The first darshan
Justice Venkataswamy

 

It was an unique experience to have darshan of Yogi Ramsuratkumar for the first time at Tiruvannamalai, the holy city, which is capable of giving liberation on merely thinking of it. My good brother Justice Shri Raju first mentioned to me about Swami Ji and inspired in me a longing to have his darshan. My wife and I, helped by brother Raju went to have darshan. We had sent a message through advocate Sri Visvana that we would be arriving for Swamiji's darshan. Due to some mistake, erroneous messages were conveyed to Swamiji and ourselves about the time of darshan and so we were unable to be present at the proper time for darshan. We had instead gone to the temple of Sri Annamalaiyar.

Since we did not present ourselves at the appointed time, Swamiji had left his Sannadhi street abode and had arrived at the temple. So, we had our first darshan of Swamiji at the temple. He said angrily:

- You wanted to see this beggar, you have seen him. That is all.

We could not understand the reason for his anger. However, we were able to persuade him into agreeing to meet with us at his abode.

Later, we explained to him the mistakes which had occurred. His apparent anger abating by His grace he kindly poured his blessings on us for two hours. This event is still green in my memory. After that first meeting, it become clear to me,

(Poem in Tamil)

To see the Gurus's holy form
To chant the Guru's holy Nama
To hear the Guru's holy Word
To meditate on the Guru's holy being.
This the soild receives illumination.

Seek the darshan of the Guru, chant His name, listen to his teachings and meditate on the form of the Holy Guru. The meaning of this mantra of the Guru Paduka was demonstrated very clearly to me by means of several events in my life.

When I had my second darshan of Bhagavan with my wife, Justice Raju and his wife had also come. All four of us were able to receive His abundant blessings. The next day was Swamiji's birthday. We expressed our desire to have his darshan andhave his blessings. Our happiness knew no bounds when Swamiji told us that He was going to stay in the home of a friend the next days and therefore He would Himself come to the place where we were staying and bless us.

Once three of us brother judges - Justice Arunachalam, Justice Raju and myself had gone together to have Swamiji's darshan. He happily observed that this was a "Full Bench" and blessed us. Swamiji was very strict about punctuality. He would point out even a minute's delay. For all that he did not even have a time piece!

Once when I had gone with my wife for his darshan, he asked us how many times we had come to him. We could not immediately furnish an answer. To our great surprise Bhagavan gave the accurate figure! There is a wealthof meaning in every word and act of Bhagavan. We should be fortunate enough to understan and follow it. I had already written about my experience of a severe chest pain followed by surgery. After this the conviction is uppermost in my mind that Swamiji's grace is always with me. If anyone connected with the Justice Department went to have darshan of the Swamiji, he could invariably make kind enquiries about my welfare and convey his blessings. That is why I had written that I was within the protective wing of Bhagavan.

When I took over as Chief Justice of the Patna High Court I was unable to personally inform Bhagavan about my elevation. In the circumstances, I sent word through my dear friend Akash Muthukrishnan; Bhagavan expressed his great delight ans also sent prasad which He directed was to reach me promptly. Accordingly I was extremely happy to recevie the prasad on the day that I was sworn in. I came to Tiruvannamalai to have Swamiji's darshan a week after I took over as Chief Justice. My wife and I had gone to Him. He seatd us in his room and had Chakravarty Rajagopalachariar's song "Kunrai Ondrum Illai" sung not less than 20 times. It will be no exaggeration to say that his blessings flowing through the song had elevated me to the post of Chief Justice.

Whenever any problems arose during my tenure as Chief Justice I used to inform over the telephone either Mr. Mani (who was the recipient of Bhagavan's love) or through my friend, (Akash hotel owner, Muthukrishnan) to be conveyed to Swamiji. I used to get the problems solved through Bhagavan's grace.

Swamiji has repeatedly had the above-mentioned song sng. When I examine the meaning I feel that perhaps Swamiji had the song sung before me in order to avert the difficulties that I might face I was due to assume office as Chief Justice but the date had not been fixed when Sri Muthukrishnan had gone to Bhagavan for his blessings. Swamiji said that I would assume office on 06.03.1995. I did assume office on the same date with Bhagavan's grace!

A siddha sings,

It is God who speaks, Brahma jnana is inside.
The five make waves in desire
The five of desire suppressed in one letter
Do not speak, God will come and speak.

It says, if we learn to govern our mind for half a moment and do Japa, God will rapidly enter our awareness and protect us. But the moment we utter the sacred name of Yogi Ramsuratkumar, the Nama destroys all the difficulties and elevates us in life.

The week after I was elevated to the Supreme Court of India, my wife, daughter, and grandchildren went to have darshan of Swamiji. He performed a miracle right in front of us. There was a large crowd in the Darshan mandir that day. A lady devotee came and offered 10 to 15 flowers to Swamiji. This was distributed amongst the women devotees by Swamiji himself, blessing each one with a flower. The number of women in the hall exceeded the number of flowers; Swamiji continued his distribution, but wonder of wonders, there was no reduction in the flowers, the flowers that were leftover after distribution were returned to the lady who had given the offering! Such was his grace!

On yet another occasion my wife and I had gone to the Sannadhi street abode to have Swamiji's darshan. A number of photographs of Swamiji were adorning the walls. When I looked at the pictures they appeared to me like Krishna's and they appeared like Vinayaka to my wife. When we mentioned this to Swamiji he greeted this with his usual guileless and explosive laughter. When I think about the wordless message conveyed by the laughter, I'm reminded of the following sloka:

"Guru is Brahma, Guru is Vishnu
Guru is Maheshvar
Guru is the actual Parabrahman
Salutations therefore to the Guru."

The Guru appears to us in the numerous forms of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Vinayaka, Krishna and so on. What I have gathered from the various events shown to me by Swamiji is that there is only one transcendental God. There are many Avatars. In the ocean of life He took avatar as BhagavanYogi Ramsuratkumar in this place, confers liberation. Bhagavan is not confined by any limits. He is omnipotent. It is his compassion which has taken human form. We get grace from such an avatara purusha. Staying in Tiruvannamalai, He ceaselessly pours His blessings on those who come to have His darshan and those who think of Him. It would be most fitting to describe Him as the ever flowing nectar of Tiruvannamalai. May we have his Darshan, worship him in our hearts and pray to him to drive away our sorrows by taking refuge at His Holy Feet. I pray that Yogiji lives with us for a long time and blesses us.