Once there lived Sri Govinda Rao in a small village near Tirumala Tirupati Temple. He and his family were ardent devotees of Lord Venkateswara.
His main profession was making paintings on Lord Venkateswara, and selling it to the nearby merchants at a cheaper price, since he is doing the work as a service to the Lord Venkateswara. All of his family members were used to do puja to the Lord and offer neivedyam(Holy Prasad) to the god, and after the performance of the puja, they will distribute it to the participants of the puja, and to the neighbours. They will also worship the god in his temple on every Saturday, and have their morning breakfast, only after getting the darshan of Lord Venkateswara.
They also have cattle sheds at their home, and used to feed the cows properly with grass, vegetables, fruits and other cow fodder items. They also have the habit of offering free food to the poor people at their home during Saturdays. Additionally, Govind Rao’s wife used to prepare various food items with sweets and distribute it to the devotees of Lord Ventakeswara at the temple hills.
Once, one of his cows was missing. The cowherd boy has informed to him that he was unable to trace it. Immediately, Govinda Rao himself decided to search the cow, and at the night, he took a torch light and left his home.
He searched in lot of places near the holy mountains ranges of Tirumala, but could not find it. Suddenly, he fell down in a small pit at that dark midnight. He was very afraid and chanted the mantra “OM NAMO VENKATESAYA NAMAHA”, but no one was available in that place. Suddenly, he heard a voice, and he looked at that location, and to his surprise, he saw a beautiful tall young person, with a smiling face, and he helped Rao to safely come out from the pit. As soon as he was safely rescued by the great man, he bowed his head and thanked him. Suddenly the young man disappeared from that place, who was none other than our great Lord Sri Venkateswara.
He was very much delighted and thanked the lord for giving an opportunity to have his divine darshan. Very soon, he has traced his cow also, which was grazing in the nearby grass field, and he took it along with his home, and narrated the entire incident to all of his family members, with much joy and enthusiasm. He also shared the incident to the village people, and they also praised his bhakti on the god and praised the god, for showering his grace on to his sincere devotee.
Hence let us have great devotion on Lord Venkateswara, in order to get a blessed life.
“OM NAMO VENKATESAYA NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR
