Letter 52

(52) “ANORANEEYAM MAHATOMAHEEYAM” (AN ATOM AMONG ATOMS AND A GIANT AMONG GIANTS)
Prev Next
22nd July, 1946
This morning at 10-30 Sonti Ramamurthi came with his wife, brother and some friends. At that time a devotee, reading some book, was saying to Bhagavan, “In this book, it is stated that we eat food and food eats us. How is that? That we eat food is correct. But what is meant by saying that food eats us?” Bhagavan was silent.

After waiting silently for about 10 minutes Ramamurthi told Bhagavan that he came there mainly because his brother was anxious to see Bhagavan, that he himself had Bhagavan’s darshan about ten years back and taking up the thread of the previous conversation of the devotee, remarked: “All living beings are born, maintained and absorbed ultimately by annam (food) and so food is known as Brahman. That Brahman is all-pervasive. All things are its images and as that is known as annam, it is stated that annam eats us. Isn’t that the meaning?” Bhagavan said “Yes”.

He told Bhagavan several things about science, and his brother also spoke about science, atom bombs and the like, all in English. I do not know English, so I could not follow their conversation. But Bhagavan replied in Telugu. After hearing all that they were saying about science, Bhagavan said at last, “Certainly. But not one of these things is divorced from one’s own self, is it? Everything comes after one’s self.

No one says he is not existent. Even an atheist would admit that he himself exists. So whatever comes must come from out of one’s self and must resolve into it ultimately. There is nothing separate from one’s self, in accordance with the principle in the sruti, ‘Anoraneeyam Mahatomaheeyam’, the self is smaller than the smallest and bigger than the biggest.” Ramamurthi asked, “Where does the difference come between the atom and the infinite?” “It comes from the body itself,” said Bhagavan. Ramamurthi asked, “How is it that we see so many forces in the world?” Bhagavan said: “The mind alone is the cause. It is the mind that makes you see so many different forces. When that is born, all else is also born.

The five elements, and the forces beyond the elements, whatever they are, and the forces beyond others also take shape, once the mind is born. If the mind is dissolved, all the others also get dissolved. The mind is the cause of everything.”