11.The Mount of Fearlessness

Chapter -11

The Mount of Fearlessness
> Saints and Muni remain firm like a rock in distress.

> They live in fearlessness by virtue of eradication of causes of all the seven fears. In fact they are the mount of fear­lessness.

> Not once but many times Achharya Shanti Sagaiji Maharaj was asked, “Maharaj Shri you are not disturbed by fear and perplexity in moments of crisis created by violent crea­tures, snakes, lion etc, whereas in such moments com­mon people would begin to tremble out of fear and rest­lessness.

> The only reply of Maharaj Shri to such questions was, “Only a former enemy would cause trouble otherwise no one harms. Presently on my part I owe forgiveness and fearlessness towards all living ones, then what to fear?” This incident relates to Konnoor (District Belgaum) dur­ing fourth chaturmas in 1923. Achharya Shri was absorbed in samayik in a cave at Konnoor. A snake entered the cave from a bush. While advancing towards the exit for going out after wan­dering around hither and thither; it heard a sound of offering “Shriphal” by a visitor, it came back into the cave.

Now it reached near Maharaj Shri and began to cause him trouble by climbing upon his body. But the snake could not hor­rify him in pure light-like meditation of “Self’. He remained firm like the Merit Mountain not only physically but also in his thoughts.

Maharaj Shri began to think in those moments that any affliction, be it natural, divine, humanly or sub-humanly (animal, birds, ants etc.), can cause harm only due to the operation of our own Karmas. The root cause is ‘Mohniya’, (i.e. a kind of spiri­tual intoxication interfering with cognition and will), ‘Antrai', (obstruction in useful efforts), ‘Vedniya' (causing pleasure or pain) and “Jhanavamiya ”, etc (i.e. a kind of veil around the pure these kannas.

His contemporary, passionless saint 108 Shri Nemi Sagarji Maharaj who remained in the vicinity of Achharya Shri, has nar­rated a surprising incident of an affliction caused by a snake in konnor. There are about 700 small and big caves in konnor where ascetics would be engrossed in meditation for the realization of “Self’. Because of the virtuous effect of holy soil of Southern India, the existence of Achharyas and monks has been there right from first century.

Achharya Shri used to be engrossed in meditation on “Ashtami and Chaturdashr (i.e. eighth and fourteenth day of every half of a lunar month) in one of such caves. He was also observ­ing a vow of silence on this day of incident. A flying snake reached near Maharaj Shri and hid itself between his thighs.

it was mid day. The snake kept on causing disturbance for about three hours but Achharya Shri did not break his reso­lute posture. The snake was clinging upon his body again and again as if it was expressing its friendship and intimacy and must have felt kinship with him. It forgot its poison-stinging nature as if to become grate­ful by blessing touch of Achharya Shri.

The third incident of snake affliction of the same nature happened in Kognoli. One person called Nandadeep entered the temple to see radiance of continuous-lit-lamp: he ran off, terror- stricken seeing a snake king clinging to Achharya Shri’s body. A Crowd of people assembled. They were not in a position to re­move the snake by force for fear of snake-bite. (They were not in a position to remove it by force because a dreadful situation of snakebite might have been created.

As time passed, the snake slowly came down from his body and slinked away out side. How astonishing, extra-ordinary striving cl lot l oi dcvn tion of Achharya Shri must have been at that time*? A saint free from the fear of death could lemain *.u leai less at this juncture.