Bhiksha in Agraharam* - Suri Nagamma Letters

From 2-30 p.m. this afternoon Bhagavan was telling us about the happenings of the early days of his coming to Tiruvannamalai. It was 3 o’clock. Gambhiram Kuppanna Sastri brought a marriage invitation card, gave it to Bhagavan and prostrated before him. After talking to him for a while about the marriage Bhagavan looked at us and said, “It seems the granddaughter of Gambhiram Seshayya is going to be married. This is the invitation card.” “Is that so?” I said. With a smile Bhagavan enquired, “Do you know why these people get their surname as Gambhiram?” “I do not know,” I said.

Bhagavan: “These people belong to the family of Akkanna and Madanna. Gambhiram is the title given to his ministers, Akkanna and Madanna, by the Golkonda Ruler. That has become their surname now. You know there is the tomb of Bhagavantaswami in Cuddalore. That Bhagavantaswami belonged to this family.”

* An Agraharam is the residential area of a town occupied by brahmins.

Questioner: “Is that so? Then was that Bhagavantaswami a brahmin?”

Bhagavan: “Yes. He was a brahmin. When he was lying some where near Cuddalore unmindful of his body, the maternal grandfather of Somasundaram Pillai who happened to be in Cuddalore brought him home and kept him until he breathed his last. Kuppanna and the rest of his family were with that Swami all the time. It is only after that Swami passed away that they came here to be with me. I suppose you know that he is Gambhiram Seshayya’s elder brother’s son?”

Questioner: “That I know. But they are Andhras, and how did they come to style themselves Iyers?”

Bhagavan: “That is because they have been staying in this part of the country for a very long time; may be for some generations. When I was in Gurumurtham, Krishna Iyer, the brother of Sesha Iyer, was working here as Salt Inspector. After I left Gurumurtham, I stayed for some time in the Arunagirinatha Temple opposite to the Ayyankulam Tank. During that period, I went one night to the Agraharam for alms and I called at Krishna Iyer’s house. He was playing cards at the time seated on a mat with three others and before a candle light. When I clapped my hands (as is usually done by Bhagavan to draw the attention of the householders) they were startled. Krishna Iyer felt ashamed, hurriedly removed all the paraphernalia of the cards, mixed some rice and gave me alms. At that time I did not know who they were. After Seshayya came here, he told me that Krishna Iyer was his brother. It seems his brother felt highly repentant for sitting there playing cards when the Swami came and thereafter completely stopped card playing.”

Questioner: “So, Bhagavan used to go out to collect alms personally while staying in Arunagiri Temple?”

Bhagavan: “Yes. I used to go out every night. I went to Arunagirinatha Temple in the month of August or September 1898.

“As soon as I went there to stay, I told Palaniswami that I would go my way and he should go his and sent him away. But although he came back the same evening, I myself went out for alms. At times I used to go even during daytime. At night people used to wait for me outside, with lanterns, to give me alms. Seshayya’s brother also used to wait similarly for my arrival. I was there for about a month only. As it was near the Agraharam the crowds of people waiting to see me began to grow. With a view to avoiding all the rows incidental to crowds, I went up the hill to stay. In those days, going out for alms used to be an exhilarating experience. I used to accept two or three handfuls of food at each place and eat. By the time I had thus eaten at three or four houses my belly would be full and I used to return home.”

Questioner: “Perhaps the other householders used to feel disappointed at your not visiting their houses.”

Bhagavan: “Yes. That is so. That is why the next day I used to go to the other side of the Agraharam. I do not think ultimately I left out even one house in that Agraharam.”

Questioner: “How blessed those householders must be!”