Went to Tirumala

Avinash · 06-28-2004, 02:29 AM

About one week back, I with my two younger brothers went to Tirumala. On 16 June, I suddenly said to my brothers, "Let us go to Tirupati." I do not know why I suddenly thought of that. But anyway, I gave money to one of my brothers to book bus ticket to Tirupati for Friday (18 June). We started in the afternoon of 18 and reached Tirupati bus stand in the night. We purchased coupans for prasadam. We wanted to take prasadam ourselves and also give to my colleagues and to my brothers' friends and some others whom we knew once we came back to Bangalore. We got the time of visit as 10 PM of 19 June. We stayed in a nearby hotel. The next morning we visited local temples. In the evening, we went to Tirumala by bus. We got in queue at around 9 PM and got darshan at 1:30 AM. But arrangements were good and therefore, we did not find any problems because of crowd. We were really happy to have darshan. The only cause of disappointment is that we wanted to see God for some more time but we were allowed just a few seconds. But I can understand that this was done to manage crowds.
There was one very pathetic sight. As we were in queue, we were once on a staircase. I looked out. There was a child lying on a mat and he perhaps could not even move. There was another child who was a few years older and, by looking at his legs, I could say that he could not even stand without support. He was just dragging himself and asking for money. People, including me, gave some money to those children. The sight was really heart-rendering. But it was not unique because I have seen such sights elsewhere too.
There is so much of suffering.

vanamali · 07-21-2004, 09:14 PM

>>> Let us go to Tirupati." I do not know why I suddenly thought of that.

--- Oh! Venkateshwara is always like that! You may plan for months and months, and if He is not ready to see you, you will not go... but one day you suddenly think of going to see the Lord. Really, I truly believe He must have thought of you for a moment and thought, "Oh! I haven't had that sweet devotee's darshan for some time. He should come soon..."

As for only getting a few seconds' darshan, that is okay! The urgency of having darshan of Balaji reminds you what a treasure He really is. You don't look away from Him for a second. You don't even want to blink your eyes for fear of losing a second of that precious time with Him. That is how we should always be when having darshan of the Lord, and Venkatapati reminds us of this...

But then again, if you want to pay a few rupees, probably one of the crowd control people will let you have a longer darshan, or if you put in an urgent prayer-request to Venkatesha Govinda or Padmaavati, probabably, *maybe* you will get a good, long look at His sweet face next time!!! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Wow! You are so blessed!! I wish I could see Him again!!!

krsna · 09-10-2004, 06:44 AM

[img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Avinash · 09-13-2004, 09:43 AM

Do you want me to die now? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

krsna · 09-14-2004, 03:45 PM

Die to live
and live to chant the Holy Names !

vanamali · 09-21-2004, 12:27 PM

Ready any time, Swami!

09-26-2004, 03:19 PM

but i am afraid of venkateswara. Other forms like krishna and rama are cool, but this image scares me. Maybe, it is due to the dark color.

vanamali · 09-27-2004, 09:38 AM

Lord Venkateshwara is dark black like Syamasundara Krishna! Do you know something? People say He is Sriman Narayana, but really He is Krishna. And I don't mean to say that He's a statue of Krishna... no, He is the *actual* living God. Krishna is existing simulatneously in Goloka/Vrindavana as Krishna, Vaikuntha as Narayana, and Tirumala-Tirupati as Venkatesha Govinda.

Yes, Venkatesha can seem a little scary because there is so much energy coming from His presence. That is because He is different from the images in other temples in that He is a self-manifested murthy and has the full power and presence of God Himself. Couple that with the fact that He is nearly 10 feet tall, when you stand before Him, it is so overwhelming!

But we should also remember that Venkateshwara is the Lord's kindest form. He is always eager to help His devotees, and He loves so much! He does not want you to feel He is unapproachable! Just think of Him as the God who is addicted to laddus! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Just like our gopala Krishna who loves eating butter, Venkatesha loves laddus... both symbolize the love of the devotees. Venkatesha too loves to be loved. Just love Him, and you need not be afraid. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

vanamali · 09-27-2004, 12:38 PM

if you look up close, you can see that He is smiling sweetly [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

07-15-2005, 08:59 PM

Hare Krishna,

I noticed that with Venkateshwara Krishna. He has a smile that is not fathomable. I like to think of that smile as atma-ramana smile, fully self content. All glories to Lord Vankateshwara.

Hare Krishna.
Radhey Radhey.

Abhi