they said that, this mother said, “That is all untrue. That is all untrue. That Malayāḷi Brahman, that Malayāḷi girl, she went and did some magic. I will give protection.”
So saying, she brought that boy here, said a spell over a fruit, rubbed it on his head, poured the juice on his head and made him well.
Because of that they became very happy, and they gave me six hundred rupees. They brought six hundred rupees and gave it to me, and said before everyone, “You make an offering.”
As soon as that woman’s husband returned, this mother said, “From the time that I protect you, only I can end all your troubles. No one at all will protect you. No one will heal you. Only I will protect you.”
After the family was all well, this mother said, “For your sake, I have brought your husband back to you. You buy me a yellow sari, buy me a māṅgalayam32 and put it on me. Only then will your husband stay with you until the end, without parting.”
Thus she asked. After that, they brought the māṅgalayam and put it on her. After that, she cured many troubles for them.
I had many debts, having borrowed a little from everybody, and I was afraid that someone was going to come and ask to be repaid. Then, at that time, that mother brought various people to me and I healed them, and through them she made me well off. Today, I am a woman of her well-being.
[What kinds of people have come to you?]
Many. It is impossible to say who. Thousands of people have come. Last night there was a girl seized by a demon. They put her in a taxi and brought her here from Mylapore. When they took her to a doctor, he said that someone had poisoned her. They said, “No, a demon has taken her; that mother will say it is true.” So saying, they carried her and put her down here. Examining her, we found that it was a demon. As soon as that mother gave her a lemon, that girl was healed. “From now on, nothing else will happen; take her and go,” she said. The girl got up nice and healthy and went. Then they put ten rupees in my lap and said, “We came without telling the doctor. You did well.” So saying, they went.
If there is asthma [using the English word] she will cure it. That sugar disease [diabetes]. Cancer in the belly, that disease.33 If the ears don’t hear, if the eyes don’t see, she will cure all that. If you say it, she will do it. If you say that she can, she will do it. If you say that she can’t she won’t. If something won’t heal, use a doctor to care for it. “By means of him, I will cure it,” she will say.34 “If you cannot do it that way, then I myself will heal it,” she will say, and she will undertake it.
In an ordinary day, she will come three times. If we think of her and offer camphor, she will come as many times as we want. However many times people come to us, that many times I must bathe and be clean. I must not eat meat or anything like that. I must drink only plain milk. If I want rice or something, I will eat it. I must eat only what is prepared in the house. I eat only what is in the house. I must not go out and eat. I must not go out and eat in anyone’s house.35 If I do eat, it will not stay with me. I will vomit immediately. My eyes will burn, a great dizziness will come. Therefore I must not eat. Afterward, when she comes, she will be angry. “Why do you eat in all the houses?” she will say.
[In the picture on the wall, your hair is neatly braided. Now you wear it matted …]
My hair was neatly braided. Five years ago, she said, “You must not wear flowers; you must not braid your hair; you must not put oil and all on it.” Now if I go to relatives’ house, or if I go to anyone’s house, ugly like this, they will laugh at me, won’t they? But it is a true deity.
People were continually saying, “So this is the way it is with you. You say you won’t comb your hair. You say you won’t wear a poḍḍu.”36 They were continually talking like that. So when I went out I would comb my hair. Otherwise, those who saw me would think me ugly. I was continually doing that, saying, “I have my hair.”37
And she was continually saying, “If you come in my person, you must not braid your hair, you must not wear a poḍḍu, you must not wear earrings, you must not wear nose ornaments.”
If I wore earrings, blood would come in my ears, my ears would swell. If I wore a nose ornament, much blood would come, my nose would swell up, I would get a great headache, my whole head would throb. If I wore kumkum, my forehead would swell until it was round. If I took it off right away, it would get well. It was just like this. And she would say, “I tell you that you must not braid your hair, you must not comb it, and you keep doing the same things.”
So saying, one night she came in a dream, she came in her own form, and she said, “If you adorn your face, my power cannot come to you. If bad men look at you with desire, my power will not seek that place.38 If you do as I say, I will protect you.”
And so she made me promise that from then on I would wear no ornaments or adorn myself. But one day I did. And she came in a dream and said, “Now, instead of wearing my appearance, you adorn yourself. You watch. I tell you and tell you, and you keep putting a comb in your hair and braiding it. I wear my form that has no comb. I wear matted hair.”
So saying, she went. The next day when I looked, my hair was all matted. That mother has made me wear many appearances.
[You said that you must not speak with your husband?]
I must not speak with him. Before, we spoke all the time. Now five years have passed. You know that boy [her smallest child]? From the time that that boy was born, there has been no spoken word between us. Even if we did talk, there was no other enjoyment of the body. Even though we were like that, this mother came, and said, “Call your husband.” And he came and offered her a mango, and she peeled off the skin and gave it back to him.39
Then, three years ago she tore off my marriage emblem and put it in his hand,40 saying, “From now on, you must not touch her. You must not look at her or call her. From now on, between her and you there will be no relation of any kind. If anyone scolds her, if anyone does anything to her, I myself will punish you. Therefore, no one must touch her.” Thus she spoke.
[How does she punish people?]
Suppose someone scolds me, and I can’t take it and am crying. That person’s body will become unable. She will give them some kind of difficulty. However we speak of her, she will punish us in that way. She will do nothing else.
I eat only what is in the house. I do not eat anywhere outside. If I do eat outside, I eat in a Brahman hotel, but I must not eat on a plate. I must eat on a leaf.41 But now for a year I have felt no hunger. I have no desire to eat anything. Now it has been more than a year. To adorn her, to have that mother come into my person and to be continually doing good for all who come, that has become my only thought. If the children become sick, I won’t take them to a doctor; I won’t ask what they have. If anyone is in the house, if anyone speaks a little angrily, at first, from pride, I feel like I want to answer them with a beating.
[How does it feel when Māriamman comes to you?]
When that mother comes, our arms and legs tremble and shake. The nerves inside all tremble, and we cannot open our eyes. At the time when that mother comes, we must sit down and think only on that mother. “O Mother, you alone must do good for everybody.” So saying, first we must think of her. How must we think of her? “Ōm nama sivāya. Ōm parāśakti. Kāñci Kāmāḍci. Madurai Mīnāḍci. Kāci Vicālāḍci.42 Power with so many names who is one power, you must come in my person, and do good for everyone. To everyone without failing
