Great Devotees of Lord Siva 67B

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Om Namah Sivaya Allama Prabhu The Divine Grace alone has the power to intervene and change the course

of universal justice. The great work of the Master or Guru is to manifest the Divine Grace upon earth. To be a disciple of the Master is to become an instrument of the Grace Divine. Prabhu became the disciple of Animisha, the great Master of the embodiment of the Divine Grace. The Divine Grace that descended from Animisha and rushed into Prabhu enabled him to change the course of justice and challenge the callousness of Karma. Prabhu became entirely free from Karmamala. There are three kinds of Karma: namely Sanchita, Prarabdha and Agami. Karma gathered in past lives admits of a twofold division Karma that still lies accumulated (Sanchita). In addition to these two kinds, there is another Karma known as Agami which is being gathered here in this life. The Vedanta opines that knowledge of reality destroys the second kind and prevents the third and thus makes rebirth impossible. But the first kind which has

already borne the fruits cannot be prevented. Hence the present body, which is the effect of such Karma runs its natural course and ceases to exist, just as the wheel of a potter comes to a stop only when the momentum imparted to it becomes exhausted. The Vedanta admits that knowledge of reality cannot destroy Prarabdha, for its effects can only be worn out by enjoying fruits. But the verdict of mysticism is that the Divine Grace is powerful enough to destroy even Prarabdha Karma, for the Master, who is an embodiment of the Divine Grace, can dispense of the absolute mechanism of universal justice. The meeting of Prabhu with Animisha took place under strange circumstances. In a temple buried underground Animisha was seated in a lotus position with Linga in his palm and lost in meditation. Meditation is the very soul of life; for by

meditation the mystic can converse with God, solace himself on the bosom of the Divine Mother, bathe himself in the river of Divine joy, bask himself in the Divine Sunshine and view the mansions of eternity. No soul can preserve the bloom and delicacy of its existence without lonely musings and silent meditation, and the greatness of this necessity is in proportion to the greatness of mystic's advance in spiritual pursuits. Animisha was a master mystic because he was merged in meditation so profoundly that all his consciousness rose to the superlative degree attended with a diffusion of the spiritual light. The light was so resplendent and so remarkable that it permeated his whole body, every cell of which was surcharged with divine electricity. Scarcely did Prabhu enter the temple when he was suddenly transformed into the divine man by the transcendent light of Animisha. The life-force of Animisha left his body and lingered in Prabhu through Ishtalinga. Since then Prabhu

remained steadfast in the superconscious state without reverting to the ordinary state of blundering consciousness. Prabhu was never remiss in realizing the irresistible power of the Divine Grace that descended through Animisha and almost in a poetic vein he describes its effect. "When Grace strikes, A clod of earth is turned to a pile of gold.The common stone is charged with alchemy When Grace strikesThe Fortune that for years and years I sought, Look now flashes in my sight;There, in a temple buried in earth, I have seen a Gem,And cast my past behind me, Forever, Oh!

Guheshwar;""The creeper I sought so long is now About my leg entwined.The longing of my heart is now Within my graspLike a poor man stumbling upon a trove, With a seeker's tireless steps I have comeAnd seen the Inconceivable; And beheld the sweep of my consciousness;My whole being, within and without, Bathed in supernal splendour,I have gazed at the Source of all light; I have seen my Supreme MasterWith his gaze of unfathomable wonder Concentrating upon the emblem on his palm.And having seen, I have been saved, Oh!

Guheshwara." The meeting of Prabhu and Animisha, as Prabhu himself relates, was like the meeting of mutes; for, as Animisha was lost in trance, he remained without speech and action. Prabhu was eager to have his initiation, but Animisha was silent-bound. How could it be effected? It was effected through the silent transmission of power, through the transfer of Linga from the palm of one's hand to the palm of another. The Linga, charged with power touched Prabhu and turned him into an adept by emptying him of Karmamala. Prabhu exclaims: "Oh! Guheshwaralinga, by removing All the

contents of the unconscious,You emptied me into the superconscious. Where is the cuckoo, and where the mango tree?And yet they meet. Where is the myrobalan, child of the hills,And where the sea-bred salt? And yet they meet;Even so have we met, you and I Guheshwaralinga." In Veerashaiva terminology Linga is the grace of Guru formulated. It cannot be gainsaid that the grace of Animisha wrought a miraculous change in Prabhu. Animisha, a marvel of silent dynamism and magnetic personality attracted Prabhu. He was steeped in God consciousness from which he radiated silent light which sparks

out a Gospel of silence that goes in the heart of Prabhu. Animisha neither speaks nor acts, yet he has moved Prabhu intensely in the realm of the Divine. The silent communion has been effected by one inspiring the other. Of course words fail to express this intimate communion. Prabhu, being freed from the fetters of malatraya by virtue of his self-discipline and the Divine Grace of Animisha, became a pure man, a perfect man, a superman, a cosmic man. Such a one is termed Sharana or Jangama in Veerashaivism. Sharana in virtue of his essence is the cosmic thought assuming flesh and connecting the Absolute with the world of nature. While every appearance shows some attribute of Reality, Sharana's microcosm in which all attributes are united, and in all its diverse aspects. To state it otherwise, the Absolute having completely realized itself Sharana returns into itself through him. God and man become one in the perfect man - the enraptured prophet or saint whose religious

function as a mediator between man and God corresponds with his metaphysical function as the unifying principle by means of which the opposite terms of reality and appearance are harmonized. Hence the upward movement of the absolute from the sphere of manifestation back to the unmanifest essence takes place in and through the intuitive experience of Sharana. So there is an exchange of philosophy for mysticism. Prabhu is not a mere metaphysician but a real master of excellence and perfection. The peculiar excellence of man is his power of thought by which he surpasses and rules all forms of life. As the growth of thought gives him his supremacy, so its development gives him fulfilment and happiness. The chief condition of happiness is the life of reason which represents the specific glory and power of man. Prabhu does not discard the life of reason, on the contrary, it finds its full expression in his life and action. He does not spare chastising

even Basava for his one sided attachment to sham Jangamas. He upholds virtue which implies a masculine sort of excellence. For him virtue depends upon self-control, symmetry of desire and artistry of means. It is not the possession of the simple man nor is it the gift of God, but the achievement of experience in the fully developed man. In one of his sayings he explains to Muktayi the characteristics of Sharana - " A Sharana is he who has realized himself, having divested of his ego consciousness, but retaining his conscience." The annihilation of ego consciousness, the retention of conscience and the realization of self are the three features of mysticism. It has been urged by critics that mysticism tends on the one hand to a life of amoralism and on the other, to a life of passivity. But the sayings of Prabhu in which retention of conscience is emphasized as one of the characteristics of mysticism renders this criticism invalid. Prabhu does not preach the effacement of

all distinctions between right and wrong; he insists on the development, nay, the perfection of moral virtues as a prelude to the spiritual realization. The moral life then is not a by-product of instinctive urges, but it is a necessary outcome of the life of reason. Sivaya Namah

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