How ,Vilwamangalam became a Krishna-Bhakta...(True Story)...

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Hare Krishna ! Dandavat Pranams to Bhagavan Sri Krishna and all Vaishnavas ,

Brahmasri Vilwamangalam Swami ( Bilwamangalam Takura) is one of the greatest Vaishnava Acharyas of Kerala . Historical records reveal that , he lived during the period AD 1575 to 1660 .

In spite of being born in a vedic Brahmana family , Vilwamangalam was not much `spiritual' during his early days . He was deeply addicted to the materialistic way of life . In those days, only the eldest son of the Brahmin family was allowed to marry from own caste and lead a normal householder life with wife at home . Others are permitted to marry only non-Brahmana girls who will continue to stay at the parental home after the marriage .

Vilwamangalam had a beautiful wife belonging to the "Nair" caste . He was madly in love with her . His physical craving for her was so intense that he could not stay even one day without seeing her . Every evening, he used to visit the wife-house without fail in order to spend the night there .

Once, during a rainy evening, it became impossible to travel due to heavy downpour and storm. Vilwamangalams' craving for wife grew so uncontrollable that he walked a long distance in the dark, through wind and rain, just to be with her.

On the way , he had to cross a river . Due to the torrential rain , no boat was available . But Vilwamangalam decided to swim across the river . He caught hold of what appeared to be a "floating wood " and swam across the torrential river . Upon reaching the shore , he tried to tie it to a tree in order to use upon return . Only then he found that , the "floating wood" was in reality a `dead body' !

Finally, after midnight, Vilwamangalam reached his destination only to discover that all the doors were locked . Since his wife's room was on the upper floor, he had to climb in order to reach her room. Taking a dead snake to be a thick rope, he scaled it and slipped into his wife's room.

Vilwamangalam narrated the above events in detail to his wife . He expected his wife to be happy upon hearing this tale of mad love.

But instead, the wife was so ashamed of his insane attachment to her. Looking at the picture of Sri Krishna that was hanging on the wall of that room, she said :

" Had you directed this craving that you have for me towards Sri Krishna , you would have realised Bhagavan long ago ."

Those words came as a shock to Vilwamangalam, a blow to his ego, and he himself felt extremely ashamed of his unintelligent and foolish attachment to materialistic pleasures.

He felt the burden of his attachment . His whole being, every cell, every atom of his body, every heartbeat, every breath, and every pore of his body turned inward. That very moment he realised the heavy burden of attachment he had been carrying in the name of love. His heart skipped a beat to unload it and then was filled with pure Krishna-Bhakti .

Vilwanagalam bowed down in front of the picture of Sri Krishna and cried for pardon . His deep emotion evolved as a hymn in praise of Krishna . While he was reciting this hymn ("Srikrishna-karnamrutam"), Krishna in the picture nodded his head in approval .

Upon seeing this response of Sri Krishna, Vilwamagalam was immersed in Krishna-Bhakti . He prostrated in front of Bhagavan and wept with joy .

At that moment, he decided to renounce his body-consciousness and to live in Krishna-Bhakti . He left his wife and home at that very moment and became a wandering Saint (Sannyasi) .

Vilwamangalam's Krishna-Bhakti was such that , Sri Krishna appeared in front of him, whenever he did puja . Whenever Vilwamangalam came to Guruvayur for darshan, Bhagavan granted him vision from the Sanctum-Sanctorum (central shrine).

One day Vilwamangalam did not get Sri Krishna's vision from there. He went around the temple in search of Bhagavan . The sound of tinkling of bells from the northern `chuttambalam' attracted his curiosity. He peeped in and saw Baby Krishna dancing there. From that day onwards this place came to be known as Nrithapura (Dancing hall).

On another occasion also, Vilwamangalam could not get Bhagavan's vision in the central shrine. Later he found Bhagavan sitting amidst the Marar boys (drummer's boys) and sharing feast with them, as Bhagavan was fond of the feast given to the Marar boys. It later became an important offering with the devotees .

A third time also, Vilwamangalam failed to have Sri Krishna's vision in the central shrine. It was night time and the "Krishnanattam" (a dance drama of Krishna ) was being staged in the courtyard. The Saint ultimately found Bhagavan on the stage with the 'Gopikas'. Since then, `Krishnanattam' came to be staged in the northern `bahyankana' (outer courtyard) instead of the eastern `bahyankana `. And it begins only when the central shrine is closed after the last puja at night .

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya!!! SriKrishnaDasa Rajeev .

[KuttyGuruvayoorappan 0]

Sree Krishna Guruvayoorappa Narayana what devotees cry before the Lord at his sanctum sanctorium, his Karunyam is incomparable. One should read the life history of Sri Vilwamangalam Swami, Sri Poonthanam Swami, Sri Kurooramma to know how they shed their affection to the Lord. All can leave except the karunyam of my Sree Guruvayoorappan

 

Krishna Gurvayoorappa Narayana