Sri Ananthazhwan Becomes Lord Srinivasa’s Father-in-law
Sri Ananthazhwan’s little garden
flourished. Very soon, it started to look like the parks found in the celestial
worlds like Indra lokam. Cuckoos and parrots flocked to the trees in the
enchanting garden. Peacocks walked along the pathways and danced whenever it
rained. There were many small ponds filled with beautiful lotuses and lilies
which attracted a variety of aquatic birds. Bunches of Indian magnolia, clusters
of ylang-ylang, marigolds, and various colours of jungle geranium (vrikshi),
firecracker flower (kanakambaram) adorned the garden. Sri Ananthazhwan had
built beautiful arbours and trellises which supported a variety of jasmine creepers.
There was also beautiful night blooming jasmine (parijatam) trees. The sweet
scent from the garden made a person to experience celestial bliss! Honey bees
flocked to the garden attracted by the divine nectar.
Sri Ananthazhwan watched over his
garden with great care. He protected the garden from critters which destroyed
plants. He spent his spare time walking through the garden and examined every
single plant. One day, Sri Ananthazhwan was happy to note that a golden lotus
was about to bloom for the very first time. ‘This golden lotus should form the
centre of the garland,’ planned Sri Ananthazhwan. After concluding his daily
inspection, he retired for the day. He mentally made plans on the floral
arrangement with focus on the golden lotus to be offered to the Lord.
Lord Srinivasa looked at Sri
Ananthazhwan with love. Sri Ananthazhwan reminded the Lord of Sri Periazhwar
who also dedicated his life to doing pushpa kaimkaryam. ‘I wish, Sri
Ananthazhwan could become my father in law like Peria Azhwar,’ commented the
Lord to Goddess Mahalakshmi. He knew that Goddess Mahalakshmi had not
incarnated as the daughter of Sri Ananthazhwan like Goda Nachiar had incarnated
as the daughter of Sri Peria Azhwar. The Lord, however made a sankalpam to make
Sri Ananthazhwan His father in law. With this desire in His heart, He decided
to perform another leela to fulfil His heart’s desire.
The coral rays of the Sun kissed
the peaks of Thiruvengadam from the valley below. Sri Ananthazhwan rushed to
the pond with great expectations to see the fully blossomed golden lotus but,
to his dismay, he noticed that someone or something had plucked the lotus
bloom. He stood transfixed on the spot looking at the lotus plant with tears in
his eye. ‘What had happened to the plant?’ He decided to inspect the rest of
the garden and to his shock, he found that someone had plucked all the flowers
and had carelessly scattered them on the ground. The petals were strewn across
the garden. He was appalled to see that even the buds had been plucked from the
plants and tossed around the garden. Under a Spanish cherry tree, Sri
Ananthazhwan found the golden lotus which had never had a chance to blossom.
‘Who has been playing mischief in this garden!’ thought Sri Ananthazhwan. ‘Had
the garden attracted a family of monkeys? Or perhaps it was a herd of wild
elephants. If so, what should be done to deter them in the future?’
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