Sage guarded by Eswarar

[Guest guest]

Shivaya Namaha,

Here I like to share an incident about great sage Isanya Desikar of

Thiruvannamalai,in south india where mountain is considered as Siva

Lingam.In other locations of SIVA temple ,mountain will be considered

as abode of lord,But here mountain is lingam,

 

Isanya Desikar was a distinguished yogi who, like many before and

after him, have felt the spiritual call of Arunachala. He came and

settled at the foot of the mountain quite late in his life, but

nevertheless, by virtue of his intense and personal relationship with

Arunachaleswara, he can still be regarded as one of the major saints

of Arunachala.

When no devotees were near him, Isanya Desikar, who was then about

sixty years of age, liked to sit naked, absorbed in samadhi. On such

occasions Lord Arunachaleswara himself sometimes used to manifest in

the form of a tiger to guard him and prevent anyone form disturbing

him.

Isanya Desikar must have been one of the first Gurus in India to have

a western devotee. His name was Ayton and he was the District

Collector for the region that extended from Tiruvannamalai to

Vriddhachalam. He had heard about the greatness of Isanya Desikar and

approached him in the hope of getting a cure for a chronic complaint.

When Isanya Desikar saw him coming he issued his standard

warning to the tiger who had been keeping guard over him: 'Lord

Arunachala! A European is coming. He may get frightened on seeing

you. You had better stay away.' The tiger promptly withdrew.

 

Ayton came near and prayed to Isanya Desikar to cure him of the

tuberculosis from which he had been suffering for many years. Isanya

Desikar smiled and after a brief pause spat on the ground. The moment

he spat, Ayton was cured of the disease. Ayton then spoke to the holy

man with both trepidation and devotion.

 

'Swami, I have recently acquired a large amount of land, I would

like to offer your holiness as much as you need. It can be a

permanent endowment in your name.'

 

Isanya Desikar smiled and asked tauntingly, 'Will your land

yield crops even during a drought?'

 

Then, pointing his finger towards Arunachaleswara and

Apeetakuchamba, he added, 'Here is a householder with two children

and a large family. It is proper to give him any amount of land, but

it is not proper to gift it to me, a sannyasin.'

 

Ayton took leave of him but returned on many occasions. He got

into the habit of addressing him reverentially and affectionately

as 'Tata', which means 'grandfather'. It is said that before he began

any new project he would always mediate on Isanya Desikar and invoke

his blessing by saying, 'Tata, please lead me in this work. It is

your work.' At the annual Deepam festival Ayton would take the lead

in dragging the huge temple chariot through the streets of

Tiruvannamalai. However, before moving the chariot for the first time

he would pick up one of the ropes and exclaim loudly: 'Tata, you hold

the rope and lead us!' The local people were all astounded that such

a prominent British official should have such devotion towards a

naked sannyasin.

 

Ayton made it a point always to attend and lead this annual

festival, but one year he found himself stranded by floods on the

southern side of the River Pennar just before the beginning of the

festival. Knowing that he was expected to be at Arunachala to start

the chariot on its journey, he called out to his mount: 'Horse, I

must see Tata and I must also get the Deepam festival started. Think

of Tata and cross the river!' Without a moment's delay or hesitation,

the horse leaped into the raging torrent of water and effortlessly

waded to the other side. None of the other people who were stranded

dared to follow for they were all convinced that it would be suicidal

to enter the surging waters.

 

At the moment when Ayton put his faith in Tata and leaped into

the water, Isanya Desikar opened his eyes after a long meditation and

stretched out his hand in a southerly direction. When one of his

disciples asked what he was doing, he replied, 'If someone falls into

a river, should we not save him?'

 

Ayton arrived safely and took Isanya Desikar's blessings to

start the festival. When the news of Ayton's spectacular river

crossing and Isanya Desikar's role in it spread among the Deepam

crowds, many of them came to the north-eastern side of the hill to

see the man who had been responsible for the miracle. The guardian

tigers had to withdraw for several days until the crowds subsided.

Several of the new visitors turned out to be mature seekers who were

looking for guidance from a Guru. Isanya Desikar accepted some as

disciples, had a small thatched shed built to accommodate them and

gave instruction by writing a guide to liberation entitled Jnana

Kattalai.

 

Om Arunachaleswaraya Namaha,

Ramya

[Guest guest]

Thank you, Ramya,for giving details about the great saint. It will be

better if you give us more details about HIM like, the year HE was,

the place where HE stayed, any samathi for HIM,any deciples still

present, to contact,,,,,,,etc, thanking you

somuch,

VAMMANJI.

 

 

 

 

 

 

, ramya_sms

<no_reply wrote:

>

> Shivaya Namaha,

> Here I like to share an incident about great sage Isanya Desikar of

> Thiruvannamalai,in south india where mountain is considered as Siva

> Lingam.In other locations of SIVA temple ,mountain will be

considered

> as abode of lord,But here mountain is lingam,

>

> Isanya Desikar was a distinguished yogi who, like many before and

> after him, have felt the spiritual call of Arunachala. He came and

> settled at the foot of the mountain quite late in his life, but

> nevertheless, by virtue of his intense and personal relationship

with

> Arunachaleswara, he can still be regarded as one of the major

saints

> of Arunachala.

>

> When no devotees were near him, Isanya Desikar, who was then about

> sixty years of age, liked to sit naked, absorbed in samadhi. On

such

> occasions Lord Arunachaleswara himself sometimes used to manifest

in

> the form of a tiger to guard him and prevent anyone form disturbing

> him.

> Isanya Desikar must have been one of the first Gurus in India to

have

> a western devotee. His name was Ayton and he was the District

> Collector for the region that extended from Tiruvannamalai to

> Vriddhachalam. He had heard about the greatness of Isanya Desikar

and

> approached him in the hope of getting a cure for a chronic

complaint.

> When Isanya Desikar saw him coming he issued his standard

> warning to the tiger who had been keeping guard over him: 'Lord

> Arunachala! A European is coming. He may get frightened on seeing

> you. You had better stay away.' The tiger promptly withdrew.

>

> Ayton came near and prayed to Isanya Desikar to cure him of

the

> tuberculosis from which he had been suffering for many years.

Isanya

> Desikar smiled and after a brief pause spat on the ground. The

moment

> he spat, Ayton was cured of the disease. Ayton then spoke to the

holy

> man with both trepidation and devotion.

>

> 'Swami, I have recently acquired a large amount of land, I

would

> like to offer your holiness as much as you need. It can be a

> permanent endowment in your name.'

>

> Isanya Desikar smiled and asked tauntingly, 'Will your land

> yield crops even during a drought?'

>

> Then, pointing his finger towards Arunachaleswara and

> Apeetakuchamba, he added, 'Here is a householder with two children

> and a large family. It is proper to give him any amount of land,

but

> it is not proper to gift it to me, a sannyasin.'

>

> Ayton took leave of him but returned on many occasions. He got

> into the habit of addressing him reverentially and affectionately

> as 'Tata', which means 'grandfather'. It is said that before he

began

> any new project he would always mediate on Isanya Desikar and

invoke

> his blessing by saying, 'Tata, please lead me in this work. It is

> your work.' At the annual Deepam festival Ayton would take the lead

> in dragging the huge temple chariot through the streets of

> Tiruvannamalai. However, before moving the chariot for the first

time

> he would pick up one of the ropes and exclaim loudly: 'Tata, you

hold

> the rope and lead us!' The local people were all astounded that

such

> a prominent British official should have such devotion towards a

> naked sannyasin.

>

> Ayton made it a point always to attend and lead this annual

> festival, but one year he found himself stranded by floods on the

> southern side of the River Pennar just before the beginning of the

> festival. Knowing that he was expected to be at Arunachala to start

> the chariot on its journey, he called out to his mount: 'Horse, I

> must see Tata and I must also get the Deepam festival started.

Think

> of Tata and cross the river!' Without a moment's delay or

hesitation,

> the horse leaped into the raging torrent of water and effortlessly

> waded to the other side. None of the other people who were stranded

> dared to follow for they were all convinced that it would be

suicidal

> to enter the surging waters.

>

> At the moment when Ayton put his faith in Tata and leaped into

> the water, Isanya Desikar opened his eyes after a long meditation

and

> stretched out his hand in a southerly direction. When one of his

> disciples asked what he was doing, he replied, 'If someone falls

into

> a river, should we not save him?'

>

> Ayton arrived safely and took Isanya Desikar's blessings to

> start the festival. When the news of Ayton's spectacular river

> crossing and Isanya Desikar's role in it spread among the Deepam

> crowds, many of them came to the north-eastern side of the hill to

> see the man who had been responsible for the miracle. The guardian

> tigers had to withdraw for several days until the crowds subsided.

> Several of the new visitors turned out to be mature seekers who

were

> looking for guidance from a Guru. Isanya Desikar accepted some as

> disciples, had a small thatched shed built to accommodate them and

> gave instruction by writing a guide to liberation entitled Jnana

> Kattalai.

>

> Om Arunachaleswaraya Namaha,

> Ramya

>

[Guest guest]

davidgodman.org/asaints/isdesikar.shtml