I would like to share an experience myself and mr .chandrashekaran [sandhu as we all call, in varagur] had at belgaum with maha periyaval.

It was in the year 1979 ,month JULY i could remember Periyaval was camping at belgaum , i went to have darshan of maha Periyaval ,who was camping at a mutt near belgaum i reached by train ,to my surprise the bog ie stopped in front of “higgin bothoms books store” where one tamil gentlemen with “vibuthi in his forehead was sitting in the counter, he guided me properly how to reach the place where mahaPeriyaval was camping .in the evening i met mr. chandrashekaran [sandhu] who was working in senior position in indial oil cororation, at belgaum.

Periyaval use to call him as “ennodee peyar kndavan”[chanrasekara saraswathy] and had assigned him a job to locate one vedic pandit who was staying in a nearby village .

Earlier in the evening a group of telegu pundits met him and submitted a poem in sanskrit composed by them Periyaval was going through the same with a big torch light in his hand , He was not fully convinced with one particular line, to clarify further He had summoned mr. chandrashekaran[sandhu] to go to the village and. collect a book where more particulars / references are available.

Mr.chandrashekar was able to locate the vedic pandit in the next village [some 20 km away] and got the book from him. He promptly delivered the same to Periyaval and Periyaval spent about two hrs with the torch light help and was able to locate the reference, He then corrected the poem. Here Periyaval would have corrected the poem much earlier but he wanted the pundits to get fully convinced with suitable reference, hence he called for the book – what a great personality.

That night we were only four of us with mahaperyaval – mr.sreekantan mama[who ultimately took sanyasa], two villagers from north arcot dt and myself [was fortunate].Periyaval enquired about the village temple where the villagers were hailing from and advised them to at least light an oil lamp daily in the particular temple which is a “muniswaran temple ” of the entire village.

Later he enquired about me/my family [grandson of bank Mahalinga iyer]. Next day myself and Mr. handrashekaran were standing and chanting “vishnu sahasranamam”. Pointing us Periyaval commented to Sreekantan mama that “varagur karallam onu seenthuta” [meaning that varagur people are together] this was a great comment. As pointed out by Periyaval we varaguran’s should always be together.

Soon he called me from the crowd and gave a “rudraksha mala for my father” and the prasadam , Mr Sreekantan mama told me periyava utharavu ayyethu’ udane oorku keelambu , meaning that Periyaval had given prasadms and I should go home at the earliest. I was bit taken back by this sudden development, actually I wanted to stay with Periyaval for to more days as i had just finished my education and periyavll was in aplace without much crowd hence i can spend some time under his grace , thinking that some “aparatham” i might have done ,with tears in my eyes I left Belgaum without even telling Mr. Chandrashekaran.

The sooner I reached Bangalore where my brother was staying my brother showed me a telegram from “corporation bank” Mangalore to report for duty immediately at Mumbai within three days failing which my appointment /selection will be cancelled , it was purely by the grace of karuna murthy to date I am in this job , in corporation bank , He blessed me with the job and ordered me to go home and to report for duty.

Had i not reached Bangalore immediately, I would have last a chance as those days there was no mobile to locate me and inform me the posting, ultimately Periyval did the same.

Always in His grace and ever to remain at his foot steps….

V.S.KARTHIKEYAN
DGM
CORPORATION BANK

Categories: Devotee Experiences