SRIMAN NARAYANA, SRI LAKSHMI AMMA (DAYA DEVI) AND THE HOLIEST OF HOLY WORKS OF THE REVERENTIAL AZHWARS ( MYSTIC SAINTS ) OF THE SOUTH OF INDIA. ( Part 2 / 21)
SRIMAN NARAYANA, OUR SUPREME PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD
Part 2 of 21
THE MAHATMAS WHO ATTAINED SRIMAN NARAYANA AND MAHALAKSHMI AMMA THROUGH PRAPATTI (TOTAL WHOLEHEARTED SURRENDER)
Countless Mahatmas over the four yugas ( Krita, Treta, Dwapar and at present Kali yuga) have attained Sriman Narayana and Lakshmi amma by Prapatti , though sheer patience and utmost devotion, faith in superlative that the divine will come to their rescue come what may. Their conviction and unflinching belief was that the entire inhabitants of the mortal world could desert them, their closest of close could shut them off their lives but our one and only one creator of all the worlds, our dearest of dear one and only "PARMATMAN" will surely not forsake them.
All these mahatmas have self experienced the divine, have spoken to him in their human form in this mortal world, some have sat on his lap, some have partaken of the annaprasadam with him , some have been carried by the divine on his most lovely shoulders, they have all conveyed their divine experiences to the human kind for only one reason that if they could attain the one and only divine , why not we? Countless prostrations and glories to these srivaishanava saints who for the sake of mankind shared their bliss with a thought that each and every jivatma should attain him and get a permanent liberation, such were their noblest of noble thoughts.
The devout Srivaishnavas, are those who follow compassion, humility, run to the rescue of every others in distress and above all SURRENDER ONLY AND ONLY UNTO THE LOTUS FEET OF SRIMAN NARAYANA AND LAKSHMI AMMA, NONE ELSE. They do not have caste, creed or religion nor are they encased in only human form, they could be in any form sentient and insentient such as holy birds like Garuda, very sacred instruments such as Panchajanyam, the conch of lord Sri Krishna, the temple bells in the service of Lord SriGovinda, the flora and fauna used to adorn our beloved, animals like lion, tiger , tortoise, fish , boar (Matsya, Koorma, Varaha, Naarsimha ) etc whose form our beloved has taken to rescue us and hence let each one of us have the unique distinction and proudly proclaim that we are SRIVAISHNAVAS AND OUR ONLY PURPOSE HERE IS TO SERVE OUR MOST BELOVED DIVINE CONSORT.
Mentioned below are few of the Srivaishnavas who have made our lord proud and have permanently attained him only through the PRAPATTI MARG:
- Prahalada Maharaj : Our most beloved child, who despite so many tortures from his asura father Hiranyakashapu who made his life miserable because the divine sweet child kept chanting SRIMAN NARAYANA continuously. The divine child, never for a moment, lost faith in the one and only one, never felt what would his condition be when attacked so many times and that too so brutally and also by his own father, kept on chanting our beloved lords holy name, the child did not even , once convey to our lord to come to its rescue for he was sure that at the right moment, our lord would rush and HOW DID HE COME!
THE ANGER WHICH NONE IN THE WHOLE WORLD HAVE EXPERIENCED ESPECIALLY WHERE OUR MOST COMPASSIONATE LORD IS CONCERNED, CAME IN THE FORM OF A FEROCIOUS LION, GROWLING AND HOWLING TORE HIRANYAKASHAPU TO SHREDS, SUCH IS THE LOVE OF OUR MOST LOVING LORD WHO NEVER KNOWS HOW IT IS TO GET EVEN ONE BIT ANGRY, BUT IF HIS DEVOTEES ARE HARMED ,HE WOULD GO TO ANY EXTENT TO LIBERATE THEM. HE BECAME SO ANGRY THAT LAKSHMI AMMA OUR DEAREST MOTHER ALSO COULD NOT GO NEAR HIM BUT HIS LOVING DEVOTEE CHILD PRAHALADA MAHARAJ WENT AND LOVINGLY SAT ON HIS LAP , THEN ONLY HE COOLED DOWN LIKE AN ICEBERG.
CAN EACH ONE OF US CAPTURE THIS WONDERFUL MOMENT BEFORE US AND PROSTRATE LOW WITH JOINED HANDS BEFORE OUR BELOVED LORD SRIMAN NARAYANA AND ALSO PRAHALADA MAHARAJ WHO CONVEYED TO US THAT IF ANY OF THE SRIVAISHNAVITE DEVOTEE IS HARMED THEN OUR LORD WILL DESCEND TO PROTECT US , DID OUR BELOVED LORD NOT MENTION THIS THROUGH HIS OWN DIVINE MUKHAKAMALAM IN SRIMADH BHAGAVAD GITA WHEN UNRIGHTEOUNESS RULES, AND HIS DEVOTEES ARE PUT TO INCONVENIENCE, HE WOULD PERSONALLY APPEAR AND ANNIHILATE THE WICKED. COUNTLESS GLORIES TO OUR ONE AND ONLY ONE LORD SRI KRISHNA.
- Draupadi amma: When in front of the entire assembly , her honour was at stake, when she was dragged mercilessly by the cruel Duryodhana, when even her husbands stood with their heads bent in shame , our beloved SriGovinda at one call of hers , came running in lightening speed and saved her self respect. Do any one of us after this, yet harbour a doubt in our minds?
3. Gajendra Moksham : Our lord rescued our beloved Gajendra, a mighty elephant caught by the crocodile, when he lovingly called out Sri Govinda, in utter pain and heavy blood stains, our lord came running at jet set speed to rescue him, all it requires is a humble heart to call his holy name , once he captures us in his heart then, never ever will he forget us even if we fail to remember him. JUST, ONCE PLEASE CALL HIM...
Gyaneshwar mauli, Tukaram mauli, Sri Ramanucharya acharyan, Mira amma, andal amma, Sant Kabir, Sri Vedanta Desikan acharyan and countless other mahatmas have experienced him.
One very very humble confession, have too experienced him in every atom of my being, have gone through some great hurdles, some life taking, these are my bonus years gifted by him for was on death bed several times, but do not want to glorify my self, nor wallow in self pity for will always count my blessings for there are many more of our brethrens who are still worse off and less fortunate than us .
HE HAS ALWAYS COME TO MY RESCUE AT ALL TIMES( NO EXCEPTIONAL CASE AT ALL), MANY TIMES, FELT THAT THIS IS THE END, ALL THE DOORS HAVE CLOSED ON ME BUT HE OPENED AND KEEPS OPENING THE ONE GOLDEN DOOR WITH A DIAMOND KEY AND FOREVER ENCAPTURED THIS SERVANT OF SERVANT OF SERVANT UNTO HIS LOTUS HEART.
This is also one of the main reason , am under his divine will and guidance writing this holy write up for and on behalf of Sriman Narayana and Lakshmi amma, as an invisible speckle of dust at their lotus feet ,with a very humble thought that if he can lovingly carry this non entity servant then surely he can tenderly carry every of his creation
ALL THAT IS REQUIRED ,MY DEAR SPIRITUAL BROTHERS AND SISTERS, PLEASE DOTINGLY CALL HIM ATLEAST ONCE "SRI MADHAVA, SIR GOVINDA , SRI MURALI MANOHARA, SRI DAMODARA, SRI KRISHA, SRI ANIRUDHA AND HIS COUNTLESS HOLIEST OF HOLY NAMES. HE WILL COME TO ALL OUR RESCUE, LET EACH ONE OF US , INCLUDE HIM IN ALL OUR HAPPINESS, IN ALL OUR ACHIEVEMENTS , ALL OUR SMALLEST OF SMALL MOMENTS AND SURRENDER UNTO THE DIVINE CONSORT, THEY WILL SURELY CLAP FOR US , THEY WILL VERY KINDLY CARRY US AND WILL WIPE OUR TEARS TOO, NO DOUBT AT ALL.
HE IS OUR BELOVED LORD SRIMAN NARAYANA AND SHE IS OUR DEAREST OF DEAR MOTHER LAKSHMI AMMA, LET EACH ONE OF US MAKE THEM AN INTEGRAL PART OF OUR LIVES, THEN WE NEED NOT EVEN BOTHER OF SALVATION, THE DIVINE BEING A PART OF US , THEN SRI PARMAPADAM IS HERE ON THIS EARTH ITSELF, NO NEED TO SEARCH FOR IT ANYWHERE ELSE.
Yatra yogesvarah krsno yatra partho dhanur-dharah tatra srir vijayo bhutir dhruva nitir matir mama. (Wherever there is Lord Govinda/Lord Madhusudana, the master of all , and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality.
WHAT DOES PRAPATTI COMPRISE OF?
- Chanting his holy names continuously . In this modern fast paced lifestyle one can at all time, while performing routine activities, while cooking, boarding a transport, at work, while having annaprasadam, while retiring to bed and in so many other times with total love and not as a mere mechanical process chant his holy names, it does not require any time at all , just as breathing is eternal and ongoing so is chanting continuous here and hereafter. His holy names should be taken effortlessly and in total purity and devotion.
- Cooking tasty delicious annaprasadam for him especially sweets which he is very fond of. Can't we with all pure thoughts of love and happiness cook for him saatvik annaprasadam with the highest love, as a samarpayaami (pure offering ) all that he enjoys and relishes and humbly offer him as prasadam and then consume after he has partaken of it. Can we in all humility do the least for our undisputed king of the cosmos. What a bliss! our beloved has loved every morsel, he has blessed our annaprasadam and then we have it, won't it be free from all impurities? Never would we ever fall sick after this sacred ritual.
- Weaving of beautiful multi hued garlands. Is it very expensive to buy few colour fragance filled flowers with the holy tulasi leaves and beautifully weave a loving garland and adorn the divine consort with the fragrant sweet flowers? . The very act of weaving beautiful garlands is a benediction from him and blessed are those who can do this service in a very loving and pious manner. JAI HO PRABHU!
- We can sweep the holy floors of his temple if it is permissible , we can distribute prasadam to his loving devotees, we can light lamps in our homes, offer a beautiful peacock feather which he is so much fond of, light fragrant incense sticks, we can adorn our lord with beautiful vastrams (divine dresses) and above all we can share with him our days events, HE LOVES TO HEAR OUR SCHEDULE, HE HEARS IT WITH RAPT ATTENTION AND THE BEST PART IS WHEN WE ARE NARRATING TO HIM LORD HANUMAN, OUR MOST BELOVED BROTHER, ALSO SITS AND HEARS THE SAME WITH KEEN ATTENTION AND INTEREST.
- IN SHORT, WE HAVE TO ENSURE EACH MOMENT OF OUR LIFE IS WOVEN AROUND HIM, WITH HIM, FOR HIM, BECAUSE OF HIM........WE CAN AND WE WILL FROM JUST NOW. ALSO PLEASE SERVE HIS DEVOTEES TOO, FOR MANAVA SEVA IS MADHAVA SEVA ( SERVICE TO MANKIND IS SERVICE TO SRIMAN NARAYANA). All this neither requires big money, nor time, nor great efforts, nor any great talent, all that is required is to make him a part of our self ,steeped with purity of thoughts , fully free from ego. he has accepted the humblest of humble offering of Shabari amma and also of our loving Sudhama , his dearest friend, then surely he will also accept ours too.
PLEA TO OUR DEAREST SRIMAN NARAYANA AND OUR MOST LOVING MOTHER LAKSHMI AMMA
Our dearest of dear Lord Krishna, please forgive me, if there has been any flaw or mistake in any of the word for this servant of servant of servant of yours is a left hand zero infinity , the only reason , she has , under your guidance and grace, as an instrument in your holy hands, been able to write a drop in an overflowing biggest deepest ocean. You are the personification of humility, goodness, purity, kindness and every other loving qualities and countless glories sung in your praise over countless yugas would also be only a smallest of small droplet. In my lowest of lowly state, I do remember you and make a small attempt to love you, yes, surely it would be very minuscule as compared to the gigantic proportions of love, mercy and benediction you have bestowed on each of your creation but please, accept and bless this very small write up, come from the deepest core.
Also, on behalf of all the Srivaishnavite devotees, do I plead, with both hands joined and raised above and under your holiest of holy lotus feet , beg of you, that just like you take the highest joy in bestowing upon us unasked , undeserved too, please give us an opportunity to forever serve you and Lakshmi amma in the manner you deem fit, we do not want permanent salvation, we want to only serve you with the purest of pure love, we want to keep you happy.
You who have bestowed so many joys on us, we want to protect you from all evil eyes, yes our dearest lord, you have heard it right, unbelievable as it might seem, we who are wholly dependent upon you , want to protect you for it is our bhavana ( our sentiments because more than the king of the cosmos we consider and treat you as our beloved family head and hence surely, blessing you or protecting you from all evil eyes also is not a misplaced sentiment, only you will understand this deepest feeling of ours).
PLEASE, OUR MOST BELOVED MOTHER, FATHER, SARVASVAM (ALL IN ALL), PLEASE ALLOW US TO SERVE YOU ETERNALLY HERE AND HEREAFTER, WE PROMISE YOU, AFTER THIS ,WE WILL NOT ASK YOU ANYTHING. THIS IS THE ONE AND ONLY ONE SENTIMENT VOICED BY EACH OF YOUR DEVOTEES , AM VERY SURE , AS ALWAYS , YOU WILL UTTER THATHASTHU (PERMISSION GRANTED).. THANKS, OUR DEARMOST ONE AND ONLY SRIMAN NARAYANA AND LAKSHMI AMMA, COUNTLESS GRATITUDE AND DEEPEST APPRECIATION FOR EVERYTHING.
SRIMAN NARAYANAM CHARANAM SHARANAM PRABHADHYE, SRIMAN NARAYANAYA NAMAHA.
OM TAT SAT
HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE.
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