Whenever I visit my grandchildren I haul them up to the prayer room and have them sing the Lord's praises with me. I was surprised the first time I heard my 3-year-old granddaughter chant the Arutperunjothi mantra. I was proud of my daughter for having taught her. So the next few days I recited the Sidhar potri or the long lists of Siddha names and asked her to follow. She did. She missed the pronunciation but I let it be, never wanted to correct her at this stage. After reciting the first few names and as the names of the Sidhas can be tongue twisters she settled to only join at the end of each line saying Potri. I stopped at page 1 not wanting to torture the poor soul and have her sit and repeat with me the 210 names. The next day she surprised me when she asked that we continue to the next few names on page 2 too. She even wanted more at the end of page 2 and so it happened that we completed reciting the full lists of names. A great achievement for the youngster indeed. Subsequently, we sat again another day too. But she was rather quiet. When I asked her to join in she surprised me with her reply. She replied மனசுக்குள் பாடுகிறேன், I am reciting within. I was taken aback by listening to this child tell me that she was following but in an inaudible way. Indeed she is proving Agathiyar right when he said that the next generation shall teach us.
Tavayogi divides man into three kinds in relation to their ability to pick up teachings. The first he akin to the stem of the palmyra, coconut, and other palm trees and also of the plantain. However much we try to light it struggles to catch fire and burn. The next is charcoal. It burns easily with a little help by fanning the fire. As charcoal is burnt wood, they bring with them earlier learnings and knowledge unknowingly and understand these teachings pretty fast. The last is petrol that easily catches fire. By coming into close proximity they pick up the nuances of the teachings. Which are we? These children obviously belong to the third category. They catch up fast.
Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar in dividing man with regard to his sense of concern to others lists three kinds too. The first steps on a banana skin and falls hurting himself. He picks himself up and moves on, leaving the skin there not concerned that another might step and fall as he did. The second person walks past it indifferent to the obvious danger to others coming that way. He too does not give a thought for others. The third stops to pick it up and dispose of it away from the path of others. Which are we?
In speaking about compassion Mataji defines man into two obvious groups, the compassionate and the not so compassionate. If someone on seeing an animal skinned and hanging at the butchers waiting to be bought, and his mind immediately races to how he was going to prepare the lamb chop or loin meat and at the very moment he imagines the dish, water in this case saliva drips from the sides of his mouth then know that he is not a compassionate one whereas to the other his heart cries out seeing the state the poor animal has come to and has water, in this case, tears, welling in his eyes, indeed he is a compassionate person. Which are we?
On the local front, Sri Krishna and his wife Sri Dewy are exemplary couples who have devoted their life to serving the hungry, poor and unfortunate. They came as an upaguru to many including us at Amudha Surabhi (AS). He was the first to show us the plight of the homeless bringing us to the streets to see for ourselves. We soon caught up with him in serving the homeless adding on to our prior commitment in providing aid to the inmates of orphanages and charity homes. This couple continues their charity roping in many and showing them the way too.
In a Jeeva Nadi reading read by Tavayogi and transcribed by Mataji, Agathiyar reveals that Sri Krishna in a past birth had ferried Mataji across the River Kaveri to the spot where the Nattadreswarar temple stands today. Agathiyar then was inaugurating the Sivalingam that he made and establish from the river sand. We are proud to have known and associated with this couple who stand as a beacon to all those seeking to help the unfortunate.