History and Miracles of Sheshadri Swamigal
History
and Miracles of Sehadri Swamigal
Sri
Seshadri Swamigal was known for his great spiritual eminence and for his yogic
(spiritual aspirant seeking union with God through mental and physical
disciplines) power through tapas(austerities).
An elaborate study of his life reveals that he was an ascetic of a very high caliber who had thorough control of senses, both physically and mentally. His self restraint is commendable.
He
inculcated the habit of performing the tapas, mantras and sadhanas (spiritual
practice) from a very young age which helped him in developing various
siddhis(supernatural attainments) or psychic powers of telling about the past
and the future, reading the minds of people with the same ease as exploring the
unknown and unseen.
With
this power, he also fulfilled the desires of people by showing them the visions
they wanted to see, both in their dreams and while being awake. His miraculous
touch is said to have cured many people suffering from diseases and ailments
who came to him with sincere faith and devotion.
Though
ascetics are praise worthy, people having worldly desires rarely admire them.
The same can be said in the case of Sri Seshadri Swamigal also, but careful
investigation shows us that the priceless gem that made him outshine others was
the attainment of Self-Realisation.
Sri
Seshadri Swamigal believed in the paths of karma (deeds) and jnana (knowledge)
along with bhakthi (devotion). One can see an intricate net connecting all of
them. He destroyed the darkness of ignorance and illusion and brought the
people into the eternal light of Self-Realisation. He fulfilled the desires of
the devotees who sought material prosperity as well as spiritual enlightenment
Life
History :
Sri
Seshadri Swamigal was born on January 22nd 1870 in a small village near
Kanchipuram in South India in the renowned family of Kamakoti. He learnt
vedas(Hindu religious literature) at a very young age. An incident in his
childhood reveals the greatness of his power when his mother took him to a
temple fair and he touched an idol from a seller who had all the idols sold out
like hotcakes, which were not getting sold out earlier. This gave him the name
"Thanga Kai"(golden hand). Since he did not have any worldly attractions,
he became a sanyasi (ascetic) and came to Tiruvannamalai at the age of nineteen
and remained there till he attained Mahasamadhi(a subtle state of divine bliss)
in the year 1929.
Sri
Seshadri Swamigal never stayed in one place in the town of Tiruvannamalai where
he resided for around forty years. People who observed his routine found him to
be a sanyasi without any attachments or attractions towards the illusory world.
He neither had any house to go to nor family relations or friends to adhere to.
He never followed a daily habit. When he was presented with expensive clothes
or food which he abstained from, he used to give it away in charity and used to
have gruel from some poor man's house and spend the night in some choultry.
He
did not care to bathe or have a shave for several days and would roam around
without caring for himself as he neglected his body. His actions lead people
viewing him from a worldly perspective to take him to be a madman, but careful
analysis indicates that every action of his was deliberately done for the
service to the people to uplift them to the spiritual level. He wanted the
people to get rid of their past sins by repeating "Kamokarshid
mantra" which he himself repeated 150,000 times to show the greatness of
the mantra.
Blessing
to Devotees :
There
have been several instances where the devotees have been blessed by Sri
Seshadri Swamigal.
Few
of them are:
A
South Arcot judge, K.Sundaram Chettiar visited Tiruvannamalai and prostrated
before Sri Seshadri Swamigal who accepted his offerings of clothes and was
promoted to the rank of High court judge due to the Swami's grace.
Sri
Krishnaswamy Sastri's wife was suffering from swelling of the stomach,hands and
legs and vomiting of roundworm. Doctors gave up hope and they visited the Swami
in Tiruvannamalai as a last resort on a horse carriage. Sri Seshadri Swamigal
got into the carriage and put his leg on her swollen body and rode the carriage
into the sadhu choultry and asked her to swallow some sand and apply it on her
body for three days. Miraculously, she was cured of her disease completely.
Similarly,
Sri Seshadri Swamigal cured many other incurable diseases and ailments of his
devotees.
Thirupugazh
Swamigal was not a literate, but due to his devotion towards Lord Muruga(Hindu
mythological God), he learnt Thirupugazh(verses in praise of the Lord) quickly
and when he sang, it used to touch everyone's soul. To get a Guru, he came to
Tiruvannamalai. As he prostrated before Sri Seshadri Swamigal, he was blessed
and was told to continue singing Thirupugazh as it is a great mantra. He then
went to Vallimalai(a place in South India) and became the great Vallimalai
Swamigal.
Natesa
Mudaliar visited Tiruvannamalai and had a darshan (sight of the holy image) of
Lord Shiva and Ambal(Hindu mythological Gods).He heard about Sri Seshadri
Swamigal and wanted to have the upadesh(spiritual instruction) from him.
Swamigal told him "Wisdom and salvation are not understood properly.
Discriminate between reality and unreality. Realise your self to the utmost
".
Sri
Seshadri Swamigal used to roam around and visit shops in Tiruvannamalai. During
such visits, he used to throw the articles from the shops. The shops he entered
used to do good business on that day and so shopkeepers used to eagerly await
his arrival. To this day, the shops in Tiruvannamalai have his photos as a
symbol of good luck and prosperity.
*
Making rains come on the request of his devotees .
*
Giving a darshan of himself to five or six devotees at different places at the
same time.
*
Showing devotees swargalokam(heaven) and mumurthi devas (mythological Gods in
Hindu literature).
*
Giving darshan as Parvathi devi(Hindu Goddess) to many devotees.
Swami's
upadeshas :
*
By the touch of the Swamigal, many devotees have instantly realised their inner
self. He instilled many mantras particularly the Rama mantra to many devotees.
*
He emphasized that every one should kill Ravana and Rakshas within themselves;
Ravana signifying the desires of any object and Rakshas meaning anger. He
wanted people to get rid of lust, greed and anger.
*
He laid stress on realisation of the true inner nature of the self as people
were going about their daily activities without thinking about God.
*
He preached to many devotees to go around the sacred mountain of Tiruvannamalai
which is said to be a form of Lord Shiva himself, especially on Tuesdays and
emphasized about giving annadanam(feeding the people with rice).
Even
today devotees of Sri Seshadri Swamigal are being blessed with their worldly
desires being fulfilled and their spiritual quench satisfied by his grace.
Seshadri
Swamigal Ashram :
Tiruvannamalai
is about two hundred kilometres from Madras, one of the metropolitan cities of
India. Seshadri Swamigal ashram is located about two kilometres from the main
Sri Arunachaleswarar temple and next to Ramana ashram in Chengam road,
Tiruvannamalai.
mahasamadhi)
and jayanthi (birthday of the Lord or holy person) are being celebrated in a
grand manner every year.
Books
of Swamigal's life and experiences, are available both in English and Tamil in
the ashramam bookshop. Other spiritual books are also available.
Many
of the devotees are following the preaching of Seshadri Swamigal by doing the
following:
*
Morning meditation from 3am to 5am.
*
Going around the sacred mountain of Tiruvannamalai.
*
Giving annadanam.
SRI
SESHADRI SWAMIGAL
-
THE SAINT WITH A GOLDEN HAND
Sri
Seshadri swamigal was born in Kancheepuram in the Kamakoti family. The
kamakoti families, about 30 in number, were specially brought to Kancheepuram
by Adi Shankara, from Central India, to spread the Sri Vidhya Cult.
Seshadri
swamigal was born to the couple Vardarajan and Margathammal, by the grace of
goddess Kamakshi, another name of Parvathi, consort of Lord Shiva.
Seshadri
as a boy of four, following his mother to the temple, took an idol of Sri
Krishna (an incarnation of Vishnu) in his hand, from a shop, saying he will do
pooja to the idol. The shop keeper, appreciating the child's interest,
gave the idol free to little Seshadri.
Next
day, as Maragathammal and Seshadri were going to the temple, the shop keeper
prostrated, placed child Seshadri's hand on his eyes and cried "golden
hand! golden hand!". He explained that the sale was
extraordinarily high after the child touched the idols. From that
day onwards, till his maha siddhi, he was popularly known as `Thangakkai
Saeshadri' (Saeshadri of golden hand), for whatever he touched turned into gold
(flourished).
He
roamed the streets of Thiruvannamalai like a mad man, entering a shop and
dumping the cash from cash box on the floor or throwing the flour kept
for making dough into the water and so on. However, his strange behavior was
known to the town people and they never minded. On the contrary, they
eagerly awaited his visit, for his visit meant that their business would
flourish.
Mahan
Seshadri swamigal, as mentioned earlier, was a worshiper of
Shakthi. Recital of sacred syllables (mantra japa) was his path. He
was a contemporary of Sri Ramana maharishi. In fact, it was Saeshadri
swamigal, who rescued young Ramana, when the later was immersed in
penance, in the underground cell in Arunachaleshwarar temple and ants and moths
were eating away young Ramana's body.
Their
paths were different. There used to be friendly arguments between them.
Sri Seshadri swamigal possessed many siddhis and performed many miracles like
curing chronic diseases etc., openly. However, Sri Ramana Maharishi,
though he performed miracles some times, he never acknowledged them or attached
importance. He always advised seekers to focus on the ultimate goal of Self
Realisation and not to be distracted by minor achievements like siddhis or
miraculous powers.
Saeshadri
swamigal ashram is next to Sri Ramanashramam. Regular pujas are performed
at the samadhi of Sri Seshadri swamigal. There are a few platforms for
meditation in the open, in a beautiful garden, under the cool shade of
trees. One can do meditation facing the Holy Hill Arunachala, from this
garden. A book stall sells Mahan's photographs and books.
Accommodation
is available and food is served by a canteen inside the ashram.
For
further information contact:
Sri
Seshadri swamigal ashramam, Thiruvannamalai- 606 603, South India.
CHILD-HOOD
AND YOUNGER DAYS
At
Kanchipuram, in the illustrious Kamakoti family, there lived one Sri Kamakoti
Sastri. He was an adept in Sri Vidhya Upasana and had mastered in boyhood
itself vedas, puranas, smritis, tharkam, vyakarana and mimamsa. Besides these
he had another valuable talent- music (gandharva veda). His brother's daughter
was Maragatham. She was born beautiful and had learnt epics, darma, alankara
and music from Sri Kamakoti Sastri. She earned the title "Sahitya
Sangeetha Kalavathi" when she was 12 years old. She was given in marriage
to Sri Varadharaja Joshyar of Kanchipuram who was also a Sri Vidhya Upasaka
besides mastering vedas and astrology. To them - Varadharajar and Margatham-
Sri Seshadri Swamigal was born as elder of the two sons. He was born on
22.1.1870 in Hastha Nakshatra (Star) at Kanchipuram.
When
he was four years of age he would sing devotional songs and stotras, taught by
his mother, in melodious voice and everyone regarded the boy as a Divine-child.
An incident at this age of four, gave
him
the epithet of Hiranya-bahu--one with the golden touch. The occasion was a
festival time at Sri Varadaraja Perumal Temple at Little Kanchipuram.
Among
many, one merchant has brought moulded replicas of Sri Krishna idol. The boy in
the lap of his mother noticing it wanted one and at the instance of merchant,
the boy picked up one of his choice. On the following day, when the mother and
boy were passing through the shop, the merchant came running to them and
prostrated before the child and took the two hands of the child and
worshipfully pressed them to his eyes, and exclaimed that they are "Golden
Hands". He narrated that all the idols were sold away on the previous day
when the child picked up one and the normal experience was that only a few will
be sold. This was a forerunner to high-light His Grace to devotees, even today.
When
he was 5 years of age, he was sent to school in the traditional and orthadox
manner. At the age of 7, Upanayanam (sacred thread ceremony) was performed.
When he was 14, his father died. By 16 years of age, he completed his
education. He had mastered various texts in Sanskrit and Tamil -- the whole
Vedanta with three primary texts - Gita, Upanishads and Brahma Sutras, besides
Vedas, Nyaya and Vyakarana. He had also mastered music and astrology. When he
was 17, his people tried to marry him off, but astrologers predicting his
horoscope that he will become a Sanyasin (Recluse) and Jivan-mukta (realised
soul), dropped the idea.
When
his mother was to breath her last, she chanted two slokas keeping her hand on
the chest of Seshadri -- one of Sri Adi Sankara -- (Sat Sangatve - in Baja
Govindam) which meant that the company of the good led one in time to solitude
and thence to emancipation and the other sloka indicated the sacredness of
Arunachala -- how merely by thinking of it, one attained ultimate Bliss.
Repeating the word "Arunachala" in her tongue, she breathed her last
on the lap of Seshadri. He took these two slokas from her mother for guidance
in his life. Arunachala stands for Lord Shiva in Agni (fire) form at
Thiruvannamalai. He drew a picture of Arunachala by instinct.
His
personal Gods were Goddess Kamakshi of Kanchipuram and Sri Rama - the divine
avatar (God in the form of a person) depicted in Ramayanam (a great literary
work of Bharath written by Valmiki Maharishi and adopted by several others in
other languages). With the pictures of Arunachala, Rama and Kamakshi his
worship was going strong. He had no sleep and no appetite. He will be seen in
Chakrath-Azhwar and Kamakshi temples for several hours chanting mantras,
slokas, etc.
His
rigorous and exacting religious practices were viewed with concern by his
foster-parents who were taking care of him. He got immersed in Sri Kamakshi's
divine form and regarded himself as Goddess Parvathi (Sakthi aspect of
Brahmam). He began doing his meditations in Rudrabhoomi (cremation ground)
which was resented and questioned by his people. He was wandering in the
streets of Kanchipuram, when he met a Gouda Sanyasi, Sri Balaji Paramahamsa,
who finding him worthy and fit, gave him sanyasa (the fourth stage of asrama in
one's life).
On
the due date, Seshadri's father's annual ceremony was performed. To give him
his father's blessings, he was brought home forcibly and kept locked in a room.
At a stage, when the room was opened his relatives noticed that Seshadri had
disappeared from the locked room and then only realised his greatness and
attainment. He was 19 years of age then. After sometime he was noticed in the
temple precincts of Sri Mukteswara at Kaveripakkam, 20 miles away from
Kanchipuram.
One
day, in the temple, a big serpent came out; Seshadri beckoned it and it came
and coiled over his body and held its hood over his head. Those who witnessed
were awe-struck. Seshadri now "Seshadri Swami" was unperturbed. His
act showed that all creations of Almighty are alike and is all pervasive. When
pleaded, he refused to go back home and was heading for Thiruvannamalai -
keeping his mother's direction and guidance - and passed through various towns,
villages, hills;
At
the age of 19, in the year 1889 AD, he reached Thiruvannamalai and never left
its outskirts, till HE dropped his mortal-coil on 4.1.1929 AD. His Holy-body
was interred in a Samadhi, witnessed by Sri Ramana Maharishi and several
devotees, at Thiruvannamalai - Tamil Nadu (South India) and is worshipped daily.
SPIRITUAL
LIFE IN THIRUVANNAMALAI
His
40 years of spiritual life in Thiruvannamalai showed that Swamigal was God
himself. Speaking and walking among People, he was Sanchara-Dakshinamurthi (God
as man on the move). His biography vividly shows that he was a Jivan-mukta (a
realised soul while in body). He did not have body-consciousness and was in
ever communion with his Atman (Soul).
He
saw atman in everything-animate and inanimate. He was seen going round and
round a stone pillar and doing pranams (offering his worship) and saying that
he was seeing God in it. Similarly he used to worship animals-buffalo,
donkeys--seeing God in them. Sometimes he would embrace people on the road
including ladies and say that he saw para-sakthi (mother aspect of Brahmam) in
them.
He
did not have any fixed abode. He was always on the move. He will be seen at
many places within a few minutes. He will be in rags and dirty clothes. He will
enter any shop on the roads and pull out anything from them. The shopkeepers
revered him and considered his visit and touch as a great blessing. If anyone
gives him a new cloth, he will wear it for a while and give it to someone.
Sometimes
he will be seen going half-shaven. He appeared without a bath and his hairs
matted and hung pell-mell round his neck. There was always a heavenly-smile in
his face. Eyes always remained half-closed and turned inward in eternal
contemplation. When opened they looked beautiful and slightly orange-tinged
like a full moon.
If
at all he sat, he was in Swastik Asana, with his ankles crossed and the rest of
his body poised over and out of contact with the ground. There was a devotee by
name Manikkam. He will beg in the streets and collect some food and offer it to
Swamigal. If Swamigal does not eat, he too would not eat. The stale food would
remain for days and Swamigal may some times take it not minding its foul smell.
So was his detachment from the body and things of the world. All were alike to
him; None is a known one or unknown one.
He
was a saint of advanced spirituality. He possessed supernal powers and Godly
possession. There was total abdication. Sthitha-pragna state spoken in chapter
II of Bhagavad-Gita and Mano-nasam (control of mind) mentioned in various
scriptures including Bruhadarinya Upanishad are the "states" the
Swamigal attained. He did not get entangled in siddies (Spiritual powers)
attained by him. Sri Swamigal was one of the greatest saints of our land and
whose holiness has few parallels.
One
Vitoba Swamigal was at Polur, 10 miles away from Thiruvannamalai. When he
passed away, Sri Seshadri Swamigal was running in the streets of
Thiruvannamalai shouting that Vitoba was ascending to Heaven. His power of
clairvoyance was astonishing. The news from Polur reached Thiruvannamalai much
later.
When
Sri Ramana Maharishi was in his younger days doing meditation in Pathala Linga
cave of Arunachala Temple, it was Sri Seshadri Swamigal who gave him protection
from urchins and brought him to the notice of the world that there was a great
soul in Sri Ramana.
Ramana,
younger in age used to be called Chinna-Seshadri (Little Seshadri). Sri
Seshadri was called Mother Parvathi and Sri Ramana as Skanda (Lord Subramanya).
There were instances when devotees have experienced that Seshadri was Ramana
and Ramana was Seshadri.
They
were contemporaries and each knew the greatness of the other. Sri Ramana's
presence, when Sri Seshadri's body was interred and Sri Ramana's personal
reading and approval of script of Seshadri's Biography showed Ramana's
reverence for this great Mahan.
Many
were his beneficiaries. Sri Vallimalai Swamigal, Kavyakanta Ganapathi Muni and
Bhanu Kavi are to cite a few. Even men of ordinary walk of life had their
several ills-mental and physical cured. Several had initiation in mantras
according to their eligibility.
Sri
Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi, Maha Periyaval of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam was
reported to have said once "will I become like Seshadri Swamigal".
Such was the greatness of Sri Seshadri Swamigal.
Comments
Post a Comment