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| Yogi Ramsurat Kumarji |
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| Sri Muniyandi Swami of Rengapalayam |
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| Sri Periyavar Ramamurthyji |
| A |
My Experiences with SiddhaPurushas
By
Karmayogi
K.V Viswanathan
About the book
Name of the book: My Experiences with SiddhaPurushas
Written by: Karmayogi K. V. Viswanathan
Language: English
Publication year: 2011
Size of the book: 18 X 21 cm
Font size: 12 points
Pages:
Printed by:
Price:
About the Author
Name: Karmayogi K.V Viswanathan
Education: B.A Economics from Madras University
Profession: Retired Deputy Collector
Residential Address: 3C Gauri Chitra Gardens Apartments
88/4 Arcot Road
Vadapalani
Chennai – 600026
Phone no – 044 23624122
Interview time: 4pm – 6 pm
Author’s Note
After 30 years I am now able to publish my experiences in the form of a book. This is not a self propaganda but an attempt by me, like others, to put in black and white my experiences.
Nobody is barred from having such experiences. It is only due to Purva Punya that we are able to get such experiences. Siddhapurushas after much tests give opportunity to have such experiences.
Only now my Masters have allowed me to publish this book. A forward of this book is penned by Sri H. H. Devaramaswami who is also known as Aiyaa. He is the fouder of SHREE AGASTHYA FOUNDATION, SHREE MAHAVATHAR BABAJI ASHRAM. Professor V. Sethu Raman has also given his valuable remarks about the book.
With all the humility I put my pranam to my Masters and others who have helped me to bring out this book.
OM Shanti
7th August 2011 Karmayogi K. V Viswanathan
SHREE AGASTHYA FOUNDATION
SHREE MAHAVATHAR BABAJI ASHRAM
POST BOX No.1 VELLERI AMMAN KOIL STREET
WALAJABAD-631 605, KANCHEEPURAM DT.
TAMILNADU – India
In this universe all living beings have originated from Supreme Lord and after taking millions of birth for self realization birth in the human form is taken. He is endowed with Karma Indriya and Gnana Indriya.
After attaining a certain stage in human life man discards all worldly attachments enjoyed by Karma Indriyas. Power of Gnana Indriyas is increased and that helps him for self realization. He helps others also in doing so. Thus he helps to attain his objectives without in anyway departing from the theory of evolution.
The role of the Siddhapurusha attains divinity. It is indeed a Divine Bliss that Karmayogi K.V.Viswanathan came in contact with 3 such souls namely Shri Munniyandi Swamigal of Madurai, Sri Periyavar Ramamoorthy Ji of Salem and Shri Yogi Ramsuratkumar of Thiruvannamalai. They blessed him with divine knowledge that helped him in the advancement of his spiritual path. Thus he serves.
In order to share the divine experiences Shri Viswanathan has relinquished all worldly attachments and has put in writing all such experiences. This book is viewed as Karmayogi K.V.Viswanathan’s auto-biography which highlights the extraordinary experiences. He has written to help us to get a glimpse of them and imbibe the divine message of such Siddhapurushas for which we are very much indebted to him.
As raagas adorn music so also the title of Karmayogi to him. Even at this old age of above eight decades he serves in this venture.
His aim in publishing this book is to follow the divine path guided by his gurus. We sincerely pray for his success in this attempt.
WALAJABAD A DEVARAMAN
Forward by Prof. V. Sethuraman
Professor V.Sethuraman
On reading the book “My experiences with SiddhaPurushas” by K.V. Viswanathan, my mind was filled with immense joy.
In his book, he has depicted in a lucid manner about the events he experienced during his association with three SiddhaPururshas of Kaliyuga and from them he received their blessings. He has written, with great gratitude, about them.
1. Sri Muniyandi Swamigal of Madurai
2. Sri Periyavar Ramamoorthyji of Salem
3. Sri YogiRamsuratkumar of Thiruvannamalai
1) During his association with Sri Muniyandi Swamigal, the following episode happened:
RELAYING OF 5 K.M ROAD IN A SPLIT SECOND.
The District collector of Madurai ordered him to relay 5 k.m of road, which was in a very bad condition, within 6 days, i.e. from 15th January 1975 to 21st January 1975. This is still a Herculean task indeed. But, Sri Viswanathan working as B.D.O in Sedapatty block of Madurai District. The road connects Thirumangalam and Usulampatti Taluks. In view of the central minister’s food for work this was to be completed. Inspite of all his efforts,this could not be done as ordered. Since, no information was received about the confirmation of the Honourable Central minister’s visit, Viswananthan went to collector’s office at 5 P.M on 21st January 1975.Meanwhile, the collector had a surprise visit of that area and was angry on seeing the incomplete work. Not only that, he was not at the work spot during the collector’s visit. Hence, he uttered that “You are wasting your time!! Further, for dereliction of duty and absence on the work spot on my visit you will be kept under suspension!!”. Recieving this message, Sri Viswanathan was much upset and returned to his Headquarters, Sedampatti , by 10 P.M . It was a new moon night (Amavasya) and the weather was chilly that night. So, no work could have been done under such adverse circumstances. Till 5’O clock in the morning, he was there at the spot without much improvement in the situation. Then, he went for a break to his room and he prayed to his master, Sri Muniyandi Swamigal, to help him from this pitiable predicament. When he returned to the spot again, to his astonishment, the road was completed in all respects. He could not believe his eyes. His prayer was heard and so the work was completed in a split second, which could not have been done otherwise.
He went to receive the collector at his block border. He informed the collector about the completion of the work. He replied” You are bluffing!! Even my van could not pass due to the stacking of materials in a haphazard way on the road!!” Then Viswanathan again pleaded the collector to verify the fact through somebody. The tahsildar who was nearby told the collector that he would do it. He proceeded for the inspection and returned quickly with the news that the road was completed in all respects as per the collector’s inspection.
Then the collector, who first decided to change the route of the Honourable Central Minister, took him as decided now. He was also much amazed on seeing the completion of the roadwork in so short a time. The collector in the personal file of Viswanathan has mentioned “ He has done what others could not do in this most backward area”.
2) Episode with Sri Periyavar Ramamoorthyji of Salem:
IMPLICIT OBEDIENCE
On an auspicious day,i.e. Avani Avittam, Sri Viswanathan went to get the blessings of Sri Periyavar, who was absent. The next day, when Viswanathan met Periyavar, he was told ”From now, leave the idea of getting blessings in person” I am with you always. All good Karmas done by you will be taken for whom it is meant. Thus, he got an experience of implicit obedience.
3) Sri YogiRamsuratkumar of Thiruvannamalai
ACHIEVING TARGET UNDER SMALL SAVINGS DRIVE
During the special drive for small savings, Sri Viswanathan went to get the blessings of Sri Swamiji. He gave Viswanathan one rupee telling “This beggar’s contribution for the national cause” By that Viswanathan achieved the target for the whole division in Thiruvannamalai District.
Even though Sri Viswanathan worked in the cadre of Divisional Officer - deputy collector, he was void of arrogance or feeling of false prestige of the post. This is really a wonder. He was against bribery or any form of Mlapractice throughout his government service. He has 5 daughters, all are married, whose husbands are well placed in life.
I sincerely pray for his long devoted spiritual life.
V.Sethuraman
Contents
1. Experiences with Sri Mahan Muniyandi Swamigal
2. Experiences with Sri Periyavar Ramamoorthiji
3. Experiences with Sri Yogi Ramsurathkumarji
OM
Sri Muniyandi Swami
Chapter 1
Introduction
It is indeed a known fact that India, our nation is famous for the saints whose influence is felt throughout the universe. There are many hidden siddhas who have not come to the open to be felt by the people. Sri Mahan. Muniyandi Swamigal is one of these Saints. He hails from a small hamlet in Madurai district, the Temple City of South India and the seat of Goddess Meenakshi. Madurai is also a place purified by the presence of some of the great sages of our country. In this district near Thirumangalam, in a small hamlet of T.Kunnathur, K.Rangapalayam is the birthplace of Sri Mahan. Muniyandi Swamigal. Sri Muniyandi lived there for thirty two years. By his spiritual presence he has helped many souls to work out their karma. Even now, his divine presence is felt by those who pray with all sincerity.
To my good fortune, I came in contact with this sage eternally which was a rare opportunity for me indeed. In those days I was working as B.D.O at T. Kallupatti. It so happened that I had to sanction a new well subsidy loan to Sri Chinnakathan, who was the father of our Swami. He along with the concerned village officers, panchayat president and other dignitaries of the village came to my office for executing the relevant bond. Along with Sri Chinnakathan, our Swami who was his third son also came to sign the document. The villagers informed me casually that Sri Muniyandi swami was a soothsayer and those who came to seek his divine help on Tuesdays and Fridays were much blessed. But being a fatalist I didn’t take this seriously.
I came to know that once Sri Chinnakathan and his wife went to Thiruvannamalai to have darshan of the Karthika Theepam where they picked up a stranded boy who was crying helplessly. The boy was brought to the Harijan village where he spent the rest of his life. This boy was our swami. This was another version of his appearance at this place. Sri Muniyandi Swamigal lived in this small village and attained Nirvikalpam Samadhi at the age of 32. Even now, his spiritual presence is felt by one and all. The temple constructed as per his wish is a token of his spiritual presence. Just before 15 days of his samadhi, he came to my residence at T.Vadipatti and stayed with me from 8am to 7 p.m. We discussed about many things in the course of which our Swami said "On the coming full moon day i.e. on Pankuni Utharam if you come to Rengapalayam, you can witness a drama". In reply, I asked him whether I should attend the official work at The Sub. Treasury or I should come there. To this, his crisp reply was "Vanthal Parkalam" (if you come only then can you witness). It was on the same day, ie. 31st March 1971, he attained Samadhi. To say, he foretold the day he was gong to attain Samadhi even a fortnight before. I have dealt in detail about this in the latter half.
I wish to place on record my rare flesh and blood experiences with this great soul not only to get solace myself but also to share my thoughts and my feelings with those who read this narration.
Chapter 2
Appearance of this Sadhu
Sri Muniyandi swami was of a normal height with good physic and looked like a rustic villager. He had long hands which can reach beyond his knees. So also were his fingers equally long, a sign of philosophical fingers. The width of his forehead though narrow seemed to contain the wisdom of the universe. His eyes were bright and piercing as if to dive deep into those who looked at him. His compassion and tender heart for the suffering multitudes could be seen from the twinkling eyes, but at the same time his eyes were so powerful as if searching for the wrongdoers. His nose was pointed and face was of normal size. The size of his lotus like feet (padam) was above normal, which gave asylum to those who took refuge in them.
Attire of our Swami:
His dress closely resembled that of Mahatma Gandhi, whom the British called, "The Half Naked Fakir". A double dhoti folded oblong which covered his chest and his back. Yet, another such cloth tied around his waist, covered up to his knees. The dress was as white and clean as his heart. He looked like any other villager without any pomp and show. His upper cloth covered all his greatness.
Speech of our Swami:
Our saint spoke very little and the reply to the question put by others would be crisp and pointed. His replies were very meaningful. He never used unnecessary words. Mostly, he used to communicate with his powerful eyes. While conversing with others, he would keep company with his master and as per him all his actions were tutored by his master. Therefore, no one was able to tell that what he was feeling and how he would act since he was getting instructions from his master. Normally in human beings brain controls all one’s actions but in Swamiji’s case he was in sole control of his master. There were times when he was not able to carryout his master’s instructions, as a result he faced corporal punishment. During the meetings with his master Sri Kamalanandhar, he used to converse in a different language imitating that of birds.
Our Swami’s food habits:
To my knowledge he has not taken any solid food and on very few occasions he used to take milk from his devotees at their request. As the intake of food was next to nothing so were the calls of nature. I had the rare opportunity to be with him for three days. Despite his abstinence from food, he was always cheerful. In the presence of wrong doers, he would look uneasy and weary. He always shunned their company.
Our Swami’s Gait:
Swamiji was very swift in walking and no one could follow him easily. He always walked bare-foot. Even after walking long distances, he never felt tired. His spiritual energy supplied him all health and happiness.
At times when he had to take very long journeys across oceans and mountains, he used to fly in air (Gagana Margam) invisible to others, a feat in "ASHTASIDDHI". At times he would take others as well with him on such journeys. I had a rare experience of this which I will narrate later.
Our Swami’s Boyhood:
As mentioned earlier, our Swami was brought up by his parents in a small hut. I am told that even as a child he was quite different from others. He preferred seclusion and did not join other children for play. As a practice of the village community, he was sent to graze the cattle belonging to the farmers. Usually the cattle would be taken out after milking and they would have food and water from the open meadows and would be back to their respective houses by the sun set. Our Swami was also asked to do so. The place where he took the cattle to graze was at the outskirts of Pappinayakanpatti that was singled out from other places with respect to the sanctity attached to it. Here, beside a small pond, there were many trees in and around a Peepal tree, under which was situated the idol of Sri Vinayagar. The installation of the idol dates back to many centuries. As per the information obtained from many saints this was done by a great Siddha some 2000 years back all by him. His name was Sri Mahan. Tulasidasar.
He was the same person in the form of Sri Kamalanandhar or Thatha Swami. Thus, he was called by Sri Muniyandi Swamigal. But Sri Tulasidar and Sri Kamalanandhar lived in different periods. Of this, the first avathar was Sri Mahan. Tulasidasar followed by the avathar of SriKamalanandhar. Sri Mahan. Tulasidasar was the guru of Sri Periyavar Ramamurthy of AnmigaNilayam in Salem. Sri Periyavar got initiation directly from his guru even after a period of 2000 years. It is strange indeed, how the events work out in the creation of God! This fact was revealed to me by Sri Periyavar himself who came to Thirunagar in Madurai for a discourse of which I shall deal in detail later.
Chapter 3
SRI MAHAN KAMALANANDHAR (THATHA SWAMI)
The Great Guru:
Following is the narration told by SriMuniyandi.Swami to me. Once at the age of 8 years our swami went for grazing the cattle. Unable to bear the afternoon heat, he went to sleep, after tying the rope of one animal with a tree under which he laid down. It seems that by 4 p.m. he heard the ringing of temple bells and which broke his sleep. On opening his eyes, he saw to his great surprise, a figure that made him speechless. He saw a tall, nude, figure with hair drooping down to knee height, with long beard and moustache. He was a strong gigantic figure that was of unusual size. A very strange sight indeed. Our young swami was perplexed and he started calling for God’s help. He ran to the nearby Vinayagar idol and embraced the same in utter helplessness. As told by our swami the stalwart figure came to him slowly and called him to his side. Trembling in fear our swami obeyed the strange "invader" and was composed and consoled by the new comer. The figure was of none other than that of Sri Kamalanandhar the "would be" guru of our swami. He was told that the ripe opportunity had come to accept him as his "CHELA SISHYA" and hence his appearance. There was another significance to this place. I was told by our swami that the same place was the samadhi of his Guru Sri Kamalanandhar alias Thatha Swami, who appeared before him.
Our swami told me that thereafter his guru used to appear daily. However, such meetings were invisible to others. Our swami used to carry his guru on his shoulders even at this young age while his guru's age could not be gauged. However, he never felt the weight of the huge body. After walking for a small distance, he would vanish into thin air. As days passed enduring all the tests given by his guru, he came out successfully. Sri Thatha Swami then decided to initiate our swami with a sacred mantra that was given by lord Shiva to Sri Arjuna during his compulsory sojourn into the forest as it was destined. As narrated by our swami the initiation took place where there are eight growing anthills with Tar topped surface. This place was half a kilometer from the grazing Ground.
This place is very sacred where many saints sit for meditation even today. The fact of the presence of a great soul was narrated by Sri Shankaranandha of "the Five Falls", Cuttralam, Sri Periyavar Ramamurthy of Anmiga nilayam, Salem, and Sri Mounaguru Swamigal of Ramanathapuram (near Eahu Malai), and by several others.
On a raised earthen platform in an oval shape, there were eight anthills. One of them, the biggest, was two feet wide and one and a half feet tall tapering at the top. This anthill resembled a face with two depressions in the place of eyes and a nose like projection. This deity is called Vadakkathia Amman. The spiritual powers of this deity can never be expressed in words. So also of seven dome like projections on the various places as shown in the figure. Sri Muniyandi swami and I used to sit under the feet of this deity daily. Here he has played many dramas i.e. feats, which seems too mystical to the human eyes. Every event though seemingly simple had a very deep meaning. I shall try to recapitulate those episodes in detail in the latter half of my narration.
In order to devote full time for spiritual life his great guru Sri Thathaswami asked him to come out of his house and reside elsewhere. But our swami told his guru that his parents were much attached to him and would not do anything that would hurt their feelings. For this the great guru said that he would enact a drama to prove that his parents do not have much love towards him.
Separation from Home:
One day, Sri Muniyandi Swami was bitten by a cobra. His condition became so worse that he had to be taken to the Vadakkathia Amman temple. His parents thought he could be saved only with the help of god. There the body was kept for three days even after which the boy could not regain consciousness. They lost all hopes of the boy's survival. Then all of a sudden a sadhu appeared. He asked them whether any one of his family would give their life to save the boy. All gave some excuse or other including his parents. Then the sadhu sprinkled some water on the boy's face and said that if no one was prepared to save the boy, what was the use of having him in the family? With these words, he left the place. Soon after this episode the boy regained consciousness and came to life. All were much pleased.
On the same night when his guru appeared before our swami asked him how their relationship was with him as no one was prepared to part with their life for the sake of a young boy belonging to their own family. It was right on his part to come out of his house. This episode taught our swami to lead a detached life that helped him to advance in his spiritual journey. This ultimately proved helpful for his devotees. Till his last days he lived separately in a small hut away from his home.
But one day he asked me to put up a small hut away from the common din. When I was making arrangements for this I was transferred to another place which prevented me to attend to this work. But to my surprise the samadhi temple now situated is the same place where he wanted me to construct a hut. Here he shines with all glory. It is the abode of his living spirit - "Jeeva Samadhi".
Chapter 4
Experiences of our Swami with his Guru
Our Swami used to tell me of his experiences. Though his Guru was kind at times he was given punishment. Our Swami was put to many tests by his Guru and he came out successfully in each of them. I shall narrate some of these.
Darshan of Guru:
Of this I had already explained in detail. I had also explained how our Swami had to carry his Guru on his shoulders even as a young boy.
Night classes:
Our Swami told me that his Guru used to take classes late in the night. Besides the oral instructions, our Swami was also given instructions in writing. All these were in ruled bound notes. Three volumes of which were given to me by our Swami. The writings were in HEBREW script. I could not make out anything. So later I handed over all of them to Sri Periyavar Ramamurthy of Anmeega Nilayam then at Krishnagiri. The Guru of our Swami and of Sri Periyavar, both were one and the same though they lived in different ages. This truth made me to hand over the script to Sri Periyavar who used to take classes in his ashram on Sundays.
Another peculiarity was that the writings were from left to right contrary to our practice.
Our Swami's visit to Chidambaram:
As told by our Swami, he was then only ten years old. He had a desire to visit Natarajar temple at Chidambaram, where our Sri Nandanar, a great devotee attained oneness with Lord Shiva bodily. For this trip our Swami did not take his Guru's prior permission. So, he had to meet with some difficulties.
As narrated by our Swami he went and sat among the "Pardesis" on the outer prahara of the temple. Though he was physically with them, he was in meditation. So, he was unmindful of his surroundings. Others used to spread a piece of cloth before them to collect some money given by pilgrims as alms. But our Swami was an exception to this. As days passed on, according to our Swami, the alms which "Paradesis" used to get from the pilgrims was virtually stopped and instead the pilgrims used to put the coins in front of our Swami who was in meditation. The "Paradesis" got annoyed. They thought that a boy who came only few days back is getting all the alms where as they who are sitting for years together are deprived of this suddenly. So, out of prejudice they arranged a plot to drive away this boy from the place.
Meanwhile a petty shopkeeper who took pity on our Swami gave some plantain and fruits whenever our Swami opened his eyes. One day at the insistence of other "Paradesis" one rowdy pelt stones at our Swami who was meditating. The stone hit our Swami's forehead and blood started oozing out. The petty shopkeeper who used to give banana to our Swami happened to witness this horrible sight. He threatened the "Paradesis" and immediately informed the police at the temple premises who came and enquired. Our Swami was woken up from his meditation and was enquired. He said "This body is not aware of anything". The police gave severe warning to the "Paradesis" and went away. Our Swami returned to his place. In the night during their usual visit his Guru enquired about this and warned him not to do so again.
Episode at Sri Meenakshi Temple, Madurai:
One night during our meeting our Swami narrated his experiences in the temple. It seems he went to Madurai to get Goddess Meenakshi's darshan. But he did not inform his master of this. It was late before he came out of the temple. Suddenly the police saw him, took him to be a wanted rowdy and so caught hold of him and put the hand cuffs. Immediately our Swami thought of his Guru. He vanished from that place to the utter astonishment of the police who were in a fix. Now the police who had lost the handcuffs were responsible for that. So, in utter helplessness they prayed to God. Suddenly the handcuffs fell down in front of them. They thanked God for getting the property back.
Our Swami told me that since he did not take the permission of his Guru he had to face this situation.
Incident at weaver's house:
In Rangapalayam there was a family of poor weaver. The head of the family was a devotee of our Swami. Our Swami took pity on them and told the weaver that a Treasure is hidden in his house. But he was told that he could get the same only when his girl child attains four years of her age.
The weaver had two grown up boys also who were rowdy elements. When they came to know about this one day they took our Swami to their house on the pretext that their mother had high fever so to help her with Prasad he was taken there. On reaching their house they locked our Swami inside and threatened to do physical harm. Our Swami who was taken a back just thought of his master. Then he informed the boys that he could locate the treasure only if he sits in meditation so he has to be left alone. They left him alone and went. Our Swami in meditation vanished from that place even when the door was locked from outside.
To the surprise of all they saw a huge demonic figure in front of their house which really made their mother sick. On the same night when our Swami met his guru he was advised not to venture on such situation. By trying to help others our Swami was put to trouble.
Entangled in jackal herd:
Our Swami one night narrated his encounter with jackal. On a late night while returning from the forest lonely four or five jackals surrounded him from at a distance our Swami was a fixed. Then he immediately thought of his master. He got surrounded by a fire and all the animals ran away. Thereafter our Swami returned to his place safely.
Episode at Mahalinga Malai:
Our Swami one day told me of his trip to Mahalinga Malai. He went there with three others to have the darshan of Lord Siva. For this trip also he did not get permission from his master. On half way on the hills one of them got "fits" which made their further journey impossible. In the night our Swami was admonished by his guru that why did he go there with those people without his permission.
Trip to davasi Parai in Mahalinga Malai:
In my narration of episodes I had mentioned a place Davasi Parai in Mahalinga Malai. At this place there is an assemblage of thirteen sidda purushas held regularly. Our Swami was also invited there once and he had discussion with sidda purushas on Vedhantha and on subjects pertaining to universe.
Travel by air (Gagana Marga):
Our Swami got great sidhees by severe tapas and also by repeating the manthra upadesa given by his guru. He attained the power to travel by air seen or unseen by others. Even to this day the local people would tell about such episodes. He used to fly like a crow in the air in his village.
Trip to Mathura:
Our Swami told me he that traveled by air to this sacred place the birth place of Lord Krishna and stayed there for few days.
Trip to Kathirkamam:
This is the pilgrim center in Sri Lanka where he did tapas for few days.
In Arabian sea Island:
Our Swami went by air to do tapas on a small island as per his master's instructions. During his stay there I was told by our Swami that creatures like half fish and half human form i.e. "Mermaids" used to visit him and ask for food. Our Swami taking pity on them would supply food which he got by his tapas. So, even the marine animals were given enough food by our Swami. Surely this would help these animals to work out their Karma to get an elevated birth in the next generation.
In my narration I had already told about trip to Mahalinga Malai along with our Swami. We traversed the whole distance of 50 Km by road and 9Km by walk and a climb of 4000 feet in a split minute. I never felt that I was flying all along. In this episode one thing that made me follow our Swami's instructions was my total surrender to him.
Our Swami's trip to Celestial Planets:
On our usual meeting I mentioned about the astronauts who landed on moon planet. To this he replied "Oh" they had to spend so much money for their trip and also for their dresses. But Siddhas like him went there very often with ordinary dress and that to with no expense but by power of their tapas. The yogik training makes them to attain all mystic powers like Ashtaavadhanam.
Food for fellow men:
As a boy going for a agriculture labour our Swami did not take noon meals with him like others. He used to sit under the tree with open palms. He would get food which he never ate but he supplied to those who did not bring food for some reason or other. Our Swami was so compassionate to all.
A Non-Hindu getting blessing:
A muslim who was a tobacco salesman used to visit our Swami regularly to get his blessings. In the course of time he became very prosperous. All by the grace of our Swami.
Experience with the non-believer:
Our Swami had to deal with many people of different nature. Some do not have any faith in religion. One such person fixed an appointment with our Swami for a discussion about the existence of God. He wanted to ask many questions from our Swami to which our Swami agreed. He came to our Swami with volley of questions but for some reason he could not open his mouth before our Swami. He simply bowed before our Swami and left that place without opening his mouth.
One should not try to test others without knowing the real knowledge of the person. No one knows the hidden talents of others. If only one is wiser, he can try to discuss on such subjects.
Chapter 5
My Experiences With Sri Muniyandi Swami
These may be listed under two categories: MUNDANE (WORDLY) and SPIRITUAL (DIVINE)
In this chapter I will narrate my Mundane or Worldly Experiences with our Swami –
Experience at my Office:
One day our Swami came to my office. I offered him a seat with all courtesy. Then my assistant came with a file regarding a site inspection for a well, which was to be dug in the same village in which our Swami lived. I left the place in haste without even taking leave from our Swami. I didn’t realize my mistake at that moment. To my utter disappointment even though all prior arrangements were made with the village officers and with the party concerned, they could not make themselves available due to some preoccupations. I had to return to my headquarters immediately. On arriving, I was shocked to see our Swami who was still sitting in my office and was waiting for me. I felt guilty for my hasty action for which I apologized to our Swami. To my astonishment, his affection towards me never diminished. In fact at one stage I even tried to evade him from what was inevitable i.e. meeting him. He told me that I cannot do so since I was destined to get all blessings through him. This is indeed true even to this day
At my house:
On a holiday when I was attending to an important file in my house, our Swami came. I offered him a seat but he simply sat on a raised platform facing me. While talking to me he asked me to go to my office and hear what my staff members were speaking of me. I did not pay much importance. But to give respect to our Swami’s advice I went there without getting noticed by others. When I reached the backside of the main hall of my office, where three assistants were attending to some work, I overheard one of them remark "this man is sitting in his house while we are working even on a holiday". After hearing this, I returned back home to join our Swami. He then remarked "Parthengala!" I just nodded. In the course of our talk he smilingly remarked "You should be presented with a milch animal". The real significance of which was known to me after 3 years. I shall deal with this episode separately if I am permitted to do so by our Swami.
The Loss of My Service Register:
I was working as Block Development Officer cum Panchayat Union Commissiner at T.Kallupatti, Madurai. In the office there were people who could not see me eye to eye. This created many problems for me. Two or Three persons who were holding important posts such as works, construction of buildings and maintenance were engaged in taking bribe. When this came to my notice, I warned them of the serious consequences. I told them that these things not only bring discredit to them but to the administration as a whole. To this they never responded. Ultimately that resulted in a departmental enquiry by anti-corruption and vigilance department. Some of the important records were taken by them with my permission. This corruption problem was due to mutual prejudice among the contractors who used the official mission more as a tool. This naturally made the engineers and others to be a scapegoat. Then the affected official in connivance with the assistance of the managerial staff got hold of my service register which was an important official record for any government servant. Their aim was to destroy the record which would my carrier and thereby they can take vengeance. But God's will was otherwise.
When I came to know that my official records were missing I had no other option but to plead to our Swami in agony. He heard me patiently and remarked "Don't worry. They don't know with whom they are playing. They will be paid in the same coin". But he prayed to his master to forgive them for their mistakes. Finally he said that when you would require the details of your service you will surely get it intact so there is no room for anxiety. Our swami was so compassionate even to wrong doers.
So it happened. I got all the details of my service from the places where I worked. Of all these a strange fact was, I worked in Mangalore, Karnataka district in the erstwhile Madras Presidency. That was my first posting as a Pro Revenue Inspector. In those days the revenue department was merged with development department. To my good fortune I was able to get a copy of the salary payment register after so many years and that too in a different state. To my knowledge even at the local offices such records could not be obtained after such a long time. But I got the details. A portion of which was not eaten away by white ants. I was able to reconstruct my Service Register with all the relevant details. This proved to be extremely helpful for my promotion as well as for my pension. It is very strange indeed to get it done by the grace of God. There are no bounds or limitations for the blessing of our Swami. A total surrender to one's own master can do and undo things.
Writing a Departmental Examination:
During my official tenure at T.Kallupatti, Madurai I was deputed to undergo two months training at Bhavanisagar Centre. Therefore I left my family at T.Kallupatti and went for the training. But all of a sudden I received the information that I had to appear for a departmental examination which would decide my promotion. For this examination I neither had a reference book nor had I time to prepare for the same. I left everything to our Swami. On the day of examination I came to T.Kallupatty from the training centre. I reached my house at 5 am and all of a sudden our Swami appeared before us. He asked me if I am appearing for the examination. I told him that I was not at all prepared since I could not get the reference books. His simple reply was that I should go and take the examination and rest all will be taken care of. I again pleaded my case but he was insistent and he too came with me up to Thirumangalam.
By 8:30 am I reached the examination hall at the American College High School, Madurai. There just before five minutes of the commencement of the examination I snatched a book on pension from my friend who was P.A to the collector. For this he said "if you were not prepared all these days then what else you were doing". At that moment I got one page that carried a question of twenty five marks which came in the examination ten years back. Somehow I was able to memorize the answer to that question and to my good luck the same question appeared verbatim in the examination this time as well. I answered this question and few others.
To my great surprise I passed the departmental test which qualified me for the promotion. Our Swami was good enough to come to my house and remind me of to the examination and helped me in getting through the examination. So was his compassion for me.
Chickenpox Episode:
While at T.Kallupatti all my family members except for me and my six months old daughter were infected by chickenpox. I had to cook food and attend to my office work without anyone's assistance. For nearly fifteen days I had to put up with a difficult situation. During this period our Swami didn't come at my home at all. After few days when everyone recovered he came to my house and asked about our welfare. I told him that he didn’t care for us for the past 15 days when we were suffering and now he is coming. To this he replied that no one can escape their Karma. We have to face our Karma. Our Swami gave us strength to endure this.
Jaundice Attack:
In T.Kalupatti my fifth daughter, who was only six months old, got infected by jaundice. We tried allopathic medicine but to no effect. One day our Swami came to our house and prepared a special Siddha medicine for my daughter. We gave her the same and she recovered in a couple of day’s time. He told us that the virus of the infection is difficult to be eradicated completely and it remains in the bone marrow and can affect the person at an old age. So to eradicate this virus he made a special preparation of medicine and thus saved my daughter.
Telling about his end:
During our meeting at the Peedam( Vadakathiaaman) our Swami told me that the time has come for his departure from this world and he has to now leave the mortal coil. I objected to this but he told that a great soul by name Sri Saruthonda Nayanar came to him in person last night and informed him about this. Our Swami told me that he had two more things to be done in this world, one he had promised to get a milch animal for me and the second was to get darshan of Sri Athu Swamiar of Poondi near Tiruvannamalai. Then he asked me to show him my right palm and he placed his right palm on mine and told me that he will always be with me, even after he leaves his mortal coil.
Our Swami’s word is kept even today and his presence is felt to me in some form or the other of which I would explain when an opportunity arrives.
About Vasi Malai:
One day our Swami told me about the importance of Vasi Malai hill which is situated near Ezhumalai a prosperours village of Sedapatty block. He told me that there was sadhu doing penance there from whom I should get blessings. This episode happened after few years when I used to work in Sedapatty Block. He gave me Yanthra of Lord Murga for my personal safety.
At Pandivan Well:
I have already mentioned the presence of a well near the Sri Vinayaka Temple at the outskirts of Pappinickan Patty village where there is the Samadhi of Sri Kamalanandhar or Tatha Swami. One day during our meeting our Swami took me to that place. He simply jumped into the well and was inside the well for more than half an hour. The water in the well was up to 10 feet of height. But when he came out, to my surprise I could not see any water dropping either from his body or clothes even after he was inside the water for nearly half an hour. Surely if anyone dips his hand in a glass of water, the water would be dripping and the hand will be wet, but in this case no such thing happened.
Water Divining for a Devotee:
There was a farmer who was an ardent devotee our Swami. He wanted to construct a well in his field. But somehow or the other he was not able to do so. He pleaded to our Swami. Suddenly the physical disappearance of our Swami (Samadhi) took place. But our Swami kept up his word by appearing in his own form on the fourth day of his Samadhi and he marked for the well as promised. This was the resurrection which happened as in the case of Jesus Christ.
Darshan of Shri Sheshadri Swami of Tiruvannamalai:
One day our Swami came to my house after 8 pm and all of a sudden he said he wanted to see our Pooja place. I took him there and on looking at the photo of Mahan Sheshadri Swami, he sat there in meditation for some time and then he opened his eyes and got Jasmine flowers in his hands with which he worshipped the saint's photo. He told me that he has seen that Mahan in Tiruvannamalai long back. So also he informed me that he has seen Sri Kuzandai Ananda Swami of Madurai taking classes for his devotees in Sri Meenakshiamman Temple, Madurai.
Chapter 6
SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES
In this chapter and onwards I will narrate my Spiritual or Divine Experiences with our Swami –
Darshan of the Great Guru Sri Kamalaanandhar or Sri Thatha Swami:
As described in the beginning the experiences which I had with our Swami are indelible in my memory. I wish to narrate a very important episode which I had in my earlier days with our Swami. One day our Swami came to my house and while speaking he asked that I should come to his place the same night after 10 p.m. One may wonder why I was asked to come at that time. It was because of the fact that our Swami wanted that my relation with him should not be known to others for various reasons. Therefore after attending to my official as well as personal work I used to keep myself ready to go with him to his place. One thing I would like to mention is that, my wife who had no such experience of this kind somehow allowed me to go to with him ever after 10 p.m. and up till 5 a.m. in the morning. It was really a good fortune that she co-operated with me to get all the experiences.
Not only in this respect but later when I had the opportunity to get the divine company of Sri Yogi Ram Surat Kumar of Tiruvannamalai, she co-operated very much. In fact she readily accepted my idea to cook food for the sadhu herself and in my absence she used to take the food to sadhu herself.
Coming to the meeting of the great Guru Kamalananada as instructed by our Swami I went to Rengpalayam. This was my first ever spiritual experience with the Mahan. I waited in a small temple in the village. The temple was of a Goddess. The temple was famous for the fact that during the festival time people who had some wish to be fulfilled used to pour hot ghee in a small pot which had numerous holes at the bottom which would have allowed the ghee to come out of the pot. But in this temple to the astonishment of everyone the ghee would not leak out of the pot at all. All this is divine play indeed.
I sat in the temple till 11 p.m. In the meantime there were people who came from distant villages to get a good word from our Swami, who was a soothsayer as per the villagers. He used to foretell the incidents for the people who came to see him. On that particular day there were forty people sitting in a queue. Our Swami was disposing them one by one. I was told that only fortunate could get such words from his mouth. At times people came four or five times to hear the good words from our Swami.
Our Swami came to me telling that I don't require all these things. He said that my case was different. As directed by him I followed closely in the pitch darkness to the place where there was a Peeda for Sri Kamalananda, the great Guru of our Swami. We had to pass through Bajra crop field. After we reached the particular spot our Swami told me that we should hide ourselves in the field. Thereafter, we saw a man who lighted camphor at the Peeda and offered paan supari. Our Swami told me that the man was a thief and before going for the theft he used to worship to get a good bounty. After praying the man went away in another direction without taking notice of our presence. Then our turn came to perform the prayer. Our Swami asked me to place beetel leaves and nuts in front of the Peeda and light camphor and bathi and I did likewise. Then he told me that the time was not ripe and I would get darshan of the great Guru only in the form of an animal. For this I replied that it doesn’t matter and I just needed his darshan and blessings.
As said by our Swami, a donkey appeared all of a sudden and sniffed the pooja materials placed on the peeda. Our Swami by the twinkling of his eyes directed me to bow before the animal in all humility and pray and I did so. For sometime the animal gazed at us and then it vanished. I have to make a mention about the fact that there was no washerman in and around that place and so there was no chance of appearance of a donkey there. That was the first darshan I had of the great guru. I had two more darshans which I shall narrate later.
During my meeting with sadhus like Sri Periyavar of Aanmeeganilayam , Salem, and Sri Yogi Ram Surat kumar of Tiruvannamalai, they asked me to repeat this particular experience which I did. I was told by them that all saints were like donkeys who carry all our sins on their shoulders and get them purified. This is very true since for us, a donkey is an animal which we think only carried burden, but for saints that represented a great soul who purified mankind of their sins. It is only the outlook that matters and not the vision as such. The mental background of our rearing makes one to observe an action in a particular way whereas the same vision has different meaning for different people.
Second appearance and Darshan of the great Guru Sri Kamalaanandhar or Sri
Thatha Swami:
On one night at our usual meeting place near Peeda of Vadakathiamman, our Swami told me that the great Guru would come to my house the next day morning to bless my family. That day was a holiday and I was attending few official files at my home. A soothsayer came to my neighbor’s house and called out his name as "Mayandi" which was my neighbor’s real name. He told many things to my neighbor. Then it was my turn, and he called me as the principle deity of Kashi i.e Vishwanathan. He told me some words and then offered Vibuthi which I refused to take telling that I cannot take this from a stranger. He asked me whether I was not a Hindu to which I told that I was but I cannot take the holy ash from a stranger. By this time my wife brought some food and offered that to him. He accepted the food and went away. Here I have to mention that the great Guru came in disguise to test us. As usual when I met our Swami he mentioned about this episode and blessed our family.
Third Appearance and Darshan of the great Guru Sri Kamalaanandhar or Sri Thatha Swami:
After some days our Swami informed me that I would get great Guru's darshan near the Peeda. I was asked to come there the next night. The night was pitching dark but there was a light burning near the deity. Just opposite to the light there was a banyan tree which has fallen now. All of a sudden we heard a sound among the branches. There appeared a huge figure with very long hair up to knee height, so also were his beard and moustache. If I would have been alone then that site would have made anyone frightened, but I was with our Swami and so I was not at all moved. The huge figure showed his hands as a mark of blessing. Our Swami asked me to bow before this great man which I immediately obeyed after which the figure vanished into thin air. Thus I got third darshan of our great Guru.
Jyothi Darshan:
Our Swami during our meeting at night used to show me many darshans which according to him were only pranks. In my writings I have mentioned about this in detail as follows:
It was Ayyappa Pooja season just before Makaravilakku at Sabarimala, and our Swami told that I would get a Jyothi Darshan here itself. One day during our usual meeting I was waiting for our Swami. All of a sudden I saw a bright light behind me, so out of curiosity I turned back. From a distance I could see a very bright light coming towards me. But before doing so, it took another route i.e the place we used to go near Shri Pillaiyar idol some half a kilometer from the spot where I was sitting. Then the light came to the place near the Goddess. The light though bright was so cool to my eyes. This was nothing but the Hallow behind the head of our Swami who came there. Our Swami stood before me for a short time with the Hallow. Then suddenly it vanished. Our Swami asked me whether I had Jyothi darshan. I humbly prostrated before him. Even without going to Sabarimala, I was bestowed with the blessings.
A Rare Feat in Hata Yoga:
One day our Swami asked me to follow him to a place. He took me to a burial ground and asked me if I had any fear to which I said no. Then he sat there in Padmasana and all his limbs were separated from his body as if they were amputated. Our Swami sat like that for an hour after which all his limbs joined again at their respective places. Our Swami smiled and asked whether I saw the play. For us it is a great feat
Chapter 7
Spiritual Experiences (contd...)
Meeting With Sri Kumaraguru at Mooveari Ventran:
Our Swami who was a Mahan himself and had all spiritual powers, but he used to take me to get darshan of other sadhus. Once he took me to Mooveari Ventran which is a place on Madurai Srivilliputthur road near Krishnan Kovil junction. From the Kovil we had to walk another two kms to reach Mooveari Ventran. At this place there is an old and dilapidated Shiva temple. Although it is an old temple but the spiritual vibrations here were such that it attracted many sadhus to have Tapas in that premises. One of them was Sri Kumaraguru Swami. When we reached the temple the sadhu was doing Tapas in an obscure corner of the temple. He was sitting in Padmasana and his eyes were closed.
For this journey our Swami permitted me to take my second daughter with us. She too got the blessings. As per instructions of our Swami, we took some milk in a flask with other pooja materials. On reaching the temple we prostrated before Lord Shiva and proceeded to the solitary abode of the saint in penance. He was observing silence for some reason or the other. But to our good luck he opened his mouth and smiled. Our Swami gave the Sadhu a small quantity of milk by placing the glass over his lips. He slowly drank and blessed us and then he again shut his eyes. Our Swami took deeparadhana for the Sadhu. After this we left the place.
My Mother's Health:
On our return journey our Swami enquired about my ailing mother in Kerala. I had a letter about her health condition of which our Swami knew already. He said "there was no need for any anxiety" and that our Swami would leave this world well in advance than my mother. So it happened. Our Swami left his mortal coil on 31st March 1971 whereas my mother died in June 1976.
Redeemed From Debt:
As we continued our return journey yet another surprise was in waiting for us. I had to be an eye witness for the repayment of a debt incurred by our Swami in his previous birth. As he told me, long ago he took a birth in Tanjore. In that birth during his boyhood he took two rupees from a friend who was sleeping. Our great guru Sri ThathaSwami had categorically informed our Swami that only if he repays the debt which he took from his friend he would get salvation. Our Swami told me that the debt repayment would take place that day itself in my presence. We walked on the footpath which lead us to the main road. Then our Swami gave me a rough description of his friend from whom he had taken debt and that the boy has taken birth in a nearby village. On reaching the border of the main road a villager was coming from the front. Our Swami called him to which he responded, and then he was enquired of his younger brother. In reply he said that his younger brother was quite different from other members of the family. Our Swami took two rupees which was tied in his dhoti and gave it to the villager saying that the money was to be handed over to his brother as a gift. To this the villager hesitated, but on insistence of our Swami he accepted it with all humility and proceeded further. We also returned to our place.
Our Swami with a great sigh of relief expressed that he was no longer a debtor, and hence a freeman to attain highest level of salvation.
This episode taught me a lesson that we should never even think of duping any one however small the amount may be. Else we would necessarily face the consequences of taking another birth to repay the same.
Receiving a Photo of a Great Saint:
One night our Swami stretched his open palm and he received a photo. It was quite wet as if just taken out from the developing dish of a studio. Then he gave it to me and told that it should be kept as my personal property. It would be of great help to me and also it would vanish after its use and I should not be perturbed of this. The photo did really help me on many occasions when I was confronted with problems in the office as well as in the family. To my great my surprise as stated by our Swami I lost the photo in Coimbatore while I was boarding a crowded bus.
Before I lost the photo I had an occasion to meet a friend who accompanied me to Sri Shankarananda of Five Falls at Kuttralam who came to take part on the Mandala Pooja of our Swami's Samadhi. On seeing the photo my friend told me that he was none other than Sri Paramahamsa Yogananda, a great yogi. When I explained my experiences with our Swami my friend endorsed the same that happened in the life of great yogi Yogananda.
One of which was the episode of the recipient of a talisman given to Sri Yogananda at his young age by a sadhu through his elder brother. This also disappeared after sometime as in my case.
The second episode was that our Swami. Even after the soul left his physical body we could still see perspiration on the third day of his Samadhi. In the case of Yogananda his body was intact for 27 days without any kind of change after he attained Samadhi.
The third coincidence was Sri Yogananda’s great guru gave him darshan three times as in my case. This was even after attaining Samadhi 2000 years back. I was told by my friend to read the autobiography which I did many times and even gave away the copies of the book knowing the importance of the same. Above all, the Paramaguru Sri Babaji even after 2000 years still lives and gives darshan to many devotees, as in the case of our Swami.
Receiving Initiation from Our Swami:
On a particular day fixed by our Swami, I was asked to come with pooja materials and a four ana coin. On reaching the place our Swami took me to northern side of the peeda where there was a "round shaped projection". It was near the Vilva tree as shown in the sketch. Our Swami told me that the time has come to initiate me of the sacred manthra given by his great guru. I replied if I deemed fit, please do so. Our Swami then asked me to light the camphor and bathi and also to place beetel leaf and nut before the deity besides the guru dakshina, I did so. Then our Swami repeated a manthra three times and asked me to do so.
A word about this manthra:
After many years I met Dikshithar of Natarajar temple, at Chidambaram. This was also at the instructions received from an Upaskar of Lord Vinayakar from Dharmapuri district. During our conversation I mentioned about this manthra which I got from our Swami. He meditated for sometime and informed me that the manthra was given as Upadesa to Sri Arjuna in his exile due to his Karma by Lord Shiva in the guise of a tribal man. Then he told me that very few knew the greatness of this manthra. I was lucky enough to get this as Upadesa. A strange thing in this context was that Dikshithar was also initiated with this manthra by his father who took sanyasa.
Chapter 8
Spiritual Experiences (contd...)
A Long Wait for Our Swami:
Once on a rainy night I was waiting for my Swami from 10 pm to 5 am next day. But our Swami didn’t turn up. Since I felt the spiritual presence of the Swami I was not aware of my surroundings. Next day our Swami told me that he had to carry out an order from his great guru, so he was not able to come.
Our Swami in My House:
During our meeting at the peedam our Swami left me all of a sudden telling that he would come in a short while. Meantime he had been to my house to ward off an evil done by one of my enemies. Then he put one yanthram in front of my house and returned to the place where I was sitting. He told me that he has prevented a wicked act.
Darshan of Mounaswamigal of Kasuvannampatti:
Our Swami though a Mahan himself and master of all spiritual feats, took me to other great living saints to get their blessings. One of such episode was with Mahan Mounaswamigal of Kasuvannampatti situated under the foot of Pandarimala in Dindigul district. We went to meet the Sadhu on a summer day. He was lying on a flat rock. The rock was radiating heat and we had to cross a stretch of sand barefooted which was equally hot. The Sadhu picked up some articles from the sand before him and placed them in my palm. Our Swami instructed me to preserve it safely which I did.
A word about this Sadhu:
This Village which was predominately inhabited by a community, whose profession was plundering, was changed ultimately into a very disciplined and calm place after the arrival of our Sadhu. The Villagers became so intimate that the Sadhu though nude, not even a loin cloth on, was bathed by the ladies of the village without any discrimination. By his presence the village has been made an ideal place in communal harmony.
At Dindikal:
Our Swami and I went to the house of a man in Dindikal who was owner of a mill and several other assets. He was a devotee of our Swami. When he saw our Swami in his house he was much pleased to receive him. For some time our host went to attend some urgent work. In his absence our Swami told me that his guru Sri ThataSwami had come there so he had to go. So he vanished into thin air. Soon our host came back and enquired about our Swami. I told him that he will come soon. He searched the whole area and wondered how our Swami could disappear when the compound was surrounded by ten feet high wall and the entrance was also watched by a vigilant watchman. Suddenly our Swami appeared before us and our host was aghast. Next day we took leave of our host and proceeded to a place called Kalloothu on the Natham road.
At Kalloothu with Sri KulandaiSwami:
On the way our Swami told me the history of the place and about the Sadhu whom we would see shortly. Originally this place was rocky with no water source of any kind. The predecessor Sadhu of the present occupant of this ashram house planted a "Thrishulam" on the rock, immediately a divine spring of perennial nature rose from the top. Water from this filled a small tank and from there it flowed and irrigated the lands at the bottom of the river.
About the Present Sadhu (KulandaiSwami):
This Sadhu by name Sri KolandaiSwami though aged was young in appearance. He was the sole owner of the wet lands at the foot of the hills and also the palace like buildings at the top. Our Swami said as the end of the Sadhu was nearing he wanted me to get this Sadhu's blessings. It was already dusk by the time we reached the palace like building. At the entrance we saw a huge wooden gate. Soon we heard voice of the Sadhu which was coming from inside. He was instructing his disciples to welcome us, who came from Rengapalayam. This was done even without seeing us, such was his power. Our Swami asked me to purchase some cakes from the bakery and some fruits as well since the Sadhu relished them much.
We saw the Sadhu in a dangerous condition. He was vomiting and looked very weak but even then he arranged for our stay. Our Swami took a cake and put it in his mouth, and at this the Sadhu said "I will die soon, by giving me cake you will choke my throat". Then Sadhu said "if I am alive tomorrow I would see you". For the whole night the condition of the Sadhu was becoming worse. Meanwhile among the two disciples, one was sleeping quietly whereas the other one was attending to the Sadhu. The whole night passed in this distressed condition.
Next day the Sadhu whom we thought was in his last moment, stood up and had his morning ablutions. He took coffee with us and jovially remarked "Everyone thought I would die soon and they can take custody of the whole property, so I enacted a drama that is all". The drama enacted was to test the sincerity of the disciples.
Chapter 9
Spiritual Experiences (contd...)
At Pudhupathi Yazhpanam Swami:
One day our Swami took me to a nearby village of Kallupathi. He asked me to come in bicycle. While coming I fell down from the cycle and my right knee started bleeding. Our Swami came immediately and applied the juice of some green leaves and the bleeding stopped immediately. Our Swami takes care of me even in very small things. On the way, we saw a Vinayagar idol white in color with majestic appearance. Our Swami told me that the idol was worshipped by Ravana very long back and it was a very powerful deity.
We reached the Pudupatti village. On seeing our Swami the Sadhu laughed heartily. For the whole night we were together. Our Swami and Sadhu discussed many things in Vedantha and about his life in cyclone. Like this trip our Swami used to take me to a number of Sadhus to get their blessings. He himself though powerful wanted me to get the rare blessings from other Sadhus. Everything was done for my material and spiritual development. Another fact was that in my previous birth I had some connection with those Sadhus whom I met in this birth.
Sri Chedai Swami of Chathuragiri:
During our usual meeting our Swami said that the next day I should come to meet him earlier than our appointed time. He said that I had to apply for two days casual leave and join him to visit a place. It was a place in Chathuragri hills a distance place where a Sadhu was doing tapas in thick forest and his name was Sri Chedai Swami. Before proceeding to hills our Swami gave a short description of the Sadhu whom we were going to meet on the hills.
A word about this Sadhu:
Our Swami told me that the Sadhu came from Andhra Pradesh. His mother and father expired when he was very young and he had to take up some job for his living. While working as a mason he happened to pass on the cement mortar in the shallow basin intended to carry the cement mixture. Suddenly he saw the figure of Lord Shiva in that mixture. He put the basin on the ground and left the place forever. He had travelled from Kanyakumari to the Himalayas nearly five times. Now the Sadhu has settled himself in Chathuragiri at Mahalinga Malai.
About Mahalinga malai:
This hill is a sacred one where even now many sadhus do tapas. It is situated on the Madurai Rajapalayam road. There are two places on this hill of which the lower one is called Sundara MahaLingam and the upper one is called Sandana Mahalingam. Sundara MahaLingam is situated about three thousand feet above sea level whereas Sandana MahaLingam is situated above four thousand feet above sea level. In both these places we don't have the idol of Lord Shiva as such but a stone like figure is present whose power could not be gauged.
There are so many sadhus doing tapas here even today and they are always in communion with God. They come and worship without seen by others especially on Pradhosham days, besides New moon and Full moon days. All saints gather together and discuss many spiritual matters here. To foot up the hills one has to go nine kms by walk. This hill is famous for some rare herbs which are used in siddha medicine. Apart from this we have also very rare trees like Jothi tree which emits light at night and illuminating the whole area. We have plants, which could convert iron into gold called "Rasavadham". That is the touch of the plant would transform iron into gold. So also a plant like button rose leaves, a wild growth when placed in the moonlight, one would get paste like Halwa. This would be taken by sadhus as food. Yet another plant is the one with leaves very thick and succulent in nature with oval shape. It is taken by sadhus that would ward off their hunger and thirst. Apart from this there are natural springs in which if one takes bath even disease like leprosy can be cured. Above all these things we have many saadhus doing tapas, the vibrations of which would be felt throughout the universe.
Usually people come here to worship in the morning and leave the by noon itself. To Sandana Mahalingam where siddhapurushas cave is situated, ordinary people cannot come since wild elephants come here often. Our Sadhu Sri ChaddaiSwami in Sandana Mahalingam was often the target of wild elephants. To enter the cave we have a wooden structure with a very high and strong trunk of wild wood as base which held the platform 10X10 feet in dimension. This was thatched with leaves available in the forest and structures put up with bamboo and other roofing materials. So also the unshaped wood placed parallel to the length and breadth provided the flooring. The visitors if any would be accommodated there. In front of this cave there is a small waterfall perennial in nature which supplied drinking water and is known as "Kaligaatheertham". The water is collected in a shallow pond. Apart from this we have a permanent fire place called "Kalika Kundam". This fireplace would drive away all wild animals as explained before.
Thavasi Parai:
There are 13 great Sadhus doing Tapas even today from ages. Our Swami had visited this place many times, taken part in discussion and got directions from the Sadhus. There is no vegetation at all on this rock. There is a big cave going very deep inside which ordinary people could not go.
Chapter 10
Spiritual Experiences (contd...)
Journey to Mahalinga Malai:
As decided, I went to meet our Swami by 5.30 p.m. He asked me whether we can start our journey to Mahalinga Malai. In the normal course to traverse fifty kms distance by bus and nine kms by walk on the hill and then climbing a height of 4000 feet, it would have taken more than two days. When our Swami told that we are starting immediately, I asked him how it could be done as night was fast approaching. To this Our Swami said "Please close your eyes and touch me and don’t open your eyes till I say". I implicitly obeyed him. He took me to the height of 4000 feet in a second. I don't know how we travelled to this place in no time, but we were there in front of Ashram of Sri ChedaiSwami. The journey was by air i.e. "Gaganamargha".
Our Swami who was capable of doing this like child's play made me also to do so by asking me to touch his body. Indeed it is a very rare episode in an ordinary man's life. It was pooja time at the Ashram and the Sadhu was showing the Kapoora Arathi to Lord Shiva who was is in the form of Sandana MahaLingam. It was indeed a great seen. We were received by the Sadhu with a smiling face. We placed before him some provisions like rava, sugar, dried chilies and some dal and rice. We gave him some pooja materials like camphor and bathis. We were given some black tea, as we could not get milk at odd hours. The sadhu asked me to sit before him and made enquiries of me with our Swami. He told everything and about our relationship. The sadhu on hearing the details just opened his right palm and said "you are giving me a difficult job" and he simply laughed.
I had the passport size photos of two great sadhus one Sri Mahan Seshadri Swamigal of Tiruvannamalai and the other Sri Mahan Kuzhandhiyanandha Swamigal of Madurai who is popularly known as "Meenakshi Mindhan". He just laughed and told me that both were well known to him. Further Shri Kuzhandhiyanandha swami who attained samadhi in 1938 in Madurai was seen at the Kumbha mela held last time, sitting on an elephant. Only great sadhus were allowed to do this in the kumbha mela festival.
Then the sadhu narrated how he came to these hills.
Episode in Mahalinga Malai:
Once he came to the hills with three other people. This was a thick forest and they could walk only by the beaten track. At one place they lost their way. Then suddenly a cow herd boy appeared before them and led their way. The boy had a stick in his hand and was walking in a very high speed and they were not able to follow him. But they heard the sound of the stick on the rock which guided them. At one stage the sound stopped and they could not proceed further. In the dream of the sadhu he saw "Lord Muruga" in boy's form. From that day onwards he was searching for the boy on the hills. So was the reason for his stay.
Episode in Himalayas:
Our host sadhu told us that the animals, birds or trees that we see on the hills are actually Siddha purushas who come in the guise of these forms so that nobody can recognize them even by chance. Then he described his experience in Himalayas, which helped him to know the fact that sadhus change their forms in order to avoid getting noticed by other human beings. Since the wealth of sadhus is their tapas they are not prepared to part with it, either to help or to curse which means interrupting their tapas for trivial things.
Our sadhu narrated that once he went to the Himalayas with three other people. At one stage he was separated from others and not knowing what to do he climbed a tall tree and saw smoke rising from a place. Somehow he was able to reach that place. To his good luck a sadhu was doing tapas with closed eyes. By this time our sadhu was much hungry but he had to wait very patiently, since he could not disturb the tapas of the sadhu. After an hour or so the sadhu opened his eyes. As the sadhu was observing mouna viratham he asked our sadhu by signs what he wanted. Our sadhu explained by gestures about his plight of hunger and his separation from his other friends. To this the host sadhu showed our sadhu a rocky place where a small seashell was placed covered with another shell.
As directed by the host sadhu he opened the shell and to his surprise he saw small quantity of food which would not have sufficed his hunger. But as he began eating it and the food appeared again and again. Not only that the food was very tasty and he could get all tastes like sweet, sour, hot etc. He was astonished at the strange experience. As he felt thirsty he was shown the ice cold water by the host which at once turned into lukewarm water. He drank enough water. His stomach was full and he felt sleepy. But the host sadhu scented this and asked him go to search his friends.
Then Sri ChadaiSwami decided to part with the host and after thanking him for all his kindness shown to him he left. He would not have gone even 15 feet from that place a thought occurred to him all of a sudden that "Why he came to this place?" Was it only to get the darshan of great man? How much more a great sadhu one can expect than one who gave him food and water. So he turned back to see his host. To his surprise he saw a bear sitting in the place of the host sadhu, and he was frightened at the strange sight. How a sadhu changed himself into an animal was a surprise. Then he got the experience that the saints would not wish to disclose their identity, since they don't wish to part with their hard-earned tapas.
There was another reason to narrate his experience in Himalayas to us. It was because that we could get such experience that night. That would be the sight of Siddha purushas worshiping Lord Shiva in disguise. He also explained to me the very many secrets of life and told me, that to my good fortune I got the guru in the form of Sri Muniyandi Swami whose spiritual powers could not be gauged at all. Then we were given some food. Our Swami took only plantain fruit.
At about 11 pm we saw two white swans that came to the place of Sandana Mahalingam idol. They took bath in the Kalikaatheertham and sat before the idol. They sat for sometime withdrawing their neck from their body. Then they suddenly vanished. Our host Sadhu remarked "you are really lucky to get the rare darshan of these two siddha purushas in the form of birds".
Like I got the darshan of great Guru Shri Thatha swami in the form of donkey so also I got the darshan of great saints in form of birds at Mahalinga malai. This was a rare experience in the life of an ordinary man.
On our return journey our Swami and I came by walking. He was kind enough to show and explain many rare plants and herbs of medicinal uses, apart from their potencies to ward off hunger and thirst. Only with the help of these plants saints stayed in this wild area.
In course of our talk all of a sudden a lady saint came there and without speaking to any body she went into the dark thick forest at that night. Shri Chadaisway told us that she came from Sri Sailam of Andhra Pradesh. After few years when I was in Madurai she came to our house twice and blessed us all. I had her darshan in her hermitage put up on the plains near Krishnankovil.
The Lady Saint Dhanalakshmi Ammal:
This lady saint Sri Dhanalakshmi was born in Erode in a Gounder family. Her father was a big landlord. But she had no liking towards such family life. So she left her house at a young age. She travelled through entire India and did tapas by getting initiations from a guru whose name she didn’t reveal. She did tapas even in the thick forest of Shri Sailam one of the sacred places of Lord Shiva (Dwadhasa linga). After her stay at Tirupathy and other holy places she came to Mahalinga hills and stayed there. We saw her in Sri ChadaiSwami's hermitage. On leaving Madurai we did not hear of her.
With the experiences I had with so many sadhus I came to conclusion that it is not incidental that we come in contact with such great men but since we are destined for it so we get such experiences in life. In the case of sadhus like Shri MuniyandiSwami, Shri Periyavar Ramamoorthy of Aanmeega nilayam of Salem or Shri Yogi Ram Surat Kumar of Tiruvannamalai whose connection cannot be cut-off. It is because even from the previous births I was one with them and so that followed in this birth as well. Even though there was no reason at all to have connection with such great person in this life it is only the Aathma bandhan that binds me with these great men.
Chapter 11
Spiritual Experiences (contd...)
Sri Ayyappa Swami of G.Kallupatty:
One day our Swami told me about his experience with another sadhu living near Bathallagundu in Madurai district. During the Ayyappan pooja celebration before Makara Vilaku, our Swami was invited by the local people for this pooja. Usually he never used to attend such program but this time something prompted him to attend this pooja. While he was offering pooja to the photo of Lord Ayyappan, a voice came to his ears stating that "Why do you waste time here when I am now physically living in G. Kallupatty near Bathallagundu in Madurai district.
Then one day our Swami went to G. Kallupatty to a house of Sri Sendaraya Gounder who was a big farmer. There he was received by a young man who was none other than the incarnation of Lord Sri Ayyappa swami. They had discussion about many things.
After sometime our Swami told me of this episode and he wanted me as well to visit Sri Sendaraya. He fixed a particular day for this. During that time I was working in Vadipatti block. On a full-moon day as fixed by our Swami I proceeded to meet Sri Ayyappa Swami along with another friend. Our Swami had already informed me about how I should reply to his questions. On reaching the place, we located the place where the Sadhu was living. On seeing him, the incarnation of Lord Ayyappa swami, we prostrated before him with all humbleness. As stated by our Swami he asked me that how I came to know about him and what made me to come there. As I was already told by our Swami I explained him the circumstances which made me to come to see him. The Sadhu merely laughed. In the course of his talk he mentioned about people who have some bad habits which they are not able to get rid of. On hearing this my friend who was addicted to drinking left the place since he felt guilty of his actions. Then the Sadhu gave me some advices and told me that I was fortunate enough to have the company of our Swami whom he knew very well. After having breakfast we returned to our place.
Appearance of This Sadhu:
Although the Sadhu was more than 80 years of age, by his appearance he looked to be very young. He was just like Sri Ayyappa in the photo, very young, smiling and a face beaming with divinity. He was of very fair complexion with flowing hairs on his shoulder and his eyes were bright with a searching look. He told me of his days in Trivandrum when he was young and his journey to Himalayas and other holy places. During this talk he said he was at Kalluppatti in a choultry. According to him all those episodes happened some past 50 years back but neither his face nor his gait revealed the real age. Above all, his pleasing face and simplicity combined with deep spiritual as well as his worldly knowledge made the figure appeared to be very young in spite of his old age. Like our Swami he too had very long hands touching his knees. Besides, he had broad long feet. The Sadhu showed me Sri Ram temple which is now under construction and wished to complete the same by the grace of God.
In this connection I would like to mention an episode which happened when our Swami visited my house at Vadipatti last time. Then I had asked him about the Sadhu at G. Kallupatty. He told me that the Sadhu was very angry with him since he wanted our Swami to sit in Jeevasamadhi in the temple under construction. I was told that our swami was locked inside a room. In the midnight goddess "Vadakkathi Amman" appeared before our swami and asked him how he can sit there in samadhi when he was destined to have the same near her peeda in Rengapalayam. After this our Swami and Goddess both disappeared when the host Sadhu opened the door and he found the room empty. This was the reason for his anger towards our swami.
Sri Sankara Anandha Swamigal of Cuttralam:
I have mentioned about this Sadhu in the context when he came for the 48th day Mandala pooja of our swami. This sadhu was a professor of Calcutta University. He resigned and joined the freedom struggle with Mahatma Gandhi. Here also, as in the case of Sri Aurobindo he could not get peace of mind. There is a sect called "Siddharthies" of which the Great Guru was Sri Sivananda of Vadakara in Kerala. Sri Sankara Anandha took initiations from this great guru and ardently followed him. This helped him to get yogic powers. There are many episodes narrated about him in a book published by his followers some of which I have narrated below.
· One day some workers at Cuttralam were returning home after their duty amidst a forest where they were chased by a cheetah and they became terribly afraid. At that moment this Sadhu who happened to be coming from that way drove the animal away by his spiritual power and saved the workers.
· There was a great devotee of the Sadhu in Kashmir. It was partition time and there was great havoc played by Razakkas terrorists. They were about to set fire the house of the devotee who was a high ranking police officer. Our Sadhu though at Sengottai near Cuttralam appeared before the police officers' house and saved his life in time.
· One day the police officer was returning from his camp and he had to cross a wild stream of river. He had almost crossed the stream but to his bad luck by the gushing water he was caught in the middle of the stream. He was about to get drowned but suddently this Sadhu, who was at Sengotti, appeared before the police officer in Kashmir and saved him from drowning. Such was his compassion for his ardent devotees. Time and distance is no bar at all for Sadhus and they can come to any place at any time. As mentioned in the sloka in Siva Atma Puja - Vane, Rane, Shathru, Jala, Agni, Madhye. Such timely help was also given to me by our Swami which I will narrate later.
This Sadhu was kind enough to accept bhiksha in my house and blessed us. The first question he asked me was how I joined Sri Muniyandi swami even though I was a gazetted officer and a graduate where as our swami was an illiterate. To this I replied, as a magnet powerfully pulls iron fillings towards itself, I was also simply drawn towards our Swami. At one stage I wanted to evade his company but I was told I could not do so since I was destined to get spiritual advancement through him. The Sadhu endorsed my view and he told me that I was fortunate enough to get the blessings of such a great soul.
Chapter 12
Spiritual Experiences (contd...)
Darshan to a Police Officer after 18 Years of Samadhi:
This episode happened after 18 years of our Swami attaining samadhi. I had already mentioned about my service in Sedapatty block of Usilampatty division. I had some audit objection to be settled in order to get my pension. Since I was transferred from that district I was not able to take a follow up action. I got a list of audit objections to be settled in order to get the clearance. In the audit report it was mentioned that the relevant records and files were with anti corruption department. So I had to approach the Collector to get a letter addressed to District Superintendent of Police (VIGILANCE AND ANTI CORRUPTION V.A.C), Madurai.
According to their rules he could not even inform the stage of enquiry. So when I approached him twice, he told me that he would inform the Collector of this fact. Once again I made an attempt. This time the officer was in a good mood to receive me. We had a general discussion. He told me that he becomes tired very soon which prevented him from taking part in active sports. To this I said if am permitted I would suggest him to take Nellikkai (Goose Berry) in the early morning on empty stomach. The dried lobes of Nellikkai if put in a glass of water overnight and taken in the morning, would give him good energy. He agreed to do that and immediately and made arrangements to get good quantity of Nellikkai from the market.
In course of our talk I made mention of Sri Muniyandi swami of Rengapalayam and explained in short my experiences with him. All of a sudden he became silent for some time. Then he remarked that he was able to complete the temple for his guru in his native village only after he visited the Samadhi of our Swami. Then I told him of the Samadhi day which will be on the forthcoming full moon day, the auspicious day of Lord Muruga i.e Panguniuthram. I asked him to come there and get darshan of our Swami at the samadhi. The officer agreed to that and requested me to inform well in advance so that he can also come. As fixed earlier I reached Madurai on the appointed day and informed the police officer on phone. At that time he was also ready to start for the function. He requested me to wait for him near the Katttabhomman statue and after some time he joined me there with his wife and friend. In a short while we all reached the place of our Swami's samadhi.
Usually the function on that day would start by the bringing sacred water from the well near Vadakkthiya Amman Peedam and performing Abishegam at the samadhi of our Swami as well as for Lord Muruga for whom the temple was to be constructed there as per the wish of our Swami. This procession would commence by 6 am. But on that day to our good luck it started late and so we had opportunity to join the function from its commencement.
The abishegam at the samadhi started with usual things like milk, honey, curd, oil, etc. When this was going on, with all reverence everyone were keenly observing the Linga under which our Swami's samadhi was put up. To our astonishment the police officer exclaimed that he can see real human eyes in the place of the Linga. We all saw the strange sight. Our Swami gave all of us darshan and everyone was much pleased about this. Then we were served prasad. I introduced the police officer to the local people as well as to the philanthropist, who came forward to construct the temple and samadhi for our Swami. Then we took leave of all of them and we returned to Madurai.
On reaching the DSP's office we sat there. In the chair placed next to mine our police officer saw the figure of our Swami as seen in the photograph at the samadhi. Suddenly he said "OUR SWAMI HAS COME TO MY OFFICE AND GIVEN ME DARSHAN". But I could not see our Swami. Our swami gave darshan only to the officer. The darshan was in flesh and blood i.e. physically after 18 years of his samadhi. He was told by our swami that he could start the construction of the temple for his guru with whose blessings he was born.
Then the Police Officer told me that he would issue a no objection certificate to me since there were no files pending against me in his office. He said, though it was against the departmental rules, when our Swami has given darshan at his samadhi as well as in his office, that he would issue the certificate without any hesitation. Accordingly he gave a reply to the Collector's letter in which he stated that there was no case at all against me. So I was relieved of all the consequences in this matter.
Thus our Swami helped me even after 18 years of his samadhi. He gave darshan to the Police officer at two places i.e. at the samadhi as well as at his office in flesh and blood. Both are really strange episodes one can witness in today’s time.
Laying 5 Kilometers Road in Sedapatty Block:
I had indeed a tough time during my tenure of office in Sedapatty block which was a very backward area in all respects. In those days I had to face a lot of problems both in office and in family, but by the grace of our Swami and Sri Periyavar Ramamoorthy of Aanmeega nilayam at Salem, all the problems was solved without any difficulty.
In one of the episodes regarding the relevant records which were not produced for audit of which I had already explained. These records were to be with V.A.C department, but actually the fact was otherwise. The non official chairman who had many motives in all my dealings was against me and this gave me many pinpricks.
There was yet another episode which was really the touch stone to my capacity to carry out the instructions of my superiors but to the astonishment of all including that of the official circle as well as the local people, the problem was solved in spite of all odds.
The task was to repair five kilometers road for the ensuing visit of the Hon. Central Minister. That year we had a very bad drought so to provide job as ameliorative measure "FOOD FOR WORK" scheme was started by the government in all the villages. The minister's visit was to ascertain the quantum of assistance to be given as relief measures by the Central Government.
The said road in question was in a very bad condition, though it was a bus route. Due to bad maintenance added to the heavy vehicle traffic made the road worse. The local people tried their best to get the road repaired and they even resorted to "Road block" but that was of no avail. The road from Chinnakatalai to Thumma Gundu connecting Usilampatti and Tirumangalam was a shortcut and so this dependency on the upkeep of this road was of importance.
In Oct 1974 during the visit of the State Drought Commissioner the local people informed him about the condition of the road, but this did not yield any purpose. Due to paucity of funds, the rural roads (H.W) department could not take up this work. In January 1975 for the visit of this Central Minister as mentioned earlier the District Collector wanted me to take up the repair work of this road, though it was not under our purview. I pleaded my inability to the Collector. I told him that besides the paucity of funds, there was even no income yielding assets to give a good source of income as in other blocks. But the Collector insisted that I had to take up this venture. Collector informed me of this only on 16 Jan 1975 and I was given only six days to complete this huge work. Within this period I had to observe all the formalities such as calling short tender, collection of required materials by the contractors, stacking, consolidation and spreading of the materials. All this items were to be measured and checked by the competent authorities by this time.
I invited local big contractors and sought their suggestion for which they agreed. As regards to payment I told them that it would be done only in the coming financial year commencing from April 1976. As a safe guard I obtained the written permission from the Rural High way department to whom this road originally belonged. Then I asked the contractor to go ahead with the work and requested them to complete the work before 20th January 1976. Meantime I tried to contact the Collector in the camp office but I could not do so. On 20 Jan 1975 I tried again to get in touch with the collector which I could not do.
Then I proceeded to Madurai to meet collector in person. There I was told that the Central Minister's program stands and the Collector has gone for a preliminary inspection to various places. He was expected back only the late evening. So I thought it would be a wild goose chase to follow him and I stayed back in Madurai itself. Meantime Collector who had completed the inspection had visited my place as well. The road was in such a bad condition that all the materials to be spread were stacked on the road itself in a haphazard way. The Collector's van was not able to pass through the road.
I was told that the Collector was very angry for the state of affairs saying that I would be kept under suspension for dereliction of duty as well as my absence from the work sight. The D.D.O who was my superior and was accompanying the Collector stated that he tried to take up the work with the help of Union Engineers but that also could not be done. By 9 pm Collector returned to camp office where I was waiting for him. He was very tired after the strenuous camp, besides my presence there, which he never relished.
He yelled at me and said that I would get severe punishment for inaction and also for my absence from head quarters. I was unable to give any reply to him. I returned to my headquarters at 10:30 pm and in the meantime the Collector had also decided to change the route of the Minister's program since the road connecting two important blocks was in a very bad condition. That was AMAVASYA DAY i.e the new moon day when we cannot get any light. But I had to complete this roadwork before 8 am the next day. Added to this, it was the cold season of January and the situation was very worse. The roadwork was done with the help of headlights of the tractors and lorries and they were using only blunt shovels. We could very well imagine the quality of work carried out.
Meantime a boy working with them broke his leg and that had to be attended as well. I asked the local people to give some first aid and gave them 50 rupees towards the urgent expenses. As there was no light I got the petromaxes from the office to do the work. There was mist also and so it was very difficult to carry out the work of spreading the materials for five kms and making it fit to welcome the Central Minister. No human efforts could have achieved this. I waited till 5:30 am in the dust all over my body. I thought it was for my downfall in my official carrier that I was entrusted with this hard job. Then I left for my room to have a bath and tea. After which I returned to the road immediately.
To my great surprise I saw the roadwork that was half-finished was completed in all respects making it fit to travel by the Central Minister. I proceeded to my block boundary where the Collector and others were waiting to receive the Minister. When I saw the Collector he was very furious. I slowly approached and told him that the roadwork has been completed as per the Collector's instructions and so he can bring the Minister through this route. To this he got angry and said "You are bluffing, even my vehicle could not pass on that road yesterday and how can you say that I can bring the Central Minister?" I pleaded the Collector that if he was not satisfied he could depute somebody to verify this. Tahasildhar, who was there, immediately came forward to see the work himself.
He went in his jeep to the end of the road and returned soon. He informed the Collector that the road repair was done in a vey good manner as per the instructions of the Collector and so the Minister can be welcomed by that route. Collector also agreed to this and the Minister was received with all honors and he commenced the journey through this route. The State Drought Commissioner who was with our Collector seemed to have astonished to find that that the road was made pukka in such a short time. The Collector could not give any reply since he could not assimilate that the work was completed in so short time, most unimaginable. The driver of the Collector's vehicle informed me of this. I accompanied the party up to my block border and the Divisional Officer accompanied them till his border.
The Collector's personal remark about me in my confidential report was that "He has done what others could not do in this backward area".
The Divisional Officer who came in the afternoon told me that he was saved from a very difficult situation. Collector was about to take disciplinary action against him since he had not properly supervised the work of his immediate subordinate. So the reputations of both of us were saved.
Sri Muniyandi Swami came and helped at the proper time. The Divisional Officer asked me how I could complete the work in so short a time. I informed him that only due to my master's grace I could accomplish this task to the astonishment of all. In fact that officer came to have the darshan of our Swami' samadhi.
Rare feat done in split minute i.e. completion of constructing 5 kms of road and that too under unfavorable conditions. Doing this in dark misty nights with no light was quite unimaginable. Our swami who promised me that he would be with me always with me even after four years of his samadhi had proved this.
Chapter 13
Spiritual Experiences (contd...)
Episode Establishing Existence of Our Swami with Me:
I was working as B.D.O at Usilampatty in Madurai district. I had my first daughter to be married. As normally it takes two or three years to fix up and arrange the marriage so I decided to take up the subject.
A friend of mine told me there was a gentleman who would do prediction by stellar methods. Both of us went there to meet him in Thirunagar itself. He was a Professor in an Engineering College Madurai. This happened in February 1976. We were just about to enter his house this gentleman came out and told me that I am going to get my promotion in August 1976. Then he told me many other things. Finally he informed that "Everything was done for me by a divine force". I was just only an instrument. Then I narrated my experiences with Muniyandi Swami and he endorsed all of them.
After this I was about to take the horoscope of my daughter. He immediately told me that I would get a match who was working in the Central Govt. and his star would be Tiruvonam. Further he continued that by the divine force the marriage would be taking place in a grand manner and so it happened. I also got the promotion as predicted in August 1976.
This episode proves the presence of our Swami with me even after his samadhi five years back from then.
Episode in Sri Thatha Swami Samadhi:
In May 1977 Sri Periyavar Ramamoorthy of Aanmeega Nilayam, Salem came for a discourse in Thirunagar, Madurai. He expressed his desire to visit the samadhi of Sri Muniyandi Swamigal at Rangapalayam. In fact the very idea to have a discourse for three days was all preplanned by him to establish his connection with this area long back. The place of the great Guru of Muniyandi Swami was also the place where Sri Periyavar Ramamoorthy's guru Sri Tulsi Das lived. Sri Vinayagar idol was really enshrined by Sri Tulsi Das.
So to make this public the trip was arranged. Sri Periyavar Ramamoorthy told us that the fact that the gurus of both himself and Sri Muniyandi Swami were one and the same people lived at different ages with different names. While he was telling this, a person who came with us was taken aback and started crying like a child. He told us that he was very familiar with this place but in this birth he has never come here. Sri Periyavar consoled him and told that in some way or the other we all are connected and time solves the mystery by unfolding the truth.
Hotel Episode in Dindugal:
One day our Swami narrated the following to me that on a particular day a sadhu who was doing tapas for a very long time would be coming out of the Padmagiri malai in Dindugal. His guru has instructed our Swami to meet that sadhu. But before this episode another thing happened.
Our Swami doesn’t used take any food. But on that particular day he had inclination to take some food, so he went to a hotel. On seeing the poorly dressed Swami the watchman at the entrance asked him to vacate that place at once. Then our Swami immediately thought of his master and he got a decent dress after which he was invited by the watchman to come inside. Our swami ordered two plates each of all items. When the order came our Swami emptied them on his dress. On seeing the people there thought that this man has become mad and they demanded him to be taken out of the hotel. Our Swami then told them that respect was given only to the dress he was wearing. A man sitting in the cash counter immediately came down and bowed before our Swami, since he knew our swami very well. So he gave respect and apologized for the disrespect shown to him by his employees.
After this our swami had the darshan of the Sadhu who was doing penance in seclusion in Padmagiri and he came into the open after his long absence from the public.
Chapter 14
Spiritual Experiences (contd...)
Episode at Nagari-Puttur in Andhra Pradesh:
In April 1993 my last daughter's marriage was conducted at Panruti in Villupuram district. All the relatives who came for the marriage had gone. All of a sudden my wife met with a fall in my house. She broke her left arm. She had to be taken for treatment under native medicine to Nagari puthur to put bandage. She was taken there by a car and she was given proper treatment by the hereditary doctors.
For the fourth trip of treatment we also took our servant maid along with us. But on that day we had to reach early so instead of going through Nagari we took the bye-pass road. While taking that route a bus from Tirupathy came in front of us and it had to take a right turn i.e our left turn. As the bus passed by taking a turn it was followed by two taxis at a very high speed. As the driver of their car could not get clearances to see our car coming in opposite direction, it hit our car and it was a head-on collision. The impact was so much that our car was thrown into a 20 feet deep valley.
We did not know what happened to us. Only after reaching 3/4th of the depth we realized that we were in a deep valley. But to our good luck none of us had any injury. Only the driver was thrown out by the front door which got opened by the impact. My wife who is a heart patient with a fracture in her arm did not get any shock. In these circumstances she would have succumbed to a secondary shock. But by the grace of God we were all safe from the jaws of death. There was Lord Hanuman temple very near to the place of accident and He alone saved us.
I heard voices in Telugu from above "we do not know how many people are still alive after this accident". They thought that none of us would be alive. The car was stopped from further falling, by a tree across the depth. This was a providential escape for us. With difficulty we all came up and the people who gathered there helped us in coming out. We thanked Lord Hanuman who saved us and then proceeded to Puthur leaving the damaged car behind. We reached in time and had the treatment done. We were forced to stay there in a hotel for that night. We returned to Vadalur by bus on the next day.
A friend of mine at Neyveli who was an assistant engineer (soil conservation), a man endowed with spiritual powers of Goddess Vishnudurga (a temple near the first thermal station) told us that Sri Muniyandi Swami had come and helped us from further falling into the valley. This event happened 23 years after our Swami's samadhi. He kept up the promise given to me that he would be always with me. No doubt indeed all of us were saved even without a small bruise.
At Pattukottai:
In 1982 I was posted from Vriddhachalam to Pattukottai. There one day while I was in my house a sadhu came and said, "It is a long time since we met each other". It never occurred to me that it was our Swami. But my wife who gave some edibles to him told me that he looked like our Swami but by that time he had already left. It happened nearly 11 years after the samadhi of our Swami. His compassion to us did not deter the time and distance.
Chapter 15
Maha Samadhi
Maha Samadhi of Sri Mahan. Muniyandi Swamigal:
I have mentioned this at the beginning of my narration itself that just before 15 days of his samadhi our Swami came to my house at Vadipatty and told me to come and see a drama on the next full moon day i.e. on the "PANGUNIUTHIRAM" day which is an auspicious day for Lord Muruga. At that time I was not able to imagine the gravity of the situation. I thought as he has done before he would do something this time also. On hearing the news of his samadhi I could go only on the next day. I was shocked and I immediately went to Rangapalayam. There our swami was sitting in Padmasana. I could not bear it. I simply broke down. Though it was not at all a blood relation's death it shocked me that my well wisher and benefactor's end had come so soon. Then I remembered the words of our swami on one night that "Time had come to leave this world". Another strange thing I noticed was that perspiration was seen on our Swami's face. One cannot see that on a lifeless body. So it defies all norms of science proving that our Swami was still alive.
The day our swami attained samadhi he visited the temple at Tirupparankundram with three others and returned by late night. On returning our swami wanted a pit measuring 6 X 3 X 4 to be dug for his Samadhi, adjacent to Goddess Vadakkathi Amman’s idol. Those people thought as in the previous occasion he would seat for three or four days and come up again to life. But this time that was not the case. This was his final samadhi. Then our Swami who sat in the meditation position took Pranayama and breathed his last. Immediately the people who heard the strange sound looked into the pit. Our swami was in the same posture but his life had gone. Those people smelt that something was wrong and they immediately informed the local people. With them a doctor also came and when he examined our swami's body he declared that the life had left already. By that time more people came to witness the scene.
Yet another strange fact was that as he told me that he had to sit in samadhi near Goddess Vadakathiyamman, his samadhi really happened near the deity itself and not at G.Kalluppatti as decided by the other sadhu. Meantime the local people collected some amount of money and handed over that to our Swami's father towards the funeral expenses. But on my arrival there we decided that such procedure was quite contrary to be followed in the case of sadhus and so we took a taxi, proceeded to Ramanathapuram of Ezhumalai to bring a sadhu by name Mounaguru for guidance.
To our astonishment the sadhu was waiting for us even at 4 am where as normally he would start his day only by 8 am. He said he was waiting for us. We all came to the place of samadhi. On seeing our Swami the sadhu exclaimed 'Jothi Jothi' meaning that our Swami was in Blissful State i.e. Nirvikalpa Samadhi. We took immediate steps to carry physical body of our Swami as per the usual procedure i.e. through the main street to which the upper caste people objected. So as per the guidance of our Sadhu (Mounaguru) I led the procession and then nobody objected on taking the procession through the main street. There was also reason for this. Sometime back our Swami had asked me to put up a shed far away from the colony and so our Swami’s body was brought to this place in a procession with the beating of drum and blowing horns. The whole air was vibrating with the word "GOVINDA GOVINDA". By this time nearly ten thousand people had assembled to take part in the last rites of our Swami. After observing all formalities like bathing the body, smearing holy ash on the body, we put a large quantity of sandal powder, scented powders along with holy ash in the pit before lowering the body inside it. Then slowly we lowered four sides of the pyre into the pit. The body was laid to rest.
Then onwards regular pooja was done by his brother at the samadhi. After sometime a Shiva Linga was enshrined on the samadhi itself. I had the good fortune to present the Shiva Linga as well as the photograph of our Swami on the wall behind the shrine. This also proves that our Swami is with me as per his promise given to me i.e. even if his body vanished he would be with me always.
A philanthropist was blessed enough to put up a permanent structure for the samadhi as well as a temple for Lord Muruga as per our Swami's wish. Even to this day regular poojas are conducted. On his samadhi day i.e Panguni uththiram there special pooja is conducted. Our Swami’s Samadhi is now in K. Rengapalayam near T. Kunathur.
OM SHANTI
It is really an enlightening account about a siddha who was so great but is not known to the world at large.
ReplyDeleteSir relly i felt the vibration in that jeeva samadhi. My wife and son also got ecstasy feel. We went there on 25 Dec 2020. All are requested to please go there and get bless from swamy muniyandi siddhar
ReplyDeleteThank you for introducing us to such a great Mahan. Very grateful to you 🙏🙏
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