*. A Double-Stringed Chain in Eight Sovereigns?*
An early morning, many years ago. It was slightly drizzling. Maha Periyavaa
was seated in solitude at Kanchi Sri Sankara maTham. After the bhaktas had
darshan of him, Swamiji arose to go to his room. Just then an old grandma
and a young woman came running and prostrated to the sage. Swamiji sat down
again, looking a bit keenly at them.
With happiness crawling on his face, Swamiji said, "adede! Is it Meenakshi
Paatti? What a wonder you have come in the morning time? Who is near you?
Your granddaughter? What name?"
Meenakshi Paatti said, "Periyavaa! I am coming to the maTham to have your
darshan for ever so many years. Till today I haven't informed SwamigaL about
me. There was no such opportunity. But then, it has come now. This girl
standing by my side is my granddaughter born through my daughter. Since she
was born in this town, we named her Kamakshi. I had only one daughter, and
she closed her eyes twelve years ago, leaving this girl to my care. Some
disease she had. Her husband also died before her due to a heart attack.
"Since then I am plodding on alone with this girl. I put her in a school.
Study didn't get into her head. So I stopped it with her fifth grade. Now
she is fifteen years old. My duty will be over once I give her hand to a
man!"
ACharyaL listened to her patiently. "I understood when I saw you come here
and stand before me in the early morning itself, that you who used to bring
pArijAta pushpam for Chandramouleesvara puja every morning around ten o'
clock, have come to me now with a purpose. What is the news?" he said.
Hesitating at first, Meenakshi Paatti began: "Nothing, Periyavaa. A suitable
alliance has come up for this girl. The boy is also from this place. School
teacher. Sixty rupees salary. Good family. No demand-and-take harassments.
They say that both the horoscopes match well. Somehow only you should
perform this marriage, Periyavaa!" Paatti prostrated to him.
AcharyaL's tone showed some heat as he chided her: "What? I should perform
the marriage? What are you talking?" Within moments he cooled down and said,
"Alright, what do you expect me to do?"
Paatti was happy. "It's like this, Periyavaa! I have somehow managed to save
five thousand rupees for her marriage. I can complete the marriage within
that amount. But then the boy's mother has said compulsively, 'Paatti,
whatever or however you do it, you must present a double-stringed,
eight-sovereign gold chain for the neck of your granddaughter!' I couldn't
do anything big by way of jewels-and-bolts for her within my income. I have
arranged just a bangle of one sovereign each for each hand of this girl.
Only that is possible for me. Where can I go for an eight-sovereign
double-stringed chain, Periyavaa? Only you--"
Before she could finish, Swamiji asked her with some anger: "Tell me, you
want me to provide her with a double-stringed chain in eight-sovereigns?"
Meenkshi Paatti prostrated to him and rose. Patting her cheeks loudly, she
said, "apacAram, apacAram, Periyavaa. I am not coming to say that. A number
of rich and big people come for your darshan daily. Could you not gesture to
any of them to arrange for the eight-sovereign double-stringed chain?"
Paatti asked him longingly.
"What? To gesture to the big people who come for a darshan? There is no such
practice. If you want, you seek some other alliance where they don't demand
eight or ten sovereigns! Only that is better for you." Swamiji got up.
Meenakshi Paatti said anxiously, "I pray that Periyavaa shouldn't leave me
with such advice! This is a very good alliance, Periyavaa. The boy has a
sanguine temperament. They got their own girls married with a gift of an
eight-sovereign double-stringed chain each. Therefore they desire that the
girl coming as their daughter-in-law should also come with a double-stringed
chain. Nothing else, Periyavaa. Only you should provide me with guidance in
the matter!" Paatti begged the sage.
AcharyaL, who had got up, sat down again. He was immersed in deep thoughts
for some time. Then he started talking with compassion: "Will you do
something I suggest now?"
"I will do it definitely. Please tell me what!" Paatti was excited.
"Go to the Kamakshi Amman temple tomorrow with your granddaughter. Both of
you pray to her, 'This marriage should take place grandly with the required
eight-sovereign double-stringed chain provided. Only you should arrange it,
Amma!' and do pradakSiNa of the sannidhi five times. Prostrate before ambAL
five times and go home. Pray this way for five days. Kamakshi will arrange
the things as you have desired in your mind." AcharyaL blessed them
smilingly.
As she prostrated and got up, Meenakshi Paatti said, "What is it Periyavaa,
you suggest everything five times!" She asked with eagerness, "If I do it
that way, AmbaL Kamakshi will surely arrange my granddaughter Kamakshi's
marriage?"
"I am not suggesting the five-time requirement myself. AmbaL has the
adulation panca saMkhyopacAriNi. She grants favours happily when she is
worshipped in multiples of five." Swamiji said, "I told you only that,
nothing else!"
"When do we start this, Periyavaa?"
Swamiji smiled. "It has been said Subhasya shIghram. Today is Friday. Why,
you start today itself." He said and bid them farewell.
With her granddaughter beside her, Paatti walked towards Kamakshi Amman
temple. Since it was Friday, there was a heavy rush in the temple. Mother
Kamakshi dazzled in full splendour due to special adornments of that day.
Both of them closed their eyes and prayed as advised by Periyavaa. Paatti
had arcanA performed in her granddaughter's birth star and secured the
prasAdam.
Then they both prayed to Amman about the eight-sovereign double-stringed
chain and went around the inner courtyard clockwise five times. Then they
prostrated to AmabaL five times as Swamiji had suggested. With faith in
heart, they went back home.
On Saturday morning, Paatti started from her house with her granddaughter.
Collecting the coral-jasmine flowers, she hurried to Sankara maTham. There
was a heavy rush in the maTham. Meenakshi Paatti was standing in the queue
some twenty or thirty bhaktas behind. She heard what the person before her
was telling his neighbour with concern. 'Today is the day of the anushA
star. PeriyavaL's birth star. So Swamiji has taken up a vow of silence
today. He wouldn't talk to anybody. Only mukha darshan.'
Anxiety got hold of Meenakshi Paatti. She worried, 'I thought of reminding
Periyavaa about the eight-sovereign double-stringed chain, but it seems that
won't be possible now.' When they got near Periyavaa, they prostrated to
him. That para brahmaM was sitting with no sign of life in him. Paatti
paused, yearning that he would ask something about the chain. Swamiji's
assistant told her a bit sternly, "Paatti, move away please! Periyavaa
adopts a vow of silence today. He won't talk. See, how many people are
waiting behind you!"
She made her way towards Kamakshi Amman temple, along with her
granddaughter. As advised by Periyavaa, they performed the panca
saMkhyopacAra worship on that day and got back home. Maha Swamiji continued
the vow of silence on the following two days also. Paatti and her
granddaughter could only have a darshan of the sage at the maTham. Paatti
started worrying, 'Four out of five days has gone by since Periyavaa's
advice but nothing happened! Will Mother Kamakshi open her eyes and bless me
or not?' She could only grieve within herself.
It dawned on Tuesday. Sri Kanchi maTham was very brisk on that day. A bhajan
troupe from Arani was immersing the maTham in bhaktic ecstasy.
AcharyaL came and sat in his usual place. There was such a maha tejas in his
face! He had dissolved his vow of silence. There was a large crowd waiting
for PeriyavaL's darshan. A middle-aged maami in the queue prostrated to
Swamiji happily as her turn came. Happiness was writ on her face. She
submitted the things she had brought--a large bunch of rastaLi bananas,
un-shorn coconuts, sweet lemons, oranges, pumpkins, and chubby
raw-bananas--and prostrated again.
Swamiji smiled to himself as he glanced at the items kept before him. Then
he narrowed his eyes and looked keenly at the woman. "Aren't you Ambujam,
wife of Needamangalam landowner Ganesa Iyer? You came two months back. Told
me something, feeling sad. Looking at the way you have come now with a large
banana bunch, it seems that your problems would have been solved by the
grace of Kamakshi, right?"
Ambujam prostrated again and said, "True, Periyavaa. My only daughter
Mythili was made to stay away from her husband's home for the last three
years. Two months back I came running to you, reported this humiliation and
wept. It was you who advised me to do five circumambulations and five
prostrations for five days and perform ablution and worship in the Kamakshi
Amman temple of this town. I completed them with extreme care, and what a
wonder, fifteen days back, my son-in-law Radhakrishnan who works in
Jamshedpur Tata Steel Plant came over himself and took his wife Mythili back
with him. It's all that Kamakshi's grace and your blessings, Periyavaa!"
Tears of joy filled her eyes as she spoke.
Swamiji said, "Besh, besh, very glad. Let the dampati rest in prosperity! By
the way, where did you get such a big bunch of bananas? Looks massive!"
Swamiji's laughter rolled by like thunder.
Ambujam said smilingly, "This bunch was harvested from our own banana bed,
Periyavaa; which is why it is so big!" She spoke with humility.
Showing happiness, Swamiji ordered her, "Alright, only Amma Kamakshi has
rejoined your daughter and son-in-law. So you offer this big banana bunch to
Her and distribute the fruits to the bhaktas who visit the shrine."
Ambujam said, "No no, Periyavaa. Let it remain in this sanctum. I have an
identical bunch to offer to AmbaL. Now I seek your leave to have a darshan
of AmbaL, complete my prayers and get back here." She prostrated.
"BeshA! After completing your prayers you must take food in the maTham and
then only should get back to your place. Remember it!" Swamiji gave her his
consent to leave him.
There was not much crowd in Kamakshi Amman temple on that day. It was eleven
in the morning. As it was later than usual, Meenakshi Paatti hurried to the
temple with her granddaughter. She halted at the shop selling arcanA packs,
and told her granddaughter, "Hey Kamakshi! Today is the day of completion.
So we shall do everything in five numbers as told by AcharyaL. What you do,
get five arcanA packs with five coconuts, five bananas, betel leaves, nuts,
etc. and come back running!" and gave her the required money.
The granddaughter bought the things as ordered. Paatti performed the arcanAs
to AmbaL and prayed Her with tearful eyes, 'Amma Kamakshi, I am completely
depending on You only! I have no refuge except You and SwamigaL. Only You
should arrange for the eight-sovereign double-string chain and complete my
granddaughter's marriage in a fitting manner.' As Paatti sobbed, her
granddaughter was also moved and wept. Then they started going round the
inner courtyard from left to right. They were on their fourth round.
"Paatti... Paatti... Paattee!" Meekakshi Paatti looked back at the loud call
from her granddaughter and chided her angrily, "Why do you cry so loud? What
have you lost to raise such a noise?"
"Nothing lost Paatti, but something gained! Please come here, I shall show
you!" She took her grandma to a corner, opened her right palm and showed her
something. It was a severed, double-stringed chain with a front.
"Where did you find that?" Paatti asked with surprise. Her granddaughter
said, "As I was coming behind you with a bowed head, my eyes chanced on this
chain. I took it at once, and no one had noticed me! This chain is severed
Paatti. Check if it is original or just a coated one."
Paatti took the chain in her hands to guess its weight. She said, "Looks
like sovereign, Kamakshi! May be eight or eight-and-a-half sovereigns. This
has been granted to us by Kamakshi Herself backed by the blessings of
Periyavaa. Alright, let us go out first!" She packed the chain inside the
edge of her sari and hurriedly came out, forgetting to complete her fifth
circumambulation.
It was one in the afternoon. Four or five people were waiting for the
darshan of AcharyaL in the maTham. Meenakshi Paatti prostrated to the sage
with her granddaughter and got up. Swamiji looked at her and laughed. She
was confused whether to tell Swamiji about the chain or not.
Swamiji forestalled her. "Today you should have completed your panca
saMkhyopacAra pradakSiNa in order. But then it was not completed because of
a vastu that came to the hand of your granddaughter! That sudden delight did
not allow you to do more than four pradakSiNas. You came hurriedly, thinking
that Kamakshi has given you Her pUrna anugrahah. What, am I right?"
Paatti was shocked. She became insensate, and swallowed her words as she
spoke: "SwamigaL shouldn't mistake me. Once that (object) came to the hand
of my granddaughter, I assumed that AmbaL Herself had dropped it for my
granddaughter to take. In that sudden delight I totally forgot that I had to
make one more pradakSiNa."
Periyavaa said relentlessly, "Only that you forgot. You did not forget to
get the vastu weighed at Rangu Patthar's shop. Or get the severed portion
melted in the furnace to rejoin." He clinched his talk with the words, "Let
it go. When you weighed it, was it exactly eight sovereigns?"
Paatti and her granddaughter were stunned. "All you said now is satyam,
Periyavaa!" said Paatti.
Swamiji asked her calmly, "Tell me in fairness. To whom does that padArthaH
belong?"
"To AmbaL Kamakshi."
"Tell me yourself, can you take it secretly and pack it inside the edge of
your sari?"
"A mistake... nothing else but a mistake! Should excuse me. I have done it
inadvertently." Paatti was genuinely repenting. She placed the
double-stringed sovereign chain on the brass plate that was found before
Swamiji, her hands shaking. Swamiji laughed.
It was now two in the afternoon. Swamiji asked Meenakshi Paatti and her
daughter to sit before him. It was at that time that Ambujam AmmaL, wife of
Needamangalam Ganesa Iyer, who had taken leave in the morning, came back
full of sorrow and prostrated to the sage. Her eyes were shedding tears
profusely. Swamiji saw this and said affectionately, "adAdA, why do you shed
tears Amma?"
Ambujam Ammal wiped her tears and replied, "It is like this, Periyavaa. Two
months ago when I did the five days seva in the Kamakshi Amman temple I
prayed to AmbaL earnestly that I would offer Her my eight-sovereign
double-stringed chain if she united my daughter and son-in-law, who were
then separated. AmbaL has united them. I went to the temple to offer my
chain. It slipped from my neck and fell down somewhere. I searched
everywhere anxiously but the chain could not be found. What can I do now,
Periyavaa?" She started wailing.
Swamiji turned his face to Meenakshi Paatti and looked meaningfully. Paatti
prostrated to him and got up briskly. She took the double-stringed sovereign
chain from the brass plate before the sage in her hand. She turned to
Ambujam and said holding up the chain, "Amma Ambujam. Check if this is the
double-stringed chain you lost."
Ambujam took the chain from her hand and checked. "The same, the same chain,
Paatti. How did it come here? Looks very wonderful!" Paatti narrated
everything that happened to them in the same breath.
Ambujam Ammal hugged Meenakshi Paatti. "Paatti, you don't worry at all! I am
informing you this before our AcharyaL. I shall arrange for a new
double-stringed chain in eight sovereigns for your granddaughter! Her
marriage will be performed grandly. This double-stringed I have prayed to
offer to AmbaL. This evening I shall take you and your granddaughter
Kamakshi to the jewellery shop in this down and get her an eight-sovereign
double-stringed chain. In addition, I shall give you five thousand rupees
for the marriage expenses."
Swamiji was sitting as the prat^yakSa kAmAkshi, witnessing this scene.
Everyone prostrated to AcharyaL. He looked at Meenakshi Paatti and said,
"Today you and your granddaughter did not do the five pradakSiNas. Go in the
evening, do five pradakSiNas and five prostrations, and have a darshan of
AmbaL." Saying this he bid them farewell.
It is not possible to narrate in words the happiness and ecstatic shiver
that Meenakshi Paatti and her granddaughter experienced at that time.
Author: Sri Ramani Anna (in Tamil)
Source: Sakthi Vikatan issue dated Dec 20, 2006
*Glossary:*
adAdA - (Tamil) an ex-pression of sympathy
adede! - (Tamil) an ex-pression of surprise indicating familiarity
ambAL - Mother Goddess
anugrahah - blessing, kindness
apacAram - offense, fault, something which contradicts Acaram or rules of
conduct
arcanA ?worship
besh, besh - an ex-pression of appreciation, popular in the Brahmin
community.
bhajan - hymns praising God
bhakta ?devotee
closed her eyes - (Tamil) died
dampati - husband and wife
maami - (Tamil) a brahmin housewife
mukha - face, countenance
panca saMkhyopacArini - pleased by five kinds of service, honour, worship
Paatti - (Tamil) grandmother
padArthaH - a thing or object
para brahmaM - (Tamil) formless God
pArijAta pushpam - flowers of the coral tree
pradakSiNa - on the right side, go clockwise
prat^yakSa - visible, perceptible
pUrna - complete, full, whole
rastaLi - a variety of bananas
sannidhi - the building where the deity is installed
satyam ?truth
shubhasya shIghram - auspicious things quickly
SwamigaL - (Tamil) Swamiji
tejas - divine splendour
vastu- an article, object (among many other meanings)
An early morning, many years ago. It was slightly drizzling. Maha Periyavaa
was seated in solitude at Kanchi Sri Sankara maTham. After the bhaktas had
darshan of him, Swamiji arose to go to his room. Just then an old grandma
and a young woman came running and prostrated to the sage. Swamiji sat down
again, looking a bit keenly at them.
With happiness crawling on his face, Swamiji said, "adede! Is it Meenakshi
Paatti? What a wonder you have come in the morning time? Who is near you?
Your granddaughter? What name?"
Meenakshi Paatti said, "Periyavaa! I am coming to the maTham to have your
darshan for ever so many years. Till today I haven't informed SwamigaL about
me. There was no such opportunity. But then, it has come now. This girl
standing by my side is my granddaughter born through my daughter. Since she
was born in this town, we named her Kamakshi. I had only one daughter, and
she closed her eyes twelve years ago, leaving this girl to my care. Some
disease she had. Her husband also died before her due to a heart attack.
"Since then I am plodding on alone with this girl. I put her in a school.
Study didn't get into her head. So I stopped it with her fifth grade. Now
she is fifteen years old. My duty will be over once I give her hand to a
man!"
ACharyaL listened to her patiently. "I understood when I saw you come here
and stand before me in the early morning itself, that you who used to bring
pArijAta pushpam for Chandramouleesvara puja every morning around ten o'
clock, have come to me now with a purpose. What is the news?" he said.
Hesitating at first, Meenakshi Paatti began: "Nothing, Periyavaa. A suitable
alliance has come up for this girl. The boy is also from this place. School
teacher. Sixty rupees salary. Good family. No demand-and-take harassments.
They say that both the horoscopes match well. Somehow only you should
perform this marriage, Periyavaa!" Paatti prostrated to him.
AcharyaL's tone showed some heat as he chided her: "What? I should perform
the marriage? What are you talking?" Within moments he cooled down and said,
"Alright, what do you expect me to do?"
Paatti was happy. "It's like this, Periyavaa! I have somehow managed to save
five thousand rupees for her marriage. I can complete the marriage within
that amount. But then the boy's mother has said compulsively, 'Paatti,
whatever or however you do it, you must present a double-stringed,
eight-sovereign gold chain for the neck of your granddaughter!' I couldn't
do anything big by way of jewels-and-bolts for her within my income. I have
arranged just a bangle of one sovereign each for each hand of this girl.
Only that is possible for me. Where can I go for an eight-sovereign
double-stringed chain, Periyavaa? Only you--"
Before she could finish, Swamiji asked her with some anger: "Tell me, you
want me to provide her with a double-stringed chain in eight-sovereigns?"
Meenkshi Paatti prostrated to him and rose. Patting her cheeks loudly, she
said, "apacAram, apacAram, Periyavaa. I am not coming to say that. A number
of rich and big people come for your darshan daily. Could you not gesture to
any of them to arrange for the eight-sovereign double-stringed chain?"
Paatti asked him longingly.
"What? To gesture to the big people who come for a darshan? There is no such
practice. If you want, you seek some other alliance where they don't demand
eight or ten sovereigns! Only that is better for you." Swamiji got up.
Meenakshi Paatti said anxiously, "I pray that Periyavaa shouldn't leave me
with such advice! This is a very good alliance, Periyavaa. The boy has a
sanguine temperament. They got their own girls married with a gift of an
eight-sovereign double-stringed chain each. Therefore they desire that the
girl coming as their daughter-in-law should also come with a double-stringed
chain. Nothing else, Periyavaa. Only you should provide me with guidance in
the matter!" Paatti begged the sage.
AcharyaL, who had got up, sat down again. He was immersed in deep thoughts
for some time. Then he started talking with compassion: "Will you do
something I suggest now?"
"I will do it definitely. Please tell me what!" Paatti was excited.
"Go to the Kamakshi Amman temple tomorrow with your granddaughter. Both of
you pray to her, 'This marriage should take place grandly with the required
eight-sovereign double-stringed chain provided. Only you should arrange it,
Amma!' and do pradakSiNa of the sannidhi five times. Prostrate before ambAL
five times and go home. Pray this way for five days. Kamakshi will arrange
the things as you have desired in your mind." AcharyaL blessed them
smilingly.
As she prostrated and got up, Meenakshi Paatti said, "What is it Periyavaa,
you suggest everything five times!" She asked with eagerness, "If I do it
that way, AmbaL Kamakshi will surely arrange my granddaughter Kamakshi's
marriage?"
"I am not suggesting the five-time requirement myself. AmbaL has the
adulation panca saMkhyopacAriNi. She grants favours happily when she is
worshipped in multiples of five." Swamiji said, "I told you only that,
nothing else!"
"When do we start this, Periyavaa?"
Swamiji smiled. "It has been said Subhasya shIghram. Today is Friday. Why,
you start today itself." He said and bid them farewell.
With her granddaughter beside her, Paatti walked towards Kamakshi Amman
temple. Since it was Friday, there was a heavy rush in the temple. Mother
Kamakshi dazzled in full splendour due to special adornments of that day.
Both of them closed their eyes and prayed as advised by Periyavaa. Paatti
had arcanA performed in her granddaughter's birth star and secured the
prasAdam.
Then they both prayed to Amman about the eight-sovereign double-stringed
chain and went around the inner courtyard clockwise five times. Then they
prostrated to AmabaL five times as Swamiji had suggested. With faith in
heart, they went back home.
On Saturday morning, Paatti started from her house with her granddaughter.
Collecting the coral-jasmine flowers, she hurried to Sankara maTham. There
was a heavy rush in the maTham. Meenakshi Paatti was standing in the queue
some twenty or thirty bhaktas behind. She heard what the person before her
was telling his neighbour with concern. 'Today is the day of the anushA
star. PeriyavaL's birth star. So Swamiji has taken up a vow of silence
today. He wouldn't talk to anybody. Only mukha darshan.'
Anxiety got hold of Meenakshi Paatti. She worried, 'I thought of reminding
Periyavaa about the eight-sovereign double-stringed chain, but it seems that
won't be possible now.' When they got near Periyavaa, they prostrated to
him. That para brahmaM was sitting with no sign of life in him. Paatti
paused, yearning that he would ask something about the chain. Swamiji's
assistant told her a bit sternly, "Paatti, move away please! Periyavaa
adopts a vow of silence today. He won't talk. See, how many people are
waiting behind you!"
She made her way towards Kamakshi Amman temple, along with her
granddaughter. As advised by Periyavaa, they performed the panca
saMkhyopacAra worship on that day and got back home. Maha Swamiji continued
the vow of silence on the following two days also. Paatti and her
granddaughter could only have a darshan of the sage at the maTham. Paatti
started worrying, 'Four out of five days has gone by since Periyavaa's
advice but nothing happened! Will Mother Kamakshi open her eyes and bless me
or not?' She could only grieve within herself.
It dawned on Tuesday. Sri Kanchi maTham was very brisk on that day. A bhajan
troupe from Arani was immersing the maTham in bhaktic ecstasy.
AcharyaL came and sat in his usual place. There was such a maha tejas in his
face! He had dissolved his vow of silence. There was a large crowd waiting
for PeriyavaL's darshan. A middle-aged maami in the queue prostrated to
Swamiji happily as her turn came. Happiness was writ on her face. She
submitted the things she had brought--a large bunch of rastaLi bananas,
un-shorn coconuts, sweet lemons, oranges, pumpkins, and chubby
raw-bananas--and prostrated again.
Swamiji smiled to himself as he glanced at the items kept before him. Then
he narrowed his eyes and looked keenly at the woman. "Aren't you Ambujam,
wife of Needamangalam landowner Ganesa Iyer? You came two months back. Told
me something, feeling sad. Looking at the way you have come now with a large
banana bunch, it seems that your problems would have been solved by the
grace of Kamakshi, right?"
Ambujam prostrated again and said, "True, Periyavaa. My only daughter
Mythili was made to stay away from her husband's home for the last three
years. Two months back I came running to you, reported this humiliation and
wept. It was you who advised me to do five circumambulations and five
prostrations for five days and perform ablution and worship in the Kamakshi
Amman temple of this town. I completed them with extreme care, and what a
wonder, fifteen days back, my son-in-law Radhakrishnan who works in
Jamshedpur Tata Steel Plant came over himself and took his wife Mythili back
with him. It's all that Kamakshi's grace and your blessings, Periyavaa!"
Tears of joy filled her eyes as she spoke.
Swamiji said, "Besh, besh, very glad. Let the dampati rest in prosperity! By
the way, where did you get such a big bunch of bananas? Looks massive!"
Swamiji's laughter rolled by like thunder.
Ambujam said smilingly, "This bunch was harvested from our own banana bed,
Periyavaa; which is why it is so big!" She spoke with humility.
Showing happiness, Swamiji ordered her, "Alright, only Amma Kamakshi has
rejoined your daughter and son-in-law. So you offer this big banana bunch to
Her and distribute the fruits to the bhaktas who visit the shrine."
Ambujam said, "No no, Periyavaa. Let it remain in this sanctum. I have an
identical bunch to offer to AmbaL. Now I seek your leave to have a darshan
of AmbaL, complete my prayers and get back here." She prostrated.
"BeshA! After completing your prayers you must take food in the maTham and
then only should get back to your place. Remember it!" Swamiji gave her his
consent to leave him.
There was not much crowd in Kamakshi Amman temple on that day. It was eleven
in the morning. As it was later than usual, Meenakshi Paatti hurried to the
temple with her granddaughter. She halted at the shop selling arcanA packs,
and told her granddaughter, "Hey Kamakshi! Today is the day of completion.
So we shall do everything in five numbers as told by AcharyaL. What you do,
get five arcanA packs with five coconuts, five bananas, betel leaves, nuts,
etc. and come back running!" and gave her the required money.
The granddaughter bought the things as ordered. Paatti performed the arcanAs
to AmbaL and prayed Her with tearful eyes, 'Amma Kamakshi, I am completely
depending on You only! I have no refuge except You and SwamigaL. Only You
should arrange for the eight-sovereign double-string chain and complete my
granddaughter's marriage in a fitting manner.' As Paatti sobbed, her
granddaughter was also moved and wept. Then they started going round the
inner courtyard from left to right. They were on their fourth round.
"Paatti... Paatti... Paattee!" Meekakshi Paatti looked back at the loud call
from her granddaughter and chided her angrily, "Why do you cry so loud? What
have you lost to raise such a noise?"
"Nothing lost Paatti, but something gained! Please come here, I shall show
you!" She took her grandma to a corner, opened her right palm and showed her
something. It was a severed, double-stringed chain with a front.
"Where did you find that?" Paatti asked with surprise. Her granddaughter
said, "As I was coming behind you with a bowed head, my eyes chanced on this
chain. I took it at once, and no one had noticed me! This chain is severed
Paatti. Check if it is original or just a coated one."
Paatti took the chain in her hands to guess its weight. She said, "Looks
like sovereign, Kamakshi! May be eight or eight-and-a-half sovereigns. This
has been granted to us by Kamakshi Herself backed by the blessings of
Periyavaa. Alright, let us go out first!" She packed the chain inside the
edge of her sari and hurriedly came out, forgetting to complete her fifth
circumambulation.
It was one in the afternoon. Four or five people were waiting for the
darshan of AcharyaL in the maTham. Meenakshi Paatti prostrated to the sage
with her granddaughter and got up. Swamiji looked at her and laughed. She
was confused whether to tell Swamiji about the chain or not.
Swamiji forestalled her. "Today you should have completed your panca
saMkhyopacAra pradakSiNa in order. But then it was not completed because of
a vastu that came to the hand of your granddaughter! That sudden delight did
not allow you to do more than four pradakSiNas. You came hurriedly, thinking
that Kamakshi has given you Her pUrna anugrahah. What, am I right?"
Paatti was shocked. She became insensate, and swallowed her words as she
spoke: "SwamigaL shouldn't mistake me. Once that (object) came to the hand
of my granddaughter, I assumed that AmbaL Herself had dropped it for my
granddaughter to take. In that sudden delight I totally forgot that I had to
make one more pradakSiNa."
Periyavaa said relentlessly, "Only that you forgot. You did not forget to
get the vastu weighed at Rangu Patthar's shop. Or get the severed portion
melted in the furnace to rejoin." He clinched his talk with the words, "Let
it go. When you weighed it, was it exactly eight sovereigns?"
Paatti and her granddaughter were stunned. "All you said now is satyam,
Periyavaa!" said Paatti.
Swamiji asked her calmly, "Tell me in fairness. To whom does that padArthaH
belong?"
"To AmbaL Kamakshi."
"Tell me yourself, can you take it secretly and pack it inside the edge of
your sari?"
"A mistake... nothing else but a mistake! Should excuse me. I have done it
inadvertently." Paatti was genuinely repenting. She placed the
double-stringed sovereign chain on the brass plate that was found before
Swamiji, her hands shaking. Swamiji laughed.
It was now two in the afternoon. Swamiji asked Meenakshi Paatti and her
daughter to sit before him. It was at that time that Ambujam AmmaL, wife of
Needamangalam Ganesa Iyer, who had taken leave in the morning, came back
full of sorrow and prostrated to the sage. Her eyes were shedding tears
profusely. Swamiji saw this and said affectionately, "adAdA, why do you shed
tears Amma?"
Ambujam Ammal wiped her tears and replied, "It is like this, Periyavaa. Two
months ago when I did the five days seva in the Kamakshi Amman temple I
prayed to AmbaL earnestly that I would offer Her my eight-sovereign
double-stringed chain if she united my daughter and son-in-law, who were
then separated. AmbaL has united them. I went to the temple to offer my
chain. It slipped from my neck and fell down somewhere. I searched
everywhere anxiously but the chain could not be found. What can I do now,
Periyavaa?" She started wailing.
Swamiji turned his face to Meenakshi Paatti and looked meaningfully. Paatti
prostrated to him and got up briskly. She took the double-stringed sovereign
chain from the brass plate before the sage in her hand. She turned to
Ambujam and said holding up the chain, "Amma Ambujam. Check if this is the
double-stringed chain you lost."
Ambujam took the chain from her hand and checked. "The same, the same chain,
Paatti. How did it come here? Looks very wonderful!" Paatti narrated
everything that happened to them in the same breath.
Ambujam Ammal hugged Meenakshi Paatti. "Paatti, you don't worry at all! I am
informing you this before our AcharyaL. I shall arrange for a new
double-stringed chain in eight sovereigns for your granddaughter! Her
marriage will be performed grandly. This double-stringed I have prayed to
offer to AmbaL. This evening I shall take you and your granddaughter
Kamakshi to the jewellery shop in this down and get her an eight-sovereign
double-stringed chain. In addition, I shall give you five thousand rupees
for the marriage expenses."
Swamiji was sitting as the prat^yakSa kAmAkshi, witnessing this scene.
Everyone prostrated to AcharyaL. He looked at Meenakshi Paatti and said,
"Today you and your granddaughter did not do the five pradakSiNas. Go in the
evening, do five pradakSiNas and five prostrations, and have a darshan of
AmbaL." Saying this he bid them farewell.
It is not possible to narrate in words the happiness and ecstatic shiver
that Meenakshi Paatti and her granddaughter experienced at that time.
Author: Sri Ramani Anna (in Tamil)
Source: Sakthi Vikatan issue dated Dec 20, 2006
*Glossary:*
adAdA - (Tamil) an ex-pression of sympathy
adede! - (Tamil) an ex-pression of surprise indicating familiarity
ambAL - Mother Goddess
anugrahah - blessing, kindness
apacAram - offense, fault, something which contradicts Acaram or rules of
conduct
arcanA ?worship
besh, besh - an ex-pression of appreciation, popular in the Brahmin
community.
bhajan - hymns praising God
bhakta ?devotee
closed her eyes - (Tamil) died
dampati - husband and wife
maami - (Tamil) a brahmin housewife
mukha - face, countenance
panca saMkhyopacArini - pleased by five kinds of service, honour, worship
Paatti - (Tamil) grandmother
padArthaH - a thing or object
para brahmaM - (Tamil) formless God
pArijAta pushpam - flowers of the coral tree
pradakSiNa - on the right side, go clockwise
prat^yakSa - visible, perceptible
pUrna - complete, full, whole
rastaLi - a variety of bananas
sannidhi - the building where the deity is installed
satyam ?truth
shubhasya shIghram - auspicious things quickly
SwamigaL - (Tamil) Swamiji
tejas - divine splendour
vastu- an article, object (among many other meanings)
knr
--
If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God
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