Narayan Ravi - Mumbai

Pavanapuresha-Series

Pavanapuresha series part 18: The divine games of the Lord:

Once a farmer who had planted coconut palms vowed to offer the first crop to Lord Guruvayurappa. True to his promise, when the tree yielded fruit, he packed the coconuts in jute bags & proceeded towards Guruvayur. On the way, a band of robbers blocked his path & tried to snatch the bags from him. When the farmer pleaded that the coconuts were meant for the Lord, the robbers said - 'What is so special if they are meant for Guruvayurappa? Do they have horns?' To their utter shock, when they emptied the bags onto the ground, they saw that each of the coconuts indeed had horns!! Needless to say, they let the farmer proceed ahead. Even today, a couple of coconuts with horns can be seen in the small museum on the eastern entrance path to the temple.

Once Vilwamangalam Swamiyar visited the temple along with his faithful servant. The servant asked Swamiyar as to what form he should worship the Lord in. Swamiyar, who considered himself to be a great devotee of the Lord & was very proud of it, sarcastically told his servant - 'worship Him in the form of a buffalo!'. The servant in all his innocence believed him. It was the time of one of the daily temple processions. When the Utsava deity was being brought out from the inner shrine, they found that they could not get the deity out through the entrance. Try as they might, they failed. The servant then remarked - 'The buffalo's horns must be blocking the doorway. Tilt the deity a little & try coming out.' They tried doing so & it worked! The Lord had indeed revealed Himself to His pure-hearted devotee in the form of a buffalo!

Indeed inexplicable are the ways of the Lord. May the ever – loving Sripati – the Lord of Lakshmi (Sri) bless one and all.

Hare Krishna