16 Dec 2009, Amritapuri
It was breakfast at Amritapuri. An old man clad in torn dirty rags was spotted sleeping at bramacharis dinning hall. As I neared him, I had to hold my breath as he was stinking badly.
We found that he hailed from Kambam in Tamilnadu. He had bruises on his fore head. As we enquired, he said, “That is the mark of my prarabdha. He explained that his elder son angrily pushed him down and that had caused the bruises. We asked in one voice, “What?” and with tears he said, “It is all for the 3 acres of land that I own. Both my sons had tried to kill me earlier to grab my wealth. They assault me now and then for their share.”
“Why don’t you just give their share?”
He said, “If I do that, they would dump me onto some waste bin”.
He said that he had been visiting Amma since 1989. In 1989, he thought that somebody had done some black magic to his family and he came to Amma for help. He added, “But, when I went near Amma, I went blank. I was fully drenched by Amma’s love.” We listened lovingly as his eyes twinkled reliving those vintage memories.
He expressed his desire for Amma’s darshan. But, he was badly in need of a bath. So, we took him to a bathroom and gave him a bath. Actually, we wanted to throw away his dirty clothes and wanted to offer our set of clothes. But, he refused to accept our idea. He said, “I have just come here for Amma’s love and grace. Though I don’t have anything to give her, I don’t want to take any material things from here.”
Admiring his attitude we volunteered to laundry his dirty clothes and took him for Amma’s darshan. As I translated, Amma was pained to listen to his story. When she asked him, “How did you manage to come here alone?” he replied, “By thy grace.” Our hearts melted as we saw Amma wiping his tears away. She made him sit next to her and told him to stay here for few more days. Also, she told us to care him properly. Amma looked at the bramacharis around and remarked, “People care their cows only for her milk. If it stops giving milk they don’t hesitate to sell to a butcher. This is the nature of the worldly love.” The man nodded affirmative.
One of us told Amma, “Amma had been stressing on the need for etiquettes and respect for elders in her recent satsangs for ashramites and today we got an excellent chance to practice it.”
It was past 10 Pm and Amma’s darshan was still continuing. Swamis were singing and the speakers were loud. The man was falling asleep at one corner of the prayer hall. He said, “Because of my worries, I won’t sleep even after past mid night at home. But, now that I have unburdened before Amma, I feel light and ‘am feeling sleepy.” I pointed out that the hall is noisy. But, he said, “My heart is full” and he spread his mat right under a huge speaker. Unmindful of the noise and crowd, within in few minutes, the 88 year old fell asleep.
Perhaps after many sleepless nights, here he is sleeping peacefully in the lap of his most beloved Amma. Hope he scores a peaceful century by Amma’s grace.
– Ramkumar
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What a touching true incident. thanks. Also, I got Amma’s message thro this incident. I have not been respecting elders for sometime now, especially my inlaws. I am angry that they dominate and i have to listen to them everytime. But after reading this, I shall respect them since Amma stresses on etiquettes and respect for elders. thank you Amma for your message. give me the strength to follow your teachings constantly.
thank you.
THats a great thing!!!
The above words explain how fleeting this worldly relationships are. One moment we think we have everything and the next moment we would have lost everything. If we listen carefully we can hear someone speaking in soft voice at us at that moment, from inside. Amma is here to teach us the rules of this game of life.
Very well written too. Thank you. Hope to read more of the same. 🙂
I was deeply touched. True this is the nature of worldly love and the article shows how Amma has trained her children to serve selflessly. May he score his ton peacefully. Thanks Ramkumar for writing again plse keep writing. My wife and son are deeply impressed too. They feel that Amma has sent an important message for us. It is well written and it is a Very good post!
This was very impressive. Thanks for the post. Made me contemplate a lot.
PRANAMS PONNU AMMA, FOR EDUCATING THY CHILDREN THROUGH THIS EXAMPLE.
My eyes filled with tears unknowingly…
I only chant: “Bakthi tha jagadambe, Premam tha jagadambe, Viswasam Tha Jagadambe.
But this grandpa taught me how to have true faith and devotion for amma no matter of the situation. As he said “thy grace bought me”…for the grace to fall on him, he must have been ego-less.
Thank you for posting this article.
Thanks a lot for the post. Pranams Amma. Thee show our path. Make me thy tool Amma.
a very touching tale indeed!!!! am missing Amma more than ever now!!!!
this is really a heart touching incident.this incident shows us how much importance is given to mankind. ammaaaaaaa i really feel very angry with those two sons who abandoned their father.
having trouble logging out of “88 not out”!!!
First when I logged in, I was not attracted to read this ’88 not out’. I was more interested in following Amma chimes. But today as there were no new articles, poems I finally read it. It’s a message for me to become very alert and think before I speak because most of the arguments result from the same. Now I shall read each and everything in this homepage! Love Amma chimes… When Amma go for the bhajans I feel she is walking in my heart. When she sings bhajan I feel that I am sitting besides her foot. When she gives darshan I feel that she is watching me. And the ‘thought for the moment’ on mother page is as if Amma is talking to me and telling me What should I.
Heart touching incident. Selfless love. Good post. Love u grandpa. Love u all
and Amma, I love u..please give me another chance to meet u..and please consider me for doing padhapuja next time i meet you!
When i reached “By thy grace.” , i felt tears in my eyes!!! What glorious renunciation!!! Could there be a better example,i doubt… Thank you Ramkumar.