Paripalaya na: krupalayethyasakruth jalpitham
athma bandhava!
Murali mrudula swananthare vibhu:
aakarnayitha katha nu na:?
Radhekrishna! I cry out to the Lord - "Hey the source of mercy! Please take care of me!" When will the mentor of my soul (athma bandhava:) be able to hear my pleas, over the sweet music flowing out from His flute? - Leela Suka - Krishna Karnamrutham.
The Lord is always lending His ears for our cries. An incident which happened in Guruvayur around 300 years back stands as a proof !
One kodiyetru day (flag hoisting for annual festival) there was a great feast sponsored by a devotee for brahmins at the temple. Both affluent brahmins and ordinary poor brahmins were all part taking in the feast. The serving was supervised by temple chief priest Mallisseri nampoothiri. One brahmin commented that the taste of Guruvayur's 'namaskara sadya' is something special! The keezh shanthi nampoothiris' expertise in cooking is also beyond comparison! Everything is due to Guruvayurappan's great mercy only! This comment was not well appreciated by another affluent nampoothiri who was also sitting there. He didnt like the praise showered on the Guruvayur keezh shanthis. He was of the opinion that those poor shanthis were not well educated in vedas or thanthras. They were just paricharakas (servants) who made offerings for Guruvayurappan in the temple daily. He also had a feeling that he was more experienced in organising feasts etc. 'If these keezh shanthis have so much expertise then let them prove it' he thought.
After the feast everybody gathered before the sanctum for 'ucha puja' (noon) darsan. The egoistic nampoothiri suddenly turned to Mallisseri nampoothiri and told him that he wanted to conduct a namaskara sadya at his illam (home) on arattu day (final day of the festival, since it was not possible to conduct that in the temple. He said he knew it was a very busy day but inspite of that Mallisseri should send the shanthis for preparing food at his home. Now Mallisseri nampoothiri was in a fix. The rule is that after the flag is hoisted for festival then no one from guruvayur should go outside the place. But the nampoothiri who has requested this was an affluent person in the society with lots of influence among big people. He did not want to hurt him by refusing. Ultimately he was pressurised to agree to his demand.
Mallisseri called the shanthis and told them everything. The shanthis told that if Mallisseri asks them and Guruvayurappan permits them they were prepared to go. Mallisseri was relieved. On the day of pallivetta - divine hunting, the nampoothiri who had promised to take the work became worried. Who would he send for the work there? Actually they should be there at least a day before the namaskara sadya day. Since it was pallivetta day he had to prepare varieties of payasam here for offering Guruvayurappan. Finally he decided to send 4 old brahmin shanthis for preparing the feast. They left from guruvayur early morning on the pallivetta day and reached the egoistic brahmin's house by dusk.
The brahmin had provided immense things for a grand feast. They were to make at least three types of payasams (kheer). Seeing all these things they were aghast with wonder as to how they would be able to do all these within the short time. The Nampoothiri came to meet them and saecastically said 'you people cant even stand properly, and how are you going to make this grand feast. You could have brought at least 3 or 4 men to assist you. I see you have come here with the intention of getting good money as remuneration'! People around laughed at his mean joke and the shanthis felt humiliated very much. They just kept chanting Narayana! Guruvayurappa! The nampoothiri asked them to take bath and have their dinner. He had given strict instructions that fire should be lit in the kitchen only after 'ahass' (a ritual) in the morning.
After dinner the shanthis looked around the agrasala. They could see big heaps of coconut and other things. They sighed in worry. They were not sure whether it was the Lord Guruvayurappan or the nampoothiri who was testing them. Is the Lord punishing us for coming here leaving His pallivetta and arattu? Or is the nampoothiri trying to test our talent in cooking? they wondered. They surrendered to the Lord whole heartedly. 'Hey bhagavan You should save us from this predicament. Otherwise only You will be blamed for this.' Whole night they couldnt sleep and so kept chanting the Lords name.
When dawn came they all got up and went for bath wondering how they would be able to finish all the preparation within 3 or 4 hours. The brahmin had made clear to them that everything should be ready by the time of guruvayurappan's ucha puja. It was a real challenge for them by the brahmin. But they didnt utter a word taking this as the lord's service. When they reached the pond for taking bath they were surprised to see a young nampoothiri, sitting brushing his teeth. "When did u arrive?" they asked Him. He replied that He had heard that these old people have come here, and as He had no particular work there thought would join them here and help them. He can also reach Guruvayur before arattu. He said He started immediately after pallivetta in Guruvayur. Saying this He had a quick dip in the tank and went to the agrasala. Nothing more could please the old nampoothiris than His arrival.
They were relieved that the Lord had saved them in time. They finished their bath, daily oblations as quickly as possible and proceeded towards the agrasala. They were struck with wonder with what they saw there. Fire was going in full swing in 4 or 5 stoves. Huge vessels like chempu, varppu etc were hosted on the stoves with enough water in them. Coconut scraping was going on in high speed. Everything was going on in lightning speed. They wondered whether the fellow had two hands or more? Were his hands very long to reach everywhere needed? Anyway their confidence very much boosted with this they fully involved themselves in their work.
What happened then? We will see in the next issue. Radhekrishna!
What happened then? We will see in the next issue. Radhekrishna!
(source:- Sri Guruvayurappan magazine.)
