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.