23rd September, 1936

A small Iyyengar boy, whose family has come to visit Sri Bhagawan from the neighbouring village of Nedungunam, and who has accompanied his parents and relatives to the Ashram, had brought along a pambaram and was playing with the same in the Hall. The attendant felt that it would be a disturbance unto those who were meditating in the Hall and tried to seize away the boy’s toy. The boy understood what the attendant was moving towards him for and cried out, “I shall not play with it hereaftermore, but please let the presently rotating pambaram go on to spin and cease of its own accord; pray do not stop it!”. His childish voice rang out with these words in so shrilly earnest a fashion that everybody smiled, including Sri Bhagawan. The boy’s father apologised to the Hall, came forward and grabbed the pambaram off the floor, and thrust it into a pocket of his khadarjibba. Then he roughly lifted his son off the floor by the arm and deposited him in his mother’s lap. The boy started whimpering, but was swiftly lulled into sleep by his mother, who rocked him up and down and uttered soothing words in his ear.

The master jocundously remarked unto the boy’s father, “See, your son has answered your query.”.

Q.: I don’t understand what Bhagavan is trying to tell me; it is hoped fervently by me that he will kindly pardon my ignorant son for having—

B.: Yesterday you asked a question about the Jnani’s prarabdha – do you remember?

Q.: Yes; if the Jnani has transcended all prarabdha, how come there yet remains a body for him, is my doubt; but Sri Bhagawan silenced me by saying, “Why bother about Jnanis? Attend to yourself first and foremost. If the truth about one’s Self is discovered, all doubts stand resolved.”.

B.: Did you notice what your son said? What was his request? He would stop playing with his pambaram [Spinning top], but the present session of rotation must come to a close naturally. You, of course, paid no attention to his imploration, but stopped the pambaram then and there.
        However, Ishwara is not like this. The prarabdha which is attached to the Jnani’s body will have to exhaust itself inevitably. It has to be remembered that this explanation does not hold good as far as the Jnani is concerned; from his point of view he already has no body at all. It is only the onlooker who thinks that the Jnani is the body; the Jnani Himself does not make that mistake. The body, being insentient, is not capable of saying, ‘Look here, I am you; you must take good care of me, who am yourself.’ It is you who imagine, ‘I am the body.’ Put an end to such imaginary identification and all will be well.