Life History of H.H. Sri Swamiji 163 Jaya Guru Datta Ê Chapter 14 Ê Kaivalya Padam Paduka Diksha Ê Sthala Sekharana (Finding the site) Ê The devotees were surprised to find that the members of the welfare committee had actually felt sorry on seeing Swamy express his distress in public. They had really started to look for a site and thought they found a suitable site. The site had a drainage canal nearby. If the canal was full, it was possible to get filled with sewage water and the area would be drowned in the horrible smell of the sewage. Ramaswamy, Narayana Rao and few elders were not happy with the site. Anantarama Bhat, Nagappa, Ramaswamy, the owners of the Vishnu Coffee works and few others saw another site in Nanjangud road and felt it to be a better site. One day Swamy gathered few devotees around him and said, "Time has come to move out of this place. Please make the necessary arrangements."The devotees went on a discussion on this issue for nearly 4 hours and did not get anywhere. Finally one devotee stood up and said, "I am a committee member, and without its permission Swamy should not enter into any negotiations, buy or sell land or let somebody buy or sell land on his behalf, and he should not encourage any business transactions or approve of it. It will all be against the constitution."Anantarama Bhat who was getting hungry by that time could not stand this silly argument. He shouted back, "Myself and few of my friends have decided to contribute whatever we can afford and buy the land. Why should you worry?"No other members had any objection to this proposal and the committee members shut their mouth for few days. Immediately, Anantarama Bhat placed Rs.1,000/- at the feet of Swamy. Nagappa followed with Rs.1,000/-, proprietors of the Vishnu coffee works pledged Rs.1,000/-, Krishna Swamy's father pledged Rs.500/- and there was Rs.1,000/- collection in the hundi box. All in all it came to Rs.4,500/-. The site they had looked at Nanjangud road was for Rs.9,000/-. The members agreed to proceed with the purchase of that land and concluded the lengthy meeting that night by 10 pm. One day, few elder members like Ramaswamy, Nagappa took Swamy to the site. It was the same site Swamy had shown to his brother Nanjundiah 18 months ago. Swamy carefully went round the site in detail, made some enquiries about it and finally asked others, "Do you like it?""Yes, we all liked it very much,"they replied. "Then I like it too. Proceed without delay and conduct the necessary transactions,"Swamy advised them. On the way back Swamy told Ramaswamy, "Tata, just wait and see how this place will flourish as an ashrama.""It was nearly 3 ½ acres of land and originally belonged to the kings of Mysore. One of the royal ancestors was a yogi, an Upasaka of Dattatreya. As the Upasana of Dattatreya was traditionally carried on by generations, Sree Jayachamarajendra, the king in the early part of the 20th century, wrote a detailed voluminous book on "Dattatreya". It was later translated into English and Telugu. That yogi had constructed an underground tunnel at this site and installed the Shiva Lingam at its entrance. In front of the Shiva Lingam on a pillar he had installed "Nandi(1)". The entrance was facing to the east and directly overlooking the Chamundi Hills. Inside at every step, he had plaques with "OM"written on each of them. Near the cave he had planted a "Shammi(2)"tree, which is considered highly auspicious. Many believe that he had constructed an underground tunnel from the cave all the way to the Chamundi temple. Nearby he had also constructed a well but that well was not part of the site for sale. Part of the site was used for agriculture and the rest had mango, cocoanut and tamarind trees. It was an uneven site filled with plenty of rocks. There was a guard for the site and he lived in a small shed constructed on the site. After independence, the Royalty in India gradually lost their role and as a consequence lost several of their properties. This site was taken over by Venkatawamy, a PWD engineer. He was a friend of Ramaswamy but somehow Ramaswamy could not get his friend complete the deal quickly. Ramaswamy was perturbed and one day confided in Swamy about this worry in the delay to acquire the site. Swamy said, "Do not worry, go tomorrow evening and the work would be completed to your satisfaction."
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sacredlifeofswamiji/ This Yahoo group contains the complete story from the beginning . Satyam, or Satyanarayana referred to here was Sri Swamiji's name as a child. Later references to Swamy are to Him as well. It describes in detail Sri Swamiji's relationship with Ganapathi, His upanayanam, great compassion, commitment to Dharma, His actions demonstrating and other miraculous incidents. Jaya Guru Datta In Datta Seva Hanuman www.dattapeetham.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Ever feel sad or cry for no reason at all? Depression. Narrated by Kate Hudson. http://us.click.yahoo.com/CQDrNC/ubOLAA/d1hLAA/0NYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
