SithamalliOnMYMind07
Sakthi Vikatan
-
27 Oct, 2015
சித்தமெல்லாம்
சித்தமல்லி
- 7!
Nivēthithā
Sithamalli is the land of Siddhars. SrīRāgavēndirar with grace made
himself manifest there as Padmāvathi Thāyār Samētha Tiruvēnkatanātha
Perumāḷ. His miracles in the lives of his devotees are countless..
The first order of his holy service is to establish a Gōsālai (Cowshed)
attached to the temple selected as the most desirable to the God. He
performed a miracle through Mahāṉ Rāgavēndira Swāmigaḷ, who worshipped
him a few centuries ago.
This miracle happened two years ago. Rāgavēndirar appeared in the dream
of his devotee woman Padmā. He identified the town and temple as
Sithamalli and Tiruvēnkatanātha Temple. He ordered Padmā to send pure
cow’s milk every evening from Tiruvēnkatanātha temple to the nearby
Vaithīsvaran Kovil Śivālayam. He pointed out the cow itself to her.
Padma as usual brought the news to the attention of
Sundaranarayanan (SN) and asked him to arrange as desired. She added if
a cow with specific identification marks came in his way, he should pay
the appropriate amount and buy the cow.
Then, Sundaranarayanan (SN) had only one cow in his household. SN
thought at least five dairy cows were necessary to supply milk to the
Śivālayam. He placed the burden on Rāgavēndirar and went to the paddy
fields.
He supervised harvesting by the workers. A cow looking at SN came
towards him in a calm manner and stationed itself before him. He shooed
away the cow and returned to his work. Next day when SN went to fields,
he saw the same cow lying on the hay. Then only he saw the cow intently.
The identification marks struck him at that moment as described to him
by Padmā Māmi. The cow
appeared pregnant. Upon enquiry, he learnt that the cow belonged to a
villager next to his. Immediately, he bought the cow from the owner and
named it Padmā.
He had two cows now. Two cows make no Gōsālai. Gōsālai needs plenty of
cows. For a bigger Gōsālai,
Mahan Rāgavēndirar indulged in another divine play with grace.
Rāgavēndirar appeared in the dreams of Chennai teacher Parimalam and
Tripurasundari and ordered them to buy cows for Sithamalli
Tiruvēnkatanātha Temple Gōsālai. They bought one cow each and SN had
four cows in all. Nothing to worry anymore. SN was happy that according
to the words of Rāgavēndirar, every evening he could provide milk to the
Vaithīsvaran Koil. His friend Srinivasan working in the State Bank of
India also bought a cow and donated it to the Gōsālai. Chennai resident
Kumar working as an executive in a private firm donated a cow to Gōsālai
in memory of his mother and named it Rajalakshmi. Sundaranarayanan’s
(SN) exhilaration knew no bounds.
Man’s character gains maturity when it undergoes trials and
tribulations.
After a few months, the milk output lessened, SN wanted to buy two more
cows. A bovine broker from
Manalmedu told SN that a cow of superior breed from Sindh was in the
market for sale. SN looked at the cow, was very pleased and asked for
the price. The broker quoted a price of Rs. 65,000, which made SN
retreat. SN told the broker he did not have that kind of money on him,
but the broker insisted on the sale of the cow to SN and tried to
sweeten the deal with a discount of Rs. 10,000 and a gift of Rs.101. SN
protested, but it did not work. The broker put the cow on a wagon and
brought it to Sithamalli.
The broker did not leave him alone.
He took SN to a nearby village to an owner ready to sell his cow
for the bargained price of Rs. 29,000. The broker made SN buy that cow,
burdening SN with a total debt of Rs. 84,000.
Rāgavēndirar offered his grace to SN again, by not letting him
squirm under the debt burden. Earlier Kumar donated a cow in memory of
his mother. His relative sent next day a check for Rs. 100,000 for
temple services. Sundaranarayanan was exhilarated realizing the power of
Perumāl’s grace and Rāgavēndra’s Aṉugraham.
One day, SN offered animal feed
to the cows at noon. He had enough feed for two cows. He brought two
cows before the animal feed bin and tried to feed them. One cow is the
first pregnant one that came in SN’s dream with Rāgavēndirar giving the
identifying marks of the cow to SN. Both cows were stubborn and would
not eat and kept their mouths (muzzles) clenched tight. That time SN was famished
with intense hunger. His rage, so far in hiding in the recess of his
mind, surfaced and reared its ugly head. Caught by fury, he looked at
the cows, and yelled, “Why are you squeezing my breath away?” He was
about to hit them in anger.
In his mind’s eye, a wonderful vision appeared. That…
The mind tingles.
Images: K.S. Satishkumar