A Story of the Beginning of the TM Movement and Praise for Guru Dev
Swami Srikanta Bharathi of Sree Matha, Hariharapura, recalls:
“One Krishna Iyer and his brother Narayana Iyer were running a small coffee hotel in Madanapalli Town. But there was no provision for travellers to stay overnight in that hotel..
After having his meal in that hotel, Mahesh asked the Iyers for a place to stay. Since there was no provision for lodging, they suggested that he may sleep on the steps, in the nearby temple.
In the rain and cold of that place, it was not possible to stay outdoors. So the problem was serious. Mahesh saw a very small room next to the kitchen of the hotel and asked for permission to stay there. But it was stacked with firewood and was quite uninhabitable. Somehow Mahesh prevailed upon the owners, neatly stacked the fuel in one corner and made enough space to stretch himself.
He was quite pleased with the arrangement, and the others sympathized with him too. During the day he would be spending time at the hospital to look after Mathaji and later, in the evening, he would come back to his corner at the Town Hotel.
In Madanapalli, there is a branch of The State Bank Of Mysore, and one Mr. T. Rama Rao was its manager then. He was a well educated person with deep interest in philosophy and was living a virtuous life. It was his routine, at the end of the day's work in the Bank, to have coffee in the local hotel of Rama Iyer and spend the evening on the steps of the temple near by, with a few of his office colleagues, talking about various matters of general interest and also covering religious and philosophical topics.
During that time, one evening, they saw Mahesh sitting all alone, with a gentle smile of deep contentment. His bright eyes, the charming smile on his lips and total composure attracted Rama Rao and his friends. They enquired about Mahesh's identity. They were most impressed by his smiling response, pleasing voice, gentle laughter, as well as easy handling of subjects of religious and philosophical import.
Clad in unstitched pure white silk, having long black curly hair and beard, innocent, ever twinkling eyes, soft but very clear voice, easy rendering of religious and philosophical subjects, at once impressed the group. Day after day, they engaged themselves in covering topics of righteous living based on religion and Indian philosophy. They were eagerly looking forward to the meeting every evening. The hotel owner brothers too joined the group.
Finally they concluded that this person was a consummate Yogi. They began to address him as “Maharishi”. Thereafter, this title became an integral part of his name, and he became “Maharishi Mahesh Yogi” for one and all. Later this title was tagged on to the several projects and institutions Mahesh floated in the coming days in India, US and Europe.
'Meanwhile, at the sanatorium, Mataji's health began to fail. In spite of the best treatment she received there, within a few days she breathed her last. Mahesh felt totally lost and bereaved, as if he lost his own mother. He now felt like an orphan. After fulfilling necessary obligations to the Mother, Mahesh felt desolate not knowing where to go and what to do next.
Suddenly the old message “Go South” flashed across his mind. He enquired of Sri Rama Rao where and what was there in the “South” and how far. He learnt that 200-300 miles down south of India from Madanapalli on the east coast, there was the town by name Rameshwaram, where there was a very large and ancient temple dedicated to Lord Shiva established by Lord Sri Rama himself. It has become famous over these centuries.
Mahesh was thrilled to hear this and remarked “Surely that is my destination. I must go there! I now see how and why I have been brought here by Mataji. Thank God.” Thereafter, Sri Rama Rao made arrangements for Mahesh's travel to Rameshwaram.”
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