Writing incidents from my past has been a hobby with me in my retirement life. I did write on many incidents already in this blog, as and when I remembered them. What prompted me to write now is a face book post I read a few days ago, written by a priest at the Guruvayur temple. It goes like this. While doing the preparations for the morning worship, he noticed that the small flute in the hands of the deity was missing. He wondered who could have removed it, as he was the only person permitted to go near the deity. He felt very sad and to an extent guilty on his part for missing something directly under his control. It was a golden flute of about 5.5 sovereign. He decided in his mind that he will replace it with a new golden flute of same weight at his own cost, but prayed to Lord Krishna to show him where the missing one was lying. Later, after disbursing the prasadam , as he turned back to go inside the sanctum sanctorum, one of the devotees asked him as to what was that tucked inside his dhoti behind. He stretched his hand back and found that it was the missing flute. Surprised, he took it as a game played on him by the Lord Krishna. He was confident that he never took it out from the deity.
If I had read it in my adolescence or youth, I would have refused to believe his version. I would have said that he must have removed it himself for cleaning and then forgot all about it being tucked behind. I would have argued that it was a matter of forgetfulness and not a case of divinity. I remember my father once telling a story to us after coming back from the same temple. While on the platform watching an arriving train, he slipped, lost his balance and happened to jump accidently on the tracks at Kuttippuram railway station. Someone from behind pulled him up back to the platform very fast. Or else he would have been hit by the train, he said. He regretted that he could not locate the man who saved him, in spite of his earnest efforts. I didn’t believe his story. I dismissed his narration as a made up story to boast of his closeness to divinity. He was very fond of visiting Guruvayur temple quite often.
Experience teaches. I had already written an experience of my own in this blog under the heading, ‘A messiah in black coat’.
Not long ago, I happened to read Sri M’s book, “And the journey continues”. In Chapter 5 of it he has written his experiences in Guruvayur temple. Those who have not heard about Sri M, need to just search and find out in google about him. All that I want to say now is that he is a Padma bhushan recipient of 2020. He was born in a Muslim family. During his boyhood, he was taken to the temple by a Hindu family friend. But seeing the board that Non-Hindus are not permitted inside, he hesitated to enter. Even though his adult friend encouraged him to enter saying that no one is going to notice his religion inside, he refused to enter. While his friend went in, he waited outside. Afterwords, when his friend suggested of going back, he told him that he wanted to remain there for the day and would return later. He felt very sad that he couldn’t pray before the idol. Sitting under a tree, he cried aloud. When people surrounded, he kept mum and later felt tired and slept. In his dream he heard the sound of a conch being blown and he found that the sanctum sanctorum itself coming out to him. Lord Krishna in his childhood form came out from it and embraced him. He was in a state of ecstasy when he woke up and without any hesitation ran to the sanctum sanctorum inside the temple and had the blessings he sought for. Sri M’s book “And the journey continues’ is in continuation to his autobiography, “Apprenticed to a Himalayan master”. I had read that first. There are plenty of incidents of extraneous interventions narrated in his books. Believing is for the person who reads them. I would say only this much that I don’t find any valid reason to disbelieve; as I am totally ignorant of the conduct and purpose of this universe. It remains a mystery.
I was not; and I am not a regular visitor to temples. Guruvayur is very far from my hometown Kuthuparamba. The last time I visited the temple there was about 15years ago. I had a new car then. I decided to make a trip by car to Guruvayur with my wife. Out of my two daughters, one was married off and the other was staying in the college hostel, doing B Tech. So, I had my wife alone with me. I invited my sister too to join us, as there was sufficient place in the car. I requested Sujith, her son, too to come along. He was free and he agreed. He drives well and has some know-how on the engine side too. Having him with me, I need not drive alone all the way.
We reached the temple premises in the evening. It was a Saturday. We got our accommodation in a nearby hotel, and parked our car below within the hotel premises. After bath and freshening, we proceeded to the temple for darshan. Everything went well. After coming out of the temple, we decided to have a darshan at Mammiyur Siva temple which was about 200 metres or 300 metres away, if we go by walk. By road it would be a little more, but I thought of going by road as we have the car with us. I was suggesting it to others when I noted a tall lean man standing nearby and watching us. He laughed to me and I returned the laugh. “Where do you want to go?” , he asked politely. I replied that we want to go to the Mammiyur temple. He said that it was only a walkable distance and there was no need to take the car. So he was listening to our talks, I thought. Arguing is my style, and not agreeing. I asked him why we should walk, when we have a car with us.
When others sat inside, I tried to start the car. The engine was not getting started. Sujith got out and asked me to open the bonnet. I did so. He checked up for any loose connections on the battery side or other places. “Everything looks fine”, he said. He closed the bonnet and asked me to try again. No response from the engine. I got out and asked him to try himself. He also failed to start it. Not knowing as to to do what next, I turned around and my eyes fell upon that tall lean man standing nearby. He laughed again. It seemed that he has been looking upon us all the while. I returned his laugh and asked him the shortest way to the temple. I explained that the car was not getting started and so we would go by walk as suggested by him. He explained me the way.
My mind was in turmoil. Next day was Sunday. Our plan was to have a morning darshan too at Guruvayur temple and then return back. Will I get a mechanic to attend the car on a Sunday! I might have to stay longer. I cannot leave the car and go. Let tomorrow come, I finally decided. We will think of it then. For the time being, we had the darshan at Mammiyur too and then returned to our room.
My mind was not free. I couldn’t sleep well. Early morning, I got up even before others woke up. I took the car key and tried again. With one simple turn of the key itself, the engine roared. I switched off and re-started. Absolutely, there was no problem. The engine was behaving itself. When I returned to the room, others had woken up. I told them that the car was okay now. We went for the morning darshan and after that we started our journey back.
All the way, there was absolutely no problem. We enjoyed our trip, but my mind was deliberating on what could have caused the engine problem in the previous night. No one discussed it much, but I kept on thinking what could be the reason for it. As we reached home, suddenly, the laughing face of that tall lean man came to my mind. “Extraneous intervention”, I muttered as I got out of the car.
------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment