(Contd. from previous issue)
- Unimaginable and Un-understandable
Amma used to do the cooking herself in those days. Nannagaru, Hyma and myself – these are the family members. Ravi and Subba Rao were studying in Appikatla. So they would come here on Saturdays and Sundays. Amma used to cook inside and I would sit at the threshold outside, Amma would chat while cooking and I was the listener. She cooked on the tobacco sticks and Amma’s eyes would get swollen because of the smoke. She made rice, soup (pulusu) and a vegetable after seasoning it. In the back yard near the peepul (raavi) tree the grinding stone was kept and she would sit on a tripod, make coconut chutney and red gram chutney. I would hold an umbrella over her while she ground the chutneys. She would say “If you make the coconut chutney without adding a drop of water it will remain fresh for a week. This is how it should be seasoned”. Amma made chutney and curry even with grass. I ate it. It was most delicious.
“My dear! When we cook rice, we remove the starch water (ganji) and throw it away. But in Tamilnadu the housewife adds a little rice flour, a few cumin seeds, green chillies and tiny pieces of coconut and prepares the pancake batter. When the husband returns home in the evening from work, by the time he would have a wash she would prepare hot pancakes and serve him.” In this manner Amma used to combine spiritual and worldly matters and narrate incidents.
As and when it was needed she would season the food items. Near the fireplace in the kitchen, there was a nail on the wall and a Woodward Gripe Water bottle hung from it. This bottle contained the cooking oil up to the brim. She would be talking while cooking and seasoning the food etc. and I would listen to her. Though she used oil daily even after four or five days the oil level in the bottle would not diminish. It always remained full. I was puzzled. I picked up courage and asked Amma about it. The following conversation ensued:
Myself: Amma you have been using the oil everyday. But the quantity did not become less, why? Why did it not become less?
Amma: I don’t think so dear! You must have made a mistake. Of course it would become less. I use very little oil, a few drops, perhaps you did not observe properly. When I use some everyday, shouldn’t it become less!!
She just counter questioned me. Seeing is believing, so how can I be wrong? But Amma never accepts that she performs miracles. I am not an ignorant child. Anyway, it is unimaginable and un-understandable. This incident surprised me. Almost fifteen years later I heard the Upanishadic statement:
Purnamadah Purnamidam Purnat Purnamudachyate
Purnasya Purnamadaaya Poornamevaavashishyate
Then I got the answer to my question. That is full (what is before the creation). This is full (creation is complete). From the full, the full does proceed. Withdrawing the full from the full, the full alone remains. “The one has become many” said Amma. What is one, what has become many, all are full. There is no question of becoming less. The Gripe Water bottle with oil is full. I am not interested in Brahma, the creator or the creation. The bottle is always full with oil. Every Time there was a need, Amma used it. But the quantity did not become less. It was full. Amma’s actions are the essence of the Veda and the Vedanta treatises. For me Amma is the Truth and Brahma is unreal.
In my song “Bless me Amma”, she inspired me to write: You appear as Amma to everyone
But to some you are Brahma
But all auspiciousness to those enlightened ones
Who believe that Amma is real and Brahma unreal
- Clairvoyance / Telepathy – Television
Once my friend and I went to a movie (1st show) in Guntur near Jinna Tower, in City Talkies. After the movie at 9.15p.m. we went to the Fine India Hotel and had a cup of strong tea. I had the special betel leaf and areca nut with the combination of spices while my friend had simple betel leaf and nut. On paying for the paan, the shop man returned some change and we gave it to a beggar woman who was present there. In those days there were no television sets but Radio broadcast by the only All India Radio. A song in Hindi ‘Basti Basti Parbat Parbat’ in Mohammad Rafi’s melodious voice was aired in the Vividh Bharati Station in the programme Panch Rangi! We just stood there enjoying the song. This was the incident.
What happened was not a great or a wonderful event. It was very ordinary and forgotten soon. Going for a movie, drinking tea, eating betel leaf – are not extraordinary activities. Ten days later I went to Jillellamudi. During the conversation, Amma said “Didn’t you and another man stand in front of a hotel and listen to a song?” I said “I don’t remember Amma. When was it? I don’t remember Amma ”. “There was a beggar woman I think you gave a ten paise coin”. When Amma went into details I remembered. “Yes Amma, Mohammad Rafi sang the song. It is a beautiful song. We stood there listening”. My response to Amma was very matter of fact. Then suddenly I was surprised. How does she know ? Except the two of us nobody knows. Amma immediately said “Why don’t you compose a song in that style dear?”
Amma is the embodiment of the word (Akshara parabrahma swaroopini). To constrain the great truth/the first principle (Mahattatvam), that is the Supreme Brahman within the framework of words is indeed audacity on my part. Since Amma’s order and permission are given, the question whether it is possible or not whether I have the skill and the capability does not arise. I was constantly commuting between Kommuru and the factory, back and forth and also between Kommuru and Jillellamudi. During these journeys I composed this song “Singing and proclaiming your story I travel Oh Mother”.
All the worlds and all the beings
All that is you and all is within you
There is no end to your miracles / Your miracles are infinite
You are our main stay / sustenance / support
This incident has made me realize that Mother has no frontiers. Nothing is a barrier. Omniscience and omnipresence are qualities considered as extraordinary and unique by us but for Mother they are her nature.
- Amma is Vishaalaakshi
Amma’s vision is broad. How broad? If we were to place all the fourteen worlds/ (Chaturdasha Bhuvanalu) in a frame, Mother’s view would be beyond that frame. Is there any place where the light and grace of Amma’s eyes cannot reach? It is all pervading.
Sri Annamacharya in his song “Viswaprakashunaku Veli Eda Lo Neda” (To the One who spreads light and illumination in the entire Universe where is inside? Where is outside?) He questions; to the thousand-faced one where is here and where is there (beyond)? The above questions are mere rhetorical questions. They contain answers within themselves. To the self effulgent Supreme who illumines the whole universe – what is inside, what is outside? Likewise to the one with an infinite number of eyes, who is the creator and sustainer of the universe, the concept of here and there does it exist?
On two occasions Amma revealed her universal vision. In the first instance I was the witness. Amma’s house was a thatched hut. There is an opening in the ceiling through which a ray of sunlight would come down as if in a tube. In that light we clearly see the dust particles moving about. This is a common experience for all of us. Amma said “In this infinite creation I see all the planets, stars, constellations/galaxy of stars, in the same way”.
Another time Amma told Sri Komaravolu Gopala Rao “My dear! I see all the worlds, the stars etc., as fruits in a basket”. As we view a whole lot of books in an almirah, so does Amma view the whole creation as a unit. The big-eyed lady’s (Vishalakshi) vision is extensive. It is beyond our capacity to calculate. This truth gets revealed to us clearly by her statement “these walls are not a hindrance”. To that Vishalakshi (big eyed one) Sahasrakshi (one with thousand eyes i.e. infinite number of eyes) millions of prostrations.
Presenters: AVR Subrahmanyam and Ravuri Prasad