The Father's name

The cubs were sitting quietly studying math. Then suddenly one raised his nose and sniffed. Immediately, the other two also sniffed the air.
A stranger, said Tiru cub to the younger ones.
Someone whom we have never seen or met before, added Arunacub.


Little Om cub, the littlest ran to the cave door and opened it. Outside stood a large bear about to knock on the door when it opened. He was quite surprised at seeing a little lion cub opening the door and almost dropped the bunch of papers he had in his hand.

Does Lioness Arunachala still live here?, he asked Om.
Yes, Mum Lioness does.
I am Sivaprasad from the Census Bureau. You, young sir, were not here when i came last!


And when was that? inquired Om cub.
Ah, that would be about ten years back, Sivaprasad replied.
I was not born then, said Om cub.
Sivaprasad stepped in and pulled out a sheet of paper and asked, "Your good name, young sir?"
"Omcub."
Full name?
"Om Arunachala."
Of course, Om Arunachala.
And what is your age?
"A few months."
The official slowly scribbled on his sheet and spoke slowly as he wrote. "A f-e-w m-o-n-t-h-s."
Then he looked up and squinted at Arunacub.
"And you, Sir, even you were not here when i last visited."
All three cubs giggled, then quickly covered their mouths.
"Arunacub. Ommst a year old."
The bear then wiped his brow and sighed. "You will not believe the day i have had. I visited Mrs Hippolyta a short while ago. When i came here ten years back she was a slim calf."
(the cubs elbowed each other and giggled again)
"And now look at her..... Not to mention those --"
Arunacub knew from his look that he was about to say "awful brats".
" --- boisterous kids of hers, Rufus and Dufus".
"Rumple and Crumple", corrected the cubs together.

Mum Lioness got him a glass of water.
"Mum Lioness, you have done well.", he said, eyeing the cubs, sitting quietly in a row with vibhuti striped on their foreheads.
He sniffed the air. A lingering aroma of Ramana Crunch no doubt, thought little Om.
"Then i met this nice leepard cub on the way. He whispered into my ears that I should beware of some huge, terrifying lionses!"
(the cubs kept a straight face, somehow)
"But he was kind enough to tell me a secret! If i utter 'Arunachala' in front of them, they will leave me alone".

At that moment there was a light knock on the door, followed by a thud.
"Ah, and who are you?" he said to the person at the door, as he pulled out a fresh sheet of paper.
"Spotty"
"Full name, please"
"Spotty Arunachala, of course, also known as Meditator Leopard, although not much any longer."
"Age?"
"Newly born."
"Address?"
"Next door."
"He means at The Tigers", corrected Mum Lioness before he could write down "Next Door".
"I am Stripes. Stripes Arunachala, also known as Meditator Tiger."
"Father's name?"
"Arunachala."
"Full name?"
"Lord Arunachala."
"Forgive me for asking, but is Arunachala a common surname here in these parts?"

"All those who live here are children of Arunachala Ramana. He is our Father.", said little Om cub.
"Arunachala Ramana is the father of all living creatures.", stated Arunacub.
"However, all living creatures don't know that. The ripe ones do.", explained Tirucub.
"There is really no separation from Bhagavan", said Om cub.
"All separation is only imagined.", added Arunacub.

The official was looking quite lost. Tiru cleared his throat and told the bear to put down his name, too. "Tiru Arunachala. About a year old."

As the bear got up to leave he looked sadly at them and said, It has been so nice to meet all of you. I certainly hope i come by this way sooner. He sniffed the air again.

Om cub got onto Aruna's shoulder. Aruna got onto Tiru's shoulder. Tiru stood up and Om reached out for a jar. Some Ramana Munch was offered to the bear who had never eaten anything like this before.
Om and Aruna wrapped the rest neatly and gave it to him to eat along the way.

"And if you meet any huge terrifying lions on the way", said Spotty, "be sure to give them some!"
"And I should say 'Arunachala', if ever in danger?", the bear asked.

"Yes, the Father's name, Arunachala or Ramana. If ever in pain or danger or hurt of any kind, take the Father's holy name and He will protect you." said little Om.

In the end everyone must come to Arunachala

All the excitement over Deepam had put the cubs into a state where they insisted on doing math even when Mum Lioness turned out the light and made threats that there would be no fresh batches of Ramana Munch made unless the cubs would stop solving equations for long enough to fall asleep. But when it came to their other subjects, the cubs would just scamper away swishing their tails and wiggling their ears and laughing and claiming they had never heard of words like social studies and could not do things they had never heard of. Med Tiger was getting concerned because Spotty had perfected the little tail swoosh and chuckle that Tirucub had shown him was the best response to an instruction like, "Sit down and get cracking on that social studies!" And in Spotty's case it really was true that he had no idea what those words meant. "How will he learn?" worried Med Tiger.

To make matters worse, Mama Hippolyta dropped by to say her little darlings Crumple and Rumple were writing one hundred page long essays, one a day. "They will never settle for a page less than that!" she boasted. "And their pencalfship is just superb!"

Tirucub threw a skeptical glance at his three younger brothers and whispered, "More likely they are eating a hundred rava ladoos!"

After Mama Hippolyta had waddled away, Mum Lioness stretched out her paws in a way that showed a set of sharp claws, and said, "Now cubs! There can be no more excuses ..."



"Oh, but Mum Lioness, we heard no one is to write a word until all the ghee on the Hilltop is burned up," interrupted Tirucub. "And all the smoke cleared entirely."

"I don't know where that rumour came from," said Mum Lioness, casting a sharp glance at Spotty who quickly hid under his tennis racket, "but you all must write a full page this afternoon."

"I have a better idea!" said Arunacub. "Let's put on a play for Med Tiger and Mum Lioness! We can start practicing now. Maybe later we can write it down."

Mum Lioness quite liked the idea so she gave a small purr and settled herself on a sunny rock with a collection of Suri Nagamma's letters to her brother.

"What will the play be about?" asked Omcub.

"The origin of the Hill," said Arunacub. "Om, you can be Vishnu, and Tiru, you can be Brahma."

Knowing the story, Om and Tiru at once began an argument.

"Anyone can see I am greater!" announced Tirucub.

"That's rediclious!!" shouted Omcub in a deep voice.

The other cubs began throwing themselves around chaotically in response to this argument, and soon Crumps and Rumps came galumphing along, demanding to know what was going on. When no one would tell them, they decided to join in the chaos. Mama Hippolyta arrived, shrieking and wailing that the cubs were a bad influence on her sons, and her ruckus added tremendously to the effect. The cubs soon found the wildness of the hippos altogether too much for them and they climbed up above the cave where the hippos could not scramble and called out beseechingly, "Siva! Settle this dispute so things can calm down!"

Siva manifested as a column of light and they heard him say, from within the light, "Whoever can find my upper or lower end is the greater!"

Omcub quickly om-ed himself into a little boar. "Whew!" thought Mum Lioness, glancing up from the Nagamma letters, "Thank goodness the cubs can turn into whatever they need to be and I am not required to spend the next month sewing a baby boar suit, or trying to track down enough swan feathers to completely coat Tirucub with them."

Omboar (Vishnu) bagan scratching in the earth at the bottom of the column of light.



Meanwhile, Tiru had om-ed himself into a beautiful swan and was soaring up, sternly telling the hippo twins to address him as Brahma when they began shouting, "Tiru! Come back and play with us!"



Spotty was instructed to hit a bit of an alse plant way up into the sky with his tennis racket, and when it came floating down, Tiruswan (Brahma) caught it in his beak. "I found this as the summit!" he announced.



Vishnu had stopped his scrabbling and become lost in bliss in the Supreme light.

Then Vishnu admitted his failure and turned to the Lord in praise and prayer: “You are Self-knowledge. You are OM. You are the beginning and the middle and the end of everything. You are everything and illuminate everything.” He was pronounced great while Brahma was exposed and confessed his fault.

Because Siva was too brilliant to behold as a column of light, in his mercy he manifested as the Arunachala Hill.

Spotty and Arunacub scrambled back up above the cave, hid behind rocks, and called down in what they hoped were Siva-ish voices: “As the moon derives its light from the sun, so other holy places shall derive their sanctity from Arunachala. This is the only place where I have taken this form for the benefit of those who wish to worship me and obtain illumination. Arunachala is OM itself. I will appear on the summit of this hill every year at Kartigai in the form of a peace-giving beacon.”



Med Tiger, who had been watching all this from a sunny spot near Mum Lioness, felt moved to stand up and add, "This refers not only to the sanctity of Arunachala itself but also to the pre-eminence of the doctrine of Advaita and the path of Self-enquiry of which Arunachala is the center. One can understand this meaning in our Beloved Father’s saying, “In the end everyone must come to Arunachala."

The light on the hill-top

This was the first time that the little cubs were seeing the Deepam light on the top of the Arunachala Hill. They were all awe-struck at the sight.


The older cubs were telling the youngest one, six-month old Spotty, the story behind the fire on the hill-top.

Each one was telling his own version of the story and little Spotty was listening to each version with complete belief, unmindful of the inconsistencies.

Arunacub, who loved the Mahabharata, was telling Spotty of Vishnu and Brahma fighting with bows and arrows. Tirucub talked of Nandi the bull as Nandi the Hippo.

Mum Lioness had a difficult time controlling her laughter at this one.

Omcub with a very serious face told Spotty how the fire was brought every year by a great dragon that lived in the North Pole. He comes on a sleigh, added Tiru. Drawn by red-nosed reindeers, added Arunacub. If the sleigh breaks down, he takes the Polar Express, added Omcub.

All of them enjoyed the beauty of the fire and the aroma of camphor and ghee and other items.

Arunacub worried that the fire might frighten animals and decided he would write a note to Arunachala asking him. Tiru worried about the environmental issues and whether a forest fire could result out of this. When Om cub told them the fire would last for a week or so, little Spotty wanted to know how long a week was.
But won't little insects and other small animalses be hurt or inconvenienced by the fire, asked Arunacub. I must add that in my letter to Father Arunachala, he told Mum Lioness.

Tirucub explained to the younger cubs that people from far, far away had come for this special occasion. Bhagavan's grace, they say, increases during this period. Well, Unca Stripes certainly has been very silent this week, whispered Spotty to his brothers. Much less irritable than usual. Maybe he is finding some peace after all, added Tirucub.

Then the cubs stood silently gazing at the fire on the hill-top. Meditatively, thought Mum Lioness.

Some time later, the cubs got onto Mum Lioness's and Uncle Stripes's shoulders and they inched their way through the crowd towards Virupaksha Cave.

See how resplendent Bhagavan is looking today, remarked Tiru from a distance. He is shining like the sun, said Arunacub. He is looking soooo happy, said Omcub.


The thought never struck them that many, many decades later, in another life, they would look back and remember their moments with each other and Bhagavan on the hill, they would one day yearn for the days when they were in the physical presence of the Lord Himself.

But Lord Ramana will always be present as the Formless Self in everyone's Heart, and also as the Arunachala Hill till the end of time.

Arunacub has a strange visitor

Mum Lioness had just put the ingredients for Sooji (semolina) Upma in the pan. She called out, "Tiru dear, please get the do ---".
Before she could finish the word "door", there was a small thud, then a large one on the door.
Mum Lioness smiled.
Tiru cub raced to the door and opened it.
"Arunacub, see who we have here! Two hungry sadhus!"

Arunacub came sprinting to the cave entrance. "Please come in.", he invited the sadhus, "You must have something to eat."


Spotty and Meditator Tiger sat down quietly suppressing their smiles.
Then Arunacub served them food.

It was well known on Arunachala Hill that Uncle Stripes (and little Spotty) loved Upma. If they caught the aroma of Upma being prepared anywhere within a few miles they would be at the doorstep in an instant looking like they had not eaten in centuries. This practiced look got them a lion's share of the Upma.

When the two had finished second helpings, Arunacub asked them, "Sir, can you show me God?"

Mum Lioness smiled and little Omcub giggled. Arunacub was fascinated with the story of Papaji who had a darshan of Bhagavan in Punjab. Mum Lioness told him the story at least once a week, and often the story got enacted like was happening today.

"I can!", said Unca Stripes scratching his chin very gravely. "You will have to take this path round the hill, and ....". He explained in great detail the path from The Lionses cave to Virupaksha Cave, less than a mile away.

Arunacub folded his hands and thanked Uncle Stripes. Then he turned to Mum Lioness and said, "Mum Lioness, I will need two rupees as train fare to go to the swami in the cave there. He will show me God for sure!"

Mum Lioness looked at him sternly and exploded in anger, "How many swamis and babas have you gone to. You have wasted your youth running to holy places and holy people. You have spent so much money in your adventures and travels. And what have you got ?"

Arunacub looked totally crushed. Om cub sniffed to show support for his brother.

Then little Spotty cub picked up a paper from the floor and began looking at it. "Arunacub, I can't read. Can you tell me what this slip of paper says, please?"

Arunacub looked at the piece of paper with complete disinterest. Then his eyes lit up. "There is a job in Tiruvannamalai. Four young cubs are required to make plates out of leaves, make rotis and teach children math. They are to report two months from now. Their travel fare will be taken care of!"

"We can all go!", the cubs shouted.

"Wait!" called out Unca Stripes."Two sadhus are still feeling slightly hungry! Is there some Ramana Munch in the offing?"

Mum Lioness nodded.

"Not for us,", clarified Unca Stripes, "but when we ALL go down to see this swami who will show us God, we surely can't go empty-handed can we? What say we take some Ramana Munches with us!"

The Lord's darshan

The cubs stole away from Mum Lioness and went in the direction of Virupaksha Cave. Mum Lionesses sixth sense told her they were going for Bhagavan Ramana's darshan and so she did not worry.

In the neighbouring cave, Uncle Stripes (Meditator Tiger) was lost in the name of Bhagavan Ramana and did not notice Spotty and the three lion cubs bouncing off in the direction of the Cave. Mum Lioness had told them in the morning about how Bhagavan got His name and how beautiful it was, and Stripes was quite overwhelmed by the thought. In any case, he needed a little break from Self-enquiry and what better break than a bhakti break!

And so the little cubs skipped and jumped their way happily towards Virupaksha Cave.
A North Indian man was asking Bhagavan questions. We will have to believe he was North Indian because Tirucub said so, and he knows more than us, at least.

Tirucub's jaw dropped as he heard the question. The man was asking if he could have a darshan of the real form of Lord Krishna, and if so he would narrate all his woes to Him and be rid of all problems.

Tiru whispered to his brothers, how can people sitting in front of Bhagavan Himself not ask for Bhagavan's own darshan, a darshan of the Self!
I want only Bhagavan Ramana's darshan, said Om cub in a very matter-of-fact manner.
The other cubs nodded in agreement.

They were even more shocked at Bhagavan's reply.
Bhagavan said something like: Yes, what is the difficulty. It can certainly be done. After seeing Him all our burdens can be transferred to Him.
The cubs looked at each other unable to decide whether Bhagavan was being serious or not.

Then Bhagavan continued, "Even now why worry! Throw all your burdens on Him and He will take care."

The gentleman then asked Bhagavan how he could have a darshan of Lord Krishna's real form. Should he meditate in Vrindavan, or would meditating anywhere work?

There was then talk about realizing the Self which the little cubs did not follow.


When the others had filtered out, the cubs went up to Bhagavan. Bhagavan was overjoyed to see them, as though he had been waiting all along for them.

"O Father," said Tiru cub,"It is the darshan of your real form that we cubs wish for!"

"Others call you their spiritual father or guru or sadguru. For us you are our real Father", said Spotty. "That is all we know."

Bhagavan smiled and whispered to them: For those of you who know Bhagavan as your real and true Father, you will certainly have not just a darshan of Bhagavan's real 'form' but you will know that you are one with Bhagavan!

The cubs were overjoyed at this assurance. They saw Bhagavan looking above them and smiling. They turned around to see Mum Lioness sitting peacefully behind them. In the distance, Unca Stripes was saying Namaste (greeting) to a rhino from another continent. He saw them and came running over, hands folded.

After sitting for a while, Mum Lioness reminded the cubs that it was time to take over Uncle Annamalai's lunch, and so they prostrated and left.

On the way back Arunacub asked Tirucub to explain what Bhagavan had been saying about Arjuna and Lord Krishna.
Tiru cub told the younger cubs that Bhagavan had quoted from the Bhagavad Gita, in which Lord Krishna tells Arjuna: "I am the Self, seated in the heart of all beings."
What that means to me, continued Tirucub, is that Ramana Bhagavan is the Self, and He is within us all, in our Heart. To me it is Bhagavan's hint to us, who love Him and completely believe in Him, that He is in all of us, and can never be apart from us.

The younger cubs were overjoyed to hear this.

Arunacub then asked Tirucub: Do you think Lord Krishna and Bhagavan Ramana are one and the same?

Tiru cub answered with authority: Of course! There is only One. Can there be a second? Can there be anything apart from Bhagavan?

Om cub and Spotty vigorously shook their heads as though the possibility was inadmissible.

How Meditator Tiger met the cubs

The cubs wanted to hear a story from Meditator Tiger. Actually, it was a lot more complicated than that. The cubs could not put down their Math workbooks. Mum Lioness often had to scold them at bed-time or lunch time, to put the books down.

These were no ordinary Math books, certainly not the simple ones humans were taught with. For one thing they were Lion Math Books. Even leopards and tigers could not understand this level of Math. Spotty had tried spreading a rumor that Mum Lioness had written them.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, Mum Lioness wanted the cubs to take a break from Math and so she told them that if they hurried over to Meditator Tiger's cave he would tell them an interesting story.

And so the little cubs thinking that Stripes was waiting with a story for them, a story that would have squares and cubes and right angles and polygons, went sprinting over to Stripes' cave.

Omcub had the idea that Stripes should tell them how they came to know the Lionses. This story had been told and relived many many times but Om hinted that it could be told "differently".

Meditator Tiger got the hint and thought a while.

I was climbing the Arunachala hill once, he said,
WE were, interrupted little six-month old Spotty (the leopard cub), rather annoyed at being left out.
Okay, WE were climbing the hill, wanting to reach the summit.

Spotty was feeling hungry.
YOU were, interrupted Spotty, his eyes almost red.
Okay, I was feeling a bit hungry, continued Stripes.

And just then, I .... er ... one of us smelled Ramana Munch.
We didn't know what it was but it smelt heavenly.
Spotty smacked his lips. My stomach started to rumble a bit.
"A bit", interrupted Spotty, it sounded like thunder!

And just then something fell out of the trees and pinned me down. When i opened my eyes I saw it was a little lion cub! He let out a whistle and two more sprung out of the bushes.
I was surrounded by these three lion cubs staring at me like they had never seen a tiger before.
Surprisingly, they were not the least afraid of me!

Spotty tried to be protective and frighten them off but they simply would not be frightened.
The one who tackled me and pinned me down then invited me in to their cave.
I felt a little embarrassed as we were not really in our Sunday's best.

As we entered Mum Lioness brought in a large hamper of this most divine looking and smelling thing I had ever seen. She behaved as though she knew me. No looking at me carefully, evaluating me and all that.

That must have been because I was there too, added Spotty. Surely they called you in because of ME.

Perhaps, mused Stripes.

We talked and talked and talked.

What did we talk of, asked the cubs.

Well, we talked of Bhagavan and Arunachala, for one thing. Mum Lioness showed us the poems you have written about Bhagavan. And she showed us the altar with Bhagavan's photographs.

All the Ramana Munch was finished in no time. Mum Lioness then got some idlis and delicious sambar which also disappeared very quickly.

When it was time to continue up the hill, we got up, realizing that you were kindred spirits. To me it seemed our meeting did not happen by accident. Bhagavan wanted it to happen.

Then what happened, asked the cubs eagerly.

Then we thanked Bhagavan for bringing His devotees together.

Well, you were living in the very next cave so we were bound to meet someday!, observed Tirucub. Everyone laughed remembering how the meeting had actually happened.


Tomorrow is a full-moon, Spotty reminded everyone.
Can we do pradakshina tomorrow, Mum Lioness, pleaded the cubs.
Of course, she replied.
Can we take Rumple and Crumple along? they pleaded.
Everyone laughed remembering Rumple's request that they do pradakshina seated on Mum Lioness's shoulders, which she had said was not going to happen!

The cubs talk about Bhagavan and grace

One of the questions that confused the four cubs was how it was possible that there were so many people who were unhappy, and unable to feel Bhagavan's grace and love.

They had asked this question to Uncle Stripes many time, but Stripes had never been able to answer them.

"Why is everyone not totally in love with Bhagavan?" one would ask.
"How can people forget Bhagavan !" another would say in amazement.

Uncle Stripes asked them to sit down. He said:

Once an engineer came from Bombay.
He asked Bhagavan: Does Bhagavan feel for us and show grace?
Bhagavan answered:
You are neck-deep in water and yet cry for water. It is as good as saying that one neck-deep in water feels thirsty, or a fish in water feels thirsty, or that water feels thirsty.

"Yes! That's it!" the cubs all replied.
"We feel we are neck-deep in Bhagavan's love and protection and grace, but why doesn't everyone else. Why is not everyone happy that Bhagavan is present, and within us always?"

Uncle Stripes thought for a while. He said:

Once Bhagavan told a visitor: When the sun rises, some buds alone blossom, not all. Do you blame the sun for that? Nor can the bud blossom of itself, it requires the sunlight to do it.

Bhagavan also said that the unripe mind does not feel His Grace. But this does not mean God's Grace is absent. That would mean that God is not gracious with some, and thus He would not be God.

Stripes added, "In my knowledge, everyone's time comes, everyone will ripen and be able to see God's love and grace sooner or later." He thought a while and said, "It's not like Mum Lioness or I knew Bhagavan or felt His Grace from the day we were born. All those who feel Bhagavan's love and grace have gone through many years not seeing it, alone, searching and struggling, feeling totally lonely and helpless, till somehow we saw His photograph, or heard His name and were instantly attracted.

I assure you, everyone's time comes. Every bud blossoms some day."

The cubs seemed satisfied for the moment, but Stripes knew they would come back asking the same questions a few days later.

Mum Lioness stepped in. Immediately Tiru cub updated Mum Lioness on what Uncle Stripes had been telling them. Then the cubs insisted that Mum Lioness tell them a story of Bhagavan's grace. Mum Lioness thought and then recalled one.

The story was about Echammal's grandson, named Venkataraman after Bhagavan.
Once when he was 11 years old, a little older than you, Tiru cub, he went for a bath in the temple compound. He did not know how to swim so he carefully went down the steps. However, he slipped and went into the deep part of the tank. He managed to come up several times and call for help but no one noticed. Then he went deep into the water. At that point, he saw a bright light in his head and Sri Bhagavan's face shone in the light. Then he felt someone catch his ankles and pull him out, and at that moment the same flash shone in his head.

Later he found himself lying on the side of the tank. He asked some people how he had come there. One replied to him that a sadhu had been doing pradakshina of the temple, and he came running to the tank, jumped in, pulled the boy out, and then run away as swiftly as he had come.

Later the boy went and prostrated to Bhagavan, and Bhagavan looked at him and asked him how deep the Siva Ganga tank was. The boy had no idea what Bhagavan meant. Much later, when he grew up, did he realize that it was Bhagavan Ramana who saved him.

Little Spotty then asked Mum Lioness the line Echammal once said about Bhagavan. Mum Lioness recited from memory:

"I revere, I adore, I worship this Swami" was all Echammal could say of Bhagavan

The cubs now insisted that Uncle Stripes say something, before they went for lunch.
Uncle Stripes recited:

He is beyond worlds all
Yet, here below, He bestows His grace abundant
On the good and the devout,
And in love works for salvation of all;
Thus is the Holy Guru
Whose praise is beyond speech
Like unto Siva, the Being Pure.