sri vEnkaTEswara mahatyam part -4

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SrI:

SrImathE rAmAnujAya namaha

SrI krishNa parabrahmaNE namaha

SrImAn nArAyaNa charaNau saraNam prapadyE

 

dear vaishNavAs,

 

13. BhoovarAha murthy

 

Once great sages sanaka, sananda, sanatkumara and sunanda who are in the dwarf

brahmana forms goto vaikuntha, to have the darshan of SrI Hari. Jaya and vijaya,

who are the guards at the entrance, do not allow them to enter, thinking low of

the sages. Their ignorance could not be tolerated by kumara-brothers and curse

Jaya and vijaya to become rAkshasAs.

 

Because of Lord?s intervention, the sages adjust the curse sothat after three

births, they will get their original form and service. But during these three

births, they will be antagonistic to Sri Hari and be killed by Him. Soon, Jaya

and vijaya become two great demons named HiraNyAksha, and HiraNyakasipa. Both

of them are cruel and harass rishis, demigods and vaishNavAs. Because of their

immense material powers, no one could oppose them in the three world.

HiraNyAksha once captured earth and hid it in pAtALa lOka. Unable to bear the

troubles created by HiraNyAksha, the demigods approached Lord vishNu and prayed

Him to help them overcome these troubles.

 

SrI Hari compassionately took a suitable form, VarAha (hog or pig, to uplift

earth from a filthy place), and diving in the ocean reached pAtALa lOka. He

killed HiraNyAksha demon with His sharp horns and lifted the earth up. For

lifting bhoodevi from the vast waters, He is called bhoovarAha swami. Seeing the

divya mangala vigraha of the Lord, in jubiliant celebration of Lord?s victory

over the demon, great sages, demigods, and all great souls showered flowers on

Him. They requested the Lord to stay in bhoolOka and bless the mankind. He

therefore made sEshAchalam His abode. Great sages learn the secrets of vEdas

from Him and He is engaged in the protection of His devotees. Chief among His

devotees being vakuLa dEvi.

 

14. birth of vakuLa dEvi

 

In dwApara yuga, Lord KrishNa has pleased all the devotees of the world and how

can we measure the position of Srimathi yasOda dEvi who even has bound Him to a

wooden mortar. All her desires are fulfilled as the mother of the Supreme Lord,

with the exception of arranging His marriage. Lord Hari fulfills her desire in

this birth of her as vakuLa dEvi. There is no desire unfulfilled for the devotee

of the Lord.

 

15. SrI Hari begs VarAha swami for land

 

The Lord on whose back a big mountain as big as mEru rests, such Lord is wounded

by a cowherd. Brihaspati takes the opportunity to serve the Lord by suggesting

Him a proper medicine and be part of His pastime. Brihaspathi, the teacher of

dEvathAs suggests Lord that the fibres of the milk weed soaked in the milk from

the fig-tree can be applied to the wound and the wound will be completely cured

in a week time.

 

SrI Hari goes in search of the fig-tree which dEvarishi brihaspathi has

suggested. In His search, He finds a cottage where in He hears a sweet kirtan

of Sri KrishNa. Unable to bear the pain, Sri Hari cries, mother! Mother! The

motherly affection of vakuLa dEvi who is residing in the cottage increased upon

hearing such a cry. She immediately comes out to find Sri Hari with a wound on

His head. Sri Hari has suggested what He heard from brihaspathi as proper

medicine. VakuLa devi serves Him in the same as is prescribed and after Sri Hari

took sufficient rest, she asks about who He is.

 

YasOda nandana exclaimingly asks, ?mother, have you forgotten me, please look at

me closely?. So saying, He invoked Her remembrance about her divine son. She

immediately embraced Kannan and her joy found no bounds. Next morning she baths

him and takes to srI VarAha swami temple. SrImAn nArAyaNa worshipped varAhaswami

devotedly. Sri Hari requests VarAha swami to give Him some land in the hills so

that He can reside there. But VarAha swami asks for a big price to pay.

 

Lord who is devoid of SrI dEvi, cannot pay for the same, but requests for an

alternative arrangement. He suggests that His devotees will first visit

bhoo-varAha swami before they can see Him. As per the promise made by VishNu,

even today, all the pilgrims to tirupathi first visit sri varAhaswami temple and

then have the darshan of Sri vEnkaTEswara swami. Even the prasAdams are

presented to varAhaswami first.

 

VakuLa dEvi asks vishNu by what name He would like to be called by her. But He

suggests His mother only to choose a name for Him. VakuLa dEvi likes Her son to

be called srInivAsa, hail the divine mother and Her choicest name for the most

benevolent Lord.

 

(to be continued...)

 

dAsOham,

SrIperumbUdUru vEnkaTa vinOd.