Manava Seva – Sri Periyava Kainkaryam – Providing Assistive Devices to Old, Poor & Physically Challenged


அநாதைக் குழந்தைகளின் ஸம்ரக்ஷணை, திக்கற்ற ஏழைகளுக்கு ஸேவாஸதனம் வைப்பது, ப்ராணி வதையைத் தடுப்பது, பசு வளர்ப்பது, பசிக் கஷ்டம் யாருக்கும் வராமல் உபசரிப்பது என்றிப்படி எந்தெந்த விதத்தில் முடியுமோ அப்படி நம் அன்பை, வெறும் பேச்சாக இல்லாமல், கார்யத்தில் காட்டினால் பரமேஸ்வரனின் அன்பு நமக்கும் கிடைக்கும். ஈஸ்வராநுக்ரஹம் எங்கேயும் ப்ரவாஹம் மாதிரி ஓடிக் கொண்டேதான் இருக்கிறது. ஆனால் நம் மனஸ் கல்லாக இருந்தால், கல்லுக்குள் ஜலம் ஊறாத மாதிரி அநுக்ரஹத்தை நம்மால் தெரிந்து கொள்ள முடிவதில்லை. அதுவே ஒரு துணியை வெள்ளத்தில் போட்டால் அதுதானே விரிந்து ஜலத்தை இழுத்துக் கொள்கிறது. துணியை வெளியே இழுத்துப் பிழிந்தால் ஜலம் கொடுக்கிறது. கல் மனஸைப் பரோபகாரத்தில் இப்படி லேசாகத் துணி மாதிரி ஆக்கிக் கொண்டால் எப்போதும் நம்மைச் சூழ்ந்திருக்கிற அநுக்ரஹத்தை நன்றாக உறிஞ்சிக் கொள்ளலாம். ஜீவனுக்குச் செய்கிற பெரிய உபகாரம் அவனுக்குக் கருணாமூர்த்தியான ஈசனிடம் பிடிப்பு ஏற்படுத்தித் தருகிற திருப்பணிதான். – ஜகத்குரு ஸ்ரீசந்திரசேகரேந்திர சரஸ்வதி ஸ்வாமிகளின் அருள்மொழிகள்

We should not confine ourselves to mere talks but express our love in acts of social service like supporting the orphans and the poor, preventing slaughter and cruelty to animals, maintaining cows, and mitigating the pangs of hunger among the needy. Then we will all be blessed by the love of Eshwara. This divine love is an ever flowing stream which is omnipresent. But when our hearts are stony, this love does not seep into them. When a cloth is dipped in flowing water, it expands and absorbs the water and when it is taken out and wrung, gives out the water. Similarly when our stony hearts are lightened like clothes by the acts of philanthropy, we can absorb the eternal divine blessing by which we are always surrounded. The biggest service to a living being is to develop in him an attachment to the Eshwara. – Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Swamigal
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Jaya Jaya Sankara Hara Hara Sankara,

Day in and day out, we come across people that are disabled. Disability manifests in a variety of ways – loss of limbs due to amputation or paralysis, impairment of vision, loss of hearing and many other conditions. We tend to assume that we have a general idea of the challenges disabled people face in their everyday lives. What is not obvious is how frustrating, yet inevitable it can be for them to get through each day.

Soon after we started our Nithya Anna dhana Kainkaryam in Apr 2020, it became a regular sight for us to see disabled people counting on our help to survive and get through their day. Their struggles started becoming more and more familiar to us.

Guided by periyavA’s words to be compassionate whenever, wherever and however possible, we started exploring ways to help them. We started working with vendors that provide assistive devices like hearing aids, wheelchairs, tricycles and artificial limbs.

Physical disability like missing or paralyzed limbs severely limits people’s ability to move around freely – something that many of us take for granted, unmindful of hundreds of obstacles we easily navigate around us everyday – staircases, door frames, wet surfaces, slopes, uneven ground, speed bumps, vehicles, objects lying on the floor etc. Disability deprives people of basic education earlier on in life, subsequently limiting their ability to learn skills or do work to support themselves. Disabled people need more time to perform work that others do with ease. This constantly gives them a feeling of incompetence that they cannot forget. They easily become the center of attention in public places and cannot move around unnoticed. Every one of us has had an off day when we would like to be left alone, lost in our own thoughts, not wanting to interact with anyone. This is almost impossible for a person with a visible physical disability. Sometimes, they even become the object of ridicule and abuse.

As we interacted with disabled people across various locations where we execute our Kainkaryams, we learned that some of them are hopeful and enthusiastic, while others just want to get through their day easier. Some of this depended on people’s age, gender, will-power, circumstances etc. Some people wanted to take up work and support themselves, while others just wanted to be able to move around and be more independent. Prosthetic limbs seemed to better suit the needs of people with amputated limbs, while wheelchairs/tricycles worked out better for victims of paralysis. Considering all these factors, we have been able to provide disabled people with artificial limbs and wheelchairs/tricycles, as appropriate.

With periyavA’s blessings and support from Kainkaryam members, we have been able to donate 7 artificial limbs and 6 tricycles so far. Cost details are provided below –

₹ 8,000 per tricycle
₹ 12,000 per prosthetic limb (amputated below the knee)
₹ 30,000 per prosthetic limb (amputated above the knee)

Deteriorating vision slowly takes away a person’s independence. They are no longer able to work or care for themselves. Even basic activities like dressing and eating become challenging. Loss of near vision brings new challenges like not being able to recognize people, not being able to walk quickly, not being able to navigate crowds etc. Our primary sense to navigate three dimensional space is vision. Poor vision greatly affects mobility. This makes many people feel isolated as they are unable to adequately interact with the world around them. Many old people with poor vision fall and seriously injure themselves.

We conducted an eye camp in Mar 2021 at Anbalaya Old Age Home and identified 9 people that had vision issues and needed eyeglasses. A few days later, we provided them eyeglasses. By periyavA’s anugraham, we were able to procure simple, but sturdy frames and good quality lenses for these 9 people. Cost details are provided below –

₹ 1,000 per pair of eyeglasses

Hearing loss is as debilitating as the above two, especially in elderly people. Many of them have to endure the frustration of being able to hear, but not understand a conversation. They start depending more and more on lip-reading to compensate for their hearing loss, but that only works if the speaker is facing them. This makes them withdraw from conversations, slowly leading to social withdrawal and eventually depression. They cannot respond to dangers, alarms or vehicle that they cannot hear. All this is very exhausting on them, just to get through one day.

We have had great success in donating good quality, sturdy and efficient hearing aids to people that experience deterioration in hearing. Loss in hearing can be due to a few different reasons. Not all of them can be fixed by hearing aids. So, we arrange for hearing tests to assess the level of hearing and the effectiveness of hearing aids. The results help us identify people that can benefit from them. We order hearing aids and have the technician deliver them with instructions on how to use, how often to change batteries, etc.

By periyavA’s grace and support from our Kainkaryam members, we have donated over 10 hearing aids so far.
Cost details are provided below –

₹ 2,500 per hearing aid

All these Kainkaryams are active and happening on a regular basis. We encourage Kainkaryam members to come forward and help ease the suffering of disabled people by bringing more light to their eyes, better sound to their ears and improved mobility in their lives.

Sri Periyava Thiruvadi Sharanam. Rama Rama

Blindness separates people from things. Deafness separates people from people. – Helen Keller
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Below are the links in which you can join and get daily updates on our Kainkaryam activities.

WhatsApp link – https://chat.whatsapp.com/A5BWXJSnYYr0jjCWsIMW3Q
Telegram link – https://t.me/joinchat/WDn8PDm-3EGBXkti

Periyava Kainkaryam/Bhagawan Seva Website – https://bhagawanseva.world/

Contributions Account Info.:  https://mahaperiyavaa.blog/support/

For INR contributors – Please mention ‘Assistive Devices’ and we will ensure your contributions go towards that.

For US contributors – Please mention ‘General’ in the Zelle/Paypal field and send an e-mail to donations@kgpfoundation.org a brief note and we will ensure your contribution goes towards that.

Sri Periyava Thiruvadi Sharanam. Rama Rama

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Tri Cycles





Prosthetic Limbs



Eye Glasses


Hearing Aids



Categories: Devotee Experiences

1 reply

  1. Great work…wow….

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