Post by saidevo on Mar 10, 2013 8:46:47 GMT 5.5
pages 131-135
shuddha gangA
A bhaktA brought a pot of Ganga Jalam from the Kashi kSetram after doing rudraikAdasi japa homam there, and submitted it to PeriyavaaL.
"From where did you pick up the jalam (water) for the rudraikAdasi?", asked Periyavaa.
"The vaidIkAs brought the jalam from the Kashi Kedar-ghat Ganga."
"Kashi is Pamameswara's place. The gangai nIr, ganga maN (Ganga water, Ganga soil) and such things should not be brought from there. The tIrtham you have brought, add it round the bottom of some bhilva tree."
Periyavaa explained: "Ganga Jalam should be brought from only where the Ganga is a shuddha gangA. It is shuddha gangA before the Yamuna river merges with it."
The snake is gone, but then...
The elephant blared in terror at midnight. The disciples were fast asleep. Nobody got up.
The elephant has excessive fear towards small animals such as the rat, frog or sparrow. Thinking that some rat or frog would have dropped in at that night time, Periyavaa got up silently and went to the elephant shed.
A big cobra its hood fully spread was swaying there in front of the elephant.
Periyavaa forthwith woke up the shiSyas. They arrived carrying sticks. "Don't beat the snake. Just light a lamp of sesame oil, and it will go away."
When a sesame oil lamp was lit and placed there as advised, the nAga snake that was in full hood till then crawed away and out of sight.
The surprising thing in this incident is that by the disciples who have normal hearing powers the blare of the elephant was not heard, but the sound was heard only by PeriyavaaL who was saying that he had problem with his ears!
Yes, Gajendra's supplicating wail 'Adi mUlamE!' was only heard by Sriman Narayana!
Periyavaa asked the elephant to be tied up in some other place.
"But the snake is gone!"
"The snake is gone alright. But the fear would not have gone for the elephant!"
Only after receiving the tidings that the elephant was taken to another safer place, Periyavaa went to resume his rest.
Can keep it for four days
There were hutments near where Periyavaa was staying in that village. Periyavaa would enjoy with happiness, when the children in the evening play uproariously, fight each other and raise a hue and cry. (At such times, a bhAva, a yearning would flash in Periyavaa's eyes that if he could not also join and play with those children).
When Periyavaa was enjoying the childrens' play in this manner, an AmmaaL brought a vessel full of tirattup-pAl (milk koa), placed it before PeriyavaaL and prostrated to him.
"ennathu (What is this)?... You have brought it shrinking the milk?"
"Yes."
"Will it be sweet?"
"It will be."
"Smell?"
Before that woman can reply, Periyavaa admired, "Yes, it pierces through the nose!"
"I have prepared it in careful madi (ceremonial purity)... will not go sour... can keep it for four days... daily, Periyavaa, a little..."
Periyavaa did not seem to take her words into his ears at all. But then he said with an eagerness, "What you do, take this vessel to the children playing there, distribute (the content) and bring the empty vessel, right? Prepare for me the next time and bring it..."
Just as the kSIra sAgara sAyI (reclined in the ocean of milk) did amRta viniyoga (nectar distribution) as Mohini Devi, that AmmaaL gave away all that tirattup-pAl to the children, with paripUraNa tRpti (complete satisfaction). Looking kindly at the children eating the tirattup-pAl, Periyavaa felt happy.
No, not for the elephant
It was a custom in SriMaTham to give the elephants there large balls of annam (cooked rice) mixed with jaggery every evening. The mahout would take the ball in his hand and put it straight into the elephant's mouth.
One day, when it was time to feed the elephants, Periyavaa came that side casually. He glanced at the sAdam made into balls. He ordered the disciple nearby, "Tell the mahout not to feed these balls to the elephant" and moved away.
He called the manager unrgently.
"The annam kept for feeding the elephant has not been boiled properly. It is dry and peeling off in flakes. The tIni (feed) should not be given in this way, with ashraddhA (want of trust and care). Because it is an animal that is speechless, can you give the sAdam only half boiled? Tell it to the mahout. The elephant should be given sAdam in the same way that the nivedanam (offer) is given to sAkSAt gajamukhan (the visible, elephant-faced Ganesha)... That much bhakti is needed; shraddhA is needed...Let fresh rice be cooked and offered to the elephant..."
The disciples melted at the abundant compassion shown to a speechless animal.
Periyavaa did not touch and examine the cooked rice balls. Why, he did not even stop there for a moment to look at the balls!
How did he know then that they were not boiled properly and gone flaky at the surface?
Will the sarvajnatvam (omniscience) be expressed even in such small matters?
Glossary:
viniyoga - m. apportionment, distribution, division; commission, charge; use, employment;
relation, correlation.
shuddha gangA
A bhaktA brought a pot of Ganga Jalam from the Kashi kSetram after doing rudraikAdasi japa homam there, and submitted it to PeriyavaaL.
"From where did you pick up the jalam (water) for the rudraikAdasi?", asked Periyavaa.
"The vaidIkAs brought the jalam from the Kashi Kedar-ghat Ganga."
"Kashi is Pamameswara's place. The gangai nIr, ganga maN (Ganga water, Ganga soil) and such things should not be brought from there. The tIrtham you have brought, add it round the bottom of some bhilva tree."
Periyavaa explained: "Ganga Jalam should be brought from only where the Ganga is a shuddha gangA. It is shuddha gangA before the Yamuna river merges with it."
The snake is gone, but then...
The elephant blared in terror at midnight. The disciples were fast asleep. Nobody got up.
The elephant has excessive fear towards small animals such as the rat, frog or sparrow. Thinking that some rat or frog would have dropped in at that night time, Periyavaa got up silently and went to the elephant shed.
A big cobra its hood fully spread was swaying there in front of the elephant.
Periyavaa forthwith woke up the shiSyas. They arrived carrying sticks. "Don't beat the snake. Just light a lamp of sesame oil, and it will go away."
When a sesame oil lamp was lit and placed there as advised, the nAga snake that was in full hood till then crawed away and out of sight.
The surprising thing in this incident is that by the disciples who have normal hearing powers the blare of the elephant was not heard, but the sound was heard only by PeriyavaaL who was saying that he had problem with his ears!
Yes, Gajendra's supplicating wail 'Adi mUlamE!' was only heard by Sriman Narayana!
Periyavaa asked the elephant to be tied up in some other place.
"But the snake is gone!"
"The snake is gone alright. But the fear would not have gone for the elephant!"
Only after receiving the tidings that the elephant was taken to another safer place, Periyavaa went to resume his rest.
Can keep it for four days
There were hutments near where Periyavaa was staying in that village. Periyavaa would enjoy with happiness, when the children in the evening play uproariously, fight each other and raise a hue and cry. (At such times, a bhAva, a yearning would flash in Periyavaa's eyes that if he could not also join and play with those children).
When Periyavaa was enjoying the childrens' play in this manner, an AmmaaL brought a vessel full of tirattup-pAl (milk koa), placed it before PeriyavaaL and prostrated to him.
"ennathu (What is this)?... You have brought it shrinking the milk?"
"Yes."
"Will it be sweet?"
"It will be."
"Smell?"
Before that woman can reply, Periyavaa admired, "Yes, it pierces through the nose!"
"I have prepared it in careful madi (ceremonial purity)... will not go sour... can keep it for four days... daily, Periyavaa, a little..."
Periyavaa did not seem to take her words into his ears at all. But then he said with an eagerness, "What you do, take this vessel to the children playing there, distribute (the content) and bring the empty vessel, right? Prepare for me the next time and bring it..."
Just as the kSIra sAgara sAyI (reclined in the ocean of milk) did amRta viniyoga (nectar distribution) as Mohini Devi, that AmmaaL gave away all that tirattup-pAl to the children, with paripUraNa tRpti (complete satisfaction). Looking kindly at the children eating the tirattup-pAl, Periyavaa felt happy.
No, not for the elephant
It was a custom in SriMaTham to give the elephants there large balls of annam (cooked rice) mixed with jaggery every evening. The mahout would take the ball in his hand and put it straight into the elephant's mouth.
One day, when it was time to feed the elephants, Periyavaa came that side casually. He glanced at the sAdam made into balls. He ordered the disciple nearby, "Tell the mahout not to feed these balls to the elephant" and moved away.
He called the manager unrgently.
"The annam kept for feeding the elephant has not been boiled properly. It is dry and peeling off in flakes. The tIni (feed) should not be given in this way, with ashraddhA (want of trust and care). Because it is an animal that is speechless, can you give the sAdam only half boiled? Tell it to the mahout. The elephant should be given sAdam in the same way that the nivedanam (offer) is given to sAkSAt gajamukhan (the visible, elephant-faced Ganesha)... That much bhakti is needed; shraddhA is needed...Let fresh rice be cooked and offered to the elephant..."
The disciples melted at the abundant compassion shown to a speechless animal.
Periyavaa did not touch and examine the cooked rice balls. Why, he did not even stop there for a moment to look at the balls!
How did he know then that they were not boiled properly and gone flaky at the surface?
Will the sarvajnatvam (omniscience) be expressed even in such small matters?
Glossary:
viniyoga - m. apportionment, distribution, division; commission, charge; use, employment;
relation, correlation.
