Saint Sketch -7- Sri Sridhara Venkatesa Ayyaval -Part-4 By Sri.Sri.Muralidhara Swamiji

[Guest guest]

Radhe Krishna To All,

 

An Announcement:

 

1. On the Ocassion of Tamil New Year's day our swamiji is rendering a Special

discourse on Star Vijay TV. today inbetween 7.00AM till 7.30AM. Please do

watch!

 

2. A 3 minute 'Hare Rama.' Mahamantra Kirtan video is telecast on Star Vijay TV

every morning (Mon-Fri) at 5:25 am. Let us have an auspicious beginning to every

day with the viewing of the Mahamantra Kirtan.

 

3. Sri Sri Swamiji's rendered a discourse at Narada Gana Sabha on Sunday 12th

April, commemorating the birth centenary of Swami Abhedananda. Pl click the link

below to watch the full discourse ,

http://www.namadwaar.org/videos/internal/abhedananda.php

---------------

Sri Shridhara Ayyaval

 

Sri Shridhara Ayyaval used to visit the Temple of MahaLinga, Lord Shiva, in the

nearby city of Madhyarjuna. Rain or shine, he would not miss to visit the

temple. He preferred to see the Lord when there was not much crowd and so chose

the early hours of the morning for the visit.

 

Once, Lord Shiva intended to test the love and devotion of Sri Shridhara

Ayyaval, who was none but He Himself! That day, Sri Shridhara Ayyaval was on his

way to the temple as usual. He had to cross the river Kaveri in order to reach

the temple. On reaching the bank of Kaveri, he realized it was flooding. Boatmen

refused to ferry the boat across the river. Sri Shridhara Ayyaval could not

bring himself to return home without seeing His Lord in the temple. Gazing at

the tower of the temple on the other shore, Sri Shridhara Ayyaval stood with

tear-filled eyes. He felt he must have offended the Lord in some way and the

very sin is obstructing him from having a vision of His Lord. He composed a

soulful prayer called 'AarthiHara Stotra' in which he prayed, " Oh Lord! Please

bestow your loving and compassionate glance on me, who is suffering from the

pangs of separation from you! You have the untarnished fame of relieving the one

who merely chants your Divine name, from the clutches of sorrow! How is it that

though I have sought refuge in You, I am agonized? Did you not bestow your grace

on the hunter who chanted your divine name 'Hara Hara Hara' in death bed

unknowingly while teaching his son the way to hunt-'Prahara, Aahara,

Samhara'(attack, bring, kill)? Such being your compassion, how can you turn your

face on me who am piteously praying-

 

'Save me Lord Shiva!'

 

While Sri Shridhara Ayyaval was lamenting thus, a priest familiar to him in the

Shiva Temple, came to his presence and gave Vibhoothi Prasada (Sacred ashes). He

said, " I did not find you in the temple today. I knew you would be saddened at

not being able to cross the river and have the vision of the Lord. So I thought

why not come and give you the sacred ashes. " Transported with joy, Sri Shridhara

Ayyaval prostrated unto the priest and accepted the sacred ashes with reverence.

Shedding tears of joy, thinking of the love of Lord towards His devotees, while

Sri Shridhara Ayyaval was moving towards his home, it suddenly stuck to him as

to how could the priest alone cross the flooding river! Thinking back, he could

remember, that the priest was not a bit drenched and the sacred ashes on the

priest's body too were intact! Sri Shridhara Ayyaval wondered if it was Lord

Shiva himself who had come in the garb of the priest. Next day, the flood

subsided and Sri Shridhara Ayyaval went to the temple and found the same priest

there. Sri Shridhara Ayyaval thanked the priest for his kindness and said his

mind was at peace only after receiving the sacred ashes from him yesterday. The

priest was utterly confused hearing this. He said, " Sir! I never came to the

other shore! Indeed, who could have dared to cross the flooding river? "

 

Sri Shridhara Ayyaval was moved beyond words at these words of the priest which

made him realize it was Lord Shiva himself who had taken pity on him and come to

give the sacred ashes. With a grateful heart he sung the glory of the compassion

of the lord in the verse 'Dayashatakam'. He sings, " Oh! The Compassion of the

Lord! One is cleansed of all his sins the moment your cast your glance on him!

When will you bless me so that I am always immersed in the bliss of chanting the

Divine names like 'Madhava', 'Murari', 'Kaamaarey', 'Shiva', 'Mahadeva',

'Govinda' and 'Purahara'! Be pleased to bestow two boons on me! That my mind may

always be established in the Divine Form of Lord Shiva and that my tongue may

always chant the Divine Names! In my last breath, let me chant the Divine Name

'Shiva'!â€

 

Sri Shridhara Ayyaval, who composed 100 such verses glorifying the compassion of

the Lord, was none other than Lord Shiva himself! Needless to say, he was an

epitome of compassion! He could not stand to see one suffer. In comparison to

compassion to all beings, he considered even liberation as trifling.

 

!!! Will Continue !!!

 

Regards