Mr. Lakshmi narayanan narrated two incidents that highlight the anma
shakthi of Shri Maha periyava.
“Whenever periyava goes on yatra, he used to stay in small villages
enroute. Like that he stayed in a place by name ‘Hakri’ before
Guntakkal.
About 10 Kms from the town, there was a Shiva temple. There was also a
huge banyan tree near the temple on a river bank. Periyava liked the
place and immediately decided to stay there.
It is a small village and was totally dry. In olden times, the river
used to be gushing with water. But at the time of periyava’s visit, it
was bone dry.
Sugarcane growing was the main activity there and there was a sugar
mill nearby. The General manager of the sugar factory was a person
hailing from Tanjore district of Tamil nadu. On hearing that Periyava
has come to their village, he rushed to his presence and paid his
respects.
Periyava asked him ‘I would like to perform Vyasa pooja here. Shall I
stay in this place for a few days?’
A visibly moved GM said respectfully ‘It is our punya and pl do stay
here. Please order us, on what all arrangements we should do and it
shall be done’
Then he organized four truck loads of bamboo poles and coconut leaf
sheets and put up a temporary shelter for a length of 300 feet, which
could accommodate 1000 persons.
Though all arrangements were done very well, Periyava did not sleep at
all that night. Though the Shiva temple and the village appealed to
him, he was perturbed that the monsoons have failed and the place was
dry for quite a few years.
Next day, Periyava did not speak with anybody and was staring at the
river for quite some time. In the evening he suddenly got up and went
upto the river bed and was standing in the river sand. After standing
there for some time, he started walking down the river bed in the sand
for about a kilo meter and returned back. Then he called us and
informed ‘I am going to do Sandhya japam. If anyone comes to see me,
ask them to come tomorrow.’ Then he started his japa. Night fall came
and hurricane lamps and one or two available petromax lights were
lighted.
Around 10 PM in the night,
A cool wind started blowing. Then one or two drops of rain water
started falling from the sky. Then it started in a slow drizzle and
intensified into a heavy shower. I requested Periyava to sit in a
nearby cycle rickshaw and was holding an umbrella for him. The rain
lasted for four hours upto 01.30 AM in the morning.
Water started flowing in the dry river bed!!!.
The next morning, people from the village came in strength, speaking
of the wonder done by periyava and paid their respects to him.
Periyava also happily completed the Vyasa pooja.
Lakshmi Narayanan reverentially said – ‘Periayava is a great Tapasvi.
Citing Vyasa pooja as the reason, he stayed there to do good to the
people of that village.’
In another incident, Periyava went to Pandaripuram in Maharashtra. A
river by name Bima flows there. It used to flow ten years ago, and was
dry since then. In the dry river bed, a number of wells were dug upto
a depth of 100 meters. People used pots tied to long ropes to take
water from these wells. It used to take 20 to 25 minutes even for
filling the pots.
On the other bank of the river, was an old unused dilapidated
Manadapam, and Periyava stayed there.
In the evening at about five ‘o’ clock, Periyava started his Japa.
After about an hour, it started raining. It rained so heavily, that
the river was in spate. Periyava had to use a country boat to cross
the river.
All the people surrounded him and sincerely paid their respects for
bringing rains.
A smiling Periyava said, I did not do anything. Your Pandarinathan
brought rains.
Lakshmi Narayanan reverentially said – ‘Even though Periayava said so
out of his meekness, I know that he is none other than Lord Shiva
personified.’
