Sreepada Sreevallabha Charitaamrutam - 14

Chapter – 14 ‘Grant of abhaya’ (assurance of protection) to Datta Das 

 I reached a village called Muntakallu after travelling for some days. When inquired some travellers informed that I can reach Kurungedda after a few days of journey. I was very much eager to see Sri Sreepada. One person was coming towards me with a pot of toddy. Even though I was not a pandit; as I was a Brahmin observing some religious practices, and the stench of the toddy was unbearable and the person was coming in my direction, it caused intense suffering to me. I was walking quickly uttering the name of Sri Sreepada but, that person reached me much more quickly. He questioned me,“When I am coming to you is it proper for you to move away from me?” Then I asked him, “Who are you? What business have you got with me?”For that he laughed loudly.The bad odour of toddy was blowing out from his mouth. He said, “Before you know who I am, it is better to know who you are, from where you are coming? What is your destination?” I thought that in those parts even the hawkers of toddy were capable of philosophical conversation. He called loudly all the passers by and asked them to come near him. Shortly a crowd gathered. He was saying to the crowd, “Sirs! I tap toddy and sell in this area. I live according to dharma. The palm tree is wishgiving tree for me. This brahmin waited under the tree till I climbed the tree and brought down the liquor. He told me that he is an addict of toddy inspite of the fact that he is a brahmin. He also said that he did not have the money to pay for it and requested me to pour some toddy in his throat and earn enough punya. I agreed. When I was about to pour the toddy, he observed that there was a great deal of movement of the people in the vicinity. Therefore he is refusing the toddy because he fears that his brahmanism would be tainted if he drinks toddy in the presence of all people. I will be a great sinner if I break my promise. This is equal to an ambrosia to our caste people. I hope to derive lot of punya by offering the drink of such a priceless liquor to this brahmin. This brahmin is dashing all my hopes to ground. All of you who are pious teach this brahmin about dharma and save me from being a sinner.” As all the people who gathered there belonged to the gowda caste who made a living by tapping toddy, they gave much value to the words of their caste man. I was forced to drink the toddy. Then all of them dispersed. That strange person who made me drink toddy,also went somewhere. I was thinking in my mind, “Taking a noble birth as a brahmin and travelling to visit the divine incarnate Sreepada, I drank this degraded drink. My brahmanism was burnt to ashes. How can I see the countenance of most sacred Sreepada? My fate has gone like this. Fate is very powerful. When such a perverse writing was inscribed on my forehead how can it happen in any other manner?” I was feeling distressed.My foot steps were faltering. Unbearable smell of toddy was emanating from my mouth. My body became a little unconscious. I was blaming my misfortune and walking while chanting the name of Sri Sreepada. I found a hut in the mid way. It appeared as a place of penance. I thought that some great people were there. I thought that I was unworthy of visiting pious people. I did not like to step into that hermitage. I felt, that too in a drunken state, it was highly reprehensible to enter into the holy ashram.When I was going on my way a person clapped and loudly called, “You Shankar Bhatt! Stop. Sri Dattaananda Swamy ordered that you should be brought to ashram. I was astonished at the divine play and stopped. I was taken before Sri Dattaananda Swamy. With mercy showering from his eyes, Sri Swamy asked me to take bath immediately. After bath I was given sweet fruits. After I ate them he called me close to him and said, “My Child! Sri Sreepada Vallabha, the new incarnation of Sree Dattatreya has immense compassion for you. What a great compassion He has for you! He made you drink the divine nectar with His healing hands. You mistook Him as a gowda tapping toddy. You were deluded into thinking that the divine ambrosia was liquor. What a strange irony!” I felt as if my head reeled. I thought the whole universe which I was seeing was disappearing gradually before my eyes. Then I experienced as if the waves of the great ocean of boundless cosmic power engulfed me. In that infinite power; my small and despicable egoistic form of jeevatma went out of sight. I was immersed in a particular divine bliss in which the entity ‘I’ was not known or cannot be known. When the limited ‘I’was destroyed this whole creation looked like a dream. Then Sri Swamy sprinkled mantrajala(water charged with mantras) on me. He smeared the holy ash on my forehead with his divine hands. Then I became my normal self. I experienced divine bliss for few moments. As soon as I returned to normalcy, I realised that I sunk into gross nature. Sri Swamy said, “You belonged to gowda caste in one of your births. You were drinking cheap liquor terribly. In the innermost recesses of your personality the desire to drink toddy still remained. Without the grace of Sri Sreepada you should have been addicted to drinking habit and fallen down ethically even though you are a brahmin. The glances of Sri Sreepada are ambrosial. There are many accidents indicated in your horoscope. He was removing them with His ambrosial looks even without your knowledge. Who is capable of describing the greatness of Sree Guru? Even vedas kept mum while describing His greatness.” Then I said, “Sir! I want to know the details of Sree Gurus’ greatness. Enthusiasm is increasing to know more and more as I am knowing things. Sree Guru is repeatedly declaring that He would incarnate as Narasimha Saraswati. I have an ardent desire to know the inner meanings of His sportive plays.” For that Swamy replied, “My son! The main objective of the spiritual quest of vedic seers was the spiritual inner truth. The most important among their mystical words is ‘ruthamu’ which means truth. That is truth of soul and truth of material object. When this was commented according to the ritualistic practice, it was called in a variety of names such as truth, sacrifice, water and food. In the same way the word ‘Saraswati’ is very significant. River Saraswati flows underground. It was described as the one which preaches truthful sayings; one which preaches truth; one which preaches consciousness full of ideas or perceptions, one which tells about the great ocean; and the one which illuminates our minds. So Sree Guru is a preaching power, a perennial stream of teaching. His is a voice of truth. He brightens our minds. He installs supreme truth and inner wisdom in us. Yagna in veda is an external sign of inner nature. Men offer what ever belongs to them, to the celestials through sacrificial rites. In turn celestials give them cows and horses. Herds of cows mean riches of brilliance. Horses represent wealth of strength. In the same manner they grant us powers of penance. To disclose the secret meaning in vedas only to worthy people, they were preserved with utmost secrecy. Ghee is the main material used in sacrificial ceremonies. According to the literal meaning clarified butter or ghee has another meaning as brilliance.In veda the letter ‘go’ has the meaning as light. Horse represents strength, strength of soul and power of penance. In their mantras sages asked for a boon of horse with the face of a cow. It means sages desire array of spiritual power driven by illumination. Therefore, it means horse powers progressed by gokiranas(beams of cow). It appears as if the hermits prayed through many mantras desiring sons and progeny but there is an internal meaning. Birth of a son is the sign of generation of internal strength. This was described by them in the following manner: “Fire is personally being born to us as a son, fire is a son who is born in yagna. He is a father of all fathers as universal fire.”In the same fashion salila and udaka(water) were used with an inner suggestive meaning. For instance, take the sentence ‘Salilam apraketam’. It means that the motionless ocean which is divinity, is by its own strength taking the shape of divinity out of the inner mingled dark ocean called jadaabdi (inert ocean). This was also described as great ocean. In one of the sooktas(hymns praising Gods) sages declared that Saraswati was exhibiting to us waters of the upper strata in its rays of inner wisdom. There is an inner meaning to the seven srotaswins(streams) mentioned in vedas. There are the excellent divine attributes of heaven. Sage Parasara asserted that the knowledge that resides in water is life of the universe. Vruta is a demon who overshadows brilliance (groups of ‘Go’s), waters, supreme truth, and upper consciousness and keeps them secretly under his control. Only such spirits which perform such despicable acts are vrutas. They are Dasyas. They are forces of darkness. They are great enemies of those who seek knowledge of truth.” Boons given to Audumbara Tree (Cluster Fig Tree), The glory of the incarnation of Sree Narasimha Saraswati.“My Child! Sree Maha Vishnu appeared as Narasimha Swamy from the wooden pillar made out of the audumbara tree and saved Prahlada. Prahlada became the king. That wooden pillar which broke into two pieces began to sprout after some time. There an audumbara tree took shape. Prahlada who was astonished started worshipping it. One day Sree Dattatreya appeared in meditative pose, and taught knowledge to Prahlada. Sree Datta who discerned the interest of Prahlada for Dwaita(theory of dualism) blessed that in kali yuga He would take the form of an ascetic and uplift the downtrodden, and propagate the ideology of dualism.The audumbara tree took human form and fell on the Feet of Sree Datta and sought a boon. Then Sree Datta promised that He would reside at the base of each audumbara tree in a subtle form and as He emerged from it in the shape of Narasimha, He would incarnate in kali yuga under the name of Narasimha Saraswati.All this was narrated in Pymgya Braahmana. Now this Pymgya Braahmana is available only near the village Sambala located in Himalayas the land of austerities of the seven maharshis. It was lost in other regions. When a question arose whether He was there or not, an emotional incarnation sprang from the lifeless pillar to demonstrate that He was very much there. That furious incarnation is Sree Narasimhaswamy. In the same way in kali yuga when people with impure minds raise perverted arguments as to whether God is there or not, the Almighty incarnates under the name of Narasimha Saraswati not only to prove His existence but also to protect devotees as was done in the case of Prahlada.Then I asked Sri Swamy, “Sir! Have you seen Sreepada in Pithikapuram? My mind is getting excited to hear His childhood sportive plays.” The great miracle of Sri Sreepada Sri Swamy was saying like this, “I stammered since childhood. All people were ridiculing me. In addition, a strange disease attacked me. From my fifth year the disease increased. With the lapse of one year, ten years of age used to increase. When I was ten years old, features of an old man of fifty years overtook me. In Sri Pithikapur a sacrifice was conducted under the supervision of Baapanaarya. Brahmins were given generous monetary honorariums. For those with good scholarship liberal monetary gifts were given. As he heard from many people the great sportive plays of Sri Sreepada my father took me also to that sacrifice. The age of Sri Sreepada would not exceed six years. Ghee necessary for the sacrifice was procured. All that ghee was kept in the custody of an old brahmin. That person was not only a miser but also greedy. He hid one-fourth of the ghee secretly in his house and sent only three-fourth portion for the sacrificial programme. The yagna started. The priests conducting the sacrifice thought that the ghee would not be sufficient. It was difficult to procure ghee immediately. It became a matter of sorrow that such obstacles were caused to the yagna. Sri Baapanaarya looked at Sri Sreepada with a placid face. Then Sri Sreepada remarked, “Some thieves assumed ruling power and are thinking of stealing My money. A great Darbaar is going to be established in Pithikapuram in My name. I will allow those thieves to come inside. When they come out with the stolen money, I stand near the door secretly and hit them with a big stick. With that some people die on the spot. Some others run away leaving the money. I order Saneeswara to live in the houses of those thieves along with Jyesthadevi.” The words of Sri Sreepada were not understood by any one. They thought that He was telling about some future happenings. In the meanwhile, Sri Sreepada called that old brahmin and made him write on a palmyra leaf in the following manner, “Mother! Mother Gangaa! Give the ghee required for conducting the yagna. Our grandfather Sri Pynda Venkatappayya Sreshti will settle the debt. This is the command of Sreepada Sreevallabha.” This letter was shown to Sri Pynda Venkatappayya Sreshti. He agreed. Four people along with that old brahmin went to Paadagaya Teertha taking that letter. They submitted that letter into the pond. They collected water from it in the receptacles which they took with them. The water was brought to the place of sacrifice amidst the chanting of vedic mantras. The water changed into ghee in the sight of all people. The yagna concluded successfully. Sreshti submitted in the same vessels full measure of ghee as was promised, into the Paadagaya Teertha.” Ghee while being poured changed into water. My father submitted my miserable state to Sri Sree pada. He said, “Wait for sometime. I will cure the disease of your boy. I will also remove stammering. A house is due to be burnt. A muhurt (auspicious time) has to be fixed for it.” His ways are unpredictable. In the meanwhile that old brahmin came. He was scared whether any harm would be done to him for stealing the ghee. Some times he was thinking whether it would be better to confess before Sreepada about stealing the ghee. He arrived at a firm decision that regardless of what might happen, only good will come from visiting Sreepada. an interesting discussion took place between both of them. Sreepada said, “Dear old man! You are an expert in fixing muhurts. A house has to be burnt down. Fix a correct muhurt time for it.”The old man replied that muhurts will be there for construction of houses and for foundation laying ceremonies but not for burning down houses. Sreepada questioned, “How can there be no muhurts for stealing and for arson?” The old Brahmin said, I did not hear of such muhurts. I do not know whether such events take place during inauspicious muhurts and unlucky hours. Sreepada said, “Then has any unlucky time is now running?” The old brahmin replied, “Now such an evil time is passing.” Sreepada exclaimed, “Old man! What a great good news you have told. A rogue stole ghee procured for the sacred sacrifice. The hunger of Fire-God is not satisfied. He is burning the ghee that justly belongs to him and also the house along with it. In this way He is satiating His hunger. He is dancing with joy.” The face of the old brahmin turned pale on hearing the words of Sri Sreepada. His house was reduced to ashes in a short time. Sri Sreepada ordered the old brahmin to bring some ash from the burnt house. That old brahmin realised that Sri Sreepada was capable of granting boons with grace and also to cause losses with His wraath.So he obediently brought ash. Sreepada mixed that ash in a glass of water and commanded me to drink it. He wanted me to do like that for three days. We were guests in the house of Sri Baapanaarya. The strange disease in my body along with my stammering was removed. I became healthy. Sri Sreepada placed His divine benevolent hand on my head and transferred power into me and made me gratified. Then Sri Sreepada said, “From today you will become famous with the name of Dattaananda. May you become a house holder and be redeemed by preaching righteous conduct to people! In the past lives yourself and this old brahmin were jointly doing business. Enmity developed in business and each of you was trying to murder the other. One day you visited the house of the old brahmin and made him drink paayasam(a sweet preparation) pretending love. Not knowing that you have mixed poison in the paayasam that old brahmin drank it and died. At the same time the old brahmin employed some workmen without your knowledge and set your house on fire. Your house was burnt to ashes. On returning to your house you died with heart-pain after seeing that everything was lost. As you gave poison in the past, you are subjected to a strange disease in this birth. As this old brahmin got your house burnt in the previous birth, his house was burnt down in this birth. I released both of you from your bonds of fate through these playful acts. I returned home after receiving the grace of Sri Sreepada. I became erudite in vedas and saastras. Sri Narasimha Varma constructed a new house for the old brahmin. As the bonds of karma of both of us were cut off with the intervention of Sri Sreepada it only brought goodness to both of us. His leelas were divine. A new house was acquired by the old brahmin. My disease vanished; my stammering was also rectified and I became a scholar. The yagna became like a Kurukshetra war under the overall supervision of Sree Krishna Paramatma. Dakshayagna performed in the absence of Shiva turned into a battle field. It is better to note the subtleties of dharma.” My Son! Shankar Bhatt! All deities are born out of brilliant illumination. Aditi is having infinite form. Deities are her children. For the progress and development of mankind they are responsible. Deities send aura to men. They shower wealth of divine consciousness on the souls of men. They sustain truth. They are the builders of divine loka. They combine evil forces which cause obstacles to complete liberation and free ineffable joy of mankind. Sages after seeing deities, and after observing their various activities described them with different names. The words used in vedas have a special meaning. In popular usage‘aswam’ means a horse. However, for vedic sages ‘aswa’ is a symbol for life consciousness,forces of rushing noise and breathing which exhibit some inert consciousness and some more mental consciousness. This is a secret of kriya yoga. Groups of words are also living entities like herbs and cattle. They are not at all created by the intellect of man. They are all living products springing profusely. They are produced from some sounds which are of the nature of original seeds. They are the highly developed living sounds. Those are the numerous progeny of grammatical roots. Their development is prolific and they divide into different groups and multiplied as various classes, races, dynasties and families. In the array of words each one has got an excellent grown structure and a psychological history. Why brahmins are called ‘Bhoosuras’ In the language of vedic seers language was not created first by air, fire or Indra. Mind originated from the tendencies of the organs of life. The intellect of the mind was formed according to the cooperation and repulsion of the sensory organs. In this evolutionary method only, the experiment of language teaching was evolved following the living organs and consciousness. My boy All deities are the embodiments of mantras. All this world is under the control of deities. Such deities are under the control of mantras. Those mantras are under the control of pious brahmins. Therefore, brahmins are the deities on earth.Generally words in the beginning will be useful to men only to convey utmost limited elementary ideas which can be grasped by the five organs, such as light, movement, touch, cold and heat, expanse, use of force, speed etc. However, as his intellect expands variety of ideas and decisiveness gradually increase in language. It means from indistinctness to keen decisiveness; from material items to mental items; from known items to unknown items; language develops and progresses in this manner Reading of sacred books is highly beneficial. You are marked for writing the sacred biography of Sri Sreepada. Even though you write it in Sanskrit, after some time it is translated into Telugu–the mother tongue of Sri Sreepada. The result from a devoted reading of it is the same! Whoever is reading at any place Sri Sreepada remain there in subtle form and hear it. I will tell a story as an example. Listen to it carefully. Sri Sreepada attained seven years of age. The investiture Ceremony of sacred thread was performed to Him strictly according to vedic ritualistic procedure. In those days when such events took place in the houses of wealthy householders lot of excitement and flurry was there. There was no limit to the happiness of Sri Baapanaarya but, there was no opportunity to a pariah mendicant called Datta Das to witness that great celebration. As he was an out caste he did not get that chance. He called all his caste people to his house and said that he would narrate Datta-charitra. All of them reached his house with great eagerness. Datta Das began to narrate Datta-charitra like this, “That supreme light which was born as the son of Mother Anasuya, Sage Atri in the old ages has incarnated today in this kali yuga in our Pithikapuram as Sreepada Sreevallabha. Today the sacred thread ceremony of the great Lord is performed. After the sacred thread ceremony our Lord is radiating with divine brilliant splendour. May good fortune and prosperous auspiciousness be forever to that Lord who is the uplifter of destitute people!” Datta Das did not have any scholarship to tell more than that about Sree Guru. He was repeating the same story again and again. The listeners were also hearing it with rapt attention. This went on for 53 times. The ambrosial looks of Sri Sreepada fell on Datta Das. After the conclusion of sacred thread ceremony Sri Sreepada announced to the brahmins there, that He had to go at once to the house of ‘maala-daasari’ (pariah mendicant). Sri Baapanaarya asked him the reason. Sreepada said, “Datta Das who has a pure mind is narrating My History. If it is regarded that what he once told is one chapter, it must be concluded that 53 chapters are finished. I must immediately give him the instantaneous result which is to be granted to those who complete 53 chapters with devotion and diligence.”There are no distinctions of race and caste to the affection of Sreepada towards His devotees.The brahmins did not grant permission to Sri Sreepada to visit Datta Das. Then Sreepada became furious and said with rage, “Those people who are being cruelly suppressed by you as out castes and pariahs will have My grace abundantly in the ensuing century. They will occupy exalted positions in the future century. In the coming centuries majority of your brahmins follow servitude and be degraded and debased from dharma and karma. My words are like edicts on stone. There is no possibility to alter even one letter in them. Nevertheless, if any one in your brahmins live virtuously and has devotion of Datta I will protect them, as an eye-lid protects the eye.” The parents tried to pacify the excited wrath of Sreepada. After some time Sri Sreepada became quiet and kept silent. Exactly at this time Sri Sreepada appeared in the house of Datta Das in His divine resplendent Form. He accepted the sweet fruits offered by them with love. He drank with immense love the milk given to Him. He distributed with His own divine hands the sweet mithai . Sri Sreepada blessed everyone in the house of Datta Das. My boy! Shankar Bhatt! Have you seen the divine love of Sri Sreepada? He is satisfied only with your inner feelings. He is not concerned with family background, lineage, or other material matters. Even if a low caste person gives Datta-prasaada it has to be received with devotion. If disrespect is shown,people will be subjected to hardships and losses. The twelve statements of assurance declared to devotees by Sreepada Hear carefully the sayings of Sreepada in the house of Datta Das: 1)I will remain in a subtle form in every place where my biography is devotedly read. 2)Just like an eye-lid, I will protect the person who is dedicated to Me through mind, word and deed. 3)Daily in the afternoon I seek alms in Sri Pithikapuram. My arrival is a divine secret. 4)I reduce all the karmas into heaps of ashes of those who constantly meditate upon me. Even if the karmas are accumulated from many births I will burn them down. 5)If you give food to those who wail ‘Oh! Ramachandraa! Food!’ I will be pleased. 6) I am Sreepada Sreevallabha! Sree Mahalakshmi shines with all Her glorious attributes in the houses of My devotees. 7)If you have a pure heart My grace will always be on you. 8)I am agreeable even when you adore any Form of Deity, or take the support of any sadguru. 9)All your prayers reach Me. My grace is transmitted to you through the Form of Deity you worship or through your sadguru. 10)Sreepada Sreevallabha is not merely confined to this name and form. You can know My corporeal cosmic form encompassing all forms of deities and all forces as My integral parts, only by strict observance of spiritual discipline. 11)Mine is a comprehensive yogic incarnation. Great yogis and great siddhas constantly meditate upon Me. 12)If you take Me as a support, I preach you path of dharma and also path of karma. I always protect you from a downfall. Victory Victory unto Sri Sreepada Sreevallabha!