Bhagavan and Palaniswamy

In the days after the appearance of Jagaswami and his crew of rogueish swamis in town, promising to relieve them of the lice scourge if they accepted him as God, the townsfolk had gone up to the young dark boy on the hill.

Young Swami on the hill

The boy ate sparingly, wore little, and spoke even less. Many could not understand this behavior. They were used to showy, arrogant swamis like Jagaswami and slightly eccentric (but well-meaning) ones like Seshadri Swami.

Seshadri swami told them to go to the boy on the hill (his younger brother, he lovingly called him) for help. And so they went.

They poured their hearts out to him. He heard them silently. Sometimes he shed tears as they cried. But mostly he was silent. He did not claim he could do anything.

But all those who came to him, retorned and found that they were cured of lice. And somehow they would not get it again. They came back to thank him, but he allowed no shows of gratitude.

Some of them just could not stop talking of his eyes. Such eyes they were, once you had peered into them (or they into you, it was just impossible to decide which) you could never forget them, or wish to look elsewhere. Once he had looked at you (or you at him) it was impossible to forget him.

Such was the little boy, lovingly called Brahman Swami or Chinnaswami (little swami).

And so gradually the lice scourge reduced and then just vanished. With that, most people got back to their lives and forgot the swami, assept a few faithfuls.

Palaniswamy

All this brought the little unnamed boy to the attention of one tapasvi (ascetic) Palaniswamy.
He came to the little boy and took care of him as a father would, his son.
Wherever the little boy went, he went, like a calf following its mother.

Palaniswamy was like Bhagavan's shadow

For over two decades he remained by the Swami's side, serving him faithfully

He cooked and cleaned for the young boy, and meditated in whatever time was left.
He himself was the epitome of renunciation, having with him only a towel to wear, and one or two spiritual texts.

Surely Father Arunachala had sent Palaniswami to take care of His beloved son

Until his final breath he stayed and served the little swami with a devotion that this earth has rarely seen.

Or praps it was Arunachala Himself

At the time of leaving his body, the little boy (now a renowned sage) held Palaniswami's head in his lap, lovingly, destroying his vasanas with his touch, and helped him immeasurably in his quest for liberation.

Last moments of Palaniswamy

The young swami on the hill, an ocean of compassion, whose face shone like the sun, in time came to be known as Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.