by Sri Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath

In the evening, the Madman was dancing a wild dance with his hands raised, singing, ‘Rama, Rama. I have found! I have found!’ His dancing knew no respite! Haladhar saw him from a distance and asked, ‘Why is there so much dancing? What have you found, mad baba?’

Madman : Rama, Rama! I have found God.

Haladhar : Where did you find Him?

Madman : This is Just here. Rama, Rama! I have found Him. I have found Him.

Haladhar : Where is God?

Madman : You only are God. Rama, Rama!

Haladhar : Am I God? Then you have made a good discovery. I am God! Who has given you this good news?

Madman : The hands and feet of all creatures are His hands and feet. The eyes, ears, heads and mouths of all are God’s own. The hands, feet, eyes, ears, heads and mouths of every living being are all His own. Your hands, feet, eyes and ears all are God’s. The hands, feet eyes and ears of all creatures, whether men or of cows or of dogs or of tigers, are His. Rama, Rama, Sitaram.

Haladhar : Who has told you this? You say whatever you feel like. The heads, hands and feet of men, cows and goats are of God himself? O Mad baba, are you intoxicated today? Where is this mentioned?

Madman : God says it in the Gita.

‘The hands and feet of all living beings are His. The eyes, the ears, heads and mouths of all creatures are His. He pervades the whole universe.’

Is it contained only in the Gita? It occurs in the Swetashwatara Upanishad also. ‘What eludes grasp has now been caught. He has dressed Himself in the garments of all.’

Rama, Rama. The elusive one has now been captured.

Haladhar : If these hands, feet, eyes, mouth and ears are not mine, then why do I call them mine?

Madman : Rama, Rama. This is root of all problems. Rama, Rama, do the shastras say it only once?

‘The heads and mouths of living beings are His. He resides in the hearts of all.’ God is all-pervasive. He, who is the receptacle of all the wealth, heroism, fame, beauty, knowledge and weariness of the world, dwells in the heart and everywhere else. He is all benevolent. Rama, Rama, Sitaram.

Haladhar : God resides in my heart. My hands, feet, head and mouth are all His. Then who am the ‘I’, bereft of hands, feet, eyes and head? Where is that lame, blind, deaf and headless, human trunk?

Madman : Sitaram, there is a downward-facing lotus in the heart. Within that lotus, as tiny as an atom and full of energy, are you. Jai Sitaram.

Haladhar : I am in the heart! Then is this body not mine?

Madman : No, no Sitaram. Your body is His body; your soul also is His body. The way oil is present in a sesame seed or ghee in milk, the same way He resides in the soul within each creature’s body. Rama, Rama, Sitaram.

Haladhar : Then, whosoever one looks at, one sees only Him. Well, this is very nice. The sight of the mouths, heads, eyes and ears will remind us of Him!

Madman : Jai Jai Sitaram. All the sadhana and worship is done only to remind us of Him. Rama, Rama, Sitaram.

Haladhar : Please tell me, mad baba, how can one constantly remember the fact that all the hands, feet, heads, mouths and ears of all the creatures, are His?

Madman : Rama, Rama, Rama. This can be done by chanting the name of Rama incessantly.

Haladhar : O Mad Baba, please explain again, that thing about His hands and feet.

Madman : Rama, Rama. (Raising his hands) these hands of mine are His.

(Points to each body part as he speaks) These feet of mine are His, this head of mine is His head, this face of mine is His face, these ears of mine are His ears, this soul of mine...this soul of mine (places his hands on his breast and becomes silent).

Haladhar : O Mad baba, please speak. Please speak.

Madman : had gone as stiff as a log. Haladhar could not wake the Madman up, even by shaking him. Giving up, Haladhar himself sits down and starts chanting, ‘Rama, Rama’.

Rama, Rama, Sitaram.

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