Chapter 5

Chapter 5 "If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you" - John 15:20 Purushotham's voluntary evangelism begins; Missionary trip to Madras with Major Brett; Attempt to kill the poet by anti-christian elements; Blows of various kinds; Trip to Bellary; Long evangelistic tour. First Evangelistic Service in Vishakhapatnam- Kicks and Beatings Though tired, with a face aglow with new life, our hero Purushotham reached Vishakhapatnam in the month of November, 1833. He met Major Brett and gave him the letter from Rev Lacy. From the letter, Major Brett understood all that took place in connection with Purushotham's conversion to Christ and the holy boldness he showed for Christ. Brett thanked God and looked at Purushotham with joy and said, "Rev Lacy writes that the best thing for you is to take up preaching of the gospel to the people in this region than look for any other job. And that is exactly my opinion, as well. I will write to Madras to arrange for a salary for you." Purushotham with all sense of gratitude and contentment said, "Don't you worry sir, about any salary and all that. I am single, and all that I need is food and clothing. I don't need any salary as such." To this Brett agreed and said a few kind words by way of encouraging him. It is nothing but sheer grace of God that a European army official to have this kind concern towards an ordinary Indian. Though Purushotham did not speak English, he could manage his affairs with white men using Hindi and Telugu. He started his evangelistic work in Vishakhapatnam and Srikakulam and the villages around them. Purushotham would stand up in the midst of the crowd and preach Christ to them, who were anything but sympathetic to the Christian faith.

He preached in the streets and market places, where people chased him angrily, beat him up and kicked him. At some places, they would accept the Christian tracts, and promptly tear them up to pieces and scatter them on Purushotham's head in mock blessing. Remembering what Jesus said, "Men would persecute you as they persecuted me, and also remembering a Hindu aphorism: "the purpose of our body is to be useful to others," he managed to remain calm when persecuted. He went on preaching and the seed fell into thorny bushes as well as on good soil. At one time, three men seemed to have been convicted. Leaving their religion, they took part in eating and other acts with Christians and got interested in the word of God, and read it. Surprisingly they turned from Christian faith and went back to their past faith and life. Purushotham, however, was not at all disturbed by this set back, but went on preaching. Missionary Trip to Madras and Evangelism There About this time, Maj. Brett was transferred to Madras. Purushotham because of his zeal, was accepted by Brett to be taken into the yacht to go to Madras. During the crossing, the wind was against them. Later in life Purushotham used to narrate this ordeal to his children. For 18 days, they suffered, staying afloat, eating only biscuits, which Purushotham was not accustomed to. He, however spent time reading the Bible and said to Brett on one occasion, "How many wonderful things there are in the Bible!" To that Brett's encouraging response was, "a blind man can see many wonderful things as his eyes get opened." At last they reached Madras after voyaging 500 miles. They stayed in Purusuwakkam. Purushotham stayed with Brett and went out alone every day preaching in the streets and market places of Madras where for a long time both Telugu and Tamil languages had been in use. Here Purushotham met Rev. John Smith and Rev. W. H. Drew along with other Indian Christians. But Purushotham could not learn much about Christian faith, because of the language barrier.

Purushotham spoke about Christ to the Telugu speaking people while in Madras. But unfortunately, people persecuted him and even tried to kill him. We can gather the following details from his records. Persecution at Madras One evening in Madras I was preaching at George Town square for a long time and I thought that I should stop and get back to Major Brett because it was getting late. Some young men who were listening to me suddenly got up and said, "Continue, don't stop." Then I said, "It is getting late, and I must go a long way, I need to leave now." Then they jumped on me, held me strongly and tried to drag me into a by lane. I shouted loudly as I have a premonition that they were intent on hurting me. Then suddenly two Tamil Christian young men came on the spot. There was an exchange of words between them. The Tamil young men tried to rescue me, but in vain. Then they said loudly, "if you don't release him we would go and report to Major Brett and imagine what would happen to you then." People in the surrounding houses came out, chased the wicked youngsters away and saved me. As I was hurt in the struggle, I was unable to walk. So, the two Christians carried me to Major Brett's house. And I thanked God for saving me from danger." Major Brett was wondering what had happened, as I was not home yet. As he was waiting for me, the two youngsters carried me into his presence. He was shocked on seeing me in that condition. He heard from the two young men what had happened to me. In true Christian spirit, he decided not to take any revenge on those fanatics and spoke to Purushotham consolingly. Purushotham was not the type that would lay his hand on the plough and turn back. Though the people of Madras were against him, he was full of compassion for them, like Paul, who showed compassion to those in Lystra. Though the Broadway crowd hurt him, Mount Road mob insulted him, he was not at all intimidated.

He wrote thus about the intolerance of the people of Madras: "One day I spoke in a street, many gathered and heard me. But when I started giving out tracts there was a stampede. They pushed me around, loosened my 'Dhoti,' plucked my hair, trampled on me with their feet, pelted me with stones and pushed me along the street calling me foul names. Someone from a house rushed out, shouting like a devil, took his foot ware to hit me on head, but by God's grace he could not harm me. I cannot write down the foul language they used. I spent three months experiencing this sort of treatment in Madras. It was terrible. But "No servant is greater than his master" (John 15:20). Dwelling on the words of Jesus, Purushotham wrote a poem on Christian virtues of poise and long suffering in tribulation. Insults are good gifts Abuses adornments Hustling ornaments Buffets pearly jewels Curses fine garments Laced with choicest perfumes Kicks anointings and Rebukes necklaces of gems For the best of Christians With their mind at rest Series of calamities are like riches Since Gods words nestles inside Scoffers taunt, cannot snuff The Joy of the message in mind Accusers together persecute Peace of mind is undisturbed

Violent men chase and abuse Comfort of heart stays intact Presence of persecutors Great riches of spirit never decrease Who can rob the love and devotion of Those that tasted the sweet grace of The overlord of the unique heavenly joy Jehovah the high God of unparalleled glory Purushotham's Trip to Bellary In 1824, London Mission in India started evangelism in ceded districts starting from Bellary. Purushotham heard that a certain Missionary Rev. Havel of the Telugu Church of Bellary could preach in Telugu and therefore he wanted to go to see him. When he expressed his wish, Major Brett said he would consider it. Brett was a prayerful man; some believed that miracles happened when he prayed. As though in response to their prayers, Rev John Hands happened to go to Madras from Bellary. Mr John Smith, Mr W. H. Drew and Major Brett met Rev Hands and discussed the future of Purushotham. They decided that it would be better for him to go to Rev John Reeds in Bellary. Major Brett gave everything needed for Purushotham for the journey and sent him on his way. At that time, there was only a rough army road -about 440 km longconnecting Madras and Bangalore and Bellary (but the present Railway line between them is only 307 km long). So Purushotham took that road touching Arakkonam, Renigunta, Cuddapah, Gooty, Ananthapuram, and Guntakal reaching Bellary (First rail road in India was between Bombay and Thane in 1853). When he met Rev Reeds, he was exceptionally kind to Purushotham and welcomed him heartily. Purushotham had heard Rev

Reed was extremely comfortable in using Telugu and learnt many new things from him. With a fresh zeal, Purushotham started preaching the gospel to the Telugu people around there. He, on appointment supervised some schools there. During this time, he happened to get in touch with some important Telugu Christian leaders such as Rev. Samuel, and catechist Burder. Unfortunately, around this time, Purushotham fell seriously ill and stayed in bed very weak. But Rev. Reed looked after him with fatherly care and Purushotham got well soon. Purushotham having tasted the saving grace of God, was now very keen on leading his wife, child and all his family circle to the Lord. He did not therefore want to stay at Bellary any longer but wanted to get back to Vishakhapatnam. When he mentioned this to Rev Reeds, he did not like the idea of Purushotham leaving Bellary. On reflection, considering the strong reasons Purushotham had in taking that decision, Rev Reeds agreed and arranged for him to journey back to Vishakhapatnam. Home Coming, The Great Gospel Trip, Reaching Vishakhapatnam When Purushotham accepted Lord Jesus as his saviour, he started a mega missionary journey covering 1300 miles from Cuttack to Bellary, via Madras, preaching to thousands of Oriya and Telugu speaking people. And now on his route back there were so many towns and villages with people who had not heard about Jesus. With that zeal of Paul who said, "woe unto me if I don't preach the gospel," Purushotham left Bellary, and reached Machilipatnam touching various towns like Guntakal, Ananthapuram, Madanapalli, Renigunta, Gudur, Nellore, Kavali, Ongole, Guntur, Mangalagiri, Bezawada, and Vuyyuru, preaching the good news and distributing tracts at all these places. At several places, he was rudely insulted. While preaching at Mangalagiri, we are told that a Brahman family accustomed to hospitality, showed him great kindness, receiving him with all courtesy, decorating their house in order to ceremoniously receive the guest and gave him a sumptuous meal.

On arrival at Machilipatnam Purushotham handed the letter from Reeds to Justice Watson. The judge was so kind that he gave Purushotham 20 rupees. Purushotham thanked him, and took leave of him and continued his journey to Vishakhapatnam touching Bhardrachalam via Eluru for ministry. He continued preaching in towns of Rajamundry, Samalkot, Kakinada, Pithapuram and other villages covering nearly 1000 miles. At Vishakhapatnam, Purushotham stayed with Ms Helen Knott's son in law, Captain Richardson as a guest for 8 months, preaching at various places. In a brief period of 18 months, Purushotham covered nearly 3000 miles on a missionary journey which exceeded that of Paul. During that time, there were no protestant mission stations in this region up to Cuttack except at Madras and Bellary. And it appears that Purushotham was divinely appointed as a travelling missionary. On 9th June 1834, the Baptist missionary at Srirampur, William Carey passed away and there was a need for poet cum writer cum preacher like Purushotham. In the book" Christianity in India,"on page 89, we can see it recorded how different missions established themselves at several places: in 1840 at Nellore, in 1837 at Narsapur, in 1841 at Machilipatnam, in 1842 at Guntur, in 1844 in Rajamundry, in 1880 at Hyderabad, and in 1874 at Kakinada. Our hero, Purushotham, in comparison with these mission establishments, was way ahead of them in terms of both time scale as well as geographical reach in our country. Gospel Preaching to Blood Relations Purushotham, like apostle Paul, was intensely zealous for his blood relations to come into Christian faith and he preached to all of them with all sincerity. But they looked down upon him as an untouchable and an outcaste. Their contempt for him and his new-found faith was so strong that they served him food near the dung heaps and other dirty places outside houses. Where ever he stepped, they thought the place was contaminated and

therefore needed ceremonial cleansing, which they promptly did. He had the grace of God to comfort himself by taking all their insults as if they were wedding feasts. He hired a house around this time at Madanapuram and from there preached covering the towns like Saravakote, Tembur, Tilar, Urlam, and Parlakimidi. In response to these insulting experiences, he wrote the following hymn towards the end of 1834 comforting himself. Boldness in the Lord Jesus Christ What if the world belittles you- what is it to you? - When Christ who makes sinners holy- for you, built a heavenly abode? 1. Who will take you to the other side of the endless sea of mortality- who will douse the wrath that ignite the conflagration of hell- who will establish your heart in knowing divine meaning of the eternal salvation- only the incarnate merciful one Christ who gave his life for you- bestowing divine favour. 2. Who will turn your mind around going towards evil time and again- who will kick and punish Satan and extend a helping hand to you- Who will break the thorn of death planting comfort in your soul and pronounce his loving kindness- the sweet name of Christ who suffered on the hill outside Jerusalem 3. Who will release your heart from grief and endless strife- who will give you peace and prod you saying 'this is the way to heaven'- who will utter soothing words of everlasting fellowship, promising never to leave you- who will day by day make you glad- Gentle Christ according to scriptures aiming to make you an inhabitant of the heavenly realm. Two years earlier Purushotham's wife Radhamani had secretly told him that she would like to become a Christian and in fact she was willing to follow her husband in his preaching mission. But she was not bold enough to cut herself off from the family and caste and told her husband "Sir, I am not able to come with you at present." Purushotham therefore left her

there and went to Srikakulam. He met a kind British Engineer by name Armstrong and stayed with him. Within a couple of days Armstrong received a letter from Captain Richardson. Arrival of J. W. Gordon Captain Richardson said in that letter that Rev Gordon, a missionary from London has arrived eight days earlier and was eagerly waiting to meet Purushotham. Armstrong told Purushotham about the contents of that letter. Purushotham was very happy, left promptly for Vishakhapatnam and met Rev Gordon. A Split in the Joint Family Let us now turn to the interesting episode in Purushotham's family. Purushotham's elder brother Jagannath Chowdhary left the joint family in Madanapuram and started living at another town by himself. After Purushotham's departure, there was some political unrest in Parlakimidi. Under General Taylor's Command, the 21st Battalion arrived at Parlakimidi, between 16th and 18th January 1834. About 8 miles away from Parlakimidi in the region of river Vamsadhara, rebel leaders Tati Raju, Sardar Jogi Raju, Sardar Fakir Raju, Savara Gurnel and others tried to attack the British army near Akulatampara, Vallada, Bhamini, and Labha. General Taylor and Hon'ble George Edward Rasool fought with the rebel hoards who joined forces in rebellion, on January 30th, 1834 in the morning with canons, and subdued them. Subsequently, that year on the 12th April, Sardar Fakir Raju decided to take sides with the British and betrayed the rebels. Akulatampara region which had been confiscated was given back after obtaining permission from the Government and Court of Wards, to the rebels on 9th December 1834. This was recorded in Russel's report no. 24 P 64 and 65. After the battle, the Government held a royal meeting at Lakshminarasapuram, to which Jagannath Chowdhary was invited. Fakir Raju, who happened to attend that meeting heard Jagannath sing and was

fascinated by his mellifluous voice. Fakir Raju spoke to him with great affection in Oriya and said, now that the government has given back the confiscated region, he would like to keep Jagannath's sons as stewards and entrust lands to them. Jagannath was very pleased at the offer and left Madanapuram probably towards the end of 1834 or in the beginning of 1835 taking his wife, Rekhamani Chudharani, first born Appala Narasimha Chowdhary, last son Gopinath Chowdhary, and his daughter Bhanumati Devi. He left behind in Madanapuram his other sons, Chakrapani, and Adinarayana. Thus, the departure of Jagannath's family to Parnasagarapuram created a split; however, resulted in some interesting spiritual benefits. The readers would later see the ministry done by Purushotham there.