Yogaswami Mothers his Devotees
S. Rajam
a. Just as his paramaguru, Kadaitswami, loved to march through the marketplace, Yogaswami could frequently be seen in a 1940s black Ambassador exploring the entire peninsula or visiting a distant devotee’s home unannounced. b. It was common for devotees to turn to Yogaswami when life was difficult or death drew near. He assured all that there was nothing to fear, that Lord Siva is looking after everything. Somehow knowing when a soul was about to depart, Swami would go to the home, apply holy ash to the forehead and thus bless the journey ahead. c. Among Jaffna’s spiritual lights in the early 20th century was Chellachi Ammaiyar, a mystic and spiritual teacher nine years Yoga swami’s senior. Toward the end of her life, she was so sensitive she could only eat food he prepared. He would cook a meal daily and carry it sixteen kilometers to her ashram, sometimes even feeding her if she was too weak. d. Yogaswami often visited a devotees’ homes without notice, sit in meditation, take a meal, sing a sacred song and, from time to time, spend the night. His closest devotees kept a special room for such a blessed visitation.
Every devout Hindu family hopes, one day, to feed the satguru, and Yoga swami’s devotees were always ready for his unexpected knock on the door. A few of the ammas were world-class cooks, and he stumbled upon their homes a little more often.