Apr 2017 Volume 2, Issue #2

PERIYAVA Times “ Shreyo bhUyAt sakala janAnAm ”

Afflictions are also Her Grace - Deivathin Kural ,Part I

We clearly know the mistakes we commit in our everyday lives. We get enraged at
people when they point out our follies. But little do they know how deep our faults lie
and when they realize that, they might even rightfully chastise us even more. They are
Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara

Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara
mistaking us for faults we haven’t committed but we know they don’t know our actual
faults. Therefore, we ourselves should introspect and judge our mistakes.
When we differentiate our good and bad qualities, we realize that the bad clearly
outnumbers the good. With a mountain of bad qualities in us, we end up showcasing only
our good qualities to others. Even with good thoughts crossing our mind, the sadness of
our inability to contain bad thoughts and qualities keep lingering in our minds. There is
no use getting dejected about our bad qualities. We should realize these bad qualities and
pray to God to get rid of them. Every night we must maintain a dairy recounting the bad
deeds we committed that day and pray to God to give us the courage and the will to reform
ourselves. We might slip from goodness incessantly but at least the introspection and
willingness to reform will earn us some merit. A birth without even this little introspection
will be a sheer waste. At least God has given us the strength to introspect without the need
to blame others.
With all these in us, hasn’t He benevolently bestowed upon us food, clothing, shelter
and kin ? Doesn’t his kindness outweigh our grouses about him. I feel there is no well-
wisher greater than Him. Protecting us in spite of all fallibilities! We should be happy for
this unconditional grace. “Pathithan “ (common term for us worldly beings) literally means one who slides. The word pathanam means to slide.
Similar to playground slides, it is very common for us to slide down in life. With grit and balance, very few of us can successfully climb up the
slippery slide. Such should be our effort to climb up this downward slide of life. Even if one in hundreds of us could achieve that, it will be a matter
of pride for our society, nation and us for being a devotee of such a person. We need not be in a misery of our sins if we wholeheartedly
pray to Ambal with Her alone us our witness. In such situations, we may face many difficulties and in such instances, we get discouraged
and disappointed with God. Some even go the extent of asking “Is He blind to ignore such suffering?”. We must rethink this, in spite of all our
inherent depravities, is it justified to experience even a moment of happiness? Hasn’t He only interspersed these shortcomings in a plethora of
blessings in various forms. Even these shortcomings are given by Him for a reason. I have seen children who have a penchant for putting mud in
their mouth. The mother of the child ties its hands to prevent them from eating mud. The child gets angry and agitated. It runs around crying from
pillar to post. The mother is amused at her child’s reaction and cannot help laughing. At this moment, the child feels “Does this mother have an
ounce of compassion in her? Isn’t she the worst of my enemies at this point? “. Similarly, even the temporary difficulties are also god’s blessings.
Happiness is a blessing without reason and Misery is a blessing with a reason.
Therefore, the miseries we face are not actually miseries. Happiness is a result of His inherent compassionate grace. We see only a small portion
of an occurrence without knowing its past or the future. With our limited vision, things look miserable but with a broader vision, we realize their
necessity. With all the worldly relationships being transient, the Lord alone is our ever existing father and mother. There is no kith or kin apart
from him. He alone is the rightful object of affection. Happiness comes only through this affection placed upon Him. Even without that happiness,
our duty solely lies in this sincere unfailing affection.

Keezhambi Adhistanam
Sri Advaitatma Prakashendra Saraswathi Swamigal is the 60th Sankaracharya
of the holy lineage of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam established by Sri Sankara
Bhagavatpadal. He was born in Tamil Nadu near the banks of River Vashishta
(originates in current day Salem district and flows into Tiruchirapalli). He was named
Govinda in Purvaashrama. He was also known as Sruti Panditha. He was anointed
as successor to the Peetam by His Guru Govindapuram Bhagavannama Bodhendra
Saraswathi Swamigal. He was the Peetadhipadhi for 12 years and He attained
mukti on Krishna Dwitiya in the month of Chaitra of the cyclic year Svabhanu (1704
AD). His Adhistanam is located in Eastern Ambhikapuram (Keezhambi), 12 Kms
from Kanchipuram.
Once, Sri Ponds Narayanan Mama and his wife went to Keezhambi to have
darshan of the Adhistanam. They were pained to see the torn and ragged Vastram
adorning the Adhistanam. It immediately struck mama that he needs to offer Kaashaya Vastram to the Adhistanam, but he forgot. Days flew by.
One fine early morning, Mami had a dream. In that dream, she had darshan of a Sanyasi sitting in Keezhambi Adhistanam. Mami did Namaskaram
to him. The Sanyasi gave Prasadam to Mami and enquired about Sri Ponds Mama. When Mami said, Mama couldn’t come, the Sanyasi replied
back, “If he had come, he would have gotten me a vastram”.
Woken up by the dream, Mami asked Mama if he had any prayers of offering Vastram to a Sanyasi. When Mama asked why was she asking
about it now , Mami narrated her dream and Mama immediately remembered about his wish to offer Kaashaya Vastram to Keezhambi Periyava.
From that year onwards, every year, during Aradhanai of Keezhambi Periyava, a Kaashaya Vastram is being offered by Sri Ponds Mama family.

A small video snippet of Keezhambi Adhistanam can be viewed at “PeriyavaPuranam.Org”.


Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara
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PERIYAVA Times 2
Sri MahaPeriyava Manimandapam, NJ, USA
Our prayers, HIS Blessings, Their approval. Yes, the site
Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara
plan for HIS place of worship in Flemington has been approved by the
Board of Raritan Township. The board of trustees of Sri MahaPeriyava
ManiMandapam – NJ USA expresses their hearty thanks to the
township for their very friendly approach and coordination in making
this process a smooth one.
During voting in the approval process, the Mayor said, “I appreciate
the education we got as to the type of House of Worship it will be… And
therefore I vote yes”. While the devotees in USA and around the world
have already envisioned Sri Periyava adorning this ManiMandapam in
NJ USA, let us all join hands in turning the dream to reality!
Mahanyasa Poorvaka Ekadasa Rudra Padhuka Abhishekam is very
dearly taken up by devotees. From the day of inception of this great
Sankalpam, this Sri Periyava’s Padhuka Rudrabhishekam is taking place
not only in New Jersey but also in other states of USA to experience the
bliss. When a devotee wishes whole heartedly, Sri Periyava is always
there to fulfill it in leaps and bounds than they wished for.
Periyava Padhuka DhigVijayam started with Toronto, Atlanta,
Oklahoma, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
With HIS blessings, DhigVijayam has extended to Dubai, Abu Dhabi,
Sharjah and Muscat. The devotees in Middle East realized the divine
presence of Sri MahaPeriyava during this Yatra which was coupled with Pravachanam of Sri Ganesa Sarma
thus making it more divine.
Sri MahaPeriyava Aaradhana was conducted with the vaideeka rituals in a grand manner on December
25th 2016. A daylong event with 5 Vaideekas coming from different parts of the USA and Canada coupled
with presence of Smt & Shri Narayanaswamy Iyer (Trustee of Sri MahaPeriyava ManiMandapam-Orikkai
made the Aaradhanai special.
Sahasra Gayathri Japam on one of the Sundays of every month has been started beginning of this year
and is being performed as insisted by Periyava in Deivathin Kural. Young Brahmachaari kids taking part
in this Sankalpam reassures the purpose of Sri MahaPeriyava ManiMandapam NJ USA.
Prasadam Seva is being done by a group of volunteers making sure that the Akshadai, Vibuthi and
Kumkumam Prasadam reaches the devotees who could not be physically present for the Pooja every
month. What Started with few tens has now raised up to 700+ devotees who receive Prasadam each month
through postal service. Thanks to Prasadam Seva Sponsors for keeping this task up and running.
More information on this divine initiative / events / updates, visit http://mahaperiyava.org | Email:
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Smt. Aruna Sairam Concert -
In aid of Sri MahaPeriyava
Manimandapam, NJ, USA
SHE SANG EXCLUSIVELY FOR ME - Certainly this
must have been the thought in the mind of every
individual seated in the auditorium. The reason for
this was simple; Smt Aruna Sairam connected with
everyone in the auditorium right away.
It is said that Hanuman appears with teary eyes
and folded hands wherever the name of Lord Rama
is uttered. On this concert day, it was Lord Krishna!
She sang in praise of Lord Krishna with a devotion
that embraced everyone. The audiences were in tears
listening to her Bengali & Marathi songs. Listening
to her Abhang, it felt as if Lord Vittala came
to sit on everyone’s lap.
Smt Aruna Sairam’s gracious looks coupled with
her sweet mellifluous voice is God’s precious gift
to her. Her AmrithaVarishini Raga brought rains in
TamilNadu and here in NJ, her rendering of the folk
song “Maadu Meikum Kanne” brought the image of
Lord Bala Krishna playing his flute to everyone.
Humble Pranaams to this great devotee of music
who presented her concert in a very unique manner,
with a brief explanation about each song and at the same time encouraging the accompanying artistes,
Shri Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan on Mridangam, Shri Radhakrishnan on Violin, Shri Guruprasad on
Ghatam and Shri Sundar on Morsing with her beautiful smile. She was honored with the title “Sangeetha
AmrithaVarshini” which she richly and truly deserves.
The concert was organized as a fund raiser for the construction of Sri MahaPeriyava ManiMandapam - NJ,
USA. A devotee came forward to match every dollar that was raised through this event. Jana & Dhana that
poured through this concert are HIS blessings indeed!
 PERIYAVA Times 3

Periyava talks Paramacharya CEO - Lesson 5: Never compromise core values

By Abilash Sridharan

Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara
Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara

“In matters of style, swim with the current; in

The following is an excerpt from matters of principle, stand like a rock” – Thomas
an intervew between A.S. Raman Jefferson
(Editor, The Illustrated Weekly) and Great brands and businesses are built on core
Sri MahaPeriyava. values that they stand for – it could be a product,
customer experience or an efficiency mantra. It takes
years of careful nurturing and an ability to withstand
the ups and downs of the economy, fashion trends
and the business itself to define the core values.
Businesses and brands need to evolve to survive, but
they also need to adhere to core values to last. That
fine balance of catering to the changing demands
without compromising on the core values is what
makes a brand or business legendary.
Take the example of Levi Strauss & Co. One of the
oldest surviving American brands (nearly 165 years)
that still continues to have a formidable presence in
the market today. A brand titan synonymous with
the jeans trousers and has scaled across gender, also had to heed to the complaint from the manager.
lifestyle and eras. From Brooklyn hippies to the tech He summoned the person concerned separately and
geeks in the west coast, from a brand promoted by asked him, ‘if there was ever a chance, that without
Albert Einstein and Marlon Brando to being one of his knowledge, he may have committed a plausible
the most popular brands among millennials (kids financial mistake for a miniscule sum (say even a
Q: Whats your holiness view on born after 1980’s). What kept Levis Strauss the rupee)’. The person concerned said that ‘there may
company at the forefront of business is their constant have been a mistake without my knowledge’, to
language question?
evolution, supported by extensive market research, which Acharya responded that if that is the case, “just
catering to the changing trends in consumer demand deposit whatever you think may be the amount and
(e.g., they made the first-ever women’s jean). apologize to Lord Chandramouleeshwara (Shiva)”.
Periyava says: But what makes Levis last as a timeless brand is He then called upon the others and reasoned with
their adherence to their core values of quality and them that to err is human and that the person had
You are already familiar with them ,
originality and a fierce commitment to maintaining apologized to Lord Shiva himself and must be given
are you not? I am advocate of Sanskrit and reinforcing those values. The rivets on the jeans another chance. The second is about another key
have become a standard around the world, and the member in the Sri Matam who was particularly
and English. None of modern Indian signature red-stitched selvage and double-needle close to the Guru. He had the coveted responsibility
stitching are superior design details. As Robert of grinding sandalwood paste for Paramacharya’s
languages - and I know most of them
Haas, the Emeritus Chairman of Levi Strauss & Co daily Chandramouleeshwara (Shiva) Puja. Out of
says, “The soft stuff and the hard stuff are becoming sheer carelessness, he committed the sacrilege of
increasingly intertwined. A company’s values – what handing over used sandalwood paste for the daily
I interrupt: “- as thoroughly as those it stands for, what its people believe in – are crucial Puja, and Paramacharya terminated him without
to its competitive success. Indeed, values drive Levi asking a question. The same benevolent Acharya
born to them , I understand.”
Strauss’s business”. who was willing to accommodate the benefit of
Paramacharya’s life and His leadership at Sri doubt for monetary lapses, refused to concede any
Matam through testing times is a testimony to this violation to the core values of the Sri Matam.
HH : I don’t know that, none of them age-old business philosophy. Paramacharya as a As Sri Ganesa Sarma, a scholar on Paramacharya’s
leader, struck that fine balance between giving
is half good as Sanskrit is our natural
life puts it succinctly, “Paramacharya hasn’t budged
room for lapses, while never compromising an inch from Dharma Shastras, which are at the
lingua franca . It is still a living on core values. He understood human weaknesses foundation of the Bhagavatpada’s Sri Matam”. And
and gave them a long rope to recover, but in matters that incalcitrant adherence to core values, is a key
language, in a recognisable form in relating to the core values of preserving the sanctity lesson for every business leader from Paramacharya
of Sanatana Dharma, Veda Samrakshana and the CEO.
Thailand, Ceylon, Burma, Indonesia
Dharma Sastras, he stood like a rock – compromise The author would like to thank Sri G Shivaraman,
and several other countries. was not an option. Two examples illustrate these Sri Ganesa Sarma, Sri “Bombay Dyeing” Ramanan
points. The first is about an accusation on a key and Dr.Anantharaman for sharing their thoughts
When we adopt Sanskrit as the member at the Sri Matam around misappropriation on Paramacharya and on this topic. The author has
of funds. The person concerned told Paramacharya translated the tamil statements to ensure that the
national language, we show our
that he may commit suicide if an action was taken meaning is conveyed acutely. (the translation may
readiness to share the common on him. The situation was delicate, as Paramacharya not be verbatim).
heritage of all the south asian
countries, which will at once accept Ummachi Thatha Sonna Kadhai
India as one among them. Russian
Ummachi thaatha says “A merchant went to the market in another
also contains a number of words town with bags of salt loaded on a donkey. On the way, it suddenly rained
heavily and the entire load dissolved in rain water. The merchant became
deriving from Sanskrit. It is high
very angry with God. He thought, ‘This God has spoiled my living. I
time we raised our classical language am not going to worship this God who has no compassion’. He started
walking back home. The way back home was through a forest. Since other
to the status of modern language merchants like him were also there, he boldly took the forest route. In the
for practical utilitarian purposes. forest, thieves were hiding, expecting these merchant to come with plenty
of money after selling their goods.
Meanwhile let us not banish English
from our hospitable land. It is a In those days, there were no guns with cartridges, thieves used the gun
powder. Once the gun is fired, whether they are caught in the firing or
wonderful language is it not ? It is not, merchants used to throw away their belongings and run away helter-
our only medium of communication skelter. Now, when the thieves fired their guns, they did not explode. Due
to the rains, the gun powder got soaked and was useless. The shots fired
with the outside world. by thieves failed. Now, bereft of the power of weapons, the thieves became
For international contacts , very afraid. Instead of the merchants throwing their money and running away,
the thieves threw away their guns and ran away.
few languages in the world are as
adequately equipped as English. It is only now that the merchant realized how wrong he was in blaming God. “Because it rained, I lost
only the salt; if it had not rained, I would have lost my life. Oh God, You gave me a small difficulty through
this rain but saved me from a bigger difficulty through the same rain, what to say of your compassion!” he
realized.

Sri MahaPeriyava Manimandapam, NJ, USA Visit us www.mahaperiyava.org

 PERIYAVA Times 4

PERIYAVA Akashavani Periyava Experiences - Count your blessings

translated by Srikanth Kamesh Iyer

Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara
Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara | Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara

Paradise lost: Around the year 1930, there was a

major reversal in fortunes of Sri Lakshminarayanan’s
family. Due to some unforeseen circumstances that
lead to severe legal battles over the land that they
owned, the family members had to borrow heavily to
pay for the legal battles in court. In the end, they had
lost all their wealth and were left as mere paupers.
Living in the village, they somehow managed to
survive, but the battle with hunger became a part and
Listen to Periyava Puranam parcel of their life.
24x7 online After much struggle, Sri Lakshminarayanan
managed to complete his bachelors of engineering
(BE) in Telecommunication and found a job as a junior
staff lecturer and lab engineer at the Madras Institute
of Technology. With the paltry salary of Rs 150, it
was difficult for Sri Lakshminarayanan’s to feed 17
PERIYAVA Puranam family members, 7-8 of whom were young children.
They were forced to lead a very harsh life where
drinking water to fill their empty stomach became a
daily practice. This life of hunger and a daily struggle
for survival had made Sri Lakshminarayanan a very
harsh man. He had almost lost all faith in God and
even the mere mention of the Nithya Puja that his
father and his ancestors used to perform would make
Sri Lakshminarayanan pass cussed remarks about
God and Prayer.
Guru’s Grace and Divine Intervention: One-
A treasure trove of day, Sri Lakshminarayanan’s father forced him to
come along for the darshan of Sri MahaPeriyava. Sri
Sri MahaPeriyava and Lakshminarayanan poured his heart out and asked
Sri Sivan SAR experience videos HIM as to why is God making him suffer so much.
Paramacharya told him that “poverty” was a relative
www.periyavapuranam.org term, probably hinting at the fact that there are so
many people in this world who might be leading a life
that was much harder than Sri Lakshminarayanan. Sri
MahaPeriyava reminded Sri Lakshminarayanan about
the great family of Shiva bhakta’s that he belonged to
and told him that it did not behoove a person from
such a family to pass cussed remarks about God and
Nithya Puja; even in the presence of harsh trials and
tribulations of life. HE asked Sri Lakshminarayanan
as to why he could not pray to Ambal for even a
few minutes, Ambal who is the panacea for all our
worldly troubles. When the question was met with a
resounding silence, Paramacharya told him that when
we pray to Ambal sincerely, she forgives all our flaws
and mistakes and the divine Mother is ever willing to
help those who take her Sharanagati. HE reminded
Sri Lakshminarayanan’s of the Kanakadhara stotram
written by Sri Adi Sankara Bhagavatpadal and
instructed him to hold on to the Holy Feet of Ambal
tightly as She would always come to the rescue of Her
children.
Paradise regained: A couple of weeks after that
meeting HIM, Sri Lakshminarayanan started saying
the Kanakadhara stotram and prayed to Ambal
sincerely to help alleviate his penury. All of a sudden,
Sri Lakshminarayanan found that his salary had quite
mysteriously increased to Rs 700. But this is just a small
sample of much bigger things to come. In his own
words, money began to literally pour like raindrops
from all direction from that day onwards. Every new
venture he started made huge profits. Be it his finance
company, construction company or manufacturing
company; Sri Lakshminarayanan became a man with
the Midas touch. This was quite literally the Dhara
(stream) of Kanaka (gold) that was showered as
blessing by Ambal. Sri Lakshminarayanan and his
children to this day say the Kanakadhara strotram
regularly and never forget to pray to Ambal under
any circumstances.
Lessons to be learnt from the experience of
Sri Lakshminarayanan: Everyone goes through
hardships and tribulation in life. Sri MahaPeriyava
time and again has showed us that panacea for all our
worldly sorrows is to humbly submit to the divine
feet of Ambal. Ambal, as the manifestation of the
divine mother, is easily pleased when we approach
Her as Her children. It is Sharanagati alone that will
protect us always. In the golden words of Sri Adi
Sankara Bhagavatpadal, may we always keep Ambal
in our mind praying “gatis twam gatis twam, twam”.

Children’s Corner
Solve the jumbled sentence and help
Ambi tell the Periyava slokam

Mo Noam Bagtaahveh
Katmoiak Hyesracdanhakraa
!!!
(Tell this slokam daily and receive
Sri Maha Periyava’s abundant
blessings)

Om Namo Baghavateh Kamakoti Chandrasekharaya !!!

Painting by Aarthi Muthukumar , CA,USA
Age 15yrs
Answer:

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