Post by Amritha Varshini on Aug 3, 2013 15:24:53 GMT 5.5
VITOBA, THE NECTAR
Dear Children
4. “ The homeward journey “
In the previous story, you were told that after having dharshan of Vittal, Ramaraja, the king of Vidyanagar had made a request to Lord Vittal. Can you guess what it is? Well. Let us read the story to find out.
Vittal’s Darshan had changed the Vidyanagar King completely. The King became so attached to Vittal that he did not want to leave Pandaripuram. However, as a King, he had duties to perform. So he requested Vittal to go with him to Vidyanagar. Vittal agreed to go with him but with conditions. Vittal said "On the way to Vidyanagar, you should not put me down anywhere and by mistake if you do so, I will stay in that place. Again when you do something wrong, immediately I will leave you." The King agreed to these conditions and took Vittal along. Unfortunately the Pandaripuram residents could not do anything except lamenting "Vittala! Vittala!".
Every year during the month of Aadi, especially on Ekadasi, the Vithoba devotees (they are also known as Varkaris) from Maharashtra and Karnataka used to visit Pandaripuram to have darshan of Pandurangan.(Vittal). This time, when the Varkaris came, they could not find Pandurangan. They found out that Vittal had been taken by the king of Vidyanagar to his kingdom. Naturally the devotees were very upset and decided to bring back Vittal somehow. Now who is to bell the cat? Many were scared to face the Vidyanagar king. One of the devotees by the name Banudasar came forward. He agreed to go to Vidyanagar and vowed to bring back Vittal.
Banudasar walked for many days and finally reached Vidyanagar King's palace. He enquired many people about Vittal. He was shocked to hear that Vittalan has been kept in a small dark room in the palace under lock and key. He muttered "how could this be? Everyday tens and thousands of devotees used to visit him in Pandaripuram and now he is kept in a small dark room. I have to do something", saying thus he went around the palace few times to look for a way.
That night he went to the palace. At the entrance, the security was sleeping. So Banudasar went into the palace unnoticed. As he went inside, the dark room doors opened automatically. Banudasar went in and saw the smiling Vittal and cried "Vittala! Why did you do this? What sin have we committed? Why are you punishing us?". Vittal replied " Did I come on my own? No. This king brought me here. I am bound by his request which I could not rurn down. What can I do?". Banudasar asked "I want to take you back to Pandaripurm. Will you come with me?". Vittal answered "Yes. I will come with you tomorrow. Now you go and rest". Saying thus, Vittal took a diamond necklace from his neck and put it on Banudasar. Banudasar happily went back.
Next day morning, the King went to the dark room for prayers. He was shocked as the diamond necklace he had put on the neck of Vittal was missing. He enquired the security but they said, they did not see anyone going inside that room. Further enquiries from the people in the town revealed to the King that someone has been asking about Vittal the previous day and got the identification of that person. He told his security to go and search for the person with the identification gathered. The security went around and finally came to the river bed where Banudasar was in meditation. They saw the missing diamond necklace of Vittal was in Banudasar's neck. They took Banudasar to the King.
The King asked Banudasar "who are you? How did you get this diamond necklace?" Banudasar replied "My name is Banudasar and I came from Pandaripuram in search of Vittalan. Last night I saw him and he gave me the necklace". The King did not believe him. He got very angry and told his security to hang him. Banudasar begged the King to leave him but the King did not listen. Finally, Banudasar requested the King "Maharaja! I am also a Vittala Devotee like you. Before dying please allow me to see Vittal once". Being a kind person by nature, the King took him to Vittal.
Banudasar cried in front of Vittalan "Hey Vittala! What sort of game are you playing? If you want to live in a comfortable place like this palace, you could do so. Why did you give me the necklace and now I am called a thief? Why are you doing this to me? If the king hangs me, I tell you my heart and mind in the next and in all future births also will be filled with you name and devotion for you, Vittal". As he said this, the security took him to the place where hanging is to take place.. As Banudasar was made to stand on the stone, it turned out to be a beautiful lotus and Banudasar sat on it nicely. Seeing this, the King was surprised and realized his mistake. He approached Banudasar and asked for his forgiveness. Then both of them rushed to see Vittal. As Banudasar called him "Panduranga! Deenarakshaka! you saved me" and hugged him, Vittal said "Come, let us go to Pandaripuram". Hearing this, the King was upset. He asked Vittalan "Why are you leaving me now?". Vittalan said "Do you remember the condition? I told you, I will leave you the moment you do anything wrong? You made a mistake by giving hanging punishment to Banudasar. He told you he is innocent but you did not believe him. So as per our agreement, I have to leave now".
Vittalan changed himself to a small statue so that Banudasar could put him in his bag. Banudasar reached Pandarpur and was near the banks of Chandrabagha river. He wanted to perform his rituals after taking a holy bath in the river and placed the bag containing Vittal near the river under a tree. When he returned, he saw Vittal in his original form. Vittalan said "do not worry. Go and tell everyone that I am back and they will take me back to the temple". As soon as the people heard that Vittalan has come back, they rushed with all the musical instruments and brought him back to the temple.
Dear Children
4. “ The homeward journey “
In the previous story, you were told that after having dharshan of Vittal, Ramaraja, the king of Vidyanagar had made a request to Lord Vittal. Can you guess what it is? Well. Let us read the story to find out.
Vittal’s Darshan had changed the Vidyanagar King completely. The King became so attached to Vittal that he did not want to leave Pandaripuram. However, as a King, he had duties to perform. So he requested Vittal to go with him to Vidyanagar. Vittal agreed to go with him but with conditions. Vittal said "On the way to Vidyanagar, you should not put me down anywhere and by mistake if you do so, I will stay in that place. Again when you do something wrong, immediately I will leave you." The King agreed to these conditions and took Vittal along. Unfortunately the Pandaripuram residents could not do anything except lamenting "Vittala! Vittala!".
Every year during the month of Aadi, especially on Ekadasi, the Vithoba devotees (they are also known as Varkaris) from Maharashtra and Karnataka used to visit Pandaripuram to have darshan of Pandurangan.(Vittal). This time, when the Varkaris came, they could not find Pandurangan. They found out that Vittal had been taken by the king of Vidyanagar to his kingdom. Naturally the devotees were very upset and decided to bring back Vittal somehow. Now who is to bell the cat? Many were scared to face the Vidyanagar king. One of the devotees by the name Banudasar came forward. He agreed to go to Vidyanagar and vowed to bring back Vittal.
Banudasar walked for many days and finally reached Vidyanagar King's palace. He enquired many people about Vittal. He was shocked to hear that Vittalan has been kept in a small dark room in the palace under lock and key. He muttered "how could this be? Everyday tens and thousands of devotees used to visit him in Pandaripuram and now he is kept in a small dark room. I have to do something", saying thus he went around the palace few times to look for a way.
That night he went to the palace. At the entrance, the security was sleeping. So Banudasar went into the palace unnoticed. As he went inside, the dark room doors opened automatically. Banudasar went in and saw the smiling Vittal and cried "Vittala! Why did you do this? What sin have we committed? Why are you punishing us?". Vittal replied " Did I come on my own? No. This king brought me here. I am bound by his request which I could not rurn down. What can I do?". Banudasar asked "I want to take you back to Pandaripurm. Will you come with me?". Vittal answered "Yes. I will come with you tomorrow. Now you go and rest". Saying thus, Vittal took a diamond necklace from his neck and put it on Banudasar. Banudasar happily went back.
Next day morning, the King went to the dark room for prayers. He was shocked as the diamond necklace he had put on the neck of Vittal was missing. He enquired the security but they said, they did not see anyone going inside that room. Further enquiries from the people in the town revealed to the King that someone has been asking about Vittal the previous day and got the identification of that person. He told his security to go and search for the person with the identification gathered. The security went around and finally came to the river bed where Banudasar was in meditation. They saw the missing diamond necklace of Vittal was in Banudasar's neck. They took Banudasar to the King.
The King asked Banudasar "who are you? How did you get this diamond necklace?" Banudasar replied "My name is Banudasar and I came from Pandaripuram in search of Vittalan. Last night I saw him and he gave me the necklace". The King did not believe him. He got very angry and told his security to hang him. Banudasar begged the King to leave him but the King did not listen. Finally, Banudasar requested the King "Maharaja! I am also a Vittala Devotee like you. Before dying please allow me to see Vittal once". Being a kind person by nature, the King took him to Vittal.
Banudasar cried in front of Vittalan "Hey Vittala! What sort of game are you playing? If you want to live in a comfortable place like this palace, you could do so. Why did you give me the necklace and now I am called a thief? Why are you doing this to me? If the king hangs me, I tell you my heart and mind in the next and in all future births also will be filled with you name and devotion for you, Vittal". As he said this, the security took him to the place where hanging is to take place.. As Banudasar was made to stand on the stone, it turned out to be a beautiful lotus and Banudasar sat on it nicely. Seeing this, the King was surprised and realized his mistake. He approached Banudasar and asked for his forgiveness. Then both of them rushed to see Vittal. As Banudasar called him "Panduranga! Deenarakshaka! you saved me" and hugged him, Vittal said "Come, let us go to Pandaripuram". Hearing this, the King was upset. He asked Vittalan "Why are you leaving me now?". Vittalan said "Do you remember the condition? I told you, I will leave you the moment you do anything wrong? You made a mistake by giving hanging punishment to Banudasar. He told you he is innocent but you did not believe him. So as per our agreement, I have to leave now".
Vittalan changed himself to a small statue so that Banudasar could put him in his bag. Banudasar reached Pandarpur and was near the banks of Chandrabagha river. He wanted to perform his rituals after taking a holy bath in the river and placed the bag containing Vittal near the river under a tree. When he returned, he saw Vittal in his original form. Vittalan said "do not worry. Go and tell everyone that I am back and they will take me back to the temple". As soon as the people heard that Vittalan has come back, they rushed with all the musical instruments and brought him back to the temple.