Boundless grace and compassion

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Boundless grace and compassion

T.B. Nagarajan

One is apt to think that " boundless compassion " exists only in

rhetoric till one has a darsan of Paramacharyal. In His marvelous

presence one instinctively recognised boundless compassion, purity,

grace and the quality of equal vision. Countless must be the

instances of His Grace curing diseases, warding off calamities,

giving peace of mind and above all, guiding an aspirant on the razor-

edge path of ascent along the Sushumna. Instance of the last kind

might not be normally made public, as they pertain to the innermost

lives of the persons. I happened to know of at least one such case,

as it was of my father. From among my experiences, I give the

following few.

When, more than four decades back, I passed the competitive

examinations and got appointed to a top service, Paramacharyal

specifically advised me that I decline that offer, which I did. At

that time almost all who knew me were against my going by His advice

and some even said that He was not qualified to give such advice!

Events, far later, showed how gracious and farsighted He had been

and what great kindness. He had shown in giving that advice!

Once, He, in His own inimitable manner, knocked good sense into me,

and gave a lesson in dealing with one's Guru Maharaj. It is as

follows.

He was camping at the place of my posting and I came to know that

the timepiece He was using was not working well. So, I went to the

shop and selected a good piece, which had a black dial and against

which radium coated white numerals and hands stood out well. (Please

bear this description in mind.) It was a bit costly. A relation of

mine who was with me. at that time, and who was rather close to the

Srimatham, advised me to go in for a cheaper variety. His reasoning

was that devotees were giving timepieces to the Srimatham fairly

frequently, and one cannot say whether Periaval will use a

particular piece at a given time ; and hence a costly place may not

be with Periaval all the time. I was taken in by this argument, and

got a cheaper piece, which had a white dial. I had completely

overlooked the point that a Sishya must offer only the best to his

Guru, particularly when it was available. When I took the piece to

the Sri Matham, Perival had gone inside, and so I gave it to Pudu

Periaval, and informed the Manager, When I went in the evening for

darsan, the Manager called me aside, and gave back the timepiece,

saying, " Periaval saw the timepiece and wanted to know who had given

it. He was told that Nagarajan had given it. He desired that the

article be returned to you with the remark that He preferred to have

one with black dial, against which white numbers were prominent.

Many, who were present at that time, offered to get such a piece.

But Periaval said that Nagarajan only should get it. " When I heard

this, I broke down and cursed myself for having listened to specious

advice, and having been stingy towards Guru Maharaj. Needless to say

that I rushed to that shop, was relieved to find that item on the

shelf, and bought it. The above incident shows the all-pervasive

awareness and infinite compassion of Periaval. I felt really happy

and blessed, when some months later I saw Him using that same

timepiece.

In 1962 Periaval was camping in Elayathagudi. On the day we went for

darsan, He had walked a long distance and was seated in a temple.

Pudu Periaval was in the Sri Matham Camp, after seeing whom we went

by cart to the place where Periaval was. I sought His blessing for

the upanayanam of my son, to be performed soon. He said that we

could go after taking " akshata " , and were wondering why we in

particular were asked to wait. After some time a devotee came in a

car, and Periyaval sent the car to the camp to get the " akshata " ,

gave it to us and permitted us to go. The reason for His action was

revealed to us very soon. On the return journey my son (whose

upanayanam had been arranged), suddenly became sick and started

vomiting. No medical help was available I the bus or outside. We

could only pray or Periaval and clutch the " akshata " so kindly given

by Him. The boy became normal in a short time, and there was

absolutely no problem thereafter. Then only we realised that

Periaval, with His infinite grace and compassion and all-pervading

knowledge, had given the " rakshaa " to mitigate the evil which might

have befallen us otherwise.

I could write on and on. It all comes to the same thing, " BOUNDLESS

GRACE AND COMPASSION " .

Who can fathom Paramacharyal's infinite greatness?

 

Namami Sankaraachaaryam, sarvalokaika Poojitham

 

With permission blessings and grace from HH Swamy Vijeyendra

Saraswathi garu of Shri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham Paramacharya and

miracles