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Thread: Guru upAkhyAnam (Tales about Gurus)

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    Re: Guru upAkhyAnam (Tales about Gurus)

    'anubhavam Ayiram' (Experiences, a Thousand): Sri Shantananda Mahima
    Author: Ramani Anna
    Source: Sakthi Vikatan issue dated Sep 28, 2008
    Type: magazine, fortnightly, Tamil
    Publisher: Viketan Publications

    The time AdiyEn (I) was fully engaged in the Nanganallur 'Adhi VyAdhihara' Sri Anjaneya Swami Alaya nirmANa kaingaryam (temple construction works). (The year 1994).

    The noontime of a Saturday in the month of Kartikai. Sitting in rest after the meal at home, I fell into a short sleep involuntarily. At that time Sadguru Sri Santhananda SwamigaL who appeared in my dream with a smiling face asked with the privilege of intimacy, "enna dAsanE (what, my devoted servant)! It is a long time... since you are seen near Skandasramam! Have forgotten it?" and then disappeared.

    I woke up with a jolt. My mind was filled with bliss. I started on that very evening. Stayed at Salem for the night. Was at the Skandasramam on the morning of the next day (Sunday). A divine laughter on the face of Sadgurunatha who had spotted me at a distance!

    Raising my hands high above my head, I fell prostrating shAstAngam before SwamigaL. Looking at me with a smile for sometime without taking his eyes away, he blossomed his holy mouth: "enna dAsanE, not at all seen before my eyes for many days together! What is it for today... looks like a wonder! Some soppanam (dream) came up yesterday?" Even before he could finish it, I felt perspiring and once again fell at his golden feet with a thud and got up!

    That Parabrahmam laughed. "Satyam GurunathA! Only after having a dream yesterday I have now come running! How come you..." before I finished he talked: "EnDAppa (why my boy), why would it not be known? Only I came in your dream!" Saying this that dIrgha darshi (one with a foresight) laughed loudly!

    I did not know what to talk. I stood like a column. Then somewhat coming to senses, I said: "Only vAstavam (real) GurunathA! At the time I went into a short sleep after taking my meal at noon yesterday, you came in my dream and asked, 'Not seen near Skandasramam... Have forgotten it?' That is why..."

    "You started to come here!", he said laughing before I finished. "Only when dreams come up in this way, it seems that it would occur to you to come."

    AdiyEn did not understand what to reply to that Deivam who knew everything. I stood in silence.

    Gurunathar himself dissolved the silence. "You have not taken any tiffin in the morning?"

    "No, GurunathA!"

    "Today in the ukkirANam (kitchen), veN pongal (salt pongal) and brinjal kotsu (salad) have been prepared. First go there, and come back after finishing your tiffin!..." With supreme compassion, that God sent me away!

    When I returned finishing my morning tiffin, a large crowd for darshan of Gurunathar. Calling the people one by one and talking to them, he was sending them back. Leaning myself against a pillar, AdiyEn was watching it.

    Twelve o' clock in the noon. The crowd had become less. Sadgurunathar gestured and called me. Getting up and running, I prostrated to him.

    "Nanganallur Temple works are going on in jarUr (briskness, swiftness)?" SwamigaL asked.

    "Going on, GurunathA!" I said.

    "What is the decision in uddesha (approximately) about when to conduct the mahA kumbAbhiShekam?"

    "We are making efforts to finish it within the coming year. Only Gurunathar should give anugraham."

    SwamigaL said with a sudden utsAha (enthusiasm), "bEsha naDakkum... bEsha naDakkum (will be held very well)!" Then he asked eagerly, "It is alright, but when did the yantra pratiShTA vaibhavam (yantra installation festivity) took place there?"

    "On the date of 16th February, 1992, the yantra pratiShTA was held, GurunathA!" I said.

    "That was a day of Punarvasu (PunarpUsam) NakShatram?"

    "Yes Swami", I said, surprised!

    SwamigaL continued his question: "It is alright. Is the Anjaneya Swami going to be installed there is only Eka mukham (single-faced)?"

    "Yes, GurunathA."

    "But then the pratiShTA yantram itself seems like that of pancha mukham (five-faced)!", said SwamigaL.

    "Yes, GurunathA! What was installed in the AdhAra pITham (root base) was only the pancha mukha hanumat yantra", I agreed with him.

    Sadgurunathar did not leave it at that. "Let that be. Three years ago... my remembrance is that it was in ninety... taking that yantram, with ten or twelve devotees, it seems you people went on yAtrA (tour) to many kShetras (holy places) and even came to Skandasramam!", that Parabrahmam asked smiling and raising his eyebrows.

    AdiyEn was in confusion! About the pratiShTA that took place and was over, why SwamigaL inquires with such probing questions, I was nervous, unable to understand it.

    SwamigaL continued: "See if one thing comes to your mind! As I received that large pancha mukha hanumat yantram and kept it on my lap, you know the experience I had? I shall now tell you, listen. I felt like sAkShAt pancha mukha Hanuman himself coming down as a shishu (infant) and sitting on my lap. It was a Yantra with such a jIva kaLai (pulsating life)! I read without missing anything, the grantha akSharas (Sanskrit letters) found on the Yantra surfaces. 'With what shraddhA (care and faith) have they created this', I felt very proud. 'Who is the one that made such a wonderful Yantra' I asked you at that time.

    "What you said at that time... 'AnathANdavapuram Ramadas Aiyar and here, the man standing by my side, Marutthuvakkudi Sundaresa Josyar... these two people together prepared it' is still in my memory! What, all that I say is correct?" SwamigaL asked.

    Standing amazed, I nodded my head with humility in agreement! I couldn't think of anything to talk to him!

    Sadgurunathar himself continued: "It entered my mind that a prati (copy) of that Yantra which was parama sAnnidhyam (of supreme divine presence) should be there in our Skandasramam. Forthwith I told you, 'Take a prati of this pancha mukha hanumat yantram and ensure it reaches me'. Nodding your head with vigour and only after saying, "uttiravu (your orders), GurunathA" in happiness, you moved away!

    "The yantra pratiShTA was also over! But to date you have not at all given the yantra prati to me! I also know that it was not your mistake. A man who accompanied told you, 'Ramani... We should not give to other people the Yantra we prepared exclusively for Anjaneya Swami. (Or else) its sAnnidhyam (divine presence) will lessen", one person among you said it. I also know who is he!", he said.

    Tears leaked from my eyes. My body shuddered! Falling at the holy feet of Sadgurunathar, I wept, sobbing. Before I could gather myself to speak something, SwamigaL himself said: "The elders say that dharmam to the poor and dAnam to the renunciate should be done. What am I going to do keeping that yantra prati! If necessary, I shall use it for loka kShemam (welfare of the world), what else?" Saying this, SwamigaL called an Asramam official to come near him.

    To him he said, "Bring me the 'mantra mahottati' book kept inside in the almirah (shelf)." The book was submitted to SwamigaL. Turning its leaves over, he took two sheets of paper from it and displayed them. Then he asked, "Are these two papers familiar to you?"

    I looked at it attentively. One is a handwritten copy of the Nanganallur pancha mukha hanumat yantram! In the other sheet something was written in order in the grantha lipi! It was not intelligible to me.

    Still, gathering courage, I asked him, "That Sadgurunathar should pardon me is what I ask you first doing ananta koTi shAstAnga namaskAram. It is all a miracle to me! Without anyone of us giving it, as to how the Nanganallur pancha mukha hanumat yantra prati came into your hasta (hands)..."

    Before I could finish, SwamigaL laughed, "So you desire to know how, is that so?" Then he asked, "You know Pudukottai Dr. Vaidheesvara SastrigaL?"

    "I know him very well, GurunathA", I said.

    "If that be so, you do one thing. Go to Pudukottai and meet the elderly man Vaidheesvara SastrigaL. He knows these details! And he will tell you." Saying thus, SwamigaL gave me leave to return. Prostrating and receiving prasAdam, I started my way back.

    That very evening, I was at the house of Pudukottai Dr. Vaidheesvara SastrigaL.

    "varaNum, varaNum (welcome, welcome)", SastrigaL received me with a blossoming face and inquired, "on what purpose have you come?"

    I told him everything in great detail. Listening to it with interest, SastrigaL said, "This is a samAchAram (news) that is parama rahasyam (of complete secrecy)! Even then, since Sadgurunatha himself has sent you to know it, I shall tell you. You should also keep it in your mind only." He cautioned and took me to the vAsal thiNNai (raised portico) nearby.

    As we sat there, SastrigaL continued: "A day three years ago... Sadgurunathar sent word for me hurriedly. I went to Skandasramam at once.

    There, taking me to a room privately, SwamigaL asked me to pick up a sheet of paper and a pen. Then he sat down upright, closing both his eyes. I was unnerved! As a jaTA makuTadhAri (with a crest of matted locks of hair), it looked as if sAkShAt Paramesvara was sitting!

    Without opening his eyes, he ordered, "Now you should write down in Samskrtam what I shall go on telling you, without missing anything." Then he started telling, and I too took it down fast and finished it! Then as SwamigaL opened his eyes, I asked him, "SadgurunathA, what you told me now looks like the pancha mukha hanumat paramAna yantrottaraka shlokam (the root verse to write up the Yantra)?" Then he gave me all the details!" SastrigaL stopped to steady his breathing.

    I was impatient. "That is alright, SastrigaaL... Did Gurunathar say anything about who gave him the yantrottAraka mUla shlokam of the Nanganallur pancha mukha hanumat yantram?", I asked with eagerness.

    "He told me."

    "Whoever was that?"

    To this question of mine, Dr. Vaidheesvara SastrigaL replied with tears leaking out of his eyes.

    "He said it was sAkShAt Sri Bhuvanesvari Ambikai!"

    Hearing this, I stood in amazement! I raised my hands high towards the direction where that Sadgurunathar stands tall as a living holy figure and worshipped him.

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    Re: Guru upAkhyAnam (Tales about Gurus)

    The 'Satara' that Resolved the saN^katas
    Compiler: Sri Ramani Anna (in Tamil)
    Source: Sakthi Vikatan issue dated Jun 14, 2007

    VaikAsi anusham - May 31. The holy day when 114 years ago, when the lamp appeared to lead the way with its light to AnmIkam (spirituality). On this golden day when Kanchi Periyavaa took avatar, the very thinking of that para brahmam will give pari pUrNa shanti.

    An incident that happened many years ago.

    It was the time when in the Satara town of Maharashtra, the construction works of Uttara Sri Nataraja temple were going on in accordance with AcharyaaL's orders. People thronged daily to have darshan of PeriyavaaL who was camping in the town.

    A Sunday. Three o' clock in the afternoon. A 30-year-old youth prostrated to AcharyaaL, his eight limbs touching the ground, and got up. Tears were seen in his eyes. Noticing it, Periyavaa asked him with affection, "EmpA, who are you? Which place, why do your eyes go red?" Without replying, he started crying. People nearby assuaged him and made him sit before SwamigaL.

    "Which place are you from appA?" SwamigaL asked him.

    "Palakkad, Periyavaa."

    "You are coming all the way from Palakkad?" asked AcharyaaL immediately.

    "Yes Periyavaa. I am coming all the way from that place."

    "Alright. What is your name?"

    "Harihara Subramanian."

    "besh* (well) a good name. Right, what's your thagappanAr (father) doing?"

    "My father is not in jIva dashA (living condition) now, Periyavaa. He was practicing Ayurveda in Palakkad. His name was Dr. Harihara Narayanan--"

    Before he finished, SwamigaL with kutUhala (interest) said, "ada (I see), you are the son of Palakkad Ayurvedic doctor Narayanan? Very glad. In that case, tell me, you are the grandson of doctor Harihara Raghavan! All of them earned very good name in Ayurveda!". SwamigaL looked at him keenly, raising his eyebrows.

    The youth said, "Yes, Periyavaa."

    Smiling, AcharyaaL said, "besh! A lofty vaidhya paramparA (medical lineage). It is alright. You have not added any doctor title before your name?"

    "I did not study for that Periyavaa. My father did not prepare me in that way," said the youth, without interest.

    "You should not say that way! Did your father not prepare you, or you did not have the shraddhA (strong wish) in getting prepared in that way?"

    There was no reply. "Taking birth in that vaidhya paramparA, you missed the chance to know things? Right, up to which class you have studied?"

    "Up to the ninth, Periyavaa."

    "Why? You had no wish to study further?"

    "Somehow I did not have the wish Periyavaa. I now feel for it!"

    "Your vivAham (marriage) is done?"

    "Done Periyavaa. I have a daughter who is seven years old."

    "Right, what do you do now?"

    Tears gushed from his eyes. "Since I had no education, I could not get any high jobs, Periyavaa. I am doing the work of a supervisor in a local rice mill. The salary is seven hundred rupees. My family is running only on that amount."

    "Oho... Is that so? Right. You have your own gRuham left for you by the periyavaaLs (ancestors)?" SwamigaL asked him.

    Wiping his tears, Harihara Subramanian said, "There is a house Periyavaa, built by my grandfather. The very purpose of my coming here is to supplicate to Periyavaa about it. Many years ago, since her husband passed away, my father's sister came over to Palakkad bringing her two daughters. During a Navaratri festival time, my father mortgaged the house to a local person, took twenty-fve thousand rupees from him, conducted the marriage of the two daughters of my aunt, and then suddenly passed away. My aunt too passed away.

    "My grievance, Periyavaa, is that during the festival time of Navaratri my father mortgaged the house that was lakshmikaram (prosperous, Lakshmi-given) and passed away. The amount has now come to forty-five thousand rupees including the interest. It seems the house is going to sink!"

    SwamigaL lapsed into contemplation for a while. His silence dissolved presently and he said as he smiled, "Alright, now you celebrate the Navaratri festival at home, raising a kolu (an assembly of divine dolls) every year?"

    "No, Periyavaa. I stopped the custom of raising a kolu after my father passed away, doing what he did."

    AcharyaaL promptly interrupted him and said, "You should never talk so disrespectfully of Atthup periyavaaL (family ancestors). They are all very lofty people. I know it well! They have all gone after doing only excellent things! Keeping something in mind, your stopping the custom of celebrating Navaratri every year with a prosperous kolu is wrong! The Navaratri starts in a week from now. You revive the custom of raising a kolu in Palakkad from this year. All your afflictions will be solved and your will get prosperity!" Blessing the youth and giving him prasAdam, SwamigaL bid him farewell.

    Twenty days passed. It was a Sunday. A large crowd in Satara to have darshan of AcharyaaL.

    An assistant of the MaTham made way parting people in the queue and brought before SwamigaL a respectable man of 60 to 65 years of age, wearing a saffron jippa (tunic) over a pancakaccham (tucked in dhoti), and a number of tulasi, rudrAkSa garlands on his neck. He prostrated to AcharyaaL and started conversing in Hindi. SwamigaL also did his saMbhASaNaM (conversation) in Hindi and then asked the gentleman to go and sit on the stage opposite him.

    At length, a small trunk box in hand, Palakkad Harihara Subramanian came and stood before Maha SwamigaL. He prostrated resting his eight limbs to the ground.

    With artha puSTi (wealth of meaning) SwamigaL looked alternately at the youth and his trunk box. The youth opened the box slowly. Very ancient palm leaf scripts numbering 10 to 15 were kept inside the box, wrapped in a silk cloth. That Parabrahmam looked at him knowingly, yet as if it did not know.

    The youth said innocently, "You gave me the orders to revive the custom of kolu from this year. When I climbed up the loft to retrieve the kolu dolls, I found this box there. I had not seen it until then Periyavaa! I checked its contents and found these scripts whose letters were unintelligible to me. So I brought it straight here."

    AcharyaaL laughed and beckoned to the gentleman in saffron tunic who was sitting on the stage opposite him. To the gentleman he said in Hindi, "The apUrva vastu (rare article) you asked me about only a little while go has come here, look!"

    The gentleman immediately sat down on the floor, took the palm leaves and started having a glance at their grantha letters using a lens he had with him. His face blossomed. Lifting those scripts and keeping them over his head, he grinned happily and said, "O Parama Acharya Purusha! I am searching for this apUrva ayurveda grantha for many years. You are the pratyakSa deivam (God present before the eyes)! Within half an hour you have brought before my eyes what I prayed to you for!" He prostrated to SwamigaL with wonder.

    Harihara Subramanian stood amazed looking at all this. AcharyaaL called him near and said, "This gentleman is a great Ayurveda Siddha research scholar of Pandaripuram. Only half an hour back he told me about his searching for such an apUrva suvadi (rare palm leaves). Something struck my mind, I told him to sit and wait for sometime. And now you come and stand before me with this trunk box!" AcharyaaL ordered the youth, "All these will be very useful to him. Thinking of your father and grandfather, you submit with your own hands all these things to that gentleman."

    The youth did as he was told. Tears of joy in the face of the gentleman who received the contents.

    The gentleman looked at him and said, "I have come to possess an apUrva grantha by your grace! It would not be dharma to receive them without paying a kANikkai (an amount as a token of gratitude)." Then he placed five hundred-rupee-sections** (each having 100 bills in it) along with some fruits in a plate and held them politely to Harihara Subramanian. The youth looked at SwamigaL, who smiled and asked him to receive the money. Hands shaking, the youth received those fifty thousand rupees!

    Calling him near, that walking God said, "What did I tell you when you spoke out your grievance about your family ancestors? I said they were all lofty people, they would have gone only after doing excellent things. It somehow struck in my mind. You saw the excellent thing your people had done, on the loft where the kolu dolls were kept? You said your house mortgage loan had swelled to forty-five thousand rupees in principal and interest! Now Sri ChandraMauleesvara has done his anugraham for it. Get back to Palakkad with happiness. Let the money be safe with you!" and bid him farewell after blessing him.

    Note:
    *besh - I think this term originates form bheSajam meaning healing, healthy. The equivalent terms based on health and healing in some other languages used as appreciative expressions include: nallathu in Tamil, accha in Hindi and 'well' in English.

    **The term 'section' in Indian banking parlance, refers to a pack of 100 bills of currency. A 'bundle' is a pack of ten such sections.

    Glossary:
    puSTi - thriving, prosperity, comfort, wealth, opulence, breeding, rearing, nourishment

    **********
    रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
    ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

  3. Cool Re: Guru upAkhyAnam (Tales about Gurus)



    Sorry for interference but I do not understand what you want to prove, I have read only first post fully but not all other posts

    Many sanskrit scholars have stated that 'Bali' in Yajna means 'purnahuti' and not any killing, the stories of killing are made in Kaliyug, neither ashvmedh, nor gomedh yajna is for killing horse or cow.

    No Dharm Granth says that any killing will make
    ॐ satisfied. But all Hindu daities have some living being as their mount, and make them pavitra as well

    Could you explain
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    Re: Guru upAkhyAnam (Tales about Gurus)

    namaste Param.

    In the incident narrated in the OP, the AchArya has clearly stated his views about sacrificial killing in the veda yajnas, specially in what he states in the last paragraph:

    "Therefore, what do you understand from all this? No one except the ascetics and rishis can observe total ahimsa. People can observe ahimsa only according to the rights sanctioned to them. Vedas say that the doing yajnas for the welfare of the world by householders will not amount to himsa. Only Vedas are the pramANam (standard) for us. Precepts that cannot be violated."

    We find from Buddha's life that animals were sacrificed in yajnas even in this Kali Yuga. I have also heard of figures of animals made of rice flour offered in the fire, instead of actual animals. Animal sacrifice in veda yajnas is almost never practised today, although bali in pujas, specially to DevI forms is common. But that cannot be construed as ahiMsA or a crime considering the far higher figures of animals slaughtered all over the world for human consumption and at the time of Id festival in Islam. I heard that in every Muslim home a bakri--goat is killed on the day of this festival, its blood is poured in front of the house and then the meat is diced and hung in their houses to dry and preserved in the form of pickles.

    There is a proverb in Tamizh: "The sin of killing is gone by eating."

    Quote Originally Posted by PARAM View Post


    Sorry for interference but I do not understand what you want to prove, I have read only first post fully but not all other posts

    Many sanskrit scholars have stated that 'Bali' in Yajna means 'purnahuti' and not any killing, the stories of killing are made in Kaliyug, neither ashvmedh, nor gomedh yajna is for killing horse or cow.

    No Dharm Granth says that any killing will make
    ॐ satisfied. But all Hindu daities have some living being as their mount, and make them pavitra as well

    Could you explain
    रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
    ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

  5. Cool Re: Guru upAkhyAnam (Tales about Gurus)

    Quote Originally Posted by saidevo View Post
    namaste Param.

    In the incident narrated in the OP, the AchArya has clearly stated his views about sacrificial killing in the veda yajnas, specially in what he states in the last paragraph:

    "Therefore, what do you understand from all this? No one except the ascetics and rishis can observe total ahimsa. People can observe ahimsa only according to the rights sanctioned to them. Vedas say that the doing yajnas for the welfare of the world by householders will not amount to himsa. Only Vedas are the pramANam (standard) for us. Precepts that cannot be violated."

    We find from Buddha's life that animals were sacrificed in yajnas even in this Kali Yuga. I have also heard of figures of animals made of rice flour offered in the fire, instead of actual animals. Animal sacrifice in veda yajnas is almost never practised today, although bali in pujas, specially to DevI forms is common. But that cannot be construed as ahiMsA or a crime considering the far higher figures of animals slaughtered all over the world for human consumption and at the time of Id festival in Islam. I heard that in every Muslim home a bakri--goat is killed on the day of this festival, its blood is poured in front of the house and then the meat is diced and hung in their houses to dry and preserved in the form of pickles.


    But Yajnas originally do not teach killing any animal, the word Bali used in them originally means purnahuti, I met many Pundits and scholars, and they all says that, killing of animals was introduced by tantrikism in Kaliyug, and not original Vaidik.

    Buddha was in Kaliyug himself, his own life shows that he supported non violence because he was always surrounded by Brahmins, but he only avoided killing animals, but allowed to eat dead animals which were not sacrificed, but he was not a vegetarian himself, his last supper was pork

    Muslims sacrifice animals on Koran demand, there is no demand by Vedas for this. Islam is not any explain.

    There is a proverb in Tamizh: "The sin of killing is gone by eating."
    That's nothing good, and it looks the opposite of that of buddha's
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    Re: Guru upAkhyAnam (Tales about Gurus)

    'anubhavam Ayiram' (Experiences, a Thousand)
    Author: Ramani Anna
    Source: Sakthi Vikatan issue dated Aug 30, 2008
    Type: magazine, fortnightly, Tamil
    Publisher: Viketan Publications

    Several years ago... Sri Kanchi Maha SwamigaL along with his parivAram (entourage) did vijayam (visit) of the Thanjai (Thanjavur) district areas. It was the month of Ani (jyaishTha). People from the villages of the surrounding taluks kept coming to have darshan of Maha PeriyavaaL who was camping in a large dharma chatram (free choultry) at ADutuRai.

    The pramukhas (notables) of the villages Natarajapuram, Govindapuram, Thyagarajapuram, Sattanur, and Tirumangalakkudi surrounding Aduturai, had arranged on behalf of their places, for a samaSTi bhikShA vandanam (collective feeding of a sage and his retinue).

    At a distance of only one k.m. from Aduturai is ADiyEn's (my) native place Marutthuvakkudi village located. My father BrahmaSri Santhana Vadhyar was then the MudrAdhikAri of Sri Kanchi MaTham of that area. On behalf of our village too he wanted a samaSTi bhikShA vandanam to be held. The local pramukhas had agreed for this.

    On the morning next day, my father started for the choultry where SwamigaL was camping. He took me with him.

    On seeing him, the MaTha kAryasta (secretary) said, "ShAstrigAL... Aren't you the MudrAdhikAri of Marutthuvakkudi? Shouldn't you have the bhikShA in your place one day? You have it on the coming Sunday possibly?"

    My father said forthwith, "I too came over here to have it fixed. We shall have it on the Sunday." He asked the KAryasta, "Approximately what will it our expenses?"

    The KAryasta said with a smile, "Shall tell you. Should remit two hundred and fifty rupees as the kANikkai (offering) to the MaTham. Then your expenses of buying coconuts, fruits, vegetables and so on. After everything is over, when receiving prasAdam from AcharyAL, pAda samarpaNai (offering at feet) as convenient to your village. All told it might take rupees five or six hundred for your expenses." And he asked, "Won't there be enough collection at your place?"

    With no hesitation my father said, "bEshA AyiDum (will be accomplished well)". He continued with eagerness, "That's alright, but how much do the people of other places offer as pAda samarpaNai?"

    "From five hundred to a thousand they do it", said the KAryasta. My father lapsed into deep consideration.

    When we had darshan of AchAryAL within a short while, we prostrated to him and got up. My father informed SwamigaL about the BhikShA Vandanam.

    "bEShA naDakkaTTumE (may it take place well)", SwamigaL gave anugraha. "Are there tanikAL (rich men) in our place who can do it Ekadesham (alone)?" he asked.

    Lowering his tone, my father said, "Three or four persons are there. Among them two or three had now gone to Madras. The uddeshaH (thinking) is that we all get together in the village and do BhikShA Vandanam for PeriyavaaL." He prayed, "AchAryAL should give anugraha." Smiling, SwamigaL raised both his hands and blessed him.

    There were only four days for the coming Sunday. My father started the collection. In the three AgrahArams together, there will be about 30 houses. The collection was over by Thursday evening. 400 rupees had been collected. My father and the other VaidIkAs in the village submitted another hundred rupees. Thus the total collection amounted to rupees 500! It was just enough for the BhikShA Vandanam.

    Only for PeriyavaaL's pAda samarpaNai, money was required. It was my father's wish that at least five hundred rupees must be offered. He did not sleep well that night.

    Friday! We went to have darshan of AchAryAL. Sitting in a thatched shed in the choultry, SwamigaL was giving darshan. The crowd surged like a wave. At a distance, in a corner, joining our palms, we prostrated towards the direction SwamigaL was seated. I looked at my father. His face was soaked in worry. His worry was whatever can be done for the pAda samarpaNai.

    Suddenly a voice full of compassion: "Santhanam! Come near. Why are you standing there?"

    Laughing and gesturing, AchAryAL beckoned him near. We both went near him, prostrated in shASTaaN^gam and got up.

    "What Santhanam, yesterday you were not seen here at all! Any jOli (work) in your place?" SwamigaL inquired.

    "Nothing of that sort Periyavaa. Aren't we doing BikshA Vandanam on behalf of our place this Sunday... On that account I was making some arrangements, that's all." Before my father could finish, SwamigaL interrupted and asked, "That's alright Santhanam, the laukIkams (collection) were completed as expected?" with a laugh. My father hesistated to reply to this.

    Before he could open his mouth to say something, as if SwamigaL had understood something, "Worry about nothing! By the kRupA (compassion) of ChandraMauleesvara, things will happen as you have thought about them", SwamigaL fondled him with words.

    Suddenly, "Why Santhanam... In the Kaveri river in this place, are there plenty of waters flowing now, you know about it?" he asked. Everyone was confused as to why Periyavaa should inquire about the Kaveri waters.

    "It is flowing in plenty Periyavaa", said my father.

    Periyavaa did not leave him at that. "Alright, when did you last go for your Kaveri snAnam (bath)?"

    "A week ago Periyavaa!", my father replied.

    "Let it be. Is there much water flowing now, you know about it?" This is Periyavaa.

    A local Anbar (devotee) present there said with humility, "I had gone for the Kaveri snAnam this morning. A fair amount of water is flowing Periyavaa."

    SwamigaL was not at samAdhAna (reconciled) at that. "Flowing fairly means... not understandable! Does it flow so one can immerse and do snAnam, I should know about it", he said. Looking at my father, he continued, "Santhanam, you do one kAryam. Go for Kaveri snAnam at dawn tomorrow morning. Have a look and tell me if enough tIrtham (water) flows for bathing with good immersion." Saying this, he suddenly got up and went inside!

    We returned to our place thinking that PeriyavaaL was asking all these details for his own immersed bath in Kaveri.

    Saturday! It dawned. There was a slight drizzle. In accordance with PeriyavaaL's orders, we went for the Kaveri snAnam. It was then seven o' clock in the morning. Apart from me and my father on the banks, there was not a single fly or crow. Taking bath my father said, "Waters are flowing enough for taking a good, immersed bath! Should go and tell Periyavaa."

    Then he started saying the Kaveri snAna saMkalpam in a loud tone. Suddenly, from the banks was heard a clear and loud voice: "SAstrigAL! Please stay awhile. I too shall join you. For me too kindly do the snAna saMkalpam. There will be puNyam for you!" We both turned and looked. A man who could be estimated to be of 55 years of age was descending into the waters. A face that was not familiar at all!

    Finishing the saMkalpa snAnam we climbed up to the banks. Changing his clothes, that man gave my father five rupees towards snAna saMkalpa dakshiNA (ritual gift). My father inquired about him.

    He started saying: "For me too our pUrvIkam (ancestry) is only Marutthuvakkudi. My maternal grandfather too is from the same place. For my paternal grandfather Venkatachalam Aiyar, there was an own house in Marutthuvakkudi. After my grandfather, none of us remained here. We went to Bombay. Melur ChandraMauleesvara Swami near Tiruneelakkudi is our kula deivam. 'Whenever you went by the side of our place, have a snAnam in Aduturai Kaveri', my mother often used to say. I got that bhAgyam only today. I am going to Thanjavur in connection with a family legal case. Now having got Kaveri snAnam with saMkalpam, much tRupti (satisfaction)!"

    Then he asked, "AmA (What) SAstrigAL! I witnessed as I climbed down from the train. Many people in maDisAr and pancha kaccham are moving in throngs. What is the visheSham here?"

    My father elaborated to him about AchAryAL's vijayam and the grAma bhikShA vandanam. He was very happy to hear about it.

    "Even to listen to it is happiness. There is this nirbandham (constraint) for me not to participate in the BhikShA Vandanam for the loka guru done on behalf of our place. Still, as an offer from our family, please include this amount too in the BhikShA Vandanam." Saying this, he prostrated to my father, and handed over an envelope to him. My father could understand nothing. He opened the envelope and looked. 500 rupees inside it!

    "I shall take leave SAstrigAL", my father stopped the man who was just leaving. "Your nAmadeyam (name)?", he asked the man.

    The answer he gave: "Chandramauli".

    We both stood amazed.

    Then we went straight to the choultry. Periyavaa was not there. They said he had gone to Govindapuram Sri BodhendraaL MaTham.

    As my father went to the MaTham KAryasta and said, "Periyavaa asked me to check if enough water is flowing in Kaveri for an immersed bath." Before he could finish, the secretary said, "Periyavaa returned at four dawn time this morning finishing his Kaveri snAnam", giving it a grand finale. Our amazement grew!

    Sunday. The BhikShA Vandanam was over. All of us in the village prostrated to PeriyavaaL. My father submitted that 500 rupees as pAda samarpaNai in a plate full of fruits.

    Looking keenly at that fruit place for a while, SwamigaL said laughing, "What Santhanam! Isn't your wish fulfilled by the kRpA of Chandramauleeswara?" All of us stood amazed and fell shASTaaN^gam before PeriyavaaL.

    Glossary:
    nirbandh - to fix or fasten upon, attach one's self to, insist upon, persist in, urge
    samaSTi - reaching, attaining; aggregate, totality.

    **********
    रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
    ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

  7. #17
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    Re: Guru upAkhyAnam (Tales about Gurus)

    What did Kanchi SwamigaL Say to VinAyaka?
    Author: mahAraNyam SriSri MuraLidhara Swamiji
    Source: Sakthi Vikatan issue dated Aug 01, 2008
    Type: magazine, fortnightly, Tamil
    Publisher: Viketan Publications

    Generally in many temples, there would be five prAkAras. These denote our five koshas (sheaths or bodies). The annamaya kosha made of food, the prANamaya kosha made of prANa (life force), the vijnAnamaya kosha made of knowledge, the manomaya kosha made of the mind, and the Anandamaya kosha are those five koshas.

    PerumAL (Vishnu) would be either leaning or sitting on a snake which is of three-and-a-half coils. In this, the three-and-a-half coils of the snake indicates the kuNdalini shakti sleeping under the human spinal column.

    There are five snakes on the body of Sri NatarAja. These indicate the five kinds of prANans that course through our body: prANa, apAna, vyAna, udAna, samAna. At the time of death, the Jiva leaves the body, only by holding on to the prANA.

    That prANa (which carries the Jiva) would leave (at the time of death) through one of the nine holes in our body. Depending on which hole it leaves through, the next birth would be decided! For yogis, a tenth hole would be formed in the head (at the apex), the Jiva will leave through it and reach lofty worlds. This path is known as the archirAdi mArga (the path of light). For the jIvan muktas who are jnAnis, the prANa would shrink in the Atma, without leaving through any of the ten holes.

    The divine set up where Parvati-Parameshvara are sitting with Skanda on their lap is known as the form of SomAskanda. In the SivAsthAna Alayam (Tenambakkam) near Kanchipuram, however, we can see SomagaNapati. That is, on the lap of Parvati-Parameshvara, instead of Skanda, Ganapati would be sitting.

    Kanchi PeriyavaaL was staying here for sometime. One night, PeriyavaaL was lying on a bed of darbha grass, spreading it out like a mat. Some devotees were also with him. At that time the sound of firecrackers being exploded was heard.

    "What for is that noise of firecracker explosion?" asked PeriyavaaL, as if he knew nothing about it.

    "Kamakshi Amman is coming in a procession in her car", they said. "That's why the noise of crackers."

    Saying, "AmbaaL is coming in bhavani in her car. Should we not have darshan of her?" PeriyavaaL got up and prepared to leave the place.

    Those with him said, "It is over ten o' clock now. PeriyavaaL's health is also giving problem. Further, it would take time to reach Periya Kanchipuram from here. By this time, AmbaaL would have come near the Kacchabesvara temple. It is the custom that only there the vANa vEDikkai (festivities of firecracker explosions) is held on a large scale. Within the next half hour, AmbaaL would have gone inside the temple."

    PeriyavaaL did not receive any of that into his ears. Before moving away from there, he went to the small PiLLaiyAr at the Tenambakkam temple known as the SivAsthanam. Keeping one hand folded over his eyes, he bowed to PiLLaiyAr and said something in rahasya (private). Then he moved away.

    PeriyavaaL was walking silently. But those accompanied him were talking. One man said, "It is a good walking exercise for us." Another said, laughing, "We are going to return only having darshan of a closed temple!"

    As they reached the bigger Kanchipuram, it was a surprise for those who came with PeriyavaaL. They learnt that Kamakshi Amman's car was standing near the Kacchabesvara temple for hours together!

    As they sighted PeriyavaaL, some of the people assembled there came running and prostrated to him. They informed him, "For whatever reason not known to us, the elephant which came smoothly until this far, is adamant now against further movement. If the car is pulled, it blares as if it has gone mad. If the car is kept still, it is also calm and silent."

    After having darshan of AmbaaL, PeriyavaaL came near the elephant. Then, keeping a hand on its body, he said, "We can go." That was all! The elephant started moving, with its own majesty, faning its ears. Everyone who saw this was surprised.

    Only now the people who came with him understood why PeriyavaaL talked in rahasyam to that SivAsthAnam Small PiLLaiyAr.

    Knowing the mahima (greatness) of mahAns (sages), let us get their blessings and make a festive day of every day in our life!

    Glossary:
    prAkAra - a wall, enclosure, fence, rampart

    **********
    रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
    ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

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