Previous

Swami showers his grace and compassion to all equally

   The sun sheds its light and warmth to one and all without discrimination. Similarly, Swami showers his grace and compassion to all equally, regardless of caste or creed, on man and woman, young and old alike. Every devotee is different. Some consider him a better human being, some treat him as their guru and some see him as a siddhar having supernatural powers. For others, like me, he is the embodiment of Devi. No matter what way one looks at Swami, he blesses all equally. All those that have had an opportunity to associate themselves with Swami have been uplifted spiritually and have witnessed a change in their lifestyle for their betterment and happiness. With his divine siddhis and profound compassion towards his devotees, he has raised us spiritually and guided us by getting rid of all ignoble thoughts and lead our lives in harmony and peace. He exhorts us to realize the divinity within ourselves. Because of good deeds done in our previous birth, we are fortunate enough to be closely associated with Swami and obtain his grace.

   The sweetness of the sugarcane can be understood only if one has tasted and relished it, not by merely hearing about it from others. Similarly, only if one has really experienced and cherished Swami's grace in his real life, can he enjoy the bliss and feel the divinity in him. Still, I feel the need to recall at least a few episodes and experiences of some of the devotees for the reader's benefit.

   Mr. B.G. Iyer and his family are staunch followers of Swami. His initial contact with Swami was some 18 years back. Swami had been invited to Iyer's sister-in-law Meenakshi's house at Kalyan at a chance meeting of Sri Gopu, brother-in-law of Meenakshi, in a temple. Gopu and his wife Maduram used to perform pooja on every full moon day to Devi Kamakshi. When Gopu saw Swami in saffron clothes in the temple, he was curious to know about Swami and his whereabouts, and after a brief introduction invited him to the pooja in their house. Swami accepted his invitation. When the talk was on about other relatives, Swami predicted that there would a family gathering in their house in the evening and many of their relatives would assemble without notice to meet Swami. Iyer's brother-in-law, Jayaraman had come from Delhi and was staying at Worli with his brother. There were also relatives at Pune and Worli. Iyer was at Borivili. Jayaraman with his Worli brother decided to go to Kalyan to meet his elder sister Meenakshi and her husband without knowing that Swami was present in their sister's house. A brother of Meenakshi from Pune also came there without prior notice. Another brother who was staying at Kalyan came with his wife suddenly. Greatly impressed by Swami's talk and materialization, Jayaraman called Iyer and his wife Shyamala to say that an extraordinary person had come to his sister's house at Kalyan and asked him to come with Shyamala and have the darshan of Swami and take his blessings.

   Before meeting Swami, Iyer already had a guru who had initiated him in the upasana of Dattathreya and had given him mantra upadesam. That guru was a very learned and scholarly person and had a great knowledge of the vedas and upanishads. So, Iyer was a little reluctant to meet any other guru. Still, with some hesitation and reservation, he and his wife Shyamala went to meet Swami for the first time. At the first meeting itself, Swami asked Iyer whether he was already initiated by any guru. When Iyer replied confirming that, Swami asked him about his family deity. Iyer said that it was Lord Tirupathi Venkatachalapathi. Swami at once corrected him saying that their family deity was Devi and not Tirupathi Balaji. Iyer did not reply. Swami further asked Iyer whether they had a photo of Anjaneyar carrying the Sanjeevani hill in their prayer room and if it was being worshipped. Iyer and his wife were totally surprised at Swami's words which were really accurate and true. Swami told Iyer to remove that photo since that form of Hanuman should not be kept at home. It required a lot of austerity and restriction which an ordinary householder would not be able to follow. He further told him to attend his Devi pooja in Kalyan on Friday. Iyer and his wife went for the pooja on Friday. On that day, Swami took an orange from the lot brought by Iyer and from that fruit, he took out a small idol of Mariamman and said that it was Angala Parameswari. He then gave the idol to Iyer and pointed out to him that this Devi was their real kuladeivam and not Venkatachalapathi as they were thinking. Iyer and his wife left after the pooja and returned to their house with the idol. The next day they took the Hanuman photo to a nearby temple and gave it to the priest to be kept in the temple.

   After three months, a Maharashtrian friend visited Iyer's home at Borivili. He had some occult powers and was a staunch devotee of Lord Datta. He also confirmed that Iyer's family deity was Devi only. Iyer did not comment. After two years, he and his family planned to go to south India on a pilgrimage tour to visit the temples there. The night before their proposed journey, when Shyamala was cooking, the pressure cooker suddenly burst and the lid flew up, hit the ceiling and came down crashing on the gas stove which was on. Because of that impact, the burning tube light above the kitchen platform also broke into pieces. Luckily no bodily harm came to her or Iyer. They really thanked their stars and God for that. With great difficulty, they cleaned the entire kitchen. They were contemplating cancellation of their trip. Somehow they managed to clear everything in the kitchen staying awake all night. They finally proceeded to Chennai on the next day by an early morning train. At Chennai, they met Swami at Central station by chance. Swami was going to Bombay and he just got down from the train which was to start in a few minutes time as he had an intuition that Iyer and his wife would come rushing to meet him at the station. They told Swami about the accident that took place in their house and after seeking his blessings, they proceeded to Mayavaram to visit their relatives. His relative, old and very learned in the Vedas confirmed that Devi was his and their kuladeivam. When they heard that, they were taken aback as they remembered Swami's words at Kalyan. They completed their tour of the temples without any difficulty. With Swami's blessings, they visited some 70 important shrines. Their faith in Swami increased manifold.

Next