Sreepada Sreevallabha Charitaamrutam - 49

Chapter– 49 

 The methods of Sri Sreepada in destroying karma 

The significance of Number 33. His programmes in Kurungadda.

 Once Sri Sreepada remarked, “Shankar Bhatt! What we practise is agni vidya(fire technique). Worshipping fire is a natural trait of an orthodox person. Your worship of fire lies in igniting the stove and preparing the meal!” Then I said to Sri Sreepada, “Hail Victory to Sree Maha Guru! This earthen Kitchen trench stove should burn like this even after my exit.” Sreepada replied, “The fire in your stove has no power of its own. As my yoga agni is mixed the meals you prepare on this stove are turning into a prasaad which is removing the misery and humiliation of devotees. This stove should be there only for nine years more. It implies that I will conceal My body during my 30th year. After that I will grant vision in a lustrous form for 3 more years to devoted persons. Then it will be 33 years of age.Thirty third year brings many changes in the life of a yogi.The vertebrae in the spine are also 33 only. Rudra Ganas number into 33 crores. The fire sacrifice will continue even after that. As a symbol of burning karmas brought to gross level, I am performing this fire worship. However, the karmas of devotees will be in subtle forms before they assume gross forms. Prior to that they are attached to the kaarana body in kaarana form. Therefore, after 33rd year this kind of fire worship is unnecessary for Me. Then I will burn the sins attached to subtle bodies or kaarana bodies of those who depend on Me by My yoga agni but, you go on burning the kitchen stove till I attain 30th year. Afterwards, devotees come here and cook their own food and leave. That will go on for 3 years. Afterwards fire worship in physical form is not needed. I started pruthvi yagna(sacrifice of earth). It is going on successfully. I commenced jala yagna(water sacrifice). It is also going on as a grand success. Now I began fire worship as fire yagna(ritual sacrifices). This will also continue as irresistible. I am the one who is the form of fire in all living creatures! I am the one who sanctifies all things! I am the one who burns all things!” I did not hear at any time about the sacrificial rituals relating to the five basic elements. I came to the conclusion that it is a waste to think about the sportive procedure of Sri Sreepada. One day a newly married couple came to visit Sri Sreepada. He ordered them to stay in the Panchadev Pahaad. After two days the young man died. They believed that Sree Maha Guru would save them and He was a benign God who grant many boons but, that new bride got widowhood unbearable to a woman. The relatives of the newly wedded couple came to Panchadev Pahaad. They were in a dilemma whether to cremate the corpse or not. It was not possible to take away the dead body from the durbar in Panchadev Pahaad without the permission of Sri Sreepada. That new bride looked like a deity of pathos. Sri Sreepada came to His durbar . The new bride submitted her misfortune to Him. Sri Sreepada remarked that the results of karma were unavoidable. Then that new bride submitted like this, “If the inert karma has really the power to grant death to my husband, it is better to accord the status of a deity to karma and worship it by constructing temples. I heard that for Sri Sreepada, Who is the personification of consciousness, Who wears robes of fire, Who is an embodiment of fire– there are no impossibilities. Kindly grant this unfortunate one maangalya bhiksha and gratify.” That newly wedded bride had immense faith on the mercy and compassion of Sri Sreepada. Granting life to the dead Then Sri Sreepada said like this, “Viswaso phaladaayakam. If you have such strong faith in Me your husband will surely become alive. Nevertheless I suggest you a way so that the theory of karma is not opposed. You sell your mangala sootra and with that money you purchase firewood which equals the weight of your husband. Bring that firewood and give it here. We place that firewood in the kitchen trench and cook food. With that–the inauspiciousness of forfeiting your maangalya; by the burning of firewood, the inauspiciousness of the body of your husband being burnt to ashes; the vibrations of death by being attracted to the firewood, the inauspiciousness of sraaddha anna by the cooked food, will abate. Thus all the inauspiciousness will abate.” When it was done like that her husband lived again. Sri Sreepada used to attract various types of sinful activities of His devotees to pieces of firewood. By doing this those sticks were burnt and delicious food was prepared giving blessed auspicious results. Great grace on a poor brahmin On another occasion a poor brahmin came to have darshan of Sri Sreepada. He wailed that he would have to commit suicide if Sri Sreepada will not take mercy on him. Then Sri Sreepada brought a burning stick and touched the brahmin with it. That brahmin suffered for a very long tim. Sreepada said to him, “You brahmin! You wanted to commit suicide. If I neglected you would have really committed suicide. By touching you with this burning stick I cancelled reactions of all sinful actions related to such suicides. From now you will not suffer from penury. Take this cooled stick wrapped in your towel and carry it carefully to your house”. He did like that. When he opened the bundle in the house the stick turned into gold. The suffering from poverty of that brahmin was remedied. Through His fire ritual Sri Sreepada used to destroy the sins of His devotees in strange ways. At times He was asking them to bring special vegetables like Brinjal or Bendi. He was attracting the reactions of sinful acts of the devotee into those vegetables. He was making the devotees to compulsorily eat the curry made from those vegetables. Those afflictions of karma were removed. A girl did not get married even though she attained puberty. Having understood that she was having adverse effect of Mars, she was asked to bring red gram grains. Meals were prepared with those red grams and He instructed all including that girl to eat the meals. When the shackles of karma were removed in this way, she was married to a worthy bridegroom.Some were instructed to bring cows’ ghee for the food preparations in durbar . Some others’ were asked to light lamps with cows’ ghee. In case of very difficult situations or in conditions of non-marriage of girls, He was advising them to conduct worship of Ambika during ‘raahu kaala’ on Fridays. Once a devotee became sick and was bed-ridden. Sri Sreepada instructed that a lamp with castor oil should be lighted and kept in his bed room. He also commanded that oil should be poured into the lamp to see that it was not extinguished under any circumstances during the night. When it was done like that the devotee was freed from disease. One devotee was in a state of extreme misfortune. Then Sri Sreepada told that if a lamp with cow’s ghee is kept shining for one week without break the potency or influence of Lakshmi would reenter the house.He was releasing His dependants from sinful actions through very many novel methods such as those mentioned above. It is not possible for human beings to know all these methods. Victory Victory unto Sri Sreepada Sreevallabha!