554. Om acintya-rupayai namah: I bow down to Amma who is of a form beyond the reach of thought.
I'm convinced that in life, if our hearts are clean enough, all we need to do is ask. Ask with a pure heart and we will receive. There is a bounty in the universe and it is for those who have an innocence about their actions. Sometimes it takes an age to let go of an old hurt. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to forgive. And yet when we have a Guru like Amma, it becomes so much easier to set aside the pain and focus only on the divine!
Here is a beautiful story on devotion from Matruvani:
"This is a wonderful story about a famous Shaiva woman saint called Punyadavati. She is also known by the name Karaikkalamma.
Punyadavati was the daughter of a wealthy merchant in Karaikkal, near Pondicherry. Punyadavati grew up to be very beautiful. A merchant in another town wanted his son to marry her, and so it was arranged and they were married. They were very happy together. They lead an ordinary married life in Karaikkal, and everything seemed to be quite normal. Punyadavati's husband was also a merchant. His father gave him a lot of money and helped him to get established in the business.
One day, when the husband was sitting in his shop, a group of businessmen arrived to discuss a business deal. One of them gave him two big, juicy mangoes as a gift. He handed them to a servant and told him to take the mangoes to the house and to give them to his wife, with the message that he would have them for lunch when he came home. So the servant took the mangoes to Punyadavati.
Punyadavati was busy with her cooking. She had just finished cooking the rice, but hadn't yet prepared the other dishes. Just then a sadhu came to the house. He was a Shiva devotee. He stood at the door and begged, "O Parvati Devi! O Divine Mother, please give me some bhiksha (alms)! Please give me something to eat!" Punyadavati was also a devotee of Shiva. She loved Shiva, and ever since she was a child she had done puja to the Lord. So when she heard the sadhu, she came running to the door. She said, "Oh Swamiji, please come in! Please have a seat." She put a plate of rice in front of him. But nothing else had been cooked. Then she remembered the mangoes. She thought, I'll give him a mango as a side dish, with some yoghurt, and then he can mix it all together and it'll be delicious."
So she gave him one of the mangoes. The sadhu ate all the rice, the yoghurt and the mango. He was very happy, and, after he had eaten, he blessed her and went on his way. After some time, her husband came home. He took a bath and sat down for lunch. Punyadavati served him rice and many different dishes she had prepared for him. When he had finished he said, "What about the mangoes? I sent you some mangoes, didn't I?" She brought him the remaining mango on a leaf plate and he ate it. He said, "Oh, this is very delicious! Bring the other one." Punyadavati was in a fix. She didn't say anything. She could have said something -- she could have said, "I gave it to a sadhu" -- but she hesitated because she did not want to displease her husband. She went to the storeroom and started crying, "O Shiva, Shiva! What am I to do? My husband is asking for the mango, but I don't have it. I could have told him what happened, but I didn't. What am I to say? O God, please save me!" At that moment, a mango manifested in her hands. With tremendous gratitude, she took the mango and gave it to her husband. He ate the fruit and said, "Oh! This mango is ten times sweeter then the first one! Where did you get it? Is this the same mango that I sent you? How could that man have given me two mangoes that were so completely different? I can't believe it!"
Punyadavati thought she'd better tell the truth. So she said, "A sadhu came here earlier. I gave him one of the mangoes. When you asked for the second mango, I prayed to Lord Shiva. The Lord gave me the second mango."
The husband said, "Oh yes? Sure! If He gave you the second mango, shouldn't He be able to give you another one?"
Punyadavati said, "I don't know. I'll pray to God." So she went to a corner of the room and prayed, "O Shiva, please save me from this situation!" Just then another mango appeared in her hands. She went back to her husband and offered it to him. But the moment he touched the fruit, it disappeared. Not only was he shocked, he was also afraid, because he realized that his wife was not an ordinary woman. He asked her, "Are you a goddess?" Punyadavati didn't answer. She was confused and didn't know what to say. So he came to the conclusion that his wife must be a goddess, and from then on he was afraid of living with her. And so, being a merchant, he went away on a ship. He decided that he'd never go back to Karaikkal, and he sailed across the seas on many different ships. Eventually he made a fortune. He returned to India and settled down in Madurai, which is quite a distance from Karaikkal. He married again and had a daughter, whom he named Punyadavati after his first wife.
All this time, Punyadavati had been waiting for her husband to come home. But he never came back. About five or six years after he had settled in Madurai, some of Punyadavati's relatives went to Madurai and happened to see him there. They went back to Karaikkal and said to Punyadavati, "We saw your husband in Madurai." They decided to send her to her husband. They hired a palanquin and Punyadavati travelled to Madurai. Someone in her travelling party went ahead and told her husband that she was on her way. When she arrived, he came running out with his second wife and his daughter. As soon as she got out of the palanquin, he went to her and lay down, stretching out in full prostration at her feet. Punyadavati didn't like this at all, because when they had been together, she had been the one who had bowed down at his feet. So she was very upset. She backed away exclaiming, "What is this?" Her husband then told everyone the whole story. He said, "This lady is not an ordinary woman. She is a goddess. By her grace, I got remarried and I have a child. I worship her in my home as the goddess Punyadavati."
At this point Punyadavati was so upset that she prayed intensely to Lord Shiva, "O Lord! I have been preserving my beauty for my husband, and now he doesn't want me anymore.
So, from now on, let only You, my Lord, be my All in all. Take away my beauty." Punyadavati's appearance suddenly changed. She became all shrivelled up, thin, and strange looking, almost like a ghoul. They say she became ghostlike. Everybody ran away when they saw her.
Punyadavati was happy, because this was the beginning of her complete renunciation. She felt that all this had happened because of God's will. She walked all the way to Mount Kailas. She had darshan, a mystic vision, of Shiva. The Lord asked her, "What would you like? I will give you a boon."
She said, "I want to be in a state of constant bhakti (devotion). I want complete, permanent, continuous devotion to You. Also, because I think of so many things, my mind wanders around from one thing to another. I want my mind to flow only towards You, without a break, like the Ganges river flows towards the ocean."
The Lord said, "That's fine. You will get it. What else would you like?"
She said, "I don't want to be reborn again, because there's nothing in this world that I desire. I want only to be at Your Feet. If I have to be reborn, if I still have some prarabdha karma (deeds to be done as a consequence of one's actions in the past lives), then let me always be conscious of Your existence. Let me never again fall asleep in Your maya, forgetting that You exist. Let me not think that only this world is real, that only this world is valuable. Even if I am reborn, let me be in a state of God-consciousness." Finally, she prayed that she would be able to see the cosmic dance of Shiva at all times.
Shiva said, "Yes, you shall have that vision. You shall be given everything you asked for."
The Lord asked her to go and stay in a certain Shiva temple in Tamil Nadu. There she spent the rest of her life in meditation and ecstasy. This is the story of Punyadavati. She wrote about 130 songs, which describe her experiences and her vision of God, and her mystic union with Him."
If only we could have Pnyadavati's devotion for Lord Shiva, towards Amma:)
Om Amriteswariye namah!
I'm convinced that in life, if our hearts are clean enough, all we need to do is ask. Ask with a pure heart and we will receive. There is a bounty in the universe and it is for those who have an innocence about their actions. Sometimes it takes an age to let go of an old hurt. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to forgive. And yet when we have a Guru like Amma, it becomes so much easier to set aside the pain and focus only on the divine!
Here is a beautiful story on devotion from Matruvani:
"This is a wonderful story about a famous Shaiva woman saint called Punyadavati. She is also known by the name Karaikkalamma.
Punyadavati was the daughter of a wealthy merchant in Karaikkal, near Pondicherry. Punyadavati grew up to be very beautiful. A merchant in another town wanted his son to marry her, and so it was arranged and they were married. They were very happy together. They lead an ordinary married life in Karaikkal, and everything seemed to be quite normal. Punyadavati's husband was also a merchant. His father gave him a lot of money and helped him to get established in the business.
One day, when the husband was sitting in his shop, a group of businessmen arrived to discuss a business deal. One of them gave him two big, juicy mangoes as a gift. He handed them to a servant and told him to take the mangoes to the house and to give them to his wife, with the message that he would have them for lunch when he came home. So the servant took the mangoes to Punyadavati.
Punyadavati was busy with her cooking. She had just finished cooking the rice, but hadn't yet prepared the other dishes. Just then a sadhu came to the house. He was a Shiva devotee. He stood at the door and begged, "O Parvati Devi! O Divine Mother, please give me some bhiksha (alms)! Please give me something to eat!" Punyadavati was also a devotee of Shiva. She loved Shiva, and ever since she was a child she had done puja to the Lord. So when she heard the sadhu, she came running to the door. She said, "Oh Swamiji, please come in! Please have a seat." She put a plate of rice in front of him. But nothing else had been cooked. Then she remembered the mangoes. She thought, I'll give him a mango as a side dish, with some yoghurt, and then he can mix it all together and it'll be delicious."
So she gave him one of the mangoes. The sadhu ate all the rice, the yoghurt and the mango. He was very happy, and, after he had eaten, he blessed her and went on his way. After some time, her husband came home. He took a bath and sat down for lunch. Punyadavati served him rice and many different dishes she had prepared for him. When he had finished he said, "What about the mangoes? I sent you some mangoes, didn't I?" She brought him the remaining mango on a leaf plate and he ate it. He said, "Oh, this is very delicious! Bring the other one." Punyadavati was in a fix. She didn't say anything. She could have said something -- she could have said, "I gave it to a sadhu" -- but she hesitated because she did not want to displease her husband. She went to the storeroom and started crying, "O Shiva, Shiva! What am I to do? My husband is asking for the mango, but I don't have it. I could have told him what happened, but I didn't. What am I to say? O God, please save me!" At that moment, a mango manifested in her hands. With tremendous gratitude, she took the mango and gave it to her husband. He ate the fruit and said, "Oh! This mango is ten times sweeter then the first one! Where did you get it? Is this the same mango that I sent you? How could that man have given me two mangoes that were so completely different? I can't believe it!"
Punyadavati thought she'd better tell the truth. So she said, "A sadhu came here earlier. I gave him one of the mangoes. When you asked for the second mango, I prayed to Lord Shiva. The Lord gave me the second mango."
The husband said, "Oh yes? Sure! If He gave you the second mango, shouldn't He be able to give you another one?"
Punyadavati said, "I don't know. I'll pray to God." So she went to a corner of the room and prayed, "O Shiva, please save me from this situation!" Just then another mango appeared in her hands. She went back to her husband and offered it to him. But the moment he touched the fruit, it disappeared. Not only was he shocked, he was also afraid, because he realized that his wife was not an ordinary woman. He asked her, "Are you a goddess?" Punyadavati didn't answer. She was confused and didn't know what to say. So he came to the conclusion that his wife must be a goddess, and from then on he was afraid of living with her. And so, being a merchant, he went away on a ship. He decided that he'd never go back to Karaikkal, and he sailed across the seas on many different ships. Eventually he made a fortune. He returned to India and settled down in Madurai, which is quite a distance from Karaikkal. He married again and had a daughter, whom he named Punyadavati after his first wife.
All this time, Punyadavati had been waiting for her husband to come home. But he never came back. About five or six years after he had settled in Madurai, some of Punyadavati's relatives went to Madurai and happened to see him there. They went back to Karaikkal and said to Punyadavati, "We saw your husband in Madurai." They decided to send her to her husband. They hired a palanquin and Punyadavati travelled to Madurai. Someone in her travelling party went ahead and told her husband that she was on her way. When she arrived, he came running out with his second wife and his daughter. As soon as she got out of the palanquin, he went to her and lay down, stretching out in full prostration at her feet. Punyadavati didn't like this at all, because when they had been together, she had been the one who had bowed down at his feet. So she was very upset. She backed away exclaiming, "What is this?" Her husband then told everyone the whole story. He said, "This lady is not an ordinary woman. She is a goddess. By her grace, I got remarried and I have a child. I worship her in my home as the goddess Punyadavati."
At this point Punyadavati was so upset that she prayed intensely to Lord Shiva, "O Lord! I have been preserving my beauty for my husband, and now he doesn't want me anymore.
So, from now on, let only You, my Lord, be my All in all. Take away my beauty." Punyadavati's appearance suddenly changed. She became all shrivelled up, thin, and strange looking, almost like a ghoul. They say she became ghostlike. Everybody ran away when they saw her.
Punyadavati was happy, because this was the beginning of her complete renunciation. She felt that all this had happened because of God's will. She walked all the way to Mount Kailas. She had darshan, a mystic vision, of Shiva. The Lord asked her, "What would you like? I will give you a boon."
She said, "I want to be in a state of constant bhakti (devotion). I want complete, permanent, continuous devotion to You. Also, because I think of so many things, my mind wanders around from one thing to another. I want my mind to flow only towards You, without a break, like the Ganges river flows towards the ocean."
The Lord said, "That's fine. You will get it. What else would you like?"
She said, "I don't want to be reborn again, because there's nothing in this world that I desire. I want only to be at Your Feet. If I have to be reborn, if I still have some prarabdha karma (deeds to be done as a consequence of one's actions in the past lives), then let me always be conscious of Your existence. Let me never again fall asleep in Your maya, forgetting that You exist. Let me not think that only this world is real, that only this world is valuable. Even if I am reborn, let me be in a state of God-consciousness." Finally, she prayed that she would be able to see the cosmic dance of Shiva at all times.
Shiva said, "Yes, you shall have that vision. You shall be given everything you asked for."
The Lord asked her to go and stay in a certain Shiva temple in Tamil Nadu. There she spent the rest of her life in meditation and ecstasy. This is the story of Punyadavati. She wrote about 130 songs, which describe her experiences and her vision of God, and her mystic union with Him."
If only we could have Pnyadavati's devotion for Lord Shiva, towards Amma:)
Om Amriteswariye namah!
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