Sampurnammal

Sri Bhagavan, who rarely drew any comparisons, said of Sampurnammal, “She is our best lady cook.” Sampurnam literally means ‘a sweet filling’. But its spiritual meaning is ‘Complete Bliss’. Sampurnammal was born in a village next to Tiruchuzhi, Sri Bhagavan’s village. She had heard about young Ramana’s Death Experience, His departure to Tiruvannamalai and how He had come to be known as Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. Her family followed each occurrence with a great deal of excitement and wanted to have His darshan. The family invited Sampurnammal. She declined because she wanted to devote her time to her husband and relatives. After some time, Sampurnammal lost her husband. She was in inconsolable sorrow and pain. Her family wanted to help her out of this depression and invited her to visit Sri Bhagavan as they strongly believed that only Sri Bhagavan could help her regain normalcy. However, she only wanted to wallow in her grief and turned down the invitation once again.

Yet, look at Sri Bhagavan’s grace! One day, while she was in the Meenakshi temple in Madurai offering prayers at the shrine, a bright young Brahmin boy interrupted her prayer. He asked rather firmly, “Will you not cook a meal for me?” This was a strange request! When asking for alms, mendicants only request for food. However, here was this strange and bright young man asking, “Will you not cook a meal for me?” Sampurnammal, who had almost finished her prayer, told herself, “Here is a good opportunity for me to feed a Brahmin. I am so happy!” But the young man suddenly vanished. She searched for him all over. Then it dawned on her that he might be none other than Sri Bhagavan who had come in search of her.

So, in 1932, Sampurnammal went to Tiruvannamalai with her sister and brother-in-law, Dr. Narayana Iyer. She was still grieving. But one look from Sri Bhagavan and she was transformed. The look was soothing. She continued to look at Sri Bhagavan and Sri Bhagavan too gazed at her. The result was magical. The three of them stayed on at the Ashram for twenty days. Sampurnammal had been physically very active and therefore she had never known what it was to meditate. However, when she sat in the Presence of Sri Bhagavan, she was taken to the meditative state effortlessly. When she was in His Presence, she had absolutely no thoughts; when she was away from Him in the town, thoughts cramped her mind. The next day, when she was in the physical presence of Sri Bhagavan, she again experienced a thought-free state as He continued to look at her. Sri Bhagavan wanted her to understand that this was a spiritual act and not a psychic one, and therefore gave her a copy of Who am I? the booklet:

Twenty days later, Sampurnammal went back to her village and found that she was restless. She realized that the tranquility she had experienced in the Ashram was because of Sri Bhagavan’s Presence. She made up her mind to go back. Her uncle understood her plight and escorted her to the Ashram. Once there, she found that Santhammal, the cook, was leaving. She was thrilled when she was asked in the Presence of Sri Bhagavan, “Will you go and take up the cooking so that Santhammal can go?” As Sri Bhagavan looked at her, she said to herself, “Oh, so this is Your trick!” Thus, it fell on Sampurnammal’s shoulders to take on that responsibility. She cooked that day’s meal and as she was serving Sri Bhagavan she realized that this indeed was the young Brahmin who had asked her in the temple whether she would cook a meal for him. By serving her very first meal, she not only began her spiritual quest but also ended it. She realized that she was not just feeding an individual Brahmin, but that she was feeding Brahman, the God in each one of us. She stayed on at the Ashram, making food for Sri Bhagavan.

The Sanctum Sanctorum of Mother Meenakshi in Madurai

Sampurnammal said, “Once, I sought Sri Bhagavan’s permission to go on a pilgrimage with some friends to Benares. Sri Bhagavan made fun of me and asked me, ‘What do you expect to find in Benares that you cannot find here in Arunachala?’ He then continued, ‘Viswanatha, the Lord of Benares is here. Why do you go in search of him when he is here with you?’ He was referring to Himself, for he said, ‘Why go in search of Him when He is here with you? He is with us, in every one of us here. He is here.’ I gave up the idea of the trip since Sri Bhagavan did not grant me permission.

But just look at the compassion of the Master! The very next morning, Sri Bhagavan told me, ‘Sampurnammal, I had a dream last night. I saw you worshipping in the temple of Lord Viswanatha in Benares.’ I wondered whether it was just a dream. I felt he had taken me there and brought me back in order to give me a chance to worship in the temple.” Sri Bhagavan was certainly very compassionate towards Sampurnammal. Those around her could only see the frailities in her character. But Sri Bhagavan overlooked all this and paid singular attention to her so that she could be lifted out of these imperfections and be elevated to that State of Spiritual Perfection.

Entering the Mother’s Temple one day, Sampurnammal, with her face beaming, exclaimed, ‘Ganesa! Sri Bhagavan has scattered so many diamonds before us!’ Sri Bhagavan had given her the eyes to see those diamonds!

She told me whispering into my ears that, “that day I had wanted to go to Varanasi was to drop the body there (Darsanad Abhrasadasi jananat Kamalalaye, Kasyantu maranam muktih smaranad Arunachale), so that I would not have any more birth. Look at His immaculate, Pure Spiritual Love for me, He made me stay at Arunachala, since I did not then know that dropping the body at this Sacred Arunachala Kshetram most assuredly gives the jiva ‘no more birth’ (according to Arunachala Mahatmyam)! “

Sampurnammal died at the Ashram on Sri Bhagavan’s Aradhana day in the year 1993. I had the privilege of taking her body to the cremation ground and seeing to it that her sister’s son lit the pyre.

This is one more act of Sri Bhagavan’s showering Blessing on me! More than all, I was totally convinced that dropping one’s body at the Sacred Soil of Holy Arunachala assured: “No more birth for the jiva.”

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