memories of Skandasramam

[Guest guest]

Day by Day with Bhagavan________9-12-45 MorningWhen yesterday Bhagavan referred to Tilak's article inHindustan, I said, "Our Nagamma has also written an accountin Telugu of the visit of Bhagavan to Skandasramam on 25-11-45 and the happenings there." Nagamma had told me previouslyabout this. This morning, Nagamma brought the writing andshowed it to Bhagavan. He read a little and then said, "Let herread it. We shall all listen," and returned the paper to her. Beforeshe could read it out, Bhagavan began talking to us about othermatters. Bhagavan said that the old disciple Kandaswami wasanxious to build a separate Asramam for Bhagavan. Heinspected various places on the hill and in the forests to select asite, and finally suggested the present Skandasramam site andthen Bhagavan also approved of it. Thereupon Kandaswamibegan converting what was a thick forest of prickly pear on themountain slope. The result of his labours, unaided by any atthe time, is the Asramam we see now. He added, "You cannotimagine the state the site was in originally. Kandaswami workedwith almost superhuman effort, achieved by his own hands whateven four people together could not have done. He removed allthe prickly pear, reduced stone and boulder to level ground,created a garden and raised the Asramam. We got four coconuttrees for planting. To plant them properly Kandaswami dughuge square pits about ten feet deep. That would give you anidea of the amount of labour he put into the work he took onhand. He was a strong, well-built man." Then Bhagavan showedus a group photo in Self-Realisation in which the aboveKandaswami, Perumalswami, Palaniswami, SivaprakasamPillai, Narayana Reddi, Iswara Swami, etc., are sitting withBhagavan. The photo was taken on a rock behind VirupakshiCave. He then added, "Kandaswami looks like a weak and leanman in this photo. That is because he went away from us formore than a month and was doing tapas at (non-english script) (SevenSprings) and was purposely underfeeding himself. Before that,he was a muscular, well-built man. He went away with only someflour and a little jaggery to Seven Springs and lived there forabout one and a half months, living only on these scantyprovisions. One night at about 7 p.m. myself, Perumalswami,Nagappa Chetti and possibly one or two others went in search ofKandaswami and found him sleeping inside the rocks at SevenSprings. Perumalswami went inside and brought outKandaswami's conch. Kandaswami and Perumalswami wereadepts at blowing long, continuous blasts on the conch.Perumalswami blew a loud, long blast outside the cave.Kandaswami woke up and, recognising that it was Perumalswamithat was blowing the conch, came out. Seeing me, he prostratedhimself. We all spent the night there. We finished what was leftof the flour and jaggery which he had, and burnt away the firewoodhe had gathered, made it impossible for him to continue thereand persuaded him to come away with us. It was because of hisfasting and tapas that you find him lean in this photo."Bhagavan proceeded to describe how Perumalswami andKandaswami used to blow in concert on the conch and howwhen Bhagavan was in Virupakshi Cave, Perumalswami,Kandaswami and Palaniswami used to go about begging inthe streets for food and bring it up the hill and all there usedto share it. Before Perumalswami joined them, Palaniswamiand Ayyaswami and Kandaswami would go to a chattram andthe manigar would give food for all. But when Perumalswamialso joined, the manigar began questioning why an additionwas necessary. Thereupon Perumalswami laid down that theyshould no longer go to the chattram or be at the mercy of themanigar, but would go and beg in the town. Accordingly, aparty of four or more would leave the cave on this errand.When leaving the cave, they would blow a long blast on theirconches. This was an announcement to the town's people thatBhagavan's party had left the cave on their begging mission.The party would give another blast when they reached thefoot of the hill. A third call would be sounded at the entranceto the street. All the residents of the street would be readywith their offerings and the party would march along the streetsinging some Sivanamavali and collecting the offerings. Thefood collected was ample, it seems, for all who gathered nearBhagavan and all the monkeys, etc. Marital Garland of Letterswas specially composed for use by the begging party.Bhagavan humorously added, "Marital Garland of Letters fedus for many years."