- 1. Copyrights reserved Kanchi Paramacharya Community -
www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 1 of
25www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharyaStories told by Sri Kanchi
MahaswamiPart - 1 Copyrights reserved Kanchi Paramacharya Community
- www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharyaVolume : 1Published: 25May
2013
2. Copyrights reserved Kanchi Paramacharya Community -
www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 2 of 25Table of
ContentsForeword
.........................................................................................................................
3Srirangam.........................................................................................................................
4Story of Padma Paada The Value of the Hunter
............................................................
9History of
Kerala.............................................................................................................
15Conclusion
.....................................................................................................................
23Acknowledgements........................................................................................................
25 3. Copyrights reserved Kanchi Paramacharya Community -
www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 3 of 25Shri Kanchi
Mahaswami Thiruvadigal SaranamForewordHari Om!We are pleased to
bring you our First E-book from the Kanchi Paramacharya Community
on Facebookwww.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya.This group is
dedicated to spread the life and teachings of His Holiness Sri
Kanchi Paramacharya, moreaffectionately known to His devotees as
Sri Maha Periyava. The Community is also on
Google+https://plus.google.com/u/1/116160513796892415779/posts.
Just look for Kanchi Mahaswami inGoogle+ and add us to your circles
to receive the Gems of Paramacharya in your mail box
everymorning.We have been constantly witnessing Sri Maha Periyavas
divine grace in the way He has been drawingHis devotees to read and
cherish His teachings which we have been publishing regularly in
our group,with His blessings. Again, it is only due to HIS
Blessings that we have been able to release this Ebookon this
auspicious day Sri Maha Periyavas 120thJayanthi.All of us are aware
that the Mahaswamis discourses captured in the seven volumes of
Deivathin Kural/Voice of God is also known as the common mans Veda.
Our Maha Periyava has given us a wealth ofinformation through these
books, and every single page is a pokisham (treasure) for us to
cherish andrelish. The Paramacharya has narrated several stories
from ancient times in Deivathin Kural/ Voice ofGod, and in this
E-Book, we attempt to bring you a few of those interesting stories
narrated in His ownsweet, simple and lucid style.We are sure this
E-book will be a feast to your eyes and we request you to forward
this to all yourfriends, relatives and other devotees of the
Mahaswami. Although this e-book is for restrictedcirculation among
like-minded members of the society, it is a free publication which
can bedownloaded from our Facebook Page.We humbly submit our First
E-book at the Lotus Feet of Sri Maha Periyava, seeking His
blessings andguidance to continue to spread His Light far and
wide.Any feedback may be sent to us at
[email protected] Paramacharya
Communitywww.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharyaJaya Jaya Shankara,
Hara Hara Shankara! 4. Copyrights reserved Kanchi Paramacharya
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25SrirangamSource: Deivathin Kural/ Voice of God Volume 7Although
there are not as many Vaishnavatemples as Siva temples on the banks
of Kaveri,the most important temple of the Vaishnavas,namely Sri
Ranganatha is in Srirangam on thebanks of Kaveri. In fact,
Srirangam is inbetween Kaveri and its branch called Kollidamand Sri
Ranganatha is called Kaveri Ranga andRangaraja.In ancient times,
Sri Ranganatha was beingworshipped as family deity by the kings of
theIkshvaku dynasty in Ayodhya. The story of how the Lord came to
be established in Srirangam is linkedto Ramayana and a lila played
by Vinayaka.When the monkeys and the rakshasas were leaving Ayodhya
after witnessing Sri Ramas coronation, SriRama gave all of them
costly and liberal gifts as a token of gratitude for the service
rendered by them.He wanted to give something big to Vibhishana who
had abandoned his brother and surrendered toRama. Unlike Sugriva
who took refuge in Rama for retrieving his wide and kingdom,
Vibhishana haddone genuine surrender without any expectation. It
was when accepting him Rama made the famousvow:Sakrudeva prapannaya
thavasmithi cha yachatheAbhayam sarvabhuthebyo dhadhamye thadh
vratham mama" ! - !!Rama thought that he must give him a very
valuable gift. Supreme thyagi that he was, he gaveVibhishana the
idol of Ranganatha which had been their family deity and family
wealth along with the(Pranavakara) vimana to be taken to
Lanka.Carrying the idol along with the vimana, Vibhishana reached
the banks of Kaveri. Vinayaka who waswatching this decided that Sri
Ranganatha should not be allowed to leave the banks of
Kaveri,Tamilnadu and Bharat. He ensured it by enacting a lila. 5.
Copyrights reserved Kanchi Paramacharya Community -
www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 5 of 25Rama had told
Vibhishana that the idol and Vimana shouldnot be placed anywhere on
the ground and that theyshould be carried directly to Lanka. He had
also warnedhim that if they happened to be place anywhere,
theywould get established at that place only.Kaveri was in floods.
Vinayaka created in Vibhishana thedesire to have a dip in Kaveri.
He went as a bramachari boyand stood before Vibhishana. Vibhishana
told Vigneswara,I shall go and have a bath in Kaveri. Will you keep
these(the idol and vimana) in your hands without placing themon the
ground till I return?Vigneswara told him, I shall do it. But if at
some stage myhands cannot carry them any longer, what should I do?
Iwill call out for you three times. If you do not come, I shall
place them on the ground. Vibhishanaagreed to the condition. When
Vibhishana had gone far into the kaveri swimming, Vinayaka called
outthrice in quick succession. Vibhishana could not come.
Vigneswara said to himself, I have called outthrice. You did not
come as agreed to. I am keeping this down , and placed the idol
with vimana on theground. The idol with the vimana got firmly
established there.Looking at the story, it would appear that both
the idol and vimana could have been of a size whichwas kept for
prayer by the kings of Ikshvaku dynasty and must have been handy.
It is possible that afterbeing placed on the banks of Kaveri, the
Lord must have taken a bigger form and the vimana also musthave
become suitably bigger.When Vibhishana returned, he was
disappointed and felt angry. He tried to lift the idol. But
howevermuch he tried, he could not. He was angry with the
bramachari boy. He advanced towards him to givehim a knock on his
head. Vigneswara ran and sat on top of the Rock Fort hill. Then,
out of compassionfor Vibhishana, he submitted himself to him. We
cannot get hold of the Lord. The Lord has to makehimself held by us
as Krishna did with Yasodha. Vibhishana gave a knock to the
bramachari boy on hishead. At that very moment, the boy showed his
true form as Vinayaka.The moment Vibhishana had Vinayakas darshan,
his anger and sorrow disappeared. Vignehwara toldhim, Do not feel
that I have not allowed the Lord to go to Lanka. I have kept him in
such a manner thatfrom here he will be looking at Lanka and
extending his grace. Although it is not the normal practice
toinstall the idols of the Lord so as to face the South, I am doing
in here. 6. Copyrights reserved Kanchi Paramacharya Community -
www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 6 of 25It Is Parameswara
as Dakshinamurthi and Nataraja whoface the South. Now Vigneswara
has made Maha Vishnualso face the South. Dakshinamurthi sits like a
statue indhyana. Nataraja keeps dancing and makes the entireaffairs
of the world a happy dance. Maha Vishnu who is inthe reclining
posture is also in the state of samadhi likeDakshinamurthi but with
the name of sleep. Why then thisstate is not called samadhi but is
called sleep? He is agreat magician who does all indrajals which we
cannotunderstand. Therefore, even when he is in samadhi, hewill do
the srushti of this universe just as we create people,places,
incidents, etc in our dream state.That is why the universe is said
to be his dream. There canbe dream only when there is sleep. That
is why thesamadhi is called sleep. Another reason is that instead
ofbeing in samadhi sitting erect, he is in reclining posture. But
in order to distinguish his sleep from ours,it is said to be Yoga
Nidhra.Due to the greatness of Vigneswaras hands and his great
thought that what applied to Siva shouldapply equally to Vishnu,
Rangaraja who he installed became the king among all deities of all
theVaishnava holy places. The place where he got established came
to be called Srirangam.I think I have said it slightly differently.
It is not correct to say that the place became Rangam becauseof
Rangaraja being there. Because the place is called Rangam, the one
who rules as the king there iscalled Rangaraja. When the kings of
the Ikshvaku dynasty upto the time of Rama were worshippinghim, his
name would have been Narayana or Vishnu or Seshasayi or
Ananthasayi. Only when Vinayakacreated a Rangam for him between the
Kaveris, he must have got the name of Rangaraja.Rangam (or arangam
in Tamil) is a stage where dance or drama is performed along with
the hall wherepeople gather to witness it. The great drama actor
who conducts the drama of the world as animagination of his dream
has to stage the drama in a Rangam. When as Parameswara he does
thesame thing as dance in Chidambaram, his sannidhi is called
Sabha. It is called Chith Sabha. Ordinarypeople call it Kanaka
Sabha. Here Sabha has the same meaning as Rangam.Vigneswara thought
that if his father who is dancing has a Sabha for his temple, his
uncle (Vishnu) whoenacts the drama of the universe through dream
should also have one.He thought that although the principle is the
same, there will be beauty only if there is difference innames and
therefore gave the name Rangam to the sannidhi of the Murthi which
he installed. 7. Copyrights reserved Kanchi Paramacharya Community
- www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 7 of 25We have seen that
Vigneswara ran to the top of the Rock Fort.Vibhishana chased him
and gave him a knock on his head. Insupport of this version, we
find that on the idol of Vigneswaraon top of the rock Fort there is
the mark of the knock. It is rarethat Vinayaka remains on top of a
hillock. It is appropriate tosay that he ran to the top of the hill
so that he would not becaught by Vibhishana. There is also in this
a great metaphysicalmeaning related to Yoga Sasthra.It is the
principle of the Muladhara being joined with theSahasrara in the
top.There is one more thing appropriate about Sri Ranganathahaving
connection with Vigneswara. It was Vigneswara whomade Kaveri flow
by tilting Agasthyas Kamandalu. He did it betaking the form of a
crow. Agasthya went chasing the crow. Thecrow then changed its form
to that of a bramachari. InVibhishanas story also, we find that
Vigneswara became a brahmachari. Agasthya had chased him onlyto
give a knock on the head, but before he could do that, Vigneswara
showed his true form. It was thenthat Agasthya reacted. Oh! It is
you! And I was going to deliver a knock on your head, and
knockedhimself on the head. The story goes that it was after this
incident that Vigneswara made this (knockingon the head) as an
important part of worship.When Vigneswara had tilted Agasthyas
kamandalu and made the Kaveri flow, it was in Sahyadhri frombeneath
a tree of amla. The source of Kaveri is beneath the amla tree. That
amla tree is Maha Vishnu.It was an aspect of Vishnu-maya that
became the woman Lopamudhra who became Agasthayas wifeand then
became the water in Agasthyas kamandulu. When Kaveri flowed from
the feet of Bhagawan,he told her. Ganga also flowed from my feet.
But you are more beloved of me than her. She had onlythe touch of
my feet. I now bless that you should get the touch of my whole
body. When you flow as agreat river, you will separate into two and
then on the island where you become one again, you willembrace me
with both hands.There is another incident which balances Saivam and
Vaishnavam. If Vibhishana had obtained fromRama the idol of
Ranganatha (who is his own original form), Ravana had obtained from
Parameswarathe Athma Lingam which is Parameswaras own form.When he
carried it to Lanka, the Lord had told him that he should not keep
it anywhere on the groundbefore reaching Lanka. Then also it was
Vigneswara who played sport and ensured that the Lingam didnot
leave this country. 8. Copyrights reserved Kanchi Paramacharya
Community - www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 8 of 25The
place where the Lingam got established is Gokarnam. It is a
holyplace on the Western shore in Karnataka. It is an island like
Dwarakaand Rameshwaram. The Lord there is called Mahabhaleswar.
OnceVigneswara installed the Lingam there, Ravana with all his
mightcould not take it off from the ground. Since even Ravana was
madepowerless, the Lord is called Mahabhaleswar. Vigneswara did
notallow the Lingam to be carried away to Lanka. Would he
allowVibhishana to carry away the idol of Ranganatha to Lanka?
There istherefore truth in the story about the role played by
Vigneswara inregard to Ranganatha having been established in
Srirangam.Why did Vigneswara think that the idols of deities should
not go outof Bharat? Is it fair or just?When a plant or tree is
watered, it is not the branch or the flower that is watered, but
the root. So faras matters of divinity are concerned, our Bharat is
like the root of the huge tree called the world. It isonly the
watering of the root that provides the energy to all parts of the
tree. In the same manner, it isonly the puja performed in Bharat
that will provide the strength and vitality for other countries
also.In his creation, the Lord has ordained that there should be
good climate in a particular country, goodcrops and greenery in
some, diamond, gold and other valuable minerals in some, etc. In
somecountries, it will be extremely cold, and in some other
extremely hot. Some countries are prosperousdue to the fertility of
the soil. Countries which have plenty help others by exporting to
them. In mattersof divinity and spirituality, Bharat is like the
powerhouse for the whole world. Just as the heart suppliesblood to
the body, it is Bharat that provides the life force of
spirituality, dharma and soul. This does notmean that there need be
no worship in other countries.Just as we apply medicines to
individual parts of the body to cure the ailment of the particular
part,worship has to be done in other countries too. But just as the
heart has to be in good condition for anyailment to be cured, only
if worship is done in Bharat according to the rules laid down, it
will producegood not only for our country, but for all other
countries.Original Tamil version available
at:http://www.kamakoti.org/tamil/7dk5.htm 9. Copyrights reserved
Kanchi Paramacharya Community - www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya
Page 9 of 25Story of Padma Paada The Value of the HunterSource:
Deivathin Kural/ Voice of God Volume 5One of the main disciples of
our AachaaryaaL was PadmaPaada who joined our AachaaryaaL, when he
was not yet 16years of age, and was living in Kaasi. Padma Paadas
earliername was Sanandana. He was from the Sozha Desam. Let metell
you a story about him.When he was still living in his native
village, a great Mahatmagave him a Mantra Upadesa, on Narasimha /
NrusimhaSwami. As he kept doing Japa of that Mantra, he had a
desireto meet that Nrusimha Murthy! He walked out of his house,went
to a lonely forest. Climbed a far off hill and sat in a cavethere,
doing his Japa! A hunter came there.Looking at the Brahmin that
physically hardened rusticsimpleton was moved to pity! He asked our
Sanandana, HiSami! What have you come here for? We are physically
fit andcapable of taking care of ourselves in a place like this
forest!What will you do here? What for have you come here?
Sanandana thought about giving him a suitablereply. If I talk about
Japa and Nrusimha Mantra; it will make no meaningful impression on
this man, hethought.So he answered him in the following words!
There is an animal in this forest with a body like a humanbeing
below the hips and looks like a Lion above the hips. I came for
that Nara (human) + Simha (lion) =Narasimha being!Now the hunter
was in a quandary! For many years he had been a hunter in these
parts of the worldand he almost knew each and every animal of that
forest! So he replied in all his innocence, My Dear,Iyer Sir! I
hope you are telling the truth. I have never seen such an animal in
this forest! If you aretelling the truth, which you must be, it is
below my dignity and prestige that this animal has beeneluding me!
I am not going to let such a state of affairs to continue. If you
are true, tell me and it willbe my task to catch hold of him and
bring before you. You only have to confirm and I am off, he
said.Though the people of the forest seem to be rough and tough and
we seem to be nice and gentlemanly;in fact their simplicity, hard
work, sincerity, bravery and helpful attitude are all alien to us
and ourskulduggery is not in their bloods! However, he could not
control his smile at the idea of NarasimhaMurthy becoming a
prisoner in the hands of this character. 10. Copyrights reserved
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Page 10 of 25But the hunter was quick to react. Why are you
smiling? Are youhaving a joke at my expense? Sanandana had had
enough ofdiversion. He was getting fed up with this invasion of his
privacyand told the hunter that, the fact of the existence of
NarasimhaSwami was anyhow the truth and that the hunter can carry
on withhis business as it is not an easy task to catch hold of this
Nara SimhaMurthy!But this was too much of an insult to the ego, for
the Hunter! Hetold Sanandana, What? By tomorrow evening see if I
bring thatanimal before you or not! If I cannot bring that half a
lion / half aman, before you; I do not deserve to live in this
forest anymore,claiming myself to be a great hunter! When you have
taken thepains to come all the way up to my forest in search of
him, it is myduty to assist you. Otherwise what is the use of my
being here atall? Sanandana could not say anything anymore. What
can I do, if you start out that you will achievethe impossible? It
is your sweet will and pleasure! Please go ahead!The hunter went
searching for this half human / half animal Nara Simha Murthy. He
did not leave anyplace unsearched. He was not thinking of food or
his tiredness. The whole day was over. Next day alsopassed. It was
the evening of the second day! He did not give up his search, all
the time thinking only ofthe Nara Simha Murthy. OK. I have not been
able to keep up my word given to that Brahmin. It isevening already
and I have failed to live up to my promise. I should now give up my
life, as the timelimit is over he thought to himself! He cut some
creepers and hung it from a tree and was about tohang himself, to
commit suicide. Lo! There was Nara Simha Murthy standing in front
of him! He hasrelentlessly thought of me only, in trying to
maintain his promise so sincerely, uncaring for food orrest! I have
to give him my Darshan!Thinking on these lines, Narasimha Swami
just stood there happily to let the hunter do whatever hewanted
with him! The hunter pounced on him, You wretched animal, how much
of a problem youhave proved yourself to be! I have to thank my
stars, that I have been able to find you! Heimmediately tied him up
in knots and dragged the Nara Simha to where that Brahmin was. Nara
SimhaSwami remained bound in more than the literal way! The hunter
asked the Brahmin Sanandana, Is thiswhat you were looking for?
Here, take him to wherever you wish to take him to. My job is
over.Sanandana was flabbergasted beyond speech! What is this man
talking, he was wondering as, he couldnot see any Nara Simha Swami.
Only some pieces of creepers going round and round, hanging in
midair! For a flash it occurred to him if the hunter was just
bluffing and just that moment Nara SimhaSwami roared like a Lion
does, proving his existence beyond any doubt! 11. Copyrights
reserved Kanchi Paramacharya Community -
www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 11 of 25Sanandana felt
like crying. Here I am chanting the NrusimhaMantra day in and day
out; and I cannot see this Nara SimhaSwami and this country brute
of a character hunter, goes insearch of him and catches hold of
him, ties him up in somecreepers and says, Here take him! What can
I say?There was an Asareeri (bodiless inhuman announcement) inthe
skies. The one pointed devotion and concentration ofmind that may
happen only after millions of years of effort,could happen in this
mans case within a day! Without caringfor hunger, sleep and
physical exhaustion; this man searchedevery inch of this forest
with utmost sincerity, ready tosacrifice his body and life to keep
up his promise. This hasnever been matched before by any Rishi,
worth his name! Itis his Satsang (association) by chance, that has
ennobled youalso that though you cannot see me, you could at least
hearme roar and this announcement! By this very incident, youhave
been blessed and attained your Mantra Siddhi! At therequired time I
will come and take care of you, ended the announcement in the
skies!On an important occasion momentarily once, Padma Paada was
spiritually over taken by the NrusimhaSwami and acted very
violently as the Nrusimha Avatara! Let me tell you that story
also!That happened many years after he had become our AachaaryaaLs
disciple. There was set of peopleknown as Kapalikaas, who used to
live in cremation grounds, eat human flesh like cannibals and
followVaama Aachaara methods of worship including drinking liquor
and experimenting with hallucinatingdrugs and random sex
experiments! Their religion was known as Kaapaalikam.Our
AachaaryaaL was pointing out the mistakes in their methods and was
advising them to come backto the Saatvic methods of Vedic
Saastraas. Many of the Kapalikaas had a change of heart and
weregiving up their crude methods of worship of Siva and Durga
wearing garlands of human skulls asornaments and things like that.
Some of them were nurturing hatred for our AachaaryaaL, as
theycould not put up any counter argument against AachaaryaaLs, and
found their own numbersdwindling.One of them was planning ways and
means of getting rid of our AachaaryaaL. He hit upon an idea.This
man is very kind and compassionate. Let me request him to be
considerate to our viewpoint. Maybe he will agree. Let us try. 12.
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www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 12 of 25So, when our
AachaaryaaL was alone he went to him anddid Namaskar (prostrated)
before him. He said, My DearSir! Till date despite many types of
Bhali (sacrifices ofliving things by chopping off the head), I have
not had theDarshan of Kapaali (Siva as their God)! I am told that
if wesacrifice the head of a King who has been crowned as anEmperor
or some great Gnaani who has attained to theAshta Maha Siddhi
(eight great powers) then God Kapaaliwill certainly reveal
himself.If I go to any king, before I can even make a request
hewill execute me! But you are a great Gnaani, Yogi and a kind
hearted person. I am sure that you willaccede to my request. Please
permit me to behead you!If you wonder as to how could anybody dare
make such a horrendous and outlandish request, the onlyanswer can
be that, our AachaaryaaL was such a considerate person that you
could ask for anythingthat you need and he will most
condescendingly oblige!In fact our AachaaryaaL was very happy with
the request of that Kaapaalika! What we thought as themost useless
material, this human body, if it can be useful to someone that too,
to get the vision ofGod; nothing like it at all! When the tree
dies, it is useful in making furniture or as firewood. The hornsof
cattle are useful for Abhishekam that is, pouring oblations on
sacred idols. Elephants bones andtusks are ever valued as Ivory.
Deer skin and even the cruel tigers skin are used to cover the seat
whenyou do Yoga Aasana! I thought only this human body is good for
nothing and this man is asking for it tobe given to him as
donation! That is very good, he thought.He told the Kaapaalika, As
you wish you can have my head but, my disciples should not know
about it!They can be very dangerous. So, when I am sitting in
meditation all alone, you can come and take awaymy head. Now, there
seems to be somebody coming, you better hurry up and leave! Saying
this heclosed his eyes.Kaapaalika did not want to wait. He thought
this very moment to be opportune enough and pulled outhis sword.
From somewhere Padma Paada materialised there. There was a huge
roar and noise thatsounded like, Haa, Haa.AachaaryaaL opened his
eyes. Kaapaalika was lying on the ground with his stomach torn to
pieces withhis intestines pulled out, dead! Padma Paada was
standing nearby. Our AachaaryaaL asked him, Whathappened? Who has
done this? Padma Paada said, I do not know. I was near the river
Ganges.Something happened and only now I have regained my
consciousness. AachaaryaaL said, Oh I see!Were you ever given the
Nrusimha Mantra as Upadesa? 13. Copyrights reserved Kanchi
Paramacharya Community - www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page
13 of 25Yes, he replied, But there was no use. Nrusimha Swami duped
me and gave Darshan to a hunter. Hesaid something like I will come
to you sometime when you need me! As he was answering, it
becameclear to Padma Paada. Oh, Nrusimha Swami has done as
promised! He must have come over me thatthis man has been sorted
out! There could not have been a better time than this for his
coming over!Saying so, he did Namaskar to both his AachaaryaaL and
Nrusimha Swami.Let me tell you another story that happened, within
a few days of his becoming one of the disciples ofour AachaaryaaL,
as to how he got the name as Padma Paada!It is the normal custom to
add the suffix Paada to the names of Mahatmas like Gowda became
GowdaPaada. You dare not look at their face and whole body but look
only at their feet with respect. In thiscase, Padma Paada did not
get his name like that. It is aname with a reason and logic of its
own, with a story behindit.One day Sanandana was on one bank of the
River Gangesand our AachaaryaaL was on the other bank.
AachaaryaaLwas having a bath and so his clothes were dripping wet.
Hewished to demonstrate Sanandanas respect and devotionto the Guru,
for the world and other disciples to note, itseems. AachaaryaaL
told Sanandana to bring the fresh dryclothes to him.Gurus orders
are to be obeyed implicitly, was the only response by Sanandana. In
responding to hisGurus call, he completely forgot that there was
the deep River Ganges flowing in between! He juststarted walking,
as though on plain ground. Then what happened was that, there was a
lotus flowerbearing his weight wherever he put his foot down and
Sanandana was this side of the River in a trice,handing over the
dry clothes to his Guru!As the man whose feet were borne by the
lotus flower, he got the name as Padma Paada from thenonwards!Other
disciples of our AachaaryaaL collected there in admiration of this
miracle, where Ganga Devi(The River Ganges as the Goddess Ganga)
had put up a lotus flower for each one of his steps, forbearing his
weight across the whole breadth of the river, appreciating his
devotion to his Guru!But without feeling proud of his devotion he
said, This is nothing. Just a thought of my Guru, cancause the
Ocean of Life to become a puddle of knee deep water only! When he
himself has ordered,what is the breadth of this river? 14.
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www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 14 of 25Padma Paada was a
Vishnu Amsam and a man who had the realization of Nrusimha Mantra.
So, hecould recognise another Vishnu Amsa Avatara Vyasa, even
before our AachaaryaaL could do so!Original Tamil version available
at:http://www.kamakoti.org/tamil/d-san137.htmhttp://www.kamakoti.org/tamil/d-san138.htmhttp://www.kamakoti.org/tamil/d-san139.htm
15. Copyrights reserved Kanchi Paramacharya Community -
www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 15 of 25History of
KeralaSource: Deivathin Kural/ Voice of God Volume 5Despite the
Avedic environment that was surrounding the wholeof India those
days, there was one place where VedicAnushtaanaas had not been
given up completely and that place isKerala. God had pre-decided
that he would be born as a son to avery pious Brahmin couple in
that Malayala Desam of Kerala, in aplace known as Kaladi, as it may
be known to most of you all. Youmay also know that the Avataras
parents were Siva Guru andAryaambaaL.The Malayala Desam is located
on the west of the long series ofhills known as Western Ghats.
KeraLam is the Sanskrit name.Kera is coconut and that entire area
is full of coconut trees,hence the name KeraLam. One the one side
are the hills that isMalai and on the other side is aazhi or aazham
so theMalayalam = Malai + Aazham!There is a story about how this
narrow strip of land came into being.Parasurama killed and
vanquished 21 generations of Kshatriya kings and took their lands
all over India,as you may have heard about. The whole world was
virtually under his control. By that time he wasseized by
dispassion and regret! Having taken birth as a Brahmin, it is sad
that instead of doing thingsfor the good of the society I have
ended up killing so many people! OK, whatever has happened, I
canteven let the past be permitted to be by gone. How can I get
away from the responsibility of having torule all these lands? It
is not correct to further get mired in the worldly affairs of
administration andmanagement!So, he donated all the lands to
Kashyapa Maharishi. Why Kashyapa? Because all the animate life
formsof this world came into being from him only. People born in
Manus lineage are human beings aka Manor Manushya. Manus father was
Vivasvan and his father was Kashyapa. Not only that, he was
theforefather of Devas, Dhaityas, Dhanavas, Raakshasaas, Nagas and
many others! Though there are manyPrajapathis, only he is specially
called the Kashyapa Prajapathi. So, let him manage all these men
andlands or do whatever, was how Parasurama thought and donated it
all to Kashyapa!If you have a house and given it as a donation to
somebody, can you continue staying there after that?That is how
Parasurama thought about the situation. Having given away this land
as a gift, it is notcorrect for me to stay here anymore. Let me
find a suitable place for me to stay and do Tapasya, hethought. 16.
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www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 16 of 25Instinctively
Kashyapa could read his mind. So, hefurther escalated the situation
by saying, Please do notthink of claiming ownership on any part of
the land thatyou have gifted away. Better go outside the
outerborders of this land. Parasurama started out. He wentto the
Western Ghats on the western borders of thewhole of South India and
reached the SahayadriMountain peak known nowadays as Aanaimalai
orElephant Top. Close to the western side of themountains was the
sea. Those days there was no Keralaor Malayala Desam, but only
water of the seas.Parasurama spoke to the Samudra Raja (the Lord of
the Oceans), All the lands that I had capturedhave been given away
in charity, as I have endowed them to Kashyapa. So I cannot live
anywhere onthe existing lands. I cannot also die or go to the
heavens as I am one of the Chiranjeevis! There is acommand of God
that I should do Tapasya forever for the sake of the well being of
the whole world.Under the situation I seek your benign help for
some spatial adjustment. By withdrawing yourself alittle away from
these mountains, can you kindly create some ground on the west of
these ranges ofmountains, for me to live?Samudra Raja who was
ordered to control his waves when Rama had to construct the land
bridge onthe straits between India and the island of Lanka decided
to help Parasurama. Knowing Parasurama tobe a Brahmin very quick to
take offence, he wished to give Parasurama as wide a margin as
possible.So, Samudra Raja told Parasurama, Dear Sir! In your hands
you hold that Parasu (Axe) which you gotfrom doing Tapasya to
Parameswara. Throw it as far as possible in the ocean and I shall
recede thatmuch away, up to the point beyond where the water drops
are thrown up to by the impact of the axeand make all that land
available to you. Accordingly Parasurama threw the axe in to the
ocean as faras possible. Water from the impact splashed in all
directions many miles in the N-S direction and less inthe E-W axis.
All that area was exposed to the Sun and the sea withdrew. That is
the Malayala Desamor Kerala aka Parasurama Kshetra.Initially
populated by fisher folk talking an unorganized cacophony of
languages. Parasurama did notwish to be the only one doing Tapasya
in such a vast area.So he decided to bring in and settle a whole
lot of Brahmins who would be doing their share of Vedicactivities
of Homa, Pooja, Japa, Upaasana and other such Karma
Anushtaanaas.From the land of the Sozha Kingdom he invited Brahmins
known as Sozhiyas to this new land of hiscreation. They were Tamil
speaking Dravidian Brahmins as any other community in Tamil Nadu.
TheBrahmins from Tamil Nadu are comfort loving, used to the
moderate climate of the area. 17. Copyrights reserved Kanchi
Paramacharya Community - www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page
17 of 25Those comfort loving Sozhiyas from the banks of Cauvery
Riveron arrival in Kerala were out of their elements literally.
Endlessrains, overflowing rivulets, with wet grounds full of
mireeverywhere, it just did not suit them at all. They were afraid
oftelling Parasurama who had a reputation as being quick to
takeoffence. They were actively considering running away fromthere,
secretly on the quiet.He knew all that. Let us just change one of
their customs andthey can never get back to their mother land after
that, hethought. On the pretext of giving them a special identity,
hemade them wear their hair in their head differently.
NormallyBrahmins in Tamil Nadu shave off the front portion of
theirhead above the temple and let the hair at the back
growabundantly long. Their long tresses are then cared for,
oiled,braided and rolled into a knot at the back of their heads.
This is known as Kudumi which wouldtypically identify
them.Parasurama introduced a twist in this custom. He made them
wear what is known as Oordva Shika, inwhich the back of the head is
shaved off and the hair on the peak of the head is permitted to
growlong, which is tied in to a knot to fall forward just on top of
the temple! Till date Namboodri Brahminsof Kerala follow this
system only.But the Sozhiyas thought that this one small change in
the identity will not be such a hindrance in theiracceptance back
in Tamil Nadu, when there is no difference in the other customs and
traditions. So,most of them did go back to the banks of Cauvery
River once again and were accepted with open armsas expected. But
the Oordva Shika remained on top of the head, giving raise to the
proverb, SozhiyanKudumi does not shake easily, to mean that he does
not listen to others suggestions and also that he isnot easily
ruffled! Parasuramas plan however, had back fired.So, he imported
Brahmins from Andhra and Karnataka en-mass and as a precaution, out
of the 108Aachaaraas that are there for the Brahmin, he changed
some 64 of them to give them totally a newtraditional identity.
This worked and for generations they started staying there.They are
known as Namboodri Brahmins, stricter in their observance of
traditional Aachaaraas, thanBrahmins elsewhere in the whole of
India! There is a book by the name of Keralotpatti. I have givenyou
the details from that book and a few PuraNas. 18. Copyrights
reserved Kanchi Paramacharya Community -
www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 18 of 25There could be one
question in your minds. If the NamboodriBrahmins were mostly from
Kannada and Telugu backgroundand others were mainly fisher folks
from the Arabian Seaislands with some local dialects; how is that
Malayalam as alanguage contains a mix of words from mainly Tamil
andSanskrit languages?The Malayala language evolved some 1,000 to
1,200 yearsback only. Before that Tamil was the main stay. Still
some ofyou can say, How can it be? I will answer that.No society
can be complete only with Brahmins and fisherfolks. There has to a
king, army, traders and so on. Most ofthese were Tamilians only.
The mountain ranges of WesternGhats are literally hugging the Tamil
Nadu from North toSouth with many passages between Tamil Nadu and
Kerala.From time immemorial Tamilians are known to trade across the
oceans and their reach included SriLanka, Burma, Java, Sumatra,
Borneo, most of East Asia and Western shores of Africa and the
islands inbetween. So, the point to be noted is that the major
population in Kerala after Parasurama createdwere Tamilians who had
moved there from across the Sahayadri Mountains.When I said that
Tamilians are too fond of their comforts, I meant only the
pulse-eating-brahmins andnot the non-brahmins! (PeriyavaaL smiles
while saying this.) Others are very hard working capable ofhigh
levels of tolerance. They knew all the tricks of agriculture and
capable of doing aggressivemarketing of their produce. So it was
the Tamil non-brahmins who populated Kerala in a big way andstarted
planting and cultivation of Black-Pepper, Oak trees, Coconut,
Sandal Wood and a variety ofSpices in a big way, making use of the
plentiful water supply. Then fish was available both from theseas
and a number of rivers, rivulets and ponds. Life was plentiful and
satisfying. The Chera Kings wereall of Tamil origin only for
long.So, a parallel civilization came into being as in Tamil Nadu.
As the majority was Tamils, others alsospoke the same language. All
this happened even before the historical times till Sozha, Chera
andPandya dynasties were alternately predominant at various times.
When others from the East wentthere some Brahmins also must have
migrated to Kerala due to divine interest as many temples andtemple
towns came into being in that land. Parasurama himself created some
of them. Initially therewas a restriction against immigration as
imposed by Parasurama which got diluted over time.Anyhow he himself
went incognito, not seen by anybody and after that some Brahmins
from themainland could have gone on visiting the religiously
important temple towns and settled there. 19. Copyrights reserved
Kanchi Paramacharya Community - www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya
Page 19 of 25Historically recorded period starts around Asokas
time. In hisSaasanam inscribed on stone slabs, about places where
he spread hisviews on peaceful co-existence, there is mention of
Kerala also alongwith other places of India. This is proof of the
fact that there wascivilized social life in that part of the
country already. It was part ofChera Kingdom and Tamil was the
language there.Silappadigaram a Tamil classic literature is from
that land only.Cheramaan PerumaaL Naayanaar, who sang the Tamil
divine songsof Thirumarais as part of Saiva Thevaram collections
was a King inKerala.So also Kula Sekhara PerumaaL, who sang the
poems as part of theVaishnavas Nalayira Divya Prabhandam
collections in Tamil was a King in Kerala. Therefore ourAachaaryaaL
also in his time must have spoken Tamil. All Brahmins those days
must have been wellread. There could not have been any Brahmin who
had not done Adhyayanam and knowledgeable inTamil and Sanskrit.
Within themselves they must have spoken in Sanskrit and with others
used theTamil language.Though our AachaaryaaL came down to the
Earth as an Avatara for rekindling and rejuvenating theSanaatana
Dharma and did his all for re-establishing it on very strong
footings, with the passage oftime there was deterioration set in
once again! In that flow of events, suitably misusing some of
thetraditions introduced by Parasurama, other than the first son of
the families even amongst NamboodriBrahmins, started resorting to
marriages with women of other castes. When such relationships
werecreated, a mix of Sanskrit and Tamil did come about, which
could have been the seeds of for a newlanguage to sprout. By this
intermingling causing some dilution of standards of austerity, some
goodby-products were also there.By this, in Kerala all castes
became knowledgeable in Saastras and Puranas. The education
standardsdid improve especially fluency in use of Sanskrit words.
For example more than any other part of India,taking a bath early
in the morning and visiting the nearby temple wearing clean clothes
with muchnoticeable devotion and piety is the practice by people of
all castes in Kerala.I do not for a moment wish to say that
non-brahmins are uneducated, unclean and things like that atall.
Due to the type of work that they have to do especially the
proletariat, cannot afford to care forcleanliness so much. Whether
a factory worker or involved in agriculture or in the job of
clearing thegarbage, they just cannot be too finicky about
cleanliness as a Brahmin is required to be in his duty! 20.
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www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 20 of 25Then if you take
any of the craftsmen, their children learntheir trade from
childhood from their elders, whether it iscarpentry or masonry,
separating and spinning the silkthread or sculpting a stone in to
shape! Going to schoolwould be a double unaffordable loss as it
would mean,missing on the job training and being coached by
onesgrandfather / father / uncle, and loss of cheap labour.
Sogenerally they would send one of the children to school sothat he
could act as the in house accountant, manager andcorrespondent,
while others would be given on-the-job-training!Since such people
contribute substantially to the well beingof the society, the very
Saastraas have been liberal in thestandards of cleanliness expected
of them and in their caseAdhyayanam is also not a
requirement.Still, the fact that in Kerala the standards of
education, knowledge of the Saastraas and Dos and Dontsof the
Sanatana Dharma, are way ahead of the rest of the country;
indicates the apparent effect of thebrahmin influence.Though it was
not an island all by itself, when it was not so well connected by
means of transportation,Kerala was having certain benefits of
inaccessibility and isolation from the Mainland, unaffected bysome
of the social irreligious tendencies! So, when a typical local
lingo, developed into a full-fledgedlanguage by its own right, all
people of Kerala accepted it with pride as their mother tongue.
This ishow the language Malayalam came into being.Having spoken so
much about the story of Malayalam let me tell you the balance also.
After Malayalamhad become well established, for some reasons some
brahmins from Tamil Nadu migrated there andsettled closer to the
Tamil Nadu instead of going deep inside Kerala. Some shifted from
the area ofCoimbatore to Palghat and settled near Pallasena. Others
from Tenkasi through Sengotta went nearTrivandrum. Their Tamil is
another version with a scattering of Malayalam in
pronunciation.When I said that Kerala developed with its own
culture unaffected by the happenings in the Mainland,you should not
think that it was totally isolated and that its culture was alien
to that in the Mainland.The Vedic culture is the culture of what is
India. Like a main river in which a number of tributaries comeand
join, many flows such the different cultures of Kashmir, Punjab,
Central India, Rajasthan, Bengal,Karnataka, Andhra, Kerala and
Tamil Nadu joined to make what is the Indian Vedic culture. To give
yetanother example, if you think of Indian culture as a tree, these
were its branches and the roots werethe Vedic one. 21. Copyrights
reserved Kanchi Paramacharya Community -
www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 21 of 25So when Parasurama
settled brahmin-s from Tamil Nadu as theoriginal citizens, he
ensured that Indian Vedas, Puranas,Temples, Yagnas, Vratam-s such
as for Shivaratri, Ekadasi, andSomavaaram; Karma Anushtaanaas,
Adhyayanam,Adhyapakam, chanting of Veda mantras and establishment
ofVeda Patashaalaas were all brought in. So, even whenelsewhere in
India these were not being observed or becomingsubdued, with the
expanding influence of Buddhism andJainism (Muslims followed by
Britishers were to come muchlater), in Kerala these were more
assiduously being observed.So, it was in the rightness of things
that our AachaaryaaLsAvatara also took place there.Later, things
happened topsy turvy, trending in the oppositeway and I must
mention that also.Since the whole of the eastern border of Kerala
was the range of mountains, it was not much affectedby the
upheavals that occurred in the Mainland India alright. But what was
in the west of Kerala? It wasall the Arabian Sea. So with the
thriving trade of Black Pepper, Cardamom, Sandal Wood, Oak
timberand Ivory, there was also in influx of traders and visitors
from the west and they started settling there.For many Jews,
Christians and Muslims, Kerala became the Mother Land!Though
unaffected by the changes in the mainland, they ended up
accommodating all and sundry!Anyhow, all this is part of the side
effects of our own culture which believes in Atiti Devo Bhava!Let
me tell you one more surprising thing.Though the people of Kerala
accepted foreign religions, when it comes to Hinduism, after
ourAachaaryaaL, they did not accept the other Sampradaaya-s of
Vaishnavas and Madhvas. Do we not seethat even in Padmanaabha Swami
Temple or Guruvayoorappan Temple they do not have
VaishnavaBhatta-s, but only Namboodri brahmin-s including in
Sabarimala Aiyappa Temple. This can only beconsidered as their
devotion to our AachaaryaaL who took Avatara there, after searching
for a suitableplace in the whole of India.In recent times with the
laying of roads and rail communications to and fro between Kerala
and rest ofthe country and advanced education available all over,
the somewhat secluded society of Kerala hasstarted spreading all
over the country as well become more international. In every
foreign countrytoday among expatriate Indians, Keralites form a
major chunk. Without standing on prestige, they areready to go
anywhere and do any sort of work and thus have proved to be as
industrious andubiquitous as the Sardarjis of Punjab, making their
presence felt in every nook and corner of the world! 22. Copyrights
reserved Kanchi Paramacharya Community -
www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 22 of 25People from that
part of the country where our AachaaryaaL was born are leading in
literacy, today inthe whole of India!There are still those in
Kerala who are assiduously safe guarding our oldest religious
traditions ofSanaatana Dharma on the one hand and on the other, it
was there that Aalaya Pravesam was donefor the first time (entering
of the temple by those not traditionally permitted from times of
yore) andthe first communist Government was installed
democratically!Original Tamil version available
at:http://www.kamakoti.org/tamil/d-san100.htmhttp://www.kamakoti.org/tamil/d-san101.htm
23. Copyrights reserved Kanchi Paramacharya Community -
www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 23 of 25ConclusionWe
conclude this E-book with some thought provoking lines from the
Tamil Poet Shri "Kaviarasu"Kannadasan on Sri Maha Periyava. , : ,
., . . . , . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ? . . . . . 24.
Copyrights reserved Kanchi Paramacharya Community -
www.facebook.com/KanchiParamacharya Page 24 of 25, , , ., . , . , .
. , . . , ? , . , . . , , . . ., . . ... 25. Copyrights reserved
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Page 25 of 25AcknowledgementsWe gratefully acknowledge the
following books, blogs and websites which contained
relevantinformation for compiling this E-book on Stories narrated
by Sri Kanchi Mahaswami.1. http://kamakoti.org/2.
http://advaitham.blogspot.in/3. Voice of God - Published by Sri
Kanchi Mahaswami Peetarohana Shatabdi Mahotsava TrustJaya Jaya
Shankara, Hara Hara Shankara!Sri Mahaswamis Brindavan at Kanchi
