Month: June 2020

venkaTAdri samam sthAnam brahmANDe nAsti kincana;

venkateSa samo devo na bhUto na bhaviSyati

This sloka  taken from the Puranas  claims  …………

There is no place in the entire universe that equals Venkatadri, the place where the Lord resides and there is no God, neither in the past nor in the future who equals  Lord Venkateswara.

Everything begins and ends or is reduced to sunyam (nothingness) before him, while the infinite world pens to the sincere seeker with an infinitesimal offering.

This is because spiritual wealth through devotion is the basis of life .

TIRUMALA, the abode of Lord Srinivasar stands unique as an embodiment of man’s eternal quest for the divine and His infinite grace.

A piligrimage to the sacred Hills is a soul-stirring experience cherished by every devotee.  The puranas say that soon after Dwaparayugam ended and Kaliyugam started, Lord Krishna, decided to stay back to protect one and all and chose TIRUMALA. 

The Lord of the seven hills is the Lord of the universe. The special significance of Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala lies in the fact that it is the oldest religious institutions in the world where unbroken religious worship is being carried on for over 1,500 years by revered Acharyas and millions of pilgrims  reach the holy abode more than any other temple in the world.  A pilgrimage to the sacred Hills is a soul-stirring experience cherished by every devotee. Even atheists and rationalists admit a sense of humility and the presence of the Lord here .

It was  during 1781.  the British army was camping at a station called Thakkolam, a place close to Vellore in Tamilnadu.  The Nawabs of Arcot, ruled the Carnatic region of South India. They  had their capital at Arcot near Vellore  region  in Tamil Nadu .

The French  army were advancing in the areas around Madras  with the Muslem kings . The British  were responding  to the French onslaught during the Carnatic wars .. Defending them , there was several days of   battle  going on .  A British soldier by name  Vellian, was lying down almost dead in his bed, for many days, after he was brutally injured by a bullet…

With no more  hopes left  Vellian was left to his fate by the British army doctor.

There was a temple nearby and  the locals  ardent devotees of Lord Venkateshwara used to visit the temple regularly .

Villian used to watch them going up the hills with some cloth bags over their head  with reverberating chants

Govinda  Govinda   Govinda …

Invariably his mind got entangled to the holy name  Govinda  listening the chants frequently … and it became a routine for his mind to chant the holy name all the day when the pilgrims  trekked the hills chanting the holy name GOVINDA ...

  The craving  to see the temple and the  deity 

G O V I N D A  on the temple became more intense .

He prayed silently for curing  his pain due to bullet injury ..

It was early morning … A  twelve  year old mystic Hindu boy came to serve tea in that army camp..

After serving tea to all the major officials in the camp, the boy then went straight to Vellian’s bunker and greeted him saying..

“..Good morning sir..”..

Vellian, who at that moment was still in great pain was in no mood to talk to any one..However, taking the soldier by surprise this was what the 12 year old mystic Hindu tea boy told Vellian..

Vellian  said “Good morning” but with a little disinterest in his voice..

Transferring tea into a cup, the boy smiled and  said,”Sir, with your kind permission may I tell you something..? ? ..”

“Sir, I know you are in pain for several days.. I also know that you lost all your hopes of any recovery..But sir..Please listen to me and offer your prayers to Lord Sri Venkateswara of Tirumala temple..Tirumala is a Temple very near to this place and Lord Sri Venkateswara is the most merciful  God in this world…

Am sure He will save you from death..Trust me sir..”

With a little curiosity in his voice and a little dazzle in his eyes this time, Vellian then slowly turned towards the tea boy and said “..

Thanks my dear, but what do you want me to do for that..’..

With a smile,the boy replied”..Thanks for taking my words sir..

All that you have to do is to just offer your prayers to Lord Sri Venkateswara and request Him to heal you fully.. ”

And now with more hope in his voice,

Vellian asked the boy..”Okay my dear..I would certainly do.

.But how to offer my prayers ….

I have never done that before..You need to help me do that..

And this time Without seeking any permission from  Vellian, the  mystic  boy walked with all the divine command in this world to the bedside of Vellian; held both his hands first; brought them close to each other…

And later bringing them together, by creating a traditional Hindu NAMASTE posture, raised  Vellian’s hands and turned them towards the direction wherein the Tirumala temple was located and surprising  Vellian further,very loudly chanted

    GOVINDA

Amazingly ,   the boy holding a much surprised Vellian’s hands, closed his eyes for a few moments and silently offered his personal prayers to Lord Sri Venkateswara. .

“.. Vinaa Venkatesam Nanatho Nanathah..

Sadaa Venkatesam Smaraami Smaraami.

Hare Venkatesa Praseeda Praseedah..

Priyam Venkatesa Prayachcha Prayachchah. .”

“.. Aham Doora Tasthe Padaam Bhoja Yugmah.

. Pranamechcha Ya Gachcha Sevaam Karomi..

Sakrut Sevayaa Nitya Sevaa Phalantvam..

Prayachcha Prayachcha Prabho Venkatesaa..”

Furthermore amazed at the command with which the Hindu boy held both his hands and also at the ease with which he had chanted the intricate Sanskrit sloka,  Vellian slowly got up in his bed; turned both his hands that were still held in a NAMASTE posture towards the smiling mystic boy and offered him his salutations.

Vellian who had lost all his hopes of any recovery from that near dead situation had quite miraculously regained a complete normalcy in just about a few days time..
This miraculous recovery of  Vellian shocked the British Army Doctors who have by then had literally written him off as a medical ‘case of complete hopelessness beyond recovery’..

Much later,as he could not personally visit the Tirumala temple due to his job constraints,  Vellian requested his friend,an Indian soldier by name Ramachandra Ganesh, to visit the Tirumala hill Shrine on his behalf and offer the holy Lord Sri Venkateswara what he promised to offer…EPILOGUE

“Vinaa Venkatesam” sloka although is an integral part of Sri Venkateswara Suprabhatham, was however written and recited first by Sri Markandeya Maharshi,when He visited the Tirumala hills and offered this sloka to Lord Sri Venkateswara. .

In the later period, the story of  Vellian’s miraculous recovery reached the governing authorities of the British Kingdom.

.In 1801, after having known the sanctity  of Lord Sri Venkateswara  temple,  the British took over the administration of the Temple from the hands of the Nawabs of Arcot for lack of discipline and misappropriation of funds in the Temple..

Later in 1821, strictly in accordance with the norms of the Tirumala Temple,the British introduced what is called the Bruce Code..

This code has 42 provisions formulated in it with well defined customs and duties meant both for the Tirumala Temple as well as for the Hindu officials working there..

Quite surprisingly, the  British, known for their iconoclastic nature, never interfered with the day to day affairs and rituals of the Tirumala Temple except taking care of it’s administration.

.After that divine incident, renowned British personalities like Sir Thomas Monroe and Colonel Geo Stratten went on to become great devotees of Lord Sri Venkateswara. .

During their tenure of office in India, they have never allowed the British army to camp anywhere close to the Tirumala Hill Shrine and also never allowed any British national enter the Tirumala Hills with footwear..

After that incident in the army camp,  Vellian and the whole of British army had made a frantic search for that 12 year old mystic  boy but they couldn’t find Him anywhere..

Who was HE..?? ..And where did He come from..??“.

.Sarva Avayava Soundaryaa Sampada Sarva Chetasam

Sada Sammohanayastu Sri Venkatesaya Mangalam..” .

The great saint poet Annamaya  of Tirumala in one of his sweet  composition sings about the  glory of  LORD  VENKATESHWARA which is truly divine …..

Oh Lord! Your devotees visualize You in many ways…

They want to see You in different forms and ways. However, the deeper one’s heart envisions You, the more shallower is Your grace felt!

Vaishnavites assume and believe You profoundly to be Lord Vishnu;
Vedantis envisage You as the ‘Supreme Lord’ or ‘Parambrahma’;
ShAivites and some others deem You as Lord Shiva;
Kaumalikas pray and revere You as Adi Bhairava;
Shaaktheyas presume You to be the incarnation of Shakthi;
You bless all of them in the form they desire You to be in !!

In this way, Your devotees revere and prostrate before You, giving you the form and shape they wish to see You in.

 To those devotees who see You in the tiniest form, You are the tiniest to them;
Likewise, those who revere you with high esteem, You are the greatest and all-in-all for them.

There is no dearth of anything in this world if only YOU  are beside me!

Just as a lotus plant creeps all over the span of water (in a pond/lake/river or wherever it is) leaving no space for anything else,

Just as the wells around the great Bhagirathi river never dry up (because the wells are always fed with water from this river beside)

(    I pray to You,     Oh Lord!        Please be beside me!     )
If YOU are the Lord incarnated on the Venkatadri mount, YOU are bound to be by my side!
It is You, Oh Lord, who have made me to become Your devotee;
It is You, Oh Lord, who have knocked my doors ~ only to grant me the Protective asylum under Your Lotus Feet;
You are the ONE who enlightened me;
This is the eternal bliss for me!
This is the Para-Tattvam for me!
This is my moksha-marga (and salvation)!

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pics credits : Google images

Source : Inspired from a post shared by ardent devotee of Lord Venkateshwara

 Kendubilva is a small village near to  LORD  Jagannatha Kshetram Puri , and 25 kms to Bhuvaneshwar .    This is the holy place  where the great devotee  Jayadevar appeared .

                   The village became  more prominent and famous by the presence of  the great devotee Jayadevar  for his devotion to the Supreme  Lord .

          Jayadevar learnt all the Vedic scriptures at an young age .  He was   complete into devotional services .Always immersed in Lord’s divine leela , he ignored  material wealth or associations.  When he came of marriageable age, his parents were searching for a bride  so as to bring him into family fold .

                             Jayadeva’s was  not keen in entering family life  . He  remained all  alone, always in  thoughts of the great  Lord Jagganatha  divine pastimes and avoided family commitments .

His parents pleaded him to get married  as they were getting old  . Jayadevar did not agree  as he felt that it  would hinder his dedication to Lord Jagganatha Days rolled by.     Jayadevar continued his devotional services  going places , His parents were getting old and  passed away.

Jayadevar was now all alone. He moved away and resided near to the temple  and was performing  srimad bhagavath  parayanam.  He  lived on Unchavrutti accepting what Lord Jaggantha sends him through his devotees  He was with niyama  performing his karmanustams and was steadfast in his activities.But  Lord Jagganatha  had other ideas.

Near to the village ,  there was another  devotee  by name Devasharma. Devasharma prayed Lord  that if he  had a son he would offer him to Lord  to perform  devotional  services  in the temple of  Lord Jagannatha at Puri..

  Lord , however  graced  him a  with girl child. The bubbly  child was named Padmavathi.  She was trained in all household chores and devotional service from her childhood.      Padmavathi came of marriageable age.He proceeded to  Sri Jagannathar temple  and prayed LORD  as to what he could do to fulfill the promise he made as he had a daughter who will not be allowed inside the temple for HIS service  .

He  prayed Lord !!!  I dont know the way, how will you take this girl, he asked with tearful eyes. Being tired he slept that night near the temple.

  Lord  appeared in his dream and said, “Oh Devasharma ..We  appreciate your bhakthi,  and  will  definitely take your daughter for our  services  and will tell you the way how. Me and my  devotee  are no different. As you only wanted to perform the service  , well………., you can do the same to my  devotee  for a long long time.

 Our adorable devotee  is Jayadevar who is living very near to  you . Please approach him and accept him as your bridegroom. Give Padmavathi in marriage to Jayadevar”. Having heard this  Devasharma was quite pleased that his prayers are  fulfilled. He returned to his village. Looking at his daughter he said   …. my dear child .. padma … LORD  has given his blessings and mentioned the name of her husband.  He proceeded  to the ashram of Jayadevar  and introduced himself  . He requested Jayadevar to accept his daughter as his wife .

 Jayadevar  a  sincere devotee   did not argue or answer him .  He  just left looking walking  towards temple . Devasharma however did not feel bad  as he had faith in LORD’s   instructions . He went home  called Padmavathi and told  My dear  child “Padma……Please come with me now …. He went towards Jayadevar’s ashram and showed the ashram of  Jayadevar and said …Look there ,  the effulgent face with divine look  who is walking towards the temple ....Yes  he is your husband henceforth . Its Lord Jagganthar’s sankalpam that you be married to him  for a divine cause . Serve him as you are serving the LORD himself . Its my final wish  my child …

Padmavathi obeyed her father’s instructions implicitly. Normally Jayadevar would rise early everyday, have his  bath  from the nearby stream . He would  perform japa  and walk back to his Ashram . Padma  would come  to his ashram  sweep the surroundings , water the plants , pluck flowers, clean the pooja vessels , clean the altar and leave the ashram before Jayadevar returns 

Jayadevar after finishing his japa would return  and see everything in the ashram transformed . Very much surprised , he believed some devotee is serving Lord . The services continued  and a month passed by.  Jayadevar  liked  his ashram being  kept clean and neat and  being a brahmachari he appreciated this very much.

He felt the need to inquire and find out all about this and once identified who it was he wanted to do something in return for the favor and if  she had any  desires  he wanted to bless her with that. Thinking thus one day he arrived a bit early to his ashram and saw Padmavathi

Jayadevar hardly had looked at her   He now inquired about her name and where she was from and what she wanted and the reason why she was serving this ashram. His questions were without any preamble just like Dasaratha had asked Vishwamitra. Padmavathi replied that she always wanted to do some service   to  Lord Jaggantahar  for a long long time and serving his devotee will make her LORD more  happy.

He then understood why such a question had been asked by him and why such an answer was received as probably the bhagawan‘s wish. He understood the divine motive of the Supreme Lord .  Jayadevar  went to Padmavathi’s father and requested his daughter to be given in marriage to him. Jayadevar’s coming was known to the brahmanan as he was sure that it was bhagawan’s sankalpam and it will definitely happen one day. Marriage happened between Padmavathi and Jayadevar. They both performed LORD JAGGANATHA service ( Krishna seva)  together. The ashram now became a Griham.

Sadhu seva, Bhagavath kainkaryam was being done as this is the main activity of a Grihasta.Jayadevar started to understand what Bhakthi fully was. Now as the Bhakthi became  more like a rasam, Jayadevar started to like it very much and he started to appreciate Padmavathis kainkaryam, he also started to like the various rasams described by padmavathi and his bhakthi started to blossom tenfold.

While performing abhishekam, Jayadevar would pour all of the abhishekam ingredients  at once on top of the  deity  of  Lord  Krishna . Watching this  Padmavathi would say   …Swami …..“Why dont you  offer  the milk , water  slowly as Sri Krishna would become breathless with your action.  Jayadevar would think, “Oh! Why did I not know this. He corrected himself and became more connected with deity worship…

While  performing archanas with flowers, padmavathi would tell  him not to put the flowers all over the  LORD and cover  instead   spread the fragrant  flowers  all around so that while doing the archana we could have the grace of the beauty of  our krishna and be able to see the  lotus feet  (thiruvadi )of the  Supreme Lord Thus, Jayadevar  started to like and understand the suggestions made by Padmavathi very much as he started learning the loving ways of performing kainkaryam to the bhagawan.

While adorning the dresses to the Lordships ( Vasthrams ) , Padmavathi would give some suggestions on how to tie the vastrams differently as she now said, ‘instead of the same blue black vastram, you can put the yellow one and the red one here on the top and see how nice it looks’.

Jayadevar started to think, ‘oh thats a good idea, why did I not think of that before’. He felt that Padmavathi was showing the way to him to bhakthi rasam and as Padmavathi started singing, Jayadevar, himself being a poet, his poetic instincts started to flower. Because of his poetic instincts, Krishna bhakthi and the  support from Padmavathi  his heart started to pour kavyams. This Kayvam in the form of Gita slokas started flowing and he started to teach Padmavathi how to dance. The young couple were more of Prema Bhakthas.

Jayadevar considered Padmavathi not as his better half but as a Krishna dasi. Padmavathi in turn feels herself as Jaya and Jayadevar as padma and they were like two sakhis for Sri Krishna. Both of them dancing in front of Sri Krishna, their shringaram was like Bhakthi shringaram. Not like the worldly shringaram.

In all his Krishna leelas, Brindavanam prasidha leela, Kandithaa Varnanam leela is most prominent Jayadevar thinks in his mind that Sri Krishna in order to pacify Radha rani  would request   to place  her lotus  feet on his head.

 Jayadevar  suddenly  doubts ….He  thinks this is not correct as ‘Radhai (jeevatma) keeping her feet on the head of the paramatma’ is incorrect  . Jayadevar is perplexed at this.

This poem is not Jayadevar’s, its just coming on its own  from his divine thoughts . Thus LORD  Krishna has put the seed in his thoughts Jayadevar  decides to write this,  but then he puts the pen down  confused . Thus he does many times not getting courage enough to write it.

He never thought of Radha as a separate but rather as a Bhaktha, Gopikai and thats Bhaktars anyway. For all the devotees ,  Lord Sri Krishna’s respect for their Bhakthi is also true . But Jayadevar had a little hesitation.

Jayadevar thinking so decided that in this part, ‘I need to modify with some other phrase’. Thinking thus, he went to perform his usual Thaila Snanam (oil bath). Padmavathi  who was  alone in the house ,  heard her name being called “Padma” and as she turned to see, she saw that he has already come back.

She  said …Swami you just left ..How is that you returned so quickly … Jayadevar who was looking so effulgent  said,I suddenly remembered a sentence, and hence  wanted to write in the poem  otherwise I would  forget it. That’s why i came so early.

Please bring that palm leaf’. He took the leaf and then in his beautiful handwriting started to write the  verse  he did not want to write initially.smara-garala-khandanam
mama sirasi mandanam
dehi pada-pallavam udaram roughly translated means The beautiful flower blossoms of Your feet counteract the deadly poison of amorous love. They extinguish the terrifying fire of the pain of that love, which rages within My heart. Therefore, please be kind and allow Your feet to decorate My head.”

Then returning the palm leaf to padma and asking her to keep it back, he left. Jayadevar went back  and after completing his shower and  japa  came to see that what he had not wanted to write had already been written by some one already … He was shocked and amazed to see the palm leaf which  had the verse he did not want to write …He asked Padmavathi,   my  dear   please tell me  ‘Who wrote this verse ?  She  expressed ignorance  and asked  Swami ….Why?

He replied  …dear   ……What I did not want to write, somebody has  already written that …Padmavathi asked,   Swami  ‘Did you tell your  feelings  to anyone else or me anytime’. Jayadevar said, ‘No! this should not be said, its  a divine secret . So I had kept it in my heart only.’  Padma replied,

Swami   ‘Whoever was in your heart only would have written this then’. The moment he realized what Padma was saying, tears flowed like torrent Oh Krishna …. he wept  like a child …

He saw the palm leaf repeatedly ..the  handwriting and the words written were  like pearls and he touched them with his eyes. Lord  had accepted his words for that sentence. Not only that, the entire Gita Govindam was accepted.

He then looked at Padmavathi and said, My dear  “Padmavathi,  you are blessed one! With tears he said ….Am blessed to have a devotee as my life partner … 

Your  devotion  is  flawless   and that’s the reason  LORD appeared .  Recollecting the divine incident  tears flowed down her face. LORD  blessed the coupleGita Govinda is  centered around  24 Ashtapadis (songs with 8 couplets). saturated with the flavour of the divine love of Krsna and Radha…

The Ashtapadis are about different moods  of  love between  Lord Krishna and Radha….

Some are almost  in form of hymns, listing  Lord Krishna’s achievements in his various incarnations ……..

Some are glimpses into Krishna’s and  Radha’s minds at times of separation, anger or reconciliation and   Some others are the words of messengers sent to each other, urging mercy and to swallow pride. 

ALL GLORIES TO JAYADEVAR for giving us KRISHNA BHAKTHI ..

.May my mind surrender to all the  great devotees of the Supreme LORD

 JAI JAI JAI JAGANNATHA

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pics & Video : Courtesy shared by devotees in social media 

King Veerasikhamani was  one of the disciple of Swamy Parasara bhattar . He used to personally come to Srirangam and have darshan of Lord Ranganathar and  his Acharyar Swamy Parasara Bhattar  .

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 Due to preoccupation with the state matters , he  arrived  to Srirangam after few months .

He was  feeling guilty and sad for he could not progress in his spiritual endeavors like listening to discourses , worshiping the Lord , seeking  satsangh etc  .  

 He humbly submitted to  Acharyar about his  poor commitment  in  spiritual progress .  The King pleaded Acharyar to advise him a simple method  for Lord realisation .

Swamy parasara bhattar out of abundant compassion ,  advised him to carry the image of LORD RAMACHANDRA always with him   in his  heart and cherish the divine pastimes . The King was curious to know that incident  of Lord Rama which swamy cherished .

Swamy Bhattar replied about that  time when Lord Ramachandra and the army of vanaras camped on Suvela mountains the sun  was about to  set .  

The army of  vanaras assembled and were discussing about their next plan .  

One leader announced  , dear friends !!!

You know  we are very near to Lanka  and  as  the night approaches  the Rakshasas become stronger  and possess enormous strength to attack  our Lord Rama .

 Hearing the leaders words ,the vanaras were very confused and upset as they knew that the Rakshasas will somehow create illusions  and  may create problems to Lord Rama and Lakshamana   .

The leader suggested that they will  take all measures to protect Lord Rama and Lakshamana  . For this they had to be awake shielding Lord Rama and Lakshmana .  The vanaras decided that they shall take turns and be on the sentry duty thus protecting Lord Rama  and lakshmana whole night .

They alloted the time and were guarding Lord and Lakshamana. However due to  the gentle cool breeze from the ocean  and their tiredness all the vanaras fell asleep .

As soon as all the vanaras fell asleep, Lord Rama and Lakshmana got up , took over the duties and ever on alert with their bow and arrows .

They created a magical illusion around vanaras  thus  the Rakshasas were able to see only Lord Rama and Lakshmana  and the vanaras were invisible .

The Rakshasa seeing Lord Rama  tejas were terrified and fled away without any trace . Thus the army of vanaras were protected by the Karunamoorthy  .

Lord Rama is an ocean of mercy when protecting his devotees in distress . Lord Rama saved the very army which had formed only to save Rama .

One must never loose direction even in his thought about the abundant mercy of Lord always protecting us and ever to be with us as Antaryaamee .

So the best way is to hold him in our thoughts and deed always .

Jai Sree Ram

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pictures : Courtesy Google pics

Video clip :  Courtesy : vikrantchugh  1987