Have you ever seen any idol of a Hindu God, in this world, in only a standing position and never in sitting position just like Lord Sri Venkateswara.?..
Have you ever seen any other Hindu Deity in this world standing with such an unusual placement of His hands like Lord Sri Venkateswara..??
I know you haven’t..
Because there’s no other Deity similar to the idol of Lord Sri Venkateswara existing in this world …
Secondly, most of the devotees who come to Tirumala Temple from many parts of the world do not even know that the principal deity or the Moola Virat of Lord Venkateswara, so majestically standing in the Sanctum Sanctorum of the holy TirumalaTemple, is in fact having four arms..
While two of these four arms are clearly visible to us, the other two are at the back of the Deity in a held up and curled into fists position.. It is through these two empty back arms that Lord Sri Venkateswara is telling us that,
“Although my two back arms are now empty, am still keeping them ready to use my weapons the moment I realize that there’s a threat to humanity in general and to my devotees in particular”..
It is also for this reason that we find His Discus – The Sudarsana Chakra (beside the right posterior upper arm) and His Conch – the Panchajanya (beside the left posterior upper arm) – always kept ready for Him, although only as decoration pieces, just in case He decides to use them for whatever reason..
However, what we actually see on the front side of the Moola Virat are the two anterior arms that the holy Lord Sri Venkateswara has quite unusually placed..
It is such an unusual placement in which the right anterior lower hand of the Holy Lord is bent at His elbow and is held in a supine position while His entire open palm is pointing towards His holy Lotus feet
According to the Vedic scriptures, such a peculiar hand position is called the Varada Hasta Mudra (The hand that offers boons).. With this mystic Mudra, the Holy Lord Venkateswara is very emphatically telling us that,
“I’m going to stand here on the Tirumala Hills forever to protect my devotees in this unholy Kali Yuga.. For a devotee who has complete faith in my Holy feet, am here to take care of him and his entire family during all the times they pass through the problems of this inhuman world”
What is further more unusual here is that, “Lord Sri Venkateswara’s left anterior lower hand is straight down; bent at the wrist and is found lightly resting, just below His left hip.. Such an unusual hand position, according to the Vedic scriptures ,is known as the Katya Vilambita Hastha Mudra”
Katya means panegyric or pay homage, Vilambita means hanging, Hastha means hand, and Mudra means posture.. With such an unusual Hasta Mudra, the holy Lord Sri Venkateswara is giving us great assurance by saying,
“As long as my devotees have complete faith in Me I shall not allow the flood waters of this Bhava Sagara (Ocean of problems) go beyond their hip level”.
“Sri Venkatesa Charanam Saranam Prapathye”
Love
Narrenaditya Komaragiri
narrenaditya@tirumalesa.com
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