Sadhus Reminiscences of Raman Maharshi

Author(s): Arunachal Sadhu
Publisher: Ramanasramam Tiruvannamalai

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A Sadhu's Reminiscences of Ramana Maharshi
who were watching with admiration, what it was all about. They explained that she was waiting for his leaf from which to take her own meal.
Bhagavan was very angry. So as a punishment to all who had allowed such things to happen, he said that in future he would remove his own leaf and throw it outside, so that no one might get hold of it. Everybody was upset at this, one reason being that by then Bhagavan's rheumatism was so bad that to try and carry his leaf and at the same time support himself with his stick would render him unable to hold onto the rail at the side of the steep steps that led out of the dining-room. But Bhagavan was adamant.
To save the situation, a lady devotee said that she herself would be responsible for seeing that Bhagavan's leaf was removed without anybody being allowed to handle it. This Bhagavan would not at first allow, for why make an exception in his case? So a compromise was reached. In future all leaves were to be left in the dining-room and were to be removed together by one of the servants. At first the lady said that she herself would do it, but the servant soon took her place and this custom persists to this day.
An American lady who was travelling about in India in the cause of birth-control, came to visit the Ashram. She asked Bhagavan if birth-control were not a good thing seeing how the world was rapidly becoming overpopulated, especially India where already there was not enough food to go round. Bhagavan only smiled.