Sivananda's Personality - 11.

On February 19, a letter addressed to the Master came from Govindan, stating that he had reached Salem safely, and that he was grateful to the Master for what he had done for him.

He prayed that any pitfalls that may beset his path of life be removed by the Master’s Grace, and that he regarded himself as the Master’s disciple.


On seeing the letter the Master smiled and requested Muruganandaji,

"Put Govindan’s name on the magazine free list. Include his address in the prasad register also. All free literature should be sent to him. I will send books to him also. I will write to him to come again."

Such was the Master’s glorious heart!


The Master remarked to the disciples,

"I hold Jayadeva as my ideal. He was robbed by dacoits, who cut off his hands and threw him into a well. When the Gods arrived with a celestial car to take him to paradise, he refused to ascend it till the dacoits who had cut off his hands were also taken. That is my ideal."


Exactly ten years later, on January 8, 1960, at evening time, a stout young man was brought on a stretcher to the Ashram hospital, accompanied by two policemen and a small crowd.

The man was badly wounded.

Blood was oozing from all over his swollen face.

He was virtually unconscious.

The doctor administered first aid and dressed the wounds.

The policemen explained how the wounded man had been waylaying people and robbing them, and how he was caught after a chase, during which he fell into a deep pit and got badly injured.

Sri N. Ananthanarayanan
To be continued  ...