Golden–Armed

Before I went to Bhagavan’s presence this morning, Sundaresa Iyer appears to have handed over to Bhagavan a book which he was reading. Bhagavan was saying, “Look.

Before I went to Bhagavan’s presence this morning, Sundaresa Iyer appears to have handed over to Bhagavan a book which he was reading. Bhagavan was saying, “Look. ‘Namo Hiranya Bahave’ (Salutation to the Golden-armed) is in here,” and Sundaresa Iyer was saying, “I was unable to know the finer points in it until Bhagavan explained them.” I asked Bhagavan what it was all about.

Bhagavan said (with a smile): “You know, in my younger days, I got the name Thangakkai (the Golden-Armed). In “Namakam”,* Rudra has already got the name ‘Hiranya Bahu’ (the Golden-Armed). Though this is being repeated daily here during the Veda Parayana, no one has noticed it. Yesterday that name came to my mind unaccountably and I told Sundaresa Iyer that the name was not a new one to me. He has now brought me that book.”

Devotee: “How did Bhagavan get the name of Thangakkai?”

Bhagavan: “At all times and in all games, I used to win invariably; were it wrestling or swimming, or even in doing domestic chores. That is why they called me Thangakkai. If my aunt began preparing appalams, or such like, she would call me and ask me to put my hand on it first. She had great faith in me, because I used to do everything according to her wishes and never told lies. I had to tell only one lie and that was when I came here.”

Devotee: “What was that?”

Bhagavan: “When my brother asked me where I was going, I told him that I was going to attend a special class in

* A Vedic Hymn.

the school. After food, when I asked for the keys, I told my aunt the same thing. How could she know? She believed me when I said that.”

Devotee: “It means that for doing a great thing, sometimes a lie has to be told!”

Bhagavan: “Yes. When it is for the welfare of the world and when the exigencies of the situation demand it, it has to be done. It can’t be helped. Where is the question of telling a lie? Some force makes one say so. So long as there is a purpose, there is need of action. When there is no purpose, no action is needed. In this case, we can avoid action in the same way as was done by the sage in “The Sage and Hunter” story in the Yoga Vasishtam.”

Devotee: “What is that story?”

Bhagavan: “In a forest, a sage sat motionless and in silence. His eyes however were open. A hunter hit a deer and as it was running away, he began pursuing it and when he saw the sage, he stopped. The deer had run in front of the sage, and hidden itself in a bush nearby. The hunter could not see it and so asked the sage: ‘Swami, my deer has come running this way. Please tell me where exactly it has gone.’ The sage said he did not know. The hunter said, ‘It ran in front of you. Your eyes were open. How could you say you do not know?’ To that the sage replied, ‘Oh my friend! We are in the forest with universal equality. We do not have ahankara. Unless you have ahankara, you cannot do things in this world. That Ahankara is the mind. That mind does all things. It also makes all the sense organs work. We certainly have no mind; it disappeared long ago. We do not have the three states, the states of waking, dream and deep sleep. We are always in the fourth or Turiya state. In that state nothing is seen by us. That being so, what can we say about your deer?’ Unable to understand what the

sage was saying, the hunter went his way thinking they were all the words of a mad man.”