'Pilgrim of eternity'

EXPERIENCES OF A PILGRIM SOUL: Kaviyogi Maharishi Suddhananda Bharathi; Pub. by Suddhananda Library, M.34 J,, Mahalakshmi Colony, Tiruvanmiyur, Chennai-600041. Rs. 70.

SUDDHANANDA BHARATHI was a great mystic, poet, freedom fighter, and a person who had vast and varied experiences of a most interesting and instructive character. A master-Yogi, his spiritual experiences were of the most intense kind and he used to burst into song every time he felt like articulating his inward vision or some special event in his life as a mystic and Yogi. He had a large number of disciples, who felt thrilled by his mere presence. He has travelled widely not merely in the world of spirit, which is his native home, but in the world of men. He described himself, as a "Pilgrim of Eternity" and the book under review is addressed to all of us here whom he acclaims as fellow pilgrims.

Ordinarily the world is too much and too aggressively with us, gathering and spending without a thought of why and wherefore. We depend upon the beneficent function of an Acharya, as the verse in the Vivekachudamani of Adi Sankara says "to help us cross the ocean of samsara, unbeknown to us, like a spring breeze blowing gently and pleasantly." The Sruti says "Tarati Sokam Atma Vit." But it also says "Acharyavan Purusha Veda." It is this function, the Acharya function, that this book seeks to fulfil so admirably. The book sets us thinking of the mysterious meaning of life well and stirs us to the very depth of our being. None can emerge from a reading of the book or even parts of it without being set to brood long and lovingly on the manifold and stimulating variety of experiences life affords us, as we pass through time. Every experience of the Swamiji has its own meaning. And the Swamiji is a master of the artless art of rousing us, stimulating us and inspiring us from out of the fathomless depth of the spiritual experience. That he talks to us with facility and ease, as he does in this book, is our good fortune. At no point does it fail to inspire and stir us.

The rich and abiding variety of his experiences is most impressive and most revealing. His visit to the Samadhi of the great saint composer, Sri Thyagaraja, reveals to us how a true yogi reacts to another yogi. Sri Thygaraja was in direct communion with his "Ishta-devata," Sri Ramachandra.

The Swamiji's intimate association with the veteran freedom fighter and Tamil scholar, V.V.S. Iyer, is another landmark in his narrative. V.V.S. Iyer swam across the English Channel to elude the British police who were after him as a violent Indian seditionist. Iyer, on his return to India, set up a Gurukula at Chernamahadevi in Tirunelveli district, designed to prepare our young men in the spirit of hoary ancient culture of India, to become true servants of their motherland.

This entirely honourable and worthy effort encountered opposition from politically motivated, narrow-minded, anti-Brahmin communalists. The opposition contended that the Gurukulam idea of V.V.S. Iyer would perpetuate caste division and backwardness of the non-Brahmin classes of society.

This was clean contrary to the magnificent idealism of V.V.S. Iyer. He believed that there was a very noble and valuable ideal in the institution of the Gurukula, which deserved to be cherished and revived with modification required for its efficient functioning in modern times. The Swamiji tells us this story and of its tragic climax when V.V.S. Iyer lost his life in a courageous, but futile effort to save his darling daughter, who was caught up in the whirlpool of the famous Papanasam Falls of Tiruneveli district.

Yet another episode is concerned with the Swamiji's intimate association with the nationalist leaders of South India like S. Srinivasa Iyengar and S. Satyamurthy.

On one occasion Gandhiji was staying with Srinivasa Iyengar at his palatial residence, Amjad Bagh, on Luz Church Road, Mylapore.

A discussion arose about the need of reverential study of Valmiki's Ramayana. Srinivasa Iyengar said, "No Ramayana until we become free." Satyamurthi claimed that he read Ramayana and the Bhagavad Gita every day. This episode shows the intense fervour with which the nationalist leaders plunged into struggle for freedom. Satyamurthy, who struggled hard and won the whole of Madras Presidency in the elections held to the legislature of those days, was tricked out of his due, the Prime Ministership of Madras, by a sordid intrigue of his colleagues in the Congress Party.

The book is replete with exciting narratives of his meetings with public men, mystics, revolutionaries and yogis. The Swamiji has made a most interesting book out of the varying and significant experiences of his remarkable life as a yogi.

The book is full of materials calculated to inspire and rouse us to engage in philosophical self-enquiry and a sense of our duty to man, nature and God. We heartily recommend this book to everyone who seeks meaning of life and an opportunity to serve mankind.

S.R.

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