Full · 6 min aloud
lived in Kāraikkāl, a town on the sea coast. Her father and her husband were merchants. When devotees of came to her house, she welcomed them and gave them what they needed.
One day, her husband received two mangoes. He sent them home, and Puṉitavati put them aside. There were two fruits in the house when a hungry guest arrived.
He was an elderly devotee of Śiva. Age and hunger had tired him. Puṉitavati brought water for him to wash his feet and prepared to serve him a meal.
The rice was ready, but the other dishes were not. She took one of the two mangoes and served it with the rice. The guest ate the meal she had given him and went away pleased.
Now one mango was left. It was the fruit she would serve when her husband came home. She had already used the other to feed the person who had arrived hungry.
Her husband came home at midday. He bathed, then sat down to eat. Puṉitavati served the meal and brought him the remaining mango.
He enjoyed its sweet taste. He knew he had sent two mangoes to the house, and wanted to eat the other one too. He asked her to bring it.
Puṉitavati went inside. There was no other fruit to bring: the guest had eaten it. She turned her thoughts to Śiva, who helps those who seek him.
A mango came into her hand through his grace. She brought it to her husband and served it. He tasted it, and this fruit was different from the one he had just eaten.
He could not find that taste in an ordinary mango. The fruit he had sent home and this new fruit were not the same. He asked where she had obtained it.
Puṉitavati hesitated to speak of the grace she had received. But she also wanted to answer her husband truthfully. She bowed to Śiva in her heart and told him how the fruit had come.
Her husband was not yet convinced. If this came through Śiva’s grace, ask him for another fruit, he said. He wanted to test the account she had just given him.
She prayed again. If no fruit came, her words would be taken as a lie. Another mango appeared, and this time she placed it in her husband’s hand.
He received it in wonder. Then the mango was no longer in his hand. The fruit that had appeared had vanished, and he became frightened.
After that, he did not regard Puṉitavati as an ordinary wife. He thought of her as divine. He kept his wish to leave to himself and began arranging a trading voyage.
He travelled by ship and eventually made his home in the south. There he married again. When a daughter was born, he gave her Puṉitavati’s name, remembering his first wife with reverence.
Later, Puṉitavati’s relatives learned where he was living. They took her to meet him. When he heard that she had arrived, he came with his second wife and their daughter.
All three bowed before her. Her relatives were astonished to see her husband do this. He explained that he regarded her as divine, and that his little daughter bore her name.
Their married life would not return to what it had been. Puṉitavati turned to Śiva and asked for the form of one of his attendants, a form devoted to his service. He granted her the body of bones she had asked for.
She sang in devotion to him and travelled north to . As she approached the mountain where Śiva dwells, she left walking on her feet and went upward on her head.
saw her coming and marvelled at her devotion. Śiva spoke of the one who cherished him, then addressed Puṉitavati with a word of honor: Ammai—Mother.
slow down hereWe remember her as . The devotee who had fed a hungry guest was now welcomed by Śiva as Mother.
Short · 3 min aloud
lived in Kāraikkāl and welcomed devotees of to her home. One day her husband sent home two mangoes. Then an elderly, hungry devotee arrived.
She brought water so the guest could wash his feet, then set out his meal. His hunger could be met with what she already had in the house.
The rice was cooked, but the other dishes were not ready. Puṉitavati served the guest rice and one mango. He ate and went away pleased.
Her husband came home and ate the remaining mango. It tasted good, and he asked for the other one. But that fruit had already been given to the guest.
Puṉitavati went inside and turned to Śiva. A mango came into her hand. She brought it to her husband, who found its taste quite unlike the original fruit.
He asked where it came from. She hesitated to speak of that grace, but wanted to answer truthfully. She told him what had happened.
He asked her to seek another fruit from Śiva. She prayed again; a mango appeared, and she placed it in his hand. Then it vanished.
Her husband was frightened and regarded her as divine. He went away on a trading voyage and later married again in the south. He named his daughter Puṉitavati.
When Puṉitavati later came with her relatives to meet him, he bowed before her with his second wife and daughter. He explained that he regarded her as divine.
Puṉitavati asked Śiva for an attendant’s form for his service. He granted her a body of bones. She sang in devotion and travelled to , going up the mountain on her head.
Śiva welcomed her with the word Ammai—Mother. We remember her as .
slow down hereBefore any of those mangoes came through prayer, she had already fed the hungry guest.