Amma’s life was a saga of unbounded love and compassion. Born in a middle class family and having lost Her mother at the tender age of three, she was at the mercy of her relatives. Unlettered, unfed, uncared for and unloved, Amma grew up tended by Mother Nature.
Anyone would unhesitatingly forecast a cruel, unforgiving and spiteful adulthood for a child brought up under such a negative atmosphere. But, as history amply proved, Amma was the reverse of all that. Today millions testify that Mother was and is the embodiment of all positive attributes love, compassion and utter empathy.
Though brought up under indigent conditions, she proved to the world that external conditions are not a hindrance to the benevolent, loving and caring.
For Amma, everything revolved around love and love alone. Amma was heckled, made fun of, beat and tortured. Amma only chose the path of love and by boundless compassion, changed the hostile elements into ashamed repentance. “Avyajakaruna” (Love without motives) is personified in Amma and thus she can be rightly called Prem Avatar. Anyone who would like to promote peace and harmony in today’s strife torn world would find it rewarding to take a leaf out of her history and put into practice the message.
Another unique facet of Amma was her limitless benefaction though she calls it her nature. If she happens to have in her possession something that someone else is in need of, she just gives it away – may be clothes, articles, money or gold. This created some serious problems. There were times when she had no change of clothes. And yet without a moment’s hesitation, she would do it again and again.
To help a child in need, there is nothing Amma would not do though she may have to face humiliation in the process; may be to save a house, a marriage or mediate between two rival factions. Amma was mis-understood, abused and ill-treated. Yet, she had love, love and nothing else in return for every one of them.
Richard Schiffman portrays Amma’s love in the following sentences in his book ‘Mother of All’.
“The author knew nothing about this entity. He surely was not aware that it was something to be sought, to be searched for. He had come across the world, of course, heard it blared out in tune with a hundred popular songs. He noticed others, the preachers, use it in a slightly different sense; they said ‘God loves’, but hates the sinner and sends the dis-obedient to eternal damnation…… Somehow the author was never able to make much sense of this word ‘love’ or to understand why everybody made such a fuss about it.
Then, one day, quite unexpectedly, without searching for it, or even knowing what to search for, he found himself in the presence of a small lady with a simple manner in an out-of-the-way comer of rural South India. As he quietly watched her silences and her speech, her ready and joyful acceptance of all, her respect and consideration for every one, it suddenly occurred to him that here was the thing that everyone talked about, but nobody knew. Here was the love proclaimed from every rooftop, yet all but extinct is practice Love without motives, pure, selfless… Without limits.“
Amma in her great compassion for humanity, gave an unequivocal assurance that she would continue to look after her children even after her Mahasamadhi.
Amma was recognised as an Avatar even at an young age. Sri Chandramouli Chidambara Rao was a lawyer, scholar and reformer. He was the youngest brother of the maternal grandfather of Amma. Ammal spent a considerable period in their house before her marriage. He was one of the first few to whom Amma revealed her nature.
Once Sri Chidambara Rao asked Amma ‘Each Avatar had a purpose. What is the purpose of this Avatar ? Amma replied “There is no particular purpose”. Particular is the key word. She did not have one. any one purpose, but it may be all encompassing. What does this signify?
People who knew Mother when asked what she did during her lifetime, their immediate response would be feeding any number of people even denying to herself, showering love on one and all, conducting marriages, extending helping hand to any one in need, establishing freedom. educational institutions, providing free medical aid, building temples for the spiritually inclined, etc. etc.
True! She did all that. But is that all ?
Sri Parthasarathy iyengar, an erudite scholar from Madras, during one of his visits to Jillellamudi noted that Amma was silent and watching something in space. He didn’t want to disturb her then and she asked Amma what she was watching a while ago. Thought waves’ was the instantaneous and unexpected answer. After absorbing that, he again. asked: “How are they?” Mother explained that as the thought waves floated towards Her, they were all crooked and distorted, but as they passed her, they got transformed, became straight and passed on. Did she do it? No, she was just watching the phenomenon! How wonderful! Evidently that was happening round the clock during the sojourn of Amma on this planet and even afterwards !!!
Now it is generally accepted that thought waves are very powerful instruments for either good or bad; that when once they spring from one source, can no longer be limited to that place; that depending on the power of the source, can travel thousands of miles and stimulate similar thoughts in nature and in fertile brains. So, unknown and unannounced, Amma’s very presence is transforming evil and crooked thoughts that had generated somewhere, into benevolent and positive ones and sending them back into the world to do benevolent work.
A careful analysis of the visitors to Mother reveals that she did not attract those who are after miracles and instant results so much as solemn thinkers, intellectuals and persons with devotion to one or the other ideal. Amma appeared happiest when writers, poets, reporters and scientists came to question her on diverse subjects. Invariably they found that profound answers were ready on Amma’s lips even before they finished their questions. These people went back with a wider perception of life, old convictions shaken to roots and higher truths. revealed. Their changed attitudes and values naturally reflected in their writings and speeches, which in turn affect the attitudes of many more of the present and future generations.
When the Allied Nations declared war on the Axis Powers, it was described as a war to end all wars. It proved to be a misconceived notion. The post second world war era has witnessed an unprecedented global eruption of organized violence, mass massacres and undeclared. wars. Covert and overt operations have become part of the foreign policy of some nations. All forms of terrorism have spread to the four corners of the globe. Unscrupulous nations are fostering terrorism to meet their nefarious ends.
Those who tried to counter these evil forces with evil forces have only found that the sum total of evil forces has multiplied by geometrical proportions. During the past two decades or so, more and more people and nations have realized that negative or evil forces cannot be contained by more powerful negative or evil forces but only by strong positive forces and attitudes. Anger cannot be contained by anger but by calmness. War cannot be contained by war but only with peace. There is increasing realization that military victories have no real value and increasing nuclear arsenal for raging a war is futile. Their present search and efforts are for lasting peace.
Could this realization and the change of attitudes of people and nations during Amma’s lifetime and more particularly in the decade after her ‘Mahasamadhi’ in 1985 be a mere coincidence or the result of powerful positive thoughts radiating from Amma, the embodiment of pure Sattvic nature? Is Mother changing, by her very presence, the course of mankind by influencing their very thinking by throwing into space powerful positive thoughts and highly Satvik radiation from Herself, thus saving it from complete annihilation? Is this her mode of containing evil forces that go out of control and become a menace to the very existence of mankind?
It may be asked whether the Supreme Sakti could not bring about this benevolent change by itself without a manifestation. Sakti in its unmanifested state is beyond the duality, experienced in the manifest world. That state is composed of all diverse forces of all colors and shades. Satvik and Tamasic force cannot be differentiated. When Tamasic forces are rampant in the manifested state, it is only a manifested Satvik force that can contain it. And that is Mother.