The Liberation Of The Thorn Bush

Anecdotes

oi-Staff

By Staff

Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 15:29

Once Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi was encountered with a question from a devotee regarding bestowing liberation on beings other than humans. Bhagavan Himself had bestowed Moksha on Lakshmi the ashram cow including a few other animals and birds. Bhagavan Ramana smilingly cited an example of a thorn bush gaining liberation by the Grace of a great saint.

There was great saint named Umapahi Sivacharya in Chidambaram who did not conform to the norms of the religion as he was in a transcendental state in spirituality. This earned the despisal of the pundits who forbade him from living in the village and even entering the temple. The saint thus built a hut on the outskirts of the village and took the aid of an outcast called Pethan Samban who helped him on general basis.

One day when Pethan was on his way to the hut with logs of firewood on his head, Lord Shiva in the form of the Dikshitar of the temple handed a palmyra to be passed on to the saint. The very first line of the letter contained the words 'Adiyarkkadiyen Chitrambalavanan' (the servant of the devotees, the Lord Of Chidambaram). On seeing the palmyra, the Shivacharya was overwhelmed with devotional fervour. The letter was an instruction to the Sivacharya to initiate Pethan despite his caste and creed. The Sivacharya readily obliged to the divine instruction by initiating Pethan into the order of Sanyasa. In due course he also bestowed Nayana Diksha (Transmission of power through the eyes) on Pethan, immediately after which Pethan merged with the ultimate in the form of a divine light. This came as a shock even for the Sivacharya and only then he realised the depth of Pethan's wisdom.

The people who were against the Sivacharya on seeing the necessary sacrificial offerings and other things condemned him for murdering Pethan. Soon the issue reached the ears of the king who questioned the Sivacharya. The Sivacharya narrated the whole story beginning from the divine instructions until the disappearance of Pethan as a holy light. The king who wanted to put to test the words of the Sivacharya asked him if he could deliver a thorn bush that was nearby akin to the deliverance of Pethan. The Shivacharya bestowed 'Nayana Dikshai' to the thorn bush and lo! It too vanished in pure light.

The astonished king could still not believe the divinity in the Sivacharya and thought that he was up to black magic. He in order to test the credibility of the words of the Sivacharya regarding the letter written by Lord Nataraja. asked him to accompany him to the temple to seek clarification from the Lord Himself. The curious folks and the pundits who were against the Sivacharya all flocked the temple to witness the Sivacharya being cornered. To the amazement of all, when the Arati was waved before the Lord, on either sides of Him were Pethan and the thorn bush. The pundits realized the greatness of the Sivacharya and with fear and remorse sought his forgiveness.

The story was thus narrated by Ramana Maharshi proving that a mere glance of a saint is enough to redeem one once for all from the merry go round of birth and death.