BIRTH AND BOYHOOD

This first-born son of mine, l surrender at Thy Lotus Feet. Accept and shower on him divine virtues and long life. Make him a worthy devotee of Thine to fulfil Thy Will; ever grateful to Thee for rescuing my wife from the jaws of death".

Thus was the prayerful supplication made by Sri K. Nagamuthu when offering his baby son to the family Upasanamurthi, "Palavadiyil Pillaiyar'', soon after birth on Friday 28 August 1908. The infant was named PONNIAH, just a common name only to reject the preciousness of the gift. But who ever thought then that this child, in years to come, was to be a great Swamiji being given the name of PRANAVANANDA, following the Pranavaswarupa Vigneshwara, to whom he was dedicated.

The native physician had expressed great doubt as to whether Nagamuthu's beloved wife Kannaki Ammal could survive the impending child birth; and the experienced old midwife in the neighborhood feared that nothing short of a miracle could save the young lady who was struggling with the pangs of child-birth. Desperate Nagamuthu could do nothing but to pray and pray most fervently to hts Palavadiyil Pillaiyar, his sole refuge and asylum and' Lord Vigneshwara, the remover of all obstacles answered the prayers of his humble devotee. Through His infinite grace, a baby son vas born safely and brought not only great relief but also rejoicing to the parents and the kith and kin as he was the first child in the family.

Full of feeling of gratitude. Nagamuthu rushed to the shrine which was situated under an ancient and shady Pala Tree (Jack Tree), just across the boundary of their dwelling houses with the usual token offerings and dedicated the child to the Lotus Feet of Lord Vigneshwara with intense humility, gratitude and joy. A famous astrologer of the village was commissioned to prepare the horoscope. A small gathering of the parents, the ever concerned and loving grandmother, close relatives and friends assembled in the house to hear the astrologer read the horoscope and explain the subtle planetary positions and give his predictions. After an annoyingly elaborate introduction, he came to an important point. When he eulogized the great virtues the child would develop as he grew older, the parents and grandmother beamed with joy. The crucial part then came when the astrologer predicted the subject may not get married, remain a Brahmachari, doing his duties to his family, leading a spiritually oriented life and eventually becoming a Sannyasin. The gathering was taken aback, the grandmother broke out into hysterical tears, the mother was disconcerted but the father stoically accepted the prediction. However, they had hoped and indeed prayed that the prediction would not come true! But the decree of Providence cannot be resisted.

Alaveddi is a village in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka and is endowed with natural resources. It has within its bunds famous temples, schools and colleges and the main vocation of the people is agriculture. An outstanding example for piety and peaceful living was the family of Sri Nagamuthu and his devoted wife Smt. Kannaki Ammal who were equal strangers to opulence and poverty. They were exemplars in following the Saiva tradition. They regarded their first born son, Ponniah, as a precious gift and took extraordinary care of the child as he was sickly up to seven years of age. He was the pet of all the relatives. The parents did not fail to make an offering of the son at the lotus feet of "Palavadiyil Pillaiyar'' daily during pooja.

Even from childhood, the boy displayed fervent devotion to God. It is said that one day at an unusual hour, the pooja bell at the above temple was ringing in crescendo and the amazed inhabitants of the nearby houses including the Nagnmuthus rushed to the scene. They found that the door of the temple was locked but the bell continued to ring at the sanctum sanctorum. The door was broke open by one in the crowd. To their utter surprise, they saw little Ponniah, oblivious to the surroundings, muttering some sort of prayer and ringing the bell perhaps imitating the priest ! Beholding the inexplicable scene, the puzzled people prostrated before the "pillaiyar''. When he became aware of the situation, he took his questioner parents and showed the crevice in the wall caused by an adventitious root of the huge Jack tree under which the temple was built. It was then clear to everybody that the boy had wriggled through the crevice and gained entrance into the Holy of Holies! This significant (child-play' incident was but an indication of the child's latent predilection which later blossomed into (Divine Life' as Swami Pranavanandaji. Fearing that the son's entry had defiled the sanctity of the Shrine, the parents performed a prayachitta (purification ceremony).