Halagappa’s Nectar Ring
By Indra Devi
When Dr. Dakshinamurti was attending a Conference of the International Atomic Agency in Ankara. He was unexpectedly asked to preside. Not being prepared for this, he prayed to Bhagavan for help. As he took the chair he saw before him Baba’s raised palm with some important points for this speech written on it.
Another visitor brought to my room by my ‘Big brother’ Mr. Kasturi, was a man in whose house Baba’s photo was producing vibhuti. Formerly a thief, Halagappa had reformed when Swami spotted him in a crowd and told him to give up his ‘profession’ and take a job which would be provided for him. He was now working as a mechanic in a sugar factory.
When Halagappa come to my room bringing with him a large coffee can full of vibhuti, he gave a heaped spoonful to every one of the ten people sitting in my room.
Closing the can, he turned it upside down several times, murmuring something. When he lifted the lid again, we looked at each other in amazement, for the can was full to the top! The next day I wrote down an account of what had happened and asked all those who had seen it with me, to sign in verification. I felt sure, that otherwise, no one at home would believe this had actually happened.
In the evening Halagappa returned with yet another can – this time with sweet vibhuti in it. He told us that he used to gather the ashes from Baba’s picture in his house and mix it with sugar before offering it to people when they flocked to his humble dwelling. One day his wife remarked that they couldn’t afford the sugar so they decided to do without it.
The next morning when, as usual, they took a pinch of vibhuti from the photo they were surprised to find that it was sweet. Again he gave a liberal portion to each one of us and again the container mysteriously replenished itself.
We were very grateful to him for sharing his experience and gift with us and wishing to thank him we pulled out some money and heaped it in front of him.
‘No, no, no,’ he shook his head when we offered it to him, tears rolling down his cheeks. Feeling very uncomfortable about our well-meant offer, we quickly took back the money. The same day Halagappa bought a cheap, plastic ring in the bazar with Baba’s image on it.
After wearing it for a while he felt that his hand had become wet and sticky. He was thunderstruck upon finding that it was amrita, the nectar which Bhagavan gives to His devotees on some festival days.
He was shaken by this act of Baba’s grace, bestowed on him probably because he had withstood the temptation of money by not accepting ours. He placed the ring in an empty jar and the nectar began to increase in volume. A few days later he gave us all small bottles full of it to take home.
