Maharshi had the same compassionate attitude towards plants as towards animals. One day workers had been deputed to gather mangoes from one of the trees. But instead of climbing up the tree and picking them one by one, they knocked them down with sticks.
In this way a large number of leaves were knocked down along with the fruit. Ramana, who was as usual sitting in the Hall, heard the beating and sent a message via his attendants that it should stop at once.
When he later passed by the tree and saw the mango leaves in heaps on the floor, he cried out harshly, “In return for giving us fruit, is the tree to be beaten with sticks? Who gave you this work? Instead of beating the tree, you might as well cut it to the roots. You need not gather the fruit. Go away!”
Sundaresa Iyer reports a similar incident, “One morning K. was cutting down the ripe coconuts from the trees while Bhagavan was returning from the cowshed. Bhagavan asked K. what rod he was using to pluck the coconuts, whether it had a bamboo bit attached to the end or an iron point. K. remarked that it was only an iron sickle.
Bhagavan asked, ‘Will not the trees be hurt by the sharp iron? Would not a rod with a bamboo bit at the end serve the purpose?’ But he did not wait for a reply. K. went on with his work without changing his implement.
He continued to use the same iron sickle every morning. A week later, at the same time as on the previous occasion, while K. was cutting down the coconuts from the trees, one fell on his forehead, striking his nose very painfully.
This news was reported to Bhagavan. While expressing pity for the man, Bhagavan also remarked, ‘Now he will know what it is to be hurt, and also how much his iron sickle must have hurt the uncomplaining trees.’”
Source: Ramana Maharshi: His Life – A biography by Gabriele Ebert p. 142-143
