The answers of Agastya Muni to the generic questions posted by devotees can be found here. The readers are requested to send their spiritual experiences related to the Siddhas to GnanaBoomi at Gmail dot com. Though the experiences are unique and personal to them, it can shower some light or guidance to those who read them. Thanks!
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We saw about the holy theertha that gets mixed in to the Pushkarani at Tirumala. We could go on writing about the glory of Tirumala. We have only seen the history of five hills out of seven. Venkatadhri, Seshadhri – once we see the glory of these two, we can then witness the rare incidents and greatness of Padmavathi Thayar (Mother Padmavathi).
The term Venkata if split comes as Vem + Kata where Vem means sin or papa and kata means to cross. Everyone ends up committing papa knowingly or unknowingly. When these get accumulated, they have their effects as disease or accidents and take a toll on one’s mind. These papa does not go away after taking holy dip in the sacred rivers. They disappear only when one totally surrenders to the almighty.
Today, if we say that the one place which makes every kind of sin disappear is Tiruvenkata Malai, its not a surprise. People committing hideous sins have surrendered to the Lord totally and transformed themselves. We already saw that it is the grace of Lord Almighty that He took the avatar of Venkatava between the 9th avatar and the 10th – Kalki, only to ward of the sins of people and show them the path to realization.
A question rises here. If Venkatava takes the burden of the sins from all the people, how does He remain unaffected? What does He do? Narada Maharishi asked the Lord about this once directly.
“The people on Earth commit more sins than the asuras themselves. Would you not stop them?”
“Why did Narada get such a thought?”
“I am witnessing your mercy Lord. You are forgiving anyone who comes to you and take the burden of their sins on to you. I asked only to avoid this burden being taken by you…”
“You have forgotten something Narada. It is the act of Kali. It will be fierce and fast. It is next to impossible to not to commit any sin in the Earth.”
“If Kali is subdued, the people will not end up doing sins right?”
“Good idea, but this is Kali-Yuga. He has to dominate, how then will the Pralaya happen?”
“What?”
“Yes. Once his dominance increases, people will forget dharma. Atrocities will increase, sins will. The women will lose their morality. Murders will happen. Every family will face challenges. Diseases will play havoc. The water in the Earth will get dried up. Nature won’t do its duty.”
“Will you witness all these here?”
“Narada, you are tensed even when I am saying what will happen hereafter. You won’t bear if I continue. But one thing, if one surrenders to me in spite of all these, I will protect them, provide them shelter. Not for everyone.”
“Blessed I am and those Prabhu. But there are lakhs of such people who come to Tirumala everyday. You are bestowing them blessings, punya by taking all the sins in to you right?”
“Yes”
“Then what are you doing to those sins?”
“It is a deva rahasya. This hill is called Venkata Malai.”
“Yes.”
“That is, the hill which dissolves sin.”
“Yes.”
“When people climb up the hill with total devotion and completely surrendering to myself, I look at them from the Kali Gopura. When my glance falls on them, all their sins gets dissolved in the air, under the mountain. Those who cross the Kali Gopura with devotion, Garuda and Sesha will help them dissolve their sins as well.”
“Surprising”
“Sesha and Garuda will continue to do this till the time of Pralaya. It is not a difficult job for them but they’re very happy to do this.”
“I am very pleased and blessed to know that those who come here to Tirumala get the blessings of yours and their sins washed off. Please continue to enlighten me Swami”
“Even if some sin is left over after crossing Sesha and Garuda, they get cleansed when they take a dip in Pushkarani. Even if some sin is left over, they disappear totally when they have the darshan of my Gopura Kalasa. Fair enough?” – the Lord smiled.
Narada prostrated before the Lord.
“Wonderful narration on what happens in Tirumala. But there are some whose sins are still present after your darshan. Why is this?”
“It simply means that their devotion is not up to the mark for this hill Venkatadhri will ward off any sin they may have committed.”
“Then does it mean they don’t have any salvation?”
“For sure there is. But they have to have complete surrender and pure devotion. They should stay uphill for three days, come and do anga-pradakshina in the morning and do pradakshina of Venkata Malai, that is, the temple where I am. They should have deep devotion in their heart and should pray earnestly.
There are Parivara Devatha, Varaha Murthy, Siddhas around. Above all is Agastya Muni who is the foremost of all Siddhas. They roam around here in aruba form. What else is needed?”
“O Swami, may I ask another question if you would not mind?”
“Of course not”
“What about those who cannot come over all the way to Tirumala?”
“The count of people who cannot come to Tirumala is higher than those who come here. How can I forsake them? Never. Whoever they may be, however they may be, whatever difficulties or obstacles they may have, I will provide them salvation based on their level of Bhakthi.”
“You are the source of Mercy! There is no worries for the people here in Earth. But…”
“But what?”
“You have taken many avatars to establish Dharma. Why are you letting this Kali Purusha dominate everything?”
“Have patience. Why are you hastening?” – the Lord smiled. Narada Muni could not understand the meaning. He kept looking at the Lord.