has to be very vigilant.” If one is able to do that, then
it is possible to be free not only from all attachment to things outside, but more important, from
one’s own vanity and self-esteem.
There was no weakness in the Master’s heart or his behaviour. He could be strong,
inflexible–so that in his case even humility was not a trap or a prison. Gurudev’s humility was
saturated with intelligence and wisdom.
We saw this is his ‘encounter’ with a world famous ‘spiritual’ leader. This leader was really
and truly a leader of millions throughout the world, who even before he died was worshipped as an
incarnation of God.
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In 1953, the Master was in bed with a severe bout of lumbago. He couldn’t even sit up in bed
but his mind was alert, perfect. Oh, it was a delight to watch him, propped up on pillows, eating
nicely, talking and working. He had big legs, big thighs, which he used as his table, and he was
carrying on working. He said, “The only thing I cannot do is turn my waist.” Unfortunately for this
spiritual leader he came during that period so that he was the only ‘holy’ man Swami Sivananda did
not salute properly. On Gurudev’s face you could see the tremendous pain, “Such a world
renowned spiritual leader has come and I’m not even able to get up and greet him, welcome him
properly.” The leader came in, along with his disciple. He stood there and the Master, lying in the
bed, lifted up both his hands to his forehead and folded his palms, “Jaya bhagavan. Jaya bhagavan.”
This man merely nodded in acknowledgement. He had come on very serious business. The disciple
conveyed his message: “I have come to know that on one occasion you spoke ill of me.” Swami
Sivananda looked at him and then he realised that this was not a very congenial meeting between
two holy men, this was an invitation to fight. Gurudev looked at him and said: “I don’t remember
......... I don’t remember having said anything against you.” “I have the proof that you scandalised
me,” the man said. “I don’t remember anything. I don’t usually criticise others,” said Gurudev. The
other man continued, “I have got disciples all over the world and I’m going to let all of them know
that you are a scandal-monger.” Immediately one saw Gurudev’s face tensing. Within seconds that
soft face, which exuded love, became stern. He said sternly: “Alright. Do what you like. Go.” We
all stood there, flabbergasted. Swami Sivananda was not weak, he could be very stern. “See God in
all,” that is what he taught everybody and what he did. Even in this instance–If you, my God, come
to fight with me–well, come on. This leader was the only holy man who was received and
dismissed so abruptly by Gurudev.
So, humility should not be confused with weakness. Humility can only arise when there is
this spirit of total renunciation coupled with the realisation that God is all; not only that God is in all,
but God alone is all.
Gurudev was quite happy to have his birthday celebrated. As a matter of fact he used to
initiate the whole thing. Right in the month of April, one morning he would come to the office and
say, “Venkatesananda Swami, have you started preparing the circulars inviting articles for the
birthday souvenir booklet? The first circular must be like this, the second circular must be like that
............. Call some musicians, do this, do that.” He used to initiate all that himself.
Why? Gurudev himself gave the reasons. “Any occasion for celebration is good. It doesn’t
matter what you call it–birthday, Guru Purnima or Sivaratri. When people come together, we have
some nice satsang. Who is interested in this body being worshipped or not worshipped?” On the
birthday, we had a huge big plate and about twenty or thirty people would sit around it and throw
flowers at his feet. While we performed padapuja, he would sit there, looking around to someone or
the other, enquiring about their welfare. Would the people have come to the ashram if the birthday
were not being celebrated? No. So, this was an opportunity to bring them there.
Gurudev also took a keen part in having his biographies published. The wife of a great
political leader visited the ashram once. As usual she was welcomed and greeted and offered coffee
and fruits. It was also usual for Swami Sivananda to give every such visitor a set of whatever books
there were, especially the newly published ones. It so happened that at that time we only had
biographies of Gurudev, written by several people. All these biographies also contain one section of
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teachings, just as the teaching books also contain one section of biography. However, all the titles
were, “Sivananda, the World Saviour,” “Sivananda Lord Incarnate”, “Satguru Sivananda,”
“Jagatguru Sivananda,” and so on. This lady looked at all those books, she was not pleased at all.
She looked at Gurudev and said, “Swamiji, why do you allow all these biographies, this
self-glorification to be published in your own ashram?” Her face showed displeasure. His answer
was something fantastic; nobody else could have come up with such a simple answer. He looked at
her as if she was his own daughter, his own child and said. “That is what brought you here, I think!”
And that of course was the truth. There is a saying, “When the flower blossoms, the bees come and
gather around it.” But that is true only if you are a bee. How do you know that there is a person
called Swami Sivananda here? Through these very books. The lady was deeply impressed. I have
never seen such a proud and powerful person do namaskar (salutations) as humbly as she did then
and she never asked another question, And Gurudev had only his great smile, no offence was taken.
Even there, there was neither vanity nor the vanity called ‘humility.’
Vanity can take two forms. First, the guru thinks or says: “Look what a great man I am. So
many people have written about my life.” Second, there is another kind of vanity: “I don’t allow any
of this nonsense to go on in my ashram. I don’t approve of people glorifying me. What, they’ve
published my picture? Destroy it.” Gurudev used to call it maha-vanity (supreme vanity) on the
model of maha-yoga. Gurudev had none of this. You could write what you liked about him.
One more instance: which not only shocked, but worried us. Someone from Madras sent
two books with flashy titles for review. And the price was even flashier, one cost 25 rupees and the
other about 40. In those days books were cheap; none of our publications was more than 10 rupees.
Gurudev said, “Write some nice review to be published in the Divine Life magazine.” I took the
books to my room and opened one at random–the language was familiar. This whole page I had read
somewhere before! I had a bookshelf with Swami Shivananda’s books there, so I pulled down his
“Hatha Yoga.” There it was–absolutely word for word. It had been copied. Then I looked at the new
book again and on the back of the title page was printed in big bold letters, “Strictly forbidden to
reproduce any of this ......... the copyright rests solely with the author.” So I took the book back to
Gurudev the next day. His only comment was “What a first-class title he has given. He has brought
out something nice. After all, it is also dissemination of knowledge, which is very good. It doesn’t
matter.” It is only in the complete absence of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ that it no longer matters whether my
name is there or your name. Then perhaps one can experience this spirit of renunciation.
When people started to recite, “Om namo Bhagavate Sivanandaaya” or “Jaya jaya Aarati
Sivananda,” he himself would join in. “Why identify myself with this name and form?
Renunciation is not born of an idea of renunciation, nor of the feeling, ”This is something terrible
and must therefore be renounced. When you say, “This is terrible,” you have given it a value which
it doesn’t have at all. This body is only a walking corpse! As long as it breathes, it will walk; and it
will breathe as long as it has to breathe. Are ‘YOU’ this body? Do ‘YOU’ have something to do
with it? And all that is related to the body, is it ‘yours’? They are only yours if you are this body.
When this idea is dispelled, there is no ‘I’-feeling, no ego-sense towards the body, nor a ‘mineness
to what is related to the body.
If by celebrating the birthday some more people can be reacbed–go on, do it. If by
publishing these biographies more people can be inspired, do it. Gurudev was unattached to name
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VIRTUE AND VISION

and fame, but in an effort to abandon or shun name and fame, he did not abandon opportunities to
serve. If name and fame would widen his field of service, enabling him to serve a greater sector of
humanity, if more people would be attracted to the path of the divine by a feather being added to his
cap, Gurudev would welcome it. The wider the field, the more intense became the service and the
more constant and deep was his attitude of devotion to the welfare of all beings.
The fear of public criticism which stops this kind of activity, springs from the
non-renunciation of the ego. Why are you afraid of public criticism? Because you have such a
tremendous self-esteem; you do not want to be hurt. Drop that also. This spirit of renunciation says,
“Kill this little ‘I’,” then there is humility, which at the same time leads to the vision of God in all.
Pratyahara (Abstraction of the Senses)
We have already seen how Gurudev was extremely regular with the practice of Yoga
Asanas and Pranayama. In regard to Pratyahara he had something interesting to teach and
demonstrate to us. He himself called it “Battle-field Pratyahara.” In the every midst of din and
bustle, noise and nuisance, disturbances and distractions, you should be able to concentrate on a
thought, or on the work in hand at the moment. You should be able to withdraw your mind from the
external objects and concentrate it within. This is what Gurudev did. Visiting aspirants often sat
near Gurudev in the office and wondered how he carried on all his important work there with half a
dozen typewriters clattering, surrounded by men and women of all nationalities and temperaments.
In the busiest centre of the Ashram, where people come and go, run and shout, there the sage used to
sit, intently absorbed in his work, paying as keen attention to it as he would do if he were alone in a
cave. The technique for this has already been explained. Close the eyes and mentally repeat the
Name of the Lord every few minutes, thus learning to withdraw the mind from the external objects.
Meditation
Gurudev’s extreme fondness of meditation was recalled by the monks of Swarg Ashram:
how, in spite of his consuming love of selfless service Gurudev would frequently hide himself
beneath a rock on the Ganges bank and would be missing for a number of hours. Sometimes he
would disappear into the surrounding jungle and remain in isolation for a few days; then he would
suddenly reappear in their midst as mysteriously as he had disappeared. In his personal diary too,
there are notes like, “I should meditate more: sixteen hours at a stretch.” Gurudev was very regular
in his practice of meditation. Early in the morning and at night before retiring to bed meditation was
a must for him. All spiritual gatherings and singing of the Lord’s Names would invariably end with
a two minute silent meditation. Besides this, Gurudev would every now and then, withdraw himself
and become deeply meditative.
Most of us when we were very young, were tremendously attracted by one brief pamphlet
from the pen of Swami Sivananda, and it was “Samadhi in six months.” When people went to his
Ashram for gaining Samadhi in six months, he said, “It is quite simple. Sit down in the lotus
posture, focus all your attention on this mantra and do not think of anything else.” It doesn’t even
take six minutes–if you can do it. You can have samadhi in six months, no doubt, provided you can
concentrate your total attention on a mantra and stop thinking. Then the Master went on, “If you
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cannot do that then do some service and quite likely after a few years you may be able to do
something about samadhi.”
If you went up to him and asked him, “Swamiji, can you teach me meditation?” What did he
say? “Repeat God’s Name.” But then he did not stop with that, he demanded that the entire
mind-stuff should be saturated with the mantra, or conversely the mind must merge completely in
the mantra. How does one do that? What do we know about mind-stuff? What is it to saturate the
mind with the mantra? Even if you adopt Swami Sivananda’s method of repeating this mantra
whenever the mind is not otherwise occupied, even then the mind will soon get saturated with the
mantra.
What does it mean to merge the mind in the mantra? Or what does it mean to saturate the
mind entirely with the realisation of God? What does it mean and how does one attain this? This is
called meditation. Meditation cannot be taught. Even the Master did not attempt to teach
meditation; however, unlike some others, he did not shy away from the word, nor from the concept
of teaching meditation. He presented a technique, a method and said, “But be careful. This is not the
whole thing.” If you pick up his book called ‘Concentration and Meditation,’ there are dozens of
techniques and methods given and even other things are dealt with like, for instance, exercises for
the cultivation of will-power and memory. All these methods aimed at the training of the mind.
When you are training to meditate, can the whole, the total mind-stuff, the total attention
flow towards one–whatever it is. That is concentration and what happens afterwards is meditation.
Meditation is an indescribable inner experience or self discovery. When we asked Gurudev, “What
is meditation?” he said, “It is like the flow of oil, the continuous flow of God-consciousness within
the heart.”
One man in his thirties came from South India to stay with us, and spent a large proportion
of his time in meditation. This man could be seen sitting bolt upright on a rock by the Ganges from
at least 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. every morning. We finished our class at 6.30 a.m. but one morning the
Master was talking to us, and at 7 a.m. the man came into the dining hall where we were assembled,
and approached Gurudev devoutly.
The Master turned to him and said: “Om Namah Sivaya, you were in meditation?”
“Yes, Swamiji”–he thought the Master was appreciating him.
“Ah, you are very regular?”
“Yes, Swamiji,” and the Master also seemed enthusiastic.
This man thought he had won Gurudev’s admiration at least, if not grace.
“Yes, Swamiji.”
“From how long were you sitting there?”
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“Since 4 o’clock I go at 4 and get up only at 7.”
“3 hours!”
“Yes, Swamiji, whether it is summer, winter, spring or autumn, snowing or hailing,
whatever may happen; 4 to 7 I sit there.”
“Hah, that’s very good, and you enjoy deep meditation?” And as usual, the Master closed
both his eyes and then opened one–that meant something very important, we knew it. Gurudev
continued, “Deep meditation, samadhi ?”
“Yes, Swamiji.” The man still thought that Gurudev was praising him. But then Gurudev
went on, “Well, be careful, lest you get drowned in the Ganges.” The man was a bit puzzled–and
Gurudev added, “Do you know the quickest way to enter into that blissful state? I’ll tell you. Take
some nice cold rice and curd prepared from buffalo’s milk. Stretch yourself on a nice bed with good
soft pillows. Breathe deeply, with just a little sound. Relax. You will instantly enter into a blissful
state–sleep! Do you know what meditation is? Meditation means touching God, touching Brahman,
communion with the omnipotent God. Meditation is touching this cosmic being, touching the
infinite”–and then Gurudev opened both his eyes. “But you are sleepy, drowsy. If you touched that
infinite consciousness, you could transform the world, work wonders; you would be able to take
this whole universe, the whole cosmic space and roll it up, like a piece of leather–such energy you
would have, such power. And here you are coming out of meditation, dull, sleepy. Huh, What is
this?” (Perhaps you have seen babies changing mood–it was like that during those five minutes.
Now he was teasing, now he was cross, angry, stern, severe and then there was a supreme
compassion and love).
“Ohji, don’t waste your time. Sitting there like a stone on a block of stone is waste of time.
Give it up. Sit there and do japa for a little while–half an hour, one hour, that will do. The rest of the
time do some useful work. Take a couple of buckets, fetch some water and fill the kitchen tanks (in
those days there was no running water system and we ourselves had to carry all the water for the
kitchen from the river)–then you will know what samadhi means.”
“Be active. Serve. Your lethargy will go away. Then you will know what purity is. Only
when your mind is filled with purity will you be able to meditate.” Now we understand why
Gurudev combined dynamic selfless service with complete seclusion and meditation during his
Swarg Ashram days. The one provided the acid test for the other. Selflessness in service is the
touchstone for the depth of meditation and the natural ease with which meditation becomes possible
is the test of real service rendered with the proper perspective. This is what Gurudev asked everyone
to practise.
If you blindly adopt any of the techniques which you pick up from books, you may not know
the difference between sleep and samadhi. You can watch your breath, listen to your breathing,
Gurudev suggested something slightly different, although the principle is the same. Instead of
listening to the breath, things of God, repeat a mantra, associating it with the breath. As you go on
mentally repeating your mantra, concentrate fully, focus ALL your attention, all the rays of your
mind on that one spot, this will lead to meditation and to samadhi.
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Siddhis (psychic powers) or (perfection)
What attainment can be greater in this world than the achievement of God-realisation, the
Supreme Reward of Yoga. Gurudev himself did not trumpet his own realisation nor did he go about
canvassing admiration for his wonderful vision of God. The philosophy that he applied to himself
and to all others and all else in the world was “know him by his works...” Palmists and persons
endowed with psychic power and clairvoyance assured us that even before he got himself
permanently established in the highest plane of Cosmic Consciousness, Gurudev had had a face to
face Vision of God not less than three times, and that, mark this well, he had had the first even
before he left Malaya and renounced the world.
What matters to us, however, is what he was able to do for us, the help of the highest type
that he was able to render to mankind. People who have had nothing more than hallucination,
parade the streets proclaiming that they have seen God. Mankind is not saved, but deceived, by
them. In Gurudev humanity has a Saviour.
Gurudev regarded miracles or psychic powers as the greatest obstacles and warned the
spiritual aspirant against them. Though he himself undoubtedly possessed miraculous powers of
the highest order, he never openly admitted them, but rather disowned them when they were
brought to his notice, saying: “The Lord is performing these miracles in order to create faith in more
and more people.” He did not like psychic powers and never encouraged the spiritual aspirant in
pursuit of them.
Somebody might come and say, “Swamiji, you appeared in my dream and put your hand on
my stomach and my cancer was cured.” His response always was, “Ah, it’s all God’s Grace.” He
never owned it himself. People used to come to him: “I saw you in a vision and my life was saved,”
and he would say, “Yes, Bhagavan (God) does all this.” When something had gone wrong
according to our judgement, somebody perhaps had robbed the Ashram, harmed the Ashram, or
done some mischief; even then he would say, “God is doing all this.”
This happened in Malaya. A Tantric Yogi approached Gurudev (then still Dr.
Kuppuswamy) and promised to teach him a formula enabling him to do wonderful things with the
help of Hanuman. It seems Gurudev liked the idea of repeating the mantra, but not that of calling
upon Lord Hanuman to answer queries. “Gods should be worshipped and adored, not made to serve
us,” he said, and sent the Yogi away with a small purse.
Gurudev was not really conscious that he was doing something wonderful. When he met
you, your inner personality revealed itself to him, as clearly as this paper appears before your eyes.
He did not have to exercise any special powers. Your heart and mind were an open book to him; the
thought that you might think would just occur to him too; and the wish that arose in your heart
would easily be understood by him, it would be audible to him. It was all perhaps just a happy
coincidence “I also thought like that,” he might say, or doing what you had mentally prayed for, he
might merely remark, “I thought you would like this.” You would be amazed, not he; to him it was
natural.
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Miraculous cures had been effected by prayers conducted at the Ashram by Gurudev.
People who had faith had attained the object of their desires by opening their heart to him, by
sincerely praying to him and by devotedly serving him. Quite a number of these experiences were
published in the book, “Miracles of Sivananda.” Similarly with Gurudev’s miracles reported by
devotees from abroad. They are all true: they have seen him and heard him. Gurudev often thought
particularly of quite a number of devotees, in order to send them books or to reply to their letters.
His was a supermind, endowed with phenomenal psychic faculties, therefore the thought would at
once establish a psychic contact between the preceptor and the disciple. Through this channel, the
most powerful and concentrated beam of Gurudev’s consciousness flowed, understanding the
disciples’ needs and bringing about miraculous visions and messages. It was something like a
‘reflex action’ with Gurudev; it was natural and normal.
It is now easy to understand how people living physically far, far away from him, felt drawn
to him and got visions of him. They needed his service and Gurudev was eager to serve them,
adopting the basic attitude that all bodies belong to the one Virat (cosmic being) and all minds
constitute the one Hiranyagarbha (cosmic mind). This attitude was Anubhava (direct realisation)
for him.
It is equally easy to understand how those who did not receive any message from his lips,
nor even listen to his lectures or songs, people who had merely had his Darshan felt a greater
satisfaction than they would have had after listening to the inspiring lectures of other monks. By his
constant eagerness to serve all and to relieve the suffering of all, and with this eagerness itself being
a great perennial prayer for the welfare of mankind, Gurudev won the hearts of all mankind. He
became spiritually one with the whole of mankind, constantly radiating supreme joy, peace, life and
light. In his very presence, therefore, people enjoyed healing vibrations, peace-giving light
emanations. His very look elevated, transformed and sublimated everything it alighted on.
Godliness wafted around him: the darkness of atheism, worldliness and undivine elements
vanished from the heart which the light of Gurudev’s grace penetrated. Meditation had imparted
such lustre to Gurudev’s countenance, such power to his eyes, such an irresistible magnetism to his
entire personality, and Gurudev’s aura was such that people who approached him with a hundred
complaints were silenced and enmity fled his very presence. This aura had actually been seen by
some of Gurudev’s devotees.
Gurudev readily initiated every devotee who approached him into any Mantra or formula
that the devotee chose and instances have been countless when the devotee thus initiated, felt the
initiation as the most important turning point in his career...the day on which he began to experience
inward peace and inexpressible bliss. Naturally, for Gurudev had attained at-one-ment with
Godhead, the goal of all Mantras; and thus earned perfection in all Mantras. Gurudev himself was
the supreme channel through which divine power and grace flowed; and when during the
Mantra-initiation ceremony, Gurudev repeated the Mantra of the tutelary deity for the disciple to
utter it after him, the Mantra was instantly linked to the spiritual force of Gurudev which enlivened
the Mantra and implanted its flaming spirit in the inmost core of the recipient’s heart. Those who
had thus been initiated by Gurudev, themselves attained perfection in Mantra very easily.
He demonstrated wonderful miracles through his soul-elevating divine songs. Those were
the days when fashion reigned supreme and educated people were shy to repeat God’s Name. And,
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there were those, too, who were against singing the Names of the Incarnations of God like Rama
and Krishna since God was ultimately nameless and formless. That was their view. Listening to
Gurudev for a brief while was all the remedy that these people needed; and they invariably sang the
Divine Name and danced with him on the public platform throwing their delusion, their foolish
fashions, and their doctrines, to the winds. What miracle can be greater than this? Gurudev became
such an embodiment of supreme devotion to the Lotus-Feet of the Lord that anyone who came into
contact with him received the waves of devotion in spite of himself.
By his own glorious example Gurudev has demonstrated that the true devotee of the Lord is
completely free from evil qualities like jealousy, hatred, anger, pride, etc. Gurudev rejoiced at the
prosperity of all institutions, blessed and promoted the cause of what we regard as rival societies,
and was all admiration for all. This is a very rare divine virtue, which even the great ones often lack;
and its presence in Gurudev in its positive dynamic aspect, was the fruit of the practice of intense
and ceaseless devotion to the all-pervading Divinity.
Gurudev’s Divine Life Mission, the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy, the Ashram and
Sivananda Nagar that have grown up rapidly on the bank of the Holy Ganga are the most tangible
proofs of the mysterious power that this Divine and incarnate God-head possessed.
The Sivananda Ashram is a wonderful and eloquent monument to the Yoga of Synthesis
that Gurudev preached. Take bath in the Ganges flowing close-by and purify yourself. Repeat the
Lord’s Names on the Ganges-bank. Have Gurudev’s holy company in the office. Serve the sick in
the hospital. Do some selfless service in the office and take part in the Jnana Yajna (dissemination
of spiritual knowledge). Study spiritual literature in the library. Sing Lord’s Names in the bhajan
hall. Worship the Lord in the temple. Practise asanas and pranayama under the guidance of adepts
in Yoga. Listen to the illuminating discourses of highly evolved souls and Vedantins. Study
scriptures on the temple verandah. Retire into the forest adjoining the ashram for a period of
seclusion, Brahma-Vichara {Enquiry into Brahman the Supreme Being) and intense meditation.
The ashram provides you with food for the body in the kitchen, food for the mind in the
office and library, food for the intellect during the Forest Academy classes, and food for the soul in
the invisible presence of Gurudev.
Let not those who enjoy looking at the lovely Sivanandanagar, who dwell in it and partake
of its comforts forget that every brick of the numerous buildings and every one of its varied
activities owes its existence to this Divine Being who, in order to demonstrate the glory of devotion
to God, walked into Rishikesh with nothing more than the shirt on his back, without a penny, lived
on alms for a number of years, served and worshipped the Lord in multifarious dynamic ways,
which today have grown as the wonderful institution admired the world over.
The Mighty Intellect Of Gurudev
Besides these psychic powers, the Yogi also acquires some marvellous powers of the mind
and intellect. It was this absolutely perfect control of the mind that enabled Gurudev to give the
world such a ceaseless stream of the most sublime spiritual literature, writings, which sprang form
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the infinite source of consciousness, highly inspiring, able to pierce the heart of the reader and tear
asunder the veil of ignorance.
He was the author of over 300 books, no doubt, but remember that he was the head of a
dynamic institution (with all its interpersonal, financial and administrative problems) with a
world-wide network of branches, and he managed an ashram housing 200 permanent inmates and a
floating population of an equal number of visitors. And the books flowed steadily from his pen, not
by fits and starts in an eccentric manner. He did not depend upon the mood, as all of us must. He
created the mood, he commanded the mood. He had not to sit and wait for inspiration, as most
religious writers have to. He was perpetually in an inspired state of mind, and he had just to open the
tap to let the fountain of inspiration flood the world. He did not need a modern well-furnished
up-to-date “study” for his study and writing. The corner of his room, crowded all round with trunks
and almirahs, would do for him. For, the moment he applied himself to the task, he forgot his
surroundings. And, he did net gather material and then go to a hill-station, as the most famous
novelists do in order to complete the work.
Intense and protracted practice of meditation had a most miraculous effect on Gurudev’s
mind. It was ever longing to turn inward for a brief moment. During devotional singing, this
indrawn look of bliss was clearly noticeable. Gurudev’s half-closed left eye had a vacant look and
the face radiated joy. Meditation on the various deities (Bhairava, Narasimha, Surya, etc.) had
conferred various miraculous powers upon Gurudev. These manifested themselves at the proper
moment, even without Gurudev inviting them.
Many were wonderstruck by the motley crowd that surrounded Gurudev every day in the
office. People of completely different temperaments, of different nationalities, of different
aspirations and with various desires, all came to the lotus-feet of the sage seeking sympathy, solace
and the solution to their problems. People used to be puzzled at the minute-to-minute changes that
took place in Gurudev’s personality, behaviour and attitude in regard to the people-around him. All
in the same breath he cheered up the distressed, consoled the bereaved, comforted the afflicted,
dictated his directions to the disciples, initiated a novice, demonstrated pranayama to an aspirant,
nodded his head and “thanked” like an Englishman, folded his palms and greeted like an Indian,
closed his eyes and contemplated like a supreme recluse and laughed and made others laugh with
his educative humour.
How did he do all this? Even though all these were varied expressions of the one cosmic
love that flowed from his heart, they differed in accordance with the needs of the person to whom
they were directed. Everyone got what he needed. The problem that were placed before him were
often preposterous, but not so to him. Impossible things were asked of him, but he had nothing but
love and sympathy for all and he knew exactly how to deal with each case, for the simple reason that
he at once became one with the person approaching him. When he was conversing with you, you
would feel that he was your fond mother, full of love and compassion. Half an hour later, he was
addressing a small gathering: “Renounce the world as though it is a straw. Wake up!” Then we
found him worshipping in the Ganges and now he was something else. And on the day he initiated
his disciples into the holy order of Sannyas, again he was different–a blazing fire–you couldn’t
touch him, you couldn’t even approach him. He was all radiant and in that state, aspirants could
hardly gaze at Gurudev’s divine form without being struck with awe. Gurudev himself was
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unaware of these different manifestations of his spiritual personality. So here was an example of
complete and total perfection–perfection in perfection. That was his nature. Most important,
however, was his peace-radiation. Sitting in his solitary abode on the bank of the holy Ganga,
Gurudev radiated peace and bliss to the entire world.
CHAPTER FIVE
SELF-KNOWLEDGE
Gurudev’s Jnana Yoga was something unique, wonderful. It is here that he distinguished
himself from all the great acharyas (teachers), and from virtually every saint or sage of the past. He
did not neglect vedanta, as some karma yogins had done; nor did he neglect Karma Yoga as those
who profess to be non-dualists are often inclined to do. Even as regards the yoga asanas, he often
warned aspirants against the wrong application of the vedantic formula–I am not this body to
cover up their lethargy in this very important respect and neglect their health.
A little caution is necessary in order not to let the mind escape into idealism. Gurudev,
therefore, gave a clear-cut formula: “Realise that the sum total of all physical bodies constitutes the
Virat (macrocosm); the sum total of all minds is Hiranyagarbha (cosmic intelligence) and the sum
total of all the souls is Iswara (supreme Lord).” This at once allows a relative reality to the body,
mind and individual soul. He fused wisdom and action, and refused to concede that the vedantin
must shun the world and rigidly seclude himself. He defined Karma Yoga itself as dynamic practice
of vedanta or of bhakti.
On the 15th January, 1956, Gurudev was discussing with the ashram authorities the
exorbitant charges that a printing press had made for the printing of a small book. It was the general
feeling that the printers had cheated the Divine Life Society. Like a flash of lightning came
Gurudev’s remark: “Well, think that you yourself are enjoying the money from those who have
cheated you and are none but your own self. This is the key to peace and happiness.” This is a
supreme vedantic formula for perennial peace and supreme bliss. But it takes a lot of hard inner
work to feel that the man who has robbed you, who has cheated you, who has harmed you, for his
own enjoyment, is your own self, and that his pleasure or enjoyment is yours. With Gurudev this
attitude was natural and hundreds of instances can be cited where he had readily applied this
formula.
Gurudev emphatically declared that Vedanta provides the spiritual aspirant with the ideal to
strive for, the goal to be reached here and now. What is the goal? The realisation of the one common
consciousness. In order not to forget this goal and to keep the inner zeal afire, Gurudev exhorted the
aspirant: “Resort to the company of the wise, hear vedantic discourses, reflect and meditate upon
vedantic formulae. But your actual practice will of course be selfless service and devotion to God.”
He discouraged vain discussions of vedanta and did not lend an ear to dry, vedantic talk.
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During the All-India tour, Gurudev visited Benares, the supreme seat of Sanskrit learning.
At a reception, given by the scholars of Benares, a member of our party, was worried that the Master
might be asked questions in sanskrit, since he had written commentaries on many of the classical
sanskrit texts. I said to the man, “Wait, we’ll see how he handles it.” Sure enough, during the
reception, the Master was led between two rows of scholars, and someone asked him a question in
sanskrit.
Instantly, and without the least hesitation–and that was the beauty–he turned around,
“Comment ca va? Comment appellez-vous?” and walked on. Two sentences in French that
someone had taught him. That poor person didn’t know what the Master had said–he just looked,
his jaw dropped. Gurudev had no use at all for such showing-off tactics.
He often said, “Vedanta is not something to be learnt from books. Nor can vedantic
realisation be transferred from one person to another. Serve, serve, and go on serving all selflessly
and egolessly. Be dynamic, untiringly so, and while doing all this, can you at the same time watch
yourself, to see where there is selfishness, where there is vanity, jealously and greed; and can you at
the same time destroy it there–there at the root? Then the same service takes on a different form; the
form of worshipfulness.”
In due course you will attain vedantic realisation. When the heart is purified through the
practice of untiring selfless service, and steadied through the practice of devotion to God, then the
light of the self must shine in it. Then the Vedantic aroma will waft around you and all people will
be automatically attracted to you. You need not go about advertising. That is what we actually
experienced during Gurudev’s All-India tour in 1950 and in the ashram thereafter. Millions of
people crowded round Gurudev at every centre; millions heard him. By mere sight of him they felt
they had got everything.
Gurudev’s life itself was vedanta illustrated. He practised and preached vedanta in daily
life, not dry, lip-service to vedantic truths. But to him the world of names and forms did not exist;
there was only Brahman, the supreme being. He had this cosmic vision; therefore he had no desires
whatsoever, except the fulfillment of the divine plan. The Master used to sing very beautifully:
“Sarvam brahmamayam jagat, sarvam Brahmamayam
Sarvam brahmamayam neha nana asti kinchana.
(Everything is Brahman, there is no such thing as diversity).
And he would improvise as he went along:
“Mata Pita Brahman, larka larki Brahman ...... Father and mother brahman, son and
daughter Brahman, Milk and yoghurt Brahman, hot hot tea Brahman ...
Jnana Yoga stands on the bedrock of vairagya (dispassion) and Gurudev was born with it.
This dispassion in him was always based on wonderful viveka (wisdom). Even in his early days, he
was full of wisdom and it was this that eventually led him to Rishikesh.
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Of the sixfold virtues Sama (control of the mind), Dama (control of the senses), Titiksha
(endurance), Uparati (satiety in contact with sense-objects), Sraddha (faith) and Samadhana
(proper concentration); suffice it to say he was full of these. He had no attraction for the goods of the
world, and applied himself to doing good to all. He took up, carried out and completed every work
with a zeal, faith and devotion that pertain to a man full of ambition, but Gurudev’s inner attitude
was different. This inner attitude demonstrated the fourth of the four means i.e. Mumukshutva
(yearning for liberation). Elsewhere his very words were quoted to show that when he came to India
after renouncing the world, the only central idea in his mind was, “I should realise God now.” Also
he always behaved in such a manner that everyone of his actions inspired the highest type of
Mumukshutva in other aspirants. His actions were so perfectly selfless, egoless, and desireless, that
they snapped the bonds of karma. He lived, moved and had his being in a state of liberation, beyond
even the desire for liberation. Who will desire a thing that has already been acquired? He was
established in that. Titiksha (endurance) was effortless in his case. Regarding endurance of physical
pain, there was surely no one else in the world who could equal him in this respect. Over-work,
especially of the brain, gave him diabetes. The disease had to be kept in check if it was not to
hamper Gurudev’s work. The most common treatment for diabetes is, of course, insulin. An
injection every day. (In the later days, two!). And this went on for many years, until the end. Before
a qualified doctor was employed for the ashram’s charitable hospital, Gurudev himself would give
the prick on his own body. During the epochal All-India tour in 1950, we witnessed one of the
greatest miracles of Yogi Sivananda. Strain of unprecedented nature proved far too much for this
ageing body. Really, it was killing, literally killing. We were in the city of Madras, and the
programme there was especially heavy. From early morning 6 a.m. till 10 p.m. at night, Gurudev
was constantly on the move, talking and singing.
This particular incident happened on the 2nd October 1950. There was a reception
organised by the citizens at the museum theatre. Because he was going from one meeting to another
his throat used to get dry, so we kept a couple of flasks handy with apple or orange juice, and he had
a drink before he went to the next meeting. On this particular evening, the flasks were empty, and
although there was an orthodox Brahmin high court judge in the car with us and a large crowd
assembled to hear Swamiji, waiting in the hall, he refused to go in and speak until he had had some
orange juice. Then we went back to the theatre. Yet the same Swami, who insisted on having orange
juice before lecturing, three days later, in the same city, demonstrated something quite different.
For three or four days he was running a high temperature and his throat was highly inflamed
and full of dangerous ulcers, so much so that a little cough or sneezing caused bleeding from mouth
or nose. Doctors were frightened. But Gurudev never even mentioned his condition to the
organisers of the tour and never allowed his physical troubles to interfere with the programme of his
soul-awakening service of the masses. Thousands and thousands of people in Madras had heard and
seen him speak, personally and on the radio. Everybody agreed that he had conquered the whole
city. The last meeting before we left Madras was held in another big hall. There were about ten
thousand people inside the hall and about 4-5,000 outside, who could not get in. Swamiji’s body
was so shattered by this gruelling programme that he could not stand. He was holding onto the
microphone stand for support, perspiration pouring from every pore of his skin and drenching his
clothes. Yet he would not stop. The body, whose needs were supplied on one occasion must also be
made to perform its due function now.
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SELF-KNOWLEDGE

Gurudev’s Preceptor
After equipping himself with the four means, the aspirant is asked to proceed to the
lotus-feet of the preceptor to undergo intense spiritual training for self-realisation. To whom should
an incarnation of God, in whom there was neither mala (impurity of the mind), nor avarana (veil of
ignorance) go? Gurudev needed no teacher to awaken him to the realisation of the Self to guide him
in his spiritual practice, and to remove the obstacles on his path. Gurudev himself admitted that he
never felt any difficulty in meditation; no obstacle could dare bar his path. This was so even before
he renounced the world, even before he embraced the order of renunciates.
Yet in order to emphasise the supreme need of having a preceptor or teacher, Gurudev
sought the holy feet of H.H. Swami Viswanandaji Maharaj. Or, did he? Some time after Gurudev
had arrived at Rishikesh, he spent a night in ‘Charan Das public resthouse’ verandah. A few feet
away from him a venerable old monk was resting. The young man confided in the monk the purpose
of his coming to Rishikesh. That monk did not take much time to recognise the future
Bhumandaleshwar (the Lord of the earth) and hastened to grasp the supreme honour of being his
preceptor! The very next morning, Viswanandaji initiated Dr. Kuppuswamy into the Holy Order of
Renunciation with the sacred name “Swami Sivananda Saraswati”, a name which has become a
bye-word in the aspirant-world. The initiation over, Viswanandaji took leave of his divine disciple
and went away to Benares.
The uniqueness of Gurudev’s life stands as an example for people of different
temperaments,–for the aspirant who should resort to the lotus-feet of the preceptor, as also for those
others, though their numbers may be extremely small, who are so highly evolved and whose hearts
are so pure that they do not have to run after a human preceptor. What should they do? Gurudev’s
own life is their guide.
Gurudev’s attitude paralleled that of Lord Dattatreya. To him everyone who gave
expression to a noble thought, who performed a noble deed, was his preceptor. He listened
attentively to the lectures of even baby-souls, lest he should miss the admonition of his preceptor.
He often openly declared that his own disciples were his teachers. “I have learnt many lessons from
them,” he used to say. This extraordinary attitude is extremely difficult for ordinary people to
conceive of. By this Gurudev has demonstrated that, far from being convenient escapism, the
independence of the aspirant who does not seek and live with a preceptor, obliges the aspirant to
humble himself to such an extent as to be able to treat everyone, even his own servants and disciples
as his preceptor. Here, as in every other spiritual practice, Gurudev had discovered the best means
of keeping vanity away from its hide-outs. If you do not want any preceptor well and good; treat
everyone as your preceptor.
Experience was Gurudev’s greatest teacher. From every experience that he passed through,
and had seen others pass through, he drew a lesson, and these lessons, he never forgot. For instance,
he had seen in his youth, a whole bazaar being reduced to ashes because the shops had thatched
roofs. He drew the lesson that these roofs were insecure. Never in his life thereafter did Gurudev
allow anyone to live in a house with a thatched roof; he would much rather let you live in the open
than in a cottage with a thatched roof.
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But Gurudev himself very often pointed out that this path (i.e. no preceptor in the
conventional sense) is only for the aspirant who is very evolved and who is endowed with divine
qualities to a very high degree. The others should approach a preceptor, get initiated by him and
perform spiritual practice under his immediate guidance.
Sravana, Manana, Nididhyasana
During the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy classes, Gurudev frequently used to pull up a
slumbering aspirant and question him: “Do you keep notes of the important points that you hear
during the class?” Most often, the aspirant did not! But Gurudev was not like that. He once said,
“After the class is over, as soon as I return to my room, I reflect on the ideas I gathered during the
lecture. Deeply meditating over them, gives rise to related sublime thoughts. All these I incorporate
in an article and present it to the world.”
Here in brief Gurudev had explained the threefold Jnana Yoga practice of Sravana, Manana
and Nididhyasana. Writing down the thoughts heard at a spiritual discourse or grasped during the
period of study of scriptures is a sure way of ensuring that the mind does not slip into lethargy. This
practice also helps reflection and eventually profound meditation.
For instance, one fine morning, Gurudev had studied a Vedantic text in which the nature of
the Supreme Being had been described as Satchidananda (Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute).
He meditated upon this single formula and from this emerged the following poem which he gave to
the world as a wonderful aid to Nirguna meditation, i.e., meditation on the attributeless Being:
Sat-Chit-Ananda.
Existence-Knowledge-Bliss.
Truth Consciousness Bliss.
Life Light Love
Immortality, Wisdom, Happiness.
All mean the same.
Love melts into bliss.
“This is Nirguna Meditation,” said Gurudev after reading the poem to us in the office.
“Think of Sat-Chit-Ananda. Think of Atman or Brahman (the Supreme Being). Then think of the
equivalents of the attributes Sat-Chit-Ananda which nearly denote the nature of Brahman. Parallel
attributes will suggest themselves to your mind. Then go on meditating upon them. This is Nirguna
meditation. You will have to go on thinking and thinking. Suddenly it will flash within you.” ‘It’
means the Truth.
Similarly from the scriptures like the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads, Gurudev selected
some passages for reflection and meditation.
Ahamatma Gudakesa Sarvabhutasayasthitah
“I am the Self dwelling in all beings.”
Isavasyam Idam Sarvam
All this is pervaded by God.
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SELF-KNOWLEDGE

Ekameva Adwitiyam Brahma
Brahman is one without a second.
Gurudev also applied this wonderfully unique method to the Sharanagati Formulas.
“Surrender is something which is easier to do than to keep up! And the fire that dies out is soon
covered over by the ash of the self-assertive egoistic nature. The frequent repetition of these
formulas will prevent this
Hari Sharanam Mama
Sri Krishna Sharanam Mama
Sri Rama Sharanam Mama
Durgam Deveem Sharanamaham Prapadye
Sirman-Narayan Charanau Sharanamaham Prapadye
and the Gita verse:
Sarva Dharman Parityajya
Mamekam Sharanam Vraja
Aham Twaa Sarvapapebhyo
Mokshayishyami Maa Sucha
(Abandoning all duties, take refuge in Me alone: I will liberate thee from all sins; grieve
not).
The realisation of Vedantic Unity was not a theoretical concept with Gurudev who lived the
dynamic realisation of the spiritual aspect of this truth. He lived the Divine Life. Divine Life does
not mean cutting yourself away from life and going to something divine; this life itself can be
divine; divinity is to be discovered in life, while living a full life–the fullest life. This is Divine Life.
Wherever you are, whatever you may be doing, discover the divinity inherent in life. This is in fact
and in truth to discover this cosmic being, cosmic consciousness. The only thing that is absent from
this kind of divine life is the ego-sense.
“Kill this little ‘I’
Die to live
Lead the Divine Life.”
KILL THIS LITTLE ‘I’–is a figure of speech, it doesn’t exist. When the inner light of
consciousness is awakened, unveiled, then the little ego-sense is seen to be non-existent. It is not
necessary to destroy it, to kill it, in the usual sense of the word. You cannot destroy darkness; you
cannot kill a shadow. When the light is brought in, the shadow is not there. That is Divine Life. That
was his life. He enjoyed and he suffered everything, like you and me, except that in his case, there
was no ego-sense at all. When we were with him we never felt that he was something other than us;
he was not a holy man who was constantly looking at his eyebrow centre, and never caring to look at
us. No, no. He was one of us, he joked with us, and ate with us and bathed with us. He sang with us.
He played with us. He cried with us–yes, he could cry.
On the other hand, during the All India Tour, he became the Lion of Vedanta, roaring at a
public meeting, and surrounded by dignitaries. There he was, Gurudev, The Supreme, the Mighty
82

Incarnation of God in whose presence ministers and judges were but children listening spellbound
to his stern admonitions. They too, must have felt that glory which is self-realisation, compared to
which the greatest mundane glory fades into insignificance. Whether it be a mighty ruler of the
earth, or a poor beggar, a learned pundit or an ignorant babe, to Gurudev, all were equal, equally
worthy of his veneration and love. He was one with all. The fruits of his self-realisation were
enjoyed by all mankind. Everything was for every-body because all are sparks of the one Divine
flame which and which alone, Gurudev saw in all.
CONCLUSION
This Integral Yoga, this Yoga of Synthesis is Gurudev’s greatest gift to humanity, his
greatest contribution to world peace, to commonweal and to the cause of the cultivation of human
brotherhood. This yoga is broadbased and represents the cream of the teachings of all religions of
all scriptures of all countries. It is the universal common ground.
The practice of this Yoga of Synthesis ennobles man, broadens his outlook, softens his
heart, enlightens his intellect and awakens his soul-consciousness. In the light of this yoga, man
lives, loves and serves all. He strives to perfect himself, to remove his inner weaknesses and to
cultivate virtuous qualities. Irrespective of the religion he professes, the creed he follows, and the
country he belongs to, Gurudev’s disciple becomes a better man and strives to realise universal
brotherhood and universal Atma-hood, in his daily life. This is the ideal Gurudev placed before his
disciple. Striving to reach this ideal, man can become a superman. In reaching it he realises God.
Gurudev’s yoga is the yoga of the coming age.
May Sri Guru Bhagawan, Lord Sivananda, Yogeshwareshwara, the Supreme Refuge of us
all, and the luminous dust of whose lotus-feet purifies us, protect us and serve as our sole prop in the
dark and dreary desert of samsara (worldly life). May he the Incarnation of the Almighty for ever
guide humanity by his invisible hands:
from falsehood to Truth
from darkness to Light
from mortality to Immortality.
Glory to Gurudev!
83
SELF-KNOWLEDGE

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