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AUGUST, 1895.] SPECIMENS OF MODERN BRAHMANICAL LEGENDS.
(by name). From this store (of treasure) take as much as you need for erecting the seat and finish the work as soon as possible.' On hearing these commands issued from the skies, Tirumala Yogin swooned with delight, and while thus lying in a trance, he beheld as in a dream Sri-Venkatesa, resplendent in appearance with his bow and arrows, discus, spear and his other weapons in his hands, and adorned as to his person with all sorts of jewellery and ornaments, who thus addressed him :-'I am much pleased with your devotion. Since I left Veikaṭadri I have travelled far and wide and seen many countries, and now I wish to take up my residence for the fature in the Sahyadri, or, as it is sometimes called, the Paschimâdri. Continue to worship me devoutly and I will bestow salvation on you. I will also assume your name and dwell there with my attendant deities. Mañjguni is a sacred place, and is blessed by the presence of five tirthas, called respectively the Chakra Tirtha, the Dhênu Tirtha," the Patanya12 Tirtha, the Inda Tîrtha,13 and the Pâpanâśinî Tirtha 14 Take me then from this place, and carry me till you feel my weight sensibly increased, and when that comes to pass establish me in that place. Awake, therefore, from your dream.' So saying he clapped his hands and vanished. Tirumala Yogin woke up, pleased and joyful, from his refreshing sleep and happy dream, and forthwith proceeded to remove the image of Venkatesa from the stone on which it was placed. While looking at it with great joy, he inadvertently let fall the chisel which he had in his hand on to the left side of Venkatesa, thereby causing a wound from which the blood flowed freely. When Tirumala Yogiu perceived this he prostrated himself before the image and began to weep bitterly; when he again heard a voice from above, as on the previous occasion, saying:- Press the wound with thine hand and the bleeding will cease.' He accordingly did as he was told and the flow ceased; he then took the idol up in his hands to convey it to Mañjgunî as directed. On his doing this, the cow and the calf assaulted him violently, striking him with their heads but not goring him, which terrified the yogin very much, and he called upon Venkatesa to come to his aid, whereupon a voice again came from above proclaiming Know who this holy man is.' On hearing this the cow and the calf desisted from their attacks, and the cow bathed the idol in its milk, and the gods, casting aside their disguises, appeared in their true forms (i. e., as Brahmâ and Siva). The yogin then again took up the idol, and, as it was smirched with blood and milk, he washed it in the waters of the Kanka-hrada. This made the water impure and so Tirumala implored the sun to cleanse it, whereupon the sun, assuming the form of a swan, removed all the impurities and threw them on to the edge of the tank. After washing himself once more in the water thus purified, Tirumala, under the direction of Brahmâ, applied gopichandana of the earth from the edge of the tank, and then proceeded in a northerly direction.
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"Brahma and Mahêsa (that is, the cow and the calf) then addressed Sri-Venkatesa as follows: O god, we have devoted ourselves, soul and body, to your service until now: what reward will you bestow upon us in return? Sri-Venkatesa replied thus: - Those who in future shall worship your foot-prints on this rock, in the form of a cow and calf, shall obtain the reward which is the meed of those who observe gôpathamahavruta, and those who worship the foot-prints of a cow and a calf together shall obtain the same reward as though they had given away a cow and a calf together in charity. Return now to your native place.'
"Tirumala Yôgin then, still carrying the idol, advanced farther and further into the forest, till at length feeling the weight (of the image) intolerable, he set it down on a whiteants' nest while he rested. After resting himself sufficiently, he essayed to lift the image once more, but was unable to do so; and while struggling with the weight, he once more heard a voice from above saying: O Tirumala, this is the sacred and beautiful spot called Mañjgunî. Seat the image here.' Overcome with joy, Tirumala lifted the idol, which no longer resisted his efforts and placed it in the appointed spot near the Asôka tree, and having done this, he
11 I. e., the cow-spring.
13 I B..
the moon-spring.
12 Lit., poetry. The spring sacred to poetry or verse: the spring of recital. 14 I. e., the sin-cleansing spring. 15 Worship of cow and calf,
