Paramacharya as Goddess Annapurani- Continued..

Paramacharya used to quote the Tamil saying ‘Feed everyone, without any distinction’ (yArkkum idumin, avar ivar eNNanmin) and explain that no distinction of any kind must be entertained in offering food. He would be delighted to explain the Keralite tradition of feeding even the thieves at night! This custom existed in the place called Cherukkunnam, Kerala, in the Annapurani temple. After feeding the bhaktas in the temple, food packets were prepared and kept tied to the trees in the night, for the use of any prowling thieves.

Paramacharya also took delight in explaining the reference in the Sangam Literature of how the Chera king Udhiyan Cheraladhan earned the name Perum Sotru Cheraladhan(the king who was the chief host) by feeding the opposite camps of the Pandavas and the Kauravas during the Mahabharata war.

Kannappan the hunter fed Shiva Mahadev. Guhan the hunter fed Sri Rama. Here, the hunters named the Senjus of the Srisailam forest area were fed by the Paramacharaya!

During the 1934s, when the road transport facilities were very scanty, Paramacharya was traveling with his entourage in the desolate forests of Srisailam. Somewhere on the way, they came across the Senju hunters. Mistaking them for their foes, the hunters raised their bow and arrows initially, but when they saw the sage with his divya tejas, they realized their mistake and became friendly.

The people who came to oppose their passage became their security guards, carrying their luggage and watching over their camps at night time. Only after safely seeing off Paramacharya and his entourage at their next destination, the hunters assembled before them to take leave.

Paramacharya ordered the manager to give them some cash, but they refused to touch the money. The leader of the group said something to the manager, who nodded his head in disapproval and spread out his hands.

Paramachara snapped his fingers and called the manager to attention: “What is it that he asks for and you refuse?”

“They want to show their dancing skills before Periyavaa”.

“So you told them that I can’t see their dance because it was your opinion as manager that it was beneath the dignity of SriMatam.”

There was not any trace of anger in Paramacharya’s words. The manager was silent.

And the Paramacharya, who would not witness the performance of even the great and popular dance artistes, gave them permission to dance before him, with a condition: that while any of their males could dance, only those females who hadn’t attained puberty could join the males in dance.

Paramacharya asked them, “you might have different types of dances to suit different occasions: one for Swami (God), one for victory, one for sports and so on. What type of dance are you going to perform now?”

They gave a telling reply: “We are going to perform the dance reserved only for the closest of our relatives.”

Paramacharya witnessed their dance, blessed them, and hosted a nice dinner for them.