Sadhu Rangarajan on Mayamma

DIVINE MOTHER MAYI OF KANYAKUMARI Revised–Prof. V.Rangarajan

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DIVINE MOTHER MAYEE OF KANYAKUMARI

 Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan

 Sri Bharatamata Mandir & Bharatamata Gurukula Ashram, Srinivasanagar,Krishnarajapuram, Bangalore 560 036 Phone: 080-25610935, Cell:9448275935 E-mail: sadhu.rangarajan@gmail.com 

 VIJNANA BHARATI—GNAN GANGA SERIES

Volume V, Saints and Spiritual Savants, Part–1

First Edition: Shivaraatri, February 17, 1996.

Second Enlarged Edition: Sri Krishna Jayanti,

                                                August 25. 2016

Copyright: Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan

Price: Rs. India 40/-

            Outside US$ 2

Printed by:

 

Contents

1. Preface to First Edition
2. Preface to Enlarged Second Edition
3. Dedication—Tremendum et Fascinum
4. Divine Mother Mayee of Kanyakumari
5. Mother Mayamma visits Sister Nivedita Academy
6. Homage To Divine Mother Mayamma of  Kanyakumari

1. Link Between Mayee And Yogi
2. Mayamma’s emissary to Yogi Ramsuratkumar
3. Kanyakumari Mayamma
4. His Holiness Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan and Sri Bharatamata Gurukula Ashram

Preface to First Edition

Kuputro jaayeta kwachidapi kumaataa na bhavati – “There can be a wicked son, but never a bad mother”, says Adi Shankaracharya in Devyaparaadhakshamaapana Strotram.

 

Whether this insignificant and worthless son deserved it or not, the Divine Mother Mayee of Kanyakumari showered Her unstinted grace and blessings on this Sadhu. But for Her, this Sadhu might not have come to the presence of His deeksha guru, H.H. Yogi Ramsuratkumar, and found the path of his life.

 

This small booklet carries three important articles published in TATTVA DARSANA, Quarterly, on different occasions. The first one,   Tremendum Et Fascinum is the opening article, dedicating the Inaugural issue of the journal in February 1984, to the Divine Mother Mayee. The second, Divine Mother Mayee of Kanyakumari, is a speech delivered by this Sadhu in South Africa on December 8, 1985, and published in the third annual number of the journal in 1987. The third, Homage to Divine Mother Mayamma of Kanyakumari is the Editorial in the Eighth Annual number in 1992, brought out immediately after the Mahasamadhi of the Divine Mother.

 

There is little that has been written on such a Great Soul who is beyond the comprehension of intellect and whose beginning and end are unfathomable. Yet there is a great thirst among devotees to know about Her. This small booklet is an attempt like that of a salt doll endeavoring to measure the depth of the ocean. There has been a great demand for the copies of the TATTVA DARSANA issue carrying our talk in South Africa and we do not have even copies in reserve now. Therefore a philanthropic- minded devotee Sri K.S. Gowthaman, came forward to help us bring out a reprint of the speech along with the two editorial articles. May my Master, Yogi Ramsuratkumar, and the Divine Mother Mayee bless him for his noble gesture.

 

Shivaraatri                               Sadhu Prof. V Rangarajan    

February 17, 1996                    Founder Trustee                                                                    SISTER NIVEDITA ACADEMY

 

 

 

Preface To the Enlarged Second Edition

 

The first edition of Divine Mother Mayee of Kanyakumari by this Sadhu received spontaneous welcome from readers and devotees in India and abroad. A reprint of the book was considered a long-felt need as there are hardly any other book on the Mother in English.

 

In this revised and enlarged edition we have added information about Mother Mayamma’s visit to the abode of Sadhu Rangarajan at Triplicane, Chennai, besides extracts from the biographical works of Regina Sara Ryan and M. Young on Bhagavan Yogi Ramsuratkumar, the deeksha guru of Sadhu Rangarajan, about the Sadhu’s intimate connections with the Mother and the Bhagavan, and Mayamma’s  visit to the abode of Bhagavan Yogi Ramsuratkumar at Tiruvannamalai. It also carries an inspiring account by Sri B.V.S. Rao about Sadhu’s visit to Mother Mayee’s abode in Kanyakumari.

 

We are grateful to Sri D. Thyagarajan of Devasandra, Bangalore, for sponsoring this second edition and we invoke the blessings of the Mother on him and his family.

 

 

Sri Krishna Jayanti                      Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan

August 25, 2016                                          Founder Trustee,

SISTER NIVEDITA ACADEMY,

Bharatamata Gurukula Ashram &

Sri Bharatamata Mandir,

Srinivasanagar, Krishnarajapuram,

Bangalore 560 036

 

 

 

 

Dedication

 

TREMENDUM ET FASCINUM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Tremendum Et Fascinum” – ‘Tremendous and at the same time fascinating’ – It is in these words of Rudolf Otto that one may describe Mayamma.

 

She is Mayee, the Mysterious, beyond description. Reason cannot help us to understand Her. It requires faith – absolute faith – and childlike spirit of surrender to realize her.

 

She sits there on the sands of Kanyakumari, where the three great oceans wash the sacred feet of Mother Bharat. She is ever surrounded by a few dozen of dogs, the Kalabhairavas dancing around Kali. She feeds them along with the devotees who gather around Her. For Her, there is no distinction between the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the man and the dog. The devotees see in Her face, beaming with smile, the effulgence of the great Gayatri. She speaks little. Her utterances, in Her own language, convey different meanings to people according to their temperaments and attitudes. She doesn’t care whether she is revered and respected or scoffed at.

 

Mayee preaches no cult. She has no sect, nor institution. She is beyond all religions and creeds. She belongs to all those who own Her as well as to those who disown Her. She needs no propagandist, nor mouthpiece.

 

Who is Mayee? Some call her a “Jivan Muktaa”. Some consider Her the Divine Incarnation of Mother Kanyakumari. Who is She? What is Her name? Wherefrom did she come? When did she come? What is Her age? To all such questions, there is, possibly, no authentic source of answer. Is she not Mayee, the Mysterious and the Indescribable? Yet, our scriptures attempt to throw light on Her. Here is a vision in the light of the Sthitaprajna darsana of Srimad Bhagavad Gita:

 

She has no desires. Her spirit finds comfort in Herself. She is unperturbed by adverse circumstances and not elated by honours and comforts showered on Her. She has no attachment, nor hatred to any being. Withdrawing Her senses from the world of objects she lives like a tortoise in its shell. Seeing the Supreme in everything She has no taste to feed on objects of senses. With a disciplined mind and divine wisdom, She has acquired a serene comprehension. Sitting in deep contemplation, She sees that which is beyond the sight. In the midst of the constant roar of oceans and the din and buzzle created by the ocean of humanity visiting the southern tip of our Motherland, She sits, calm, quiet, simple, serene, happy and blissful. She has no feeling of “I” or mine.

 

Those who read Adi Shankara’s Viveka Choodamani can understand its meaning and significance better, if they are able to “SEE” Mayee.

 

“Three things are rare indeed”, says Shankara, “and they are obtained only by the grace of God” – namely, a human birth, a longing for liberation and protective care of a perfected sage”.

To those who have “SEEN” the Mother, what else is there in life to be achieved? The sublime vision of the Mother is, indeed, “TATTVA DARSANA”. Beyond that there is nothing to be “SEEN”.

 

This humble journal, TATTVA DARSANA, is intended to equip the minds of those that are destined to “SEE” Her, to start their pilgrim’s progress towards the shores of Eternal Bliss. Like the little squirrel that played its insignificant, but profound, role in the Setu bandhana of Sri Ramachandra, we offer ourselves at the feet of the Divine Mother, as a modest, but sharp, instrument for fulfilling Her Mission. Even a blade of grass in the hands of the Divine Guru, is a collyrium stick of knowledge to open the eyes of one who is blinded by the gloom of ignorance. May the Divine Mother’s Grace be showered on the entire humanity!

 

[TATTVA DARSANA, February-April, 1984, Vol. 1, No.1]

 

 

DIVINE MOTHER MAYEE OF KANYAKUMARI

 

Sarvamangala maangalye shive sarvaarthasaadhike

Saranye tryambake gauree naarayanee namostute!

 

Paramapoojaneeya Sri Gurudev, Poojya Swami Sahajananadaji Maharaj, mothers and brothers,

 

While coming here for today’s statsang, I was with a blank mind. I had no idea of what I should speak today. But, after coming here, Swamiji has given me a topic—a topic on which I have nothing to speak—and that is “the Mother of Kanyakumari – Mayee”. The Vedas declare about the Ultimate Reality, “Yato Vaacho nirvatnante, apraapya manasaa sa”—wherefrom the words return, unable to be reached by the mind. That is Mother. You cannot comprehend Her by your mind and describe Her by your words. She is beyond thought and word. How can I speak about the Mother? She is something to be experienced; not to be spoken of. If you want to know Her, you have to come and sit at Her feet, because till this day no one has written a biography of the Mother. Many have attempted and failed. None could do it. She is mysterious phenomenon. Before I tell you something about the Mother, I feel, I must tell you something about Motherhood itself.

 

Mother is all

 

Our Rishis teach us the Practical Vedanta. We find in the Taittireeya Upanishad  the Guru giving a convocation address to the Shishya who is going out of the Gurukula, telling him, “Maatru devo bhava, Pitru devo bhava, Achaarya devo bhava!–Let your mother be god, father be god and preceptor be god”, he gives the first place to mother. Why? Without Her nothing can move in the universe. There is an interesting story in the Kenopanishad, one of the ten important Upanishads.

 

Once there was a bitter battle between the Devas and the Asuras. The Asuras got defeated and the Devas in a conference were reveling over their victory. Each one of them was boasting that it was because of his might that the Asuras were defeated. Agni said, “It was I who burnt everything into ashes.” Varuna, the sea-god, said “No, no, it was I who flooded every place and destroyed them.” Vayu, the wind-god claimed that it was he who blew off everything. Thus they were fighting amongst themselves to determine who the hero of the battle was. Then, all of a sudden, the Supreme Spirit appeared in the form of a flash of light on the horizon. The Devas were baffled, not knowing what it was. Devendra called Agni and asked him to go and find out what it was. Agni approached the Spirit and asked, “who are you? You seem to be mysterious!” The Spirit asked in turn, “Who are you?” Agni replied “I am Lord Agni, the Omniscient! I can reduce everything in the universe to a handful of ashes!” The Spirit put a dry blade of grass in front of him and asked him to burn it. Agni got irritated at this small job. But, he soon found, with all his might he could not burn it. He returned defeated. Indra then sent Vayu. He was also asked “Who are you?” He boasted, “I am Lord Vayu, I can blow off everything!” The Spirit asked him to move the blade of grass. He too found that his might could not move even a blade of grass and returned defeated. Varuna, the God of Sea, could not even wet the blade of grass. Now Indra himself approached the Spirit with humility and then the Spirit vanished and there appeared before him in all resplendence, Uma Haimavati, the Divine Mother without whom nothing could move in the universe. She revealed herself as the Supreme Shakti from whom all the gods and goddesses derived their power.

 

Even Shiva without Shakti is Shava. It is a fact that the entire universe is the play of the Mother. The great patriot-poet of Tamilnadu, Mahakavi C. Subramania Bharati, has written very inspiring patriotic songs as well as devotional songs in Tamil. Very few know that he was also a very forceful writer in English language. He wielded a very powerful pen and if you read his English writings, you will be surprised to see that his writings are as forceful as that of Mahayogi Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo was brought up in England, in sophisticated western surroundings, but Bharati was an ordinary man who lived a simple life and had not much of university education. Yet his style and force in English was similar to that of Sri Aurobindo. His English writings have come out in the form of a book, “The Agni and Other Poems and Translations & Essays and other Prose Fragments“. In one of his essays, “Matri-Puja“, he writes about the worship of Divine Mother. He says, “God the Father is ideal. God the Mother is the actual. That I am one with Pure Being is a spiritual realization. That I am one with the manifested world is an actual, everyday experience. Indeed, ultimately, the ideal is the same as the actual; but we, children of earth, find in the motherhood of God, a dearer relation, a sweeter rapport. Nor need we erect shrines standing before us; ever-shining, ever-beautiful. She stands revealed as Nature.” In order to realize Him, we have only to worship Her.

Worship of the Divine Mother

 

What is worship? The essential requisite of worship is ‘bhakti‘ or devotion. What is devotion? Narada In his Bhakti Sootra defines ‘bhakti‘ as parama prema swaroopa—the form of most intense love. To whom we can show the most intense love? Everyone knows that he or she can pour out the most intense love to the mother who gave birth to him of her. Every child knows whom it loves most. The very name of mother invokes the intense feeling of love and affection in our hearts. Hence, the form of intense devotion can manifest only when we conceive the Supreme Being as the Divine Mother. Since times immemorial, In the Hindu pantheon, the female counterparts of the Gods have been worshipped more intensely than the Gods. Shakti is dearer and nearer to us than Shiva, the Eternal Dissolver. We can approach Mahavishnu, the God of Substance, easily through Mahalakshmi, through Lakshmipooja, for obtaining wealth and happiness. Brahma, the Eternal Creator, cannot be directly approached. We have to go through Mahasaraswati and we get all wisdom. Mother is always dearer to us than Father. The great     advaita acharya, Adi Shankara, says: Kuputro jaayeta kwachidapi kumaataa na bhavati—A bad son may sometimes be born, but a bad mother never. Even if we are cruel and wicked to our mother, she can never be cruel to us.

 

There is an interesting story about this. There was a son who was ignorant, unintelligent and stupid and who used to frequent the house of a woman of bad character. In order to please her, he took everything from his house and gave to her. His own mother was very poor, suffering and sick, but he never took care of her. But the wicked prostitute thought that as long as the mother was alive, she could not possess him fully and therefore she decided to get rid of the old woman. She played a trick. She told the young man, “Look here, I am sick. The physician says that I could get cured only if I cook and eat your mother’s heart. Please go and get it.” The young man was worried. He thought, “How can I go and ask my mother to give her heart?” He came home and his mother found him very depressed. She asked him, “My son, you seem to be worried. What is the reason?” The son then revealed her what the lady told him. The mother at once replied, “Oh, that is all you want! For your happiness I am prepared to give up my heart.” She cut her body to enable her son to take her heart. When the young man took her heart and was proceeding to the house of the prostitute, he stumbled on a stone and fell on the ground. The heart, which he was holding in his hand, talked to him: “Oh! My son, did you get injured?”

 

That is mother’s heart. That is why even the great Brahmajnaani, Sri Shankaracharya, who said Brahma satyam, jagat mithyaa—the Brahman alone is real and the world is illusory Maayaamayam—poured out his devotion to the Ultimate Reality in the form of the Divine Mother Kamakshi, He also sang the Kanakadhaaraa Stotram, Meenakshi Pancharatnam and other hymns in the praise of the mother in the forms of Mookambika and Sharada. He fell prostate at the feet of the Mother in all Her temples, because even a man of the highest realization could seek his identity with the Ultimate only through the Mother.

 

Mother worship is not confined to Hindu religion only. Even in Christianity we find the concept of Virgin Mary. Virgin Mary is not different from Kanyakumari. ‘Kanya’ in Sanskrit means ‘virgin’ and ‘Mary’ is nothing but the variation of ‘Maari’ the name of the Divine Mother in Tamil. Parashakti or the Divine Mother is adored as Maari Amman. Amman means mother. The concept of Virginity of the Mother has its origin in the story of Mother Parvati standing on one foot as Kanya Kumari at Kanyakumari, the southern tip of Bharatavasha, doing Tapas to get the hand of Shiva, who is on the top of the northern most mountain, Himalayas. The renowned western writer, E.A. Payne, has written a book on Shakti Cult, titled “The Shaktas”, and in it he clearly points out the origin of the concept of Virgin Mary in the Shakti Cult of India. Centuries back, this Shakti Cult had spread outside India to ancient Babylonia, Greece, Crete, Egypt and other parts of the world. The Babylonian word Ummu of Umma, the Acadian Ummi and the Dravidian Amma for the mother are only different variations of Uma, the Mother of us all. A Cretan deity depicted on a signet-ring, as flanked by two lions and standing in the top of a hill, the Greek Mother-goddess guarded by lions and the Mother Goddess of Asia Minor who had beasts kneeling at Her feet are all different representations of the Mother. In the coins of King Huvishka also we find the Mother Goddess depicted with a Greek legend, Ommo, which is rightly rendered as Uma. We all know that lion is the vehicle of Mother Parvati. So the supreme ideal of worship of the Mother has travelled all over the world and has captured the hearts of people of all civilizations.

 

The Sacred Abode of Kanya Kumari

Bharatavarsha is the embodiment of Parashakti. I have already explained to you how our ancestors worshipped our Motherland as the manifestation of Mahashakti. As I have told you, from Kanyakumari to the Himalayas, we have fifty-two Shaktipeethas. In our holy land, great sages and seers have incarnated in all ages. Gurudev Shivananda has written volumes on the sages and saints of India—from Vyasa and Yagnavalkya to Eknath, Tukaram, Ramdas, Ramakrishna and Ramana Maharshi—who have all appeared in different periods from the Vedic times to the modern age. All these sages have considered this form of Mother-worship as very dear to them. Kanyakumari is the spot where Mother Parashakti herself stands and does Her tapascharya. On the Vivekananda Rock in the southern tip of our land, surrounded by the three seas, you will find a footstep still preserved in a glass case. It is just opposite to the Vivekananda Mantapam constructed on the rock and is known as Shripada Mantapam. The rock itself was known as Shripadashila before Swami Vivekananda sat there and meditated for three days and therefore it came to be called Vivekananda Rock. Shripadam means the foot of the Divine Mother. Mother Parvati still does Her tapas there. When Swami Vivekananda came to Kanyakumari, he had no money with him. Therefore he could not pay to boatmen to take him across the sea to the rock. But he was so much fascinated by the idea of worshipping the Mother on the rock that he decided to reach there. He did not care for anything and he was determined that even at the risk of his life, he must swim to the rock. He plunged into the sea, rode on the turbulent waves and reached the rock. He sat there for three days, meditating on the Mother in the form of Motherland and got the Grace of the Mother. So Kanyakumai is a very sacred spot.

There is another place called Sucheendram, very near Kanyakumari. There is a story behind its getting the name. You might have heard about the great saint, Atri and his wife, Anasuya. When they were living there a significant thing occurred. Devendra, the Chief of Devas, had incurred the wrath of a Rishi and was cursed. He was, however, told that the Trinity – Brahma , Vishnu and Shiva – would take an incarnation in a combined form in that sacred spot near Kanyakumari and by worshipping them in that form, he can get rid of his curse. Therefore he was waiting for such an opportunity. In the three universes, if anything goes wrong, it is Narada who manipulates things to bring about an avatara of the Lord. Narada will play some tricks and though it may create some confusion for the time being, everything will end up in good. Narada came to the ashrama of Atri when he was away. Anasuya received him with honours. He asked her to do a wonderful job for him. He told her, ” I have got some iron pellets. Kindly cook them for me.” To Anasuya, who was an embodiment of chastity, it was no big problem. She had done the padapooja of her husband and had kept the water with her. She sprinkled the water on the pellets and using the power of her chastity, cooked them and gave them to him. Narada took them straight to the heaven and presenting them before Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati, he told them: “Look here, sometime back I asked you to cook these iron pellets for me and you said, it is not possible to do that. But in the world there is a great woman who is an embodiment of chastity and more powerful than you three. She has done it.” Naturally women become jealous when somebody else is praised as more powerful than them. Narada told them: “You put any test, and she will succeed.” They therefore decided to test the power of chastity of Anasuya. They summoned their husbands – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva respectively – and asked them to go to Anasuya and test her power. What should they do? “You must go and ask for alms,” they said. The Trinity replied, “It is not difficult thing.” Then the Divine Mother’s told them: “It is not so easy. You must ask her to come stark naked and offer you alms”. When the wives command, husbands are helpless. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva had no other go. They reached the place where Anasuya was residing. She was immensely pleased to receive the three together. Then the Trinity explained to her the purpose of their visit and also the condition put by their consorts. Anasuya simply smiled and said, “Oh! That is very simple”. She went inside, brought the pitcher containing the sacred water with which she had washed the feet of her husband and sprinkled the water on the Trinity. All the three became small babies. She then took them inside and fed them in the manner they wanted. The news reached the heaven and Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati were shocked. They rushed to the Ashrama and fell prostrate at the feet of Anasuya. Anasuya placed the three babes in front of them and asked them to take back their respective husbands. But the three babies looked so alike that they could not identify them.

Anasuya told them that this was all a Divine Play for some specific purpose and they must wait till it is over. Then she made the three babies into one by the power of her chastity and thus came the avatara of Dattatreya. The story of Dattatreya is yet another long one. But the point I want to stress is that the Trinity here came to be known as “Sthaanumaalayan“—Sthaanu is Shiva, Maal is Vishnu and Ayan is Brahma. The presiding deity of the Shucheendram temple is even today worshipped as Sthaanumaalayan. Devendra came there to get rid of his curse and the place therefore came to be known as ‘Shucheendram’ meaning the place where Indra was purified. So these two places, Kanyakumari where Mother does her Tapas and Shucheendram where Anasuya established the strength of chastity, are very sacred.

Mother Mayamma of Kanyakumari

 

Why I said all these is that these two sacred spots are closely connected to our Holy Mother Mayamma of Kanyakumari. People do not know wherefrom she came. No biographer has discovered Her place of origin. No one knows what Her age is. I have gone to Kanyakumari and met people who are in their seventies and eighties and they have told me that they have been seeing her on the sea-shore right from their younger days. Some others have seen Her in Shucheendram because She has been living in that area too. She has been living in Kanyakumari for a long time. Nobody knows wherefrom She came there. But sometimes, some revelations do occur. I do not know whether in this scientific age you will be inclined to believe such revelations. But it did occur to me. Once she revealed to me Her source of origin. She is from Kamakhya, the great temple of the Mother in Assam. There the presiding deity is Kamakhyadevi and Mother is the avatar of Kamakhyadevi. How she reached Kanyakumari and how many years back? No one can answer. It is revealed that more than three hundred years back she manifested in Kamakhya temple and then she reached Kanyakumari. In Kanyakumari, she was living among the fishermen folk. For all practical purposes She appeared to be mad, old, beggar woman. No one ever knew Her power. The fishermen-folk even gave Her all sorts of work like breaking the firewood, pounding the rice and drying the fish. All this work She used to do with smiling face and they would give Her some rice and fish which She used to take sitting on the sea-shore. She used to sleep at the Mantapa of the temple or on a roadside platform or in front of a hotel or restaurant. She was living like that. None knew Her greatness. About two decades back, one day, a van with some tourist came to Kanyakumari. It so happened that it ran over a stray dog. The dog’s intestines came out and it died on the spot. When people were watching that ghastly sight, this mad beggar woman with her bundle of rags appeared on the scene from somewhere. When people were wondering as to what this woman was going to do, she pushed the intestines into the stomach of the dog, bandaged it with some straw and patted on its back. To the utter surprise of everyone, the dog got up and started running. That day the people realized who She was. Since then, people in Kanayakumari adore Her as the Divine Mother. Many people got their own share of wonderful experiences with Her, but so far, very few have recorded them. A few years back, I started a humble attempt to collect information about the experiences of many devotees of the Mother. But because there is no authoritative biography of the Mother, I have to speak mostly on the basis of my own experiences. I am sorry; I have to make a reference to myself here. I apologize to you. I came into close contact with the Mother about five years back. Since then I have been collecting materials about Her by preparing a questionnaire and sending it to Her devotees all over the country seeking information about their experiences. Some important people have narrated to me personally their own experiences. I will tell about a few of them before I narrate my own personal experiences.

Experiences of Devotees

 

Swami Golokananda is the President of Ramakrishna Mission Ashram in Trivandrum. (Now he is in Tiruvalla.) he had come to Kanyakumari to have darshan of the Bhagavati in the temple. He was sitting in a restaurant near the temple and taking food. All of a sudden he thought about Mother Mayamma of Kanyakumari. He had an intense yearning to see her. He thought, if she appeared before him right then, he could give her some edibles as Prasad. As soon as this thought arose in his mind, to his utter surprise, he found Mother Mayee walking in and standing by his side with her bundle in Her hand. He gave Her some food. She laughed hilariously and He also burst into laughter. The swamiji himself narrated this incident to me.

 

Dr. Lakshmikumari is the President of Vivekananda Kendra, a nation-wide organization with its headquarters at Kanyakumari. She has dedicated her life for the Kendra. There are many other workers in the Kendra. But very few of them have come closer to Mayee. Dr. Lakshmikumari had an interesting experience. One day she went to the Bhagavati temple in Kanyakumari and was standing in front of the deity, silently offering prayers. The whole place was lonely. All of a sudden She heard a voice telling her, “Why are you standing here when I am waiting for you outside?” She at once finished her prayers and rushed out of the temple. She was astonished to see the Divine Mother Mayee standing outside the temple laughing at her.

 

There is another swamiji, Arumugam, in a village near Kanyakumari. He wanted to set up a small shrine for Lord Ganesha. He was in the look out of an idol for the shrine. He came to Kanyakumari, went to the temple and after offering prayers, went to see Mother Mayee who was sitting on the sea-shore surrounded by Her dogs. Some forty or fifty dogs are always around Her as Her faithful guards. It is said in the early days, some robbers tried to deprive Her of Her simple possessions. What possession She must have had? Only a few rags of clothes and a few vessels. But they tried to steal even that. All of a sudden a group of hounds sprung on the thieves and chased them. Since then these dogs are always with her. There are big ones and small puppies too, the family ever growing. It is a wonderful sight to see the Mother caressing the puppies and taking care of the dogs. While feeding them, She makes no distinction between the dogs and Her devotees. She will feed them and with the same hand distribute prasad to the devotees. The dogs remain always calm and cool, sharing the prasad that She gives with devotees coming there. When Sir Arumugaswami came there, She was with Her dogs. As soon as She saw him, She smiled and asked to wait. Then She removed all her clothes, walked to the sea and plunged into it. Mother has no body consciousness at all and She goes stark naked to the sea for Her bath. From the sea She returned with a beautiful idol of Lord Ganehsa. How did She materialize it? It is a mystery. The idol is still preserved by the swami.

 

At the Holy feet of the Mother

 

I have been going to Kanyakumari for the last fifteen or sixteen years. Right from the inception of the Vivekananda Kendra by the dedicated founder of Vivekananda Rock Memorial, Sri Eknath Ranade, I have been very close to the Kendra. I was in charge of editing their publications and I had the opportunity to visit Kanyakumari very often. One of my colleagues, Brother Gopalakrishnan, who was earlier in the Chinmaya Mission and then in the Kendra, had left everything and settled down at the feet of the Divine Mother Mayee, devoting his whole life to Sadhana. He used to tell me about the greatness of the Mother sitting on the sea-shore. But I never got interested in coming closer to Her. I thought, “Let Her sit there. Why should I go and disturb Her.” In one of my visits, when I called on him, he said, I would see the Mother before I return. It was a forenoon and actually I was to leave Kanyakumari in a few hours. I did not believe that I would see Her before I leave. I told him, I would see Her in my next visit. But when I came to the Kendra office to collect my ticket, I was told, there was no train service that afternoon and I had to cancel the journey. I went to my room and tried to relax for some time. I was on my cot, with my eyes closed and about to fall asleep. All of a sudden I heard a call, “Come, come out”. I got startled, got up from the bed and even without closing my room, started walking towards the sea-shore, impelled by some mysterious force. I found the Mother waiting there for me. She was as usual surrounded by Her dogs. It was afternoon. The blazing sun was up above and no one else, except Sri Rajendran, Mayee’s devoted and faithful attendant, there on the sea-shore. Sri Rajendran was a mason. He came to Kanyakumari about twelve years back and he met the Mother. Right at the moment he saw Her, he was attracted by Her divinity, he gave up his job and since then he is very loyally and devotedly serving the Mother as Her foremost disciple. Now he, his wife and children live with the Mother and he has only one work from morning till late in the night—attending to the needs of the Mother, cooking food for her, washing her clothes and dishes and helping her to answer the calls of nature. Round the clock he is by Her side, attending Her with utmost piety and devotion. So he was there with the Mother. Most involuntarily I fell prostrate at Her feet. Something pulled me nearer to Her. She touched my head and at once I plunged into trance. When I opened my eyes, it was about 7.30 in the night. Instead of the hot sun, a chill wind was blowing. The entire area was dark. The Mother was there still in front of me. It was a very thrilling experience. And I stayed there with Her for three days.

 

After coming back to my home at Madras, for the next ten or fifteen days I could not think of anything other than the Mother. My mind was wholly absorbed in Her. I talked to people about Mother and Mother alone. I could not attend to my duties and give lectures in the college. Even my people at home thought that there was something wrong with me. I was in such a mood. On the fifteenth day, I was impelled by some force to leave again for Kanyakumari which is about 700 Kms. away from Madras. At once, I caught a bus and the next morning I reached there. I spent some time with the Mother. It was at that time She revealed many things about her. That day when I was sitting in front of her, a wonderful incident took place. A lady had come to Her and falling prostrate at Her feet, was weeping and wailing. She was telling something to the Mother. I and my friend, Gopal, were there sitting at a little distance, watching the woman and the Mother. All of a sudden I noticed Mother pointing Her finger to me and directing the lady to me. The lady walked towards me and I was wondering why Mother was sending her to me. She came near me and with tears rolling down her eyes told me. “Swami, I want your help.” I gently asked her, “Who are you, mother, and what can I do for you?” She then replied, “I am from Trivandrum. I live in Jagati. My husband Krishna Pillai, is a grocer. My third son, who is about 20 years old, left the house some two years back. We do not know his whereabouts and we are searching for him. I have been coming to the Mother for the last few years. She is my last resort when I am in distress. She has today pointed out that you can help us.”

 

I was in fix. How can I help her. The boy is missing from Trivandrum, a faraway place from Madras where I live. Who knows where he has gone—to Madras or to any other place in the country. Even if he had come to Madras, which is a big city like Durban, it is difficult to find him. However, I had to console her. I told her, “Look here, I have got ample faith in the Divine Power of the Mother. Because She has directed you to me, She Herself will show you a way out. Please give me your address. By the grace of the Mother, some day I will find out your son and contact you. Believe in Her.” She gave me her address and that day itself I returned to Madras. It was all the play of Mother.

On one Friday morning, I had finished my poojas and was taking classes for the students of our Sister Nivedita Academy. When the classes were about to be over, a young man walked into my room. In my house, I have only a small room full of books and all people coming there whether for attending lectures or for any other purpose usually sit on the floor, for we have not enough chairs and furniture. The boy walked in and sat silently. As soon as I saw his face, I remembered the mother whom I had seen at Kanyakumari—that lady from Trivandrum. I immediately sent away the students and asked the boy alone to sit down. Without talking to him, I asked my wife to bring food for both of us. The boy was surprised. He said, “Swami, you didn’t even ask me who I am!” I replied, “I need not ask you. I know who you are. First let us have our lunch and then we will talk.” The boy could not believe this. He said “Swami, you have mistaken me for someone else. I do not know you at all.” I then asked him, “Are you not the son of Radha Amma of Jagati?” The boy got a shock. “Yes! How do you know that, swamiji?”‘ he asked. I pointed out the portrait of Mother Mayee by my side and asked him whether he knew her. He looked at the portrait and said, “Yes, my mother is Her devotee and she goes to Her often.” I then told him that it was the Divine Mother who brought him there to my presence. He was in Madras, searching for some job. He somehow got my visiting card and finding the name of Sister Nivedita Academy in it, thought of seeking job in the institute and came there. The boy spent a few days with me. He was suffering from jaundice. I sent a message to his house. His brother came and took him back to his home. What a great miracle it was!

 

Mother – The Divine Healer

 

About four years back, I had a lung infection. I used to cough heavily in the early mornings and late in the night hours and I was writhing in pain and agony. I thought it was my praarabda karma. One of my devotees took me to a physician, Dr. Jyoti. He examined me for two or three days, but did not reveal to me what exactly was my ailment. Some tests were also conducted. Every day I was taken to him and he started giving me a course of injections. I heard him whispering something to my devotee about my ailment. I straightaway asked him whether it was a cancerous infection. I told him, “Doctor, I know that there is no cure for the dreaded disease, Cancer. Tell me how long I will live so that I can at least finish my work in this world before I depart”. But he replied, “No, no, you will be all right. You just undergo the treatment”. I was not satisfied; I straightaway went to Mother Mayee at Kanyakumari.

 

I sat in front of the Mother, in Her small hut on the sea- shore, in a very disturbed mind. Mother knew what was wrong with me. She then took me to the sea-shore and pointed out a big rubbish heap. I came to know from her devotee, Gopi, that it was the place where Mother was performing her daily homa–a yajna performed with rubbish heap on the sea-shore! I was little bit amazed. But then I went to the sea and took bath. It was an Amavasya day and I performed tarpana. Then I came to the place of Yajna and did agni aavaahana by lighting fire to the heap. By then Mother Mayee had finished Her bath and She came with a handful of seaweeds, shells, etc., which she offered as ‘Havis’ or sacred oblation to the fire, She indicated to me that I must perform the yajna everyday.

 

After returning home, I performed the homa continuously for 108 days. The ‘Samit’ or the stick I offered to fire is known as Gudicchi in Sanskrit and Seenthalkodi in Tamil (Menuispermum cordifolium, a variety of medicinal creepers) and the mantra chanted was the Tryambaka Mantra – Om Tryambakam yajaamahe sugandhim pushtivardhanam, urvaarukamiva bandhanaat mrityor muksheeya maamritaat.  Chanting the mantra, I used to put 108 pieces of the creeper with ghee and fruits as ‘Havis’. After 108 days, I found that there was a tremendous improvement in my health. But yet there was a little problem and my friends and devotees were exerting pressure that I should undergo medical check-up. They informed Swami Golokananda of Ramakrishna Mission, Trivandrum, who has been my well-wisher. He invited me to Trivandrum and I reached there with my wife and children. Once I was in his presence, he told me, “You are under arrest. You must stay here, undergo medical check-up and then only I will allow you to go”. I was a little disturbed by this loving command. He arranged the taking of X-ray and other tests in the Ramakrishna Mission Hospital. But before the results could come I told the Swamiji, “Swamiji, I have brought my wife and children here to take them to Mother Mayee of Kanyakumari. I will visit Kanyakumari and after seeing Mayee, I will send back my wife and children to Madras and then I will return here for my stay and treatment.” He gave me permission and I went to Kanyakumari. But in Kanyakumari, things took a different turn. When I sought Mother’s permission to return to Trivandrum, she refused. I was asked to go back to Madras. She took the medicines out of my bag and threw them into the sea. Therefore I returned to Madras and wrote a nice letter to the Swamiji explaining to him my predicament. But in Madras, my devotees and friends did not leave me. One of my friends, Dr. Arunagirinathan, arranged for my medical check-up and treatment. He was so kind and good that he himself purchased the medicines for me. Because of his loving compulsion I agreed. But once when he was about to give me an injection, the needle broke. I understood the indication and decided to stop taking any medical treatment. Swami Chinamayananda, my sikshaa guru, came to know about my ill-health and questioned me. When I told him about my contact with Mother Mayee, he simply said, “Oh! You are under the spell of the old woman of Kanyakumari who swallows raw fish! Let Her Will be done!” Gradually, my entire ill- health vanished.

 

Devotees from South Africa

 

Another significant event occurred and that concerns two devotees from South Africa. It was all the Grace of the Divine Mother that Poojya Swami Sahajanandaji sent Sri & Smt. T. M. Moodley to Madras to meet me. On the day of their arrival, I had just finished the pooja of the Mother and was sitting on the floor with a small mat spread in front of me. The devout couple walked in. I could not entertain them properly. They sat on the mat, cross-legged, and spoke about the purpose of their visit. They also spoke about their intention to visit Rishikesh and I gave them some directions. They went to Rishikesh and by the time they returned to Madras, in one of my meditations the Mother revealed to me who they were. I do not want to explain all those things, for they were very mysterious. She also wanted me to bring them to her. But I did not tell them anything when they returned. When they were about to go to Kanyakumari, they came and told me, “We will be very happy if you also can accompany us”. I knew that it was Mother’s Will. I had the blessed opportunity to accompany them to Rameswaram where we performed tarpana on the sea-shore for their departed son, Yugendra. That evening, when I was sitting in my room reading some book, Sri and Smt. Moodley entered the room with a plate on which there were some betel leaves, fruits and a hundred rupee note. They offered it to me as dakshina and prostrated to me. I was simply baffled. What is this that Mayee is making them do! In all my life, I have never been a priest to anybody. But then I closed my eyes and accepted the dakshina. The next morning I reached Kanyakumari. I took the couple to Mother Mayee, She already knew who they were and hence I simply introduced them telling, “Yugendra’s parents”. She nodded her head and showed her hands and then revealed a message to Smt. Moodley in chaste English giving a shock to Mrs. Moodley. She is here, she knows what message she got. She got a very touching message to console her: “Why do you grieve for that which is not yours?” Mother blessed these couple. Before returning, I handed over to the Mother, the dakshina of hundred rupees given by them to me. After visiting some other pilgrim centers, we returned to Madras.

 

After some days, I once again went to Kanyakumari, this time with the project to start TATTVA DARSANA. I was accompanied by my friend, Sri Subramaniam, and his family. We visited Madurai Meenakshi temple where I sat on meditation for some time. While coming out of the temple, I told him that I got a revelation that we were going to meet somebody in Kanyakumari who will be of great help to our project. My friend asked me who that man was. I replied, “I don’t know. Only after reaching there we will know. But Mother has revealed that we will get his help.” Reaching Kanyakumari, we stayed in the Vivekanandapuram for three days. We went to the Mother and were with her all the time. We totally forgot about the revelation at Madurai. On the third day, when we were about to leave, I sought the permission of the Mother to leave Kanyakumari. But

She refused. I told my friend that unless Mother permits, I could not leave the place and I asked him to go ahead with his tour programme. But he was not willing to leave me alone there and go ahead. He decided to wait till Mother gave me also permission to leave. The next morning when we went to her again to seek her permission, we found a tall and hefty gentleman, dark in complexion, sitting by the side of the Mother. To our utter surprise he told us that he was waiting for me for the last fifteen days. We decided to go to Kanyakumari only a week back, but how was he waiting for my arrival for more than two weeks? It was all the play of the Mother. I came to know that he was Sri Rajamanikkam, Managing Director of a big firm, Agsar Chemicals, in Tuticorin, and President of Mayamma Samaj. He is a dedicated philanthropist and an ardent devotee of the Mother. He offered his help and you can find the advertisement of his concern on the last cover page of the issues of TATTVA DARSANA.  How Mother came into his mind and why she asked him to help us, I do not know. He said, it was her work and the journal is also dedicated to her.

 

We took leave of the Mother and returned to Madras. Soon I received a call from the Mother again. Mother never keeps any money with Her. But this time when I went to Her, She made Sri Rajendran hand over to me a hundred rupee note. I immediately remembered the dakshina that I offered to Her when I went with Sri & Smt. Moodley. Even today I am preserving that hundred rupee note as a very precious possession in my shrine. Because of her grace, I have not so far found any difficulty in making both ends meet. Whatever work I undertake, the problems that arise are easily solved.

 

Now I come to the last incident. After Smt. & Sri Moodley returned to South Africa, one day I received a letter from Sri Moodley informing me that I would be receiving an invitation from Poojya Swami Sahajanandaji Maharaj to visit South Africa. It was a surprise to me. I never expected such an opportunity. I was also confused, because the Government of India normally does not allow Indian citizens to visit South Africa due to Apartheid. I was wondering how I could visit South Africa. Throughout the night I was thinking about that. In the early morning there appears Mother Mayee in front of my abode at Madras. The Mother who normally never leaves Kanyakumari was in Madras! I was thrilled. I presented Sri Moodley’s letter before her. She took it in her hand and turned it this way and that way. She has not learnt the three R’s, but she knows everything. Looking at the letter, she told me in Tamil—”Poyittu vaa“–“Go and come”. To my further astonishment, I received a letter from Poojya Swamiji also when she was there. When I placed it before Her, She was very happy and full of smiles. I then asked the Mother, “Mother, will you come with me?” “Yes”, she replied. No wonder, there was little difficulty for me in getting endorsement on my passport to visit South Africa. I know, even renowned religious leaders and artistes from India find it difficult to get an endorsement on their passports to visit South Africa. This evening I addressed the inaugural meeting of Vishwa Hindu Parishad of South Africa. They have decided to request the Government of India to permit religious leaders from India to visit South Africa, so that the Hindus in this country do not find themselves alienated from their brethren in the land of their origin. So it was all miraculous that I got this opportunity to visit South Africa. This is nothing but her work.

 

It will take hours and days together to sing the glory of the Divine Mother. It is impossible to express in words the greatness of the Divine Mother. It is my humble prayer to every one of you that if ever you get an opportunity to visit the holy land of Bharatavarsha, come and have the darshana of the Divine Mother sitting on the southern tip of the land. Yesterday, we were holding a satsang in the Tongaat beach. I told our brethren, “My Mother is there, just on the other side of this ocean. We are on this side of the Indian Ocean. Call her, she will hear and come. Please make yourself available to her to receive her grace.” After my return to Mrs. Moodley’s house, I had the vision of the Mother in the shrine. Today, surprisingly, Swamiji has commanded me to speak on Mother Mayee. I am very thankful to you, Swamiji, and to all of you for giving me this opportunity to speak on the Mother. I never intended to speak, but it was Her Will that I should speak.  Vande Mataram!

 

[Talk given in the Divine Life Society, Reservoir Hills, Durban, South Africa, on December 8, 1985]

 

 

 

 

MOTHER MAYAMMA VISITS

SISTER NIVEDITA ACADEMY

 

The Divine Mother Mayamma of Kanyakumari made a surprise visit to Sister Nivedita Academy in the early morning on Friday, April 12, 1985, on the eve of the eighth anniversary of the Academy which was founded on the Tamil New Year’s Day. Prof. V. Rangarajan, Director of the Academy and Editor of TATTVA DARSANA, and members of the Academy family received Her, with boundless ecstasy. The Mother, with Her captivating smile, blessed them all.

 

The Mother, who rarely moves out of Kanyakumari, made an unexpected visit to Madras. On Tuesday, when She started from Kanyakumari, in a van, accompanied by Her aide and foremost disciple, Sri Rajendran, Sri AR.PN. Rajamanickam, President of the Mayamma Samaj, Kanyakumari, and a few devotees, none knew exactly Her destination or the purpose of Her journey. She visited Tiruvannamalai, where Yogi Ramsuratkumar received Her. Later, She left for Madras and reached the city on Wednesday night. A number of devotees including prominent citizens of Madras had the Mother’s darshan on Thursday. She left the city on Friday noon.

 

[TATTVA DARSANA, February –April 1985, Vol. 2, No. 1]

 

 

Vivekanandan (son of Sadhu Rangarajan, sitting in front), Rajendran (sitting next to Mayee) and Pon Kamaraj (standing by the side of Mayee) conducting Her to Marina Beach, Chennai, in a cycle rikshaw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOMAGE TO DIVINE MOTHER MAYAMMA OF KANYAKUMARI

 

Words are inadequate to express our grief in conveying to our readers the news of the departure of the Divine Mother Mayamma of Kanyakumari from Her physical body on Sunday, the 9th of February, 1992. No one knew Her exact age, for She had spanned centuries while existing in the physical frame. In Her last days She was sojourning at the foot of the Yercaud Hills, at Salem, where Her mortal remains were interred.

 

Mayamma, lovingly called Mayee, is Immortal. In the Inaugural Issue of TATTVA DARSANA, a journal that was born out of Her Will and Divine Grace, dedicating the magazine to Her in February 1984, we wrote under the title, Tremendum et Fascinum: “She is Mayee, the Mysterious beyond description. Reason cannot help us to understand Her. It requires faith – absolute faith – and childlike spirit of surrender to realize Her”.

 

The last one decade has been a momentous period not only in the life of this Sadhu, but also of the humble institution, Sister Nivedita Academy, for this period has been marked with the flow of Infinite Grace of the Divine Mother both to this Sadhu and to the institution founded by him. At this moment, we cannot but recall with poignant feelings that enabled him and the institution to grow slowly and steadily into what we are today.

 

In the First Annual Number 1985 of TATTVA DARSANA, we had reported the news of the Divine Mother’s surprise visit to this Sadhu’s humble abode on the eve of the eighth anniversary of Sister Nivedita Academy. The Mothers benign Blessings at that time took this Sadhu across the seas to distant lands. In a few months after Her visit, this Sadhu flew to South Africa carrying Her message to the children of Mother India settled in the distant country. Sri Gopala Govindaswamy, the then President of the Divine Life Society of South Africa, bidding a farewell to this Sadhu when this Sadhu was leaving for Mauritius after a three month stay in South Africa as the guest of the Society, said on February 20th 1986: “It seems that, through the spiritual surgery performed by Mother Mayee of Kanyakumari during the cancer crisis in Professor’s present life, She rid of him of the praarabda karma and re-stimulated his past life’s spiritual destiny, and the course of spiritual destiny, through the Grace of Gurudev, has brought him into our midst so that we also could have a glimpse of that heritage…..Professor Rangarajan has been the spiritual bee that has been flown down through the Will of Great Sivananda and through the Grace of Mother Mayee to be spiritually responsible for collecting the contents of Yoga Lessons for Children and, in this way to help fertilize the blooming minds of the children of the Divine, born not only in South Africa, but all over the world.”

 

The credit for whatever little this humble squirrel could achieve in South Africa goes to the Divine Mother whose presence by his side was felt by this Sadhu at every moment of his stay abroad. On December 7 1985, this Sadhu was sitting at Tongaat beach, surrounded by South African devotees who wanted to know his experiences with Mother Mayee. This Sadhu simply pointed his finger to the sea and told them that the Divine Mother was just on the other shore of the vast Indian ocean. The devotees looked into the distant horizon where the sky touched the sea, for there, they knew, the holy feet of Mother Bharat, Kanyakumari, was constantly washed by the three great oceans, and there the Divine Mother Mayee was sitting, dipping Her holy feet into the waters of the oceans. They sang and danced and fervently prayed to Mother Mayee to bless them. The very evening this Sadhu had a vision of Mother Mayee in Her astral form in Reservoir Hills where he was staying. On the very next day, when he went to the Sivananda Ashram for his usual daily discourse, the Spiritual Head of the Ashram, Swami Sahajananda, sprang a surprise at this Sadhu by asking him to speak on Mother Mayee that day, for he also felt Her presence very much in the Ashram. That one and a half hour speech which gushed out of the heart of this Sadhu with the least support from his mind or intellect, delivered in the Sivananda Ashram, Durban, on December 8, 1986, is the most memorable one in the life of this Sadhu. After visiting Mauritius and Reunion, when this Sadhu returned to India, Mother Mayee made another surprise visit to Madras when the whole speech delivered in Durban, which was recorded in a cassette, was reproduced before Her. She listened to the tape recorded speech with a joy comparable to that of a loving mother feeling proud of Her little kid’s achievements in the school playground. With Her blessings, the speech was also published in the very first issue of the Saint of India series of TATTVA DARSANA – the Third Annual Number 1987. Perhaps it is the only full length biographical account on the Divine Mother and on the experiences of Her devotees, ever published in English.

 

We cannot but mention here with a feeling of intense gratitude to the Divine Mother, the greatest gift that She conferred on this Sadhu – the gift of Gurudarshanam. It was the Divine Mother who directed this Sadhu, in the beginning of the eighties, to his deeksha guru, Yogi Ramsuratkumar, Godchild, Tiruvannamalai. This humble flower nourished and nurtured by the Divine Mother, was offered at the feet of the Holy Master, Yogi Ramsuratkumar, who made it more fragrant by instilling into its bosom the taraka mantra,  “Aum Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram”, the fragrance of which is spread everywhere by this humble flower.

 

Mother lives, Mother lives; Mother lives forever in our heart. She will continue to reside in our bosom and guide us in our humble steps. Paying our homage to Her, we rededicate TATTVA DARSANA at Her feet. We recall here a verse that we wrote in May 1984:

 

Mother, blossoms this day

Another fragrant flower,

Yearning for a say

In Thy blessed bower.

 

[TATTVA DARSANA,  Feb-April 1992, Vol .9–No.1]

 

    

 

LINK BETWEEN MAYEE AND YOGI

 

Rangarajan, like Yogi Ramsuratkumar, had already had two powerful gurus (a Father and a Mother) by the time he was led to the beggar saint of Tiruvannamalai. His first guru, Swami Chinmayananada, had echoed for him the sentiments that made the great distinction between book learning and embodied knowledge come alive for him: “Enough of reading Upanishads. Throw your Upanishad     books into  a ditch and start doing sadhana.” As Rangarajan noted years later, in remarking upon these words, “The great Advaitacharya did not mean any insult to the texts, but drilled into the mind of his student the truth that knowledge should lead to sadhana.”

 

The “Mother” force in his spiritual life came in a disturbingly unexpected form. In the late 1970s, as he worked in South India for the Vivekenanda Kendra (a spiritually-oriented service mission), Rangarajan frequently heard stories of a mad beggar woman, Mother Mayee of Kanyakumari, whom some of his most respected associates were readily hailing as an incarnation of the Divine Mother. At first, the learned professor was put off by the stories of Her escapades: the fact that She was commonly surrounded by a pack of wild dogs; Her unkempt, sometimes naked, condition. One day, however, against all rational explanations, Rangarajan felt himself drawn to Her, irresistibly, and in a way that he could not explain. Once he “saw” Her — realizing who She was beyond appearances — there was no escape. The man of great book-learning soon became another child in the Mother’s playpen. He took Her as a spiritual guide. Writing years later, Rangarajan confessed:

 

“The intellectual vanity which in the beginning stood in the way of prostrating before an apparently ugly, unclean, mad, beggar woman adored by many faithful devotees as Divine Mother, soon gave way under the irresistible spell of the Mother, impelled him to sit at Her feet and pour out the feelings of his intense devotion to Her.”

 

In the early 1980s, just prior to meeting Yogi Ramsuratkumar, Rangarajan was diagnosed first with a lung infection, and then given the sentence of terminal cancer. Seeking the feet of the Mother Mayee, he was miraculously healed by Her ministrations. Recommending a series of very unconventional treatments, She spit into his hand a bolt of already chewed tobacco, which he immediately swallowed as prasad, and indicated that he should perform a series of prayers and pujas for 108 days. When this period of practice was completed, Rangarajan went back to the doctor for a re-evaluation. No cancer was found in his system.

 

His meeting with Yogi Ramsuratkumar, he claims, was a natural progression of his work with Mother Mayee, whom he credits with sending him to Tiruvannamalai, to another mad beggar’s feet.

 

“We cannot but mention here with a feeling of intense gratitude to the Divine Mother, the greatest gift that She conferred on this sadhu — the gift of Gurudarshanam. It was the Divine Mother who directed this sadhu, in the beginning of the eighties, to his deeksha guru, Yogi Ramsuratkumar, Godchild,  Tiruvannamalai.”

 

Mother Mayee knew of Yogi Ramsuratkumar in the late 1970s — a photograph of their historic meeting in 1976 stands as a testimony to this communion of the saints. Regarding this occasion Yogi Ramsuratkumar later remarked, “She had come once some years back to see this Beggar,” so we know that there was at least one earlier meeting. Whether or not these meetings in Tiruvannamalai were the only times they had ever seen one another is a matter of speculation.  During His many wandering years we know that Yogi Ramsuratkumar had journeyed as far as Kanyakumari, at the southernmost tip of the subcontinent. Perhaps He had encountered this strange woman (distinguished by Her companion dogs) who slept under the mandapam of a temple, or on a roadside platform, or within the shelter of the front of a shop or restaurant, much as He had done. Did He see Her at the seashore, where She would walk or sit for long hours? Would He notice that She was fed by local fishermen in return for some simple service like breaking firewood, pounding rice, or drying the fish? Or maybe, like Hilda Charlton, Mayee knew Him beyond time and space in the way that highly evolved beings seem to share a kinship of recognition.

 

One devotee of Yogi Ramsuratkumar’s, Shivashankar, wrote this of the meeting:

 

“On the 26th of September 1976, the Divine Mother of Kanyakumari, discovered by Swami Gnanananda, met Ramji in front of the temple of Arunachala and offered him sacred food. She stayed inside the temple and silently took communion the whole night with Ramji who was outside. The next day they exchanged jokes and views of the work that might be done. Then the Mother left for Kanyakumari.”

 

Another account, this one from an eminent Pandit from Benaras, tells of another unlikely meeting of the two beggars — Ramsuratkumar and Mayee Ma. Sometime in 1976, the Pandit met Yogi Ramsuratkumar at His house, having arrived there in a car that also held Mother Mayee. Asked about the events that had brought him to Tiruvannamalai, the Pandit told Yogi Ramsuratkumar:

 

“I came to Kerala as a state guest, a couple of days back. Today morning, I had been to Kanyakumari for Dharshan. Before Dharshan, I wanted to take bath and I went to the sea, leaving my upper garments and belongings in a nearby mantap. While I was bathing, Mayamma [Mother Mayee] came there, held my hand and dragged me to a car parked on the road. She asked me to get into the car. Mayamma and the attendant occupied the rear seat. A little later, the owner of the car and wife came to the car, after taking bath. Mayamma asked the owner of the car to start the car and proceed, without disclosing the destination. The owner of the car, whom I came to know later as a businessman in Sivakashi obeyed the direction of Mayamma and was driving the car, not knowing the destination. Mayamma asked him to proceed towards Madurai. After they reached Madurai, Mayamma asked him to proceed to Tiruvannamalai. Thus, I had come here. My upper garments and other belongings are lying in the mantap at Kanyakumari and I had come with the dhoti alone. Mayamma is seated in the car outside.”

 

With that, Yogi Ramsuratkumar got up, proceeded outside, and there met the Divine Mother, who stayed sitting in the car, while he stood by the door and silently communed with Her.

 

The substance of their “work” together remains a mystery. Yogi Ramsuratkumar never spoke of such things. Yet, like the association with His three Fathers and His relationship with His protector and mentor Swami Gnanananda Giri, there exists for all eternity some bond between the mad beggar of Mount Arunachala and the mad beggar of the southern seas. Saints ever appreciate the company of saints, it seems.

Yogi Ramsuratkumar greets Mother Mayee of Kanyakumari

(in car; second from right) in Tiruvannamalai, 1976

 

On September 1, 1984, sitting with a friend in a small shop in the shadows of Mount Arunachala, Professor Rangarajan made his first official inquiry about the elusive Godchild.

 

“Oh! You mean Vishiri Swami,” his friend replied with enthusiasm, using the colloquial name of the country hand fan (vishiri) that Yogi Ramsuratkumar consistently carried.

 

“Yes,” said the professor. “I want to meet him.”

 

The friend led Rangarajan to the beggar’s home on Sannadhi Street and made the introductions. To the professor’s great surprise, Yogi Ramsuratkumar was amazingly solicitous. The impression made was that the beggar had merely been awaiting Rangarajan’s arrival.

 

“Yes, I have to talk many things to the Professor,” said Yogi Ramsuratkumar, whom He had never met. And turning to the intermediary who had made the introduction: “You may leave him here and go.”

 

A moment later, the Godchild had grasped the professor’s hand and escorted him within the house, closing the door upon the perplexed friend.

 

As are most newcomers to the Yogi’s “scene,” Rangarajan was taken aback with the condition of the abode, particularly by the trash and treasures accumulated on the floor and hung along the walls. Along with wrapped bundles of rags, the professor noted seeing “currency notes of higher denominations and coins littered around the torn mat” on which Yogi Ramsuratkumar sat. As the beggar did with most of His visitors, especially those in whom He seemed to take a particular interest, He sat Rangarajan directly in front of Him and studied him intently for a while. Then, Yogi Ramsuratkumar picked up a cigarette, placed it between his lips, and remarked apologetically, “This beggar has the bad habit of smoking, please bear with me.”

 

The professor’s initial response was a mingled disgust and awe. The unkempt condition of the beggar’s person, his littered surroundings, the cigarette smoke — it was enough to drive away a lesser man, one who could not discern “who” it was that had summoned him. While in certain ways he was repelled, Rangarajan candidly admitted that he was simultaneously attracted, and felt a familiar tug at his heart, the tug that devotees throughout the ages have reported upon meeting their beloved teacher or guru for the first time.¹⁰

 

The Godman spoke: “What made you come to this beggar, Professor?”

 

“I am a devotee of Mother Mayee,” the awestruck professor muttered. Rangarajan was rarely ever at a loss for words, but this time he hesitated due to his present disorientation.

 

With his cigarette finished, Yogi Ramsuratkumar picked up his hand fan and continued to study his subject more carefully. In a matter of moments, Rangarajan reported that he felt a current electrify the nerves in his body, and found himself quickly transported into another realm of consciousness. The master’s words soon reverberated around him.

 

“You need not take medicine, but you can take honey; honey is not medicine!” said Yogi Ramsuratkumar.

 

An unknowing observer, one who knew nothing of Rangarajan’s history or present condition, might have dismissed Ramsuratkumar’s words as being an irrelevant bit of medical information. But, for the professor, the words were astounding. In them, he read with clarity that Ramsuratkumar somehow, impossibly, knew of his health situation, which under Mother Mayee’s direction was being handled without traditional medical intervention, but essentially by the performance of puja and prayers (agnihotra).

 

[From ONLY GOD by Regina Sara Ryan]

 

Sadhu Rangarajan, family and friends with Mother Mayee

MAYAMMA’S EMISSARY TO

YOGI RAMSURATKUMAR

 

Yogi Ramsuratkumar had similar connections with many saints in south India, such as Mayee of Kanya Kumari. During the early 1980s the link between Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Mother Mayee was active in interesting ways, bringing about the introduction of a new wave of ardent devotees. Professor V Rangarajan was one of these.

 

When Rangarajan first met Mother Mayee and started spending time with Her during 1980-1981 at Kanya Kumari, She was staying around the Vivekananda temple on the rock or wandering on the beach. She was apparently illiterate, ugly, dirty and mad. She had forty or fifty dogs following Her around. Professor Rangarajan sat at Her feet and poured out his devotion to Her. At the time he had cancer, and Mother Mayee, who was fond of chewing tobacco, spit a wad of well-chewed tobacco into his hand and told him to eat it. From that moment on his cancer was cured and never returned.

 

A few years later, in 1984, Mother Mayee sent Professor Rangarajan to meet the mad beggar, Yogi Ramsuratkumar. Rangarjan was told that the beggar saint often sat in the Arunachalesvara Temple in Tiruvannamalai. On September 1, 1984 Rangarajan had travelled to Tiruvannamaiai and was sitting in a shop owned by a friend. When he inquired about Yogi Ramsuratkumar, his friend replied, “Oh, you mean that Vishiri Swami”–meaning the one with the country hand fan. Rangarajan said, “Yes, I would like to see Him.” Although his friend did not personally know the beggar with the palmyra fan, he did know where He lived, and he took Rangarajan to the house on Sannadhi Street, where he introduced himself and the professor to Yogi Ramsuratkumar.

 

To their great surprise the yogi said, “Yes, I have to talk many things to the Professor. You may leave him here and go.” Yogi Ramsuratkumar led Rangarajan into his abode and closed the door.

 

“The Yogi took me to a hail inside the house. It looked more like a dumping ground where the entire town’s garbage was accumulated. I found old books, newspapers, letters, cigarette butts, burnt match sticks, empty match boxes and cigarette packets littered everywhere. The floor had perhaps not seen the touch of a broomstick for months together. There were bundles wrapped in rags by the sides of the walls, some old aluminum vessels, a number of pictures of the Yogi hanging on the walls and a number of withered garlands. To my utter surprise, I could find even currency notes of higher denominations and coins littered around the torn mat on which the Yogi used to sit. He made me sit on another torn old mat opposite to Him. For some time he was gazing at me without asking anything. On my part, I was too dazed to be in the presence of such a strange person whom I could not judge at once whether He was a mad old beggar or great saint or godman.

 

The professor sat silently in front of the madman, who by all appearances could have been repulsive to someone of a more squeamish or dilettante nature, but somehow simultaneously an inexorable attraction for the beggar was dawning in the professor’s heart.

 

“This beggar has the bad habit of smoking, please bear with me,” the Yogi stated, then He took a cigarette, placed it between his lips and lit it. Looking keenly at the erudite man before Him, the beggar asked, “What made you come to this beggar, Professor?’ The mood behind this question instantly put the professor at ease, and the feeling that the Yogi had known him well for a very long time began to creep into his awareness.

 

“I am a devotee of Mother Mayee,” the professor replied, nonplussed by the sheer presence of his new acquaintance. Upon hearing this news the Yogi immediately put down his cigarette, took up His palmyra fan and held it beside His right ear while peering deeply into the professor’s eyes. The experience was one of having an electrical current passing through the nerves of his body; the professor felt himself being transported to another realm altogether, and he began to spontaneously chant the gayatri mantra, perhaps in an effort to bear the searing intensity that beamed forth from the beggar’s eyes.

 

“You need not take medicine, but you can take honey. Honey is not medicine!” the beggar said quite matter-of-factly, but taking the professor by surprise. How did the simple beggar know that Rangarajan had been cured of a serious cancer by the grace of Mayee, without the aid of any medicines? Prostrating at the beggar’s feet in response to this, Rangarajan then took his seat again and looked at the Yogi with wonder and awe.

 

Yogi Ramsuratkumar asked Rangarajan to take off his glasses, then held them and asked, “Is it not time to change the spectacles?” As mundane as it seemed, this was not an ordinary question but an obviously symbolic one: the meeting with the master was a turning point in Rangarajan’s life. It was through the master’s grace that the disciple would have greater clarity and a proper view of life.

 

[From UNDER THE PUNNAI TREE by M, Young]

 

 

Sadhu Rangarajan and Smt. Bharati Rangarajan with Mayamma

 

 

Sri R. Vivekanandan with Mayamma

 

 

 

 

 

Sadhu Rangarajan’s daughter, Nivedita                          holding umbrella to the Mother

 

KANYAKUMARI MAYAMMA

B.V.S. Rao

 

[Gnaanikalin Irainilai–God-consciousness of Great Saints–is a wonderful compendium, in Tamil, of biographical sketches of great saints of modern India and their thoughts and works, written by Sri B.V. Subramania Rao and published by Sri Ananda Nilaya, Chennai, in 2006.  Written in the form of dialogues between an aged head of a family and his family members on self-realized gnanis, it presents soul-stirring pen portraits of great spiritual savants, Sri Seshadri Swamigal, Sri Lingi Chetty Swamigal, Srimat Pamban Swamigal, Sri Ramalinga Swamigal, Shirdi Sai Baba, Kanyakumari Mayamma, Sadashiva Brahmendra, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Yogi Ramsuratkumar of Tiruvannamalai,  and Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. The author also discusses about spiritual matters like meditation, temples erected by saints and their inspiring messages.

 

Sri Rao has been a close friend of Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan for more than four decades and in this article on Mother Mayamma of Kanyakumari, extracted from his book, he narrates his personal experiences with the Mother and Sadhu. –Editor]

 

Easwara Iyer resumed his discourses after two days. Lakshmi did not leave the grandfather. Every day, she was imploring him to tell the history of great saints. It was Wednesday and the lunch was over as usual by 11-30 in the morning. It was also holiday for the school. Therefore Iyer acceded to her request. Lakshmi, Parvati Ammal and Nallakkannu–all of them assembled and Iyer continued his narration.

 

“What I am going to tell you today is something that really happened in my life.

 

“Parvati, please try to recall. I am going to tell the story of Mayamma who lived for many years in Kannyakumari and attained Mahasamadhi at the foot of Yercaud hills, at Salem. Before that I should speak a few words about, Sri V. Rangarajan, who fits into the description as my close friend, counselor and spiritual guide.

 

“We were staying in Big Street, Triplicane, at Chennai. I was working as a teacher at that time. I had close contact with the family of my friend, Sri Rangarajan. He was also in close contact with our family. Daily evening I used to go to his house and spend time in conversation without aware of the passing of hours. Sometimes it will go till 12 in the night.

 

“One day, he spoke about Mayamma of Kannyakumari and asked whether we could visit the place. I also agreed and started our journey with family to Kannyakumnari. While staying at Madurai on the way, he told me: “We are going to meet a person at Kannyakumari. He is waiting for us.” I asked him, “Have you got any prior information?” He replied, “No, but something sprang up in my mind suddenly. I do not even know who he is.”

 

“We met the person at Kannyakumari after three days. He was a very rich person. He owned many industries. He belonged to Sivakashi. My friend was surprised when he said, “I have been waiting for you.” Later they conversed about the work of Mayamma.

 

“It was the first time that I had gone to Kannyakumari. It was the good deeds in our past birth that we got the darshan of the Mother, Mayamma. I will tell about Her. Listen carefully. It was on that day that I saw a woman who happened to be a great saint. Nothing could be said about Her age. When enquired with the local people, they replied that, for the last two or three generations, from the days of their grandfathers and great grandfathers, they have been seeing the Mother. In any case, She must be more than two hundred years. It is rare to see someone living at this age.

 

“Mayamma was very emaciated. There would always be ten or fifteen dogs around Her all the time. Wherever She goes, they will accompany Her. Mayamma was staying in a hut by the side of the temple on the sea-shore of Kannyakumari where three seas meet.  Even at that age, She used to go alone without anybody’s help to the mid-sea and take Her bath for long hours in the middle of the rocks.  She will pick up the sea weeds which She could lay Her hands upon and throw them to the shore. Sri Rajendran, who was all the twenty four hours by Her side to attend on Her, will be collecting them and spreading them on the shore for drying up. After bath, Mayamma will swim back to the shore, dress up and take the dried sea weeds and lit fire. It was a daily routine. There was significance in what She did.  What She was doing was a Yaga (sacrifice). It was the Yaga that She was performing every day for the welfare of the world. Even the local people were not aware of it. Later, She will distribute the food that was ready to all the dogs with Her. She will partake of Her food after distributing to other devotees too. We stayed with Mayamma for about ten days. When She was passing through the market road, She would enter into any roadside hotel, pick up foodstuff and distribute to Her dogs. The owner of the shop would not say anything. He would have a good business on that day.”

 

“Grandpa, you have told earlier that Sri Seshadri Swami of Tiruvannamali used to do like this”, Lakshmi recalled.

 

“She was dressed in rags. No one could understand what Mayamma was talking. She would speak in many languages. She would never reveal Herself and Her powers. She would cast a bewildered look at devotees coming to Her. However, She knew very well who were coming to Her. Tourists coming to Her presence would leave confused after seeing Mayamma and Her dogs. Jivan Muktas (like Mayamma) will never reveal themselves. It came to be known that She came from northern India in Her younger days itself and that She stayed with the fishermen, doing the work given to Her by them and eating the food that they offered. Observing Her looks and hearing Her talks, it appeared that She was mentally disturbed, but the truth was different. Very interesting facts about this were revealed to us by Sri Rangarajan at the seashore of Kanyakumari.

 

“Sri Rangarajan said that in his intuitive consciousness, he received the revelation that Mayamma was an incarnation of Kamakhya Devi of the famous Kamakhya temple in Assam.

 

“She was a little girl (may be ten years old), when She came to Kanyakumari in a tourist bus and settled down there. Some of the local people say that Mayamma is none other than Devi Kanyakumari.

 

“It was after many years that the local people came to realize who Mayamma was. When a tourist car ran over one of Her dogs, the intestines of the dog burst out. When the dog was in dying condition, Mayamma rushed towards it, pushed the intestines into its stomach, picked up some straw and bandaged its body and then patted on its back. The dog got up and started running. During the ten days when we were staying there, one night we went to see Mayamma in a friend’s house. Sri Rangarajan, I, my wife and sons went together. At that time, Mayamma had inserted Her finger into Her nose and was churning it repeatedly. Looking at one of my sons, She continued to do it for about half an hour. I could not understand why she was churning into Her nose looking continuously at my son. Mayamma used to chew tobacco with betel leaf. We were amazed to see that many people were waiting to receive in their hands the tobacco spat by Her and to swallow it.

 

“Sri Rangarajan fell ill. Slowly he started becoming weak. With the help of friends, he approached a doctor, and when the doctor who examined him said that one of his lungs was not functioning and must have been infected with cancerous germs, he was upset. Immediately he rushed to Kanyakumari and met Mayamma. Did not Mayamma know why he had come? The next day being Amavasya, Sri Rangarajan had a dip in the sea and participated in the Yaga of Mayamma. The very day he felt that he was regaining health. After returning to Chennai, he continued the Yaga for 108 days. He used some herbs as Samit (sticks for havan) and performed the yagna thinking of Mayamma. After 108 days, the cancerous infection had totally vanished. At that time, doctors had told that he will live only for six months. Today, even after ten years, Sri Rangarajan is hale and hearty.

 

“Jovially, but at the same time with deep devotion he says: ‘Mayamma has given me a new lease of life. I will live for another 15 years.’ This is an event which I myself witnessed and knew personally. How could it be false? Can we dismiss certain things as lie if we could not believe in them?”

 

[TATTVA DARSANA, July-September 2013, Vol. 30, No.3]

HOLINESS SADHU PROF. V. RANGARAJAN

A Profile

 

SADHU PROF. V. RANGARAJAN, the Founder Trustee of Sister Nivedita Academy, was born on 22^nd October 1940, to Sri S.R.Venugopalan and Smt. Janakiammal at Ernakulam, Kerala State, India. He did his Post Graduation in M.A. (Philosophy, First Rank holder from University of Madras). Inspired by his Siksha Guru, H.H. Swami Chinmayananda, and mentor, Sri Guruji Golwalkar, he entered into dedicated service to the Hindu cause four decades ago and has shouldered important responsibilities in institutions like Chinmaya Mission, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, etc. He served as Bureau Editor, Hindustan Samachar News Agency; Associate Editor, Yuva Bharati, Vivekananda Kendra Patrika and Brahmavadin; Secretary, Chinmaya Mission, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Swami Vivekananda Medical  Mission; and Visiting Professor of Indian Thought and Cultural Heritage of India in  Sacred College and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai.

SISTER NIVEDITA ACADEMY was founded by the Sadhu at Chennai in 1977 with the blessings of stalwarts like Acharya J.B. Kripalani and Swami Chinmayananda, and it has been rendering yeoman service to Hindu cause in India and abroad, spreading the glory and greatness of Mother Bharat and our most ancient culture and heritage. The maiden publication of the Academy was “Vande Mataram” by Sadhu Rangarajan, the inspiring history of the immortal song of Bankim Chandra, to which Acharya Kripalani wrote a fitting foreword. The book has seen three editions in the last three decades. “Saga Of Patriotism” by Sadhu Rangarajan and R. Vivekanandan, a work on the patriots and revolutionaries of India, has seen two editions.

 

TATTVA DARSANA Quarterly, the official organ of the Academy, was launched in 1984 and Swami Chinamayananda rightly pointed out in the inaugural issue, “Sri V. Rangarajan is fully capable of delivering the goods through the journal, TATTVA DARSANA, which is the urgent need of the times. It is my firm understanding that he has the spiritual preparation, in both study and practice, and by a conspiracy of destiny, he had a gruesome total training in all areas of journalism. When such a well equipped person, having the necessary intense consciousness of our culture, starts a journal, it cannot but assert our goal. Even though the market is saturated with trash, I am confident that TATTVA DARSANA will have all success, and I am looking forward to seeing its glorious trail of service to the Hindu Nation.” The journal is now entering into the thirty fourth year of publication.

 

BHARATAMATA GURUKULA ASHRAM & YOGI RAMSURATKUMAR INDOLOGICAL RESEARCH CENTRE, named after His Holiness Yogi Ramsuratkumar of Tiruvannamalai, the deeksha guru of the founder of the Academy, Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan, and set up at Srinivasanagar, Krishnarajapuram, Bangalore, in 1999, is dedicated to training a lay order of missionaries of Mother Bharat to serve Her children all over the world. The Bharatamata Gurukula Ashram has been registered as a charitable trust.

 

A TEMPLE FOR BHARATAMATA AT BANGALORE

 

Adoration and worship of Bharatamata, our Janmabhoomi. Punyabhoomi, Karmabhoomi, and Mokshabhoomi, is the hallmark of Hindu Dharma. The Vedas and Puranas proclaim the glory and greatness of our Motherland. Sri Rama extols Mother and Motherland as greater than the Heaven—Jananee janmabhoomischa swargaadapi gareeyasi. She is the Mother of all our Gods and Goddesses, saints, seers and holy men and women whom we worship and for whom temples have been erected all over the country and abroad. However, rarely do we find a temple dedicated to Bharatamata whom even modern saints and savants like Bankim Chandra, Swami Vivekananda, Mahayogi Sri Aurobindo, Sister Nivedita, Swatantrya Veer Savarkar and Mahakavi Bharati eulogized as the manifestation of Mahashakti and presented before us the concepts of Ananda Math and Bhavani Mandir. The Academy undertook a very sacred task of setting up a unique SRI BHARATMATA MANDIR in its premises at Srinivasanagar, Krishnarajapuram, Bangalore 560 036. This temple is now a place of congregation of all children of Mother Bharat, irrespective of caste, creed or nationality, to offer worship to the Loka Guru, Bharatamata, and to spread Her message, Vasudaiva kutumbakam—the whole world is one family. The temple was consecrated by H.H. Jagatguru Swami Vishwesha Teertha Maharaj of Udupi Pejawar Mutt, under the presidentship of Sri H.V. Seshadri, former Saha Sarkaryavah of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, on December 8, 2004. An exquisite idol of Bharatamata has been installed and Deshamaatrukaa Pooja and Havan are performed by all devotees directly.

 

SRI GURUJI GOLWALKAR HINDU RESOURCE CENTRE founded by the Sadhu was inaugurated by Swami Harshananda of Ramakrishna Mission, Bangalore, in the premises of Sri Bharatamata Mandir on the Vijayadashami Day in 2010. The centre with a library consisting of twenty-thousand books, rare journals, CDs, DVDs, Audio and Video Cassettes is at the disposal of research scholars and students from all over the country and abroad who want to do research on Hindu thought and culture.

 

MAHAMERU GOPURAM on the top of the sanctum sanctorum of Sri Bharatamata Mandir, was consecrated by Dr. R.L. Kashyap, Hon. Director, Sri Aurobindo Kapali Shastri Institute of Vedic Culture, Bangalore, under the presidentship of Dr. M. Sivakumara Swami, President of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Karnataka, on Sunday, October 21, 2011. The construction in the model of Bhagavati temples in Kerala has a pyramid shaped Shikara or peak with a Meru at the bottom, right above the roof of the sanctum sanctorum. The Shikara will receive Cosmic Energy, store them in the Meru and inundate the whole sanctum sanctorum and the temple premises with the cosmic vibrations of Maha Shakti. The Mahaa Kumbhaabhishekam, completion of twelve years of the temple, falls on Friday, November 25, 2016.

 

SADHU’S VISITS ABROAD

Sadhu Rangarajan visited South Africa for the first time in 1984 to edit the YOGA LESSONS FOR CHILDREN, a prestigious publication of the Divine Life Society of South Africa, on the occasion of Swami Sivananda Centenary. He addressed the World Hindu Conference at Durban in South Africa in 1995. Subsequently he has set up the branches of the Academy in the country and has made nine more visits. His last successful tour of South Africa for Hindu Dharma Prachar was from May 2 to August 2, 2009.  He has also visited Mauritius, Reunion, Botswana, Kenya, Singapore and Nepal carrying the message and mission of Mother Bharat to Her children in those distant lands and set up branches of the Academy in Singapore, Kenya and Botswana. Sadhu Rangarajan is also a member of the International Coordination Council of Vishwa Hindu Parishad Overseas and participant in the Vishwa Dharma Prasar Yaatra of sadhus and sants to different countries. Lauding the work of Sadhu Rangarajan abroad, his Shiksha Guru, H.H. Swami Chinmayananda, said “We need such champions of Hinduism, who scream into the ears of the sleeping Hindus, reviving and revitalizing in their hearty consciousness of their proud past.”

Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan received initiation from his Deeksha Guru, H.H. Yogi Ramsuratkumar Godchild Tiruvannamalai, on April 26, 1988.  Since then he has been traveling all over the country and abroad, propagating the Ramanama Taraka Mantra in accordance to the command of his Master.  Sadhuji made his twelfth visit to South Africa on his Dharma Prachar Yatra in 2014.

 

H.H. SWAMI CHIDANANDA, World President, Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, in his speech, following, Sadhu Rangarajan’s address in Swargashram, Rishikesh, on October 26, 1987, spoke about Sadhu and said: “I will take this opportunity for saying a few worlds about Professor V. Rangarajan.  He has shared his lofty ideas and inspiring thoughts with us all in a very very dynamic and thrilling manner.  You all know, ‘Brahmavit brahmaiva bhavati‘ – ‘Knower of Brahman becomes Brahman’, and you also know: ‘As a man thinketh so he becometh’. Constantly thinking about Swami Vivekanandaji, constantly thinking about such noble patriotic souls like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Aurobindo Ghosh and Subramanya Bharatiyar, who saw in India a veritable Divine Shakti, a veritable deity, not merely a land, not merely a nation, but a living force of all our hearts, a dynamic, a potential force to transform humanity into divinity – thus, in their inner intuitive vision they beheld the eternal, living reality, the true saviour, Bharatvarsha, and the redeemer if not today at least tomorrow of the future of mankind; they adored, they eulogized in their intuitive vision their spiritual identity of their self with the soul of India, Bharata Shakti – and Professor V. Rangarajan, who is amongst us, in constantly thinking about these lofty souls, their sublime ideas and their inner spiritual intuition of their Divine Mother, beloved Motherland, Matrubhoomi, Bharatvarsha, he has imbibed verily their fervour – their patriotic fervor – and love for India, and the great spirit of adoration of India so that when he speaks, their own words come through him.  Constantly thinking of Vivekananda, he has himself become an inspired orator.”

 

A SADHU WITH A DIFFERENCE

—A tribute by Late Sri Anwar Shaikh

 

“In India, a sadhu is an ascetic who has turned his back on the world and attained Siddhi through this process.

 

“However, Professor Rangarajan is a sadhu with a difference. Why? Because he is not only a devotee of God but also a lover of Bharatamata, a doctrine close to my heart.

 

“During the mid-seventies, as India touched its political nadir through fear, frustration and fiasco, starting with the traumatic Chinese invasion, 1962, and subsequent wars with Pakistan, the great Sadhu felt the need for saving Bharat Mata with a programme of patriotic action as dictated by the Vedas. He founded on the auspicious Tamil New Year’s Day, April 13, 1977, the Sister Nivedita Academy,” an organization of patriotic youth inspired by the Bhavani Mandir ideal of Sri Aurobindo. The Academy is dedicated to promoting dharma by creating revolutionary patriots through the zeal of Aggressive Hinduism.” The highly applauded “Vande Mataram” is a brainchild of the Professor Sadhu Rangarajan, who has held several important positions for the last twenty-five years. As an acknowledgement to his national passion for Bharata Mata, Swami Chinmayananda remarked about the Sadhu, “We need such champions of Hinduism, who scream into the ears of the sleeping Hindus reviving and revitalizing them in their hearty consciousness of their proud past.”

 

“A worthy aspect of the Academy is that it actively promotes the ideal of Spiritual Nationalism. This is true Hinduism for being the righteous and liberal way of life but has been turned into a swamp for lacking patriotic zeal and action. The Spiritual Nationalism of India is not a vice but a great virtue because it does not seek to aggrandize narrow nationalism and this is confirmed by the fact that Sister Nivedita was an Irish and not an Indian lady. The Professor Sadhu Rangarajan quite rightly believes that the Veda is the ambassador of universal brotherhood, thus making Hindu Dharma the religion of mankind. This is why he started the International Ramnam Movement to bring about world peace through message of unity.

 

“Rashtra Dharma is the true ideal of the Academy. It means that as there is an individual self, there is also a national self and one should seek self-realization through the patriotic service of national self, which is none else by Bharat Mata, the Mother of us all, the Divine Incarnation.

 

“As a mark of respect, I am pleased to dedicate this article: “Bharat Mata” to this great Sadhu.”

 

(Introduction to the article, “Bharat Mata” by Anwar Shaikh, published in LIBERTY Quarterly, Volume Two, Issue Nine, July 1995.)

 

 

 

Sri Bharatamata Mandir, Bangalore

 

SISTER NIVEDITA ACADEMY PUBLICATIONS

 

Vande Mataram (English) -Enlarged Third Edition

by Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan  India:  Rs.50 ; Outside India:    US$3.00

Glimpses Of A Great Yogi (English) –Fourth Edition

by Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan                               (Under Print)

-Do –       (Telugu)                First Edition                                              Rs.15

Rationale Of Hindu Festivals (English) by Skandanarayanan                    Rs.10

Tiruvannamalaiyil Oar Kuzhandai (Tamil)

by T.P.M. Gnanaprakasam                                                                    Rs.12

Did Swami Vivekananda Give Up Hinduism? (English)

by  A ‘Hindu’  (Prof. G.C. Asnani)                                                       Rs.45

The Origin Of The Word Hindu (English)

by Premnath Magazine                                                                           Rs.30

Poems Of A Broken Heart (English) by Lee Lozowick                                                                         Part I                                                        Rs.20      —Do –                    Part II                                                        Rs.50

Arunai Yogi Gurunaama Mahimai (Tamil)

by “Adiyaarkadiyan”                                                                             Rs.25

Gurunaathan Paadangalil Kadambamaalai  (Tamil)

by “Adiyaarkadiyan”                                                                              Rs.10

Science of Self-culture (English) by Tapasi Baba Avadoot

(Dr.R.K. Misra, MSc. Ph.D.)  India:  Rs.40; Outside India:     US$2.50

Ramnam (English)

by Tapasi Baba Avadhoot       India:  Rs.10; Outside India:     US$1.00

Vijnana Bharati– Complete Works of  Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan,  

Volume I–Hinduism from Vedas to Modern Times, Part 1                                                                          India:  Rs.50; Outside India:     US$2.00

Views & Visions 2002 by Tapasi Baba Avadhoot, G.C. Asnani

and Sadhu Rangarajan                                                                        Rs.20

Saga of Patriotism—Revolutionaries in India’s Freedom Struggle

by Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan & R. Vivekanandan

(Second Enlarged Edition)  India:  Rs.125 ;  Outside India:     US$7.00

Swami Vivekananda—Prophet of Patriotism

Ed.  Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan India: Rs.25; Outside India:  US$ 1.00

-Do- Deluxe Edition    India: Rs.60; Outside India:  US$ 3.00

Hindu Rashtra—Vedic Ideals in Modern Awakening

by Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan India: Rs.60; Outside India:   US$ 3.00

Philosophy of Mahakavi Bharati

by Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan       India: 300;  Outside India:  US$ 15

Divine Mother Mayamma of Kanyakumari (English)

by Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan

(Second Enlarged Edition)            India: Rs.40; Outside India:  US$ 2

 

SISTER NIVEDITA ACADEMY, Sri Bharatamata Mandir, Srinivasanagar, Krishnarajapuram, Bangalore 560 036.

Phone: 25610935, Cell: 9448275935.

E-mail: sadhu.rangarajan@gmail.com;

website: sribharatamatamandir.org

References:

The English original is available @ https://yogiramsuratkumarblog.wordpress.com/2020/02/13/sadhu-rangarajan-on-mayamma/

Some pictures are available @
https://yogiramsuratkumarblog.wordpress.com/2019/07/31/video-sadhu-rangarajan-on-how-he-met-mayi-and-yogi/

The Tamil translation is available @ https://yogiramsuratkumarblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/08/mayamma-tamil-articles-sadhu-rangarajan/

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