In the last few episodes of Sri Venkatesha Vaibhavam we were blessed to enjoy the stories behind the descent of the seven hills through Sri Ramanujamji’s lectures. Now let’s continue to enjoy the glory, grandeur and majesty of Srinivasa Perumal based on the discourses about the leelas of Lord Sri Venkateshwara by Sri Poornimaji, given at Sri Aishwarya Srinivasa Perumal Temple @ Namadwaar Houston in December 2022.
Avatar of Srinivasa Perumal
In this series, we have been enjoying the glory of the seven hills of Tirumala and how Bhagavan made it His abode. In an earlier episode, when Naradji visited Bhagavan in Vaikunta, Bhagavan revealed His desire to descend on Earth. Naradji suggested the location of Tirumala, which was transformed eventually by Bhagavan’s descent into a beautiful, flourishing land.
Bhagavan desired to descend as archavatar in order to bless all the devotees and grant all their desires. When Bhagavan is pleased with a devotee, nothing is impossible to attain. (kimalabhyam bhagavati prasanne shrIniketane… SB). How is Bhagavan pleased? Bhagavan himself says, “patram, pushpam, phalam, toyam” – just offering even a leaf, flower, fruit, or some water with love is enough.
Innumerable devotees have done pushpa seva to Bhagavan. Sri Govindan, nephew of Sri Ramanujacharya, was transformed when he came to collect flowers from a garden in Tirumala and heard the lines from an Azhwar pasuram (poovum poosanaiyum thagume..). Similarly, another great devotee who did pushpa seva to Bhagavan is Ananthazhwar. In this episode, Sri Poornimaji describes in detail how Sri Ananthazhwar, on seeing tears in the eyes of Sri Ramanujacharya, and learning of his desire to offer the flowers that bloom in the hills of Tirupathi, immediately left for Tirumala. He spent the rest of his life doing pushpa kainkarya for Bhagavan. Bhagavan has played innumerable lilas in the life of Ananthazhwar. Ananthazhwar had the fortune of being the father-in-law of Bhagavan. Bhagavan accepted him as an acharya as well. Yet, Ananthazhwar was more concerned about his pushpa seva as that was Guru seva for him. And, that pleased Bhagavan immensely.
Sri Poornimaji then described the stories of the rest of the seven hills – Anjanadri, Garudadri, Venkatadri, Simhadri and Seshadri.
Now, Bhagavan was waiting for the opportune moment to reveal Himself and chose a devotee for the task. There was a Chozha king who ruled the southern region. When he came to Tirumala as part of his kingdom tour, he met a celestial lady from Nagaloka. Enraptured by her, the king married her and begot a son. He was none other than the devotee, Thondaimaan. Thondaimaan was initially brought by his mother in Nagaloka and eventually, when he came of age, he was sent to meet his father. The king gave a portion of his kingdom, the region near Tirupati spanning twelve forests to Thondaimaan. This region came to be known as Thondaimandalam.
The kingdom flourished under Thondaimaan’s rule. Once, the cowherds in Tirumala noticed a strange phenomenon. As they carried pots of milk through the forest, at one particular location, next to an anthill, the pots broke and milk spilled on the anthill. This happened a number of times. The worried cowherds presented the issue before the king. At the same time, farmers from the region also reported an unusual incident. The farmers had the practice of offering the first harvest to the Lord. But before they could do so, they came to know that a wild boar had partaken the harvest. On chasing the wild boar, the boar ran into the forest and entered the anthill.
The king was confused. He decided to ponder over the two issues. That night, the king had a divine dream. In the dream, Bhagavan gave darshan and instructed the king to do an abhisheka to the ant-hill. The king did as told. As the milk was poured on the ant-hill, it dissolved and first a beautiful salagrama of Varaha Bhagavan appeared. As the abhisheka continued, lo and behold! The most beautiful archavatara of Tirupathi Srinivasa Perumal appeared! All present looked at Bhagavan in awe! Bhagavan was immensely pleased. He blessed Thondaimaan and promised to be his friend forever. He then instructed Thondaimaan to build a temple. Thondaimaan built a beautiful temple, which we now know as the Tirumala temple. Bhagavan made it His abode and continues to bless His devotees to this day.
Let us listen to the avatar of Srinivasa Perumal here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rujDA5IvnRc&list=PLf2GTja1Pr3Omw-fHQqzpEmzFATU98D6K&index=4
Sowmya Balasubramaniam, Dublin CA
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