tears filled his eyes

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Day by Day with Bhagavan________12-12-45 AfternoonAs I was entering the hall about 2-50 p.m., Bhagavan wasreading out from the Tamil Arunachala Puranam the verses inwhich it is said that Gauri, after crossing the several streets ofArunachalam, reached Gautama's Asramam. When Bhagavancame to the verses dealing with Gautama's joy at Gauri's comingto his Asramam, Bhagavan could not go on, for tears filled hiseyes and emotion choked his voice. So he laid aside the bookand Desai continued his reading of the manuscript. I may hererecord that I have noticed on more than one occasion in the pasthow Bhagavan could not proceed with the reading of any deeplydevotional portions of Tamil works such as Thevaram anddevotional hymns of Thayumanavar. This afternoon when I tookfrom Bhagavan the above Arunachala Puranam and referred tothe portion which moved him so deeply and told him, in effect,that I had discovered his plight which he tried to hide from us all,he remarked, "I don't know how those people who performkalakshepam and explain such passages to audiences manage todo it without breaking down. I suppose they must first maketheir hearts hard like stone before starting their work."In the course of Mr. Desai's reading of the manuscripts, heread about the holy hill having eight faces. To a question of minewhether as a matter of fact this hill has eight faces, Bhagavanreplied, "The purana says that the Ashta Vasus having flatteredthemselves in Brahma's presence lost all their merit, and to regainit they came and did penance here all round Arunachala. Theywere given darshan by Siva at one and the same time by Sivaassuming eight faces in this hill. All those eight Vasus are still inthe shape of eight spurs round this hill. What is meant by sayingall those Vasus are still here as hills and doing penance round thisholy hill, it is difficult to understand. Does it only mean they areliving on these hills and doing penance, or are they themselvesthese hills?" He added, "It is difficult now for us to locate wherethe Ashta Dikpalakas actually stood sentry, whether at the spotswhere the Ashta Dik Lingams are now found or whether thelingams are those which were installed and worshipped by them.We cannot be sure where exactly Gauri did penance and whereGautama had his Asramam. But it would be safe to assume thatGauri did her penance in the region covered by Pavalakunru,Durga temple and Pachaiamman Koil and that Gautama'sAsramam must have also been near this region."Bhagavan also said that whatever temple might haveoriginally existed on or about Pavalakunru would seem to havedisappeared probably on account of Tippu's invasion, that thepresent temple there was built only about fifty years ago and thathe once discovered the remains of an old cannon betweenPavalakunru and the northern wall of the Big Temple. It wouldappear that Tippu Sultan placed cannon near Pavalakunru andattacked the northern wall of the temple which was then used asa fort. The northern wall still bears traces of cannon shots. Itseems the information given by Bhagavan was conveyed to theGovernment and the cannon was carried away and kept as a relic.