JOURNEY OF A YOUNG BOY INTO SAINTHOOD

SINCE many of you wanted more about the Kanchi Mahaswami, let me share some more stories of the many known about him.

- RENUKA NARAYANAN

Matters moved swiftly when Ginni was taken away at 13 to become the 68th Shankaracharya of the Kamakoti Matha at Kanchipuram. They said it was his daily duty to perform puja to Lord Shiva, worshipped at the Matha as Sri Chandramauleshwara, the Moon-bearer. Ginni was awestruck. "Paramashiva, Mother Kamakshi, they say I am your priest. Help me!" he prayed.

Woken every morning at four, Ginni was set to learn Vedic meters, mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and Sanskrit literature, besides Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. He broke off to conduct the daily puja with utmost concentration and increasing felicity. He read English classics in the late afternoon. He was taught yoga at the deepest level to transcend his body's urges, which took serious practice.

A hard part was fighting food cravings. Ginni had spent a lot of time with his mother while she cooked. He thought of his favourite rava dosais and crisp vadais and sighed. Delicious food was made at the Matha and hundreds of pilgrims and the poor were fed daily. But it was unseemly for a sanyasi to gobble, he was taught. He must not gorge himself, either alone or in public, and learn to resist sweets and fried food.

There were only adults at the Matha and as a sanyasi, he could no longer play cricket with other boys. So lonely Ginni spread grain in a corner to entice the flocks of parrots that swept by. He played with the calves in the cattle shed and made friends with the Matha elephant, Kumbhan.