Experiences with Maha Periyava........

Experiences with Maha Periyava........

Ramana Maharshi, Seshadri Swamigal and Periyava

THIRUVANNAMALAI SRI. GOWRISHANKAR

My brother, Chandrasekhar was like my Lakshmana although I am not a Rama by any means. He was a Corporal in IAF. Due to a wrong injection he was on the verge of Coma and was admitted to Southern Command Military Hospital and was in a special ward in Pune. I rushed from Calcutta to see him. There was a Dr Narayana Iyer, a Brigadier who was treating my brother.

He told me, ‘Only one in 10000 recovers from this, so it is not our hands. Pray to your God and Acharyas’.

I came to my mother. ‘Why did you leave him at the hospital alone? asked my mother.

“I wanted to see Periyavaa that is why I came home”.

‘Will you come with me’, I asked her.

“Leave me at Thiruvannamalai, I want to be with Seshadri and Ramana”.

“I had taken a Sankalpam to see Him first and hence will drop you at Thiruvannamalai after seeing Him”, I told her.

We both went to Kanchipuram. Swamigal was not there and was at Orirukkai to attend the 1001st birthday celebrations of Thirmisai Azhwar. We reached Orirukkai at 6 in the morning my mother decided to sit outside on a stone beneath a tree.

“Amma, you are anyway following the customs of a widow after tonsuring your head in Kashi and wearing white saree, why don’t you come in and have His darshan?”

“No, da, I will remain outside thinking of Ramana and Seshadri. You take me to Thiruvannamalai after you are done having Swamigal’s darshan”.

Miffed at her reply I told her, ‘what, do you really think Ramana Bhagawan and Seshadhri Swamigal will bless you if you intentionally do not have the darshan of Swamigal?’

‘See, now stop arguing. You may go and have His darshan, I am not stopping you. I will just be outside’.

Telling her that even a hundred Ramanas and Seshadris will be unable to help her, I came inside the room to meet Swamigal and prostrated to Him.

Filled with grief for my brother’s condition I became emotional and recited this to Him from Thiruvempaava.

‘un kaiyil pillai unakke adaikkalam endru….’

Overcome with emotions I could not complete this paasuram. After I regained composure in a minute or so. He said, ‘please complete reciting the pasuram!’

I completed it, the 19th Paasuram.......

uN^kaiyiR piLLai unakkE adaikkalam enRu

aN^gap pazanychoR pudhukkum em achchaththAl

eN^gaL perumAn unakkon RuraippOmkEL

eN^koN^gai n^in anbar allArthOL chEraRka

eN^kai unakkallA dheppaNiyuny cheyyaRka

kaN^gulpagal eN^kaN maRRonRuN^ kANaRka

iN^gip parichE emakkeN^kOn n^algudhiyEl

eN^gezilen nyAyiRu emakkElOr empAvAy

Meaning.......

“The child in your hand is your own refugee”, because of our fear of that adage coming to existence, our Lord, we tell you something, listen! Let our breast not join the shoulder of somebody who is not Your lover; Let my hand not do any service other than for You; Night or day let my eye not see anything else. If You, my Lord, give us this gift, let the Sun rise wherever, what is our problem?

“Have you come alone?”

“No with my mother.”

“So, what is the matter?”

Told him about the condition of my brother, somehow wrongly as dialysis.

“Is the kidney affected?”, He asked.

“No.”

He pointed to His head.

“Yes, the brain is affected”, I said.

He took some Kungumam in a Thamarai (lotus) leaf in His hand, closed His eyes in dhyanam for a minute and gave it to me.

“Are you going to Calcutta now?”

“No, I will drop my mother at Thiruvannamalai and then go to Pune before going to Calcutta”.

He said, “Send kungumam to your brother in Pune immediately.”

He spoke to other devotees for another 10 minutes.

After that, He adjusted His kaupeenam, got up, removed His Kaavi vastram, folded it twice and put it on His shoulder, held His Dandam in His left hand and left for outside, much to my utter shock and surprise!

The Kaupeenadhari walked some distance to near where my mother was sitting. She was startled to see Him and fell down at His feet, crying inconsolably!

Periyavaa’s first question to her was, ‘where is your Maatamaha Poorvigam’?

She said Thiruvannamalai.

She was pleased with this question of His about Bhagawan.

“Have you seen Seshadri Swamigal? Has He come to your home?”, He asked.

“Yes!”

“What will he do?”

“He will ask me to give Him cooked rice. I will tell Him; it is very hot. He will brush me away and say, I am very hungry. And will dip His bare hands into the hot cooked rice and eat. After just two mouthfuls he will spit some, and all of us will rush to eat them!”

“Have you seen Bhagawan?”, He asked.

“Yes, we will sing before Him!”

“You must have sung Akshara Mani Malai?”

“Yes! From 3.30 am to 11 am we tell prayers like Venkateswar Suprabhatham, Bhagavad Gita, Vallalaars’s Thiruvarutpa and sing songs continuously!”, she replied.

“Where are you going now?”

“I have asked him to take me to Thiruvannamalai.”

And then Periyavaa started to walk.

My mother was ecstatic that Swamigal spoke to her about Bhagavaan and Seshadhri Swamigal.

She exclaimed to me, “did you see Him? You said He is Periyavaa but He came to me in the form of a Kaupeenadhari! His body is so lustrous just like Bhagawaan’s! His Mind also seemed just like Ramana’s! And did you notice that His voice was ditto like the way Seshadri Swamigal used to speak!!”

It dawned on me a couple of days later that for a person who did not want to have darshan of Periyava and sought only Ramana and Seshadhri Swamigal, Periyavaa blessed her by coming in the form of Ramana Himself and speaking like Seshadhri Swamigal Himself!

Can there be a better Kaarunyam!!!

In a couple of days, I sent the kungumam to my brother. It was applied on his forehead and all over the body by my friend. He woke in delirium at approximately 11 pm and started shouting feverishly Periyavaa, Periyavaa. He tried to do something but fell down from the bed crying “oh, I am a sinner, I am unable to prostrate to Him, He is leaving...” etc!

He later told me that Periyavaal came to Him at the hosplital, observed Him minutely two to three times from head to feet. “I was helpless that I could not prostrate to Him”, he said.

“This is the Truth; I saw Him at the bedside in the hospital!!!”

Narrated by Thiruvannamalai Shri Gowrishankar......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPf_Hcq2HkU

J.KANNAN, M.Com, FIATA

"WE DON'T THINK TO BREATHE

 WE BREATHE TO THINK"

Mystical Temple of Speaking Gods...... Mystical Experiences ....

Mystical Temple of Speaking Gods...... Mystical Experiences ....

The famous Sree Raja Rajeswari Tripura Sundari temple in Bastar, Bihar, attracts hundreds of thousands of devotees from across the nation. This temple is dedicated to Goddess Durga.

Historians say that the temple was built 400 years ago to perform tantric worship and obtain tantric powers.

In this temple there are several deities of Goddess Durga in various avatars like Tripura, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Tara, Kali, Chinnamasta, Shodasi, Matangi, Kamala, Ugrah Tara, Bhuvaneshwari, etc.

The temple looks very beautiful in the daytime, but what is more interesting is what happens at night. This temple has various mystical happenings every night.

From the first day of this temple being built, the royal family and the local people who built the temple were able to hear various sounds at night.

No one could understand those words even though the sound is very clear. Also, they were unable to find the source from where the sounds are coming from.

A team of scientists visited the place and confirmed that after dusk one can hear voices coming from the temple even when there is no human in sight. Locals believe that at midnight one can hear the deities talk to each other and scientists say that it is unknown why words keep echoing in the main temple.

Believe it or not, this mystical phenomenon remains unsolved and no one knows why one can hear sounds coming out of the temple. Maybe it is the Goddess speaking to mankind or something that we may not know yet, but the fact that many devotees stand in long queues to seek blessing from the Goddess is a symbol of ultimate devotion.

J.KANNAN, M.Com, FIATA

"WE DON'T THINK TO BREATHE

 WE BREATHE TO THINK"

dupi Sree Krishna Temple.........“The Kingdom of God on Earth.”

Udupi Sree Krishna Temple.........“The Kingdom of God on Earth.”

SREE KRISHNA TEMPLE- UDUPI

How Krishna Came to Udupi.............

UDUPI SREE KRISHNA

Krishnaya Vasudevaya

Devaki Nanda Nayacha|

Nandagopa Kumaraya

Sri Govindaya Namo Namaha||

“Canto 1 Chapter 8”. Bhagavad Purana (Srimad Bhagavatam).

Meaning.....

I bow and pray to lord Krishna, son of Vasudeva and Devaki, also the son of Nandagopa, who takes away sorrows, sufferings, pain and trouble.

The amazing account of how one of India’s greatest saints met a beguiling Krishna Deity of a bygone era.

The holy town of Udupi lies on the Arabian Sea in the South Indian state of Karnataka. The town is famous as a place of pilgrimage because of the temple Sri Krishna Mata.

This temple was founded by Srila Madhvacharya (A.D. 1238-1317), one of the greatest saints, philosophers, and religious reformers of India. Udupi is said to have attained the status of Vaikuntha, the kingdom of God, because the Supreme Personality of Godhead came and stayed there in response to the desire of His pure devotee Srila Madhvacharya.

Even before Madhva’s time Udupi was renowned as a holy place. People throughout South India frequently went there on pilgrimage because it was a center of Vedic scholarship and the site of two ancient temples, Sri Ananteshvara and Sri Candramauleshvara. In the Sri Ananteshvara temple, the more famous of the two, Lord Vishnu and His personal expansion Lord Ananta-shesha are said to reside within the Siva-linga, the deity form of Lord Siva, who is the most powerful demigod and the greatest devotee of Lord Vishnu, or Krishna. Sri Candramauleshvara is a temple of Lord Siva, so named because he carries the crescent moon (chandra) on his head.

Not much else is known about Udupi prior to Madhva’s advent, except that the town is named after Lord Siva, “Udupi” being derived from “Udupa,” another name of Lord Siva meaning “he who carries the moon on his head.”

Srila Madhvacharya, in the years before he founded the Sri Krishna Math, was affiliated with the Sri Ananteshvara temple. Here he used to hold audiences spellbound with his learned discourses on the science of Krishna consciousness. Within the temple compound he would regularly hold debates with scholars opposed to pure devotion to Lord Krishna as the ultimate end of Vedic knowledge. Madhva never lost a debate. After founding Sri Krishna Math, Madhva made it the center for all his activities.

Tradition still has it, however, that pilgrims go first to Candramauleshvara and offer their respects to Lord Siva, then to Ananteshvara to offer respects to Lord Vishnu, and finally go across the street to Sri Krishna Matha to worship Srila Madhvacharya’s original Deity of Lord Bala Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a young child.

The amazing story of how the Bala Krishna Deity crossed the ocean from faraway Dvaraka in Northwest India to Udupi in the south is told in Madhva-vijaya,the biography of Srila Madhvacharya. Madhva wanted to have a temple of Lord Krishna in Udupi; the devotees could then worship and serve the Lord and ennoble their souls. Well, it so happened that in Dvaraka, one of the main places of Krishna’s pastimes on earth five thousand years ago, a Deity lay concealed within a large mass of gopi-chandana clay (the yellowish clay Vaishnavas use daily in marking their freshly bathed bodies as temples of Lord Vishnu). No one knew the Deity was there, but because the lump of clay was exceedingly heavy, some sailors loaded it onto their merchant ship as ballast. On the ship’s southward journey, just off the coast of Udupi, a tempest blew the ship aground on a sandbank.

On that very day, Srila Madhvacharya absorbed in composing Dvadasha-stotra, his famous twelve-part poem praising Lord Krishna, had gone to the beach to bathe or, as some say, to receive the Lord. Upon seeing the ship caught fast on the sandbank and hearing the cries of the sailors in distress, Srila Madhvacharya waved his cloth in their direction. This calmed the stormy seas, and the ship floated free. Madhva then guided the vessel to safety. Eager to show his appreciation, the captain offered Madhva whatever he wanted from the ship’s cargo. Madhva chose the heavy lump of gopi- candana clay.

Disciple attendants of Madhvacharya had just started back to Udupi with the large lump of clay when, but a short distance from the beach, the lump broke in two, revealing the handsome Deity of Lord Bala Krishna. But now the combined effort of thirty of Madhva’s disciples could not budge the Deity. Only when Madhvacharya himself embraced and lifted the Deity as if He were a child did the Deity consent to be moved. In great transcendental ecstasy Madhva carried the Lord the four miles back to Udupi. On the way he completed the remaining seven parts of Dvadasha-stotra, reciting the verses out loud. Back in Udupi, Madhva bathed the Lord in the lake known as Madhva-sarovara and enshrined Him in the Sri Krishna Matha. Srila Madhvacharya instituted rigorous standards for worshipping Sri Krishna, and whenever he was in Udupi he would personally perform the thirteen daily worship ceremonies for the Lord.

Dwadasha Stotra........The Sacred Strotam..... in English

Vande vandyam sadanandam vasudevam nirajanamh |

Indirapatimadyadi varadesha varapradamh || 1||

Namami nikhiladhisha kiritaghrishhtapithavath |

Hrittamah shamanearkabham shripateh padapankajamh || 2||

Jambunadambaradharam nitambam chintyamishituh |

Svarnamajnjirasamvitam arudham jagadambaya || 3||

Udaram chintyam ishasya tanutveapi akhilambharam |

Valitrayankitam nityam arudham shriyaikaya || 4||

Smaraniyamuro vishhnoh indiravasamuttamaih |

Anantam antavadiva bhujayorantarangatamh || 5||

Shankhachakragadapadmadharashchintya harerbhujah |

Pinavritta jagadraxa kevalodyoginoanishamh || 6||

Santatam chintayetkantham bhasvatkaustubhabhasakamh |

Vaikunthasyakhila veda udgiryanteanisham yatah || 7||

Smareta yamininatha sahasramitakantimath |

Bhavatapapanodidhyam shripateh mukhapankajamh || 8||

Purnananyasukhodbhasim andasmitamadhishituh |

Govindasya sada chintyam nityanandapadapradamh || 9||

Smarami bShavasantapa hanidamritasagaramh |

Purnanandasya ramasya sanuragavalokanamh || 10||

Dhyayedajasramishasya padmajadipratixitamh |

Bhrubhangam parameshhthhyadi padadayi vimuktidamh || 11||

Santatam chintayeanantam antakale visheshhatah |

Naivodapuh grinantoantam yadgunanam ajadayah || 12||

Dwadasha Stotra Meaning:-

Dwadasha Stotra was composed by Acharya Madhva. At the time of Lord Krishna Idol in Udpi, Dwadasha means twelve so there are 12 Stotras which are in praise of Lord Vishnu. Although all twelve stotras are in praise on God but the third stotra is the philosophy of Madhvacharya. It is a ritual to recite Dwadasha Stotra at the time of “Naivediya” of Bhog (offering Food to God) in Madava Temple.

Dwadasha Stotra Benefits:-

Dwadash Stotra is dedicated to Lord Krishna; it is believed that while offering Food to God we should recite Dawadasha stotra which means we are requesting God to accept our offerings. As we make food at home, firstly we should offer food to God as Naivediya and thanks to God for fulfilling our daily needs, then we should eat it food.

How the Deity of Bala Krishna had come to be buried in Dvaraka is told in Prameya-navamalika-tika, a work from the seventeenth century by Raghuvarya Tirtha, an acharya in succession from Srila Madhvacharya.

Once, during the time of Lord Krishna’s manifest pastimes on earth, mother Devaki lamented to the Lord over her misfortune at never having witnessed the Lord’s childhood pastimes in Vrindavana. She entreated the Lord to make her happy and fortunate, like mother Yashoda, by showing some of His childhood feats and frolics.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, just to give pleasure to His pure devotee, at once assumed the form of a small child and clambered all over Devaki’s lap. Later, when Devaki went to churn butter, Krishna, acting like an ordinary mischievous child, broke the churn, ate the lumps of butter, and even smeared butter all over his transcendental body. He then snatched the churning rod and rope from Devaki’s hands. After sporting like this for some time, the Lord again assumed His usual form of eternal youth. Mother Devaki was thrilled beyond measure to see this childhood pastime of the Lord.

Queen Rukmini-devi, Lord Krishna’s consort, witnessed these pastimes, and the Lord’s mischievous behavior and childhood features enthralled her. To preserve the memory, she had a Deity made of child Krishna holding a churning rod and rope. Queen Rukmini began to worship this Deity regularly. Later, after the Lord returned to the spiritual sky with His retinue, Arjuna deposited the Deity in a place called Rukminivana. In the course of centuries the Deity became completely covered with clay, and it remained in that condition near Dvaraka until merchant sailors brought it to Madhvacharya at Udupi.

Before his departure from this world, Srila Madhvacharya appointed eight of his sannyasi disciples to take charge of the worship at Sri Krishna Matha and to continue propagating Krishna consciousness in the region. Today the responsibility for the worship is rotated in two-year periods called paryaya among eight sannyasis in disciplic succession from the original eight. During the fourteen-year interim period between turns at paryaya, each sannyasi travels and preaches and raises funds for use when his turn for worship comes. During his paryaya,he personally performs the thirteen daily ritual services to the Deity.

Udupi Shri Krishna as it is headed and governed by the Ashta mathas.
Sri Vamana Thirtha, Shiroor MathSri Rama Thirtha, Kaniyoor MathaSri Adokshaja Thirtha, Pejawara MathaSri Hrishikesha Thirtha, Palimaru MathaSri Narahari Thirtha, Adamaru MathaSri Janardhana Thirtha, Krishnapura MathaSri Upendra Thirtha, Puttige MathaSri Vishnu Thirtha, Sode Vadiraja MathaKrishna Matha.The daily sevas (offerings to god) and administration of the Krishna Mutt are managed by the Ashta Mathas (eight monasteries). Each of the Ashta Mathas performs temple management activities for two years in a cyclical order. They are collectively known as the Ashta Mathagalu in Kannada language.
The Krishna Matha is known throughout the world for its religious customs, traditions, and learning in Dvaita or Tatvavaada philosophy. It is also the centre of Daasa Sahitya, a form of literature that originated in Udupi.
These eight Mathas are Pejavara, Puttige, Palimaru, Adamaru, Sodhe, Kaniyooru, Shirur and Krishnapura.
The expenses of Udupi Krishna Matha are borne by the voluntary contribution of devotees and by Ashta matha's which manage the Krishna mutt. The contribution may be in cash or kind. The Krishna matha which owned large tracts of land lost all land due to the implementation of Land reforms act 1975 by the Government of Karnataka.

Each sannyasi also heads his own matha, where other Deities, ones given by Madhvacharya to the original eight sannyasis, are worshipped. These eight mathas are located along Car Street, a road that circles the Chandramauleshvara and Ananteshvara temples and runs right past the main entrance to Sri Krishna Matha. Car Street is where parades such as the one pictured at the opening of this article are held. According to the significance of the festival being observed, sometimes only one cart and sometimes all three are used. A fourth cart, completely covered in silver, is used for special festivals.

Replete with a decorated elephant and a musical band, a parade on Car Street is an almost nightly event in Udupi. Residents and pilgrims alike turn out en masse to see the Lord riding high upon His cart and smiling beneficently upon the adoring devotees. The procession stops at intervals along the route, and the Lord is entertained by fireworks displays or worshiped by offerings from His many devotees. The parades start at eight and are usually over by nine-thirty.

Seeing the enthusiastic devotion of the residents of Udupi engladdens the heart of any devotee. Even a hardened non devotional heart would be touched. Udupi is one of the few places left in India where devotional, spiritual traditions, for which India is famous, are still practiced intact. Such a pure devotional atmosphere is the principal symptom of the spiritual world. Thus a fitting epithet for Udupi is “the Kingdom of God on Earth.”

J.KANNAN, M.Com, FIATA

"WE DON'T THINK TO BREATHE

 WE BREATHE TO THINK"