If we are accused falsely, how should we react? Should we sit in a corner and cry?  Should we think, “I cannot take it anymore.   I don’t want to live.  What is the purpose of this life?”

No. We have to work towards erasing such accusations and prove ourselves using our abilities. That is what Lord Krushna did. He traced the lost Syamanthaka mani, fought with Jambavan and handed the gem to its owner Sathrajith.

The purpose of celebrating Vighna Nivarana Chavithi is not to just pray, listen to Syamanthaka mani story and put akshathas on our heads. It is to energize ourselves, pass all hurdles and complete our tasks successfully.

We need determination to complete a task. We need to put in our effort too. For that we need God’s grace and His divine help. And we can get His grace by His divine will only.

To get that grace, we approach one who can make way for us to approach the Lord, one who can remove our weak-mindedness and obstacles in our path to achieve the goal. One who becomes instrumental for us to receive that grace is Vishwakse:na. We pray and take his prasadam. We, then offer our prayers to God. Then, success will be ours.

Does Vishwakse:na really remove our hurdles? Yes. But how?  Because – Lord listens to whatever Vishwakse:na says. Vishwakse:na conveys to Lord that we are His and recommends on our behalf to remove our hurdles and Lord agrees.

But, will God really remove them? Yes, our elders said so.

thwadi:ya bhuktho:cchitha se:sha bho:jina
thvaya:ni srushta a:thma bhare:na yadyatha
priye:na se:na:pathina nyave:dithath
thattha anuja:nantham uda:ravi:kshanaihi            (A:lvanda:r Stho:thram)

A:vandar while describing the family of Lord, reveals the greatness of three Nithyasuris – Anantha, Garuda and Vishwakse:na.

Vishwakse:na eats God’s prasadam only.  For example, in Tirumala, Lord’s garlands and puja flowers are offered to Vishwakse:na only. They are not distributed to devotees unlike in other places. This system was established a 1000 years ago by Bhagawad Ramanujacharya.

Lord gave entire power to Vishwakse:na to rule the universe. Lord acts as per Vishwakse:na’s  recommendations. He agrees to whatever Vishwakse:na says.

Vishwakse:na is on par with God. He has four hands holding a sankha, a chakra and a stick. His administration of the whole universe without any difficulty is beyond one’s comprehension.  He can control the universe and paramapadam with his pleasant cool glance. He is the commander-in-chief of Lord Vishnu. He removes our hurdles. We pray to Him to get grace of Lord who in turn will bless us with victory and success.

He adorns white clothes. He is Vishnu as all beings in paramapadam can pervade and permeate. His complexion is ‘sasivarnam’ – fair like the cool moonshine.

Bhadrapada Sukla Chathurdasi gives mental strength to remove hurdles. It is a very powerful and significant day to remove obstacles. So, we pray to whoever we think will remove our hurdles, energize ourselves, determine our next steps and go forward. Hence we do puja to Vishwakse:na, listen to Syamanthaka mani story and put akshathas on our heads.

Our mangalasasanams to you all on this divine occasion.

Jai Srimannarayana

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