Part 2 – Chapter 5 – Arrival At Tirupati – Sripada Srivallabha Charitramrutam

Chapter 5: Arrival at Tirupati and Encounter with Tirumala Das at Kanipakam

The advent of Aiynavilli Ganapati as Srīpāda Srīvallabha

Tirumala Das began to speak, “Sir, today is a good day! I had the good fortune of seeing you. I am eagerly waiting to inform you about the important events of Malyadripuram[1] and Pīthikapuram. My dear Shankar Bhatt, you received the prasādam of Vara Siddhi Vinayaka; you commence writing Srīpāda Srīvallabha Charitamrutam book from today. You will receive the blessing of Srīvallabha in Kuruvapuram. I was a great Vedic scholar in my previous life. I was a great miser. At the time of my death I noticed that the calf that was just born was chewing an old rag. As I concentrated my looks on the dirty linen at the time of my death, I am now born as a washerman. A person gets a birth according to his concentrated wishes at the time of his last breath at the termination of a birth. Due to my good deeds[2] in the past, I was born in Malyadripuram of the Palnad region in Gartapuri[3] district. This Malyadripuram became Malladi in the passage of time. In that village, there were two families with their surnames as Malladi. One is the family of Malladi Bapannāvadhanulu who was a great scholar. He belonged to the lineage of Sage Haritasa. The other one was Malladi Srīdharāvadhanulu who was also a great scholar. He belonged to the lineage of Sage Kaushika. The sister of Srīdharāvadhanulu, Rajamamba was given in marriage to Bapannāvadhanulu. Both the brothers-in-law were erudite pandits. Both of them went to Aiynavilli village in the region of Godavari for the great sacrifice of golden Ganapati[4]. Some savants argued that according to scriptures, Ganapati should receive the final fire ritual[5] with His trunk and grant His vision of bright golden hues. The two great scholars who were officiating over the conduct of the major sacrifice swore that they would strictly manage all proceedings according to the Vedic scriptures and that they would make Srī Maha Ganapati emerge before their eyes. At the end of the sacrifice, Ganapati granted His vision of golden coloured brilliance and accepted the last fire ritual with His trunk. He also declared that He would incarnate shortly on a Ganesh Chaturdhi day[6] with complete potencies and virtues. All those who attended the ritual[7] were amazed. There were three atheists in that congregation. They raised a controversy that all that was seen was only an exhibition of magic and hypnotism and that Ganapati did not figure at all in the final sacrifice. They argued that if it was genuine, Ganapati should grant them proof once again.

The greatness of Kanipaka Vinayaka

“Then the holy ash in the sacrificial pit took a human form and changed afterwards as Maha Ganapati. Then the Maha Ganapati form said, ‘Fools! Before Shiva killed Tripurasura[7]; before Vishnu subdued Bali[8]; before Vishnu obstructed Ravana[9] from taking away the Ātmalinga of Shiva; before Parvati Devi slayed Mahishasura[10]; before Ādi Sesha[11] shouldered the weight of the earth; before siddhas achieved occult powers; before Cupid conquered the world; and before celestials obtained their desires, they worshipped Me. I am the repository of all powers. I am omnipotent. Divine forces as well as devilish forces are within Me. I cause all obstacles. I am also the remover of all obstacles. Who do you think Dattatreya is? He is verily Dharma Sāsta[12] — the son of Hari and Hara[13]. Brahma[14] and Rudra[15] merged in Vishnu is the form of Datta. Ganapati and Shanmukha[16] merged in Dharma Sāsta form also is the form of Datta. Know it that Datta is always a personification of the Trinity. As an indication that Maha Ganapati is in the form of Srīpāda Srīvallabha, His incarnation will take place on Ganesh Chaturdhi[17]. Be it known that the traits of Subramanya[18] will make Him a gyana avatar[19]. Note that His aspect of Dharma Sāsta will show that He is the beginning and origin of all righteous activities and rituals. His ensuing incarnation is not the result of coition between parents. Illuminating light takes a human form.

“‘I am cursing you. In spite of seeing the personification of truth with eyes, one of you uttered falsehood. He would be born blind. The other one ridiculed the personification of truth instead of praising it with
speech. He would be born mute. The third one would take birth as a deaf one because he paid a deaf ear to the truth told by so many truthful devotees. The three of you would take birth as brothers and after seeing My self-manifested figure you will be redeemed of your sins.’

“My dear, those three persons were born as brothers in Kanipakam. If the Trinity is abused, or Datta, the personification of the Trinity, is abused, countless calamities occur. These brothers took land measuring one kāni[20] and were cultivating it. In that field there was a ground well. They used to draw water from the well with the help of a lever and a bucket attached to it. There was a severe drought one year. The ground water level depleted. On one day when all the water dried up, the brothers attempted to remove sand with a shovel. The shovel hit a rock under the water and blood oozed out. When his hand touched the blood, the mute one gained speech. Water was rising in the well. The deaf one was cured of his disability on touching the water. The third one, who was blind, gained sight when he touched the rock in the water. That rock is the self-manifested Vinayaka statue. As the shovel hit the rocky icon on
the head, blood started streaming out from there.

“To install that Vara Siddhi Vinayaka, Satyarushi[21] Bapannāvadhanulu and his brother-in-law Srīdharāvadhanulu visited that village. Vara Siddhi Vinayaka said to them, ‘I came from Maha Bhūmi[22] to this world. I am incarnated in the earthen nature. This nature will undergo many changes in due course of time. My advent already took place in the nature of water, fire, air and heaven. The holy ash in the great sacrifice conducted in Aiynavilli took this form. I am instructing you about the future duties. The degrees of potency of kalās[23] in SrīShaila are on the wane. You have to harness the brilliant power of the Sun and deposit that power there. On the very day you perform shaktipāta[24] in SrīShaila, by My grace shaktipāta will take place in Gokarna[25], Kashi[26], Badari[27] and Kedar at the same time. The time is getting ripe for the incarnation of Srīpāda Srīvallabha. Srīdharā, I am changing your surname to be Srīpāda. Your family members belonging to the lineage of Kaushika shall henceforth thrive with the surname of Srīpāda.’

“My dear Shankarā, Srīdharāvadhanulu and Bapannāvadhanulu migrated to Pīthikapuram. I witnessed many childhood plays of Srīpāda Srīvallabha. I will narrate them with more details tomorrow. I had a boy from my first wife. His name is Ravidas. He resides in Kuruvapuram village and is rendering appropriate services to Srīpāda. I am staying with my second wife and children in Kanipakam obiding by the orders of Srīpāda. Here I am living following my family profession. You will meet many great people in Pīthikapuram. You will learn many important things on meeting the noble Vaishya[28] Pynda Venkatappayya Sreshti. Srīpāda used to call him with a change in name as Venkayyappa Sreshti. The protecting hand of Srīpāda is available for the family of Sreshti. Meet Vatsavāyi Narasimha Varma also. He has close affinity with Srīpāda Swamī. The book to be written by you on the life of Srīpāda Srīvallabha will be blessed by Srī Charana. Except for the book you write, there will be no other way that could portray the comprehensive history of Srīpāda Srīvallabha. This is the order of Srī Charana.”