Up till the late 1930s, devotees would bring food offerings to Sri Bhagavan and expect him to taste them immediately so that they could be distributed to everyone present as prasad. Sri Bhagavan allowed this practice, even though it meant he had to consume far too many sweets, which were the standard offering. One night Sri Bhagavan in a jocular vein envied the luck of 'Bhagavan' [the deity] in the temple.

'My namesake there,' said Sri Bhagavan, 'is not compelled to eat the offerings made by devotees every time they come for darshan. I am compelled to eat them here. In the temple, the priest makes an offering of the food by muttering mantras and waving his hands. Then he takes the food plate away, but you people insist on my eating everything.'

In my first few visits to Sri Bhagavan, I witnessed innumerable distributions, especially of dried grapes and sugar candy. These would go on at all hours of the day and night. As this practice was found to be detrimental to Sri Bhagavan's health, it was stopped in the late 1930s. From then on, all the donations were collected in the hall and distributed at the time of meals.

Soon after my arrival with my family at the ashram in the summer of 1939, Sri Bhagavan showed me his Telugu translation, in sisa-padyam [meter], of Vasisthopadesam from Yoga Vasishta. He also showed me some alterations and separate renderings by devotees that had been made at his request. He suggested that I make further changes in his poem and also write my own version. I wrote something down and returned the whole file in a couple of minutes.

Sri Bhagavan with a look of surprise, perused my writing and exclaimed, 'What have you done? You have merely copied my original draft.'

'What else should I do, Bhagavan?' I asked. 'Nothing would be more preposterous of me than to meddle with Bhagavan's words. They are Veda. I copied this poem only for my personal parayana [reverential reading].'

Sri Bhagavan smiled and said, 'You are a clever man!'

One day, while I was at the ashram Sri Bhagavan spoke about the use of drugs by those practicing yoga.

'... after some time, the drug habit will become a great fetter and obstacle to jnana. Its addicts will not flinch from any crime to satisfy their cravings. So, it is best to remain desireless. Having seen the effects of all these drugs, I have decided that to be as we are is best. To strive for knowing one's real nature through self-inquiry, though it may be a little difficult, is the only safe path.'

The next day someone asked, What is this "I"? Where does it arise? How can it exist in all things?'

Sri Bhagavan replied, 'If you want to know what the "I" is and where it arises, you should ask the "I" itself. To state that "I am in all things" is like saying that the mirror is within the image. The truth is the other way. Just as the image is within the mirror, so all things are within the real "I".'

#SriRamanaMaharshi