‘Lord Ganesha Has Already Opened His Eyes’… The Miraculous Incident That Witnessed Paramacharya’s Divine Vision!

— Surya Prakash Josyula

There is a saying often heard about great souls: “They do not see what we see… they see what we cannot see.”

Many incidents that proved this statement true took place in the life of the pontiff of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi Mahaswami. Lovingly called the “Walking God” by his devotees, here is a wonderful event that stands as proof of his divine vision.

A Small Village on the Foot Journey… But a Great Miracle

This happened many years ago. Kanchi Paramacharya was on a foot journey (Padayatra) through Southern Tamil Nadu. His journey was passing through Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, and Srirangam. Knowing that Mahaswami was passing through their villages, people from all along the way came with their children to see him and receive his blessings. Swami, too, was moving forward, blessing everyone with a smile and giving them fruits and sugar candy as prasadam.

As he walked, Swami reached a small village just a short distance away from the holy town of Madurai. The people of that village welcomed Swami with deep devotion, holding a ‘Poornakumbham’. Delighted by their pure devotion, Paramacharya sat down on the roots of a large banyan tree by the roadside.

The villagers offered their prostrations (Sashtanga Namaskaram) to Swami. Then, the village panchayat head folded his hands respectfully and prayed, “Periyava! We are all very poor. With pure devotion, all our village people have together built a temple for Lord Ganesha nearby. Please be kind to us, visit the temple, and bless us all.”

Swami rose with great enthusiasm and said, “Where is the temple? Come, let’s go see it.”

To the sound of traditional music, Swami entered the new temple. In the sanctum sanctorum, a six-foot-tall idol of Ganesha sat beautifully and radiantly. Mahaswami looked intently at the idol for a while without blinking. Then, he turned to the village head and asked, “The construction of the temple is fully complete… then why hasn’t the consecration ritual (Kumbhabhishekam) been performed yet?”

The village head bowed his head and replied, “Swami! Everything is ready. But Mahatma Gandhi is coming this way next month. Some elders in Madurai decided that the Kumbhabhishekam should be performed by his hands or in his presence. That is why we are waiting.”

Hearing this, Paramacharya smiled gently to himself. He looked closely at the Ganesha idol again for two minutes and said, “As far as I know, that is not necessary. Ganesha has already opened his eyes wide and is looking. Do not delay the Kumbhabhishekam anymore. Find a good auspicious day and do it immediately.”

Everyone present there was shocked by Swami’s words. “No, Swami! The ritual of opening the eyes (Netronmeelanam) has not been done to the idol yet. We don’t understand your order,” they said in confusion.

Paramacharya smiled peacefully and said, “I am not saying this for myself. Ganesha has opened his eyes and is looking clearly. When Gandhiji comes, he too will have a wonderful darshan of the Lord. Go ahead and make the arrangements quickly,” and he walked away with his followers.

After Swami left, the village elders did not know what to do. They immediately called the old sculptor (Sthapathi) who carved the idol. The sculptor came, looked at the idol, and said, “Mahaswami is a great soul and he said so, but I haven’t carved the eyes of this idol yet. How can the eyes be open without performing the Netronmeelanam?” With that, the village elders were left clueless and fell silent.

At that exact moment, a 12-year-old boy came running to the place where the meeting was happening. Standing with his hands folded in fear, he said, “Sir! I know a secret about that Ganesha idol. May I tell you?”

The village head asked with interest, “What is it, boy? Tell us.”

“Sir, what Swami said is true. Ganesha’s eyes are open. This old grandpa sculptor’s 8-year-old grandson and I are friends. Ten days ago, in the afternoon while we were all playing, he took grandpa’s chisel and hammer and went into the temple. Saying ‘My grandpa opens the eyes of idols like this, I will do it too’, he struck the eyes of Ganesha with the chisel. We also gathered around and sang songs saying ‘O Ganesha, open your eyes’. As soon as he finished carving, the eyes opened. Fearing that grandpa would scold him, we didn’t tell this to anyone. Please forgive us,” the boy confessed.

Hearing this, everyone was left wide-eyed with shock. The old sculptor immediately called his grandson, and the little boy nodded, admitting it was true. Immediately, the village elders and the sculptor ran into the temple and closely examined Ganesha’s eyes with a magnifying glass.

To their absolute amazement, the sacred ritual of opening the eyes, which was supposed to be done by elders according to the scriptures, had been beautifully done by the hands of that little child!

In that sanctum sanctorum, the seated Ganesha really seemed to be looking at them with open eyes. The villagers’ eyes filled with tears as they realized how Paramacharya had perceived the truth with his divine vision—a truth they could not see with their own eyes.

“The Walking God knows everything… we made a mistake by not believing him,” thinking thus, the entire village ran in the direction Paramacharya had gone.

In the neighboring village border, under a large banyan tree where Mahaswami was resting, the village elders and the sculptor fell at his feet and began to weep.

That divine soul looked at them, smiled, and said, “So… did you investigate and confirm it now? Do you believe that Ganesha has opened his eyes? Now go without delay and perform the Kumbhabhishekam quickly. By the grace of Lord Ganesha, your entire region will be prosperous.” Saying this, he raised his hand and blessed them.

Bowing wholeheartedly to Mahaswami’s divine miracle, the villagers returned with tears of joy.