True Renunciation is Internal
Sivaprakasam Pillai adored the Master Sri Ramana Maharshi, and he assimilated whatever Bhagavan said and put it into practice. However, a devotee, when putting Bhagavan‘s teachings into practice, may misunderstand.
For instance, when Bhagavan extolled renunciation, Sivaprakasam Pillai assumed that Bhagavan meant sanyasa (monkhood). He went home and shaved his head and donned only a single piece of cloth. He even discarded the sacred thread that he wore daily.
Bhagavan looked at him and asked, “Why have you shaved your head? Go on, grow your hair and wear your sacred thread.”
He then understood that Bhagavan did not want any public exhibition or trappings of putting his teachings into practice. Attachment to doership, the world or to its objects was to be relinquished — not displayed on the outside, but on the inside, silently, where spiritual pride would not fester.
True Renunciation Means Not to Depend on Anyone, Except the Divine
At one time Maharshi Ramana started living in the premises of the Arunaigirinathar temple. There, he told his disciple Palani Swami, “You go begging this way, and I will go begging the other way.”
(Note: One of the vows of Sannyas (renunciation) is that monks do not try to earn a living. They rely exclusively on the Divine for sustenance. Thus they beg for their food and accept whatever they receive as a gift directly from the Divine.)
Bhagavan would go stand in front of a house, clap twice, and wait. If they gave something in his hands, he would eat it then and there. Bhagavan taught that true renunciation is not only to not embrace the notion of ownership, but also to not feel dependent on anyone or anything. He would not be a beggar a second time in the same house. Consequently, he ended up begging in almost all the streets and houses in Tiruvannamalai.
The above incidents have been noted down by V Ganesan in his book: The Human Gospel of Ramana Maharshi.
