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Sri Shivabalayogi
1.
The Life
by Prof. S. K. Ramachandra Rao
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Sri Shivabalayogi (1968)
Draksharama in East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh was a famous shrine in the distant past. In Puarnic times it was known as “Dakshavati.” This is said to be the place where Dakshayani immolated herself in the sacrificial fire when her father, Daksha, after completing his Yajna, slighted her husband, Lord Shiva. It was Bhimeshwara, the presiding deity of Draksharama, who inspired Srinath, the prince of Telugu poets. It is believed that Bhimeshwara Linga, situated between the Banyan and Margosa trees, is a self-evolved linga. It is said that here it was that sage Vyasa performed penance and attained ‘siddhi.’ Now Draksharama is a little hamlet. A mile from here, is a small village known as Adivarapupeta.
Sri Sivabalayogi was born here; never before had it come to renown. Most of the people living in this village belong to the Devanga community. Some of them have received Shiva-linga-diksha. They are by profession weavers. They earned their living by weaving colourful sarees and dhoties, and selling them in neighboring towns. Theirs was a poor lot. Even the children here had to assist their elders in the profession. There is a primary school in this village. School-going children attended the school only in the afternoon, after assisting their elders in their domestic work, during morning hours.
Three decades ago there lived in this village a poor weaver, Allaka Bheemanna. He belonged to the Devanga community. He was married to Shravanamma. As she did not beget children, even long after their marriage, Bheemanna married another woman, Parvatamma. Shravanamma hailed from the village of Banarulanka which was sixteen miles from Adivarapupeta. Parvatamma belonged to Adivarapupeta; her father Goli Sathyam lived there.
Parvatamma begot two sons. Her second son Sathyaraju was born on Thursday the 24th of January 1935 at 2:45 p.m. (Bhava Samvatsara, Pushya Shukla Panchami). Two years later Sathyaraju’s step-mother Shravanamma got her husband to approve her rearing the child. Five months later Bheemanna passed away, and the two wives separated. Shravanamma left for Bandarulanka to join her people, while the second wife Parvatamma returned to her father in Adivarapupeta. Shravanamma had to look after the three-year old Sathyaraju, as was agreed to by her husband as well as the second wife. Being reluctant to separate the young boy from his mother, Shravanamma left Sathyaraju under the care of his mother and returned to Bandarulanka alone.
Early Life
Goli Sathyam, father of Parvatamma, though a weaver, was not well placed in life; maintaining his daughter and grandson was an added burden to him. It was with great difficulty that he looked after the family.
When Sathyaraju was five years old, his step-mother Shravanamma came to Adivarapupeta and took him away to Bandarulanka. Six months later Parvatamma visited her son. Then Sathrayaju wished to return with his mother and Shravanamma readily agreed. Sathyaraju joined the school in Adivarapupeta. As they were poor, Sathyaraju had to get up at 5 a.m. to assist the elders in weaving till ten in the morning, before he went to school. On returning from school at 5 p.m. he would assist in the household work and go out to play at six. It was only then that he was free. He would play till nine in the night and return home. This was the daily routine.
He was active and intelligent. Laziness was foreign to his nature. He was efficient in household work, in studies and in games. He was the cynosure of his mother and grandfather. Goli Sathyam, though poor was a proud man with abundant self-respect. To submit to anybody was humiliating to him. He was a man of independent temperament. He had resolved to lead an honest life regardless of all hurdles. To preserve his prestige and safeguard the status of the family were uppermost in his mind. Sathyaraju grew up in an atmosphere that was guided by such a man. There was an incident, when Sathyaraju was eight years old, which was characteristic of his nerves. His grandfather was addicted to opium, then a controlled commodity. It was not available freely. It could be had only from the Treasury at Ramachandrapuram which was at a distance of six miles from Adivarapupeta. It was Sathyaraju’s job one day to bring opium to his grandfather. His grandfather advised him as to how he should conduct himself before the rich relatives residing in Ramachandrapuram. He was told not to visit the relatives unless invited, for he knew that the rich folk have little regard for the poor, even though relatives. Sathyaraju understood his grandfather’s viewpoint. It was eleven in the night by the time he finished his work in Ramachandrapuram. It was impossible for the boy to return home at that late hour. If he had gone to one of his many relatives there, he could have spent the night with ease and comfort. Instead, he slept on the verandah of a closed shop and returned home early in the morning. Parvatamma was sorry for the boy when she heard the story; but her father was elated at the boy’s guts. He was assured that Sathyaraju would uphold the family prestige.
The old man loved Sathyaraju deeply. Every day Sathyaraju after his return from play at night, would relate before him the day’s happening; and he would be an interested listener. There would then be a discussion and counsel. Thus the grandfather’s temperament took deep root in the young boy’s heart. “Poverty, though unfortunate, was not a sin and one need not be ashamed of it. Self-respecting person would not like to beg of others but would prefer to live honourably and without obligation. Honest ways, though difficult are desirable; insincerity and falsehood are harmful.” This in short was the thesis of the old man, and the young boy absorbed it. Sathyaraju was prepared to do anything for his sake.
When Sathyaraju was eight years old, his step-mother Shravanamma came to Adivarapupeta again and took him to Bandarulanka, where he now joined a school. He was here a leader among his school fellows, as was also the case at Adivarapupeta; at Bandarulanka, however, there used to be a big battalion of boys behind him. But there was little progress in his studies, as he could not continue there even for five months. An incident that occurred during his stay there, resulted in a misunderstanding between him and his step-mother. Shravanamma had taken to opium trade after her husband’s demise. She did not believe that ethics was necessary in business. She was in an illegal possession of 40 tolas of opium when Sathyaraju was there for the second time. Somehow the officials got scent of this and she got into trouble. This was distasteful to Sathyaraju for whom honesty was all important. He severely criticized the action of his step-mother for engaging herself in illicit trade and obtaining the gains the wrong way. Unwilling to be under her protection any longer, he left for Adivarapupeta, but after obtaining her consent.
After his return to his village this time, Sathyaraju did not join school, again. The Youth Congress movement had gathered momentum then and Sathyaraju took a leading role and his friends selected him as their leader. In the village he was reputed for his boldness, enthusiasm, intelligence and sense of justice.
His friends knew that he had practiced sword fighting in the local athletic school even as a boy of six. His eagerness to bring about reforms in the village life was evident in all his activities.
When Sathyaraju was 12 years of age his step-mother fell seriously ill at Bandarulanka. She sent word to Sathyaraju, who was her foster child, to come and live with her when she was bed-ridden. Sathyaraju agreed and lived for some time in Bandarulanka. When she recovered her health, she continued the illicit trade as before. She was however afraid of Sathyaraju, because of his uncompromising views about honesty. The boy was also short-tempered and would stick at all costs to his views. [His horoscope incidentally, also shows that he would be hated by his relatives for his outspokenness.] The step-mother had no peace of mind, on account of him; and she regretted that he lived with her now. Sathyaraju did not approve of her ways either, and decided to return to Adivarapupeta. Shravanamma readily consented and let him leave.
Sathyaraju did not return to Adivarapupeta directly. On his way back, he went to Draksharama and prostrating before Lord Bhimeshwara prayed that his relatives may understand the reasons for his departure from Bandarulanka; his grief that he was not able to fulfill his late father’s promise to his step-mother was great.
Poverty
This time, Sathyaraju had returned to Adivarapupeta with the firm resolve not to return to Bandarulanka any more. At home, he was working on the looms for long hours each day, to help his poor parents. While others wove two cubits he would weave three. Goli Sathyam took care to see that his grandson was not overworked. But Sathyaraju would put in hard work unnoticed, and hand over the profits to his mother. During the summer months he would earn money by selling soda and other drinks on the wayside, in addition to his weaving work. He took it as his responsibility to redeem his mother from poverty. Goli Sathyam firmly believed that his family would surely prosper through Sathyaraju.
Sathyaraju did not believe that weaving profession would bring in riches. He was looking for a better profession. While he was thinking on these lines, he learnt that a playmate of his, with whom he had once quarreled, had opened a beedi shop in the village. This shop opened with a capital of Rs. 25 visibly prospered. Sathyaraju felt that he too could open a beedi shop and expressed the desire before his grandfather. But the old man did not like the idea. He hoped that Sathyaraju would become a cloth merchant, and argued that a beedi shop would be unbecoming to the family tradition. Sathyaraju was not to be put off; the prospects of a beedi shop did not fade from his heart.
One day, Sathyaraju, while he was walking on the road, dreaming of the beedi shop, he spotted a copper coin on the road. It was a common belief that finding by chance a copper coin was auspicious. To Sathyaraju however, it was as if Dame Fortune had opened the gateway. With devotion he bowed down, picked up the coin, and pressed it reverently to his eyes. It struck him that it was a good omen for the opening of the beedi shop. Pocketing the coin, he proceeded to where some boys were playing marbles for stakes. Sathyaraju joined in the play. As luck would have it, Sathyaraju won marbles worth five rupees in the game, and he felt that the copper coin in his pocket was responsible for it. He sold the marbles for five rupees, and went straight to the shrine of Lord Bhimeshwara in Draksharam. Bhimeshwara was Sathyaraju’s family deity and he had intense faith in His grace. Sathyaraju, filled with devotion, stood before Bhimeshwara Linga with folded hands and prayed for the fulfillment of his long cherished wish: opening a beedi shop. Whether or not Lord Bhimeshwara granted the boon, Sathyaraju not only opened the beedi shop but found that his rival’s shop closed in twenty days.
Sathyaraju’s business grew from day to day and brought him money. He pleased his mother and grandfather by depositing his earnings with them. Once after collecting Rs. 150, he handed it over to his mother for buying a pair of gold bangles for herself. She spent only Rs.50 over the bangles and saved the rest for the marriage of her two children. S athyaraju’s business in four [sic] years prospered and took firm roots. Then Goli Sathyam had to undergo an operation for the removal of cataract. For this purpose Sathyaraju sent his mother with his grandfather to the General Hospital at Kakinada. He gave Rs. 50 for their expenses, accompanied them up to Draksharama and returned after they had boarded the bus. He had promised them that he would come to Kakinada after a fortnight to fetch them back. It was arranged that they would return on 8th August 1949. Sathyaraju got ready for the journey even on the 6th of August, collecting Rs. 40, being his business earnings and depositing the money safely in the shop.
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