Srinivas Shastry and Padma Gandluru, Mysore

“It is very good that you got chicken pox during your pregnancy. It is a rare and a good sign and this child will change your life.”

From my childhood, I have been associated with Sri Sri Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji. I am the son of Sri Gandluru Nanjundappa and Lalitamma, the half-brother and sister-in-law of Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda poorva ashrama. My wife, Padmavathi is also soulfully associated with Him. She is the daughter of Subramanian and Saraswati, Sri Swamiji’s poorva ashrama younger sister. It is our pleasure to share our great experiences being the devotees of our beloved Sri Appaji.

Once, during my visit to the ashram to have darshan of Sri Swamiji, along with my brother-in-law K S Jayaram [who is no more], when we met Him, He asked me what I was doing. I told Him that I was practicing law! Then in a strange tone Sri Swamiji exclaimed “Practicing law!” After that we spoke about some family matters with Him.While coming out, my brother-in-law told me that I might not be continuing my profession by the way Sri Swamiji spoke to me. After going back to, my town, Anantapur, I could not continue my advocate profession due to some circumstances. In the meantime the proposal for my marriage with Padmavathi happened and Sri Swamiji asked me to move to the Mysore Ashram to do seva. After the birth of my elder daughter, Dhenuka, I was doing seva in Ayurvedic shop taking care of the accounts.

     One day, after Sri Swamiji returned from a foreign tour He expressed His wish to Sri Kuppa Krishna Murthy to send me abroad to live as a priest. The next day, in the morning while I was doing pradakshina tothe Avadumbara tree, before going to Sri Chakra Puja, Sri Kuppa Krishna Murthy informed me about Sri Swamiji’s wish and advised me to go and speak withHimand give my opinion. Later,I got an opportunity to see Sri Swamiji;I express my readiness to go anywhere to serve as a priest. Sri Swamiji told me to stop doing seva in Ayurvedic Shop and start training for priestly services and later He sent me as the priest to the Trinidad Ashrama.

        During the pregnancy of my wife with our second daughter, Sahaja Sanmathi, she did not want to have another child due to circumstantial problems. She told her parents that she wanted an abortion to end the pregnancy. Her parents discouraged her from doing this; her father even threatened her by telling her that he will not to speak to her again. She really wanted the abortion, so she went to the doctor who prescribed an injection. She went to a few medical stores to get the prescribed injection, but they all told her that it was out of stock. She told the doctor that the prescribed injection couldn’t be found in any medical store, but the doctor told her to try other pharmacies the next day.

Frustrated, she went home and early the next morning she went to have the darshan of Sri Swamiji.To her surprise, when she went before Him, He told her that she should not try to commit such sinful acts and asked her to promise Him that she wouldn’t try to get an abortion again. She begged His forgiveness and left. On her way back, she casually went to same pharmacies to enquire whether the prescribed injection was in stock. All the shop-owners replied that they had the injection in stock. Padma asked them whether they had the injection in stock yesterday also. They all replied that they did have it in stock yesterday also. She said, “When I asked yesterday you said you didn’t have it in stock.” She was told that the shop-owners weren’t even in the shop yesterday. Then she realized that it was none other than Sri Swamiji who had stopped her from getting the injection.

          During the sixth month of her pregnancy, Padma developed chicken pox and she could not attend the Sri Chakra puja and so she couldn’t havethe darshan of Sri Swamiji. Because of her absence for days together, Sri Swamiji enquired from my mother-in-law, Saraswathi, about Padmavathi. My mother-in-law informed Him that Padmavathi was suffering from the chicken pox. Then Sri Swamiji insisted that she should come have His darshan. When she went to Sri Swamiji, He told her, “It is very good that you got chicken pox during your pregnancy. It is a rare and a good sign and this child will change your life.” It turned out to be true asher birth brought us good spiritual blessings and her delivery happened in the ashram hospital itself, with the grace of Sri Swamiji.

        While our life was going routine, one day Sri Swamiji told Padma to go visit Jayalaxmipuram and have darshan of Sri Jayalakshmi Mata who was the maternal grandmother of Padma. During her stay she wanted to sleep in the temple so the entire family joined her there. During the night she could not sleep so she stayed awake. Around 11:30 pm to midnight she was looking at JayalakshmiMata’s photo and suddenly it seemed to turn black. Almost instantaneously, she heard the sound of anklets and immediately JayalakshmiMata appeared looking the same as she did in the photo. Padmavathi closed her eyes thinking that it was her imagination. Amma stood outside the sleeping area and said, “You wanted to see me, but now you are closing your eyes, how can you see me?” Then Padmavathi begged Mataji for the energy to have the darshan of both her grandparents and then she had darshan of both Mataji and Narahari Teertha Swami.

            For us, each and every moment of our life is taken care of by Sri Swamiji. He is everything for us. We beg Sri Sadguru to bless us to do more Guru seva .Jai Guru Datta

Sri Swamiji Says:

 “Music is connected with the beginning of the creation, with its continuity and with its end.  All forms of Nature, rather, the whole of Nature, pulsates in Music.”

Let friendliness and love blossom in everyone. Let the feeling of jealousy vanish. Let there be unity and brotherhood.