Andal, the saint poet of Tamil Nadu, in her ecstatic outpourings in praise of her beloved Krishna, says taht the severe austerities practised by her has only one prayer as the goal ! to serve the Lord in this and repeated janmas, to be the slave of the Lord in every age and birth. The spirit of Andal survives today and we have many wonderful men and women who seek to serve the Lord with single minded devotion.

It was December 1986, Ramanashram at Tiruvannamalai was plunged in darkness owing to a local powercut. A young woman stood in front of Bhagavan Sri Ramana's statue with tears streaming diomn her face. The pain was not due to any bereavement or personal difficulty but expressed the soul's need for spiritual upliftment. "Bhagavan, I am wandering for so many years in search of a Guru; can you not show me a person like you or Bhagavan Ramakrishna to guide me to God ?"

Symbolically the lights came on, in an instant and the young woman stood transfixed before Ramana Bhagavan; with the faint stirrings of hope in her heart.

The young woman was Devaki, an M. Phil in Physics and a senior lecturer in a college. Born of middleclass Brahmin parents and seventh in a large family of nine, the girl was brillant in her studies and excelled in whatsoever activity she undertook. She was devoted to Lord Krishna from childhood. Collegiate education endowed her with the trapppings of modernity. The worldly life of her family members and her peers had only a marginal influence on her. Though distracted now and then, she rarely swerved from her path of spiritual seeking. The Ramakrishna Matt very often proved her refuge, for meditation and further learning of the life of a Sadhak. Her wide readings of the lives of saints and her conversations with sadhaks established her in the life of a sadhak and all her spare time from her collegiate activity found her pursuing things spiritual. But her Sadhana required a direction, a focal point, as it were, because she knew taht the numerous swamijis she had met till then could not supply her with the required guidance.

Nevertheless, she trudged on; her restless eyes always looking for the Godman, the Mahatma, the Guru, who would finally put her on the right path and lead her to the effulgent presence of the creator. Her sharp intellect would not accept anything less, though her devotion to God and humility made her respecy every sadhak, every sannyasi, every person who struggled on the spiritual path.

Little did Devaki realise that her prayers before Ramana Maharishi were being answered instantly. Within the next few days she was going to experience the most momentous event of her life, the darshan of Bhagavan Yogi Ramsuratkumar, the realised soul, the Godchil of Tiruvannamalai, who also must have been wainting for the correct disciple, much as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa did, awaiting his dynamic disciples who were to transform India and spread abroad India's message over the gobe in the next century.

Devaki entered the holy precincts of Sannadhi street at Tiruvannamalai into the magnetic presence of the Yogi, and her search ended. Tears streamed down her face in an emotional upheaval, which washed away the pain and sufferings of the years of search. "Whant does Devaki want from this beggar ?" Devaki's answer was simplicity itself : "I want you to show me God."

The great saint roared with laughter; he must have immensely loved the elegance and simplicity, the directness with which this young woman approached so vast a subject.

Then began a period of severe trial and austerity when Devaki took every conceivable opportunity to be near this embodiement of God, whose very presence, every glance, every word and gesture radiated a spiritual energy which she was greedy to imbibe. Serving Him became her one goal in life, when some understanding of the Yogi's ways and work ever so slowly was revealed to her. No other thoughts crossed her head. She could not even take part in a conversation unless it was about the Yogi. With reluctance bordering on aversion she continued her job of teaching physics when her body, spirit and mind ached to be near the Master, serve Him, to understand His message, to preserve it for posterity. With missionary zeal she sang His praises to everyone who would listen and to many who would not, who merely laughted derisively at her divine madness.

Yes, it was and is a divine madness that drives Devaki to serbe hand and foot, this self procaimed beggar. She nurtures His precious body with the jealous love of a mother for her child, attends to His correspondence with the zeal of a perfect secretary, watches every moment and movement with care vordering on anxiety to see that the precious energies of this Godman are not frittered away in fruitless anger at the pathetically ignorant public which flock to Him, supplicants for miracles.

Such is the total devotion of Devaki that Bhagavan Sri Yogi Ramsuratkumar has finally decided to lead her into the path of total merger with the self, for which again intense spiritual training is imparted to her. We are living in momentous times when we are privileged to witness this great process of Realisation. To watch the path trod by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Ramana Maharishi, Parama Guru Papa Ramdas of Kanhangad, Pujya Sri Mataji Krishna Bai, Yogi Ramsuratkumar and the countless Yogis, Mahatmas and Gurus who have made this resplendant land of ours into a spiritual powerhouse for the entire world. It is my earnest prayer that atleast some of us will be inspired to emulate Devaki in her single minded devotion, unswerving attachement to the eternal and the enormous sacrifice of things worldly to attain the goal of merger with God. May Yogi Ramsuratkumar grace us with strength and energy to pursue this noble end, the only worthwhile goal of humanity.