Toṇḍamānadu

Toṇḍamānadu was a great king of the Candra-vaṃśa (the Lunar dynasty). He was born to Suvīra and Nandini, and he ruled from Nārāyaṇapura in the Toṇḍa-maṇḍala.

He was the rebirth of Raṅgadāsa, the devoted gardener who served Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa on Veṅkaṭādri for over a hundred years. As Toṇḍamānadu, he became the first king to build the prākāra (enclosing wall) with a gopura (gate tower) around Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa’s abode on Veṅkaṭādri. Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa had directed this work, appearing through Varāha in the anthill. After this service, Toṇḍamānadu saw the moksha of Bhīma the potter. Then he gave his kingdom to his son, performed tapas, and received sārūpya-mukti (moksha in the same form as Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa).

Past life as Raṅgadāsa

The Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya ties Toṇḍamānadu to his past life as Raṅgadāsa. Raṅgadāsa was a śūdra from Pāṇḍya-deśa. He came to Veṅkaṭādri out of devotion to Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa. He arrived at the mountain at the age of twelve, bathed in Svāmi Pushkariṇī, and saw Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa under the Śrī-vṛksha. This darśana (sacred sight) moved him, and he decided to make a garden for the pūjā of Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa.

Over the following years Raṅgadāsa did the following:

• He cleared the forest around, but left the tamarind and campaka trees, which Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa had named as sacred.
• He built a stone enclosure.
• He laid out gardens of mallika, kanera, lotus, jasmine, mandāra, jāji, tulasī and sampaka.
• He dug a well for water.
• Each day he wove garlands and gave them to the Vaikhānasa priest for the pūjā.

After more than a hundred years of this service, a gandharva came down with his companions to bathe in the garden’s sarovara (lake). The sight disturbed Raṅgadāsa for a moment. Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa himself spoke to free him from worry: “It was I who caused your distraction to test you. You are truly jitendriya (master of the senses). Through this event you will be born as a great king in the Candra-vaṃśa. He will build the prākāra and the vimāna (tower over the shrine) of my ālaya (abode). Serve me here for the rest of this body.”

Raṅgadāsa served until his death and was reborn as Toṇḍamānadu. (Chapter 9)

Birth, family and rule

Toṇḍamānadu was born to Suvīra and Nandini in the Candra-vaṃśa. From his fifth year he showed Vishṇu-bhakti (devotion to Bhagavān Vishṇu) without anyone urging him. He grew into a man of great courage, righteousness and good conduct.

He married Padmā, a very beautiful Pāṇḍya princess. After that, a hundred other princesses from different kingdoms also chose him at their svayaṃvara (the ceremony where a bride chooses her husband). He lived in Nārāyaṇapura and enjoyed royal pleasures like Indra himself. To his enemies he was fierce and hard to approach, like a lion. (Chapter 9)

The hunt on Veṅkaṭādri

One day Toṇḍamānadu took leave of his father and went hunting. He came near Veṅkaṭādri. Deep in the forest he saw a great elephant in mada (rut) and followed it. He crossed the Svarṇamukhī river and met the great ṛshi Śuka, and he bowed to him.

He went on through the forest and came upon Reṇukā-devī in a grove. Devoted bhaktas (devotees) worship her, and she was surrounded by her attendants. Even the devas honour her. He bowed to her and went on to the left.

Then came the decisive moment. Toṇḍamānadu saw a five-coloured parrot that cried “Śrīnivāsa!” and flew toward the mountain peak. He chased it up the mountain and saw its caves and cliffs. He followed the parrot to the field of chāma grain, but he could not catch it. Instead he found a hunter-farmer (vanacara) watching the field. Toṇḍamānadu asked about the parrot. The hunter said: “This five-coloured parrot belongs to Śrīnivāsa. Śrīdevī and Bhūdevī themselves raised it. It always lives near Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa at Svāmi Pushkariṇī, and no one can catch it. Come, I am going now to offer pūjā to Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa. You may come with me.” (Chapter 9)

First darśana of Śrīnivāsa

The hunter led Toṇḍamānadu along the rocky forest path to Svāmi Pushkariṇī. They bathed in the holy lake. Then they went to the Śrī-vṛksha, an aśvattha tree, on the south bank.

There Toṇḍamānadu saw Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa for the first time. The account describes him this way:

• His body was dark like the indranīla (sapphire), the agise tree.
• He had eyes wide like lotuses, four soft arms and a gentle smile.
• He wore divine silks and ornaments such as the kirīṭa (crown) and kaṅkaṇa (bracelets).
• He held the śaṅkha (conch), the cakra (discus), the khaḍga (sword) and the dhanus (bow).
• He bore the śrīvatsa mark and the kaustubha gem on his broad chest.
• Śrīdevī and Bhūdevī stood on either side of him.
• Kumārasvāmī worships him at the three sandhyās (junctures of the day).
• His lotus feet were hidden in the anthill (puṭṭa). Only those with enough puṇya (merit) can see them.

Toṇḍamānadu stood with folded hands and wide eyes, full of wonder and ānanda (joy). The hunter offered honey and chāma grain to Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa and shared the prasāda (blessed food) with Toṇḍamānadu. The king spent one night at the hunter’s forest cottage. In the morning he went back to his army and then to his city. (Chapter 9)

Pūjā to Reṇukā-devī and Śuka

On the way back, Toṇḍamānadu offered pūjā to Reṇukā-devī on Caitra Śukla Navamī. He offered rice, havis (offering), parama-anna (sweet rice), flowers, incense, lamps, meat, and a hundred pots of surā (liquor) scented with jasmine.

The devī was very pleased. She entered a person nearby and spoke: “From now on your kingdom will be free of obstacles. A capital will be set up here with your name. You will rule long near me. The blessings of Deva-deva (the deva of devas) will come to you.”

He went on and visited the āśrama of Śuka-muni. He bowed to the great muni and heard from him the māhātmya of the Padma-sarovara, where Lakshmī had performed tapas for ten thousand years. He bathed in it and returned to his city. (Chapter 9)

Finding the anthill Varāha

Toṇḍamānadu’s father had made him yuvarāja (crown prince) for three years and then passed the kingdom to him. Toṇḍamānadu was crowned and began to rule.

Meanwhile, in the chāma field of the hunter Vasu near Svāmi Pushkariṇī, Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa took the form of a white varāha (boar). He roamed by night and ate the chāma grain. Vasu waited with his bow and chased the shining white boar through the rest of the night. It went into an anthill. In anger Vasu dug up the anthill, and at the sight of the divine varāha he fell unconscious.

His son prayed to Śrīnivāsa. Śrīnivāsa entered Vasu and spoke: “I am Varāha Svāmī. I always live in this anthill. Tell the king to come and install me here. He should bathe the anthill with the milk of black and mixed-colour cows. He should have a stone image carved in the varāha form and installed. He should build prākāras to the north and the south.” (Chapter 10)

Vasu came to Toṇḍamānadu’s court and gave this message. That same night Śrīnivāsa appeared in the king’s dream. He showed him the way to the anthill through a tunnel and marked the route with fresh leaves. The next morning Toṇḍamānadu found the leaves at his door. He called his court together and set out. He reached the anthill by the tunnel route and set up a pattana (fortified settlement) there.

Building the prākāra

Toṇḍamānadu followed Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa’s instructions exactly. He had the anthill bathed with milk from black and mixed-colour cows. A stone image in the varāha form was carved and installed.

He ordered that the tamarind and campaka trees be protected for ever. Śrīnivāsa had declared them his own abode and Lakshmī’s abode, and had said that kings, ṛshis, devas and all people must bow to them. The other trees around were removed, and a prākāra with a gopura was built around the holy site. All the Vaikhānasa munis took part in the installation and the daily pūjā.

Toṇḍamānadu came each day by the underground passage to offer golden lotus flowers to Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa at midday, as had been prescribed. He ruled his kingdom with righteousness and kept up this daily devotion. (Chapter 10)

Vīraśarma and Bhīma

Two remarkable events took place during his reign.

Vīraśarma and his wife. A Sāmaveda brāhmaṇa of the Vasishṭha-gotra named Vīraśarma was travelling to the Gaṅgā to bathe, with his pregnant wife Lakshmī. She could not travel further, so he left her in Toṇḍamānadu’s care and went away for two years. When he came back, he found her dead. Toṇḍamānadu hurried through the underground passage to Śrīnivāsa. Śrīnivāsa told him to take the brāhmaṇa woman’s body to the Asthi-sarovara near the temple and bathe it on a dvādaśī (twelfth lunar day). This was done. The dead woman came fully back to life and was reunited with her husband.

Bhīma the potter. Toṇḍamānadu noticed that some of the golden lotuses he brought for pūjā were stained with soil and had tulasī flowers mixed in. He asked Śrīnivāsa who had offered them. Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa named the devotee as Bhīma, a potter (kumbhāra) of Kurva village, who offered pūjā from his own home. Toṇḍamānadu went to see Bhīma. As the king arrived and they spoke, a divine vimāna came down. Bhīma and his wife gave up their lives, took divine forms, and rose to Vaikuṇṭha before the king’s eyes. Toṇḍamānadu was filled with wonder and went back to his city. (Chapter 10)

Moksha

In time Toṇḍamānadu placed his son Śrīnivāsa on the throne. He blessed him to rule the earth and its people with dharma, and he went into the forest for tapas.

Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa appeared to him in the forest on the back of Garuḍa, with Śrīdevī and Bhūdevī. He asked Toṇḍamānadu what vara (boon) he wanted. Toṇḍamānadu lay flat on the earth in full śashṭāṅga-namaskāra (prostration with the whole body). With a voice choked with devotion he said: “I want to live in your loka, where there is no old age and no death.” Śrīnivāsa granted it at once.

Toṇḍamānadu gave up his body and rose in a divine vimāna to the sound of gandharvas singing praise. He took the sārūpya form of Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa, free from grief, delusion, old age and death. He reached Vaikuṇṭha and never returned. (Chapter 10)

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya, Chapters 9–10