Saint Sketches--Sri Sridhara Venkatesa Ayyaval -4 By Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

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?â€

 

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'!â€

 

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.

 

One Sri Shridhara Ayyaval was on his way to Kaveri for a bath. It was 'Sraardha'

(ceremony for ancestors) in his home and everything was ready for it. On his

way, he found a man who was poor and low in caste lying on the ground

unconscious due to hunger. Not standing the suffering of the man, Sri Shridhara

Ayyaval, rushed to his home and brought the food prepared for the ceremony and

gave it to the man. Sri Shridhara Ayyaval , who saw the Lord in all, neither had

a second thought about doing this nor was he bothered about the sin he might

incur. He knew that by appeasing the hunger of this man, he would be pleasing

the Lord. After giving him food, Sri Shridhara Ayyaval, went back home and

cleaned the entire place. He cooked fresh food for the priests and invited them

for performing the ceremony. The priests who were to perform the ceremony were

already jealous of Sri Shridhara Ayyaval. Considering this the right opportunity

to get back at him, they

picked up fight with Sri Shridhara Ayyaval. Sri Shridhara Ayyaval quoted

scriptures to show the greatness of timely help and said it was in no way sinful

to feed a hungry man. However, the priests were adamant and refused to accept

any explanation. They all walked out of the house and announced Sri Shridhara

Ayyaval as an outcast. Sri Shridhara Ayyaval accepted this too as the divine

will of Lord and continued the ceremony without help of the priests. The Trinity

of Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma themselves appeared at the home of

Sri Shridhara Ayyaval and participated in the ceremony! They partook of the food

cooked by Sri Shridhara Ayyaval with pleasure. What will the Lord not do for His

loving devotee?

 

Though the ceremony was performed that way that year, the next year Sri

Shridhara Ayyaval, again requested the priests to participate in the ceremony,

soft at heart that he was. The arrogant priests refused bluntly. Sri Shridhara

Ayyaval begged that he would do any atonement for the sin incurred. The priests

then said, “In that case, take a dip the Holy river of Ganga. That is the only

atonement for the terrible sin incurred.†Sri Shridhara Ayyaval replied,

“The Holy Ganga is up in north and I am already old. I do not think I can

travel that far anymore. Instead, I shall bring the Holy Ganga to me well here

in the backyard.†Hearing this, the priests said, “How preposterous of you

to speak so! Of course, there are some verses in the scriptures, which exalt the

Holy Name of Ganga by saying that if one takes a dip in any water chanting the

name of Ganga, he would gain the merit of having taken a dip the Holy River

Ganga. But these are nothing but

exaggerations! Just as you exaggerate the glory of Divine Names!†and laughed

out. “Don’t even imagine that you can trick us and become one among us

again!†Sri Shridhara Ayyaval humbly replied, “I do not intend to cheat

anybody. I shall bring the Holy Ganga right here.†Saying so, he prayed to

Holy Ganga in eight verses by composing Gangashtakam. And lo! The Holy River

Ganga gushed out of the well in the backyard of Sri Shridhara Ayyaval’s home!

The priests were terrified to witness this miracle. Now they were alarmed to see

the river gush out to the roads! They ran and fell at Sri Shridhara Ayyaval's

feet and begged his pardon. They requested Sri Shridhara Ayyaval to send the

river back! Sri Shridhara Ayyaval invited all of them to take a dip in the

river. The panicked mass insisted he send it back and refused to take a dip. Sri

Shridhara Ayyaval then prayed to Mother Ganga to stay in his well in the

backyard of his home for ever. The

Holy River Ganges heeded his prayers. This incident happened in the month of

'Karthika' on a new moon day. Till this day, many pilgrims travel to

Tiruvisainallur to take a dip in this well every year new moon day of the

Karthika month.

 

Sri Shridhara Ayyaval joined Sri Bodendra Swamigal in spreading the message of

chanting the Divine Names as the easiest means to gain both material and

spiritual benefits. One day, while Sri Shridhara Ayyaval was on his way to visit

the temple of Lord Shiva, he discoursed to his devotees emphasizing the glory of

divine names and love for the Lord. Sri Shridhara Ayyaval looked unusually

bright and lustrous that day. In the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord, he prayed

with tears in his eyes to the Lord by singing many verses. Overwhelmed by the

pangs of separation from the Lord and unable to stand it any longer, Sri

Shridhara Ayyaval rushed to the Sanctum of the Lord in order to embrace Him.

While the priests attempted to stop him, Sri Shridhara Ayyaval, ran and

disappeared into the Sanctum of the Lord. The Lord, in the form of Linga, shone

brightly like a sun for some time. The awestruck devotees stood looking on, as

this wonderful incident happened, and shed

tears.

 

Sri Shridhara Ayyaval spent every moment of his life striving to uplift the mass

by spreading the nectarine Divine Names of the Lord. Let us all pray to Sri

Shridhara Ayyaval to bless us all with a taste for the divine names of the Lord.

 

 

Regards

 

Let’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.

---------------------------