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 God's
countless inimitable traits such as magnanimity, easy accessibility and the
inclination to come down to the level of the devotees and shower His grace out
of abundance of compassion, have earned for him many titles such as "Saranya",
- the refuge of the distressed, "Sathyasankalpa" He who make things happen to
His desire and so on. The Creation, Protection and Destruction of the vast
universe are just an instant act of his volition. To safeguard the interest of
pious, the Almighty at times appears on the earth in a superhuman form, which
is called an avatara or an incarnation. His incarnations have a threefold
objective viz., Protection of the Virtuous, annihilation of the wicked and
establishment of Dharma. Thereafter he chooses to dwell in the sacred shrines
in the form of idols, referred to as Archavatharamoorthis, to facilitate the
posterity to know the glory of His divine sports. One such Archavathara form of
Lord Sriman Narayan is the Pandavadhootha Perumal sanctifying the shrine
"Padagam" in Kancheepuram.
During his incarnation as shri Krishna , the lord saved
the virtuous Pandavas from the cluthes of the evil minded kauravas , strove to
make clear the distinction between Dharma and Adharma and proved the ultimate
triumph of Dharama over Adharam when he visited Vidura's residence Vidhura
immersed in Joy and forgetting himself, offered him the peel of a plantain
thinking that he was offering only the fruit. To avoid his disappointment, Lord
Krishna took it heartly. The Omnipresent Lord allowed himself to be bound by
Sahadeva's affection. He did many more queer things to show his Sowlabhya, the
most remarkable amongst them being his acceptance to take up the role of an
emissary of Pandavas and to go to the court of the Kauravas.
An efficient emissary should possess two
characteristics. First he should convey the message so skillfully as to render
it acceptable. Secondly he should complete the mission to the satisfaction of
the persons whom he represents. Sri Krisha went to the Kauravas as an emissary
of peace but returned to the Pandavas camp agreeing for a battle.
A doubt naturally arises as to whether he fulfilled his
mission successfully. We get the answer to this question in the chapter dealing
with Yudhistra's gambling in the game of dice wherein, except him, the other
four brothers as well as Draupadi swear to take revenge on Duryodhana and his
gang. Thus looking retrospectively, there is no room for doubt about Krishna's
efficient handling of his mission. He agreed for war just to keep their
promises alive and that is why he even accepted to become Parthasarathy, the
charioteer of Arjuna.
During this mission, the foolish Duryodhana even
attempted to kill Him devising a plan to make Him occupy a seat with a carpet
spred over a void underneath so that it would tumble down, the moment it was
occupied, into an underground room where mighty wrestlers would be ready to
crush Him. Duryodhana, not only dragged the emissary into a heated discussion,
little realising that his duty was just to deliver the message but also plotted
to kill Him against all canons of statemanship.
Contrary to their expectations, the Omniscient and the
Omnipotent Krishna, assumed Vishwaroopa, in comparison with which the deep pit
constructed by them looked in dimension just like a pin-hole, and could not be
trapped. The pious in that assembly worshiped Him chanting Ashtakshara mantra
and the wicked trembled in fear to face His wrath.
Even the blind king, Dhrutharashtra, was fourtunate
enough, to get eye sight by His grace to have darshan of His glittering form.
When Lord Krishna offered him a boon, he desired to become blind as before
since he did not want to see the temporal things after perceiving the eternal
form of the Lord. This is one of the most important episodes in Krishnavatara.
When Janamejaya, the great grand-son of Arjuna and sage
Hareetha performed severe penance to have a glimpse of that form of Sri
Krishna, the Lord gave darshan to them in that mangnificent form and that
sacred place is the shrine of 'Padagam' in Kancheepuram. A dharshan of Lord Sri
Krishna in this form is a heartening experience.
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