Bhakta Tarigonda Vengamamba Part 1

[Guest guest]

Tarigonda Vengamamba

Introduction

Once God asked Narada - `Narada, tell me, which is the

greatest thing in the whole world?'

Narada promptly answered `Water occupies three fourths of the

world. So it is the greatest.'

God said, `Fine. But did not Agastya drink the entire water

in a gulp. So is he great or is the water?'.

`Agastya, God!'

`But Agastya is just one star in the Saptarshi Mandal. There

are millions of such stars in the vast sky. Now tell me is one star

great or the vast sky which holds these great?'

`No doubt about it the vast sky is great!'

`But God in the guise of Vamana covered the vast sky in just

one step so, is God great or the vast sky?'

`Of course, God is great!'

`But the Bhakta imprisons such God in his heart. So is God

great or the Bhakta?

`Bhakta is great' said Narada! This episode shows us how God

is carried away by Ananya Bhakti.

God himself proclaimed,

`Mayyavesya manoyemam nityayukta upasate

Sraddaya para yopethaste me yukta tanu mataha !!

One such Bhakta whose name remains forever with Lord

Venkateswara's name is Tarigonda Vengamamba.

Birth of Vengamamba

There was a devout couple called Krishaniah and Mangamamba in

Tarigonda village. They were the happiest couple but for a pin prick

in their life. They had no children. They couldn't understand why

they were not blessed by a child though they were staunch devotees of

the Lord Venkateswara.

One day while her husband was walking to her, Mangamamba

thought it was the Lord walking to her but not her husband. The same

day, some children were playing on the roadside. One of them ran into

Mangamamba's house and said, `Ma, I am hungry!' Being thrilled with

his addressing her as Ma - she offered him a morsel of curd rice -

prasadam. He snatched the bowl from her hand, gulped the whole thing

in a split second and ran out before she could see what was

happening. She wanted him to wash his hands and mouth but lo! The boy

was out of sight. She felt that he was no other than Lord Krishna -

chilipi Krishna - himself.

Poor innocent lady expressed her feelings to her husband but

that only irritated him. He shouted at her. `Too much of anything is

too bad. You are praying incessantly to God and so you are under a

hallucination. You better put an end to your nonsensical prayer at

once! So saying he relaxed in his easy chair outside, but his mind

was disturbed. When he cooled down he reasoned to himself, `Did I not

experience the same feeling in the morning while I was praying to

God? Then what rights have I to shout at her? In fact though she has

been laughed at by the society, she never cursed God for her ill

fate. Why should I blame God?' These words of self reprimand made him

a normal self. As atonement for his sin, he took his wife to the

local temple of Lord Sri Venkateswara.

Mangamamba could feel a light from the Lord's eyes caressing

her body. Her husband too felt it was a sign of Lord's blessings and

that they would be blessed with a baby very soon. Yes their

understanding was perfect. Within two months Mangamamba conceived.

Krishnaiah's joy knew no bounds. He treated her as a delicate darling

and wanted to fulfil all her desires. She said `I like the sweetness

of Ramanama. I would like to hand it over to the offspring in my

womb.' Little did she realize then, the tension they would face when

their offspring came out into the world with the name of God!

They longed for a boy baby but Mangamamba dreamt of Lord

Venkateswara in a feminine get up. Her husband too was told by a

tribal man that a girl baby would be born to him. So they were half

prepared and drove out their initial disappointment very easily. In

fact Mangamamba laughed to herself at her unreasonable nature. There

were days when they longed for a child, but when they really had one

should they not feel happy over it?

The baby was the centre of attraction in their lives.

Whatever the baby did was an act of admiration to them. The laugh,

the cry, a movement of the hand or leg even a yawn was a thing of

beauty and a joy for ever. They named her Vengamamba - a combination

of Lord Venkateswara and Alivelu Manga. The composer and the singer

in Mangamamba came out unknowingly and the proud father admired his

wife's talents.