The stream of compassion

[Guest guest]

!! Sri Rama Jayam !!

 

Most of us know about Chembai regaining his lost voice by the grace

of our Guruvayurappan. Below you will find 2 more superb incidents

singing the glory of Guruvayurappan.

 

1 - How Chembai Vaidyanatha Bagavathar regained his voice:

 

Below given are the words of that blessed soul who experienced the

compassion face to face -

 

Sri Vaidyanatha Bagavathar called Chembai, was one of the greatest

musicians in recent times. Here is an account by himself of his

regaining his voice due to the Lord's grace.

 

" On January 7, 1952, I was giving a concert at holy Suchindram. An

hour had elapsed and I was at the peak of my performance. All of a

sudden, my vocal chords got stuck up, as it were, and my voiced

totally failed me. THe concert broke up in confusion. Many rushed up

to the dais to render help. Doctors tried their best with pills and

potions but to no avail. "

 

" I went through life without any hope and no ray of hope seemed to

come anywhere. In this state of desperation, in 1954, on the great

Ekadasi Day in Guruvayoor, I stood before the Lord and wrung out my

heart to Him. I could not give vocal utterance to my anguish.

Memories of the glorious days when I had sung His praises surged

forward. "

 

" O Lord, I cried out, will Thou not let me sing Thy praises? Will

Thou let my heart break, for without this outward expression of my

heart's agony, I can hardly live? Hadst Thou in the past not given

the gift of speech to the great Muka Kavi? Had he not sung Thy

praises in enchanting Sanskrit verses known so well as the Muka

Panchasati Stotras? "

 

" In my agony and mute supplication to the Lord, I had not noticed a

Numbudiri standing at a distance of some fifty feet from me. He

divined my trouble and came to me. He had evidently heard my

inarticulate prayer. He promised to rid me of my trouble,

Guruvayoorappan willing. "

 

" The Lord had sent his minister to help me and I regained my voice.

In keeping with my promise I have since then been singing the praises

of Bhagavan. Every year, I have the 'Udayastamana' puja performed at

the temple for Guruvayoor and the sum of Rs. 5,000 need for it comes

from the concerts that Guruvayoorappan himself arranged " .

 

Despite the infirmities of old age from which he suffered Sri Chembai

was indeed blessed-for he gave recitals till the day he breathed his

last-Oct. 16, 1974. Right from the age of 20, Chembai had been

visiting Guruvayoor almost every year for the Ekadasi Festival there

and giving concerts which were attended by a large number of devotees.

 

 

2 - The meaning of the fruit:

 

Once upon a time.. In Guruvayoor temple, the priest had kept beetle

leaves, beetle nuts and 2 banana fruits for the day's pooja. Due to

hunger, a poor boy who had come to the temple, took the fruits kept

for offering to God. The priest had closed his eyes and was telling

the shlokas. Without having the heart to eat both the fruits, the

poor boy kept one before Gurvayoorappan and ate the other one.

 

The priest who opened his eyes and saw got angry and as a punishment

asked the boy to go around the sannidhi 100 times.

 

While the priest was watching, in one round he saw the poor boy and

in the next round he saw the Lord Sri Guruvayoorappan, again and

again. He called the poor boy and enquired, to which Lord

Guruvayoorappan Himself answered: " As one of the two fruits was given

to Him, half the punishment was His " . The priest realized the Truth

and shed tears.

 

 

3 - The Lord and the little Priest:

 

Once a little Nambudiri boy from Nenmeni Illam had to officiate as

the temple priest in place of his father who had gone to a friend's

house to attend a sraddha ceremony. The boy in all his innocence

believed that the deity would actually partake of the naivedyam

offered merely as a ritual.. He placed the cooked rice before the

Lord and when He did not touch it in spite of all his entreaties, and

even threats, he thought the Lord was averse to eating the naviedyam

without butter-milk and mango pickles. So he brought these from a

neighboring illam and placed them before the Lord. As the Lord still

did not respond physically to the invitation, the boy said, sobbing,

that his father would punish him, if the naivedyam was found

untouched by Him. The Lord now relented and ate the entire naivedyam.

 

With great joy, the little priest placed the empty vessel before the

Variyar attendant to have it cleaned. The latter whose perquisite it

was to have the entire naivedyam flared up at the boy thinking that

he had eaten all of it. He waited for the boy's father to return and

complained to him about his son. The father went in to a rage and

raised his hand to slap the son when an incorporeal voice was heard

from the Srikovil: " The boy is innocent; I am the guilty one, not the

unni " .

 

 

Hare Krishna

Hare Rama