How does Mother look? Does she wear the ochre robe or the matted hair? Has she any disciples? Does she perform any spiritual practices? Does she speak freely with the visitors? These are probably some of the questions that plague the mind of the reader who had not seen her per sonally so far. So I shall write about her as best as I can.
Mother did not renounce the world and certainly had not shunned it. “Real Viraga” she described as (anuraga) “love for all”. She does not wear the ochre robes but she dons sarees only. Her hair is not matted. It is well combed and dressed and often flowers are worn by her. In short she is a perfect houswife wearing all the usual ornaments. For of what use are the ochre robes and the matted hair to one who is herself the embodiment of Existence-Knowledge-Bliss, the One to realize, whom the asceties and yogis undertake these paths. For it must be remebered the dress of a Sanyasi is not a symbol of one’s inner dispassion but is only a means for that. As Mother puts it, Sanyasa is not something that can be adopted’; it is a state of being. Once that is attained, no external observances are necessary. To quote Mother again, “One can live in Samsara, but samsara should not be allowed to dwell in us”. Ever since her birth to the present day, she never asked for anything-even in her childhood; she never complained or tried to escape any suffering however severe. Can there be a greater Sanyasi? When anyone exclaimed to her “How great is your for bearance,” she replied- “the question of forbearance arises if at all there is any suffering.”!
Mother was once asked whether she has any disciples. “I have no SISHYAS (disciples)” she replied, “all are my SISUS only (i. e. children)”. When someone aksed Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi whether he had any disciples, one of his disciples answered on his behalf “the Maharshi does not regard any as being outside himself and therefore none can be disciples to him.” “Who are you?” she was aksed once. **I am the Mother” she replied: she explained what Mother hood is when she said “Motherhood does not stand for mere womanhood; Mother is the infinite, the Eternal, Basis of all existence; that which is All, and cannot be understood.” “Real Motherhood does not merely consist of the realisation of motherhood in oneself. Motherhood must be established in everything.”
Mother does not and did never perform any spiritual practices. For she is the direct manifestation of that Supreme State which is said to be attained through those practices. When someone asked her whether we can attain perfection through her, she replied “What Is there to be attained through me? I am the Mother. What is there to be attained through Mother? SEEING Mother is ATTAINING!”
Does she speak freely with her visitors? Does she teach anything? Yes she does-the former but not the latter. One can talk with her as freely as one does with one’s own mother. She talks more affectionately than our own mothers. A poet rightly described her as the Mother that overshadows all mothers by her Motherhood. Even animals reveal unusual awareness of her Motherliness in her presence. Any question might be put to her and no bold discussion with her would ever be scorned or treated as impertinent.
She does not give any lectures or preachings. “Tell us something Mother”, requested a visitor “so that we might attain perfection by practicing it.’
“What is the use of merely talking?” she replied. “What is needed should be done.” She implies that all necessary changes in us would be wrought by her and nothing is left for our effort. When a similar request was made to Ramana Maharshi, “Why should you burden yourselves with more knowledge? Is it so as to suffer more?’ he asked, and replied “That Supreme state which is obtained here and now as a result of association with Sages – cannot be gained with the aid of a guru or through Knowledge of the scriptures, or by spiritual merit or by any other means… to what purpose are various methods of self discipline? If that is so with a Sage, it must be much more so with Mother who assured Seeing Mother is attaining.
How does Mother look? That shall be the last question to be taken up. For her physical form is as wonderful as herself. For certainly, anyone who observes her closely, would be knowing that she is not her body. Perhaps this is what she hinted at when she told someone “Mother does not mean the Mother that is sitting on a cot in Jillellamudi only. Mother is that which has no beginning and no end and that which is the Beginning and the End. “
(To be continued)