At 08:53 PM 10/2/97 -0400, Parthasarati Dileepan wrote: 0000,0000,ffffI think this article really brings out the difficulties endured by servants of our acharyas and Acharyas themseleves in their old age, WHICH EVER MUTT WE TALK ABOUT. I personally visited H.H 45th Jeer of Ahobilamutt in Hrisheekesh. With all the tough surroundings, H.H Jeer was telling me that "I am really very comfortable in Hrisheekesh and Lord LakshmiNrisimha is keeping me in good condition!!, Krishna Prasad , Don't you think that Hrisheekesh is excellent and comfortable, what do you feel? " - Honestly, I felt the exact opposite!!, it was quite tough for us staying in those circumstances. I had to nodd without agreeing!. Acharya is atleast 60+ years old. I am strong as a horse and I could not bear the travels and tough surroundings. Incidentally, it is so tough for anyone at old ages to even take up Sannyasa at Ahobilamuth. This present acharya said that he took Sannyasa when Ahobilamuth had no money and was paying debts up to 12 Lakhs Rupees!. All the money had spent on the Srirangam Gopuram or some other purpose. With all these difficulties He took the responsibility to build the money reserves with some of his disgruntled disciples who did not want to do any more service due to harsh circumstances and meager pay of just 250Rs per MONTH when he started his sannyasa ashrama!. 250Rs is today's cab fare for a ride of 15 kms!! With such difficulty some followers did still help the mutt and finally this acharya has brought this mutt to a better condition. Even this better condition is quite unbearable to many of us, if at all we ever make up our minds to serve them! In addition to physical pains they go through, they also go through mental agony. H.H Azhagia singar (45th) himself had a tough time when he took up Sannyasa. He had to leave semi-cared for poor family behind to take up Sannyasa. He did so for the purpose of the community even knowing that there were tons of loans the Mutt had to repay to banks etc.. In fact, after taking up Sannyasa, the wife and children left behind had to face lot of difficulties. It seems the wife, in addition to other difficulties, never felt like having an food till about 3PM every day after he took Sannyasa, since she thought " how can I eat when Acharya has not eaten and he has to go through so much physical exertion each day to do puja, travel, manage the mutt funds, go for fund raising, take care of disciples' family problems and talk to scores of sishyas who come to meet him, etc." Incidentally she passed away due to bad health and poor medical treatment in India, within a year or so after he took Sannyasa, leaving behind her children to the care of Lord Lakshmi Nrisimha and devotees. (Incidentally, some of us like Dr. Venkat of Ranganatha Samithi tried to help with medicines / medical advice from U.S.A but it was too late) In short, life is tough, real tough for them. I sometimes wonder how tough it for them, when I myself feel "life if tough here!" So when we meet these devotees ("Unsung Heroes") we need to be nice to them and even if some of them treat us harshly or behave in anyway other than acceptable, we should think twice before forming an opinion on them and realize that they are working very hard in really trying circumstances for the cause of our Lord Srimannarayana. This is why I make it a point to give dakshina (tips ) for these devotees whenever possible and help them financially since we do not have an organized way of supporting these devotees in their efforts. They are doing our duties for us while we are working to earn a living.