Veṅkaṭeśvara
Veṅkaṭeśvara is Bhagavān Vishṇu, who chose to live on the mountain Veṅkaṭācala. He is also called Śrīnivāsa and Vīrapati, and by the high names Nārāyaṇa and Vishṇu. The Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa presents him as the supreme purushottama (highest person). He gives bhukti (enjoyment of the world) and mukti (liberation) to those who see him and bathe in the Svarṇamukhī.
He lives on the south bank of Svāmi Pushkariṇī, in the Ānanda-vimāna, which no one can see. At the prayer of the ṛshi Agastya, he became visible to all beings. He married Padmāvatī, who was born from the earth and is named as Vedavatī reborn. This is the Śrīnivāsa-Padmāvatī Kalyāṇam, the great divine marriage.
Coming to Veṅkaṭācala
In the distant past, Vāyu (the deva of the wind) did great tapas for Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa. Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa was pleased with his devotion. He came with Śrīdevī and Bhūdevī and made his home on the south bank of Svāmi Pushkariṇī on Veṅkaṭācala, in the Ānanda-vimāna, which no one could see. He declared that he would stay hidden in this vimāna until the end of the kalpa (the age of the world). From then on, Kumārasvāmī also worshipped him here. (Chapter 3)
The ṛshi Agastya came to the mountain and worshipped Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa for twelve years with complete devotion. Again and again he asked Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa to become visible to all living beings, so that ordinary people too could see him and gain from his darśana (sight of him). Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa granted the vara (boon). The Ānanda-vimāna would always stay unseen, but he himself would now be seen by all. (Chapter 3)
Form and appearance
Toṇḍamānadu met Śrīnivāsa under the Śrī-vṛksha (the aśvattha tree) near Svāmi Pushkariṇī. Śrīnivāsa had a complexion like a deep green gem, like the colour of the agise tree. His eyes were wide like lotuses. He had four arms with soft limbs, a gentle smile and divine silk garments. Beautiful Śrīdevī and Bhūdevī stood on his two sides. He held the śaṅkha (conch), cakra (discus), khaḍga (sword) and dhanus (bow), along with other divine weapons and divine garlands. He wore a kīrīṭa (crown), kaṅkaṇa (bracelets) and other ornaments, and the śrīvatsa mark and the kaustubha gem on his broad chest. At the three daily sandhyā times, Kumārasvāmī worshipped him. His feet were hidden in the anthill (puṭṭa) and were seen only by those with enough puṇya (merit). (Chapter 9)
At the first meeting in the forest he came on horseback to hunt. He looked like a dark-complexioned young man of great beauty. He wore fine silk and carried a golden bow. Padmarāga earrings shone at his cheeks, and he wore the sacred thread (yajñopavīta). His chest was broad, the śrīvatsa mark was clear, and he was tall and handsome. He told Padmāvatī’s companions that he belonged to the Sūrya-vaṃśa (the line of Sūrya), that his name and colour were Kṛshṇa, and that he was called Vīrapati. (Chapter 4)
The hunt and the first meeting with Padmāvatī
In the spring (vasanta ṛtu), Śrīnivāsa went into the forest on a white horse, white as a swan and swift as thought. Hunters dressed as kirāta went with him, and they were really devas. He chased a wolf into a forest and came to a place where Padmāvatī, the daughter of Ākāśarāja, was playing with her companions and gathering flowers.
An elephant came near and frightened the women under the trees. Śrīnivāsa appeared, and the elephant saw him, turned and ran into the forest. Padmāvatī’s companions challenged the rider. He asked them about the animal and then about Padmāvatī herself. Her beauty overwhelmed him at once, and he asked whether she might be his. The companions drove him away with warnings about Ākāśarāja.
Śrīnivāsa went back to his mountain home. In viraha (the pain of separation) he fell face down on his gem-studded swing, thinking of nothing but her. (Chapters 4, 5)
Vakulamālikā as messenger
Śrīnivāsa told his love to Vakulamālikā, his devoted celikatte (female companion), who had served him since before this kalpa. He told her who Padmāvatī was. She was Vedavatī of the Tretā-yuga, who had been wrongly carried off by Rāvaṇa and had entered fire out of shame. Śrīnivāsa had promised her that he would marry her in the twenty-eighth Kali-yuga. In due time she was born from the earth as the daughter of Ākāśarāja.
He sent Vakulamālikā on a red horse to Nārāyaṇapura to meet Padmāvatī’s mother Dharaṇī and arrange the marriage. (Chapter 5)
He gave her careful directions. She was to go down by the Narasiṃha cave route, reach the Agastya-liṅga on the bank of the Svarṇamukhī, and then reach the āśrama of Śuka with its Padma-sarovara (lotus lake). She was to take a golden lotus from that lake, cross the river Araṇī and arrive at Nārāyaṇapura. (Chapter 5)
The Vedavatī connection
Śrīnivāsa told Vakulamālikā the whole past-life story of Padmāvatī. In the Tretā-yuga, a woman named Vedavatī had helped Lakshmī and was dear to Sītā. When Rāvaṇa meant to carry Sītā away from the āśrama, Agni had already taken the real Sītā to Pātāla, to Svāhā-devī, for safekeeping. He then brought Vedavatī to the āśrama in Sītā’s form.
Rāvaṇa carried this Vedavatī off to Laṅkā. After Rāvaṇa’s death she entered fire again. Sītā asked Śrīnivāsa to marry Vedavatī as a reward for her service and her suffering. He promised to do so in the twenty-eighth Kali-yuga, when she would be born from the earth as the daughter of Ākāśarāja. That birth had now taken place. (Chapter 5)
Marriage to Padmāvatī
Śuka, the parrot muni, arranged the marriage. He carried Śrīnivāsa’s word and his vanamālā (forest garland) to Padmāvatī. Bṛhaspati fixed the date as the Uttarā Phālguṇī nakshatra (star) in the month of Vaiśākha. Padmāvatī’s birth star was Mṛgaśīrsha and Śrīnivāsa’s was Śravaṇa, and Uttarā Phālguṇī was found to be the best star for their joining.
Lakshmī herself helped Śrīnivāsa get ready for the wedding. She anointed and dressed him. Her companions Śruti, Smṛti, Dhṛti, Śānti, Prīti, Kīrti and others held his clothes, mirror, ornaments and cāmara (fly-whisks). Śacī held the umbrella. Sarasvatī and Pārvatī held the fly-whisks.
Śrīnivāsa rode Garuḍa to Nārāyaṇapura. With him went Brahmā, Śiva, Indra, Varuṇa, Yama, Kubera, the Vaikhānasa munis, other ṛshis and the hosts of devas. Gandharvas sang, apsarās danced and divine dundubhi drums sounded.
At the gate of Nārāyaṇapura, Padmāvatī arrived on Airāvata and walked around the city. Śrīnivāsa put his garland around Padmāvatī’s neck. She put her mallikā garland around his neck. They did this three times. Brahmā performed the Maṅgalasūtra ceremony and the sacred rites, including the Lājāhoma. The celebrations ended after four days.
Śrīnivāsa then went back to Veṅkaṭādri on Garuḍa, with both Lakshmī and Padmāvatī. All the devas praised him as he entered the Maṇi-maṇḍapa. (Chapters 7–8)
Boon to Ākāśarāja
Ākāśarāja offered rich gifts. Śrīnivāsa asked him which vara (boon) he wanted. Ākāśarāja asked for firm and steady bhakti (devotion) at Śrīnivāsa’s lotus feet, with no wavering. Śrīnivāsa gave it at once: “All that you have asked shall be yours.” (Chapter 8)
The four promises
Śrīnivāsa made four main statements that shape the sacred life of Veṅkaṭācala.
- Even a person who bows toward Veṅkaṭādri from a thousand yojanas away reaches Vishṇuloka.
- The Ānanda-vimāna will always stay unseen. Only he himself will be seen.
- The tamarind tree and the campaka tree on the mountain are holy dwellings, of Śrīnivāsa and Lakshmī, and must never be cut.
- Bathing in the Svarṇamukhī and seeing Veṅkaṭeśvara gives bhukti (enjoyment of the world) and mukti (liberation) together. He gave this as a vara to Agastya. (Chapters 3, 10, 38)
Worship and access
Śrīnivāsa gave Toṇḍamānadu a set pattern. He was to come at midday (madhyāhna), offer golden lotus flowers, do pūjā and then return to the city. Śrīnivāsa clearly forbade coming at the wrong times. He told Toṇḍamānadu to build the prākāra (enclosing wall) with a gopura (gate tower), to protect the tamarind and campaka trees, and to bathe the anthill with the milk of black cows and of cows of mixed colours. (Chapter 10)
At Svāmi Pushkariṇī, Śrīnivāsa showed Agastya and Śaṅkhu his Virāṭ form (viśvarūpa, the form of the whole world). Then he showed his peaceful saumya form. To Agastya he gave the vara that bathing in the Svarṇamukhī and then having darśana of Veṅkaṭeśvara would give bhukti and mukti. To Śaṅkhu he gave enjoyment in svarga (heaven), followed by Vaikuṇṭha. (Chapter 38)
Sources
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya, Chapters 1–40 (the account above cites Chapters 3, 4, 5, 7–8, 9, 10 and 38)