Srinivasa (Epic Characters of Puranas) (ePub)

Srinivasa, also known as Venkateshwara, Venkataramana, Venkatesha, etc. is the reigning deity in Tirupathi, a holy place in Andhra Pradesh. The Tirumala hills comprises seven hills and Lord Venkateshwara is atop the last hill. It is believed that a person who worships the Lord here gets cleansed of all sins as it happened in the case of Madhava. Madhava had committed several sins but he got free of them and in another birth he came to be known as Akasharaya and got Lakshmi as his daughter. Sage Bhrigu was in search of a recipient of a yajna's benefit and thus visited the Trinity. His anger had grown by the time he reached Narayana as he had not been welcomed by either Brahma or Sankara. So when Lord Narayana also didn't pay heed to him, he kicked him on his chest which is the region where Lakshmi dwelt. Though the Lord regretted it and paid due respects to the sage, Lakshmi felt sad and left Vaikunta to dwell at Kolhapur. Unable to stay without his consort, Narayana also descended on earth and reached Venkatachala. He stayed inside an anthill engaging himself in severe tapas. Brahmadeva came to know of it and came disguised as a cow to serve the Lord. As this was a special cow, the queen of the Chola king who reigned there wanted to feed her children with its milk. But, the cow was emptying its udders on the anthill. The cowherd was taken to task and when he found out the truth, he tried to hit the cow with his axe. Narayana tried to protect Brahmadeva and took the blow on himself. The king came in person to see things for himself when Narayana revealed himself. He also told the king that a great king called Akashraya would be born in his line and that his daughter Padmavathi would become Narayana's consort.Narayana then met Varahaswamy with whose help he got a place to stay in Venkatachala. Bakula Devi was sent to serve the Lord. Out on a hunting expedition, Srinivasa saw Padmavathi and both fell in love, but she drove him away from there. Bakula Devi went to approach Akashraya and his queen while Srinivasa himself came to meet them disguised as a female soothsayer. The soothsayer advised the queen to get her daughter married to the person with whom she had fallen in love. Acharya Brihaspathi came to the palace and sent for Sage Shuka. Everyone was happy with the divine alliance. Viswakarma built exquisite buildings to house the guests, Kubera financed Srinivasa's marriage and Sage Vasishta was the royal priest. The marriage was conducted in all splendor. From then on Padmavathi resided close to Narayana.