Narayanam Namaskritya

Tradition has it that a work should be begun with Mangala for the happy completion of the work without any impediment, for the prosperity of the readers etc. It is three fold : 1. The invocation of the deity for blessing the author or the readers (Asihi), 2. Paying homage to the deity (namaskritya) & 3. A mere reference to the object treated in the work (Vasthu nirdesha). Sri Vadiraja has observed the first type of Mangala with a prayer to Sri Krishna to protect him using the auspicious letter 'Sri' at the beginning. Then he offers his prayers to his upAsyamurthi Hayagriva; to Rukmini, who is the goddess of speech & mind & wose consort is the hero of the peom; Sri Madhva, the guru; the better half BhArathi & her Lord Prana. (Verses 1 to 8) With mock humility, he calls upon the scholors to patronize his work, telling them that he is not a pundit & his work may have a few blemishes (Verses 9, 10) Then he sets the background for the incarnation of Sri Krishna. Here he carefully follows the 10th Skandha of Sri BhAgavatha & improves upon it adding suitable whys & wherefores in his own inimitable way & establishing the philosophical truths of our system in season & out of season. The BhAgavatha says that the goddess of earth, who groaning under the weight of the asuras, approached Vishnu through Brahma in the guise of a cow. Sri Vadiraja asks for the why of her choice as a cow & adds that because Vishnu is the friend of the cows & brAhmans, it would have an immediate & favourable effect in her mission. He also justifies her approach by adding "As the chaste wife of Vishnu, she could not brook the asuras, who as a class, are the haters of her husband" & draws a general proposition from this particular instance (ArtAntaranyAsa) as 'In this world, what can be a bigger burden to chaste women then the haters of their husbands?' Such embellishments of each & every word or idea in the BhAgavatham abound in this work. The hosts of asuras, like Kalanemi (Kamsa), Viprachitti (JarAsandha) who were all arch haters of Vishnu were born on earth & the Earth was groaning under their weight. Though she was a by word for patience, she lost it & surrendered herself to Brahma, He as well as the other gods were quite helpless & along with her, all repaired to the abode of Vishnu in the ocean of milk. They all prayed to Him chanting the Purusha Suktha, as if to hint that He was able to kill thousands of asuras, with His thousands of heads,thousands of eyes & thousands of legs etc... Vishnu was pleased to issue orders to them, through BrahmA, to whom also He was invisible, but comforting them all & consoling the Earth. Being visible to Lakshmi, He ordered her to transport Sesha in Devaki's womb to that of Rohini & she did it implicitly. Here, Lakshmi saw Him while Brahma did not see Him but heard Him & the other gods neither saw Him nor heard Him. This establishes beyond doubt the gradations in the hierarchy of gods. Shesha is Vishnu's bed & in appreciation of his yeoman service as Lakshmana in the RAmavathara, he was sent in advance as His elder brother.Sri Vadiraja observes that just as the kings send their bedding in advance to the railway station during their journey, the Emperor of the Universe also did not lag behind in doing so. Vishnu then entered Devaki's womb & there too, He was all bliss. Brahma & other gods came there & prayed to Him to rid them all of the miseries therein, which were evident to Him since He was on the spot. Then He was born at midnight, on the eighth day (Astami) of the dark fortnight, with four arms wielding the conch, mace & other weapons, wearing the golden yellow robes, & bedecked with various ornaments. Here, Sri Vadiraja says that the night time & the 8 th day are highly significant of His killing the night prowlers in all the eight directions