Story on Vishnumaya

[Guest guest]

Story on Vishnumaya

-----

Once Sri Narada Rishi, the great devotee of

Narayana, went to Dvaraka to see Lord Krishna.

After talking for some time, they went out for a

walk. During the course of the walk, they spoke

about a lot of topics. At this juncture, Narada said to

Vasudeva, "Narayana, Krishna, Govinda,

Mahavishnoh, great sages speak of your shakthi

called Vishnumaya, by which the whole universe is

deluded into thinking of "I and mine" and by the

operation of which there is forgetfulness of You.

May I know, Vasudeva, what that Vishnumaya is, if

you are pleased to reveal that to me, your servant's

servant." Recalling to His mind a similar request

made by the sage Markandeya to Himself in the

form of Nara-Narayana, Govinda said "Sure, you

are my dear devotee. My devotees' desires will

never be unfulfilled. I will fulfill your desire."

Satisified with the reply of Madhusudhana, Narada

continued the walk.

 

Having walked a long distance, they almost came to

a suburb of Dvaraka. At this juncture, Lord Krishna

felt thirsty. He told Narada, "Dear Narada, I feel

quite thirsty. We have come a long way from our

home. We cannot go back home to quench my

thirst. Can you do Me a favour?". Narada replied,

"Prabho, your wish is my order. Command me,

your servant, what I should do". Narayana replied,

"At a short distance from here, there is a village.

Please go to that village and fetch water for Me. Till

that time, I will be sitting beneath that tree. Don't

miss Me."

 

Glad to be of service to Vishnu, which is the only

business of the soul, Narada rushed to the said

village. On reaching the first house, he knocked the

door, anxious to quickly procure water for Govinda,

whose feet-washings constitute the perennial

Ganga. The door was opened by a young girl whose

beauty stupefied the mind of Narada, stopping for a

moment his incessant chant of "Narayana,

Narayana". Forgetting both Krishna and His thirst -

the very purpose of his coming there - he enquired

the girl "Dear, who are you? Who is your father? I

would consider myself most fortunate if I can marry

you." The girl replied, "My father is inside. You can

talk to him." Narada went inside and spoke to the

girl's father, "Respected Sir, you may know me to

be Narada, Narayana's servant. Attracted by the

beauty and modesty of your daughter, I propose to

marry her. I would consider it Hari's grace if you

consent to it." The father readily agreed to the

proposal.

 

A few days later, the wedding happened. Time, the

power of Vishnu that crushes into oblivion those

turned away from Hari's feet, rolled on. Narada

begot several children in this period of 12 years and

considered his life most happy. But how can

anything other than the service of Padmanabha be

permanent?

 

One day the clouds turned very grey foreboding

terrible rains. Soon it started raining heavily with

powerful thunderclaps accompanied by a furious

wind. In a few hours, the whole village where

Narada lived was flooded and many people started

moving out of the village. To save himself and his

family, Narada too made preparations for exiting

the village. He took a small set of necessary

household articles, clutched the hands of his wife

and elder children, took his younger ones on his

shoulders and slowly waded through the waters.

With powerful rains and thunder from above,

whirling water below and furious winds in all

directions, Narada could not understand where he

was going. The whirling pull of the waters was so

high that the bag of household articles that Narada

was clutching in his hands slipped away from him.

Narada began to lament the loss of his cherished

items, just like a householder attached to his wealth.

While thus lamenting, a powerful whirlpool

snatched away one of his sons. Weeping to the

extreme and bemoaning the loss of his beloved son,

Narada said "O Narayana, what is this that is

happening to me. Please look at your sorrow-

stricken servant. How can he live without his son?"

Soon the powerful waves of the waters snatched or

drowned all his children one by one. Suffering to

the extreme, unable to bear the heavy loss, Narada

clung to his wife and pathetically cried, "Govinda,

why should I live anymore. Why does not Death

snatch me? Why don't you protect me? Do you lack

either mercy or power? If you don't protect me any

further, you will lose your good name as the

`Protector of the Devotees' ". Narada now held his

wife's hands very tightly as she was his only

remaining meaning in life. But, as if to smear salt

on a wound, a powerful whirlpool snatched away

his dearest wife from his hands. Losing everything

without exception, suffering to the extreme and

losing all meaning in life, Narada cried out at the

top of his voice, "O Narayana, is this what you do

to your servants, you merciless rogue."

 

As if the heavens heard this cry, a very powerful

flash of lightning lighted the sky blinding the eyes

of Narada for a few seconds. When he opened his

eyes, what he saw stupefied him. Neither the rains

nor the thunder, neither the floods nor the storm,

could Narada see. Instead Narada saw a four-

handed beauty sitting beneath a tree, as if anxiously

waiting for something. Distressed by the horrible

events and surprised by the enigmatic vision of

Vishnu, Narada found himself thoroughly confused

and disoriented.

 

Trying to get this clear, Narada approached the

Presence which spoke in a sonorous voice.

 

"Dear Narada, I was thirsty and asked you to get

some water for Me. I have been waiting for almost

half an hour. Have you brought Me the water?",

said the `rogue' with a mischievous smile playing

on His lips.

 

In a flash, Narada understood everything; and like a

mad man, he rushed to the Lord, clasped the feet of

the Lord extremely tight and cried bitterly like a

child. Bathing the feet of the Lord with his tears, he

could not come to normalcy for a long time. Then

he regained himself and said, "Today, Narayana,

You have revealed to me Your Vishnumaya shakti.

I, your servant, have been thoroughly confounded

by your Vishnumaya with the false notion of I,

mine, my family, my wife, my child, my wealth etc.

Taking this impermanent world as the source of

happiness, I wandered about in the dense darkness

of household life, totally forgetting your lotus feet.

In the end, I underwent extreme sorrow as the fruit

of my self-centred household life and the

consequent forgetfulness of You. This much is clear

to me, Lord, that those who serve Your lotus feet

are immune to Vishnumaya, while those who are

turned away from Your service are repeatedly going

round and round in this Samsara chakra. Let me ask

this one boon from you, Govinda: may I have

unabating love for your lotus feet and let me never

again be affected by Vishnumaya."

 

Granting his request gladly, Hari thought of the

experiences that Narada endured in Vishnumaya.

Pitying him for his pains, Krishna caressed Narada

with supreme affection, while Narada found himself

transported to the highest realms of Supreme Love.

-----

dasan,

P.Srinivasan

[Guest guest]

Hari Om. Yes, I too read this story and its variants.

And recently I laid my hands upon the audio cassettes

of Vipra Narayana, a Telugu film which I saw in my

childhood and the cassettes were lying in some obscure

corner of my house for nearly a decade. There too, Sri

Vipra Narayana, a great devotee of Sri Ranganatha of

Sri Rangam, who was fully immersed in the seva of the

Lord, gets bewitched by a courtesan and temporarily

forgets the Lord. But the Lord with His infinte mercy

soon brings the devotee back to the fold, albeit with

a little drama. Sri Vipra Narayana then realises his

mistake and prays to the Lord from the bottom of his

heart and He reveals that the devotee was His garland

and due to Some Sapam, was born thus and played out

the Karma.

 

It is thus clear that if we forget His Lotus Feet, He

uses His Maya to create problems to us so that we then

remember His Feet again. Great indeed is His

attachment. He never allows His children to wander too

far.

 

Hari Om.

 

S.V.Swamy

 

 

--- psrinivasan99 <psrinivasan99 wrote:

> Story on Vishnumaya

> -----

> Once Sri Narada Rishi, the great devotee of

> Narayana, went to Dvaraka to see Lord Krishna.

> After talking for some time, they went out for a

> walk. During the course of the walk, they spoke

> about a lot of topics. At this juncture, Narada said

> to

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImatE rAmAnujAya nama:

 

Dear SrI S.V.Swamy,

 

namO nArAyaNa!

> It is thus clear that if we forget His Lotus Feet, He

> uses His Maya to create problems to us so that we then

> remember His Feet again. Great indeed is His

> attachment. He never allows His children to wander too

> far.

 

Thanks for sharing with us the nice realization you had after

hearing the divya charitam of this greatest ranganAtha bhakta.

He is in fact, none other than the great SrI Thondar-adi-podi

AzhwAr. His devotion to Lord SrI ranganAtha (SrIman nArAyaNa)

is matchless. The divya prabhandam (divine songs on the Lord)

that he bestowed upon us are really very very sweet. They teach

us how a bhAgavathA should be.

 

Please read the following articles to read the full story of

this AzhwAr and taste some of his divine poems:

 

http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/nov97/0006.html

 

http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/jan97/0019.html

> Sri Vipra Narayana then realises his

> mistake and prays to the Lord from the bottom of his

> heart and He reveals that the devotee was His garland

> and due to Some Sapam, was born thus and played out

> the Karma.

 

aDiyEn just wanted to point out a correction. As per the

authentic scriptures like Divya sUri Saritam, etc and per

our achAryAs works like prabhanda sAram, SrI Vipra nArAyaNa

is a nitya sUri and hence he, out of his and the Lord's own

sweet will took the birth on this world to teach us how to

do bhakti to the Lord and the affair with the courtesian is

also part of the pastime they performed to teach us exactly

the realization that you got. As far as aDiyEn knows there

is no authentic version that says that due to a curse,

he is born thus.

 

SrI thondar-adi-podi azhwAr is the epitome of SrI ranganAtha

bhakti and he taught us that serving the devotees of the Lord

is even greater than serving the Lord Himself. His name itself

is an evident to it.

 

aDiyEn is pleased to see your devotion and sharing it with

others.

 

SrI thondar-adi-podi azhwAr thiruvadigalE saranam!

(The lotus feet of SrI thondar-adi-podi azhwAr are our sole refuge!)

 

namO nArAyaNa!

 

rAmAnuja dAsan,

Lakshmikumar

SrImad azhagiya singar thiruvadigalE saranam!

[Guest guest]

Hari Om. Thanks for giving the authentic story. What I

narrated was a cinematic version, which probably was

over-dramatised. Even otherwise, Jaya and Vijaya, the

Dwara Palakas of Sri Vishnu do take birth as Asuras in

three births, due to the curse of Sanaka and

Sanandana. So even if the cinematic version is

accepted, we can learn an appropriate lesson.

 

Sometime ago, in a similar vein, I thought of all of

us as Sapa Grasthas, like Sri Gajendra and Jaya Vijaya

etc. I did not read Milton's Paradise Lost, but I feel

all of us came from His Plane and so it is like losing

Paradise (Our swarga is different from the paradise).

So out of His kindness, He shows us the way to rejoin

Him.

 

I thank u for the linkages, but if the poems are in

Tamil, I am afraid I won't be able to understand.

 

Anyway, I will check up the links. In Sri Ramanuja's

biography, there is a chapter about this Azwar.

 

Thanks again. Hari Om Tatsat.

 

S.V.swamy

 

 

--- lakshmikumar <lakshmikumar wrote:

> SrI:

> SrImatE rAmAnujAya nama:

>

> Dear SrI S.V.Swamy,

>

> namO nArAyaNa!

>

> > It is thus clear that if we forget His Lotus Feet,

> He

> > uses His Maya to create problems to us so that we

> then

> > remember His Feet again. Great indeed is His

> > attachment. He never allows His children to wander

> too

> > far.

>

> Thanks for sharing with us the nice realization you

> had after

> hearing the divya charitam of this greatest

> ranganAtha bhakta.

> He is in fact, none other than the great SrI

> Thondar-adi-podi

> AzhwAr. His devotion to Lord SrI ranganAtha (SrIman

> nArAyaNa)

> is matchless. The divya prabhandam (divine songs on

> the Lord)

> that he bestowed upon us are really very very sweet.

> They teach

> us how a bhAgavathA should be.

>

> Please read the following articles to read the full

> story of

> this AzhwAr and taste some of his divine poems:

>

>

http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/nov97/0006.html

>

>

http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/jan97/0019.html

>

> > Sri Vipra Narayana then realises his

> > mistake and prays to the Lord from the bottom of

> his

> > heart and He reveals that the devotee was His

> garland

> > and due to Some Sapam, was born thus and played

> out

> > the Karma.

>

> aDiyEn just wanted to point out a correction. As per

> the

> authentic scriptures like Divya sUri Saritam, etc

> and per

> our achAryAs works like prabhanda sAram, SrI Vipra

> nArAyaNa

> is a nitya sUri and hence he, out of his and the

> Lord's own

> sweet will took the birth on this world to teach us

> how to

> do bhakti to the Lord and the affair with the

> courtesian is

> also part of the pastime they performed to teach us

> exactly

> the realization that you got. As far as aDiyEn knows

> there

> is no authentic version that says that due to a

> curse,

> he is born thus.

>

> SrI thondar-adi-podi azhwAr is the epitome of SrI

> ranganAtha

> bhakti and he taught us that serving the devotees of

> the Lord

> is even greater than serving the Lord Himself. His

> name itself

> is an evident to it.

>

> aDiyEn is pleased to see your devotion and sharing

> it with

> others.

>

> SrI thondar-adi-podi azhwAr thiruvadigalE saranam!

> (The lotus feet of SrI thondar-adi-podi azhwAr are

> our sole refuge!)

>

> namO nArAyaNa!

>

> rAmAnuja dAsan,

> Lakshmikumar

> SrImad azhagiya singar thiruvadigalE saranam!

>

>

>

>

-----------------------------

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http://sports.

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Lakshmikumar and other bhaktas,

 

Hari Om tatsat. Thanks again for the encouragement.

today I visited the link suggested by Sri Lakshmikumar

and read the biography of Sri Vipranarayana, (his

tamil name is very enlightening but difficult for me

to type). The story has been very authentically

picturised except for that small change. In the movie,

Sri Ranganatha tells that Sri Vipranarayana was His

garland (Vanamala) and had to take birth as a human

due to a Sapam.

 

I was suddenly reminded of Sri Bhadrachala Rama Dasu

(He is referred that way to differentiate him from Sri

Samartha Rama Das of Maharashtra, who was the

spiritual Guru of Sri Sivaji), another great Rama

Bhakta. He spent Nizam's money to build a beautiful

temple and for ornaments etc. to Sri Rama, Sita etc.

at Bhadrachalam. The Nizam arrests him and puts him in

prison. He sings so many songs in praise of Sri Rama

and at times scolds Him (out of his love and

desperation). Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana visit the

Nizam and pay him the money on behalf of Sri Ramadasu

and obtain a receipt. Later the Nawab realises that

the two 'servants' of Sri Rama Dasu were the two great

brothers Rama and Lakshmana!

 

Great indeed are the Leelas (sports, tricks, pranks

call them what you will), of this Lord. There also, it

is revealed that Sri Rama Dasu had to suffer the

prison sentence since as asmall child he caught hold

of a parrot and put it in a cage and made me repeat

Rama, Rama... So even though it was done with a good

intention, he had to pay for the Karma, by suffering

imprisonment.

 

Thus all the stories, whether true or not, have to be

enjoyed for the morals.

 

Thanks again. Hari Om Tatsat.

 

Swamy