Genuine Saints are often being harassed by envious pretenders - Ramana's case

Akhilandamma: I found that Arunachala is the abode of sadhus, and that among these there are both good and evil ones. In truth, the evil far outnumber the good. Even Bhagavan Ramana had been severely molested by these devils of sadhus. Sri Ramana himself treated us time and again to those incidents, which he narrated to us as interesting anecdotes. Now I shall recall one or two of them which still linger in my memory.

Bhagavan would be surrounded by devotees and these would offer fruits to him – a glorious sight. But this became an eyesore to a sadhu from Kerala, who out of sheer envy, rolled down a big boulder against Bhagavan and Palaniswami, who were seated at a lower lever on the hill.

Palaniswami began to cry.

‘What’s the matter, Palani? What has happened?’ enquired Bhagavan.

Then Bhagavan discovered that the attack had badly cut one of his toes, and that it was bleeding.

‘Oh,’ said Bhagavan, ‘is it for this that you are crying?’

Bhagavan then took the flesh that was hanging from his toe, restored it to its original place, and stroked it a couple of times. How strange! By the next day it had become whole, without even leaving a scar.

At one time there was another sadhu living in the same cave as Bhagavan. He would tell all the devotees who came to see Bhagavan that he himself was Bhagavan’s Guru, and he would gather into his own bag all the fruits and coins that had been offered to Bhagavan. This was too much for Palaniswami, who rebelled against the cheating sadhu.

The sadhu himself brought pressure on Bhagavan to drive out Palani, but Bhagavan paid no attention to his demands. The devil-sadhu, having been rebuffed by both Palaniswami and Bhagavan, became enraged and spat squarely on Bhagavan’s face. Even that did not affect Bhagavan’s silence or demeanour.

Later on a third sadhu appeared on the scene. He was foolish enough to offer to pass on his spiritual energy to Bhagavan. Bhagavan declined the sadhu’s offer, but despite this the sadhu put his hand on Bhagavan’s head to effect the transmission. The result? The foolish sadhu passed out and became unconscious.

Last in this list of stories is that of a sadhu from North India. Approaching Bhagavan, he said, ‘I have come at the command of God himself to initiate you with the mantra of Lord Dattatreya, so you must take it.’

Bhagavan, ever-resourceful, responded by saying, ‘Good! Let the same Lord God appear to me and direct me to take the mantra. Then I shall surely do it.’