Book Presentation

"Sri Sastri Garu - Story of a Disciple"

by Dr. K. Parvathi Kumar

 

Discipleship is a process of transformation of man from his state of ignorance to the state of Light. On the Path he meets himself. A true disciple lives hiding the Light within and working silently for its further glow. The Light he sheds is in silence and simplicity. One such example of disciple is K.V. Sastry, whose story is inspiring to those who walk the Path of Light in simplicity. It demands simplicity to realise the Truth. The reader finds such simplicity in the life and the events of the life of Sri Sastry.

Content: Introduction; Environs; Parentage; Initiation; Education and Employment; Public Service; Family; Atunement to God; Ascent.

 

 

Multilingual edition, English, German, French, Spanish
Ediciones Dhanishtha, Barcelona, 1998. ISBN: 84-88011-32-6
Dhanishta India: English, Telugu, Kannada

• Book order information
• About the Author
• Online Books K. Parvathi Kumar
• We have a few English copies to distribute for free.

 

Sample:

Chapter III: Initiation

Sambhudu grew under the parental care of such benign couple that served the Divine. He too was found deeply inclined to all theistic activities. He was the talk of the village. People used to say: "From the house of Swans only Swans merge, but not cranes. This boy too will be like his grandfather - a benefactor to the human society". He was the darling child of every house and was the helper in need. His social activity was much beyond his age. When Sambhudu was 12 years of age, he was entrusted with a heavy but pleasant job of carrying newly prepared mango pickles from the maternal grandmother's house to the parent's house, across the fields, from one village to the other, which are 5 kilometres apart. It was summer.

Andhra Pradesh is world famous for mango pickle. Andhra's are fond of pickles and are known as pickle eaters. Among the innumerable pickles they prepare, mango pickle stands out as a shining star in the firmament. Summer is the time when the mangoes appear. Summer is the mango season for Indians. The ladies get busy in summer to prepare mango pickle for its consumption throughout the year. They form family groups and collectively they prepare jars and jars of the pickle.

The mangoes are cut into pieces, soaked in salt and then exposed to the sunrays, for preservation. They are put to the solar-charge; later they are mixed in chilly powder and mustard seeds and stored in sesame oil. Chilly powder, mustard seeds and sesame oil are all heat-generating agents. The pickles generate heat to meet the heat of the summer - an Ayurvedic principle of meeting the heat with the heat and the cold with the cold. Ayurveda suggests cool water bath in winter and hot water bath in summer. "Similis similibus curantur" - the homoeopathic principle is also the Ayurvedic principle over thousands of years. Ayurveda treats poisonous fevers with the poison of cobras! "Apply heat to combat heat", says Ayurveda - ushnam ushnena seetalam. The food habits are evolved as per the climatic conditions of the place. By eating fruits of the season, vegetables of the season, cereals of the season, the body tunes up to the season of Nature. On this principle the tradition of mango pickle has set in since ancient times.

The ladies of the house are in festive mood in summer while they prepare the pickles as tasty as possible. They cook their love for the family along with the ingredients of the pickle. In fact, family love forms an important ingredient in the pickle preparation! The men of the house taste the pickle and appreciate. When the pickle preparations are ready, they are distributed in the families. It was a community work amidst families of similar vibration.

Two ceramic jars of 10 kilograms each, were entrusted to Sambhudu by his grandmother to be taken home. The distance to be covered was about 5 kilometres. He started in the morning hours, picking up the pickle jars on to either of his tender shoulders. He was known among the children as an effective worker, a server and a boy of good strong will. The grandmother knew and therefore entrusted the job to him. Sambhudu set himself on across a country path, crossing the paddy fields. As he picked up the load on his two shoulders, he picked up the holy name of the Lord on his tongue, via the Buddhi and the Manas. Singing the glory of the Lord he moved light, unmindful of the load of the pickles. He was God-drunk and was moving forward.

Lo! On the way, in the parched paddy field, he suddenly encountered a white cobra, radiant in body (due to the sunlight reflection?) and with a resplendent gem on its hood! The young Sambhudu looked at it. The name of the Lord was found uttered forth, no more from the tongue, but in the heart, by the minds tongue. His eyes got closed. He was listening to the unuttered Sacred Word of the Lord in the Cave of the Heart. He was mused into the Anahata Sound. Time ceased to him. He did not know as to how long he stood within. He opened the eyes gradually. Lo! The cobra was no more. He was perplexed. Was it real? Was the question. The answer came from within: Yes it is!" "If so, where is it now?" was the question. There was no answer from within. He looked around. It was all dead silence. The barren, summer parched field was giving the profound silent presence. He picked up again the name of the Lord upon the tongue and he moved on. During the turns the path, the pickle jars stood stable on his shoulders!

Sambhudu was contemplating upon the event. He seemed positioned as between the objective and subjective awareness. What was real and what was unreal was confusing to him. It was a new awakening, which he could not connect to his past spiritual training that existed in him as a tendency. The spiritual practice belongs to the soul and it continues over many reincarnations, like the thread of the garland running through many flowers. On the mental plane, the programme of the present life continues, while on the higher plane the spiritual programme prevails. Sometimes in the truth seeker, the awareness shifts from the mental to the Buddhic and Atmic planes. They get disconnected from the personality programme and connected to the higher (Soul) programme. The local conditions suspend and the spiritual condition prevails. The cobra seen was not of this earth but of Light. In a disciple the two programmes get linked up from time to time causing the necessary initiation.

As he reached home and entrusted the pickle jars to his mother, he once again got absorbed into the inner silence. The active child, which was engaging the house with humorous talks, was silent. The mother observed the child and reported to her husband. Sri Jagannadha Sastry came up to his son and slowly enquired. The 12 year-old son explained in wonder all that had happened to him on the way. Sri Jagannadha Sastry was elated. He realized that his son visioned the Kundalini and that consequently, the young one was perplexed. He patted his son on his back. With love, he nursed the son from head to foot. He told his wife: "This son of ours is a blessed child. He is a yogi, a natural yogi by birth. He is born with a mission. We are blessed". Saying so he rejoiced within for the accomplishment of his young son.

Ever since, Sambhudu visualized the Kundalini power in radiant white colour, from time to time, until he consciously breathed his last.

 
Sri Sastry Garu

 

 
Signature of Sri Sastry Garu