“Chandrasekhara mindhu manjula susmitholla sadaa nanam.. Kamakoti supeeta mandana maasritaamara bhooruham”
On an auspicious day..
Some time during the 1970s..
The Paramacharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Jagadguru, Maha Peryava Sri Sri Sri Chandra Sekhara Swamigal was offering His divine pooja to Lord Chandra Mouleeswara Swamy and Goddess Tripura Sundari Devi in the Garbha Griha of the sacred Kanchi Mutt.
The entire Mutt, at that time, was full of hundreds of devotees,silently chanting “Hara hara Sankara.. Jaya jaya Sankara”, and watching the divine proceedings taking place in front of them.
Without even battling their eyelids , they were all reverentially watching the Knachi Paramacharya performing the Pooja in front of them..
The holy deities of Lord Chandra Mouleeswara Swamy and Mother Goddess Tripura Sundari Devi were appearing dazzling to all those devotees there..
Particularly the holy Mother Goddess, Tripura Sundari Devi, was charming everyone there not only with Her divine beauty but also with the rich Silk (Pattu) Saree that was draped around Her.
At that time, a young Mother was sitting in a corner of the Kanchi Mutt, with her four year old girl child in her lap, and was watching the divine Pooja, being performed by the Kanchi Paramacharya, with rapt attention.
The child was also watching the Pooja quietly along with her Mother..
After about five minutes of silent watching, surprisingly, the child, quite unusual for her age, suddenly turned to her Mother and pulling her chin with her left hand and pointing her right hand towards Goddess Tripura Sundari Devi, said,
“Amma.. Look there.. I want that saree Goddess is wearing..”..
Shocked with her child’s unusual request, the Mother quickly looked around and in a low tone uttered in the child’s ears,
“No my dear.. You shouldn’t be asking such things.. That Saree is meant for the Goddess and only She should wear it.. We are human beings and we should not dare to seek such divine belongings..
It is laso sinful to do so.. Goddess will not appreciate you if you do so.. Keep quiet.. Now, like a good girl, close your eyes and keep offering your prayers to the divine Mother..”..
The girl was in no mood to listen.. She just kept bothering her Mother with her demand for the saree.. The Mother was feeling really embarrassed.. Still trying to please her beloved child, the Mother offered her many toffees from her bag.
The child rejected everything, her Mother was offering her, outright and kept insisting only on the Goddesses’s saree alone.. The Mother started growing anxious, thinking that her child was disturbing the Pooja there and also other devotees attention.
Then she changed gear and this time warned the child to just “shut up and keep quiet..Else will leave you outside the Temple and come.. Sit quiet..”.. The shocked girl, with tears in her eyes, kept looking at her Mother with fear.
Regretting for being so rude with her most beloved and the most precious gift of God, the Mother quickly pulled her close to her heart; held both her hands; then turning them towards Goddess Tripura Sundari; and keeping them in a “Namaskar’ posture, recited the following Sloka from the “Mahishasura Mardini Sthothra”
“Kara murali rava veejitha koojitha lajjitha kokila manjumathe.. Militha pulinda manohara gunjita ranjita saila nikunja gathe.. Nija guna bhootha maha sabaree gana sadguna sambrutha keli thale.. Jaya Jaya He Mahishasura Mardini Ramya Kapardini Saila Suthe”
Feeling divine with her Mother’s rendering of the Sthothra, the child slowly calmed down and smiled; firstly looking at her Mother’s face and then at the Mother Goddess’s face.
After About Five Minutes
His Holiness, the Paramacharya completed His Maha Pooja and started serving “Teertham” to all the devotees who came to the Kanchi Mutt that day..
Standing in a Q, all the devotees too started receiving the sacred water from His Holiness, one after the other.
After about ten minutes, it was the turn of the Mother and child to receive the “Teertham” from the Maha Periyava..
Firstly, the Paramacharya looked at the Mother and then at the child.. He kept looking at the child and her cute face for a few seconds..
Then He looked deep into her eyes and smiled..
The child too smiled in response to the holy Paramacharya’s divine smile..
Without serving them “Teertham”, the Paramacharya quickly got up and walked away from them taking the Mother of the child and all the devotees standing there in the Q there by shock and surprise.
Shocking them so, the Maha Periyava, went inside the Garbha Griha; took the Saree draped around the holy Goddess Tripura Sundari; came out; and then surprising everyone there more particularly the child’s Mother; gave it to the child..
The child too accepted it from Him with a smile, saying, “thanks”.. Then blessing the child and offering “Teertham”, the Paramacharya told a shocked Mother,
“Children are forms of God.. How do they know what to seek and what not to.. They think they own everything in God’s creation.. Never be rude with her again.. You are only a biological Mother and She is the actual Mother..”
The Mother, a great devotee of His Holiness the Maha Periyava, quickly prostrated before His holy Lotus feet. along with her child..
After the Mother and the child had left the Kanchi Mutt, the Paramacharya told His disciples,
“Goddess Tripura Sundari came to collect Her saree.. It is Her Saree.. So who am I.. I gave it back to Her..”
Love
Narrenaditya Komaragiri
narrenaditya@tirumalesa.com
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