Sories of Bhaktas - 16. Sada Siva Brahmendra Swami

[Guest guest]

16. Sada Siva Brahmendra Swami

Vivekananda said, `I challenge anybody to show one single

period of her national life when India was lacking in spiritual

giants.' India went on producing sages with positive outlook,

sublime thoughts. Such spiritual gems of India silently contributed

to the well being of the whole world.'

Saints and their like have to be believed and belief is a

matter of heart, faith, As God cannot be forced into a narrow

definition, saints too cannot be circumscribed in the confines of

words and a definition.

One such saint is Sada Siva Brahmendra, on the banks of

Kaveri river in a village called Neruru, in Tiruchunapalli district.

There is a siva temple and `Bilva Vruksham' on the banks of Kaveri

river. In the temple lies the samadhi of the great saint. Pilgrims

flock together to have his darshan.

This Sada Siva Brahmendra was born to a great pandit named

Moksha Somasundara Avadhani. He prayed to Rama and Krishna while his

wife Parvathi prayed to Shiva. As a result their son was named Siva

Rama Krishna.

He proved himself different from birth. He had vairagya

which reached its zenith in his youth but as typical parents, his

parents assumed that he would behave perfectly normal after he was

united in wedlock. He tried to oppose, but he had to yield

ultimately to their persuations, being a dutiful son. He was married

at the age of seventeen.

Siva Rama Krishna could not change after his marriage as his

parents assumed. The vairagya and a quest for knowledge continued to

be deep rooted in him. In the mean while his wife matured and their

first night was arranged on a grand scale in his in-law's house.

Siva Rama Krishna was very hungry. He stood at the door step of

kitchen and pleaded. `I am hungry. Will you serve me food ?' He was

asked to wait for some time. He insisted I am terribly hungry. I

don't require delicious meal. Serve me a simple meal. That's

enough!' `Oh! just wait. You don't have to wait too long. Don't step

in, stand there.' `These words were spoken by his own mother-in-law.

A turning point in life comes in a split second and quite

unexpectedly. `Don't step in, stand there, `The innocent casual

words of mother-in-law conveyed a deeper message.' Don't step, into

Gruhastasram. Stand outside and seek knowledge was the implied

message. The human beings who could not satiate his hunger, how

will they quench his thirst for knowledge? That decided his fate.

The next minute he shot out of the house like an arrow. His

relatives couldn't trace him. How can they when he is in search of

the infinite knowledge?

He lived a nomadic life near forest and river beds, begging

alms whenever he was hungry. When he had no place to live, where

will he provide a place to God ? So he placed God within his heart

and prayed to him. He described this `manasika pooja' in his

keerthana `Sivamanasika Pooja'.

`Hey Mahadev! when you are all pervading, where do I pray to

you ? When your hands and feet are spread all over how can I wash

your feet ? When the sky is your dress, how can I provide you a

dress ? When you are a great dancer how can I dance infront you?

It thus.

Lord Siva was touched by the sincere prayer of Siva Rama

Krishna. The God provided him a Guru in the form of Parama Sivendra

Saraswathi Swami of Kamakoti Pitam. The Guru was impressed by the

Chaitanya in him and addressed him `Sada Siva'! This Sada Siva

served ardently the guru and composed many kirtanas, displayed his

knowledge before many pandits and wrote a commentary on Brahma

Sutras and Patanjali Yoga Sutras. He dedicated all his verses to his

Guru. The insignia of his kirtanas was paramahamsa guru.

Great pandits too couldnot withstand his immense knowledge.

One pandit who was defeated in a vedantic debate was unable to bear

the insult and complained against `Sada Siva'. The guru asked him

When will you become silent ?' Sadasiva took it as an order and

said `Guruji! I have been waiting for a sign from you. I will

remain silent from this very moment.' He did remain silent and

composed many kirtanas describing his feelings.

He left the guru, left the formalities of the material life

and started moving around stark naked. He was enjoying the bliss of

Aatma Jnana. He ate what came to him. One who sleeps on the river

bed in a shanty He is a true saint who knows the real meaning of

Sat.Chit.Ananda He himself described it.

One afternoon Sada Siva Brahmendra Swami was relaxing beside

a heap of grains. He was lost in his meditation unmindful of the

passing on of time. In the evening, the farmer came there. Seeing

the swami these, he mistook him as a thief and raised his stick to

hit him. Lo! He remained as a statue with a raised hand for the

whole night. The next morning, the Swami came to his senses and

smiled at the farmer. He came back to life. Realizing the greatness

of the swami, he fell to his feet and asked him to forgive him. Such

saints are beyond the petty feelings of human beings. So he walked

away silently.

Once he was sitting on the banks of Kaveri River and was

lost in Samadhi. He was cut off from the world outside. Suddenly it

started reining cats and dogs. People advised him to move but their

words did not reach his ears. When his indriyas and mind have

turned inward, how will he perceive the outside world ? Finally he

was washed away into the river. The people felt sorry for his

sudden demise.

Three months passed. A farmer was loading his cart with sand

beside the river. How astonishing ? Suddenly his spade was smeared

with blood stains. When he carefully examined the sand, what did he

see ? Sada Siva Brahmendra Swami in the same meditating pose as he

was three months before. The people felt him to be an incarnation

of Lord Siva and prayed to him.

A Jnani may have a body but he is not confined to the

body. He smiled at the people, gave out a Kirtana and walked past

them.' I am brahman. I am all pervading Sat. I am devoid of fear

etc. was the meaning of that keertana.

Once Swami was proceeding towards Tirunalveli from Kurtalam.

On the way some people were loading a bundle of sticks. They called

him to carry the sticks since he too looked like a stick. He mutely

obeyed them and was about to leave them, when they ridiculed

him, `Oh log of wood! Where are you going ?' Is it courteous on

their part to extract work from him and laugh at him ? God burnt

those sticks and they had no chance to plead guilty too since he

disappeared from the scene.

The great Jnanis cannot be appreciated by Ajnanis.

Shakespeare said `poets, lovers and madmen are alike' we can add to

this list Jnanis. They are lost in the eternal bliss, keep smiling

to themselves, are cut off from the world. When Sada Siva's guru was

told that Sada Siva was moving around like a madman , he

exclaimed, `I wonder when I can reach his state'. Only Jnanis can

understand other Jnanis. This cannot be understood by people

engulfed by maya. So they ridicule such saints.

On one such occasion an onthodox brahmin criticised his

silent habits as a pretext and his avadhoota's life as a drama. Sada

Siva swami silently moved to a dhobi beside him and inscribed a few

letters on his tongue. Wow! the illiterate dhobi chanted veda

mantras. Those mantras supported the life style of a Jnani with

illustrations and arguments.

What an irony ! An illiterate became a pandit by his gentle

touch whereas a pandit remained an Ajnani. When he pleaded for

forgiveness the Swami blessed him.

There were many instances which speak of his miraculous

powers. Once a bride was stung by a poisonous snake on the marriage

pandal. She was dead. The joyous occasion turned out to be a

sorrowful scene. Luckily, the swami appeared on the scene and

brought her back to life.

On a different occasion, a few muslims came across the naked

saint. They were surprised at his appearance and asked a passerby ,

a Hindu, the reason. The Hindu explained that he was an avadhoota

and that such people learn that the body is only a shelter but he is

not the body. It all sounded incorrigible for them. One of the

muslims ruthlessly cut of his hand. It was hanging loose from his

shoulder, the blood was flowing down like a stream but the swami was

walking along as if nothing happened. The muslim couldn't believe

his eyes. He ran to him and said, `Your hand is cut,' The swami

coolly touched his hand with the other and lo! it became normal.

That miracle brought a change in the muslim and he fell prostrate

before him. He wrote a sloka them which conveyed the deathlessness

of atma.

He performed miracles thus not as a sign of exhibition but

when the occasion arose. He was seen in many places at the same

time. He never longed for a chain of devotees. He liked children

more for their innocent behaviour.

During his last days he was settled in Neruru. Once children

longed to see the fair in Madurai. He asked them to close their

eyes. He took them to Madhurai, showed the fair, bought them

eatables and asked them to close their eyes again. They were back

to Neruru.

The parents were aghast at the thrilling experience of their

children. The swami was also seen at Kasi, Neruru, Kanchi, Poori etc

at the same time.

He lived the life of a Sanyasi, a detached man, who lived

for the welfare of others. Finally he had reached his last stage.

He then sent for his devotees and wrote his last message thus. `I

am leaving this physical body of mine. You arrange a `samadhi' for

my body here and plant a `Bilva' plant over it. Just at that time,

a brahmin will reach here with a white Siva Linga in his hand. He is

coming from Kasi Instal that Siva Linga before my `samadhi' and pray

to it regularly. Have faith in God. Try to seek the eternal. Learn

to control the indriyas and the mind.'

The devotees couldnot bear their grief. One of them cried

out. `Oh God! If you leave us, who will take care of us ? We can't

live without you. Show us the path to reach God.! Sada Siva Swami,

who was about to leave the world, opened his eyes with great

difficulty and wrote his last message through the last kirthana.

`Sarvam Brahmamayam - Re

Sarvam Brahmamayam'

God is everywhere ? When he is everywhere, where should you

seek him ? We are all in Brahmam.

Everything went on strictly as the swami envisaged and

instructed.

Even today navarathi and the `samadhi' day are celebrated on

a grand scale there. Pudukkota Maharaj has donated a village to meet

the expenses of the rituals in the temple. The celebrations are

conducted by Pudukkota estate. When he was a human being, he walked

like a stick and helped the humanity. When he left the physical

body, he remained as a tree to help the humanity. That's the

greatness of great people. Dead or alive they are forever for the

welfare of humanity.