Devotee's Experience

 Devotee's Experience                                                                                                                                                           In that same Semmangudi village at PattAmaNiyAr's house, after the puja was over, everyone went away. I was standing alone at the place where the kUDam (hall) and tAzhvAram (courtyard) met.

 PeriyavaaL is having bhikShA in the kitchen room at the other end of the hall. Throughout the (walls of the) hall, (framed) portraits of (the gods) Sarasvati, Lakshmi, Thanjavur Krishna and such others are hung. Raising my head I looked at a portrait.

 In one portrait PeriyavaaL having bhikShA was visible as a shadow. Forthwith I turned my eyes to look at some other side. PeriyavaaL saw me standing, called SriKAryam and asked him to tell 'the boy', "Don't look, move away." SriKAryam came and told me,

 "Looking at PeriyavaaL having bhikShA is improper; move away." I told him: "I did not look of my own accord. It was itself visible to me in that portrait located straight in my vision. Forthwith I stopped looking." 

Since this talk fell on PeriyavaaL's ears, he said from where he was, "Don't admonish that boy. He did not look at me with a wishing mind. My having bhikSha being visible from here at 45 degrees in the portrait as a shadow and reflected back to him at 45 degrees reaching his eyes."

Appreciation from PeriyavaaL for explaining my actual position; and kind words for me. Never to be forgotten.