Datta Maata 199: The story of Sakku bai

Aranya madhye giritunga shrungē nadītatē vātha tatāka madhye gēhāntarēyōrchita eka ēva, tamēka dēvam saranam vrajāmaḥ, tamēka dēvam saranam vrajāmaḥ. I surrender to the one and only one God who is being worshipped in the midst of a jungle; amidst tall mountain regions; in the banks of river; in between forests and in the houses. This hymn is written by keeping several stories in mind. In this, God, who is worshipped in several places, is described. Now, let us know where and by whom God was worshipped.

In Ayodhya, there lived the king named Dhruvasandhi. He had two wives. After the death of the king, both the sons of the wives competed with each other to reign over as prince of the kingdom. In the war between them, all those who were on the side of Sudarshana lost. Later, he left the kingdom. One day, while he was wandering about in the forest along with his mother, he saw sage Bharadwaja. He initiated Sudarshana into the worship of Mother Goddess. With the power of the mantra given by the sage, Sudarshana became powerful and got back his lost kingdom. This is a very big story in Devi Bhagavatham. We have discussed this story in brief.

History has it that Mother Anjana Devi has worshipped on the hills of (today's)Tirupati, to beget children. Pleased with her penance, Lord Vāyu (Wind God) blessed her with a fruit everyday. As a result, Anjaneya Swamy was born to her. Since Anjana Devi did penance, Tirupati hills also came to be known as "Anjanādri". If we have devotion, God will appear to us even in hills.

As and when we talk of banks of river, we remember about Sage Agstya. He consecrated several shrines for Shiva while he did penance at the banks of river Kaveri. Also, he preached that Shiva will be happy if we worship him by doing ablutions with the water from different rivers. As we say "Tatāka madhyam", we must remember Teppotsava. This procession must be done by everyone during every occasion. It is said that King Parikshit listened to Bhagavatam while sitting in a building which was based on a single pillar amidst water.

The Marathi devotee Sakku Bai was house arrested by her husband since he did not want her to go to Panduranaga. She immediately prayed to Panduranaga thinking that she was in Pandaripura and the Lord appeared in her house itself. Also, the Lord transformed himself as Sakku Bai and got tied just like her only to let her go to Pandaripura. A devotee named Pundarika believed that the service of parents itself is the service of Paramatma. He used to serve his parents alone. One day, Panduranaga, pleased with the devotion of Pundarika towards his parents wanted to test him and hence he directly came to his house. However, Pundarika said that he was still serving his parents and told Panduranaga to wait at the entrance door itself. He threw a brick too. The Lord was extremely happy for his devotion and he stood on the brick permanently. Thus, the house of Pundarika itself became a temple.

In this manner, many great souls have worshipped God in several places and in several forms and got enlightened. Surrender to such one and only one Paramatma.

Jaya Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!