Sadguru Sri Nannagaru on 'Himself'
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Sadguru Sri Nannagaru on ‘Himself’ Compiled from the speeches of Sri Nannagaru 1 2 The Childhood experiences of Sri Nannagaru Currently we are in Mupparthipada. When I was in 2nd standard, I did not study in Kommara but studied in a nearby village. There was a tailor named Basha, who came to Kommara from Mupparthipada. For nearly 40 years Basha came to Kommara from Mupparthipada on a daily basis to stitch the clothes. He used to bring his machine and stitch in Kommara itself. I used to take cloth to him and ask: “ Deepavali 3 is nearby; I should wear new clothes for the festival. When will you finish the stitching? Basha used to call me as ‘Jinnuru’. As and when he saw me, he used to say: ‘Jinnuru has come; Jinnuru has come’. He never called me by name but called me as ‘Jinnuru’. He used to tell me: ‘Jinnuru, if you wait here (patiently), I will do it immediately; else it will take a lot of time. See how many clothes are pending to be stitched.” All the people of Kommara made him their tailor. Just now I was asking: ‘How is Basha’? I have been told that he is no more. Else I would have visited him. I thought of visiting him if he is still alive and has become bedridden. 4 In my school days once I asked my teacher: “Who is the founder of Hinduism?” The teacher could not give me reply. Later I came to know that there is no founder of Hinduism. It is a way of life. 5 Sri Nannagaru’s first meeting with Swami Jnanananda I saw Jnanananda swami for the first time in New Delhi in the year 1954. Maulankar was the speaker of Loksabha then. He was the first speaker of Loksabha. I saw him in Parliament. He looked very beautiful. He belonged to Gujarat. There was an MP in Bhandar who took me to Parliament house where I saw 6 Maulankar. Shakespeare said: ‘Beauty walks on the earth.’ Maulankar possessed such a beauty. Why I am narrating about Maulankar is that he was the person who introduced Swami Jnanananda to Jawaharlal Nehru. At that period of time National Physical laboratory was established in Delhi. A very famous scientist used to be the director of that Institute. Upon Nehru’s invitation, Jnanananda came back from Germany and joined the institute to support that director. There was a disciple of Jnanananda called Atmananda. I was not well conversant with Swami Jnanananda. I was very young then. So Swami Atmananda said that he will introduce me to Jnananada stating that I belonged to the same region (West Godavari) from where he hails. Jnananada used to travel by city bus in his initial days. Later he got a vehicle. We reached the office even before Jnanananda arrived. There was a boy who used 7 to cook food for Jnanananda. Later I was introduced to Jnanananda stating that I belonged to Jinnuru in West Godavari district. Swami Atmananda took the vow of asceticism from Swami Jnanananda. We were offered tea to drink. I was repeatedly pouring tea from one glass into another. Then Swami Jnanananda said: “The tea will get cold if you do thus for so many times. The tea will become insipid once it gets cooled. Therefore drink the tea.” I am remembering these words, hence I am telling them out here. 8 Sri Nannagaru’s meeting with Swami Shivananda in Hrishikesh After seeing Swami Jnanananda in Delhi, we went to Hrishikesh. We went to Shivananda ashram in Hrishikesh. I was not aware of Swami Shivananda then. It was Swami Atmananda only who took me to Swami Shivananda. Swami 9 Shivananda just then finished taking bath in the river Ganges and was returning back. He did not even wear his saffron colored clothes. We were only 10 people who entered Swami Shivananda’s room and I was the youngest among all of them. Therefore He called me near, touched me and blessed me saying: “Be good and Do good.” This is the essence of all the religions. Again he said one more thing which made a very deep impression upon me. He said: “Being good is much more difficult than doing good.” There may be several people who have done many more good deeds when compared to Gandhiji. But we cannot say that they were as good as Gandhiji. He then gave me a journal called ‘The Divine Life’. It was the monthly magazine of Shivananda ashram. Swamiji distributed 50% of the publications at free of cost. He wrote nearly 300 books in English. Originally he was a doctor. He was a 10 tamilian. Later he became a monk. Swami Shivananda also said that Swami Jnanananda was his companion for a certain period of time while doing penance. Both Swami Shivananda and Swami Jnanananda were contemporaries. Therefore the two saints whom I saw in the month of March in the year 1954 were Swami Jnanananda and Swami Shivananda. I still remember the words of Swami Shivananada. 11 Sri Nannagaru’s meeting with Sathya Sai Baba I saw Baba (Sathya Sai) two times. First in 1965; again when Baba was in Whitefield, I was in Bangalore. There wasn’t any speech going on. Still we went there. We were told that we would be given tokens and asked us to sit in a line. There were 300 people waiting in total and I got the first token number. Hence I could see Baba from very near. I did not talk to him but viewed him from very near. I felt what is the necessity with the words? Having obtained the first token, I got the opportunity to sit in the front seat and view Baba. 12 How Bhagavan entered the life of Nannagaru? I HAIL from Jinnuru, a village in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh and belong to a peasant community. During 1954, I accompanied my maternal grandmother in a pilgrimage to the Northern part of the country. In 1957 I had a dream one night. An old man with a staff in his hand, raised me from the bed 13 and kissed me hard on my cheeks. I was perplexed. I pleaded with him to leave me alone. The stranger paid no heed to my words. I had a feeling that he was invading my life. I was seized with fear and tried hard to wriggle out of his grip. While he was holding me in his embrace, my pillow fell on to the floor. He lifted it off the ground, adjusted it on my bed and gently laid me back on the cot. He looked at me compassionately and left me, as a doctor would leave a patient. For six months I was struggling to know who this stranger could be. One day while reading The Hindu in our village Library, I saw an advertisement of The Great Men of India by Madras Book Publishing House. Going through the list of these great men, I felt a thrill when I read the seventh name as "Sri Ramana Maharshi". I felt here was 14 the man who would draw me to the cave of my heart. I got the book on Sri Ramana Maharshi through post from the Madras Company. The book contained his portrait also and I recognized the person who had appeared before me in my dream six months earlier. The divine person Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi, lived in 'Arunachala' in Tamilnadu and was revered all over the world. His physical life ended on 14th April 1950, in his seventieth 15 year. He had no personal life of His own. His life was but the splendour of the Self. Equality was His life breath. Many blessed people achieved fulfillment in their lives by the mere darshan of the Maharshi. He is like a blazing sun in the spiritual firmament of India. The Chanting of His name is auspicious. He is the Mahatma of all Mahatmas. I paid my first visit to Sri Ramanasramam in January, 1959. I have dedicated my life from then on till now to His service. It was not my choice that He came into to my life. He took me into His fold and blessed me! 16 How Bhagavan commanded Sri Nannagaru to speak on the eve of birthday celebrations Once a devotee arranged for the birthday celebrations of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi at his residence in Palakollu. He came to my house and invited me to speak on that occasion. I was not willing to attend the program. I told him that I could not come. Then the devotee forced me to attend the program. Though I was not willing, I told him that I would come. However I 17 decided that I should not go. All this happened before the birthday celebrations of Bhagavan Ramana. That night Bhagavan came into my dream and asked me: “Are you going to attend the satsang meet in Palakollu?” I hesitated to tell truth to Bhagavan. Hence I replied: “I will attend the satsang meet and give my speech.” Bhagavan said: “You are telling me lies.” I was shocked on listening to these words. My mind got disturbed. I was surprised as the Maharishi came to know as to what existed in my mind. I told Him: “Though I am not at all willing, I will attend the satsang meet and give my 18 discourse.” Then Bhagavan did not speak anything. He quietly left the place. The dream came to an end. The same night I got another dream after a few hours of gap.