annam Atma paripAlanam: food that nourishes the spirit

The concept food in western thinking includes the input to stomach via the mouth--an idea that food is physical in nature and nourishment. This is not to say that western thinking was totally unaware of the subtle attributes of food. Shakespeare sings, "If music be the food of love, play on." There are also phrases such as 'food for thought' and even 'food for the soul', in English, but these do not speak about a total spiritual connotation.

In sanAtana dharma, the term annam is used for the English term 'food', but not as an equivalent. The term annam denotes and connotes physical and spiritual ramifications. annam is not just something which is input to stomach and digested, but it includes everything that is ingested by the ten senses and the mind. This is the reason our physical body is called annamaya koSha.

A number of our scriptures talk about annam. The main emphasis is on the truth What we eat, we become. I shall post later, the scriptural sayings and links to articles in the famous magazine Hinduism Today on annam.

I have started this thread to collect our ParamAchArya's anugraha bashAna on annam and its accompaniments.

A bhAvana-bhojanam--virtual dinner, with KAnchi ParamAchArya
book:........sollin selvar shrI KAnchi Munivar (Tamizh) (pages 231-249)
author:......RA.GaNapathi
publisher:...Divya Vidhya Trust, 1998 edition

KAnchi ParamAchArya, shrI Chandrashekharendra Sarasvati svAmigaL took saMnyAsam and ascended the throne of KAnchi KAmakoTi pITham at the age of thirteen. From that day, until he attained videha mukti at the age of 100, he lived an exemplary life of strictest austerity.

His daily main meal was often astonishingly simple: a small handful of puffed rice soaked in buttermilk. Even this was not taken when he went on fasting for days together. Occasionally, he took bhiksha from his devotees, but it was more to satisfy their desires than for his own welfare.

Therefore, in the virtual dinner we are going to have with him now, he plays only the part of a host. A host giving us food for body, mind and soul. He is the very embodiment of AmbAL KAmAkShI, who took avatar in KAnchi and did tapas to be joined with her Isha, while conducting the thirty-two kinds of dharmas in KAnchi, starting with the anna dAnam. We are his atitis (guests) who are well take caren of by him in body and spirit.

ParamAchArya's spiritual discourses are well known, and have been published as a collection of seven volumes titled deivatthin kural ('The Voice of the Divine') in Tamizh by shrI RA.Ganapathi, his eminent devotee. The English collection of his discourses is available under the title 'Hindu Dharma' at the KAmakOTi website.

To the awe and amazement of his devotees, ParamAchArya often discussed about down-to-earth laukika matters with keen interest, deep understanding and knowledge. In this lecture, he explains the origin and meaning of the names of common Indian dishes and their connection to spirituality. In these explanations, I have mostly used the translated words of what ParamAchArya actually spoke, extracted from the Tamizh publication titled sollin selvar (expert of words), shrI KAnchi Munivar by shrI RA.GaNapathi.

A South Indian Meal
A typical South Indian meal is served in three main courses: sAmbAr sAdam, rasam sAdam, and mor (buttermilk) sAdam. sAmbAr is also known as kuzhambu in Tamizh, a term that literally translates to 'get confused'. ParamAchArya explains how these three courses are related to the three guNas of spirituality: the confusion of sAmbAr is tamo-guNa, the clarified and rarified flow of rasam is rajo-guNa and the all-white buttermilk is sattva guNa. Our meal reminds us of our spiritual path from confused inaction (or messy action) to a clear flow of action and finally to the realized bliss of unity.

sAdam
Cooked rice, the main dish of a South Indian meal is called sAdam. That which has sat is sAdam, in the same way we call those who are full of sat, sadhus. We can give another explanation for the term: that which is born out of prasannam is prasAdam. What we offer to SvAmi (God) as nivedanam is given back to us as parasAdam. Since we should not add the root pra to the rice we cook for ourselves, we call it sAdam.

rasam
rasam means juice, which is also the name of filtered ruchi. We say 'it was full of rasa' when a speech or song was tasteful. VaiShNavas, because of their Tamizh abhimAnam, refer to rasam as sAtthamudhu. It does not mean the amudhu (amrita) mixed with sAdam. It was actually sAtRamudhu (sAru or rasam + amudhu), which became sAtthamudhu.

VaiShNavas also have a term thirukkaN amudhu that refers to our pAyasam. What is that thirukkaN? If rudrAksham means Rudra's eye, does thirukkaN mean LakShmI's eye? Or does the term refer to some vastu--article added to pAyasam? No such things. Thiru kannal amudhu has become thirukkaN amudhu. Kannal means sugercane, the base crop of suger and jaggery used in pAyasam.

I was talking about rasam. If something is an extraction of juice, then would it not be clear, diluted and free of sediments? Such is the nature of our rasam, which is clear and dilute. The other one, served earlier to rasam in a meal, is the kuzhambu. The kuzhambu contains dissolved tamarind and cut vegetable pieces, so it looks unclear, its ingredients not easily seen.

buttermilk as our dessert
A western meal normally ends with a dessert. In a South Indian meal, desserts such as pAyasam are served after the rasam sAdam. Any sweets that were served at the beginning are also taken at this time. After that we take buttermilk rice as our final course. ParamAchArya explains that since sweets are harmful to teeth, our sour and salty buttermilk actually strengthens our teeth, and this has been observed and praised by an American dietician. We gargle warm salt water when we get toothache. The buttermilk is the reason for our having strong teeth until the end of our life, unlike the westerners who resort to dentures quite early in their life.

vegetable curry
Although cut vegetable pieces are used in sAmbAr, kUTTu and pachchaDi, in curry they are fried to such an extent that they become dark in color (the term curry also means blackness or darkness in Tamizh). May be this is the origin of the name curry.

uppumA (kitchaDi)
If the term uppumA is derived from the fact that we add uppu or salt, then we also add salt to iddly, dosa and pongal! Actually, it is not uppumA but ubbumA! The rava used for this dish expands in size to the full vessel where heated up with water and salt. The action of rava getting expanded is the reason for the term ubbumA.

iddly
The term iduthal (in Tamizh) refers to keeping something set and untouched. We call the cremation ground idukaadu (in Tamizh). There we keep the mRta sharIram--mortal body, set on the burning pyre and then come away. The term iduthal also refers to refining gold with fire. The (Tamizh) term idu marunthu has a similar connotation: a drug given once without any repetition of dosage. In the same way, we keep the iddly wet flour on the oven and do nothing to it until it is cooked by steam.

idiyAppam
(This is rice noodles cooked in steam). Brahmins call it sEva while others call it idiyAppam. But unlike an appam which is a cake, this dish is in strands. The term appam is derived from the samskRta ApUpam meaning cake. The flour of that cake is called ApUpayam. This word is the origin of the Tamizh word appam.

appaLAm (papad)
The grammatical Tamizh term is appaLam. This dish is also made by kneading (urad dhal) flour, making globules out of it and then flattening them. So it is also a kind of appam. Because of its taste a La is added as a particle of endearment!

laDDu
laDanam (in samskRta) means to play, to throw. laDakam is the sports goods used to play with. Since the ball games are the most popular, laDakam came to mean a ball. The dish laDDu is like a ball, and this term is a shortened form of laDDukam, which derived from laDakam.

The laDDu is also known as kunjA lADu. This should actually be gunjA lAdu, because the samskRta term gunjA refers to the gunjA-berry, used as a measure of weight, specially for gold. Since a laDDu is a packed ball of gunjA like berries cooked out of flour and sugar, it got this name.

The singer of mUka-panchashatI on AmbAL KAmAkShI describes her as MAtangI and in that description praises her as 'gunjA bhUSha', that is, wearing chains and bangles made of gunjA-berries of gold.

pori viLangA laDDu
Made of jaggery, rice flour and dried ginger without any ghee added to it, this laDDu is as hard as a wood apple, though very tasty, and hence got its name from that fruit and the original pori (puffed rice) flour used to make it.

Indian dishes of Turkish origin
Our halwa is a dish that came from the Turkish invasion. bahU kAlam--long time, before that we had a dish called paiShTikam, made of flour, ghee and sugar. But then the Arabian term halwa has stuck in usage for such preparation.

sojji
sUji is another name from the Turkish. It has become sojji now. It is mostly referred to these days as kesari. In samskRtam, kesaram means mane, so kesari is a lion with kesaram. It was a practice to add the title kesari to people who are on the top in any field. Thus we have VIra kesari, Hari kesari as titles of kings in TamizhnADu. The German Keisar, Roman Caesar and the Russian Czar--all these titles came from only from this term kesari.

What is the color the lion? A sort of brownish red, right? A shade that is not orange nor red. That is the kesar varNam. The powder of that stone is called kesari powder, which became the name of the dish to which it is added for color.

vaDa
A Tamizh pundit told me that the name vaDa(i) could have originated from the samskRta mAshApUpam, which is an appam made of mAsham or the urad dhAl. He also said that in ancient TamizhnADu, vaDa and appam were prepared like chapAti, baking the flour cake using dry heat.

dadhya ArAdhana
Someone asked me about the meaning of this term. He was under the impression that dadhi was curd, so dadhiyArAdhana(i) was the curd rice offered to PerumAL. Actually, the correct term is tadIya ArAdhana[/i], meaning the samArAdhana(i) (grand dinner) hosted to the bhagavatas of PerumAL. It got shortened in the habitual VaishNava way.

VaiShNavas offer the nivedanam of pongal with other things to PerumAL in their dhanur mAsa ushad kAla pUja--early morning puja of the dhanur month. They call it tiruppakShi. The original term was actually tiruppaLLi ezhuchchi, the term used to wake of PerumAL. It became tiruppazhuchi, then tiruppazhachi and finally tiruppakShi today, using the samskRta kShakara akShram, in the habitual VaiShNava way. It is only vegetarian offering, nothing to do with pakShi--bird!

The term dhanur mAsam automatically brings up thoughts of ANDAL and her pAvai--friends. In the 27th song (of tiruppAvai), she describes her wake up puja and nivedanam with milk and sweet pongal to BhagavAn, which culminates in her having a joint dinner with her friends. VaiShNavas celebrate that day as the festival kUDAravallI, following the same sampradhAyam--tradition. The name of this festival is from the phrase kUDArai vellum seer Govinda--Govinda who conquers those who don't reach Him, which begins the 27th song. It was this kUDArai vellum that took on the vichitra vEsham--strange form, of klUDAravallI.

pAyasam
payas (in samskRta) means milk. So pAyasam literally means 'a delicacy made of milk'. This term does not refer to the rice and jaggery used to make pAyasam. They go with the term without saying. Actually pAyasam is to be made by boiling rice in milk (not water) and adding jaggery. These days we have dhAl pAyasam, ravA pAyasam, sEmiyA pAyasam and so on, using other things in the place of rice.

VaiShNavas have a beautiful Tamizh term akkAra adisil for pAyasam. The akkAr in this term is a corruption of the samskRta sharkara. The English term 'sugar' is from the Arabian 'sukkar', which in turn is from this samskRta term. The same term also took the forms 'saccharine' and 'jaggery'. And the name of the dish jAngiri is from the term jaggery.

kanji (porridge)
Before we become satiated with madhuram--sweetness, let us turn our attention to a food that is sour. As an alternative to sweetness, our AchAryAL (Adi Shankara) has spoken about sourness in his saundarya lahirI.

Poets describe a bird called chakora pakShi that feeds on moon-beams. Shankara says in saundarya lahirI that the chakora pakShi were originally feeding on the kAruNya lAvaNyAmRta--the nectar of compassion and beauty, flowing from AmbAL's mukha chandran--moon like face. They got satiated with that nectar and were looking for somthing sour, and spotted the full moon, which being only a reflection, issued only sour beams!

AchAryAL has used the term kAnjika diya, which gives an evidence of his origin in the MalaiyALa desham. He said that since the chakora pakShis were convinced that the nectar from the moon was only sour kanji, they chose to feed on it as an alternative.

The term kAnjika means relating to kanji, but the word kanji is not found in samskRtam. It is a word current only in the DakShinam--south. There too, kanji is special in MalayALa desham where even the rich lords used to drink kanji in the morning. This was the variety came to be known as the MalayALam kanji.

The kanji is good for deham as well as chittam. And less expensive. You just add a handful of cooked rice rava (broken rice), add buttermilk, salt and dry ginger, which would be enough for four people.

The buttermilk added must be a bit more sour. The salt too must be a bit more in quantity. With the slight burning taste of dry ginger, the combination would be tasty and healthy.

tAmbUlam
It is customary to have tAmbUlam at the end of a South Indian dinner. In the North, tAambUlam is popularly known as pAn, which is usually a wrap of betel nut and other allied items in a calcium-laced pair of betel leaves. In the South, tAmbUlam is usually an elaborate and leisurely after-dinner activity. People sit around a plate of tAmbUlam items, drop a few cut or sliced betel nut pieces in their month, take the betel leaves one by one leisurely, draw a daub of pasty calcium on their back and then stuff them in their month, chatting happily all the while.

The betel leaf is known by the name vetRilai in Tamizh, literally an empty leaf. ParamAchArya once asked the people sitting around him the reason for calling it an empty leaf. When none could give the answer, he said that the usually edible plants don't just stop with leaf; they proceed to blossom, and bear fruits or vegetables. Even in the case of spinach or lettuce, we have to cook them before we can take them. Only in the case of the betel leaf, we take it raw, and this plant just stops with its leaves, hence the name vetRilai or empty leaf.

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Come with Me and Partake a South Indian Meal by saidevo

This article of mine has appeared in several forums; I am happy to share it here with our mothers of the art of cooking.--saidevo

A South Indian meal is a blend of tastes, flavours, nutrition and spirituality. Partaking it is an experience for the body, mind and spirit.

Having been invited to partake a South Indian Meal in the home of a traditional brahmin family and gladly accepting it, we both visit a house in the agrahAram of a village where the Hindu tradition and culture is flourishing eternally, rejecting all counter influences. (Whether such a village exists in South India today is a difficult question to answer, but we are partaking only a virtual, what-it-used-to-be sort of South Indian meal here).

Welcoming the guests

The 'you' in this narrative is anyone who is unfamiliar with the experience of partaking a traditional South Indian meal, typically a Western non-Hindu. The 'family' we are visiting is a vedic brahmin family. Though orthodox, the elders of the family are only too glad to invite us to dine with them.

I have already briefed you about the prevailing Hindu dining customs that include sitting cross-legged on the floor, using only the right hand to pick up and eat, not to sip the water by pressing the lips to the tumbler but to raise the tumbler and pour water into your mouth, waiting till all the dishes are served and the elders start eating after a prayer, remaining silent during the meal session and so on, so you wouldn't find it too hard or odd to follow suit.

The head of the family ('Father' henceforth) and his 'old man' ('Grandpa' henceforth) welcome us at their raised portico called 'thiNNai', joining their palms and saying "vAngo! (please come)" in Tamizh. You notice that it is a typical street house in a village, with an elaborate and colorful kolam (decorative artwork drawn on the floor with flour) drawn at its threshold.

You also notice that both Father and Grandpa are wearing their dhoties in the pancha kachcham style, the upper part of their bodies covered by a shoulder cloth known as uttarIyam. Three stripes of dazzling white vibhUti (holy ash) shine on their forehead, arms, forearms, near the wrists and on their chest (visible through their thin uttarIyam). Grandpa is wearing a large rudrAksha bead, a narrow band of gold running over its central rim. The holy threads worn across their bodies appear partially at their hips, where the uttarIyam reveals them. (I have already briefed you that these two men are great Vedic scholars with good fluency in English and Western Philosophy.)

The elders lead us through a narrow corridor (known as 'naDai' or passage in Tamizh) with two closed rooms on the left, to a wide hall and then into a courtyard in the middle of the house. The courtyard is open to the sky at its center, which is a big square of depressed structure paved with large stones, a pair of steps leading down to it. A tuLasi mAdam (Tulsi plant set on a raised structure) and water pump with a large iron bucket of water under it are seen in the open area. The backyard of the house is seen on the opposite side, where the bath room and toilet are located, beyond which is a small garden.

Father waits for us after getting down to the water pump in the wash area, holding a small brass pot of water for us to wash our feet and palms before we partake the meal. You thank him as you receive the pot, do the washing chore and then fill the pot with water from the bucket and extend it to me.

Father says, "'atithi devo bhava*' is an important Hindu dharmic statement. It means 'the guest becomes a god' when he visits a home for dinner and is entitled to the kind of hospitality that would be given to a Deva (demigod). We are really blessed to have you as our guest today."

South Indian mealware

I can see you blush slightly at such eulogy as we ascend the steps and move to our left where four large banana leaves are spread on the floor, backed by wooden Asanas to sit on. We sit cross-legged on the wooden planks and wait for the meal to be served. While we have our seats adjacent to the wall, Father sits opposit us, with Grandpa at his left, leaving in between a passage area of over six feet wide for the women to walk over and serve the food.

At one end of the verandah where we are seated is the kitchen. At the other is the puja room. An old woman (Grandma) is sitting on the floor, stretching her left leg and folding her right leg over it, keenly watching the dinner proceedings through her sharp eyes that knew of no eyeglasses. Her fingers move the beads of a rosary as she silently chants a mantra.

"The posture of sitting cross-legged, you know, is known as sukhAsana in yoga", says Father. "It is the best posture for dining. It orients the biceps forward and loosens up shoulders and the upper part of the belly, making it easy to breath. It also opens the hips and the groin area and gives a good grounding for the body that allows the mind to relax. Are you comfortable sitting cross-legged there?"

"I do some yogic exercises that include this posture, so no problem", you reply smiling, as you watch the crows busy on top of the compound wall opposite us, pecking at the sample feed.

Non-human guests have precedence!

"The crow is a sort of VIP for us Hindus," Father says, looking at you. "Our scriptures exhort us to feed the lower beings first before partaking a meal. The kolam artworks at our threshold is drawn using rice floor that is feed for the ants. We used to have a cow some years back. The cow and the crow were regularly fed in the mornings with the same food that we partake. The crow being the vehicle of Lord Shani, feeding it also amounts to appeasing that god."

"What happened to the cow?" you ask.

"We sold it off, finding it difficult to maintain it, in the midst of our Vedic activities. Named LakShmI, she was a favourite of the entire household."

On the left of our leaf-plate, a small bronze pot and tumbler filled with water are placed. You regard a pair of cups made of cut banana leaf, placed at the left corner. Father explains that this cup is called a dhonnai in Tamizh. one of them is used to drink pAyasam, while the other is used by the diner to drop any leftovers, so it would be easy for the women to fold up and throw away the leaf-plates after the meal session. The banana leaves have already been sprinkled with water and cleaned for our convenience, though this is usually done by the diner after he takes his seat.

ammA, serve the food!

"ammA, you can start serving", Father calls out towards the kitchen on his left.

Two women, wearing tucked saris (worn by traditional married Brahmin women in a style known as maDisAr) appear at the entrance to the kitchen. Mother serves pAyasam to start with and places a small quantity of it at the right bottom corner of our leaf plate. Daughter follows her to serve the cucumber pachchiDi--salad, placing it at the top right corner.

As they get back to the kitchen to serve other padArtha--dishes, Father says, "A South Indian meal is served according to a bhojana kramam--food order. A little of pAyasam is served and tasted first in a feast, as it is customary to start eating with a sweet dish. Actual serving of the pAyasam as dessert will be after the course with rasam. Actually the term pAyasam indicates a delicacy prepared by cooking rice in boiling milk and adding jaggery, ghee-fried cashews, raisins, cardamom powder and two or three crystals of pachchai karpUram--menthol. What we have today is the same as what is known as Sweet Pongal, though a bit more fluid, to fit the name pAyasam. These days we have all sorts of pAyasams made by cooking lentils, vermicelli, battered rice or ravA--ground wheat. The semiA pAyasam made of milk, vermicilli and sugar is a favourite with children.

"The pachchiDi is a condiment based on yogurt (curd) and used as a sauce or dip; usually prepared with cut or mashed vegetables such as cucumber, onion or carrot or all of them mixed. Served at room temperature or chill, it has a cooling effect on the palate and serves as a foil for other spicy dishes to follow. It is called raitA in the North and is a popular condiment served with their different kinds of roties. The onion raitA is a good accompaniment for the Vegetable Pulav. For our Tamizh New Year day, we have an additional special pachchiDi made of the tiny neem flowers to remind us that life can sometimes be bitter in its many passing phases."

Mother and Daughter serve three types of vegetable curries, placing them to the left of pachchiDi. We notice that one is a cabbage curry with green peas and ground coconut added, another is a curry of okra (lady's fingers) and the third is a curry of finely cut stems of the banana tree.

"Do you know that okra seeds were roasted and ground and used as a substitute for coffee whose imports were disrupted by the American Civil War in 1861?" says Father. "Okra is a favourite vegetable of everyone and can be used in curry, salad or sAmbAr or even taken raw. You might find the banana stem curry a bit difficult to swallow after masticating it, but do swallow it for it is full of fibre."

In their next turn, Mother serves the avial to the left of the curries, and Daughter places a pair of vaDais at the leftmost bottom. This is followed by appalam, placed over the vaDais, two kinds of pickles, lemon and mango in the form of mAvaDu, placed on the left extreme at the top and a pinch of salt below them.

Father says, "That completes the vegetarian side dishes. We usually have a kUTTu which is a kind of stew of a single vegetable for our daily meal and avial in feasts. The avial is a specially enhanced form of kUTTu with a mixture of vegetables such as potato, yam, colacasia--sEmbu, raw banana, brinjal, beans, carrot, white pumpkin, tomato, drumstick--all boiled in separate lots and then mixed with a paste of coconut, cumin seeds, ginger, green chilies, salt and curd and seasoned with curry leaves and a few drops of coconut oil.

"You might find the avial the spiciest and might be tempted to take sips of water in between but don't do it as that will fill up your stomach; instead take the cucumber salad as a foil."

Daughter serves the boiled and salted lentil paste of redgram (called tUr dahl) at the middle of the bottom portion of the leaf plate and waits with a small jar of ghee. Mother serves steaming cooked rice, placing a good quantity of it near the lentil paste. Daughter pours a little melted ghee over the rice.

Father continues his talk: "The redgram paste is an excellent source of protein. Mixing it with rice also enriches the nutrients in the rice. In TamizhnADu they used to call us brahmins as 'paruppu thinni pAppAn' (dahl-eating brahmins) because the dahl is used lavishly in our sAmbAr and rasam whereas the people of other communities usually have puLi kuzhambu with tamarind and much less or no dahl in their preparations.

"You would notice that we don't use spoons to mix food, but use the fingers of our right hand instead..."

"Any specific reason for that or is it just a custom dictated by tradition?" you say. "Since you have ladles, spoons may not be an alien article to you, though a fork might be."

Father smiles. Grandpa speaks for the first time. "Spoons are not certainly alien to us Hindus! You can notice Lord BrahmA, who is the Lord of the Four Vedas, holding a wooden spoon in one of his arms in his portrait! Wooden spoons are typically used to scoop and pour ghee into the rising flames in a yajna."

Grandpa reflects for a second and continues with a sparkle in his sharp eyes. "It is a joy to eat with hands! Hands are considered our most precious organs of action. Our hands and feet are said to be the conduits of the five elements--space, air, fire, water and earth. One of the five elements courses through each finger. Through the thumb--aMguSTaH, comes space; through the forefinger--tarjanI, air; through the midfinger--madhyama, fire; through the ring finger--anAmikA, water and through the little finger--kaniSTaka, earth.

"In Vedic tradition, we eat with our hands because the five elements within them begin to transform food and make it digestible even before it reaches the mouth. This transformation also heightens the senses so that we can smell, taste and feel the texture of the foods we are eating. We can also hear the sounds of eating. All of these sensations are a necessary prelude to beckoning agni, the fire of digestion, to ready itself for the meal to come. The Hinduism Today magazine published by the Kauai's Hindu Monastery has a good number of such revealing articles. You may read them on their Website."

Starting with a prayer: parisEshaNa mantra

"Now that the annam (rice) is served, we can commence a prayer to sanctify the food we are eating, before we actually start eating," says Granapa. "In the Vedic tradition, every act becomes an act of worship and an act of recognition of the pervasiveness of the Supreme Brahman and Its power. Thus the act of eating is an act of thanksgiving to God, typically preceded by a prayer.

"The Hindu thanksgiving prayer is known as parisEshaNa mantra and is an important part of our bhojana vidhi. This prayer has a dual function: to offer all that we eat to God and his deputies who administer Nature; since these deputies are also present inside our bodily systems, the mantras chanted also regulate their functions.

"parisEsaNam means sprinkling water over and around the food to santify it. My son and I shall now recite some mantras as part of this prayer. You people need not follow suit but just watch and know the meaning and philosophy behind this ritual. We will explain it as we go on."

Grandpa and Father touch the tip of their plates with their left hand. They take some water from their pancha pAtram-uttaraNi--puja cup and small spoon, in the palm of their right hand and pour it through the fingers in drops around their leaf-plates saying the first line of the gAyatrI mantra: 'AUM bhUr bhuva suvahaH'.

Then they sprinkle a little water over the annam, saying the remaining three lines of the gAyatrI mantra: 'tat savitur vareNyam, bhargo devasya dhImahi, dhiyo yo naH prachodayAt'.

Father explains this act thus: "The gAyatrI mantra is addressed to the Sun, the most visible of the gods. Since he is the giver of all food, we first invoke his blessings. Remember it is he who nourishes the agni, the fire and heat necessary for digesting food."

The elderly pandits once again encircle the food with the mantra 'satyam tvartena parishinchAmi'. Father explains that this mantra means, 'O food, you are true and I encircle you with divine righteousness.' He says further that from 5 o' clock afternoon this mantra will be replaced by 'Rtam tvA satyena parishinchAmi'.

Then they pour one uttaraNi of water onto their palms and sip it saying under their breath, 'amRuthOpastharaNamasi'. Grandpa says, "This mantra is actually to be recited within the mind. amRut ApaH upastaraNam asi: upastaraNam means the act of spreading out under as a substratum. I have invoked the little amount of water I sipped now to spread within me as amRutam or nectar and form the substratum for the food to follow. ViShNu purANam says that liquid substances should be taken at the beginning and at the end of the meal."

Grandpa elaborates on the significance of drinking some water before and after food: "The Rshis have mentioned in the UpaniShads that realized people, while eating, before and after their meal, 'dress up' the prANa--breath of life with water. You see, water is a purifier; it also sustains the body. Most Hindu rituals start with sipping water, an act known as Achamanam. The Yoga shAstras recommend that we should fill only half our stomach with food, a quarter with water and the rest should be air. This ideal proportion brings in spiritual and bodily health."

prANAhuti: offering to the vital breaths

Grandpa continues on the next act of the parisEsaNam: "After water, it is now the turn of the air or breath. Water nourishes the body to keep it healthy, but air in the form of life breath sustains the soul and holds it in the driver seat of this bodily vehicle. The life breath or prANa has five functions. prANa is the principal breath coursing through our nostrils and lungs; you can use it to control and regulate your mind and thoughts. apAna is responsible for the excretory activity. samAna circulates around the navel and plays a vital role in digestion. vyAna is diffused through the body and is responsible for circulatory activity. udAna is the wind that goes upward in respiration. These five vital airs together represent the VAyu deity; they are also infused with agni or fire and Apas or water. Therefore we offer a morsel of annam as Ahuti to these gods, by swallowing the food without biting it. We don't bite it because it is not for personal consumption. Watch how we do it."

Using the thumb, middle and ring fingers of their right hand in a typical mudrA of a deer-head, Father and Grandpa pick a morsel of rice mixed with ghee and throw it straight into their mouth, keeping their heads down. For each such morsel they swallow they recite a line of mantra:

aum prANAya svAhA | aum apAnAya svAhA | aum vyAnAya svAhA | aum udAnAya svAhA |
aum samAnAya svAhA | aum bhrahmaNE svAhA |.

Then they drop a little water on the left side, touch it with the ring finger of their left hand and then with that finger touch their chest, while chanting aum brahmaNi ma AtmA-amRutatvAya.

"This last line of the mantra says, 'May the Self be united with Brahman so it may attain immortality'," says Grandpa. "That completes the parisEsaNam prayer. We can now start eating."

tRupti bhojanam: a satisfactory meal

Since you are unfamiliar with the way to go about mixing and eating the mouthwatering variety of food whose fumes and aroma are lingering around your nostrils, you decide to observe Grandpa and follow suit.

Grandpa scoops up the little amount of pAyasam in the plate and eats it with a single slurp. Then he mixes the lentil paste with the required portion of rice, partioning the balance to the left. He makes a small depression in the dhal mixed rice, into which Mother pours two or three ladles of the bitter gourd sAmbAr. Kneading the mixture into convenient scoops he starts eating them one by one, adding from the side dishes to the scoops or taking the side dishes like curry in separate scoops.

As you start preparing your own sAmbAr rice, Grandpa says, "We generally don't talk or discuss things over a meal, except for asking what one wants. The idea is that you should pay complete attention to the details and tastes of the food you are eating. However, today being a special day, I shall describe ways and things. Today's sAmbAr has the bitter gourd or melon as its thAn or chief vegetable to keep its pungency down so it may suit your palate. The bitter gourd kills any worms in the stomach. You may notice that this feast has all the six kinds of tastes. Pungency in sAmbAr and avial, sweetness in the pAyasam, astringency in the banana stem curry, bitterness in the sAmbAr, salt and tamarind diffused through most of the dishes."

In a leisurely rhythm, Grandpa finishes his sAmbAr sAdam, emptying most of the side dishes, and waits for others to catch up. Mother and Daughter walk to and fro, asking to serve more helpings of the side dishes. They gently compel us the guests by filling up whatever side dishes we empty, while the elders have their own preferences of quantity to take.

When everyone is ready, the second course of rice is served, followed by ladlefuls of tomato rasam. The rasam is less spicy, and tastes heavenly due to its seasoning with coriander leaves and rich tomato. We receive some of it in our palms to drink separately and then mix the rice and rasam to make the rasam sAdam which is more fluid than the sAmbAr sAdam. Then we eat them in handfuls, adding scoops of side dishes to the mix and slurping at the juicy rice from our palms. The rice mixed with rasam, true to its name and meaning as the essence, gives us an idea of the sensations of the palate and ear and the joy of eating with the hands that Grandpa spoke about in the beginning.

By now, our plates are almost empty, except for the pickles, vaDa(i)s and the pinch of salt. Mother walks in to serve pAyAsam as the dessert, and fills up our dhonnais. While we prefer to drink it straight from the leafy cups, and also dip pieces of the vaDa(i) into the dessert and eat them, the elders pour it onto their plates and slurp it in handful scoops. As he finishes with the pAyAsam, Grandpa gives out a long, loud belch, straightening his back!

The final course of meal is the buttermilk rice. Thick buttermilk seasoned with lemon juice, salt and curry leaves is served to make our buttermilk rice. As we eat it with bites at the pickles, specially the mAvaDu, Grandpa says, "As KAnchi ParamAchArya has observed, we don't serve the dessert at the end of a meal, but in the middle. The meal is concluded with the buttermilk, whose salt and sour taste is excellent for the teeth."

Father adds to Grandpa's explanation, looking at you. "You like the mAvaDu pickle made from tender little raw baby mangoes? The mango tree flowers and fructifies so lavishly, that many raw mangoes are plucked even in their infant stage, before they grow and ripen into fruits. As a seasonal pickle the mAvaDu is astringent in taste. Generally astringency is good for health. We also make mango pickles and eat lots of mango fruits in the season. There is a proverb in Tamizh about the mango pickles: 'The mango (pickle) will feed the rice that the mAtA (mother) cannot feed.'

When everyone has finished eating, the elders pour a little water onto their palm and sip it saying, "amRuthOpastharaNamasi". Then they pour some water in drops around the leaf and say "annadAtA sukhI bhavaH".

Grandpa explains the meaning: "annadAtA sukhI bhavaH is a Sanskrit proverb. It means, 'May the food provider be happy and hearty!' Should we not remember all the people whose labour has gone into the food articles we consumed? This includes the people who cooked the food. As BhIShma said in the mahAbhArata the physical and mental health of the cooks who prepare the food influences the people who partake the food. This is the reason orthodox brahmins avoid restaurants."

We all wash our hands and feet in the courtyard and then sit to take the tAmbUlam. We put a little of aromatic betel nuts inside our mouth, smear some lime to the back of the betel leaves after washing and cutting their tips and stalks, and munch the mix, enjoying the pungent juice that gets into our throats. Then we spit out the sediment and thoroughly gorgle and wash our mouths. Grandpa explains that the tAmbUlam is meant to stimulate digestion.

When we take leave, the elders give us a gift of pUrNa phalam (unshorn coconut) with betel leaves and nuts and a banana fruit, placing them in a large and shiny brass plate, along with a dhoti and towel. We thank and prostrate to the elders and their wives as they stand in a row and say bye to Daughter.

As we take leave, you say appreciatively, meaning what you say, "I now understand how Hinduism as SanAtana Dharma is not just a religion but a way of life."

Notes:

*atithi devo bhava - taittirIya upaniShad 1.11.3:
mAtr dEvo bhava pitr dEvO bhava AchArya dEvO bhava atithi dEvO bhava.
(Let you be one who worships mother, father, teachers and guests as God.)

Glossary:
agrahAram--royal donation of land to Brahmins, land or donation given. In practical usage, agrahAram refers to the street inhabited by brahmins, which surrounds a temple like a garland being the first street outside the temple, hence the name agra+hAram.

thiNNai--(Tamizh) a raised sit out at the entrance of a house
dhonnai--cup like vessel made of leaves pinned up at corners
pAyasam--a delicacy in liquid or semi-solid form, usually made by boiling cooked rice with milk and jaggery, and then adding cashews fried in ghee, raisins and powdered cloves.
pachchiDi--a condiment based on yogurt, with a soaked vegetable such as cucumber or onion with salt and mashed green chili added for taste

 

'annadAna Sivan'
book:..... MahA PeriyavAL Virundhu (Tamizh)(pages 83-92)
author:..... RA. GaNapati
publisher:.. Divya VidyA Trust, 1998 edition

"The cooked rice--sAdam would have been gathered into a very huge heap, looking dazzling white like the HimAlayas. Even if an elephant drowns in the sAmbAr andA (huge vessel containing sAmbAr), you wouldn't know. It is said that HimAchala Sivan created a huge pit of food for the sake of GuNdodaran during the MInAkShI kalyANam (Shiva's celestial wedding with MInAkShI at Madurai). In the same way, this poor brAhmaNa Sivan did a marvellous and mighty task."

KAnchi ParamAchArya was reminiscing about the annadAnam festivities of shrI RAmasvAmy aiyar of TepperumAL NallUr, TamizhnaDu, who was more popularly (and appropriately) known as annadAna Sivan. These food festivities took place in KumbakONam during the mahAmaham festivals in the years 1921 and 1933, and fed several thousand people.

Since the middle of the eighteenth century until the middle of the twentieth, KumbakONam was the headquarters of KAnchi MaTham. Sivan virtually made the MaTham his home from 1916 since his demise in 1939.

ParamAchArya continued his reminiscences about the big event thus:

"It was during the 1933 mahAmaham annadAnam. The wood brought for fuel was a hundred cartloads. For pickles, ten cartloads of the amala fruit (phyllanthus emblica) were received. He would just smell the vapours of the dishes being cooked and say correctly what needed to be added to a dish. From the vapours of rasam, he would order the amount of coriander yet to be ground and added. Not just a handful of corianders. 'Grind a large pan of coriander and add to the rasam', he would shout to a cook. If a large pan of coriander was to be added more than what has already been done, imagine the quantity of rasam that would have been made. And there ware two cartloads of broomsticks (of the coconut tree) that were used to clean the floor after a dining session.

"However much the number of cooked rice vessels or however long the serial wood furnaces be, they couldn't just meet the amount of rice required. So what he would do is to first cook ten or twenty bags of rice, spread the lots over long mats, cover the steaming, cooked rice (anna pAvADai) with a thin, white cloth and spread bags of raw, uncooked rice over the cloth with the cooked rice under. Then he would cover this uncooked rice with long jute sacks and fold them tightly under the mat. In the next half hour, when the sacks were removed, all the upper layer of uncooked rice would have been cooked, soft like flowers! Such was his technique to speed up the rice-making task.

"Where did he go for all the milk required for curd to serve the multitudes of diners? Sivan had another technique for this requirement. In those days when there were no refrigerators, Sivan had invented his own! Weeks or even months before the samArAdhanA (food festival), Sivan used to go about the task of collecting milk and making curds. He would pack the curd in wooden barrels, seal them with wax and drown the barrels in deep ponds. When the barrels were extracted and opened, the curd would be just like it was formed yesterday! We should say, it was not just the coolness of the pond, but the cool compassion of his mind also that made the task possible."

Though Sivan conducted the festivities on behalf of KAnchi MaTham, the 1921 and 1933 mahAmaham samArAdhanAs were eventful in the sense, ParamAchArya was not there in KumbakONam at that time, as he had undertaken the GangA yAtrA[/i] (pilgrimage to the banks of Ganga) in the year 1919, which lasted for twenty-one long years. During the mahAmaham of 1933, ParamAchArya had camped on the out-skirts of KumbakONam, in PaTTIsvaram and TiruviDai MarudhUr, en route to Ramesvaram, from where he was to proceed to VAraNasI--Benaras. Observing the tradition, he did not enter the KumbakONam MaTham until his yAtra was completed. He would go to the mahAmaham pond to take bath or to the temples of KumbakONam from his camp and return. It was during the year 1933 that the renovation work of the MaTham was completed, under the supervision of Sivan.

A speciality about Sivan's annadAnam festivities was that until the evening of the previous day there were no signs at the place of dining of any activity of food preparation. The articles would start arriving only in the night. In the 1933 festival, it was past midnight and yet not a cartload of articles arrived! Even the fearless taskmaster Sivan started worrying over the actual time left for arranging the things and start cooking to feed a lakh of people on the next morning.

The news reached the camp where ParamAchArya was staying. In the next few minutes, the carts started arriving.

The carts that were usually exempted from the traffic regulations during the mahAmaham festival were at that time held up by the traffic police, who were not aware of the relaxation of rules for Sivan's carts. The circle inspector suddenly had a flash at one-thirty at night and proceeded to the scene of holdup. Thereafter, the carts that were parked outside the city moved in, and ParamAchArya's blessings saw to it that everything went on well from that time.

A most notable thing about the festivities was that neither the 'Walking Sivan', nor the 'annadAna Sivan' ever tasted a morsel of the food served! ParamAchArya usually took the flattened rice offered to Sri ChandraMaulIshvara, even that when he was not on fast. Annadhana Sivan would go a friend's house and take just curd rice, which was his usual, favourite dish, which he took even on normal days after offering it to his iShTa devata--personal God, Sri DakShiNAmUrti.

ParamAchArya said later, that contrary to the popular perception that Sivan did the annadAnam on behalf of the KAnchi MaTham, it was his festivities that restored the financial status of the MaTham during those difficult days.

******************************

 

The Amazing bhikShA That ParamAchArya Took
book:..... Maha Periyavalh Virundhu (Tamil)(pages 92-96)
author:..... Raa. Ganapathi
publisher:.. Divya Vidhya Trust, 1998 edition

More often than not ParamAchArya observed shuddha upavAsaH (rigorous fast), which sometimes extended to days together. Even on the days he took bhikShA (offered food), his usual take was a small amount of nel pori (the rice equivalent of popcorn) that was offered to Sri ChandraMauleesvara or Mother Kamakshi. The days he took cooked rice with the accompanying dishes were very rare. To give up rice totally, he even tried the flour extracted from raw bananas, but had to give it up on the entreaties of his doctor devotees.

Sometime in the year 1936, ParamAchArya was observing the chAturmAsyam (ahiMsA dharma followed by saMnyAsins by staying at one place and meditating) at Berhampur on his way back from Varanasi. At that time he observed rigorous fasting for several days together. And he did it so secretly that most people around him were not aware of it. The treasurer Ramachandra Iyer somehow came to know about the rigorous fast.

He went to MahaPeriyavA and pleaded with him to give up the fast. ParamAchArya immediately called his biksha assistant and told him about the things that should be added to his personal food the next day.

The treasurer was happy. As he returned to his office, he got a doubt if PeriyavA had really granted his entreaty when he did not listen even to such people as 'Annadhana Sivan' in such matters. When he checked up with the biksha assistant, his doubt was confirmed. The assistant said, "As soon as you left him, PeriyavA asked me to forget it all as he had only told so to satisfy you."

The treasurer went again to MahaPeriyavA, but couldn't have an opportunity to talk to him. Everytime he tried, ParamAchArya saw to it that he had somebody nearby discussing something. This continued for some days, until one day, the treasurer was able to 'catch' ParamAchArya at ten in the night, when the latter had finished the Friday puja, appearing rather tired.

"PeriyavA should have a stomachful of biksha tomorrow," said the treasurer. "Otherwise I shall quit the maTham."

That did not work. With a broad smile, ParamAchArya said, "Will nothing move in the maTham if you are not there?"

"Then I shall quit this world", uttered the treasurer vehemently, and started weeping. He knew that PeriyavA could not ask the same question with this offer to quit the world.

"Alright, I will have the biksha. Why tomorrow, I shall have it now. You said that you will offer to fill my stomach. Will you do it?" said ParamAchArya.

"I am only waiting for such words", said the treasurer as he prostrated, his eyes full of tears. He thought that at that time of night PeriyavA wouldn't take anything other than milk and fruits, so he rose to call the biksha assistant who knew about his Guru's habits.

"Why do you call him? I asked only you to offer me the bhikShA and you agreed", said ParamAchArya.

"Since I don't know about the quantity, I though I would ask him..."

"So what? Bring what is avaiable."

The treasurer brought the baskets and bamboo plates that were filled with fruits. He thought PeriyavA could take what he desired from the lot.

A totally surprising order came from ParamAchArya. "Where is the suji (a sweet dish) and sunDal (boiled and fried seeds) that were offered at the Friday puja? Bring them at once!"

The treasurer ran and brought the large utensils that had the dishes, and placed them in front of his Guru.

A miracle happened there! ParamAchArya emptied the utensils quickly and asked for more!

The treasurer moved the fruit baskets near the sage. That was also emptied in no time. And the question came, "what else is there?" The treasurer was aghast.

"You offered to fill my stomach and stirred the hunger in me, now I can't bear it!" said ParamAchArya. Not able to withstand those words, the treasurer brought a large kUjA (a pot like container) of milk and offered to the sage.

No sooner ParamAchArya drank all the milk than the treasurer patted his cheeks resoundingly and fell at the feet of the sage. "PeriyavA should excuse me! I shall never disturb you hereafter."

MahaPeriyavA laughed like a child and said, "So you wouldn't come in my way henceforth!", and blessed the treasurer with raised hands.

******************************

 

ParamAchArya as Goddess AnnapUraNI
book:....... Maha PeriyavAL Virundhu (Tamil)(pages 97-110)
author:..... RA. GaNapati
publisher:.. Divya VidyA Trust, 1998 edition

Even during the 1920s ParamAchArya hosted a dinner for the Muslims, whose sense of unity and patriotism ran high in those days.

Two hundred Muslim youths from an Islamic Youth Forum performed an exemplary service in the Mahamaham festival of 1921 in Kumbakonam. ParamAchArya, who was camping at Patteesvarm nearby, heard about it and sent some maTham officials to bring the Muslim youths to him.

The youths were very happy that Shankaracharya had called them to his presence. They stood before him showing utmost reverence.

ParamAchArya praised their seva and heard the details about their Forum. He inquired their personal details such as native place, education, occupation and family of all the two hundred youths individually, and made everyone of them immensely happy. He also presented a silver cup as a memento from Kanchi maTham for their seva.

Like the cherry on the ice cream, ParamAchArya ended the interview with a tasty, three-course dinner to the youths.

*** *** ***

In the year 1924, Kaveri and Kollidam were overflowing with floods that threatened to merge them into a single river. Tiruvaiyaru and its surroundings were the worst affected by the floods. At that time, for nearly fifteen days, cartloads of cooked food were sent from Kanchi maTham for the thousands of poor people in the area. The food was served by the Congress workers under the supervision of Lawyer Sarangapani Iyengar, leader of the Tiruvaiyaru Congress Committee.

The daily culinary needs of SrimaTham were reduced to the minimum, in order to use the stored provisions for feeding the poor. They worshipped the great sage who fed them as God.

The press praised this social service as the largest till then by a Sanatana Religious Institution.

*** *** ***

During the last days of the year 1931, the persecution of the Congress workers by the British government was at its peak. People and organizations were warned of stern action against any support for the Congress members.

ParamAchArya was camping at Arani in the North Arcot district. A group of Congress members wanted to meet him. The maTham officials informed the sage that his meeting the Congress workers might create problems for SrimaTham.

ParamAchArya heard their apprehensions with concern and then said calmly, "Ask all the members of the group to come here. Also arrange for feeding them from SrimaTham."

The stunned maTham officials carried out the orders of the sage with consternation, but there was no problem from the government.

When the Manager brought the happy news of no reaction from the British government, ParamAchArya said, "If I were to close the doors on people who want to meet me, I would not be fit to carry the title Jagatguru and sit on the throne of this Peetam."

*** *** ***

ParamAchArya used to quote the Tamil saying 'Feed everyone, without any distinction' (yArkkum idumin, avar ivar ennnanmin) and explain that no distinction of any kind must be entertained in offering food. He would be delighted to explain the Keralite tradition of feeding even the thieves at night! This custom existed in the place called Cherukkunnam, Kerala, in the Annapurani temple. After feeding the bhaktas in the temple, food packets were prepared and kept tied to the trees in the night, for the use of any prowling thieves.

ParamAchArya also took delight in explaining the reference in the Sagam Literature of how the Chera king Udhiyan Cheraladhan earned the name Perum Sotru Cheraladhan (the king who was the chief host) by feeding the opposite camps of the Pandavas and the Kauravas during the Mahabharata war.

Kannappan the hunter fed Shiva Mahadev. Guhan the hunter fed Sri Rama. Here, the hunters named the Senjus of the Srisailam forest area were fed by the Paramacharaya!

During the 1934s, when the road transport facilities were very scanty, ParamAchArya was traveling with his entourage in the desolate forests of Srisailam. Somewhere on the way, they came across the Senju hunters. Mistaking them for their foes, the hunters raised their bow and arrows initially, but when they saw the sage with his divya tejas, they realized their mistake and became friendly.

The people who came to oppose their passage became their security guards, carrying their luggage and watching over their camps at night time. Only after safely seeing off ParamAchArya and his entourage at their next destination, the hunters assembled before them to take leave.

ParamAchArya ordered the manager to give them some cash, but they refused to touch the money. The leader of the group said something to the manager, who nodded his head in disapproval and spread out his hands.

Paramachara snapped his fingers and called the manager to attention: "What is it that he asks for and you refuse?"

"They want to show their dancing skills before PeriyavA".

"So you told them that I can't see their dance because it was your opinion as manager that it was beneath the dignity of SrimaTham."

There was not any trace of anger in ParamAchArya's words. The manager was silent.

And the ParamAchArya, who would not witness the performance of even the great and popular dance artistes, gave them permission to dance before him, with a condition: that while any of their males could dance, only those females who hadn't attained puberty could join the males in dance.

ParamAchArya asked them, "you might have different types of dances to suit different occasions: one for Swami (God), one for victory, one for sports and so on. What type of dance are you going to perform now?"

They gave a telling reply: "We are going to perform the dance reserved only for the closest of our relatives."

ParamAchArya witnessed their dance, blessed them, and hosted a nice dinner for them.

*** *** ***

ParamAchArya was travelling in the Kodavasal - Koradacherry route. On the way in Tirukklambur, the slum people met him and submitted their humble offerings.

ParamAchArya heard their welfare and woes. Unhurriedly, he discussed the details with the manager as to what SrimaTham could do to mitigate their woes, either in their own capacity or with the charity of affordable devotees.

The managers and the other officials started worrying about the ensuing delay for their next camp and the following pujas. The god of the poor, however, seated himself among them, and ordered dhotis and saris for every nandan - nandini from the local textile shop. If that shop didn't have the required goods, ParamAchArya ordered them bought at Kodavasal. He also ordered prepartion of thick sambar rice under the shades of the trees.

The manager was worried that the two or three hours time spent in these activities would delay reaching their next camp and that it would be very tedious for PeriyavA to undertake the long puja thereafter.

When he started to express his feeings, ParamAchArya said simply, "this is also a puja."

*** *** ***

Two years after his Varanasi trip, when ParamAchArya was returning, he had to camp for three days in the Kyonjer samastanam of the hilly areas. His heart overflew with campassion at the pitiable conditions of the tribals in the area. He told the manager, "for all the three days we stay here, we should arrange to feed them."

The manager hesitated with a request, "Those people are over a hundred and fifty families. We don't have the facilities to cook food here."

"Then give them as uluppai", replied the sage.

Giving as uluppai is giving supplies of food articles, vegetables and fruits. For three days the tribals enjoyed the bounty of SrimaTham.

In the same way, ParamAchArya ordered serving three days supplies to the suffering employees of a circus company in Ilayattankudi, that was closed down.

*** *** ***

It seems that there was only one occasion in the history of SrimaTham, when rice and other food supplies were carried on the back of the SrimaTham elephant! ParamAchArya, the udAra murti created history with such an incident, to fill the udarams of the poor harijan people.

It was November 1940. The village was heavily flooded when ParamAchArya reached Tiruchettankudi from Tirumarukal. News reached his ears that over five hundred harijans in the area were suffering, as a hailstorm lashed on.

ParamAchArya hastened the officials to rush them food supplies, but was informed that it was not possible for bullock carts to pass through the rain inundated roads.

"Then you send the supplies on the back of the elephant. This place is known as Ganapateesvaram," said ParamAchArya, poining out the harmony. "So Pillaiyar will be happy that an elephant partakes the jana seva."

*** *** ***

The dog, according to shastras is of a low birth. The Guardian of Shastra also extended his bounty to the dogs.

In the year 1927, a dog came to SrimaTham camp on its own and started keeping vigil. After his biksha was over, ParamAchArya ordered that the dog be fed. Strangely, after tasting the food from the maTham, the dog stopped accepting food from anyone else.

The dog used to trot under the palanquin known as mena which carried ParamAchArya. Sometimes it would run between the massive, moving legs of the elephant! When the palanquin was parked, it would step aside to a distance and watch the sage descend and walk, wagging its tail.

At one time, the officials thought that the dog had become mad and ordered a servant to leave it in a village, about forty kilometers away from their camp. No sooner had the servant returned, than the dog also had got back to the camp! From that time, until its death, the dog kept vigil and also kept a vow not to take food until it had a darshan of ParamAchArya.

As he resumed his divine duties after a short rest following his biksha, ParamAchArya would first inquire if the dog was fed.

*** *** ***

There was an incident when ParamAchArya served food for an entire army of dogs.

He was observing chAturmAsyam at Vasanta Krishnapuram near Tirukkovalur in the year 1947. The peak of Tiruvannamalai hill, about twenty kilometers away, was visible from that place. ParamAchArya used to perform a puja for the mountain that was Lord Siva's form at where he stayed, with a darshan of the peak.

During one such puja, when he was meditating, a dog came and put its mouth to the water in the kamandaluh. The people around were very much upset by this happening, and a devotee who was a retired government official, stoned the dog, which ran howling, and stopped at a safe distance.

ParamAchArya's eyes opened at the anxious hubbub. He looked at the people aroud him and ordered: "Collect all the available dishes from the houses of the agrahAram. Also bring bucketfuls of water."

The volunteers group that included retired official went around and brought the food and water. As ParamAchArya gestured, the dog that was standing at a distance came near and stopped hesitatingly. As he gestured a second time, soemthing very strange happened.

An army of dogs came from nowhere and calmly arranged themselves in a row, without showing any signs of hurry for the food that was before them. ParamAchArya offered food and water to the dogs through the retired official who had stoned the dog earlier.

*** *** ***

Since the beginning of 1964, ParamAchArya asked the rice donors to send the rice bags to the Rameswaram branch of SrimaTham. This seemed rather strange and the manager took exception to the excessive collection of rice bags at their Rameswaram branch. There were even occasions that suggested that the manager was not at all happy with the decision and might have an argument with the sage. ParamAchArya, however, was adamant, and ensured that 250 bags of rice were stocked in their Rameswaram branch.

During the month of December 1964, Rameswaram was hit by a severe cyclone. The Pamban bridge was uprooted and Dhanushkoti town sank in the ocean. It became impossible to send food supplies to the Rameswaram island, overcoming the rage of the ocean.

The 250 bags of rice that was stocked by ParamAchArya in the Rameswaram branch of SrimaTham helped to fill the stomach of thousands of people who suffered from the nature's fury.

*** *** ***

Glossary
anna dhanam - an offering of food
anna lakshmi - the goddess of food and bounty
biksha - hosting a satvic dinner; also offering food to a sannyasi.
divya tejas - divine splendour
harijan - Hari's people, a name for the meek and lowly
jana seva - service to the people
kula dharma - dharma of the family
samastanam - a region ruled by a king
sambar rice - a dish in a South Indian meal
ucchishtam - remnants of food eaten by others
udAra murti - a figure of bounty
udaram - stomach
uluppai - supplies of raw material of food