TIRUPATI BALAJI

 

PART -1

Tirupati, the Home of Lord Venkateswara has long been the destination of many a newly wed couple. The temple is believed to have a particular signification for newly weds as it is believed to be place where Lord Venkateswara married Padmavathy.

An interesting tale forms the backdrop to the temple. Quarrels are not unknown between happily wed couples and the divine ones are no different. Following a spat with Lord Vishnu, Goddess Lakshmi left her heavenly abode and came down to the earth. Here she stayed in a hermitage on the banks of the Godavari.

Missing his beloved, Lord Vishnu went to search of her and this search brought him to earth. Ultimately his quest brought him to the Seshadri hills where he stopped to rest in an anthill. Upset by the separation between Vishnu and Lakshmi, Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva decided to intervene. Taking the guise of a cow and a calf they went to live at the place of a Chola king.

The cowherd took them everyday to graze in the Seshadri hills where the cow would secretly visit the anthill where Vishnu was living without sustenance. Emptying her milk, the cow would then return to the palace.

The cowherd was angry as the cow never yielded any milk to him. He watched movements carefully and his explorations brought him to the anthill. In trying to ascertain what lay beneath the anthill, he struck it with an axe thus injuring Vishnu on the forehead.

In search of herbs to heal the wound, Lord Vishnu wandered far and wide. His wanderings brought him to the Shrine of Sri Varahaswamy - the third incarnation of Vishnu as a boar. Here, he sought permission to stay, but Varahaswamy wanted a rental to be paid; Vishnu pleaded that he was poor now and needed rent free accommodation. To reciprocate this gesture of goodwill, he said he would tell his devotees to worship Varahaswamy before they worshipped him. The contract sealed, Vishnu built a hermitage and lived there waited on by a devotee, Vakuladevi who looked after him like a mother. 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.

PART-1 OTHER VIEWS

History Behind How Tirupathi Temple Comes

On the Tirumala Mountain, Lord Srinivas lived with Bakula, Luxmi and Padmavati for many years. The King, Aksharaj, meditating on Srinivas left this world. At that time, difficulty came upon the kingdom. After Aksharaj had departed, his son, Vasudan, he considered that he was the rightful king. But there was a problem because Aksharaj shared the kingdom with his brother, Thondaman, for all those years.
Thondaman said that, “It was our agreement. Originally, Sudarma, our father, wanted to divide the kingdom in half for both of us, but due to our love for one another we wanted to rule together, so we have been doing this so now I should rule with you”.
But Vasudan said, “Is it in writing? Where is it in writing? How can you prove it?”
It wasn't in writing. So Vasudan declared that his uncle was lying and that he would be the sole king. So there was a disagreement. The disagreement escalated, different people of the kingdom were taking either person's side and soon it came to the point where it was going to be a fratricidal war.
On the battle there was Thondaman's army, and Vasudan, the son of Aksharaj's army. How sad? This is the age of Kali. If you don't put things in writing, nobody knows what is truth. And we see this happening even amongst devotees today, people make agreements, people make policies, and then as years go by, different people have different versions of what was agreed on. And then there is fighting with battles, and brothers become enemies and god brothers become hateful, and everything is finished.
Srila Prabhupada warned us, it happened even in Gaudiya math. Prabhupada said when Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur was present, it was the most powerful, united preaching team, nothing could stop it. It had the capacity of just spreading Krishna Consciousness, pure love of God, throughout the world. But after Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur departed, and even just before he departed, there was conflict over who would get different properties? Over who would get different positions? Over who would get different facilities? And after he left, there was battles in the courts, and even battles with fists. And everyone believed they were right. It was just different interpretations and miscommunication. And the Gaudiya math was splintered into dozens of different branches, and Srila Prabhupada tried in every possible way to unite, to unite his god brothers again, and when he saw that it was not possible, he took the mission of his guru maharaja to spread Krishna consciousness all over the world, he himself at the age of seventy with nothing and he did it.
Srila Prabhupada Ki Jai!!
So yes, here is a loving uncle and a loving son fighting over property and position. So they both wanted Srinivas on their side. So Srinivas went to Padmavati, He said “Who's side should I be on?”
She said, she was so sad about this war, so sad, but she said still, “Vasudan is my brother, he is closest to me. You cannot go against him”.
So Srinivas gave His conch shell and His Sudarshan chakra to Thondaman. And He said He would be on the side of Vasudan.
So the fight was raging but there was a problem. Thondaman saw that because Srinivas was on the other side none of his soldiers would fight enthusiastically, because they all loved Him. How can you fight against the ultimate object of your love? So his army was being destroyed, he was losing the battle simply because no-one wanted to fight against Srinivas. So he got so mad, he got so angry. Some say it was Thondaman, some say it was the son of Thondaman, that he took the chakra, the Sudarshan chakra that Srinivas gave them, and threw the chakra, threw Vishnu's chakra at Vishnu. And it hit Him, and Vishnu fell to the ground. It was His Lila, and He appeared lifeless. And everyone stopped fighting then, and they all gathered around and they were all crying and praying, “Please come back, come back, come back Srinivas, come back”. And at that point Thondaman and Vasudan was thinking, “What nonsense are we doing fighting? Look what the result of the fight is? That Srinivas is injured, He may be killed”.
They were all crying and weeping and the news came to Agasya Muni's ashram, and Padmavati ran to the scene with Agasya rishi. And she was weeping and crying, and seeing that everyone's hearts were melting and then Srinivas came back into consciousness. And they both said, everyone said, “Whatever You say Srinivas, we will do ”.
So Srinivas said, “We will divide the kingdom in two parts, and Vasudan, you be the king here and Thondaman, you be the king here, and forever you'll live in harmony with each other.” And that took place.
After some days, Srinivas approached Thondaman, who was a very, very great and dear devotee. And said, “In the place that Lord Varahadeva gave me, on the top of the mountain of Tirumala, build a glorious temple for Me, that is where I will reside”. Thondaman, with great efforts, built the original temple of Tirumala. Srinivas, Lord Narayan, resided in that temple with Luxmi Devi and Padmavati.
And at one time, very historical event, Srinivas said to Thondaman and the great rishis and sages that were gathered that, “As of now, I have speaking freely with human beings, acting as one of you, but the age of kali is progressing; I will no longer speak to just anyone. I will manifest My body as a deity, and whoever comes to worship Me with sincere devotion, I will deliver them from their sins and I will elevate them to Vaikuntha”.
Then Srinivas stepping on the altar of the temple manifested the vigraha of Sri Venkateshwara.
Sri Venkateshwara Bhagavan Ki Jai!!
Much louder please. Sri Balaji Maharaj Ki Jai!!!

Acharyas Tells Greatness About Tirupati Temple

The greatest of the acharyas climbed this mountain with their own feet, as we are going to do tomorrow, eager for the darshan of Sri Venkateshwara. Shankaracharya came here to worship, and later on the great Vaisnava Acharaya, Ramanujam. Ramanujam declared according to the sastras that these seven hills are Vaikuntha on earth. Ramanujacarya was living in Sri Rangam but singing the songs and the hymns of the Alvars, always put him in a trance of ecstatic love. And one time while reading the glories of Tirumala and the Lord, Sri Venkateshwara, he told his devotees “We will go there”.
He came to the foot of the hill, and performed his bhajan, giving lectures on the Absolute Truth.
One of his disciple, Anantacharya, he was living up there on the Lord's order, taking care of a garden, knowing that his guru was down at the bottom of the mountain, he came down and asked him “Please come up, please come up”.
But Ramanujacarya said, “How can I put my feet on that mountain, it is non-different than Ananta Sesha, it is Ananta Sesha's body. It is Vaikuntha, the spiritual world. I cannot go”.
But he said, “Ramanujam, my gurudeva, if you do not go then nobody will go. Even the pujaris, if you, the most holy and saintly and pure of all beings, are not willing to put your feet on the mountain then what is our position? The pujaris will come down; no pilgrims will go up there. Balaji will be up there all alone. You must come, please.”
So on the persuasion of the devotees, Sri Ramanujacarya climbed. As he was climbing, one of his spiritual masters, Sri Shaila Purna, came with garlands and Prasad, to greet Ramanujam, when he was just close to the top of the mountain.
Ramanujacarya said to his senior, elder guru, he said “Why did you come with all this load of Prasad and garland yourself? Why didn't you just send a junior devotee to do this? You are very old and it's very difficult for you.”
Sri Shaila Purna responded that, “Yes, it is the proper etiquette for me to send a junior devotee, but I looked in all directions, and I could not find a single soul junior to myself. I am the junior most; I am the most neophyte of everyone so I had to do the chore myself”.
This is what a guru of Ramanujacarya was speaking. Sri Ramanujacarya's heart melted with the humility of a true Vaisnava. He stayed on the top of the hill for three days, having the darshan of Sri Balaji in great ecstasy.
It is explained that over a period of time Balaji has four hands, over a period of time, the Vaisnavas worship Him as Vishnu, but the Shivaites worship Him as Lord Shiva. The followers of Shankaracharya consider that Balaji is Shiva. And the followers of Ramanujam and others consider Him Vishnu. So should we put the drum of Shiva and the trident in his arms, in His hands? Or should we put the conch shell and the disc? There was a dispute and you know how religious people can be when there is a dispute over theological issues. It was a heated debate. Ramanujacarya proposed a solution, he said that, “All followers of Shankar, you put Shiva's drum and Shiva's trident before the deity and I will put the conch shell and Sudarshan chakra before the deity, and then we will all leave the deity room and lock the doors so no one has any possibility of coming in. And in the morning we will open the door and see which symbols the Lord is holding”.
Can you imagine the intensity of that night? I didn't read this but I don't think anyone slept that night, because this was in South India, this was like the ultimate deity. Is it Shiva or Vishnu?
In the morning, the doors were opened and Sri Venkateshwara was holding the symbols offered by Sri Ramanujacarya of the conch shell and Sudarshan chakra.
Venkateshwara Bhagavan Ki Jai!!!

Sri Ramanujacarya descended from the hill, he was about to depart for Sri Rangam, Sri Shaila Purna offered to teach Ramanujacarya Valmiki Muni's Ramayana for one full year in Tirupati. Ramanujacarya remained here in Tirupati for that year studying Sri Ramayana.
Sripad Madhavacharya came here to Venkateshwara's mandir, resided for some time and worshipped Sri Balaji with great love and devotion with his disciples. Sripad Vallabhacharya came here and worshipped Sri Balaji with his disciples.
In Sri Chaitanya Bhagavat we find Nityananada Prabhu's pilgrimage, He came to Tirumala to worship Sri Venkateshwara with great love and devotion.
And in Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He walked up the same path we will be going tomorrow and in the presence of Sri Venkateshwara, in ecstatic love, He offered His prayers, He danced with His arms raised inducing every one around to chant the Holy Name.
HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

So many of our beloved acharyas worship this place, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, if we are fortunate we will see the lotus footprints of Lord Chaitanya that He installed here. And Srila Prabhupada, himself, came here. It is written about it in his biographies to take the darshan of Sri Balaji and he was very, very deeply impressed, in fact he told devotees that we should learn how to manage a temple very nicely and worship the deities so beautifully from Venkateshwara temple.

Today, after lunch Prasad, which will be served if I ever end this long lecture, we will be visiting the temple of Padmavati.
Tomorrow, for those with the strength, providing there's no cyclone rains, by Yoga Maya's potency, Christmas is such an immensely crowded place, time for Tirupati. More people come here on pilgrimage than any other temple in the entire world. Even though it is so difficult to get to. And Christmas time is a time where people all around have holidays. So this place should be swarming with hundreds and thousands of people, millions of people.
However, because there are cyclones in Andhra Pradesh the vast majority of people are afraid to come. So the last few days I've been living on the top of the Tirumala Mountains and there's hardly anyone there, it's a great benediction. I mean, whoever suffering from the cyclone we definitely offer our prayers and our sympathies and pray for the Lord's compassion upon them, but at the same time there is some, some good that we can.
So tomorrow those who are fit, we will leave at 4'o clock in the morning, and the meeting place will be announced. And we will, following in the footsteps of Sri Shankaracharya, Ramanujacarya, Nityananada Prabhu, Lord Chaitanya, Prabhupada drove off, so those who drive will be following in the footsteps of Prabhupada.
And tomorrow, we will be having the darshan of Sri Venkateshwara Balaji. And the darshan is very fast, it is not like Radha Govinda temple, where you can stand all day long and chant prayers. In Venkateshwara temple you only get a few seconds and you are, “chalo chalo”, you are pushed forward. But it's amazing. Sometimes people stand in line for 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, just stand in line for all these hours, they have to bring tiffins and just eating while standing in line, sleep at night where they are in line, just to get a three-second darshan, “chalo, chalo”. And in certain ways, in some people they shave their heads. There is a certain hall where they shave heads, hundreds and hundreds of people a day, men, women, everyone. As a traditional offering amongst the devotees of Balaji, an offering of surrender.
Sometimes, when things are too easy to achieve we take it cheaply or as they say, for granted, but things that are very hard to achieve we meditate on its value more deeply. So this is one of the wonderful experiences about Venkateshwara, so much trouble to come here and then to get up the hill and then to stand in line and then just a second or two and then you are whisked away, but for that second or two, just offering the deepest, heartfelt prayers, praying for mercy, and beholding the form of the Lord, with much intensity, that is what we should do. Factually, that is how we should behold the deity all the time. When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was in Jagannath Puri, standing and gazing upon Lord Jagannath there will be tears pouring from His eyes, His limbs trembling, and however much time He was standing before Jagannath it was never enough, that is love. What should we pray?
Na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagad-isa kamaye mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi.
In the line of Lord Chaitanya and the six Goswamis, our prayer is for eternal service, our prayer is for pure, unalloyed love, we want nothing else. My Lord, if You want to embrace me, or trample on me, or make me brokenhearted by not being present before me, as You like, I am Your servant, unconditionally.
Many business people have become wealthy by praying to Balaji, by offering gifts to Balaji, many sick people have become healthy by offering their hearts to Balaji, but we do not want Karma-mishra bhakti, we do not want liberation, the desire of the jnana-mishra bhaktas, we want suddha-bhakta, we want pure devotion. What is pure devotion? Samsaddhir Hari tosanam, my Lord, how may I please You? Let me just be Your servant, unconditionally. That is my ultimate ideal, my ultimate aspiration, and even in the footsteps of Vedavati, if I have to suffer for yugas, I will never give up the hope of the shelter of Your lotus feet, in this spirit, let us worship the Lord and chant His holy names.

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