As we celebrate the 23rd bramhotsavam of Kalyana Venkateswara Swami (the Deity form of God), let us all pray for the well-being of everyone.
With the current coronavirus situation, the entire world is suggesting practises that match with what our great grandparents have followed. These practises were suggested by rushis ages ago. Younger generations have disregarded them not realising the value they bring into our lives. The world is currently seeing benefits of these practises only at the level of maintaining good physical health.
But the seers have established the practises not only to benefit the health of the body, but also the mind, soul and finally for the peaceful coexistence of every being in the entire existence.
Try to drink warm rasam (it must be prepared in the authentic way where turmeric and ginger etc are used in right proportions). Have your first bite of food with a pinch of sonti (dry ginger powder). Besides these, what is equally or more important is remembering that everything we eat is a result of God’s grace and that we must utilise it to serve Him (represented visually by devotees) and His divine body (the entire existence).This brings in righteousness (sa:tvikata) to the activities one does throughout the day.
Venkateswara Swami walked, talked and lived like all of us as Sri Srinivasa in the beginning of Kali Yuga until He decided to stay in an immovable form (sila: murthi).
Why did He choose to be a Sila: Mu:rthi (immovable form)?
“King Thondaman was Padmavati Devi’s father’s brother. As time went by, his attention to the well-being of his kingdom went down. He became negligent and lazy to do his duties. He started to seek help of Sri Srinivasa for the smallest of the smallest things.
One day, a devotee sought King’s protection for his wife and his daughter as he left for Kasi. Thondaman agreed to safe-guard them. The devotee returned and asked the king for the whereabouts of his family. King struggled to remember the whereabouts and finally found out that they were locked in a guest house with nothing to eat for days together. Both the wife and daughter were found to be dead and only bones were found. He approached Sri Srinivasa in the middle of the night and asked Him to somehow get him out of the trouble.
Srinivasa asked the king to fetch the bones and drop them in the pushkarini. As soon as the bones were put into the pushkarini, they took shape of the devotee’s wife and daughter as if they were just taking a bath and looked divine. Thondaman was quite happy. Since then, the pushkarini is called asthi pushkarini (the divine water body that turned the bones into a living body). He began approaching Srinivasa for such tasks.
Srinivasa understood that easy access of His powers has become a reason for King Thondaman to misuse and disrespect Him.
Sri Srinivasa then decided to change His form as Sila: Mu:rthi (immovable form), and thus incarnated as the Deity form, Sri Venkateswara Swami.
The beauty of Sri Venkateswara Swami and His glory is shown by Garuda, one that travels faster than your mind, to carry God and His message across the existence!
He shows the path to eternal protection. He does this by opening his two palms showing the way to Lord’s feet as the ultimate source of protection from any kind of trouble for everyone.
– From the discourse of Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji
– 16thand 17th March 2020, Sri Kalyana Venkateswara Swami
– 23rd Bramhotsavam, Mellacheruvu
Swamiji appreciated Sri J Rameshwar Rao garu and his family for their immense belief in God. Swamiji said, “Rameshwar Rao ji always considered his employees as part of his family.” Swamiji added that “Rameshwar Rao ji’s hard work and smart work has put him into the current position. No matter what activity he does, he remains humble and recognizes that everything is a result of God’s grace on him.”
