The owners return

Parambhaktananda and his wife were sitting under the shade of a large tree. Strangely, someone walking by asked them where they were staying. Both shook their heads. The stranger told them that he was leaving today and they could rent his room for as long as they wanted. They thanked him profusely.
He took them down to meet the landlord. A very reasonable rate was decided upon. Paramjyoti noted that the window had a wonderful view of Arunachala Hill. The living room had a large photograph of Bhagavan which belonged to the landlord, so it would stay.
"I prefer to give this room to devotees of Bhagavan Ramana", he confided.
The room came with basic furnishing, so the couple could just move in.

In the evening they sat quietly in the small group of people outside th cave. Each time someone arrived they would think: Oh, this certainly is the owner of the book.
After a while everyone left. Bhagavan was sitting quietly. Parambhaktananda and Paramjyoti sat quietly too, wondering what to do. They closed their eyes and sat for a while.

Then they heard a rustle in the bush, but did not open their eyes. This was their first day here and they did not want Bhagavan to think they were easily distractable!
A minute or two passed and they suddenly heard footsteps very close to them.
Paramjyoti opened her eyes a tiny bit. She started! Parambhaktananda heard her take in a sudden breath and opened his eyes. He too almost fainted at the sight he saw.

In front of them a large full-grown lioness was picking up the book with her teeth. Three cubs were jumping about Bhagavan's feet. Suddenly it made sense!

The book did say something like "Creature: Lion" on the introductory page. How silly of her to think a human had written the book. So this was that lion family of which she had read stories. These were those young cubs. And ofcourse, one of them had a beautiful turban on his head. This had to be them.

Now they sat in a corner. Mother Lioness was opening the book carefully with her paws, and the three lion cubs were peering at the book. Could they actually read? Certainly, if they wrote the book, then they could read!

Then the cubs suddenly looked up. She and her husband immediately looked down so the lions would not feel they were being watched. From the corner of their eyes they saw another cub running up. Wait, he had spots on him. The four cubs began reading the book carefully.

After a while the lioness and four cubs prostrated and left. The couple took this opportunity to prostrate too. How good it felt. Until now they had prostrated many hundred times, mostly mechanically to many different people, babas, swamis, and deities in temples. But this was true prostration. It was not just their hands and feet prostrating, it was like their mind and heart was surrendering to creation.

The young handsome swami, barely in his early twenties, much younger than them, He seemed like creation itself. Loving Him felt like loving creation, falling at His holy feet felt like falling at the feet of creation. This is NOT a new bondage, Parambhaktananda thought, this devotion is true freedom!

Finally, they somehow got up, folded their hands and backed out of the room. Once again, Parambhaktananda looked around at the sky, the trees, the earth, and it all seemed different.

They saw the most joyous sight outside. Paramjyoti laughed and cried at the same time.
The Mother lioness was trying to walk. First one cub jumped onto her shoulder. Then the second jumped on, pushing the first off. Then the third pushed the second off. And this went on. Mum was trying to walk with the book held carefully in her mouth. Finally, she had to put the book down, and give them a stern glare. Then they filed away quietly.

They made their way to the mansion. Hurry it will get dark, urged Parambhaktananda. They got their luggage out of the barn. Slowly they tried lugging it. It was hard, they were emotionally exhausted. A monkey on the tree seemed to be laughing at them, then he ran away.

They quietly struggle on, the light was beginning to fade. And then they heard a rustle in the bushes. Three baby elephants came bursting out. The monkey was sitting on one of them. And the spotted cub was sitting on another. Before the couple could react, the bags were loaded onto the elephants backs. The monkey beckoned them to follow.

In no time at all, they had reached the cottage where they were staying. The bags were gently laid at the door. The three elephants sort of bowed and receded. The spotted cub and the monkey got on and they went off.
"Did you notice one thing", asked Paramjyoti to her husband, "One of the elephants had a little turban on him!"
"Really? Strange! ", replied her husband."... But i doubt i will ever be surprised by anything in my life again. It has been the most amazing day of my life."

They both sat silently on the couch, staring at the photograph of Sri Bhagavan Ramana, not knowing what to say, or even think.