Right way to respond

Whenever someone scolds a Vaishnava, he must assume that he deserves it. Acharya Nampillai demonstrated this in an incident, said M.A. Venkatakrishnan in a discourse. A person called Kandadai Thozhappan abused Nampillai with the most hurtful words. Later Thozhappan’s wife told him how very wrong it was to abuse a great Acharya like Nampillai. Thozhappan decided that early the next morning he would visit Nampillai and seek his forgiveness. The next morning, when he opened the door of his house, he found someone sitting on the pyol. Before he could ask the man what he wanted, the visitor fell at Thozhappan’s feet and asked for his forgiveness. Only then did Thozhappan notice that the visitor was Nampillai! Nampillai explained: “You are the descendant of a great man. I must have done something wrong. Otherwise, why would you have scolded me? I am here to ask for your forgiveness.” Thozhappan was moved and said to Nampillai, ”You have proved through your action that you are an Acharya for the whole world.”