Kodi Swamigal The 300 Year Old

Saint of Puravipalayam

Sri Kodi Swami lived for over 300 years, before attaining Mahasamadhi in
1993. Some families had been visiting him for generations. He was spoken
of as belonging to the saints of the highest order by spiritually acclaimed
people and other saints who came to seek His darshan.
As a playful child spirituality was unknown to me but in my little mind was
instilled the fact that He was a Godly figure by my parents and elders of the
family. Little did I realize the greatness of this spiritual giant Kodi Swamy
who spent the last thirty years of His life at our residence, Puravipalayam, a
small village near Pollachi in Coimbatore district of Tamilnadu.

Swamy had lived in Naikarapatti Zamin house in Coimbatore before He came

to our house. Our elders were frequent visitors of the Swamy. Once when
my mother was asked by my grandparents to accompany them to meet
Swamy, she expressed her desire to have coffee before they left. But
however she had to leave without coffee. This was her first visit to Swami
and as soon as He saw her He called out to the cook of the house to fetch
her some coffee. My mother was of course dumb founded.
On one of those visits to Swami by my elders, He got into the car of our
family members and settled Himself comfortably in the upper portion of our
palatial old house where He remained until His Mahasamadhi. The story
about Him coming to our house was told and retold by our elders with
immense pleasure and we children of a joint family listened with great
fascination.

House where Kodi Swami resided for the last 30 years of his life.

As a child I accompanied my mother who was blessed with the privilege of

serving Him coffee every morning, which she did faithfully after the abovementioned coffee episode. He was an old, bearded, fair man who wore more
than four long coats one on top of the other at the same time. This was His

attire during hot summers and cold winters. The only worthy thing that I
followed in serving this great saint was to massage His feet occasionally
imitating my elders. As a restless child always wanting to run out to play, I
always tried to draw my head off from His lap in the course of His blessing
(He did so by touching the heads of the devotees).

The Saints Disposition

Swamis disposition was not always the same. At times He was jubilant and
hearty like a child but sometimes He was pensive and did not entertain the
company of visitors. At some other times He even resorted to shouting at
visitors. He at times resorted to throwing things from upstairs. During one of
my visits with my mom to Swami, we found Him conversing with someone
invisible to our eyes. Neither could we hear Him talk nor could we see to
whom He was talking. All that we could see were His lip movements and
gestures. Suddenly He asked us to sit aside stating that the place was
crowded. We were surprised at this, because there was no one else except
us, the two silent spectators apart from Swami!

Devotees Experiences
Numerous are the experiences of devotees with this Great Saint. A devotees
life was in danger when he met with a fatal accident. He was admitted to the
hospital in a critical condition. The doctors gave up hope and an astrologer
predicted his death. However Swami gave him a new lease of life. The
devotee later said that he had a vision of Swami putting a stick into his nose.
A Spanish couple who are ardent devotees of Swami and our family friends
too, were informed about the Mahasamadhi(shedding the body) of Swami by
my mother. The husband who is an artist then started painting His picture.
When we saw the completed portrait on a later date, we realized that he had
painted Swami exactly in the posture in which He shed His mortal coil.

My Mother who went to seek His blessings during her pregnancies was given
pictures of baby girls both the times (we are two sisters). My father who was
once summoned by the saint, to sleep by His side chose an airy corner in the
room. In the middle of the night he woke up astounded, to find Swami,
fanning him. My father rolled over and clutched the saints feet. Was it a
lesson, preaching humility to the world?
The spiritual lessons imparted by the saint through His own activities will be
discussed in the next part.

My Experiences With a Great Saint (Part Two)

Swami did not utter even once what His name or place of birth was. In those
days with absolutely no spiritual exposure and out of curiosity we used to

ask for His name. No amount of cajoling or hours of waiting could make Him
disclose His name. He was so steeped in the true self that He did not
disclose His details pertaining to His body, thereby teaching the highest truth
that one is not the body or the mind, but the ultimate reality, which is the
Self.
Most of the times we could see Swami silently starring into the space. During
those moments He did not entertain any conversation. Probably He was
immersed in subjectivity. Once some devotees mustered the courage to ask
Him what were His activities during midnight. Swami answered in His own
childish way Where is night and day? He thereby confirmed the truth that
night and day was only for those who identified themselves with the body
and the mind and not for the one who has lost himself in the divine union.
His all pervasiveness and His oneness with the divine were revealed in many
occasions. A devotee once approached Him seeking His permission to go on
a pilgrimage to Palani, one of the six abodes of Lord Muruga or Skanda.
Promptly came the reply, This is Palani.

Bhagavan Kodiswamys traits of enlightenment were portrayed in different

occasions to different people. I once tried to shoo away a crow that perched
on the nearby table cawing loudly. Swami in a gentle tone said that the crow
was also a jnani (an enlightened being). I guess that was the last day I ever
shooed a crow or other birds in his precincts or at His Samadhi (Tomb) later!
Swami at times exhibited immense anger. It was impossible for anyone to
figure out the reason. At times His anger was such that he threw things
down from upstairs and broke them into pieces. At other times He was
accustomed to asking for a persons belongings and handing it to a devotee
who is totally unrelated. One can discern from the above two instances that

he was demonstrating the importance of non-attachment to material things

or His dealings with different people and beyond the comprehension of the
human mind.
The saint even after shedding His mortal coil is still very active or is more
active in taking care of those who appealed to him their afflictions and
uplifting those on the spiritual path.
One can still feel peace percolating in the mind at His Samadhi to this day.
This subtle yet a very powerful truth finds expression in the increasing
number of devotees flocking at His Samadhi.
I humbly place my head at His Holy Feet for having given me the
opportunity to pen down about Him. What can be told about the highest
truth that is beyond the grasp of the very mind employed to brief about it,
let alone words? Its nature is silence; it is silence, the silent substratum or
the base of all that is created.