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Secret of God’s descents

CHENNAI: The births of the Supreme Being differ from that of human beings in that the Lord’s are due to His will and divine in nature, whereas man’s birth is due to Karma. While human beings pray to God that they should be blessed with good children, the Lord has to choose His parents for they should be deserving of such a benediction. Lord Krishna has clarified the purpose and secret of His births in the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna told Arjuna that one who understood that His births were divine would be liberated from bondage. During His births in this world His choice of parents was an indication of the great merit that they must have done in their earlier births and it was the Lord’s way of showering His grace on them. The Lord during His manifestation as Rama chose Dasaratha and Kausalya as His parents and Ayodhya as the image of Lord Ranganatha was worshipped there.

In his discourse, Damal Sri Ramakrishnan said when Lord Krishna was born as the son of Vasudeva and Devaki in a prison cell in Mathura He revealed the secret of His birth to them and granted them the vision to behold His divine form. Krishna told them that this was the third time He was born to them as a child. In His first birth as Prishnigarbha they were Sutapa and Prishni, and in the next one He was born as Upendra (Vamana) to them in their birth as Sage Kashyapa and Aditi. The Lord is believed to have given an image to His parents in each of these births to worship: Narayana to Sutapa and Prishni; Madhava to Kashyapa and Aditi; and Kesava to Vasudeva and Devaki. At the end of His incarnation this image was entrusted by Krishna to Uddhava with the instruction to worship it and install it during the next age (Kali).

According to tradition the deity of Guruvayur is the image given to Uddhava, and it was transported by the celestials, Guru and Vayu to this place. During the deluge, the image came ashore near Guruvayur and was installed by them here, and hence the place derives its name from their association. The choice of this place for consecrating this sacred image is also significant for this land is the one sanctified by the descent of the Lord as Parasurama and hence it is doubly blessed now.

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