Kailasa

This morning a devotee brought an old copy of the Peria Puranam and gave it to Bhagavan. Reading the story about Sundaramurti going to Kailasa, Bhagavan said, “It seems that Sundaramurti found that after his own arrival, the Chera Raja had arrived on horseback almost immediately.

This morning a devotee brought an old copy of the Peria Puranam and gave it to Bhagavan. Reading the story about Sundaramurti going to Kailasa, Bhagavan said, “It seems that

Sundaramurti found that after his own arrival, the Chera Raja had arrived on horseback almost immediately. The Raja asked him, ‘How did you come here without my calling’?” So saying Bhagavan read a verse from it. A Tamil youth, who was present, said, “Where is that Kailasa, Swami?” “Kailasa! It is at the very place where we are. First of all, tell me where we are?” said Bhagavan.

“That’s not it, Swami. The Kailasa of which you have just read, that Sundaramurti had gone to; does it really exist? If so, where is it? Please favour me with a proper reply,” said the young man.

“I have told you already,” said Bhagavan. “We have come here now. From here we will go to some other place. If all this is true, then that also is true. There, also, a Swami will be found seated on a raised pedestal. Just like this there will be devotees around. They ask something; he replies something. That will also be like this. If you look at the thing from the point of view of the body, that is how it is. If, however, you look at it from the point of view of truth, wherever we are, it is Kailasa. There is no question of its being born or growing or dying. When we realize that there is nothing real in this world, Kailasa is everywhere.”

“How will that be known?” the young man asked.

“Everyone knows that he is in existence. You were in existence when you were born, when you were a year old, when you were in middle age and when you were old. YOU have not changed; it is only the body that has changed. To know that your SELF has not changed, this illustration itself is enough,” said Bhagavan.

Giving up that line of questioning, the youth again asked, “It is said that a Jnani does not have happiness or sorrows, bodily ailments, or the like. Sundarar and Appar are reported to have jumped with joy when they had a vision

of God. Even Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is reported to have grieved terribly when he did not get a vision of the Holy Mother and to have gone into ecstasies when he did get a vision. Not only that, when Ramakrishna Paramahamsa had some bodily ailment, he used to cry out for Mother. What does it mean? Do Jnanis have happiness and sorrow?”

Bhagavan answered him, “You say all that in relation to the body, don’t you? It is not possible to judge a Jnani by his bodily ailments. Manikkavachakar sang a hymn the purport of which is, ‘O Ishwara you have showered on me your blessings even before I asked for them. How kind of you! Even so, why is it I do not feel grieved? Is my heart made of stone? My eyes do not get wet. Are they made of wood? Not only with these two eyes, but I wish that my whole body were full of eyes so that I could weep with them. I would then be very happy. I wish my heart would melt and become watery so that it could be integrated with you.’ That is the purport. But then is that grief real grief? Some people give vent to their happiness by loudly expressing it when they get a vision of God, and some shed tears of joy. It was the same with Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. ‘Mother, how kind of you; how merciful!’ he used to say and weep, and sometimes he used to laugh. Anyway, if we want to know about his real state, we should first know about our own state,” said Bhagavan.

Instead of stopping at that, the young man again asked, “Swami, when he was in an ecstasy of happiness, he did not know the pain of the disease he was suffering from, but when that ecstasy was over he used to realise the pain and groan under it. Does a Realized Soul really know what pain or pleasure is?”

“I see, that is your doubt. First find out about your own affairs. What does it concern you how a Paramahamsa was?

He need not become a Jnani only after obtaining your certificate. He has become something. Boyhood has passed with boyhood; sleeping has gone with sleep. In this wakeful state at least find out what you are, where you are. Is it Kailasa* or Bhooloka or, Vaikunta? Why not find out all that for yourself and become a Jnani?” said Bhagavan. The questioning then stopped.