Venkateswara also known as
Srinivasa,
Balaji and
Venkatachalapati is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu.
Venkateswara
means "the lord who destroys the sins of the people". According to the
Hindu scriptures, Vishnu, out of love towards his devotees, incarnated
as
Venkateswara and appeared for the salvation and upliftment of humanity in this Kali Yuga age. It is considered the supreme form of Vishnu in this age. The Venkateswara swami temple is also called
Kaliyuga Vaikuntam.
The story of Lord Venkateshwara with Goddess Padmavathi:
The rishis
headed by Kasyapa began to perform a sacrifice on the banks of the
Ganges. Sage Narada visited them and asked them why they were performing
the sacrifice and who would be pleased by it. Not being able to answer
the question, the rishis approached Sage Bhrigu. To reach a
solution after a direct ascertainment of reality, Sage Bhrigu first went
to Satyaloka, the abode of Lord Brahma.
At
Satyaloka, he found Lord Brahma, reciting the four Vedas in praise of
Lord Narayana, with each of his four heads, and attended upon by
Saraswati. Lord Brahma did not take notice of Bhrigu offering obeisance.
Concluding that Lord Brahma was unfit for worship, Bhrigu left
Satyaloka for Kailasa, the abode of Lord Shiva.
At
Kailasa, Bhrigu found Lord Siva spending his time pleasantly with
Parvati and not noticing his presence. Parvati drew the attention of
Siva to the presence of the sage. Lord Siva was furious at Bhrigu's
intrusion and tried to destroy him. The sage cursed Lord Siva and left
for Vaikuntam.
At
Vaikuntam, Lord Vishnu (also called Srimannarayana) was reposing on
Adisesha with Sri Mahalakshmi in service at His feet. Finding that
Srimannarayana also did not notice him, the sage was infuriated and he
kicked the Lord on His chest, the place where Mahalakshmi resides.
At
once, Lord Vishnu hastened to apologise to the angry sage and pressed
his feet to allay the pain caused to Bhrigu's leg. In doing so the Lord
removed the eye in the foot of the sage, which gave Bhrigu power as to
defy the Devas. Thereupon, the sage decided that Lord Vishnu was the
most supreme of the trimurthis and told the rishis the same. Thereupon, they decided that Lord Vishnu was the fruit of the yaga.
Sri
Mahalakshmi was angered by the action of her Lord in apologising to
Bhrigu who committed an offence. She, therefore, left Vaikuntam without
heeding the entreaties of the Lord.
At the commencement of the current Sveta Varaha Kalpa,
the whole universe was filled with water and the Earth was immersed in
it. Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a white boar (Sri Varaha) and dived
into the water to lift the Earth. He slew the demon Hiranyaksha who was
obstructing Him and rescued the Earth.
Brahma
and the other Devas praised Sri Varaha for saving the Earth by chanting
the Vedas and showering flowers on Him. Lord Vishnu decided to stay on
Earth in the form of Sri Varaha for some time, to punish the wicked and
protect the virtuous. The place then came to be known as Varaha Kshetra and the vVaraha Kalpa commenced.
After the departure of
Mahalakshmi, a forlorn Lord Vishnu left Vaikuntam and took abode in an
ant-hill under a tamarind tree, beside a pushkarini on the Venkata Hill.
Taking pity on Lord Vishnu, Brahma and Maheshwara decided to assume the forms of a cow and its calf to serve Him
Surya,
the Sun God informed Mahalakshmi of this and requested her to assume
the form of a cowherdess and sell the cow and calf to the king of the
Chola country.
The
king of the Chola country bought the cow and its calf and sent them to
graze on the Venkata Hill along with his herd of cattle. Discovering
Lord Vishnu on the ant-hill, the cow provided its milk, and thus fed the
Lord.
Meanwhile, at the palace, the cow was not yielding any milk, for which the Chola Queen chastised the cowherd severely.
To
find out the cause of lack of milk, the cowherd followed the cow, hid
himself behind a bush and discovered the cow emptying her udder over the
ant-hill.
Incensed
over the conduct of the cow, the cowherd aimed a blow with his axe on
the head of the cow. However, Lord Vishnu rose from the ant-hill to
receive the blow and save the cow.
When the cowherd saw the Lord bleed at the blow of his axe, he fell down and died of shock.
On the death of the cowherd,
the cow returned, bellowing in fright and with blood stains all over her
body, to the Chola King. To find out the cause of the cow's terror, the
King followed her to the scene of the incident.
The
King found the cowherd lying dead on the ground near the ant-hill.
While he stood wondering how it had happened, Lord Vishnu rose from the
ant-hill and cursed the King saying that he would become an asura because
of the fault of his servant. The King pleaded innocence, and the Lord
blessed him by saying that the curse would end when the Lord was adorned
with a kireetam presented by Akasa Raja at the time of His marriage with Sri Padmavati.
Thereafter, Lord Vishnu or
Srinivasa, decided to stay in Varaha Kshetra, and requested Sri
Varahaswami to grant Him a site for His stay. His request being readily
granted, Srinivasa ordained that a pilgrimage to His shrine would not be
complete unless it is preceded by a bath in the Pushkarini and darshan of Sri Varahaswami, and that puja and naivedyam should be offered to Sri Varahaswami first.
In a nearby kingdom ruled King Akasha Rajan.
Childless for many years, he had one day found a beautiful baby girl
sleeping on a golden lotus in a golden box while ploughing the fields.
He had named her Padmavathy. A beautiful and accomplished girl,
Padmavathy had been granted a boon in her earlier birth that she would
be married to Lord Vishnu. One day, Vishnu, who had been renamed
Srinivasan by his devotee and foster mother Vakuladevi, went hunting in
the forest. His wandering led him to a garden with a pond. Srinivasan
was thirsty and tired. After drinking from the pond, he rested in the
shade of a tree. Soon the soft singing of Padmavathy who was dancing in
the garden with her companions roused him. He was stunned by her
beauty and drawn to her. She too seemed to be drawn to him, but the
angry attendants thinking him a mere hunter drove him away.
Depressed and unhappy he poured his troubles out to
Vakuladevi. Now for the first time, he revealed to her who he really
was and also told her the story of Padmavathy.
In the meanwhile, Padmavathy was dreaming of
Srinivasa. She had no idea who he really was and knew that her parents
would never let her be married to a hunter.
Srinivasa urged Vakuladevi to approach Padmavathy's
father, Akasha Raja, with the marriage proposal. In the meanwhile he
disguised himself as a soothsayer and went to the court of Akasha Raja.
There, he assured Padmavathy that the hunter she had fallen in love
with was no ordinary man but the Lord and told her that the worries
would soon be over. Padmavathy too poured out her heart to her parents.
At about the same time, Vakuladevi arrived with the marriage proposal.
After consulting with the sages Akasha Raja accepted the proposal and
invited Srinivasa to attend the wedding on Friday, the 10th day of
Vaikasi.
Srinivasa now had arrangements to make. He sought a
loan of one crore and 14 lakh coins of gold from Kubera and had
Viswakarma, the divine architect create heavenly surroundings in the
Seshadri hills.
The day of the wedding arrived, Lord Srinivasa was
bathed in holy waters and dressed in jeweled ornaments befitting a royal
bride groom. Then he set off in a procession for the court of Akasha
Raja. There Padmavathy waited radiant in her beauty. Srinivasa was
hailed with an arthi and led to the marriage hall. There the queen and
King washed his feet while sage Vasishta chanted the Vedic mantras.
Soon the wedding was over and it was time for Padmavathy to take leave
of her parents.
Together, they lived for all eternity while Goddess
Lakshmi, understanding the commitments of Lord Vishnu, chose to live in
his heart forever.
Tirupati, today, stands as a special place,
commemorating the marriage between the two. Everyday, a kalyana utsavam
celebrates the divine union in a celebration that stretches to
eternity. Even today, during the Brahmotsavam at the temple, turmeric,
kumkum and a sari are sent from the temple to Tiruchanur, the abode of
Padmavathy. In fact Tirupati is rarely visited without paying a visit
to Tiruchanur.
In the light of this background, it has become the
favored destination of many newly wed couples who pray for a happy
wedding - a wedding like that of Srinivasa and Padmavathy.
