SrI vEnkaTEswara swAmi mahatyam part-5

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SrI:

SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:

SrI krishNa parabrahmaNE nama:

SrImAn nArAyaNa charaNau saraNam prapadyE

 

16. Birth of AkAsa rAju

 

The chOLa king who is cursed by SrI hari and becomes a brahma, reincarnates in

the same same royal family in nArAyaNa puram, 20KM away from tirupati. He enters

in the womb of King sudharma's wife and is called as AkAsa rAju. He is very

lovingly brought up by his parents. Sudharma once goes for hunting and becomes

very much thirsty in the forest. When he reaches kapila teertha in search of

water, he finds a beautiful 'nanga' girl and gets attracted by her beauty. He

immediately marries her in gAndharva way, and begets a child named thonDamAn.

 

When sudharma becomes a old man, he makes his son AkAsa rAju the king of his

kingdom and leaves thonDamAn to his care. After some time sudharma dies. The

couple AkAsarAju and DharaNi dEvi protect their subjects and treat them as their

own children. All the subjects are very happy with their king and they are very

obedient to the royal family. The only problem for the royal couple is that they

have no children. They are very much worried about not having children.

 

17. AkAsa rAju performs putrakAmeshTi yAga, the appearance of divine mother

padmAvathi dEvi

 

On one auspicious day, AkAsa rAju worships his kula guru devotedly and reveals

his sorrows of not having any children and requests for an advice. The

comppassionate guru, suka maharishi says: 'long long agi king janka performed

putrakAmEshTi yaga and got jAnaki as his daughter. You may also do the same. may

God bless you.'

 

AkAsarAju is very pleased with the suggestion of his guru and makes arrangements

for the yAga immediately. On an auspicious time, he performs putra kAmEshTi yAga

successfully under the guidance of expert brAhmins and his guru.

 

As a part of the ritual of the yAga, land is a ploughed with a golden plough.

Plough is strucked in the land with something and the land is digged there to

find a box embedded in the soil. To their extreme suuprise they find a

beautiful female child in the midst of a thousand petalled lotus flower.

Immediately, there is a bright lightening and thunder in the sky and a voice

from heaven is heard saying ' AkAsaraju! you are very fortunate, and your lofe

became sucessful. On account of the baby that you find, your entire race's glory

becomes eternal.'

 

On hearing these words, the royal couple, suka maharishi, and the brahmins

present all become very happy. AkAsa raju takes the baby in his arms and gets

the blessings from his guru and brahmins. Since the baby is found in a lotus

flower, she is given the name padmAvathi by Suka maharishi. The girl is brought

with great love and affection. To their good fortune, dharaNi dEvi becomes

pregnant and gives birth to a male baby named vasudemudu. They rise both the

children very affectionately.

 

(to be continued ...)

 

dAsOham,

SrIperumbUdUru vEnkaTa vinOd.