Tirupati Mahatyam 1
Bhavaji
Bhavaji was a great devotee. He belonged to North India. he came to Tirupati, built an ashram and settled there. He used to bathe in the Pushkarani thrice daily, have the darshan of the Lord and spend time, in the ashram happily siging in praise of the Lord. He used to place a dice board before him and presume that he was playing dice with the Lord opposite him. he used to say this is my game.....this is Lord's and so on in turns. Says rolled this way.
Suddenly one day, as Bhavaji was sitting before the chess board, he heard a strange sound coming from outside the ashram. There appeared a conspicuous change in the surroundings. A sweet smell was felt and a bright light seen. In astonishment, Bhavaji lifted his head to see what it was all due to. To his surmise there appeared before him the image of the Lord. Could it be an image? No, it is the Lord himself. Am I dreaming, he thought. No, not at all. My Lord had been pleased to please me by appearing before me. Overjoyed he cried out, Govinda, Hare Venkatesa, Hare Srinivasa, Jagadrakshaka and so on and prostrated before the Lord's feet.
Srinivasa gently lifted him. He said, “come Bhavaji let us play dice.” How his joy could be measured is not an easy guess.
Bhavaji made the Lord sit on a mat made out of a deer's skin and played dice with him. The Lord lost the game. It was Bhavaji that won. The Lord said, Bhavaji, you won the game. I am defeated. Choose what you want.
Bhavaji said O Lord! What do I want? I want nothing. It is enough for me to see your real form. The Lord obliged. Bhavaji stood up and praised the Lord in many words.
The Lord said I always admire devotees devoid of desires and disappeared. Afterwards, It became a regular practice for the Lord to visit Bhavaji's ashram each day and spend some time with him playing dice.
Some days passed in this way. One night while playing dice the Lord Balaji said, Bhavaji, hear some one is calling you outside; just go and see. When Bhavaji went out to see who it was that called him, Lord Balaji slipped away leaving his necklace on the mat.
Bhavaji could find none waiting for him outside and hence came back. Here he found that Balaji also had disappeared leaving his necklace behind. He thought that he had forgetfully left it behind and would probably come back to pick it up. He waited for Balaji the whole night but Balaji did not turn up. So holding the necklace in his hand, Bhavaji ran towards the temple.
In the temple, The priest found the necklace missing in Balaji's neck. They were perturbed. They informed the temple authorities. Everybody there began to search for it. It was just then they found Bhavaji with the necklace in his hand. Cries of “thief, thief, catch, catch.....”rent the air.
Poor Bhavaji was caught termed as thief. Everybody had his own way of dealing with him. Some called him names, many kicked him. At last the authority arrived and stopped further handling of him. He said, let us hear what Bhavaji has to say. We will when decide how he should be dealt with. So he was let free.
Bhavaji narrated what all had happened and how he was innocent. None believed his words. Everybody laughed. He was considered to be mad.
Bhavaji was taken before the emperor Sri Krishna Devaraya as a culprit who stole the Lord's necklace. The emperor thought it would be unjust to punish him without sufficient proof. He wanted to put him to test.
He was therefore taken to an underground cell. Heaps of sugar cane were thrown in the cell. Bhavaji was ordered to consume them all before day break, to prove that he was really innocent and was not the culprit in the case. “If it is not possible for you to do so,” the emperor said, “you will face punishment for the theft.” The cell was the locked from outside. How cruel a punishment it was.
Bhavaji was never perturbed. He began to ptay to Venkateswara. He said, “O Lord, you very well know I am quite innocent. I have no other hope than to fall at your feet. So what you want please.” So praying he fell fast asleep.
A little later an elephant appeared in the cell, and by day break completely ate all the heaps of sugar cane that were dumped there. It awoke Bhavaji with its trunk and blessed him. It trumpeted. There guards were wonder struck at the noise. They could not imagine the presence of that elephant in the cell. They ran to the authorities and informed them. Meanwhile, the elephant broke open the locks of the cell and walked away quickly. But none could see where it went.
Every body exclaimed that Bhavaji was a great devotee and that was why the Lord Himself had come to rescue his devotee in the shape of an elephant, chewed the sugar cane and saved his devotee. They begged his pardon for the assults made in Bhavaji without knowing the facts.
Bhavaji never minding all those, was starring in the direction the elephant moved and uttering the names of the Lord and praising Him for the way He came to rescue and proved Bhavaji's innocence. He then ran towards the temple crying Hathiram! Hathiram!.
Krishna Devaraya requested Bhavaji to be a priest in the temple. He obeyed his orders. After some time, Bhavaji absorbed in the Lord. In his remembrance a mutt(monastery) was built on the southern side of the temple. All those who visit the temple also visit that mutt.
Bhavaji's body was cremated on the way to Papanasanam and a samadhi was also built there. Even today prayers are being performed to that samadhi.
Bhavaji was a great devotee. He belonged to North India. he came to Tirupati, built an ashram and settled there. He used to bathe in the Pushkarani thrice daily, have the darshan of the Lord and spend time, in the ashram happily siging in praise of the Lord. He used to place a dice board before him and presume that he was playing dice with the Lord opposite him. he used to say this is my game.....this is Lord's and so on in turns. Says rolled this way.
Suddenly one day, as Bhavaji was sitting before the chess board, he heard a strange sound coming from outside the ashram. There appeared a conspicuous change in the surroundings. A sweet smell was felt and a bright light seen. In astonishment, Bhavaji lifted his head to see what it was all due to. To his surmise there appeared before him the image of the Lord. Could it be an image? No, it is the Lord himself. Am I dreaming, he thought. No, not at all. My Lord had been pleased to please me by appearing before me. Overjoyed he cried out, Govinda, Hare Venkatesa, Hare Srinivasa, Jagadrakshaka and so on and prostrated before the Lord's feet.
Srinivasa gently lifted him. He said, “come Bhavaji let us play dice.” How his joy could be measured is not an easy guess.
Bhavaji made the Lord sit on a mat made out of a deer's skin and played dice with him. The Lord lost the game. It was Bhavaji that won. The Lord said, Bhavaji, you won the game. I am defeated. Choose what you want.
Bhavaji said O Lord! What do I want? I want nothing. It is enough for me to see your real form. The Lord obliged. Bhavaji stood up and praised the Lord in many words.
The Lord said I always admire devotees devoid of desires and disappeared. Afterwards, It became a regular practice for the Lord to visit Bhavaji's ashram each day and spend some time with him playing dice.
Some days passed in this way. One night while playing dice the Lord Balaji said, Bhavaji, hear some one is calling you outside; just go and see. When Bhavaji went out to see who it was that called him, Lord Balaji slipped away leaving his necklace on the mat.
Bhavaji could find none waiting for him outside and hence came back. Here he found that Balaji also had disappeared leaving his necklace behind. He thought that he had forgetfully left it behind and would probably come back to pick it up. He waited for Balaji the whole night but Balaji did not turn up. So holding the necklace in his hand, Bhavaji ran towards the temple.
In the temple, The priest found the necklace missing in Balaji's neck. They were perturbed. They informed the temple authorities. Everybody there began to search for it. It was just then they found Bhavaji with the necklace in his hand. Cries of “thief, thief, catch, catch.....”rent the air.
Poor Bhavaji was caught termed as thief. Everybody had his own way of dealing with him. Some called him names, many kicked him. At last the authority arrived and stopped further handling of him. He said, let us hear what Bhavaji has to say. We will when decide how he should be dealt with. So he was let free.
Bhavaji narrated what all had happened and how he was innocent. None believed his words. Everybody laughed. He was considered to be mad.
Bhavaji was taken before the emperor Sri Krishna Devaraya as a culprit who stole the Lord's necklace. The emperor thought it would be unjust to punish him without sufficient proof. He wanted to put him to test.
He was therefore taken to an underground cell. Heaps of sugar cane were thrown in the cell. Bhavaji was ordered to consume them all before day break, to prove that he was really innocent and was not the culprit in the case. “If it is not possible for you to do so,” the emperor said, “you will face punishment for the theft.” The cell was the locked from outside. How cruel a punishment it was.
Bhavaji was never perturbed. He began to ptay to Venkateswara. He said, “O Lord, you very well know I am quite innocent. I have no other hope than to fall at your feet. So what you want please.” So praying he fell fast asleep.
A little later an elephant appeared in the cell, and by day break completely ate all the heaps of sugar cane that were dumped there. It awoke Bhavaji with its trunk and blessed him. It trumpeted. There guards were wonder struck at the noise. They could not imagine the presence of that elephant in the cell. They ran to the authorities and informed them. Meanwhile, the elephant broke open the locks of the cell and walked away quickly. But none could see where it went.
Every body exclaimed that Bhavaji was a great devotee and that was why the Lord Himself had come to rescue his devotee in the shape of an elephant, chewed the sugar cane and saved his devotee. They begged his pardon for the assults made in Bhavaji without knowing the facts.
Bhavaji never minding all those, was starring in the direction the elephant moved and uttering the names of the Lord and praising Him for the way He came to rescue and proved Bhavaji's innocence. He then ran towards the temple crying Hathiram! Hathiram!.
Krishna Devaraya requested Bhavaji to be a priest in the temple. He obeyed his orders. After some time, Bhavaji absorbed in the Lord. In his remembrance a mutt(monastery) was built on the southern side of the temple. All those who visit the temple also visit that mutt.
Bhavaji's body was cremated on the way to Papanasanam and a samadhi was also built there. Even today prayers are being performed to that samadhi.
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