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The Vaishnodevi Experience 2023

My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.
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The Legend of Sri Venkateswara Part 4 - A marriage is fixed.. and the finance too.....

Please read the first 3 parts before reading further..
Part 1 - The Lord descends on Earth

Part 2 - The lord finds a mother.. and also a wife...

Part 3 - The story of Padmavati


Let's continue the story after Sinivasa and Padmavati met at the lake....While Srinivasa and Padmavati pined for each other, their parents worried about what was ailing their children. At last, after much questioning, Srinivasa told Vakula Devi about the incident and told her that he wished to marry Padmavati. Forestalling her worry that the marriage would be impossible, he also told her Padmavati’s real identity, as well as his. He then asked her to go to Akasa raja and ask for Padmavati’s hand in marriage to her son. Vakula Devi was only too delighted to go to the king on such a blessed errand.

Once Vakula Devi had left, Srinivasa wondered what kind of a reception she would have at the palace. He decided to make things easier for her, and decided to take matters into his own hand. Disguising himself as a gypsy, he hurried to the palace, where everyone was worried about the princess who was moody and sullen since the day at the lake. In India, gypsies are well known for reading fortunes accurately, and Srinivasa as a gypsy was welcomed into the palace to discover what was wrong with the princess. Reading the princess’ palm, the gypsy-Srinivasa informed the queen that the princess had met a hunter at the lake, and had fallen in love with him. He also informed her that the hunter was none other than the lord, who was destined to marry Padmavati.

The queen was happy that the lord would soon arrive to marry her daughter, but she worried about the fact that in his form as Srinivasa, the lord was a poor man with few means of sustenance. How could she let her daughter marry a pauper? The king had no such qualms, knowing that the princess would follow her destiny.

When Vakula Devi arrived at the palace, she was received with due honour and taken to the king, where she laid her request before him. The king, as befitted the occasion, replied that he would reply after consulting his guru and the elders. Accordingly, after Vakula Devi had hurried with the good news to Srinivasa, he called on the Sage Suka and asked for his advice. The sage was well aware of the incarnation of the lord, and was happy to assure the king that this marriage had the blessings of the gods. Then, the king consulted the guru of the Devas, Brihaspati, to settle on an auspicious date for the marriage. The tenth day of the month of Vaikasi (the Tamil month in the period of mid-May to mid-June), which was a Friday, was chosen as the most auspicious one. Sage Suka was chosen as the messenger to go to Srinivasa with the marriage invitation. He was too happy to be the one to carry the blessed tidings, and set off towards Seshachala. Srinivasa received the sage and happily agreed to arrive at the marriage venue at Narayanapuram on the decided date.

Now that the marriage had been fixed, Srinivasa turned his thoughts towards another aspect – the funds for the marriage. He was aware of the queen’s worry regarding his present situation, and respected her concern as befitting a mother. He had to look for a solution, since Lakshmi was still estranged from him. Meanwhile, Narada had informed all the gods about the approaching marriage, and they all converged at Seshachala.

Recognizing the problem of funds, all eyes turned to Kubera, the god of wealth. It was decided that Srinivasa would obtain a loan from Kubera, under the rules of the Kali Yuga – he would borrow one crore and fourteen lakh gold coins from Kubera, and would pay interest on the amount. Since he was, at the moment, unable to repay the loan, the lord promised that as the Kali Yuga progressed, millions of devotees would arrive at Seshachala to get his blessings, and their offerings would go towards settling the debt incurred for the marriage. This arrangement was accepted by Kubera and the deal was stamped by the approval of the gods.

Coming up: Part 5: The marriage.... and after...
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Location: Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh, India

Comments

  1. AnilApril 2, 2012 at 4:02 AM

    awesome writing...can't wait for the next part...Please post as soon as you can....
    Would also be interested to learn what happened to Pandavas, Lord Krishna after Kurukshetra....

    Regards
    Anil

    ReplyDelete

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