Kānchi Mahā Periyavar: The beauty of peace! - Feast of thought!
Balu Sathya
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Machine translation was edited by Veeraswamy Krishnaraj, M.D.
Kānchi Mahā Periyavar
1. Didn't you say that all the children who had come were students at the school for the blind? For them the vision is not my appearance... It's the voice!
2. This is the day when Kānchi Mahā Periyavar fasts and remains silent. It is called 'Kāshta Silence'... It is a day when he is immersed in the contemplation of God without any speech and gesture.
காஷ்ட மௌனம் = 'Kāshta Silence' = literally = 'Wooden silence' காஷ்ட மௌனம் – நம் கஷ்டம் போக்கும் மௌனம். காஷ்டம் என்றால் கட்டை. கட்டையைப்போல் ஓரு அசைவும் இல்லாமல் இருத்தல். Silence, that dispels our difficulty. Kāshtam means that which is like wood, having no movement.
3. At that time the great one does not meet anyone. That day a schoolteacher had come to the Kanchi Mutt with 50 students. The staff member in the mutt wondered how to tell the great man the news they had come to visit him. Then he decided, 'It doesn't matter what happens,’ and he told Periyavā the news.
4. The next moment, the great man said in a loud voice, "Bring them here at once." The employee was amazed to see that he opened his mouth and spoke. He brought them in.
5. Maha Periyavar gave a ten-minute spiritual talk to the students. "My blessings are with all of you forever," he said. When they were gone, the official asked... "Swami, on this day, you will not give up your observance (of fast and silence) for anything... What is the reason for giving up today?"
6. "Didn't you say that all the children who had come were students studying in the school for the blind? For them the vision is not my appearance... It's the voice! My silent fast is no more important than pleasing those blind children."
7. On hearing this, the official was moved, fell prostrate at his feet and bowed to him. Writer Tiruppur Krishnan has recorded this event in his book 'Kanchiyin Karunaikadal' (Kanchi’s Ocean of mercy).
8. Let there be all the vows of silence. Do you know how our people take advantage of ordinary fasting days?
9. The husband asked... "How is it that Only on Sashti Day you cook so wonderfully?" (Sashti= Religious observance on the sixth day of the bright fortnight in every month.)
10. The wife answered, "On the night before the fasting day, your mother is eating only bananas and milk?"