Narayan Ravi - Mumbai

Pavanapuresha-Series

Pavanapuresha series part 8: Vilwamangalam Swamiyar & Kururamma:

Vilwamangalam Swamiyar was a sanyasi & a great devotee of the Lord. He could see the Lord whenever and in whatever form he wished to see Him. Swamiyar was associated with almost every important temple in Kerala, like Chottanikkara, Ambalapuzha & Padmanabha Swami temples.

Swamiyar was a cousin of Kururamma, another great devotee of the Lord. The Lord's partiality for Kururamma & her pure devotion and passion for 'namajapa' baffled Swamiyar.

Swamiyar used to have darshan of the Lord everyday at the end of his worship. Once the Lord appeared later than usual, covered all over in dust & dirt. When questioned, the Lord replied that Kururamma had shut Him up in an old water container since He had been upto some mischief. Truly, the Lord lived & interacted with the childless Kururamma as if He were her own son, caring for her & helping her as any dutiful son would.

Once Kururamma invited Swamiyar for a feast & with the help of Krishna, prepared everything & waited eagerly, not having food herself. Swamiyar forgot all about the invitation since he was engrossed in the Lord's worship. It was when Krishna did not appear before him next morning & he went looking for Krishna that he heard a voice reminding him about how deeply he had hurt Kururamma by not visiting her. Swamiyar immediately rushed to her house & made up for the previous day by accepting her hospitality.

Such was the greatness of these saints & even greater was the Lord's love for them! May the ever-merciful Mukunda bless one and all.

Hare Krishna