Chinmayananda was going round India and delivering lectures on the Bhaghavat Gita. He came to Madras where he delivered thirty lectures. Pious audiences gathered in great numbers and listened with rapt attention. The swami was fluent in English and offered forceful arguments. He punctuated his lectures with lively examples, striking parallels, anecdotes, and analogies.
V.K. Krishna Menon went to London where he organised the India League. Fighting for the cause of Freedom in the Lions' Den he became so famous that in the late thirties Nehru was known in London as Krishna Menon's friend. Menon was a scintillating speaker and a voracious reader. He was for some time the Editor of Penguin publications. As soon as India attained freedom, the old guard of the National Congress was so entrenched in the leadership that an arch enemy of conservatism like Menon had no place in its venerable leadership.
Menon played a great role in the UN, defended the cause of Kashmir in an 11 hour long speech - the longest ever heard in the UN - visited every capital as India's ambassador of goodwill. Chinmayananda, digressing from the Gita, explained at length the great power and popularity Menon had acquired. The audience that was in rapt attention was now listening with admiration. Chinmayananda asked, "From where does Menon get his power?" and answered the question himself: "Because he represents India". Then, he said, "I ask each of you to be a roving ambassador of the Lord." The audience broke out into prolonged applause, as the analogy deeply touched them. We all know full well the great value of an M.P. or an industrialist or a senior IAS officer and treat them with appropriate deference. Do we equally know the value of the Spirit seated within?