DEIVATHIN KURAL # 96 (Vol # 7) Dated 21 Jan 2014

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 96 (Vol # 7) Dated 21 Jan 2014

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavãL of Kanchi Kaamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are going ahead from the middle of page No 724 of Volume 7 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that herein ‘man/he’ includes ‘woman/she’ too mostly. These e-mails are all available at   http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated continually)

25.          That GurukkaL promptly agreed to make his declaration while physically touching the Kachchabeswara Maha Lingam statue to which he was doing pooja every day because, he had a secret and devious plan.  Normally nobody can touch such sacred statues without physically being clean and without sanctifying oneself by chanting special Mantras.  So, when they do major repairs and renovation in a Temple, how do they do it?  How do they let masons, painters and such workers walk all over the temple premises?  By a process known as, 'Kalã Ãkarshanam' – 'कला आकर्षणं', they will 'instil the 'life' of the statue onto some pots temporarily and safe guard them in a sacred, separate and secluded enclosure, till such times the repair work is completed.  Then once again the 'Life in the statues' are revived by the process of what is known 'PrãNa Pratishta' – 'प्राण प्र्तिष्टा' and the sacred waters stored in the pots known as 'Kumbam' are poured  in Abhishekam on the statues meant for daily worship.  This formal process of temporarily safe-guarding the 'Life of the Statues' in pots and then re-installing them back again after repair and refit is over, is known as, 'Kumbha Abhishekam' – 'कुम्भ-अभिषेकं'.

26.          This GurukkaL who was well versed in these mantras and procedures; had a devious plan; that is, to invoke the 'Life of the Swami' in the Kachchbeswara Maha Lingam on to a Tamarind tree near the temple first, before taking the oath while physically touching the statue of the Swami, which will be like any other stone, while taking the oath!  Then after the 'Oath Taking' rigmarole is over, he intended to re-install the Swami back on the Maha Lingam! Of course, this is not taking into consideration a higher level that, if you have the clarity that the whole world is permeated by divinity, then the cast, the crew and the director, including every iota of existence become one!   That aside, I am reminded of a similar event in the life of Sundara Murthy SwamigaL that happened in Thiruvortriyur, here near Madras. 

27.          Due to some reason, Sundara Murthy Nãyanãr had to utter a lie before Sangili Nãchiyar and claim it to be the truth.  Much before doing so, he had simply told his 'friend, guide and philosopher' God, the complete story and instructed him to go and be in the Magizhampoo Maram temporarily in the outer Prãhãram of the temple, till this false-witness charade is over.  Swami agreed to all this readily, but spilled the beans to Sangili Nãchiyar in the night in her dreams.  He told her the complete story and instructed her, "You simply say that we do not have to go to the Sanctum Sanctorum for this simple thing and say that it is enough if Sundarar takes an oath under this tree of Magizhampoo and you would have fixed him right and proper which he can neither swallow nor spit!  Similarly what happened in Thiruvortriyur occurred here in Ambã Samudram also.  

28.          A night prior to the scheduled event of GurukkaL taking the oath, Swami came in the dream of the Brhmachari and told him, "Tomorrow GurukkaL would have done 'KalãkarshaNam' to install me in the Tamarind tree outside the temple.  So you tell all the assembled, "It is enough if the GurukkaL makes his promise while touching that Tamarind tree.  After all, for years he as a Siva Ãchãryãr has been doing Siva Pooja to that Kachchabeswara Lingam!  It sounds like sacrilege to me to test his truthfulness touching that Shiva Lingam as I do not wish to in anyway pull Swami in this minor matter of my dispute.  So, it is enough if the GurukkaL promises his truthfulness while touching this Tamarind tree here.  After all nobody in their right sense will tell a lie while touching a living green tree, isn't it?"  Looking at his liberal mindedness, people approved him quite vociferously. 

29.          The GurukkaL was trapped by his own cleverness and Swami's innuendo!  He had to go through with his assertion that 'he had returned the bag exactly as handed over by the Brhmachari' and he had to do so while touching that tree, on which he had invocated the divine presence earlier quite formally!  The moment he had completed the statement, there was a blinding flash and the GurukkaL was simply ionized in to thin air!  Anybody can be excused for any offence but, to misappropriate a thing given in trust is not an offence that can be easily ignored.  More than that the divine presence to which one does daily worship and prayers to be made into a party to your shenanigans is totally unpardonable!

30.          The assemblage was shocked out of their wits.  Brhmachari told them about how GurukkaL had not only double crossed him but also intended to fool them all and as to how God himself had come to his rescue.  A search was carried out, in the house of the GurukkaL and the missing gold recovered.  The King was very happy to be able to recover the gold and re-donate it to this Brhmachari once again.  As the GurukkaL had just been reduced to nullity by fire; the presiding deity of that place came to be known variously as, 'Dãhakeshwar', 'Erikkatti Swami' and 'Erichcha Mudiyar'.  To my knowledge till very recently, people accused or suspected of duplicity used to be told to reiterate their claim in front of this deity here and even those who had lied in the court would end up accepting their guilt in this place, it seems!

Uncaring for Name and Fame

31.          As instructed by Agasthya Muni, that Brhmachari, having constructed a dam at Sermãdevi got the canal dug as per the route plan indicated by the cow's sojourn, constructing piers, sluice gates, lakes and subsidiary canals, ended with the digging of a huge lake in which the canal finished.  In Sceniapuram in honour of that lady Kalãsi, who had permitted her house to be dismantled, the sluice was named Kalãsi Sluice and the canal itself was called by her name in that general area.  She is said to have so requested, but that does not occur to me to be very true.  When she had virtually donated her house to be destroyed for general benefit of the people at large, without even asking for any compensation; my version of the story is more pertinent.  By naming it as the Kalãsi Canal, it is the Brhmachari who got her name, known and remembered forever. 

32.          Having got all this done, making her name eternally known, having put all his efforts in spending all the Gold in the project for the canal, that too got by accepting the Kings load of past sins, disappeared with anybody ever knowing his name!  Till this day that canal which is useful as the source of water for thousands of acres of arable land, satisfying the thirst of thousands of humans and animals for generations, has seemingly sanctioned this canal for posterity!  By the name of that nameless person's origin, that canal is called 'Kannadian Kãlvãi'.  In Sermãdevi Sãsanam they have given a Sanskrit name for that canal as 'Karnataka Kulya' – 'कर्नाटक कुल्या'.  The Trivandrum Royal organization people have well protected that Sãsanam till date. 

'MiLagu or Black Pepper PiLLaiyar'

33.          Having done so much, God himself was concerned it seems that he may not lose his sense of Vinaya and get too proud about his achievement and so wanted to test him.  By the time he finished his digging of the canal, for next two to three years, there was no rain.  When the river itself is dried up, what is one to do with a dam and canal?  As the Brhmachari regarded his Guru as God, once again prayed to him only at Sermãdevi, stood on his head in the sand in the river bed, day in and day out!  If Bagiratha had stood on one leg during his Tapasya for the Ganges, which is often quoted for super-human efforts; this Brhmachari stood on his head with his legs up in the air!  Without even a thought of food, without even thinking about his 'Pratigraha Dosha', without a house or family or relatives, this sole individual suffered immensely for water to be flowing in that canal.

34.          Agasthya Muni came once again.  He appreciated this man's sincerity of purpose and relentless effort.  There he installed a statue of GaNesha.  He told the Brhmachari, "You get hold of some black pepper powder and make a paste of it with some water.  Then apply that paste on the PiLLaiyar.  Then from somewhere bring some pots of water and do Abhishekam to this PiLLaiyar so that he is totally drenched copiously or just inundated!  There will be rains aplenty, certainly".  Brhmachari did as instructed and from that night there were rains that in a few days the River was flowing once again and the canals and lakes were filled to the brim.  From that day, as a permanent fact, the canal is of use to people in that area for more than five centuries.

35.          Even today at any time if rains fail, they arrange for the anointment for the PiLLaiyar with 'Black-Pepper-Paste' and Abhishekam, with the immediate result of onset of rains.  Anyhow on a particular day of the year, every year this 'MiLagu PiLLaiyar' Pooja is done very elaborately, with the participation of all the children studying there in the Veda Pãtashãla, located next to the canal, rain or no rain.  The GaNesha is referred to as 'MiLagu PiLLaiyar' only.  Those days as the cost of living and wages were rather low, there was still quite a bit of the gold beads in balance, after completion of all the works of the project!  So at the take-off point of the canal from the River, he got a temple constructed for Siva and also arranged for its permanent endowment.  That temple is famous as 'Appan / Achchan Kovil', where there is daily pooja done throughout the year.  As there was still some gold in balance, he arranged for distribution of free food, as part of the activities of the Temple as a permanent Mãnyam further added on to, by the royal government at Travancore.    

Lesson Learnt is Unity and Integrity

36.          Food for the stomach, Ãlaya Darsanam for the inner heart and soul, for both necessary water for ablution, cleanliness of the body and soul in terms of intentions; such a Teertam of sacred waters; is what has been made available by that Brhmachari of yore at that time! After many centuries, when we feel happy talking about that story of the Brhmachari, are bound to look back on our own attitudes and behaviour too. After another 500 to 600 years later, what is world likely to be speaking about us all?  As individuals none of us may be remembered.  But collectively about us, may be this is what they will say, "Endlessly talking about national integration and oneness, to the people who were one as the common children of one God for not hundreds but tens of thousands of years as members of one united family; letting such ideas get watered down, they developed internecine quarrels based of caste, creed, party, Jaati; talking about how science and technology has brought every country and nation closer; they would create fights between states, districts and even villages about land, water and use of natural resources such as coal and forest wealth and granite; and thus used to keep breaking each other's heads"!  So that, that may not be our fate, we should be telling each other such stories in which a nameless man from Karnataka, comes to southern most reaches of Tamil Nadu, did those wonderful noble deeds, making use of the funds of the King of Malayala Rajyam and make deep impressions in our minds about the need for oneness, unity and integrity!

(Deivathin Kural will continue.)

Sambhomahadeva