Saint Sketch -7- Sri Sridhara Venkatesa Ayyaval -Part-4 By Sri.Sri.Muralidhara Swamiji

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Radhe Krishna To All,

 

An Announcement:1. On the Ocassion of Tamil New Year's day our swamiji is rendering a Special discourse on Star Vijay TV. today inbetween 7.00AM till 7.30AM. Please do watch!2. A 3 minute 'Hare Rama.' Mahamantra Kirtan video is telecast on Star Vijay TV every morning (Mon-Fri) at 5:25 am.

Let us have an auspicious beginning to every day with the viewing of the Mahamantra Kirtan.3. Sri Sri Swamiji's rendered a discourse at Narada Gana Sabha on Sunday 12th April, commemorating the birth centenary of Swami Abhedananda. Pl click the link below to watch the full discourse , http://www.namadwaar.org/videos/internal/abhedananda.php --------------- Sri Shridhara Ayyaval Sri Shridhara Ayyaval used to visit the Temple of MahaLinga, Lord Shiva, in the nearby

city of Madhyarjuna. Rain or shine, he would not miss to visit the temple. He preferred to see the Lord when there was not much crowd and so chose the early hours of the morning for the visit. Once, Lord Shiva intended to test the love and devotion of Sri Shridhara Ayyaval, who was none but He Himself! That day, Sri Shridhara Ayyaval was on his way to the temple as usual. He had to cross the river Kaveri in order to reach the temple. On reaching the bank of Kaveri, he realized it was flooding. Boatmen refused to ferry the boat across the river. Sri Shridhara Ayyaval could not bring himself to return home without seeing His Lord in the temple. Gazing at the tower of the temple on the other shore, Sri Shridhara Ayyaval stood with tear-filled eyes. He felt he must have offended the Lord in some way and the very sin is obstructing him from having a vision of His Lord. He composed a soulful prayer called 'AarthiHara Stotra' in which he prayed, "Oh

Lord! Please bestow your loving and compassionate glance on me, who is suffering from the pangs of separation from you! You have the untarnished fame of relieving the one who merely chants your Divine name, from the clutches of sorrow! How is it that though I have sought refuge in You, I am agonized? Did you not bestow your grace on the hunter who chanted your divine name 'Hara Hara Hara' in death bed unknowingly while teaching his son the way to hunt-'Prahara, Aahara, Samhara'(attack, bring, kill)? Such being your compassion, how can you turn your face on me who am piteously praying- 'Save me Lord Shiva!' While Sri Shridhara Ayyaval was lamenting thus, a priest familiar to him in the Shiva Temple, came to his presence and gave Vibhoothi Prasada (Sacred ashes). He said, "I did not find you in the temple today. I knew you would be saddened at not being able to cross the river and have the vision of the Lord. So I thought why not come and

give you the sacred ashes." Transported with joy, Sri Shridhara Ayyaval prostrated unto the priest and accepted the sacred ashes with reverence. Shedding tears of joy, thinking of the love of Lord towards His devotees, while Sri Shridhara Ayyaval was moving towards his home, it suddenly stuck to him as to how could the priest alone cross the flooding river! Thinking back, he could remember, that the priest was not a bit drenched and the sacred ashes on the priest's body too were intact! Sri Shridhara Ayyaval wondered if it was Lord Shiva himself who had come in the garb of the priest. Next day, the flood subsided and Sri Shridhara Ayyaval went to the temple and found the same priest there. Sri Shridhara Ayyaval thanked the priest for his kindness and said his mind was at peace only after receiving the sacred ashes from him yesterday. The priest was utterly confused hearing this. He said, "Sir! I never came to the other shore! Indeed, who could have

dared to cross the flooding river?" Sri Shridhara Ayyaval was moved beyond words at these words of the priest which made him realize it was Lord Shiva himself who had taken pity on him and come to give the sacred ashes. With a grateful heart he sung the glory of the compassion of the lord in the verse 'Dayashatakam'. He sings, "Oh! The Compassion of the Lord! One is cleansed of all his sins the moment your cast your glance on him! When will you bless me so that I am always immersed in the bliss of chanting the Divine names like 'Madhava', 'Murari', 'Kaamaarey', 'Shiva', 'Mahadeva', 'Govinda' and 'Purahara'! Be pleased to bestow two boons on me! That my mind may always be established in the Divine Form of Lord Shiva and that my tongue may always chant the Divine Names! In my last breath, let me chant the Divine Name 'Shiva'!†Sri Shridhara Ayyaval, who composed 100 such verses glorifying the compassion of the Lord, was none other than

Lord Shiva himself! Needless to say, he was an epitome of compassion! He could not stand to see one suffer. In comparison to compassion to all beings, he considered even liberation as trifling. !!! Will Continue !!!RegardsLet’s Chant Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare-----------------------If you have any questions or doubts concerning Spirituality, Mental peace or problems in life or about dharma, please write to us by clicking here: http://www.namadwaar.org/answers/askquestion.php His Holiness Sri Sri Swamiji personally answers these questions for you and suggests prayers.---------------------------