pUrNamadah pUrNamidam... Guruvayurappan!

[Guest guest]

The Kshethra (place) for tapas (penance) is BADRI, for bhakthi

(devotion) VRINDAVAN and for jnana, KASHI. However, for Bhagavatha

Paarayanam the Kshethra is GURUVAYUR. If Kashi is Jnanapuri and

Vrindavan is Bhakthapuri, Guruvayur is BHAGAVATHAPURI."

 

"The great saint Narayana Bhatadhri wrote Narayaneeyam in this very

kshethra. Narayaneeyam is a concise version of Bhagavatham. Sri

Guruvayurappan himself acknowledged each and every single verse of

Narayaneeyam. Bhatadhri asked Lord Guruvayurappan, 'O Lord! Did

Gajendra, the elephant offer you a lotus while surrendering himself

at thy feet?' Guruvayurappan replied, 'The lotus that I am holding in

my hand is the one that Gajendra offered me'."

 

"The Guruvayurappan that we see today in the temple is the same one

that played numerous lilas(divine plays)before Bhatadhri. The

Bhagavatham that we recite today, is the one that Sri Shukar narrated

to King Parikshith. Bhatadhri could see the Lord just as we see this

world but we are unable to do so. The difference lies in one's

calibre. Although we cannot see Lord Guruvayurappan like Bhatadhri

did, we can be sure of the fact that during the seven day Bhagavatha

parayanam by 108 Bhagavathars, Guruvayurappan was here and not in the

temple."

 

 

 

"Like Lord Panduranga of Pandaripuram, Lord Guruvayurappan has played

many lilas with his devotees. Once, there was this devotee of Lord

Guruvayurappan, who always offered the coconuts from his farm to the

Lord. On one such occasion while he was carrying a few coconuts for

the Lord, he was stopped by a thief who demanded all his belongings.

The devotee said that the coconuts were his sole possession and

refused to part with them as they were meant to be offered to Sri

Guruvayurappan. The thief jocularly asked if the coconuts had

any "HORNS" meaning if these were so special. So saying, he opened

the bag only to find that every single coconut in it had a pair of

horn! Even today one can find one of those coconuts with 'horns'

displayed near the 'thula-baaram'."

 

"Another anecdote concerns that of a poor little boy who was greatly

devoted to Lord Guruvayurappan. He had the habit of sharing with the

Lord everything that he acquired. Out of sheer hunger and being

penniless he used to steal bananas. He would first drop one half into

the temple hundi and then eat the other half. This little theft was

soon found out and the boy was caught red-handed. However, pitying

the boy's state, the shop-keeper did not wish to treat him harshly.

At the same time, he wanted to teach him a lesson. So he instructed

the boy to go around the temple(circumambulation) of Sri

Guruvayurappan, a certain number of times. The shop-keeper was

totally taken by surprise to find the Lord following the boy. That

night Sri Guruvayurappan appeared in the shopkeeper's dream and

explained that he had undergone his share of the punishment. Such

lilas of Guruvayurappan are innumerable."

 

(muralidhara swamigal)