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Sri Venkateswara Ashtotthram |
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20) Krishnaya Sri Venkatesaaya
nama:
During the Krishnavataram, the
Lord sported a dark complexion, earning Him the sobriquet,
"Krishna:". It is from the unparalleled beauty of this Krishna that
the saying "Black is Beautiful" emanated perhaps. Though black is
normally considered inauspicous, the Lord's complexion was an endearing,
enchanting and enticing black, as could be seen by His universal appeal--right
from babies in arms to Gopis known for their beauty to hardened Maharshis were
attracted to the Lord like the proverbial bees to a honey-filled flower.
Azhwars wax eloquent on this
complexionary speciality, describing the Lord variously as
"Kannan ennum karum deivam"
"karia meni misai velia neeru
siride idum peria kola tadam Kannan"
The Lord is not pitch black, but
of the hue of rain-bearing clouds--"megha shyaamam" "neela
mughil vannan" "Aazhi mazhai kanna!" etc.
Sri Andal says in a lighter vein,
from the perspective of a Gopi who has been stood up by Sri Krishna, that His
heart ( inside)
is as black as His body(outside)
--"puram pol ullum kariyaan".
The Lord derives the name Krishna
also from His untiring efforts to emancipate souls bound by the unravelable
bonds of Karma. Like an eternally hopeful farmer, who persists with
cultivation despite any number of disappointing yields, the Lord too never
shuts down the factory of Creation in the fond hope that some atleast of the
countless souls would tread the path of righteousness and reach Him.
Bhavishyottara Purana considers
Tiruvenkatamudayaan verily as Sri Krishna Himself and equates the
ant hill from which the Lord emerged to be Sri Devaki, the Tamarind tree atop
it to be Sri Vasudeva, Sri Balarama, avataara of Sri Adisesha, as Seshaachalam,
the hallowed hilly terrain of Tirumala as Mathura, the Swami Pushkarini asYamuna
nathi and the varied fauna and flora of the hills, which spend their lives in
the service of the Lord, as the Gopa kanyaas.
It is also noteworthy that the
Lord of Tiruvenkatam points to His tiruvadi with His open right palm,
symbolically indicating the Bhagavat Gita dictum to surrender to Him--"Maam
Ekam sharanam vraja!", thereby confirming that this Lord is indeed Sri
Krishna (Venkata Krishnan) of the kaliyuga.
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