Post by Sumi on Jan 26, 2013 7:54:50 GMT 5.5
Author: Shri Rajah Iyer Suryanarain, Chennai
I have been taught by my father, late Sri M Rajah Iyer, Ex. M.LC., to believe in helping the poor and downtrodden particularly those in the teaching community. I lost my father in February 1974. Many poor people thronged to pay homage to him irrespective of their community in a small place, Ramnad. I decided to uphold his ideals. At that time two of my sisters were yet to be married. All my attempts find a match for my sister, Rajeswari, failed due to various reasons. Someone had expressed to me that the Kanchi Paramacharya is a living God and His blessings will certainly have a positive effect. Taking the words to be true, I went to Kanchi on Friday, the 4th July 1975 and we reached Kalavai at 5 p.m. in the evening. I was ignorant of the attire to be worn and sporting long sideburns, long hair, mustache and a trendy trousers reached the gates, near the Kalavai tank. A disciple specially asked that my wife and I go to the other side of the tank where Paramacharya might come to worship His Guru. I went there as directed and founded only on old sumangali lady with a very big tilak on her forehead.
I saw Periyaval coming with three of His disciples. He prayed for a few minutes in front of His Guru’s Samadhi. Then He looked at me. I got a feeling that can never be described with mere words. The next round He took He again looked at me. When He as just passing me, one of the disciples asked me who I was.
I had all my courage to say loudly, Periyaval, “ I am son of Sri M Rajah Iyer, Ramnad'
The great Sage did not come out for a few minutes. The old lady by my side felt very annoyed. She told me kindly “ My dear fellow! I have been having this unique darshan of Parameswara Himself on this sublime Friday. Why should you come in trousers and sideburns and spoil a darshan by shouting? Is this correct on your part to do so?” My wife also felt I shouldn’t have shouted. We tried to move from the place and were walking towards the front. A few minutes later I could see the ‘Perarul’ coming again and this time I remembered the lady’s words and took off my shirt and rushed to the wall. Then the inexplicable happened. Only the people who have witnessed would know.
Periyaval is total kindess asked me through gestures who I was. I said “Son of Rajah Iyer, Ramnad.” Periyaval was, I learnt, observing silence at that time. He started by mere signs, amply translated by His disciples, all about my father, now he received National Award from Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, his contributions in the Legislature, for about 45 minutes. There was big crowd watching this unique event. Unconscioulsy I was crying like a baby.
He very kindly asked me why I had come there. I told Him about my mission. With a smile Periyaval asked me “Is this the girl?” pointing to my sister. I said “Yes”. Periyaval asked me, moving His finger around His rudraksha, whether all ornaments were ready for the marriage. I said “ I need not spend a pie except to find a suitable groom”.
Then Periyaval with a radiant smile repeatedly blessed my sister. His compassion was all-pervasive. The time was 6.45 p.m. and it was pitch dark outside. I was about to leave. I didn’t know that we should get “permission from Periyaval” before leaving his presence.
Someone asked me to get “permission” and I did. He again asked me “How did you come from Madras?” I said “By car.” He asked his disciple whether it rained on that day, to which he said “No.” Then he thought for a second and again blessed me “Be careful on your way back.”
It rained heavily that night and was so heavy that we reached Kanchipuram, only at 11 p.m. We reached Madras in the early hours of 5th July. Next day, “The Hindu” published the news Kancheepuram experienced the heaviest rainfall of the last three decades on that day.
I got a call on the 8th July from Mr. S K Vaidyanathan whom my father had approached in 1973 with marriage proposal. He said he was now thinking getting married and would visit my house on 8th August. On that day, he stipulated only two conditions. First that I must take my sister to his parent’s house at Udumalpet for their concurrence and secondly if his parents were agreeable , we must have a simple wedding without any streedhanam. Needless to say that the wedding took place and my sister and her husband are happily settled in Bombay with two children.
On that day I decided that I know only one Deivam and till date Periyaval has blessed me in various ways. I still don’t know whether I deserve His grace but whenever I went to Kanchipuram, Periyaval blessed me and my family with affection.
Thanks to Periyaval’s constant blessing, I was able to get a lucrative foreign assignment in Nigeria in 1980. My family and I traveled all over the world every year. At last in ‘85 when the Nigerian economy was not in good shape, I asked my wife to arrange to leave and I followed her in ’86.
With Periyaval’s blessings, we bought a house in Adyar and named it “Sankaram”. But we didn’t have water. We had to buy a lorry load every day.
I joined my wife in Feb ’86 and according to the advice of some water diviners we put in a borewell. It was done sometime in May ‘ 86. After spending a lot of money still was no water. Another suggested a deep bore and jet pump. I did that too and it proved futile.
Totally vexed, my wife and I, on Saturday, the 24th May which incidentally happened to be Periyaval’s Jayathi day, got up at 4.30 a.m. had our bath and in all humility and devotion prayed to Periyaval. Then my wife switched on the jet pump. She could not believe her eyes as water started gushing out. It never stopped. All my neighbours, my mother-in-law and particularly the previous owner who sold his house to us only because of water problem, could not believe the miracle that happened.
We were enthralled that Periyaval’s blessings were visible in the house. The flow of water had never stopped since even during the worst days of water scarcity in Madras city. I just cannot understand that unique unadulterated bhakti, constant chanting of Periyaval’s Nama, has helped in getting past hurdles and crises.
My only prayer every day is that all the world must get His Anugraha in full, for several generations to come.
I have been taught by my father, late Sri M Rajah Iyer, Ex. M.LC., to believe in helping the poor and downtrodden particularly those in the teaching community. I lost my father in February 1974. Many poor people thronged to pay homage to him irrespective of their community in a small place, Ramnad. I decided to uphold his ideals. At that time two of my sisters were yet to be married. All my attempts find a match for my sister, Rajeswari, failed due to various reasons. Someone had expressed to me that the Kanchi Paramacharya is a living God and His blessings will certainly have a positive effect. Taking the words to be true, I went to Kanchi on Friday, the 4th July 1975 and we reached Kalavai at 5 p.m. in the evening. I was ignorant of the attire to be worn and sporting long sideburns, long hair, mustache and a trendy trousers reached the gates, near the Kalavai tank. A disciple specially asked that my wife and I go to the other side of the tank where Paramacharya might come to worship His Guru. I went there as directed and founded only on old sumangali lady with a very big tilak on her forehead.
I saw Periyaval coming with three of His disciples. He prayed for a few minutes in front of His Guru’s Samadhi. Then He looked at me. I got a feeling that can never be described with mere words. The next round He took He again looked at me. When He as just passing me, one of the disciples asked me who I was.
I had all my courage to say loudly, Periyaval, “ I am son of Sri M Rajah Iyer, Ramnad'
The great Sage did not come out for a few minutes. The old lady by my side felt very annoyed. She told me kindly “ My dear fellow! I have been having this unique darshan of Parameswara Himself on this sublime Friday. Why should you come in trousers and sideburns and spoil a darshan by shouting? Is this correct on your part to do so?” My wife also felt I shouldn’t have shouted. We tried to move from the place and were walking towards the front. A few minutes later I could see the ‘Perarul’ coming again and this time I remembered the lady’s words and took off my shirt and rushed to the wall. Then the inexplicable happened. Only the people who have witnessed would know.
Periyaval is total kindess asked me through gestures who I was. I said “Son of Rajah Iyer, Ramnad.” Periyaval was, I learnt, observing silence at that time. He started by mere signs, amply translated by His disciples, all about my father, now he received National Award from Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, his contributions in the Legislature, for about 45 minutes. There was big crowd watching this unique event. Unconscioulsy I was crying like a baby.
He very kindly asked me why I had come there. I told Him about my mission. With a smile Periyaval asked me “Is this the girl?” pointing to my sister. I said “Yes”. Periyaval asked me, moving His finger around His rudraksha, whether all ornaments were ready for the marriage. I said “ I need not spend a pie except to find a suitable groom”.
Then Periyaval with a radiant smile repeatedly blessed my sister. His compassion was all-pervasive. The time was 6.45 p.m. and it was pitch dark outside. I was about to leave. I didn’t know that we should get “permission from Periyaval” before leaving his presence.
Someone asked me to get “permission” and I did. He again asked me “How did you come from Madras?” I said “By car.” He asked his disciple whether it rained on that day, to which he said “No.” Then he thought for a second and again blessed me “Be careful on your way back.”
It rained heavily that night and was so heavy that we reached Kanchipuram, only at 11 p.m. We reached Madras in the early hours of 5th July. Next day, “The Hindu” published the news Kancheepuram experienced the heaviest rainfall of the last three decades on that day.
I got a call on the 8th July from Mr. S K Vaidyanathan whom my father had approached in 1973 with marriage proposal. He said he was now thinking getting married and would visit my house on 8th August. On that day, he stipulated only two conditions. First that I must take my sister to his parent’s house at Udumalpet for their concurrence and secondly if his parents were agreeable , we must have a simple wedding without any streedhanam. Needless to say that the wedding took place and my sister and her husband are happily settled in Bombay with two children.
On that day I decided that I know only one Deivam and till date Periyaval has blessed me in various ways. I still don’t know whether I deserve His grace but whenever I went to Kanchipuram, Periyaval blessed me and my family with affection.
Thanks to Periyaval’s constant blessing, I was able to get a lucrative foreign assignment in Nigeria in 1980. My family and I traveled all over the world every year. At last in ‘85 when the Nigerian economy was not in good shape, I asked my wife to arrange to leave and I followed her in ’86.
With Periyaval’s blessings, we bought a house in Adyar and named it “Sankaram”. But we didn’t have water. We had to buy a lorry load every day.
I joined my wife in Feb ’86 and according to the advice of some water diviners we put in a borewell. It was done sometime in May ‘ 86. After spending a lot of money still was no water. Another suggested a deep bore and jet pump. I did that too and it proved futile.
Totally vexed, my wife and I, on Saturday, the 24th May which incidentally happened to be Periyaval’s Jayathi day, got up at 4.30 a.m. had our bath and in all humility and devotion prayed to Periyaval. Then my wife switched on the jet pump. She could not believe her eyes as water started gushing out. It never stopped. All my neighbours, my mother-in-law and particularly the previous owner who sold his house to us only because of water problem, could not believe the miracle that happened.
We were enthralled that Periyaval’s blessings were visible in the house. The flow of water had never stopped since even during the worst days of water scarcity in Madras city. I just cannot understand that unique unadulterated bhakti, constant chanting of Periyaval’s Nama, has helped in getting past hurdles and crises.
My only prayer every day is that all the world must get His Anugraha in full, for several generations to come.
