Ramana Periya Puranam
with a sharp underwater kick on the thigh. Being a very strong boy then, Bhagavan’s kick would sting Ranga like he was being hit with an iron rod. When they went swimming now, Bhagavan playfully kicked Rangan again. But this time, Rangan held his foot, put it to his eyes and then on his head and said, “Bhagavan, how is it that your leg has become so soft? When you did this to me in Madurai, it used to be like being hit by an iron rod. Now, your foot feels soft like a rose petal.” Bhagavan replied, “Is it so Ranga? Maybe spiritual perfection changes even the body.”
Once, when Rangan was going around the hill along with Bhagavan, he stepped on a thorn. Bhagavan bent over and removed the thorn himself. Rangan had not noticed Bhagavan’s feet until then but after walking for a little while, he saw Bhagavan stepping on a thorn. He cried, “Bhagavan, Bhagavan! There is a thorn in your foot! Please sit down, let me remove it.” Bhagavan sat down to oblige his friend. However, when Rangan took a look at Bhagavan’s foot, he saw not one, but innumerable thorns. Bhagavan wryly remarked, “Ranga, which thorns are you going to remove - the old ones or the new ones? Let it go.” “Bhagavan, how can you walk?” Rangan protested. Bhagavan calmly gestured, “See? When a thorn goes into the foot, just rub it on the earth and everything will be all right.”
Rangan once had the opportunity to physically embrace Bhagavan. He was again amazed that the master’s skin was silky and soft as a lotus petal. When he had known him in Madurai, his skin had been very rough. So much so, that if he rubbed against somebody else, it would hurt. He asked Bhagavan in wonderment, “Bhagavan, how come the texture of your skin has changed?” Bhagavan responded with the same reply, “Spiritual perfection changes everything.” Another time, as a friend, he took the liberty to ask the guru, “Bhagavan, why does your head shake all the time and why do you need a walking stick?” Bhagavan confided in his friend, “Ranga, this is not because of old age. When | came to Tiruvannamalai after the death experience and took shelter at the foot of Arunachala, this head started shaking.” “Why?” Rangan enquired, looking puzzled. Bhagavan replied, “Can you imagine a violent, wild, mad elephant entering a small thatched shed? What would happen to the hut is what has happened to this body. It will go to pieces.” This is how the immensity of Bhagavan’s spiritual experience had affected his body.
Rangan once consulted an astrologer who said he would have insurmountable problems for one vear. He