THE STORY THAT FOLLOWS is an English adaptation of a real-life incident narrated in T.S. Shama Rao’s remarkable Kannada work titled Mooru Talemaru (Three Generations).
The incident occurred in the life of his ancestor, Sri Venkannayya hailing from the Taluku town in Chitradurga district. It is set in early 19th century, some years after the Mysore kingdom had passed into British hands. Krishnaraja Wodeyar III was the nominal ruler.
At the time, Sri Venkannayya was working as a Revenue clerk in the Kannukuppe Taluk (now in the jurisdiction of Davanagere District). One ill-fated afternoon, Andrews, the District Magistrate of Chitradurga paid a surprise visit and suspended Venkannayya for no fault of his.
What happened next is narrated below.
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ALTHOUGH SRI VENKANNAYYA was distraught at this injustice meted out to him, he brought his mind under control. He thought, “I must’ve committed some mistake without my knowledge. That’s why Sri Rama has punished me like this. Still, he is also the creator and destroyer of all fears. It is my duty to submit everything to him.”
Thinking thus, he left office, reached home, and headed to the bathroom. There, he poured about ten buckets of cold water over his head. Then he went to the Puja room in drenched clothes and took out the silk-encased volume of Srimad Ramayana kept in the Mantapa. He placed it inside a bag made of deerskin. After this, he slid a folded silk dhoti and Uttariya inside the bag. In another bag, he placed a copper pot and tumbler, an uddharaṇe (a small metal spoon used typically during Puja, etc), Vibhuti, Akshata, and Agarbhattis.
Then he called out to his wife and said, “Nobody in this house must search for me until I return. I am not abandoning home. I will return after some days.”
***
There was a dense jungle about two miles from Kannukuppe; a small Anjaneya temple right in its center. Who knows which devotee built it in which era! There were a few tiny villages in a radius of about three miles of the forest’s periphery. The temple was located in a desolate place. A small stream of clear water flowed next to it. It was perfect for solitude.
Darkness was setting in when Sri Venkannayya reached the temple. He took a bath in the stream, wore the sanctified garments and finished his Sandhyavandanam. Then he spread a towel on the floor of the temple and lay down on it and slept.
He awoke at the auspicious Brahmi Muhurtam the next morning, finished his ablutions in the same stream, donned the sanctified garments and finished his morning Sandhyavandanam. Then he initiated the Sundara Kanda Saptaha — i.e., reciting the 68 Sargas of the Sundara Kanda of the Srimad Ramayana spread over a week.
After finishing the Pārāyaṇam (sacred recitation) for the day, he placed the Srimad Ramayana before the Murti of Anjaneya Swami and performed the ṣōḍaśopacāra Puja (Sixteen acts of homage) to both.
By then, the afternoon sun was blazing. And so, he performed the afternoon Sandhyavandanam. Next, he collected a bunch of grass, pounded it with a stone and extracted a cupful of its juice. This he first offered to Anjaneya Swami as Naivedyam and drank it.
Then he closed his eyes and chanted the Rama Taraka Mahamantra (Shri Rama Jaya Rama Jaya Jaya Rama) till evening. Now he took a bath in the stream and performed the evening Sandhyavandanam as before. This was followed once again, by the chanting of the Rama Taraka Mantra till midnight. Finally, he spread his Uttariya on the temple floor and slept on it.
This became his Nitya Karma — daily routine.
EVENTUALLY, SOME COWHERDS spread the news to the neighbouring villages that someone was performing daily Puja in the Anjaneya Temple.
Almost immediately, villagers began flocking to the temple. They brought coconuts, plantains, jaggery and milk with them.
But something else occurred simultaneously.
Hundreds of monkeys from the forest unfailingly assembled at the temple at the exact moment that Sri Venkannayya began his Pārāyaṇam. They sat there in rapt silence listening to him, indulging in no mischief. On many occasions, they gathered different varieties of fruits and figs and berries and strew them around in the temple’s portico.
Sri Venkannayya distributed the offerings of the villagers to the monkeys and the offerings of the monkeys to the villagers as Prasadam. He contented himself with only the juice of the grass.
Six days elapsed in this manner.
***
BY THEN, NEWS OF the unjust suspension of Sri Venkannayya had become a hot topic in Chitradurga, the District Headquarters. Words flew thick and fast among the District Magistrate, the Assistant Commissioner and the Amaldar. Everyone vouched for Venkannayya’s spotless conduct and pious character.
Eventually, Andrews was convinced of the error of his ways and he expressed his profound remorse. To atone, he not only revoked the suspension but promoted Sri Venkannayya to the position of a Shekhdaar. It was a huge elevation from being a Revenue clerk to becoming the officer incharge of collecting the revenue of an entire Hobli (an administrative unit smaller than a Taluk but larger than a village).
The Amaldar who took Andrew’s order reached the Anjaneya Temple after two days. It was around three in the afternoon. By then, Sri Venkannayya had finished his Pārāyaṇam and Puja. He was seated before the Murti of Hanuman, his palms firmly joined together, his eyes closed in deep penance, his lips noiselessly chanting the sacred name of Sri Rama.
Tears of joy flowed from the Amaldar’s eyes the moment he beheld this radiant form of Sri Venkannayya. Then he looked around and spotted a sizeable crowd of villagers and monkeys standing in reverential silence.
At long last, Venkannayya finished his penance and stood up and saw the Amaldar, who rushed towards him and embraced him warmly and said, “Swami, your Lord Sri Ramachandra has removed your stain. Not only that, he has also bestowed prosperity upon you. Look at this order, you have been promoted as the Shekhdaar of the Parashuramapura Hobli!”
As Sri Venkannayya read the order, his eyes became moist and his throat was choked. He said, “All this is the infinite grace of Sri Ramachandra. He has washed away the taint that had been attached to my name. This promotion is merely incidental.”
After some time, he escorted the Amaldar to a large boulder and seated him on it. Then he entered the temple and brought some Prasadam and coconut water and offered them to the Amaldar.
It was twilight.
Sri Venkannayya stood before the Murti of Hanuman, closed his eyes, chanted some verses and prostrated before him. Then he turned around and looked at the crowd of the monkeys. With tears in his eyes, he folded his hands before them in devotion and bid them goodbye.
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