On the eve of my departure I recounted to Sri Bhagavan the sufferings of my wife who was still grief-stricken by the sudden death of our son.

'Has she no other male child?' enquired Bhagavan.

'No,' I replied.

Sri Bhagavan sighed and said, 'What a pity!'

This brief exchange took place on 18th October 1936. My wife delivered a male child on 1st August 1937.

When the baby was later shown to Sri Bhagavan, his first question was, 'What is the baby's name?'

When I answered 'Ramana Prasadam,' Sri Bhagavan exclaimed, 'Indeed! Is it so?' and to my consternation he fed the baby with two bananas as if to demonstrate his prasad. It did not in the least upset the child's digestion!

At my leave-taking the ashram manager handed me three packets of prasad. l asked whom they were for.

Bhagavan who was then having his oil bath in the same room*, replied, '0ne for your family, one for Narayanappa, and one for your friend'.

The friend's name was not specified, nor did I at that time think to ask for it. The next day, after I had returned home, I received a letter that had been redirected from the ashram. It had been written by Mr R. P. Reddy, a zamindar, and sent to my Ramanasramam address. Enclosed was a prayer for Sri Bhagavan's grace. Mr Reddy's grandmother, it stated, was on the verge of collapse, having stopped taking food several months before. I at once understood whom Bhagavan meant by 'your friend'. I took the prasad and went as quickly as I could to Mr Reddy's home.

A few days later Mr Reddy met me and reported that the prasad proved to be the turning point for his grandmother. She was, he said, now taking food and was on the road to recovery. Now, he said, she had a strong desire to make some offering in token of her gratitude to Sri Bhagavan. My friend was not content with the customary presents to the ashram. Since he knew that I had been translating Sri Ramana Gita, he insisted on printing a no-expenses-spared edition of the book. The ashram, on behalf of Sri Bhagavan, accepted the devout offer. This was another marvel of Sri Bhagavan's grace.

*Until the middle of the 1930s, the ashram was administered from a part of a building that also included the ashram's dining room and Bhagavan's bathroom.

#SriRamanaMaharshi