36.“Mookam Karoti Vachalam” (The Dumb is given the voice)

Chapter-36

“Mookam Karoti Vachalam” (The Dumb is given the voice)
“I pay homage to the Guru, who bestows supreme bliss upon us and with whose grace the dumb gets voice and the lame climb the mountain.” All non-realizable become realizable to a person upon whom the Guru showers his compassion. The devout for whom the blissful hand of the Guru is raised becomes completely con­tended and successful.

A thirty five year old young man better known as Annappa Dadhiwala lived in Neemsir village of Kolhapur. He was well- versed in ‘shashtra' but became dumb. He remained mentally depressed for one year and out of embarrassment avoided meet­ing people. The village people took him to Achharya Shri. He was already acquainted with him. He sat near Achharya Shri.

Well! Achharya Shri was an image of compassion. He said to Annappa, “Why are you sitting silently? Speak! Why are you not speaking? Recite the Namokar Mantra”. He tried to speak and to the astonishment of the people that dumb man began to speak as before. He remained in the proximity of Achharya Shri for four days and returned to his home. After arriving at home he again became dumb. The venerable Muni Paaysagar Ji was then a house- holder. He went to his house and having heard his whole story started reproaching him, “When you got such a boon by the blessings of the Guru that you started speaking then you should have remained in his service for at least one year. Go again at his feet and remain there till you are completely cured.”

Annappa went back to the idol of penance. He again started speaking under the influence of the penance of Achharya Shri. When he returned to his home after remaining there for about 20“Achharya Shri has not only blessed the dumb man of the village with the power of speech, but has also given me, the one who was spiritu­ally dumb, the power of auspicious speech making my life virtuous and purposeful. The life of a person who is blessed with his eternal compassion becomes ameliorated. Achharya Shri has given his sup­porting hands by breaking dumbness to innumerable persons like me who were about to be drowned in the ocean of the world”. Paaysagar Maharaj continued to say, “He has reformed the snarls of several births of a person like me, who was attracted to worldly pleasures, by bestowing upon me the great wealth of “Mahavrita ”. He has made me to reach the dawn of samyaktva by releasing me from the clutches of the intense night of mithyatva. My vocabulary fails to express his infinite favours showered upon me.”