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riMka Pacaati: Lit.Five Hundred Hymns on Goddess Kmki; In five sections of 100verses each: ry
atakam, Pdravinda atakam, Mandasmita atakam, Katka atakam, and Stuti atakam; Composed byri
Mka ankara / Mkha Kavi / lit. Dumb Poet, r Mkha ankarendra Sarasvat, approximately placed
between398 A.D. and 437 A.D the 20th carya of the ri Knchi Kmakoti Ptha.
13
The narrator is not narrating the events sequentially.
14
The section narrated in the beginning would sequentially fit in here.
15
The staff held by the ascetic; Pinda is a piece/portion of some thing; refers to the body as part of the divine
whole; also refers to the food offerings of balls of cooked-rice and barley flour mixed with ghee and black
sesame seeds offered to ancestors during funeral rites made to the dead; hence both the body and its sustenance
are referred to as pinda here, with special significance since Periyava is talking of his body, and its food, as an
ascetic; pinda is offered only to the dead; food given to the living is not referred to as pinda; here Periyava is
referring to his bhika.
23
Vaidiks prefer to cook their own meal or accept a cooked meal only if especially cooked for them following
all the prescribed injunctions of orthodoxy
30
During visits, ceremonial welcome and reception by townsfolk when Periyava is taken around the main roads
in a palanquin in the evening/night; done in the early years
At Thenampakkam thirty two Brahmins were invited34 and after their meal one by one
they came forward and Periyava made kind enquiries of them. It was during Guru ardhana.
Everyone had come up and received Periyavas blessings. Finally the last one came. Periyava
must have known that the gentlemen had lost his father not long ago and that his mother still
dressed her hair as before.
Are your parents well?
Father is no more
How is your mother? Is she sakei?35
Yes said the Brahmin in a sinking tone.
At once Periyava said Fetch thirty-two milk cows! Thirty two milk cows were brought
from the Matha.
Fetch white silk cloth for the cows said Periyava and soon each cow had a piece of white
silk on it.
Fetch silver for the hooves and gold for the horns, said Periyava and in no time silver and
gold also was brought and placed before him. Periyava instructed that a full meal, just like the
one offered to the Brahmins during ardhana be prepared. Thirty two leaves were spread and
the cows fed with the meal laid out in the leaves.
Drop the leaves in the pond said Periyava.
If Periyava is angry, neither the celestial king Indira or the Moon-God Chandra can go near
him. What can those such as us do? We can only prostrate to him, we cannot do anything
else.
33
At Ilayathangudi, that was when a sadas was held36, the pdapja had been filmed and
Periyava watched it. It was very late at night, only one or two people were around. We had
gone as a big group. Everyone had fallen asleep. I was awake and heard the voice in the tape
from outside the room, where I was seated. Periyava bathed and came for the pja, saying
Who is here?
Kamu is here
Then he asked a gentleman who had been fast asleep what he thought of the tape. What could
the poor man say? He could reply only if he had seen or heard the tape after all. And you?,
Periyava asked me.
I heard it from here, I said.
Periyava knew every yoga to perfection. Once he sat in samdhi37 with his eyes this
big, open so wide you can show such a thing through trick photography in the cinema. It is
not possible in real life for the eyes to become like that. Nothing shook Periyava out of
36
37
the first ever Akhila Bhrata gama ilpa Kaldi Sadas convened by Periyava in 1962
the state of oneness with the divine
38
Periyava was in the middle of the Bhya pha, with Vanchi Mama and a few others.
Ganesan came with Appulu and Ramachandraiyer, half-way through. No sooner did Periyava
sight them he said, Ganesa! I am waiting for you. Sit down. I am going to tell you a story.
Once upon a time there was a king. He grew a rose garden for his queen. But everyday
celestials would come and take away the flowers. The queen cried in disappointment because
she did not get any. So the king called the guards and said if you dont catch the culprit by
tomorrow you will lose your head said the king. What could the guard do? He needed to
save his life. So he caught a boy who stammered and could not speak well, stuffed some rose
flowers into his mouth, thrust a flower basket into his hands and pushed the boy into a caged
cart, closed it shut and handed him over to the king.
What have you got to say? asked the King
What am I to say, said the boy. I was going my way and these men caught me. They
pushed me into this trap, stuffed rose flowers into my mouth and thrust this flower basket into
my hands. This is all I know!
Now let me tell you another story.
There was once a priest at a Siva temple. One day he had to visit relatives in another
village. So he told his little son to worship the Sivalinga at the temple the next day and left on
43
The revered Gudalur Brahmar Ramakrishna Sastrigal; exponent on Vedas, Dharma astrs, Purs,
Mantra and Yantra astrs.
44
In Tami skku; also means opportunity; Periyava is punning on the word
45
The place is not recalled correctly
One could go on talking about Periyavas glory. I have but one prayer now. I was
widowed when I was sixteen. All these years of my life I have spent in thoughts of Periyava,
taking sole refuge in him. My only prayer is that my end comes well, so that I do not trouble
anyone. I pray that I reach his divine feet when my end comes.
That is all I want.
chinty avyaktarupya nirgunaya gutmane
samasta jagaddharamrtaye Brahmae nama46.
In Thanjavur, Periyava and Pudu Periyava were coming in a grand procession. There
were two sets of ndaswaram artists playing that day. You can never again hear such divine
music. It was as if music had manifested itself for Periyava. What with the ndaswaram and
the tavil and all that! I followed the procession moving this way and that so that I could see
Periyava. Periyava said, Kamu is coming in procession with music and fanfare!
[The narrator laughs in joy.]
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46
Meditating on the one without attributes, without qualities and with qualities
On the one that is the support of all creation, the Brahman, I salute.