Amma never delivered discourses. Never dictated do’s and don’ts. “My Life is my message. If anything can be learned or followed through my life, it may be taken for practice” – She said.
The Life Amma led was not ordinary. Right from her infancy, her life was never a bed of roses. She lost her mother when she was just three years old. Even during these three years, her mother was a chronic patient and Amma’s bringing up was entrusted to Golla Nagamma, an Ayah. Except for the christening ceremony, no other ceremony was performed as per tradition. She was not given formal education in a school. Nobody cared for her, except his maternal grandfather Sri Chidambara Rao garu and her great grandmother Maridamma. They too, except for verbal sympathy, could not be instrumental in providing physical comforts to Amma.
Amma never expressed grief when she was subjected to ill treatment and even when she was made to suffer. At the same time, she never felt elated or exalted when people perceived Divinity and worshiped her. A State of “Sthitha Pragna” was amply evident throughout her life, reminiscent of Lord Sri Rama.
In fact, there is a good deal of similitude between Amma and Rama. Duty consciousness (Dharmagna), doing good to all (Sarvabhuteshu) are the two among the many attributes of Sri Rama as described by sage Valmiki.
Amma is the true shape of universal motherhood – She is the embodiment of Love and Sacrifice. That’s why Amma, unlike ordinary human beings, never cared for her likes and dislikes, comforts and discomforts, pleasure and affliction.
She sacrificed everything (her flesh and blood – Hyma, her consort and herself) for the welfare of humanity. In a word, her deeds on earth are the essence of the eternal Sanathana Dharma.
Against the backdrop of several unhappy incidents. Amma was epitome of Dharma and embodiment of patience. She never had even a stray thought of finding fault with the other person. Even when she was subjected to ill treatment, she looked at herself and wondered what had she done to invite such treatment from them. Whenever Sri Chidambara Rao garu enquired about her, she cleverly camouflaged others’ faults and diverted the attention. All through, she only said she is Mother – to everyone and everything, animate or inanimate. A mother shall not see faults in her offspring! She maintained that the correction process, if any, is through Love and not through punishment!
In her childhood, a fisherman robbed her of all her jewelry and tried to kill her by throwing her into the deep sea, lest she should report against him. She came out unscathed and when the repentant fisherman was crying, she consoled him saying that what he tried to rob is his own wealth since he is her child!
She did not claim that she had any Super Powers or She is different from others even though the incidents in her life prove beyond any doubt that She was a precocious child and is Transcendentally Divine. Many had visions of Divine figures in her like Bala Tripura Sundari. Lord Krishna, Rama, Satyanarayana Swamy, Gayatri and so on. But Amma never claimed any of this and constantly maintained that She is Mother to one and all!
Amma’s marriage was conducted amidst a certain controversy. Even though she married her cousin (Paternal aunt’s son) Sri Nageswara Rao, the marriage was performed against a backdrop of deep ruckus.
She was a most faithful wife to her husband and an ideal housewife. The moment her father Sri Sitapati Sarma mentioned that Her marriage would be fixed with her cousin Sri Nageswara Rao, She held him as her husband in her thought, word and action. Even though subsequently, the alliance ran into rough weather due to certain family misunderstandings, she never wavered from the thought that she is the wife of Sri Nageswara Rao.
The whole world was regarding Her as the Divine Incarnation. But for Amma, her husband is her God. This firm faith was evident in her every thought, word and deed. That was the Chastity of the Highest Order.
Amma often said that she derives the ability to give teertham (holy water) to anyone who approaches her from the fact that she takes the theertham of her “Mangala Sutras” every day, which represent the feet of her husband.
The Universal Motherhood was evident in her every word and deed. When insects crawl on her body and others try to remove them, she used to prevent them saying that they came to their Mother just like any of us.
Amma’s Life history is blemishless, ideal and exemplary.