Ganges in the Well - Ayyaval story
Shridhara Ayyaval was returning home
after a bath in the river. It was the day of the shrardham ceremony and his
wife was at home preparing the food. He saw a man who looked to be from a lower
caste curled in a corner in hunger. Ayyaval took pity on him and brought him
home.
Ayyaval told his wife to feed the
hungry man the food meant for the brahmins. The poor man ate his fill and
thanked the brahmin and left. Meet Shridhara Ayyaval of Thiruvisanallur – a wise
man from the State of Mysore.
Unfortunately, this act of kindness
did not go down well with the other brahmins. They shouted “How dare you feed a
man from a lower caste on the day of the shrardh? Now your ceremony is spoilt.”
Ayyaval did not want to offend them
and requested them for a solution to his “offence”. The other brahmins who were
jealous of his knowledge and popularity suggested he should visit Kashi and
pray for atonement.
Ayyaval knew well that his physical
condition did not allow him to take the arduous journey. He decided to request
Maa Ganga to bless him in his abode. What? Is it possible? Ofcourse, nature bows
down to the wise and humble as we see in many of our stories.
Ayyaval went to his backyard. He prayed
to the Ganges by singing the hymn Gangashtakam. He requested Lord Shiva to
release the Holy Ganges from his tresses and bless him.
Suddenly the quiet well began to
bubble and roar. A powerful stream of water – clean and sparkling gushed out of
the well. It was the holy Mother Ganges herself who answered Ayyaval’s prayers.
The mighty Ganges flowed out of
Ayyaval’s well, into his home, onto the streets of the village and into the
homes. Within minutes the village was flooded. People panicked and ran out of
their homes.
The people who wanted to punish
Ayyaval were shocked and afraid to see the fury of the Ganges. They realised their mistake and requested
Ayyaval to forgive them and control the flow of the river Ganges.
The ever kind and
graceful Sridhar Ayyaval prayed to Maa Ganga to confine herself to the well in
his house with the words भगीरथमनोभीष्टसिद्धये भुवनाश्रिते । ब्राह्मणानां मनःपूर्त्यै मम कूपे स्थिरा भव ॥ The
Ganges obediently listened to his words मम कूपे स्थिरा भव (Please stay still within my well) and reduced
her flow. Maa Ganga settled peacefully within the confines of the well.
This is but just
one incident from Sridhara Ayyaval’s life. Ayyaval was born in Mysore in 1635
as the son of Lingaraya a minister in the Mysore Kingdom. On his father’s
demise, he was offered an official post by the King of Mysore. Ayyaval was not
interested in official positions but wanted to spend his life in the service of
Lord Shiva.
Ayyaval travelled all over the south visiting many holdy places. He reached the temple town of Tiruchirapalli. He spent some time there at the Shiva temple. He is said to have revived a dead child during his time there out of kindness.
This act of kindness made him a miracle worker in the eyes of the public. Unhappy with the attention, Ayyaval moved to the Tanjavaur kingdom where he was under the patronage of the king there.
As we said already, Ayyaval was not comfortable with official positions but was keener on bhathi and service. He felt a rustic life in a village would be more suitable for this purpose. He moved from Tanjavaur to Thiruvisanallur This is where the incident of the river Ganges coming into his well is said to have occured.
Even now on the
new moon day (Amavasya) during the Tamil month of Karthigai (Margashirsha in
the north Indian calendar) many visit his village and bathe in the well. This
auspicious occurrence is celebrated in the village as Gangaavatarana-mahotsavam
for ten days.
In addition to
Gangaashtakam, Ayyaval is credited with 15 other works. He along with the seer
of the Kanchi Sankara Mutt at that time Bodhendra Swamingal established Nama
Sankeerthanam practice. Nama Sankeerthanam is an easy and high energy method of
singing bhajans by repeating the Nama or the names of the God repetitively.
This helps everyone to connect with the divine in a simple manner.
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