While proof-reading and working on the German translation of the Sripada Srivallabha Charitamrutam – the biography about the life of Sripada Srivallabha (1320-1350), the first Avatar of Lord Dattatreya in Kali Yuga (I told you about it before), I work on an index of persons. The book contains numerous incredible events and there are also hints about future events and incarnations of people. Many of them already happened by now in previous centuries. When searching them on the web, especially in Wikipedia, I came across some extraordinary stories; two of them I would like to share here.
In the book there is a story of Madhava, a person who had died and was brought back after some time to life by a yogi, Palaniswami, through whom Sripada was working. Together with Palaniswami and the author of the book, Madhava goes into a deep meditation. In his subtle body, he meets Sripada who sends him to the nether worlds. There he encounters many Kala Nagas doing intense meditations and he speaks with two of them. (Kala Nagas are holy serpents living in subtle form in the nether worlds, Patala Loka.)
When Madhava later comes back to Sripada, the latter tells him: “One of the serpents that spoke with you will take birth as Jyoti Ramalinga Swami in the ensuing centuries. It will disappear also in the shape of radiant light. The other serpent that spoke to you will be born on the earth in the centuries to follow with the name of Sada Siva Brahmendra and demonstrate many miracles.”
When I searched Wikipedia I found that Ramalinga Swamigal, also called Vallalar, lived in the 19th century (5 October 1823 – disappeared on 30 January 1874). He was one of the most famous Tamil saints and also one of the greatest Tamil poets of the 19th century. There are interesting points about his life. Among them: “In 1867 he established a center for feeding the poor people. On the inaugural day he lit the fire of the stone stove, with a declaration that the fire be ever alive and the needy shall be fed forever… The oil lamp lit by him is kept perpetually burning.”
And further: “Perhaps one of the most notable factors of this sage is the claim that he supposedly attained a divinization of the physical body. He attained a total of 3 transformations. His first transformation was the transformation of his normal human body into the Perfect Body, between the supposed attributes of this body are total invulnerability to everything thus rendering him effectively immortal and impervious to any kind of damage as well as having the attributes of being omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient this body is apparently made of Divine Light. …
Ramalingar raised the flag of Brotherhood on his one-room residence Siddhi Valakam in Mettukuppam on October 22, 1873. He gave his last and most famous lecture, entreating his audience to undertake a spiritual quest and look into the “nature of the powers that lie beyond us and move us,” and asking them to meditate on the lighted lamp from his room, which he placed outside. …
On January 30, 1874, (he) entered the room and locked himself and told his followers not to open it. He said that even if they did open it they would find nothing… His seclusion spurred many rumors, and the Government finally forced the doors open in May. The room was empty, with no clues. The Madras District Gazetteer published by the South Arcot District in 1906 records his disappearance.”
The other Kala Naga serpent, Sada Siva Brahmendra, had an even more astonishing life. He lived in the 17th to 18th century and was a great saint, a composer of Carnatic music and an Advaita philosopher who lived near Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. Read the article in Wikipedia. Here are 2 short events:
“While meditating on the banks of the Cauvery river, he was carried away by a sudden flood. Weeks later, when some villagers were digging near a mound of earth, their shovels struck his body. He woke up and walked away.”
“Once the naked sannyasi was seen walking right through a Muslim harem of a Nawab. As a brahma-jnani who sees nothing but brahman everywhere, he would not distinguish between the different human figures which cross his path nor would he be distracted by the sights or noises that his environment may present to him. It was in this state of trance that he was walking along. He, the naked sannyasi, walked straight into the harem, entering it at one end and walking out at the other all the while walking through a maze of inmates of the Nawab’s harem. The news reached the nawab, he had his men chase him, they cut off both his hands as he was walking along, the hands fell off and … still he was walking along silently as if nothing had happened. The Nawab got scared, picked up the hands that had been severed, ran to the Sage and offered them in total remorse. The sage stopped his walking, the severed hands were restored to their place, the hands became normal and the sage walked away! There was no conversation.”
