A strange creature on the hill !

It was a dark and stormy night. About six-months ago. I was sitting in my cave, I could hear some humming of Arunachala Siva from a distance. I felt like finding out where this humming was coming from but was a little afraid of venturing out in the dark.

Early morning I came out of the cave. It was silent, the humming had stopped. However, on instinct I walked in one direction. I could smell something across the water. I just knew I had to trace out who or what it was.

Where in the name of our Loving Lord was that sound coming from?

I crossed the water and came to a cave. Carefully I sniffed and could make out that someone was inside. I peeped in, it was dark. Again I felt afraid to go in. But soon my eyes got accustomed to the dark. I ventured in.

In one corner I found a tiny little baby sitting with eyes closed. He was seeming quite blissful. I tried to shake him but got no reply. I asked him "Respected Sir, who are you and where are you from?" but no response. "Have you lost your stripes?", I enquired with great concern.


I then remembered how Palaniswami had once taken care of Bhagavan. Surely this is some devotee of Arunachala, I thought, for he was chanting His name all night. And so i carefully caught him with my teeth and brought him out into the light.

He was a strange little creature with spots instead of stripes. How odd, I thought, I don't know who or what he is, but one thing that's sortan is that he is a devotee of Bhagavan. And also he probably hasn't eaten in a long while.

And so i came over the ashram. Bhagavan was walking, I put the little cub at his feet. He picked up the cub and said, "Oh look, Stripes has brought a leopard cub!"



But who will look after the leopard cub asked one attendant? Immediately Ramanatha Brahmachari offered to do so. For some reason, I wished to take care of him. And so i offered to look after him, too.

Bhagavan accepted the offer. He then took some iddli pieces, mashed them and put them in the cubses mouth. The cub swallowed them without opening his eyeses. Bhagavan's eyeses glowed with happiness. He gazed at the cub for a while. Then He said, "Stripes, take Spotty home, and bring him here for a month for his food."

And so the cub got his first morsel of food (after coming to the hill) by Bhagavan's hands, and it was the holy food of the ashram, the holiest food there is in the universe. And Bhagavan gave him his name, too.

But what is he, I had asked Bhagavan. "Panthera Pardus", Bhagavan replied, "Or a spotted leopard in layman's terms".

I looked puzzled. He explained, "Just as you are Panthera Tigris." (oh, am i, i wondered) "So he is Panthera Pardus".

I took Spotty home. Soon he didn't seem so strange to me, even with spots in place of stripes. I would sing Arunachala Siva in his ears all day. I cleaned him twice daily, maybe more, if i felt like licking him. In fact, two days later when he opened his eyeses and looked into mine, I thought he was cuteness personified.
-- Contributed by Stripes the Tiger