Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi:

Love and Love alone...

Akhilandamma

'Unnai Vidamal Iru':

One day when I went up the hill with all the required foodstuff to serve a bhiksha, a swami told me, since it was a full moon day, it was an auspicious time to receive upadesa from great souls.

I approached Bhagavan, bowed, stood up and said, “Bhagavan, kindly tell me something.” Bhagavan stared at me and asked, “About what am I to tell you?” I was both puzzled and nonplussed. A mixture of fear and devotion along with an eagerness to hear Bhagavan’s gracious words welled up within me, rendering me incapable of speech. I just stood mutely. Bhagavan understood my predicament. No one can hide anything from him. He can understand the state of mind of anyone who approaches him, merely by looking at him. He looked at me graciously and said, ‘unnai vidamal iru’, that is, ‘Be without leaving yourself.’

I could not comprehend the meaning of this high-level upadesa, but as soon as the words came from Bhagavan’s mouth I felt an immense satisfaction and wonderful effulgence in my mind. These gracious words welled up in my mind again and again like the rising of tides. The feeling they produced gave me an indescribable happiness. I stood there delighting myself in the feelings produced by this one phrase. Even today, the sound of that upadesa rings in my ears and bestows immense peace on me.

Though I didn’t understand what Bhagavan had told, I immediately experienced the state that the words were indicating without ever really understanding what they meant. I came to understand through this exper- ience that in Bhagavan’s benign presence a single gracious utterance can produce the fruit and the fulfillment of all spiritual practices such as sravana [hearing], manana [thinking or reflection] and nididhyasa [contemplation or abidance].