About Spotty and Stripes

dear Mum Lioness,
I refer to your comments on the previous post.
Sorry to say this, but that Meditator Tiger and Spotty sound awfully suspicious.

I would keep a watchful eye on them, if I were you.

That kicking over the Ramana Munch pan sounds premeditated, and Tigers coming over in one bound.... i think the two are thick as thieves, they seemed to be planning to steal all the Ramana Munch in the world.

I hope they are not in cahoots with those hippos, what are their names -- Crimple and Dimple ? Or is it Dungus and Fungus ? Can never get it right !

We have an idea ... the idea costs a hundred Ramana Munches. Here it is: please tell Meditator Tiger that eating chocolate can cause stripes to fall off. Knowing how attached he is to his stripes, he might curtail his consumption. The Ramana Munches may be left outside your cave in an unmarked envelope tomorrow.

You may also pack in some hot idlies and a side of chutney for two animals.

If Stripes does not fall for the above plan, there is also a Plan B. But this costs two hundred Ramana Munches. Tell Stripes and Spotty that Bhagavan is always watching, always present with us and within us. This plan is sure to work. No, there is no Ramana Munch-back guarantee.

Love,
Concerned Animals

the birds, recovering nicely

The cubs scampered down the hill to Virupaksha cave in the morning to see Bhagavan and check on the two birds. Spotty insisted on bringing a tennis tennis racket that had mysteriously appeared near him when he was asleep. "I will hide it behind a rock before we get to the cave in case the birds are there and get scared by the racket," he explained to his cub brothers. (Whenever the racket was in Spotty's paw, he could not resist practicing very bold shots with it.)



As they approached the cave, Hobbler came up to meet them, the little bird on his shoulder.



"The bird looks so much better!" said Arunacub with joy.

"Oh yes," said Hobbler. "And she says I am her best friend because I brought her to Bhagavan." The bird pecked at Hobbler's ear in a very friendly way that made Hobbler laugh.

When they all reached Bhagavan, they found the crow feasting again on an iddli, looking glossy and happy. The little bird jumped down and began eating too. Hobbler stood nearby, looking very hungry but refusing to eat until Bhagavan fed him with his divine hands.



Soon both birds flew high up above some trees and the cubs beamed at Bhagavan for having nursed them back to health. He smiled at them and began popping bits of iddli into their mouths too. Rationalizing that they were doing Bhagavan a favour by keeping him clean, they licked his beautiful hands, and then they rested their heads on his feet. His peace poured into them and they lay very still, completely happy.

When Bhagavan got up for his lunch, they purred their goodbyes and ran off to find Spotty's racket.

"Are you not worried someone might have "borrowed" your lovely new racket?" asked a squirrel who had seen Spotty hide it behind the rock.

"Worry?" said Spotty. "How can I worry when Bhagavan is here?"

When they got to the rock where Spotty had left it, they found two baffled hippos. Upon seeing the cubs, the hippos' expressions changed from puzzlement to pride at being able to inform the cubs of something strange.

"You won't be able to pick up that racket," said Crumple.

"Oh?" said Tirucub, trying to keep a straight face.

"Why?" asked Omcub.

"It weighs more than our mother!" said Rumple. "We were going to take the racket to play mudball with it, but the two of us together could not budge it."

Spotty went right up to his racket.

"You, least of all!" Crumple told Spotty.

"Spotty may look little, but he could easily pick up your mother if he wanted to," said Arunacub.

Crumple and Rumple laughed, thinking of times they had tried to make their mother do things. If she sat down, there was no budging her! Imagine the tiny Spotty having any success! Crumple and Rumple worked themselves up into such hysterics that they were soon rolling on the ground.

"Watch," said Tirucub.

Spotty reached down a little paw and gracefully picked up his racket without the slightest strain. Crumple and Rumple's jaws dropped.

Serving imaginary balls all the way, Spotty led the other cubs home so they could get started on making Uncle Annamalai's lunch.

I am fully present with you, all the time

On the way back from Virupaksha Cave, the cubs were skipping along happily.
Arunacub asked Mum Lioness: Do you think the bird will fly ?
Mum Lioness looked at Tiru and asked him why he had been so insistent on going to the cave?

He told Mum Lioness that in the morning when they were scampering outside, they had seen this bird on a tree. Arunacub heard its call and was convinced it was crying for help. "We all prayed to Bhagavan to save it!"

But then why did you not tell me when you came back. The cubs were silent.
Then Tirucub said, "We forgot about it!"
Arunacub said, "We had prayed to Bhagavan, and then surrendered the bird to him. So we forgot!"
"Actually Spotty told me not to tell you.", said Om cub.
Mum Lioness looked back at Spotty who quickly hid behind Omcub.
"Spotty said that Mum Lioness would feel sad for the bird, so don't tell her. And we didn't want you feeling sad or hurt.", said little Om in Spotty's defence.

The next morning they were on their way to Virupaksha cave to check on the bird. On the way they saw an injured crow on the way. It was trying to fly. Om cub noticed that one wing was injured.
"Bhagavan, now what will you do about this crow?" asked one cub.
They again prayed to Bhagavan to save the crow. The cubs were not clear what they should do.
Picking it up may frighten it. When Om cub approached it, it immediately jumped and tried to fly a few feet away. So they decided to let it be.
"Take it into your arms, O Bhagavan", they all prayed. Little Spotty blew some kisses to the crow asking it to think of the Lord.

And then a few minutes later the crow moved, it lifted both its wings and flew to a nearby tree. The cubs felt a little better and moved on.

When they were nearing the cave, Tiru cub cried out, "Look, the bird!!"
The bird (injured yesterday) was hopping about near Bhagavan Ramana, flapping its wings. The cubs quickened their pace.
The attendants were smiling, everyone present was happy that the bird's wing was healing, something that seemed unlikely the previous day.

Then Bhagavan pointed to the window. The cubs looked there. The attendant told them that this crow has just reached here with an injured wing. Somehow it knew that this was the place to come! It came here and almost fell at Bhagavan's feet as though it had reached its sanctuary. Bhagavan picked it up like a mother would pick its newborn child. He then put some ointment on its wing and bandaged it with a little cloth.

The cubs could see the love and fatherly affection pouring out of Bhagavan's eyes. Each living creature was His own child. The crow looked up, into Bhagavan's eyes. The look was unmistakable -- how one looks into the eyes of one's savior. Om cub said it was a look of complete surrender. Arunacub nudged Tiru and said, "See, the crow has reached Bhagavan's embrace!"

As they got up to leave, Bhagavan fixed his gaze on the cubs. Again the cubs understood the look. The eyes clearly said:
Don't imagine, for a moment, I am not fully present with you, all the time.

Bhagavan saves a life

Tiru cub had been insisting on going for Bhagavan's darshan since the morning. Mum Lioness was asking him to wait a few minutes, so she could pack some idlis and chutney for them to take to the Virupaksha Cave where Bhagavan currently resided.
The cubs took turns peeping into the kitchen and clearing their throats by the door to remind Mum Lioness that they were still waiting.
Finally the idlies were properly steamed and ready for packing.

Picking up little brother Spotty from the neighbouring cave, they walked down to Virupaksha Cave. Mum Lioness was thinking, we have not been for Bhagavan's darshan for several days, her stride quickened slightly. Then she saw Bhagavan standing outside the cave.
"There stands my Father!", she thought, tears wetting her eyes.
"There He stands blazing like the sun."

The cubs broke into a sprint upon seeing Bhagavan, and Bhagavan broke into a wide smile.
Before Mum Lioness could warn them to be careful not to scratch Bhagavan, they were out of hearing distance.

They sat down in a corner along with some more devotees and visitors. Then they heard a rustle in the leaves of the trees outside the cave entrance. Everyone looked up.
"Hobbler!" whispered Om cub excitedly to his brothers. Uncle Hobbler had something in his hand which he was carefully carrying.
Bhagavan put his palm forward. Uncle Hobbler opened his paws and put something in Bhagavan's palm.
Tiru cub , the tallest, whispered to the others, "It's a bird!"

Bhagavan looked to His attendant and said, "Hobbler says one tiny monkey rescued it from a tree. It was stuck on a branch, and was crying out for help."

The attendant quickly got some medicine and cotton wool and water. Bhagavan carefully cleaned the bird. He wiped the wound, and then put a few drops of milk on its beak. The bird, almost dead, seemed to sip the drops. A few devotees said there was nothing that could be done for the bird, it was badly injured. Bhagavan did not reply, but tended to it carefully.

After the others went away for their afternoon nap, the cubs lingered on. They approached Bhagavan. The attendant tried to dissuade them telling Bhagavan that the bird would be frightened by the lions.

"Don't you know, Swami, that these are vegetarian lions!", said Bhagavan pointing at the four cubs, their complete attention on the birds. Unknown to the attendant, all this while the four little cubs had been praying to Bhagavan to save its life.

Bhagavan gestured to the cubs and they slowly made their way to Bhagavan. He held out the bird to them. Om cub came up and sniffed at the bird. Definitely injured, he thought. He gave the bird a little kiss on its wings. The bird opened its eyes and did not seem to be frightened at all. The other three cubs came up one by one and kissed the bird, and rubbed their cheeks lightly on it.

This time Bhagavan gave it little pieces of idli prepared by Mum Lioness. Surprisingly, the bird ate the little pieces. There was a deep look of compassion in Bhagavan's eyes.

"Even if the bird dies, it dies in Your Hands, Bhagavan", thought Mum Lioness.
One devotee peeked in and said something to Bhagavan that the bird would still not be able to fly, and what was the point of saving it.
The four cubs and their mother looked deep into Bhagavan's eyes so that He would not miss their silent prayer.

After kissing Bhagavan's Feet, and pressing their cheeks on Them, they slowly retreated, knowing that they would come the next day to see how the bird was.

in the Self there is no Space-Time

Spotty came bounding into the cave.

"Some devotees have just arrived! They came all the way from somewhere terribly far away. Maybe Pluto, or somewhere! Totally azausted, both of them." Spotty loved delivering exciting news.

"Have they seen Bhagavan?" asked Arunacub.

"Did they come on a spaceship?" asked Omcub.

"Are you sure it was Pluto?" asked Tirucub.

"It might have been even further!" said Spotty dramatically. "Peru."

"Oh, Peru!" said Tirucub. "That is on earth."

Omcub looked a bit disappointed.

"And they haven't seen Bhagavan yet. Let's go!"

The four cubs sprang up and dashed down the hill.

A few minutes later, Meditator Tiger came along looking for Spotty (so he said, but Mum Lioness saw him scanning areas that were much more likely to contain Ramana Munches than a little leopard cub, such as the kitchen counters and cupboards.) Just as he had feared, every last morsel had been distributed as prasad by Bhagavan's attendent, or given out as prizes at the Annual Games. He and Mum Lioness decided to lope down the hill to see if there was any truth to Spotty's rumour.

Sure enough, they found a couple from Peru telling the story of their long, arduous journey to Bhagavan. As the couple narrated all the hardships they had gone through, Bhagavan listened and then remarked, "You need not have taken all this trouble. You could well have thought of me from where you were, and so could have had all the consolation of a personal visit."



The couple appeared baffled by this remark. Bhagavan did not want to take anything away from their happiness at being beside him, so he said no more.

Later in the evening Bhagavan was asking about their day-to-day life, and incidentally their talk turned to Peru. The couple began picturing the landscape of Peru and were describing the sea-coast and the beach of their own town.

Bhagavan asked them, "Is not the beach of your town paved with marble slabs, and are not coconut palms planted in between? Are there not marble benches in rows facing the sea there and did you not often sit on the fifth of those with your wife?"

Bhagavan's questions astonished the couple. How could Bhagavan, who had never gone out of Tiruvannamalai, know so intimately such minute details about their own place?

Bhagavan only smiled and remarked: "It does not matter how I can tell. Enough if you know that in the Self there is no Space-Time."

The Annual Animal Games

A LOT of Ramana Munch was needed now. A L.O.T!

The Annual Animal Games were to be held today, and there would be a lot of animals which meant a lot of prizes. That also meant a lot of hungry participants for which Tirucub borrowed one of the Magic Idli Machines from the Animal Hospital.

Aunt Hippolyta was one of the organizers and had insisted that instead of bales of hay, the highly popular Ramana Munches be given as prizes this year. Perhaps she had at the back of her mind the fact that only Mum Lioness could make Ramana Munches, so it would push the entire burden on Mum Lioness. But nevertheless it was a great idea, because it brought participants from near and far, unlike ever before.

Jumping Competition

There were many different events such as jumping, running, climbing trees, chess, writing poems, and finding lost treasures.

The front-runners in the cross-country run

To Aunt Hippolyta's dismay her darling Rumple and Crumple had not won in any event. And to make matters worse the three lion cubs had won the running events in their age groups. Other than Spotty who was shocked to find that there was no race for those under six months. He would have to compete along with Om cub and he knew Om cub would be far ahead of him. He tried very hard to convince Aunt Hippolyta that he should be allowed to run on Uncle Stripes' back, but for some reason no one agreed to that idea.

A lot of splashing in the swimming race

Aunt Hippolyta had told everyone before the Annual Day that her strong, brilliant boys would win most if not all events. Now she was trying hard to think of some event her darlings could win easily at.
She suggested an iddli eating contest, but everyone knew that food was scarce in India and didn't want to start a famine. All her other ideas involved breaking something, or throwing something large which Uncle Krishnamurthy vetoed as being too dangerous or harmful for Arunachala.

Finally, Mum Lioness suggested a prize for the three heaviest animals. Aunt Hippolyta was thrilled since she knew her beloved would have to do nothing to win. And so Uncle Krishnamurthy was sent off to bring the heaviest and strongest scales from Tiruvannamalai. In the meanwhile all the participants lined up.

First in line, of course, were Rumple and Crumple pumping their chests, smelling victory, knowing that two large Ramana Munches would be theirs in a short while.

The line lengthened although everyone knew they weighed nowhere close to Rumple and Crumple. The weighing scales arrived and Rumple and Crumples weight was registered. After that all the others began to stand on the scales.

Rumple tips the scales!

The buffaloes, huge ones, were not even a quarter of their weight. Giraffes, lions and tigers and leopards, snakes, turtles, skunks, mongooses, all tried their luck. Some cows came too, but in most cases the scales would not even move. A huge rhino and his son came up. Everyone got excited. He got on. The scales shook, waved madly between 0 and 200, but then settled at 100! That was still far less than Rumple and Crumples weight.
The hippos were shouting wildly, "We are winning ! We win ! We win!"

Just then there was a little noise from the behind. Everyone turned. An elephant smeared with vibhuti on his forehead and trunk and limbs slowly moved towards them. Aunt Hippolyta shouted, "The contest is over!" But no one paid heed to here.


The elephant was clad in saffron and looked very saintly.
Everyone folded their hands. The elephant folded his limbs and said, "Glory to Lord Arunachala!"
Uncle Krishnamurthy returned his greeting and said, "Kind sir, please step this way and share some food with us!" He pointed across the weighing scales.

The elephant said, "I am from the top of the Arunachala Hill. I heard some voices shouting 'We win! We Win!' and thought I would come to see who has won, and what has he won! Has someone realized the Self here?"

The elephant tried to climb on the scale. But could not. Aunt Hippolyta shouted "Disqualified!"

The elephant stepped back. Just then another elephant slightly larger than the first appeared from behind. He too was vibhuti smeared.


He nudged the first elephant who managed to get on the scales. The needle went madly left and right and finally stopped at 300!

There was an uproar. Aunt Hippolyta went pale and the elephant fanned her with his ears.

What is your name, my respected Sir, asked Uncle Krishnamurthy.
I have no name, son. I am a sadhu. I have nothing -- just my Lord Arunachala.

Meanwhile the second elephant tried to get on the scales but could not. At that moment, a larger one appeared from behind and helped him. The scales creaked and the needle finally settled at 400!

Then the third elephant tried to get on. The first two had to push him, and again the scales almost cracked. After much heaving and pushing he finally got one foot on. The weight of one foot was 600!

Aunt Hippolyta burst into tears, as did Rumple and Crumple. Mum Lioness tried to console her but to no effect. It was becoming late so no new game could be devised.

The elephants asked what the problem was. With Aunt Hippo wailing in the background, Uncle Krish explained the problem to them.

The biggest elephant said: We are sadhus from the top of the hill. We only came down to find the source of the voices. There is nothing for us but melting into Sri Bhagavan. That is all we want. We appreciate your Ramana Munches, and bless them, but we would appreciate if you awarded them to those little hippopotami.

Saying this, the elephants folded their limbs and said: Glory to Sri Ramana! Glory to Lord Arunachala! They then turned, gingerly walked across the scales, and left.

Rumple and Crumple were delirious with joy. Where are the cubs, they shouted, wait till they hear we won a prize. Mum Lioness said she had sent them to return the Magic Iddli Machine and they should be back very shortly.

a huge batch of Ramana Munch

"We've run out of Ramana Munch!" called Tirucub from the kitchen.

"Oh!" said a surprised Mum Lioness. "I just made some yesterday."

"The word is out ... creatures keep stopping by and hinting that they're hungry," said Arunacub. "If I offer them carrots or bananas or an apple, they just start clearing their throats and peeking past me into the cave. Only when I offer them a Ramana Munch do they agree to have a snack."

"Well, we had better make a very LARGE batch," said Mum Lioness, looking out to see what sort of day it was. Outside the cave were two enormous chunks of chocolate.

"Look Mummy Lioness!" said Omcub excitedly. "We really can make a HUGE batch!"



No sooner had they started figuring out how many times they should multiply the normal recipe to make good use of the chocolate than Crumple and Rumple arrived, with Mama Hippolyta bringing up the rear. Crumps and Rumps immediately jumped up on a slab and began gouging out big hunks with their very large hippo teeth.



"Crumple! Rumple!" said Mum Lioness. At this hint of sternness, Mama Hippolyta at once announced that the chocolate had been delivered to the cave by mistake, and had really been intended for Crumple and Rumple's morning snack.

Trying to be fair, Mum Lioness said, "Very well, then. Please take it home so the cubs can get on with their studies."

The cubs could not believe it! This was more chocolate than they had even known existed, and their mother was giving it all away to the Hippo family before they, the cubses, has even had a tiny taste! Surely Mum Lioness was going too far this time.

"Very well indeed," said Mama Hippolyta. "Crumple precious, take a side. Rumplyboy, you lift from that corner. I will take this side. Okay, on a count of three. One two three, HEAVE!!!"

The chocolate slab did not move even an angstrom. The cubses all looked at Mum Lioness, paws to mouths to conceal their smiles.

"What! What?!" exclaimed Mama Hippolyta. "What sort of chocolate is this! Maybe some leaded chocolate that will impair their brain function. I have had them to Chennai for IQ tests and the dears both scored 195. Unsurpassed geniuses! Come along darlings, we must abandon this strange and dangerous chocolate." Each taking a final mouthful so large they could not close their mouths, they hopped on their mother's back.



"Won't we need an awful lot of butter?" asked Tirucub, who was still working on scaling up the recipe.

It was true, they did, but Unca Krishnamoorthy arrived almost right away with a big amount.



Unca Krish was just unloading it when Suri Nagamma arrived with a big supply of maple syrup. This was the hardest ingredient of all to find. "Wherever did you manage to get that?" asked Mum Lioness with delight.

"My brother had it delivered," said Suri. "I was just taking it to Bhagavan, but if you could work it into some of that tasty Ramana Munch, we could take that to him instead."

"Yes!" said all the cubs at once. "The ingredients have arrived by his grace, so we will take it all to Bhagavan!"

They then began the melting and mixing work. At one point Med Tiger, who had smelled fresh chocolate on the breeze and come dashing over, was asked by Mum Lioness to make sure the cubs did not nibble away too much. Med Tiger was not the ideal choice of creature for the job, because he got distracted right away by some nibbling of his own.



The gigantic underpining to the bars was pressed into pans and baked till it was golden brown. Next came the very fun chocolate melting and dipping stage. The cubses carried each dipped chunk to a huge tray, wondering how they were going to get all the Ramana Munch down the hill to Bhagavan.



After they had dipped all the chunks, Spotty suddenly fell into the chocolate vat! The chocolate had cooled a bit but was still not solid. Spotty did not get burned at all, but when Mum Lioness pulled him out, he was almost unrecognizable.

"We had better get you cleaned up fast, in case Crumps and Rumps sneak back and mistake you for a chocolate leopard instead of a real one," said Omcub. No one wanted to try the Ramana Munch until Bhagavan had had the first bite, but they were quite happy to tidy up Spotty.