pUja

[Vaidya N. Sundaram]

On Wed, 15 Jul 1998, sadananda wrote:
> There was once a devoted lady who was chanting daily Mukundamaala
> (Kulasekhara virachitam) with full devotion. There is a sloka with the
> meaning to the effect  "I surrender at your holy feet".

 namaskaram.
 It is interesting that Sri Sadananda would bring up the Mukunda Malai
Stotram, for the first day of my first camp at Kanchipuram, His Holiness
Sri Sri Shankara Vijayendra Saraswati, asked that we be told the story of
Kulashekara Chakravarthy (later on Kulashekara Azhwar), and how great his
Bhakti for the Lord was. The Mukunda malai is so poignant that the person
who was telling it to us actually could not go on as he was crying. It is
also interesting because, Kulashekara Azhwar later on in the same Mukunda
Malai says that even if one were a devotee of a devotee ... (seven times),
Lord Narayana is appeased!!!
 There is another interesting story about Kulashekara Azhwar.
 He was in the habit of listening to the Ramayana everyday, with rapt
attention. He used to get so immersed in it sometimes that he thought he
actually saw Rama playing in his yard etc, and the priest reciting the
story would stop right there so that he could leave Kulashekara
Chakravarthy to his Bhakti. It so happened that one day his royal duties
demanded that he stay at the court, and so only his son went. After coming
back, his son told the father the story that day, which was that Ravana
had abducted Sita and that Ravana was the king of Lanka.  Kulashekara
Chakravarthy took his armies and marched right up to the sea shore and
started making attempts to cross the ocean to rescue Sita. Such was his
Bhakti that Sri Rama and Sita appeared then and there and said that
whereas He is said to apper only in the treta yuga, Kulashekara Azhwar had
made Him and Her appear in the Kali yuga also!!! Such devotion comes to
but one in a billion billion ...


Vaidya.
                      Vaidya N. Sundaram
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 The place, time, objects and their knower etc., projected in a dream
during sleep are all mithyA (an illusion/false). So too, here. in the
waking state, the world that is seen is a projection by one's own
ignorance. Likewise, this body, the senses, the breath, the ego etc.,
are all unreal. Therefore, That thou art, the peaceful, defectless,
supreme, non-dual Brahman.  -- Adi Shankara in VivekacUdAmani.
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