3.11.1940.
“After wanderings far in an earnest quest, I came to Kasi and lo, I saw the Lord of Kasi--Viswanathan within my heart. Let not your hearts be troubled by wearisome pursuits. There is a fine saying that the herb that you have been searching assiduously lies at your feet within easy reach. In this place too, men live very much in the same manner as our people. There is nothing wonderful, nothing mysterious in this world. In this holy city of Benares, I have performed the rites and obsequies most solemnly for my countrymen who have lived in bygone yesterdays, and to those of today and even of the morrow. From henceforth, live in obedience to your inner spirit imbued with love for one another; and live in harmony with the world under the protecting shelter of His Feet.”
--Nathchintanai. 373.
Swami's mystic experience of Oneness at Kasi has been communicated by Bhagavat Adi Sri Sankararcharya also, in one of his well known poems called Kasi Pancaka, written in Benares. It describes the eminence of Kasi, the holiest of the holy cities of all Hindus. Sri Sankara identifies the Jivatman with the sacred city. The hymn like Swami's letter above, has a message for all pilgrims. At the journey's end, there awaits for the seeker the great discovery of realising the Lord as abiding in his inner sanctuary. Pilgrimages to sacred shrines, and purifactory baths in the sacred streams as the Ganga and Kauveri have been some of the cherished spiritual practices amongst the Hindus. Kasi has always been held by them in the highest veneration, from the Vedic age up to the present day.
A pilgrim is often found to create an exalted state of mind, and serves as a discipline in self denial and self-purity. The most significant award is the possesion of Santi (peace) and jnana (knowledge) which alone can lead man to realise within himself the divinity of his being. St. Tirumular thus Tirumantram:
St. Pattinattar too expresses this idea in a couplet in Poornamalai:
He who gains this Awareness is considered to be the true pilgrim, and he enriches the lives of others, as did St. Appar who prompted by intense love, seeks the Lord who eludes the search of Brahma and Vishnu, till at last he finds Him in his heart.
The sacred Ganga on which is situated Kasi, is reputed to be a Jnanapravaha--the stream of wisdom, which cleanses man of all impurities. What is known as the Manikarnika symbolises Santi--peace absolute, which results from the cessation of all mental activities, as a result of an act of surrender at His Feet. The Hindu considers the goal of life as one of self-realisation. Annapurani and Viswanath, the Lord of the entire Universe and the procreative Mother, represent in one aspect the discerning Wisdom and Conciousness, which are manifest in every individual. Thus everyone is himself Kasi. Kasi means 'to shine.'
A pilgrimage to the holy city of Kasi aims at directing our minds inwardly, to behold that which is the eternal Verity, and conveys to us the intimations of our own immortality. It guides us to look within and realise the Self. We give below a free rendering of the Kasi Pancaka, as it helps us to understand the full significance of Swami's Letter from Kasi.
“That Kasika am I of the nature of the realisation of the Self, the sacred manikarnika being supreme peace, arising from Manonivrtti; and the pure Ganga, the current of knowledge.
That Kasika am i of the nature of the realisation of Self
which is pure existence, knowledge and bliss, which is of
the nature of the Supreme Being, and on whom super-
imposed shines this animate and inanimate world, the
product of Maya's illusion, delightful to the mind.
That Kasika am I of the nature of the realisation of Self
which shines in all the five Kosas, where Bavani is
Buddhi, residing in everybody, and where Siva, the all
pervading witness is the Antaratman--the ultimate Reality.
He has indeed attained Kasi, who has known Kasi, where
shines the effulgent One, who lights up everything.
The body is Kasi. The stream of knowledge is the pervading
Ganga; Bhakti and Sraddha form Gaya. The contemplation of
the Feet of Guru is Prayaga. The Lord of all, the witness of
the minds of everybody is the Antaratman. Thus if in my
body is everything, what other place of pilgrimage is there
for me?
--Bhagavat Adi Sri Sankaracharya.
Written to a devotee on 29.5.33 by Swami.
The centre of Life and the axis of the world and yet beyond these are the endless flame of Radiance, whose gracious Feet adoring, I have a word to say; Listen to it with eagerness.
We are eternal; Everything is the will of Siva.
Do not fear on any score; The unique One is God.
Do not grieve yourself by seeing one as good and other as bad.
Send me not money from today.
From ages immemorial, it has been found that money brings misery.
Let not your mind be tossed about by thoughts of the pastand the future.
That which is within you and within me is One only.
This utterance shall purify your conciousness.
Cherish friends and foes alike.
Know that there is nothing wonderful here on earth.
Ever remembering
YogaSwami.
From a Photo-stat in Siva Thondan--Vol. 30 No: 1 of 1966.
Anjalie to Yogendra
Sivamayam
Yogendra!
This is the New Year's Day. You will prepare various excellent sweet meals. You will wear silk verties. You will whitewash your house. You will go to the temple. You will worship and give offerings. But I shall bathe in the waters of Peace and wear Holy Ash which purifies the mind. I shall pray evermore for that great wealth known as Contentment and take up the shield of Fearlessness; and having all these, I shall dance on the bossom of Subramanya.
Never forgetfully.
Yours
Sivamayam
The Joyful Life
Worship God in thought, word and deed, morning, noon and
evening.
Keep your body and mind pure.
At the first sign of disturbance in the body or the mind, stop eating and engage yourself in temple-worship, or in the worship of the devotees of Siva, or seek to give alms.
Spend no more than your income.
Alone by yourself, sitting or walking, ponder on the ways and means of regulating your life.
Put aside all desire for excessive eating and other indulgent habits.
Give up fish, meat and alchohol.
Be active all the time.
Resolve in tranquillity that you are pure being, and that you do not suffer from imperfection.
He who practises all that is said above will be blessed with pure concentration, divine wisdom and infinite power, consummating in supreme liberation.
Sivamayam
Avisawela
15.11.1933.
Ye will not look upon me as the pedestal upon which all things that are, are founded. And because of your blindness, for blind ye are, having eyes which I have given you to see, ye see not because of your blindness,
Small are your hearts and so cramped that they will not expand in height and breadth, even to know the Peace that dwells in my clear Silence, nor the illumination that radiates in my horizon. Nor will you imbibe the joy of my greetings of wisdom, as I sing into your souls conveying a love that withereth not, nor fadeth away; neither doth it become ashes nor crumble to pieces.
List, My children! Dear unto my heart are ye, even as the ewe-lamb in its waywardness and helplessness is dear to the heart of the mature yet tender shepherd; and as the babe, the gift of first love is dear to the eager heart of the prayerful father.
Sivamayam
Letter to Self who is Yogendra full of Love.
I am with you and you are with me. You are myself and I am you. What is it you fear? Look! I am you. Then what would you do? You must feel and show love. To whom? To everyone. In fact your nature is nothing but love. It is not only yourself, but the whole universe which is overflowing with love. Yet it is not any other, because you are the only one in existence. You are all things. Study well. Be obedient. Listen to and follow the advice of your father, mother elder sisters, younger brother, as well as your uncle, aunt and elder brothers. Always set an example in obedience.
Siva does all
I am you.
Sivamayam
Yogendra!
Look everything is Sivamayam. Then who are you? Who am I? Who is your father? Who are they, and what are all others? Are they not all Sivam? Are you still in doubt? Do you fear? Look! I in you, and you in me, and all being ONE and ONE being all, remain changeless as ever before. Arise, know more and more.
All is well, all is well, all is well.
Yours,
The birthless and deathless one.
Yogaswami