“AMMAGARU” Allaka Parvatamma, Mother of Shri Swamiji
She was puzzled; her son Sathyaraju did not come to take her and her father from the hospital. Her son was supposed to bring money to pay the hospital charges. Her father had undergone a cataract operation. She felt worried, she wondered,’has anything untoward happened to Sathyaraju?’ Sathyaraju’s nature was to pick up quarrel for justice, so she was worried, ‘has he got involved in to some problem? Why has he not come?’ He was not the type not to come after giving his word. He was a very committed boy. But the Divine knew that was the type of personality He was looking for and so had chosen the young boy.
Some how she managed to pay the bill and brought her father back to the village. Some shocking news was waiting for her. Something has happened to Sathyaraju. ‘He is sitting quietly with closed eyes and no amount of efforts has been able to bring Him back to worldly consciousness’. Some said Sathyaraju has been possessed by an evil spirit. Villagers were puzzled and did not know what had happened to Him. A few said He has become Swami now. She was His Mother, shocked and not knowing what to do, went to see her son. All the time she was wondering, ‘it must be some work of God’. Because recently she had had the vision of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, the trinities of Hindu philosophy. ‘Has any one of them made my son do this? What do they want from my son?’
When she saw her son, she was moved to tears – heavy rains had made the place very muddy and large ants were moving on His body. He looked at her silently. As a mother she tried to remove the ants. The boy Yogi signaled not to worry. He had been the sole bread winner of the family. Now God had taken Him. But She was happy that He had become the chosen one for the welfare of the world. Many millions will be blessed by Him. She wanted to look after and serve Him. She never asked Him anything for the family. All She asked was for His blessings.
Even after Swamiji completed Tapas and the world came for His darshan and blessings, She remained as humble as ever. Swamiji used to remember: “Mother used to say, ‘all I need is a small place in Your ashram to serve; I do not need anything else’. Whoever came to ashram, at anytime of the day or night She used to get into the job of feeding them. She always felt, ‘they must be hungry we must give them something’. She was so generous, always giving and never thought about her own needs. In the early days of mission when it was just picking up, Swamiji used to sometimes feel irritated and say, ‘Mother, if you go on feeding like this nothing will be left in the store’. She used to smile back, ‘I do not know how, but with your blessings everything will be alright; I cannot leave the devotees hungry’.
She was so happy when she understood that Swamiji was sending me to Dehra Dun ashram in 1974. She said, ‘lucky boy, Swamiji has adopted you’. Then She took me by the hand and said to all that Swamiji has adopted this boy and is sending him to Dehra Dun ashram. She was so happy as if I was her own son. She was so loving with the innocence of a pure heart. Very hard to find such saintly personalities in this world. For us She is like Divine Mother whom we worship. She looked after all devotees with unconditional love and without any discrimination, just like Shri Swamiji blessed the world without any discrimination of status, caste or creed. Swamiji always said, “Try to become a better human first. Becoming angel or God comes later”.
His Mother is Goddess Divine for us, She was a beautiful pure hearted human, and a loving Mother. All devotees called her “AMMAGARU”. After Her passing away in 1976, Her body was laid to rest in the complex of Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj Trust on Bannerghatta Road, in Bangalore South India. Today a beautiful samadhi temple has been constructed and a beautiful idol of “AMMAGARU” has been installed. Every year on August 15 a function is organized by Trustees and devotees to pay rich tributes to this Great Soul, in the Ashram premises on Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore. Homa, Special Puja, Mass feeding are organized. After participating in the 50th Anniversary of Shri Swamiji’s Tapas completion, in the Ashram premises in JP Nagar, Bangalore , Babaji will be participating in the anniversary of “AMMAGARU” also on 15 August in Bangalore by offering His tributes to Shri Swamiji and Ammagaru.