दक्षिणी मराठी खजाना

This happened some fifteen years back when Sri Sathyapromodaru was in Kumbakonam on Sanchara and was staying in our ancestral house there. I was employed in Essar group and was on the Board of Tamilnadu Mercantile Bank and had gone to Tuticorin for a Board Meeting. I got a call from a sishya of the U.M to say that two days from that day a Bisksha Vandanam was organised for the swamiji in a Sihsya of the Mata and the Gruhastha’s mother passed away and I should reach Kumbakonam to substitute for the Biksha that coud not take place. After the Board meeting I motored down to Kumbakonam and met the swamiji and offered my pranams.

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Next day after the Bikshavandanam in our house in the evening Swamiji was relaxing and I had a private audience with him with my second son. I enquired about the origin of the name Uthiradhi Mata and asked himd does it mean Uthira = north Aadi =and others meaning north and beyond north mata. He explained to me that Uthira as is Uthira Gopathir Goptha of Vihsnu sahasranamam Uthira is hamsa ad Vishnu is Paramahamsa being the one who knows the good and bad and accordingly deals with them, and as the Mata was founded by the Paramahamsa = Uhtira himself it is called Uthiradhi Mata.

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The conversation then veered towards, dhana and dharma and being pious etc. The swamiji told me a story . I now quote the Swamiji.

“ In a small town on the banks of a river there lived a pious rich erudite Brahmin who had made it his daily obligation to take care of visiting pious men and host them. On a particular day a pious man had visited the town and was camping by the banks of the river. The rich man came to to about it and went to see the pious man with ONE of his sons. He made offerings and prayed to the pious man to visit his house for athithi sathkara. The pious man agreed but on a condition that he will not take food in any person’s house who tells a lie, and went on the quiz the rich man as to how many sons he had. The rich man replied “only one son and he was accompanying him and present before the pious man”. Next the rich man was asked about his wealth to which the rich man replied that he has a few crores worth only say about four to five crores only. Satisfied the pious man said after finishing his anushtanas he will come to the rich man’s house and that the rich man should send his son the guide the pious man to the rich man’s house.

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The rich man went back home and made arrangements for welcoming the pious man and the bikshavandanam and was waiting for the pious man’s arrival. After a few hours he sent ANOTHER of his sons to fetch the pious man. On seeing a new face the pious man asked who he was and when told that he was a son of the rich man refused to go over to the the rich man’s house as he has been told a lie about the number of sons. The boy rushed back home and told his father what happened, The rich man said he will explain and went to the river bank and pleaded with the pious man to come home saying he will come to know that the rich man was not telling a lie.

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In the meanwhile at his house all were engrossed in their work and the son who went first to see the pious man was in the garden arranging for banana leaves for the lunch. The house had a sloping roof and the façade was low that one had to bend to enter the house ( in olden days houses were built that way serving two purposes one to enter the house with humility by bending their head and two to prevent any thief who has entered the house rushing out as the thief will get his by the low facade). All were busy and no one in the front of the house to receive them.

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On seeing this the rich man rushed inside to alert them about the arrival of the pious man but in the hurry got knocked off in the head by the low façade and fell down unconscious. No one seemed to bother and no first aid or any such thing happened. The pious man was also stunned. By now the son who had gone to fetch the leave and who was the one who went with his father to invite in the first instance the rich man returned and seeing father on the floor fallen, rendered assistance and first aid and made his father comfortable.

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After he regained consciousness the rich man looked at the pious man and said “ Swamin, now you know why I said I have only one son and that is this boy who takes care of me and all other though born to me are of no use to me and I have given about 4 crores of rupees as dhana and only that is mine and all the other riches are for the family. You will now know I did not lie”

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After finishing the story the Swamiji told me that only that which you give away in charity is yours and therefore keep doing charity.

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Even though in writing it is longish Swamiji told in this story in a few minutes and I still remember and try and do my little bit.