This series chronicles sweet experiences recounted by the devotees of HH Maharanyam Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji as well as some divine experiences of Sri Swamiji himself. These articles are translations from the Madhurasmaranam series that is published every month in Madhuramurali Tamil monthly magazine.
The Divine Leela of Thiruvenkatamudaiyan
Our Swamiji used to mention this in his blessing messages. Sitting in some remote corner of this world, if someone sheds a drop of tear for Him, God, who governs this vast universe and is the ocean of compassion, never fails to manifest “I know it.” He gives Himself for that single teardrop. Ever since childhood, our Sri Swamiji’s favorite deity is ‘Thiruvenkatamudaiyan’ who is situated in Tirupati. Our little boy had an inexplicable adoration towards Thiruvenkatamudaiyan, as natural as a heartbeat. It was not taught by anyone. As for our Sri Swamiji, he never thought that “Thiruvenkatamudaiyan is situated in Thirupathi kshethra, that is in the state of Andhra. If one goes there, one can have His darshan.” He felt, “Venkata hill was Srivaikuntam. It is beyond the clouds in the sky. There resides our Perumal. Normal human beings cannot have His darshan. Only when Perumal calls someone, can one go to Thiruvenkatam,” were the thoughts of the little child.
Thiruvenkatamudaiyan carried out His leela when Sri Swamiji was studying in a school in Cuddalore. When Sri Swamiji was with his fellow students, He noticed a picture of Thiruvenkatamudiyan, near the toilet amidst filthiness. As soon as he saw it, he was perturbed. “Oh no! Our Perumal is stuck in this filthiness! I need to rescue Him as soon as possible.” As these thoughts arose, the bell rang as a call to return to classrooms. Poor little child went back and sat in the classroom, not knowing what to do.Even though he was seated in the classroom, his mind was anxious thinking of Perumal. An inexplicable pain and agony tormented him back and forth. It might seem like an ordinary thing to us. But only when we see through his heart, can we empathize with his agony, at least to a small extent.
How anxious would a mother feel when her child, in flesh and blood, is stuck in such an environment? Sri Swamiji was agonizing a million times more than that. “Neither can anyone fathom this; nor can this be shared with anyone”, was what dominated his thoughts. He gave the teacher some excuse, left the classroom and rescued Perumal from the filthiness. He felt like he got his life back! He brought the Lord home safely in his bag, and pampered Him. From that day onwards, every day was a celebration. He celebrated Perumal however he knew, with whatever he had, but with lots of love and enthusiasm.
A few days after this, the little boy had a wonderful dream. He was surprised to see that he was having a darshan of a certain Perumal in his dream and that Perumal was standing tall from the earth to the skies. He continued on to reach his favorite Thiruvenkatam in that dream. He had the darshan of the effulgent ‘Lord of the Seven Hills’. As soon as he woke up, he thought, “I had the darshan of Perumal at least in a dream. Unbelievable! How fortunate am I?” He repeatedly thought of this and felt delighted. The daily celebrations for his little Perumal also continued on. A week later, Sri Swamiji’s father received a call from a dear friend of his. He invited Sri Swamiji’s father saying, “I am going on a yatra to a few places. If you would like to, you may join as well, along with your child.”
Sri Swamiji’s father accepted the invitation and left for the yatra along with his youngest son, Sri Swamiji. They reached an ancient temple after traveling for several hours. As soon as the child had the sight of that Perumal, he almost fainted. It was the same Perumal he had seen in his dream, who stood tall from the earth to the skies – Kanchipuram Sri Ulagalandha Perumal. Our little child pinched himself several times, wondering whether this was a dream or reality. They left Kanchipuram even before he could be out of this pleasant surprise.
They left Kanchipuram and reached nowhere else but Thiruvenkatam. They went directly to Thiruvenkatamudaiyan’s sannidhi. Could we even imagine Sri Swamiji’s state for a second, eyes closed? He was in a state of highest bliss. He could not understand head or tail of what had happened. He could not digest the thought that he had actually reached Thiruvenkatam. He lost himself in the beauty of the Perumal, standing in front of him. He melted away in waves of blissful tears.
This experience of Sri Swamiji is what we got as a treasure in the Madhurageetham – “paLLi paruvaththil aLLi enai AtkonDa”. Whenever reminiscing about this divine leela of Perumal, Sri Swamiji’s eyes tear up, even now. “In this enormous universe, the earth is in a corner; in a corner of this earth lies Cuddalore; in Cuddalore stands my school; amongst the thousands in that school, Bhagavan still did not fail to notice a loving, miniscule deed by me, did He not? He gave His darshan in return, did He not? We do not need to take a step towards Him; but just that thought is enough; He will come running towards us!” He melted thinking of Perumal’s compassion.
Nothing is evaluated by its external appearance. As for Bhagavan, He does not appreciate extravagant pooja done with gold and silver by someone with no bhakthi at all. And He never fails to celebrate the humble offering of a tulsi leaf by someone with teary eyes.
Article originally chronicled by Dr. A Bhagyanathan, personal secretary to Sri Swamiji, in Tamil Madhuramurali Magazine June 2023 issue, Madhurasmaranam section.
Translated into English by Smt. Mangala Gowri Sridhar, Jacksonville FL
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