It was sometime in 1952 and Lalitha, one of the six daughters of Gangabai and Krishnamurthy of Sivarampet in Mysore, had decided to go to Mantralaya to perform a seve to Raghavendra Swamy.
Travelling in those days was not easy and there were a limited number of buses. Besides, the trains too were not frequent and travelling by car or any other four or sic wheeler (tempoes) was considered a luxury that many could ill afford.
Lalitha had been married for eight years but her husband had left her to stay on in her parent’s house, while he was employed in Hyderabad
Lalitha had no peace of mind as her neighbours and relatives kept pestering her about why she had not joined her husband though she had two children. She decided to seek divine intervention and went with her father to Mantralaya.
While in Mantralaya, she met a young girl who had come from a remote village on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The young girl and Lalitha quickly became friends and both decided to perform seve to the Mantrakaya Prabhu.
One night, Lalitha dreamt of being asked to go to the Prana Devaru temple at Santebidanoor near Mantralaya in Andhra Pradesh.Not knowing what to do, Lalitha and her father approached a priest who was adept at interpreting such dreams.
The priest said Rayaru had himself asked Lalitha to perform seve before the Pranadevary idol as only he could solve her woes. As Lalitha was getting ready to leave, she found that her friend too had come to the priest for interpreting her dream.
She told the priest that she had seen a brightly burning lamp in her dreams. The Hanathe (brass holder) was full of oil and the wick was burning bright. As she could not understand the significance of the dream she had approached the priest.
The priest asked her what she had prayed for. The young woman innocently replied that she had performed seve to Rayaru asking for her mother-in-law to be taken away by Yama. “I want her dead as he is troubling me a lot”, she said.
The young girl again repeated her wish in Kannada, “Nanage Nannna Athae Saya Beku.” The priest interpreted the dream saying that her wish would not be fulfilled as her mother-in-law’s life span was as bright as the oil lamp which she had seen in her dream.
The young woman went back disappointed. As far as Lalitha was concerned, she went with her father to Santebidanoor, stayed there for a few days and completed her seve before Anjeneya. Subsequently, she joined her husband in Hyderabad Bangalore
Her belief in Rayaru is unbroken and though age has diminished her physical activity, her faith remains firm in Rayaru and also Anjeneya.
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