Gambhirananda used to play music far into the night for his disciples and admirers. One night, while he was playing. a tiger appeared before him. The members of the audience all began shouting and screaming, and they ran out of the room. But the Master remained calm and said to the tiger, “Come, let us go. Let me put you back in your den. These people are afraid of you.”

After the Master had led the tiger back to his den, the disciples and admirers came back into the room. Then Gambhirananda told them that this tiger was not a real tiger. He said, “A Master of the highest order has taken the form of this tiger, and moves from place to place to bless seekers. He did not come to devour us, he came to bless us.”

Commentary:

When one realises God, the ferocious qualities of the animal world do not and cannot torture or frighten him, for he deals with omniscient Light and omnipotent Power. Here a Master of the highest height assumed the form of a tiger not to devour the members of the audience but to remind them that the ferocious animal qualities within them were still looming large. But a Master like Gambhirananda can easily devour all the animal qualities of the audience and illumine them into the divine qualities of God-realisation, God-revelation and God-manifestation.

In a previous story a Master assumed the form of a snake. In that case and here also, the Master came, out of compassion, to tell the seekers that if they want to make the fastest progress, they should look at the world and see that the world is like a venomous snake or a ferocious tiger. The very nature of the earth-consciousness is to bite and devour. If you are not guarded, the tiger will bite you, so be cautious.

Sri Chinmoy