One day, during the time in the Virupaksha Cave, Ramana was stung by hornets when he inadvertently stepped on their nest. He reports, “As I was walking in the bed of a hillstream, I saw a big banyan tree on a boulder, with big leaves, and crossing the stream I wanted to get to the other bank and view from there this big tree.
When I accidentally put my left foot near a bush on the way to the other bank, the hornets clustered round my left leg up to the knee and went on stinging. They never did anything to my right leg. I left the left leg there for some time, so that the hornets could inflict full punishment on the leg which had encroached on their domain. After a time, the hornets withdrew and I walked on.
The leg got swollen very much and I walked with difficulty and reached ‘Ezhu Sunai’ (Seven Springs) about 2 a.m., and Jadaswami, who was camping there then, gave me some buttermilk mixed with jaggery.”
When Ramana returned to the Virupaksha Cave he was attended by Palaniswami who carefully drew each sting out of the left leg and rubbed it with oil.
Harmful Insects Can Be Killed
However, in so far as concerns insects which were a nuisance to people, Sri Ramana did not object to killing them. When once a whole army of black ants invaded the Hall through the water drain, he told Annamalai Swami to detect where they were coming from and to put an end to it. The hole was cemented over without further ado.
He also used to pluck blood-sucking insects out of the coats of the dogs and throw them into the gleaming coals. Similarly, he did not object if devotees killed mosquitoes or used insecticide in the cowshed.
Source: Ramana Maharshi: His Life – A biography by Gabriele Ebert p. 142
