This series chronicles interesting experiences recounted by the devotees of HH Maharanyam Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji. These articles are translations from the series, “Madhuramaana Mahaneeyar” that is published every month in Madhuramurali Tamil monthly magazine.
A Saint’s Love & Sacrifice
Saints lead a very pure life. They always do tapas (penance). Even such mahans (saints) suffer out of some disease during their last days. Take the case of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Sri Ramana Maharshi and Yogi Ramsuratkumar. They all suffered from cancer during their last days.
Why is this?
All these saints are avatars of God and so there is no question of deriving sins from their previous births.
There is no need to explain how holy their life has been. People who have been with these saints are standing evidences to how holy their lives were.
So what is the reason for their sufferings?
It is all because of us. They take on our sins to liberate us. Mahans take on and remove the sins from all those that they meet, touch and take food from.
Recently when speaking with Sri Swamiji, in this context, he said, “Can the saints not prevent these sins from coming to them? Of course, they can. But if they do that, the benefits that others derive from them—spiritual progress, removal of troubles, etc.—will not happen. [So the mahans choose to take the sins on.] A divine relationship is formed between a Guru and the people who come to him. That is the reason this happens.”
Originally written by Smt. Jayanthi Janakiraman in Aug 2005 issue of Madhuramurali Tamil monthly magazine
Translated by Sankar Ganesan, Dallas TX
