Mastan was a Muslim weaver, who was highly spiritual. He came to Bhagavan in 1914.
Even as a child of eight years, Mastan would enter into samadhi without knowing what it was. He had the natural
ability to be detached from people and things from childhood. The simple Tamil poems of the nineteenth century Sufi
mystic Gunangudi Masthan, which are vedantic in nature, had a powerful influence on him.
Born in Desur, a small village about forty miles from Tiruvannamalai, he got drawn to Bhagavan by Akhilandamma of
the same village, who made regular visits to Tiruvannamalai to see Bhagavan and cook for him. Mastan, describes
his first darshan of Bhagavan: “He was seated like a rock. His unswerving gaze was filled with grace, compassion and
steady wisdom. I stood by his side. After giving me a look, he opened the gate of my Heart and I was also established
in his state in the very first encounter.”
When he returned, Mastan experienced some conflict within himself. He was filled with Bhagavan’s presence, but, as
he was brought up in the Islamic tradition, he had this feeling: “Am I brushing aside my master Mohammed because he
is no more in the body?” Fortunately, he was bold enough to go to Bhagavan and confess, “Bhagavan, this is my
problem. Please help me.” Bhagavan looked at Mastan and showering his grace, replied, “Do you take this body to
be Bhagavan? Do you think the Prophet is dead? Then, is the Buddha dead? Is Christ dead? Are they not guiding
hundreds of thousands of people even today? Are they not living in the Heart? A living guru means the one living in
one’s Heart as a guru. The guru lives eternally in your Heart. Heart is Allah, Heart is Jesus Christ, Heart is Buddha and
Heart is Bhagavan. Live in the Heart as the Heart by diving into the Heart.”
Mastan began coming regularly to Bhagavan. He relinquished weaving as a profession and wove only to make loin
cloth and towels for Bhagavan. Bhagavan once remarked, ‘Mastan’s craft, though it did not give food either to him or
his parents, gives me clothes.’ Being a true ascetic, he never married. He begged in the streets of his own village. At
Arunachala too, he would go begging for alms.
Mastan once asked Bhagavan, “While I was meditating at night, I used to hear the sound of a bell ringing. Sometimes
limitless effulgence would appear.” Bhagavan advised him, “There is no need to feel concerned about such sounds or
light. If you see from where it arises, it will be known that it arises on account of a desire [sankalpa] of the mind.
Everything appears in oneself and subsides within oneself.”
An interesting incident related by Mastan about Bhagavan: When Bhagavan lived at Skandasram, a large, golden
coloured mongoose entered the Ashram and made straight for Bhagavan. It sat on his lap for a while. Then it
wandered around and disappeared into the bushes on the hill. Sometime later, when Bhagavan’s attendant Perumal
came to the Ashram, I told him, “I was afraid that the mongoose might harm our peacocks, so I kept myself ready in
case it made an attack.” Perumal told him, “You should have caught it, we could have kept it as a pet.” Bhagavan who
was listening to the conversation, said, “Do you think you could have caught him? He was a sage of Arunachala who
took on this form to visit me. How many times I told you that sages come to see me in various forms.”
In talk no. 84,
dated 16th October 1935, Bhagavan himself mentioned this incident. He said, “When I was living at Skandashram, a
mongoose, larger than the ordinary size, of golden hue (not grey as a mongoose is) with no black spot on its tail,
moved about fearlessly. Everyone was struck by its attractive appearance and fearless movements. It came up to me,
got on my lap and rested there for some time. It went round the whole place and I followed it lest it may be harmed by
unwary visitors or by the peacocks. Finally it disappeared into the rocks near the Ashram.”
(SOURCE : RAMANA JYOTHI, SRI RAMANA KENDRAM , HYDERABAD .
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