MY WONDER BOY ... Guruvayurappan..

Twam Adbudam Balakam Ambujekshanam

The only wonder, if any, of this Universe is that  Lord Vishnu, who is the God in Vaikuntam where He should live with all His Glories, now resides in this tiny town in Kerala called Guruvayur for the benefit of we, ordinary people and though we know He is the God, we treat Him as a WONDER BOY, though  He has four arms with  conch shell, club, disc and lotus (in those four hands) clearly identifying Himself. 
As Bhagavatam says                             "Tam adbhutaḿ bālakam ambujekṣaṇaḿ

catur-bhujaḿ śańkha-gadādy-udāyudham

śrīvatsa-lakṣmaḿ gala-śobhi-kaustubhaḿ

pītāmbaraḿ sāndra-payoda-saubhagam

mahārha-vaidūrya-kirīṭa-kuṇḍala-

tviṣā pariṣvakta-sahasra-kuntalam

uddāma-kāñcy-ańgada-kańkaṇādibhir

virocamānaḿ vasudeva aikṣata"

 Vasudeva then saw the newborn Wonderful  child, who had very wonderful lotus like eyes and who bore in His four hands the four weapons śańkha, cakra, gadā and padma. On His chest was the mark of Śrīvatsa and on His neck the brilliant Kaustubha gem. Dressed in yellow, His body blackish like a dense cloud, His scattered hair fully grown, and His helmet and earrings sparkling uncommonly with the valuable gem Vaidūrya, the child, decorated with a brilliant belt, armlets, bangles and other ornaments, appeared very wonderful. This Avataram after the many other wonderful Avatarams  in the form of Matsya, Koorma, Varaha Narasimha etc. Oh my Guruvayurappa your Leelas are indeed, wonderful.

Our wonder boy once took birth as a FISH !!! Yes, Shuka Deva Rishi said in the Bhagavatam that Lord took birth in different forms to protect the Devotees, Bhahmanas, Devas, Vedas and the Dharmas. At the end of last Kalpa, while Bhahma was sleeping,  Pralaya occurred as a result of which the Earth and other Planets were drowned in the Pralaya waters. And when the VEDAS escaped from the sleeping Brahma's face, the Hayagreeva Asura captured the Vedas, and Lord Vishnu had to take the Avatara of a Fish to retrieve the Vedas from the Asura. Oh my Wonder Boy, Guruvayurappa, this reminds me of your Leelas in saving Yamuna River from the Poisonous effects of Kaliya the Sarpa. The Sarpa Kaliya lived in the Yamuna river and because of his poison, the whole atmosphere remained poisonous and many birds, animals and even the Gopijans were affected by this. Krishna could not remain a silent spectator of this and He wanted to get rid of Kaliya from this river. One day Krishna went to the Yamuna Banks and from the Kadamba Tree on the banks, He dived into the River where Kaliya was residing. All the Poisonous Snakes started attacking Krishna, but as He's the wonder boy, my Guruvayurappa, He just played with them swimming that poisonous water with all the ease. How can this poison affect my lord, when He's the creator of  all that is in this Universe. Then Kaliya came nearer to Krishna and started winding Him. Then while all His friends were looking at Him, Krishna, my wonder boy, started increasing the weight of His body and started climbing on  Kaliya and started His famous Dance on the Snake's heads. Kaliya could not withstand the pressure of Krishna's dance and  started vomiting the blood and was about to die. It did not take any  more time for Kaliya to realise that the person on his head was none other than the Paramatma. Kaliya's wife then started praying the Lord. The Naga Patnies made the famous stuti of the Bhagavan as they said that Lord you are equal to both the well doers as well as evil doers and hence your granting Saranam to Kaliya is just your nature, and your Nigraha is indeed Anugraha for us. We need no kingdom, no Parameshtyam, no Brahma's position, not even Moksham, all we want is your Pada Renu, the dust of your feet. And Kaliya did get your Feet, all in full. Oh my Wonder Boy, Guruvayurappa, is it not your Mahima that you even offer your Parama Padam for your enemies also ?

And when the Devas and Asuras together were churning the ocean, on your suggestion, to get and share the Nectar, they brought the Mandara mountain to churn the ocean. But as it's so huge and heavy it just fell down into the ocean water.  And then my Wonder boy, Guruvayurappa took the form of a Koorma (Tortoise) and took the whole of the mountain on it's back to enable the Devas and asuras to continue with their search for Nectar. Koorma Bhagavan was so wide and huge that the mountain was just a simple feather on His back. Oh my Wonder Boy, why did you take this Avatar  ?  And did this not remind me of your Govardhana Leela in the Gokula ? 

Sri Krishna said in the  Bhagavatam...

 "karmaṇā jāyate jantuḥ,

karmaṇaiva pralīyate

sukhaḿ duḥkhaḿ bhayaḿ kṣemaḿ

karmaṇaivābhipadyate"

Is it not a wonderful saying? Krishna is specific in saying that all that is happening in this world is due to our own action, good or bad. We are only responsible for our Sukham, Dukham, Bhayam and Kshemam etc. And so Krishna said that the Rain is not Devendra's boon to mankind. It's the outcome of our Ecology Up-keeping and hence there was no need to do a Pooja for Devendra. And He proposed a pooja for the Govardhan Mountain, instead. The safeguarding  of the  mountains, forests and other natural resources , so kindly provided to us by the God, is the utmost need of the hour. And all the Vruja Vaasies followed Krishna with all their Pooja materials to Govardhan Mountain to offer their prayers. Why should Devendra treat this as  an insult to him and try to destroy the Gokulam with non-stop heavy thunder showers ?  The onus of saving the Gokulam rested, obviously, on Krishna and my wonder boy will not fail.  He raised the Govardhan Mountain on the tip of His little finger of the left hand. Is it not wonderful ? Koorma Bhagavan had all his hard back to raise the Mandara Mountain, but here my Guruvayurappa had lifted the Govardhana on that little finger !! Obviously Devendra was left waterless after seven days of raining, during all these days our Wonder Boy was lifting the Mountain to save the whole of Gokulam from the heavy showers. Devendra had exhausted all his waters and became dry and he had to coronate our wonder boy with the title of "Govinda" !! 

Then once our Wonder Boy took the Avataram of Varaha, of all the Animals.  This small Varaha , in fact, came out of the Nose of Brahma and started increasing  in size. This Avataram was to rescue the Earth from Hiranyaksha Rakshasa, who had taken the earth to the underworld, below the Water. Varaha Bhagavan fought with the Asura and brought the Earth from his grasps. In the Krishna's Avatara, my wonder boy had saved the Vruja Vaasies from many an Asuras like Aghasura, Bagasura, Gaghasura etc. 

Bhagavatam says the Narasihavatara is to....

                        sathyam vidhātuḿ nija-bhṛtya-bhāṣitaḿ

vyāptiḿ ca bhūteṣv akhileṣu cātmanaḥ

adṛśyatātyadbhuta-rūpam udvahan

stambhe sabhāyāḿ na mṛgaḿ na mānuṣam

prove what Bhaktha Prahlada said true, but to me it looked different, I think the Avatara was to prove that Vishnu is pervaded in all the materials and He is every where. Or He is the Sarva Vyapee. This is what Hiranyakasipu had wanted to know, in fact he had asked Prahlada to show whether He was there in that pillar and Lord appeared in the form of Narasimham from the pillar. Like Devendra, Brahma, leave alone the Vruja Vaasies, also was in doubts to whether little Krishna was, in fact the Paramatama, . May be that Brahma wanted to take part in the Leelas of Krishna. Anyway, Brahma took all the Gopa Balas, Cows and Calves and hid them in His Satya Loka. Krishna came to know about Brahmas ideas and made all Gopa Balas, Cows and Calves by Himself. Poor Brahma, after hiding the Vruja Balas in His Loka, came down to see what Krishna is doing and He was astonished to see that there was nothing missing in  Gokulam. Not only that He could see that all the being in there, was Krishna Himself. He could see Krishna everywhere. Does this not show that He is Vishnu and Sarva Vyapee, pervaded in all the materials  of this Universe ?   Brahma could not do anything, but praise  Lord Krishna in many a slokas, accepting who Krishna in fact was,

                     

aho bhāgyam aho bhāgyaḿ

nanda-gopa-vrajaukasām

yan-mitraḿ paramānandaḿ

pūrṇaḿ brahma sanātanam

The Lord has declared Himself as the Bhaktha Vatsala and Bhaktha Paradeenaha in many Puranas and Shastras, which is very well evident in His Vamana Avataram. On the story lines it looked as though Lord Vamana had cheated the Bhaktha Bali and took all his wealth away from him, but what Bhagavan did was to take all of Bali's wealth and instead give Himself to him. And He has showed to the world how much He liked His Bhaktha Bali by placing His foot on Bali's head, whereby declaring to the world that His Bhaktha's head was more than equivalent to the whole of the Universe and the whole of the Swarga Loka as He had earlier measured the two with His two feet. Something  similar to this was when Lord Krishna went to the Rajasuya Yagna of Dharma Putra. In the Yagna Krishna allotted many activities to all the Pandavas and Kauravas and other Guests and He Himself took the service of washing every guest's feet in the Yagna. He felt enormously honored in serving and washing the feet of all the devotees coming for the Yagnam.

Parasurama is another Avataram of Lord Vishnu. Parasurama was born as the son of Jamadagni Maha Rishi and Renuka Devi. Once Renuka Devi went to Ganga to bring water for Jamadagni's services where she saw the Gandharva, named Chitra Radha, playing in the water with the Apsaras and was lost in Chitra Ratha for some time, before she knew that she was there for water. Later when she went with water , Jamadagni Rishi with Tapo Gnan knew what happened and asked his sons to kill their mother. When all of them  refused to obey, Parasurama was asked to kill all his brothers and mother by His father. Parasurama obeyed the orders of His father and Jamadagni was happy with Him and asked Him to ask for a Boon. Prasurama did not waist any time in asking Jamadagni that all his brothers and mother should be made alive. And Jamadagni rishi  gave Lives to them all. However, Renuka devi was fitted with another face, and since then she was remembered and worshipped as Mariamma. Oh, my Wonder boy, Guruvayurappa, when you were born as krishna to Devaki and Vasudeva in the prison of Kamsa  you ordered Vasudevaji to take you to Gakula and place you near  Yasodaji and bring the Girl of your  Maya  sleeping near devaki to this place in the Prison. Vasudeva soon did what was asked by your Lordship  and  when Kamsa came to the Prison and took the Maya girl and tried to kill her, like all other children before her, she flew away and said " you fool, Kamsa your killer Krishna has already taken birth and you prepare yourself for your end". And as promised by you, this Maya Devi was since then worshipped all over the world as Durga, Badrakali, Vijaya, Vaishnavi, Kumuda, Chandika, Krishna, Madhavi, Kannika, Maya, Narayani, Esana, Sharada and Ambika. What is the connection of this Avatara and that of Parasurama, oh, my Wonder Boy, please explain to me.

And the Avatarams of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna, by you, are famously known as the two Poorna Avatarams. How wonderful are these two Human-like appearances in this world by you, after the so many Avatarams ? Adarsha Purushottama, Rama was born to Dasaratha and Kausalya Devi in Ayodhya.  He along with brothers Bharatha, Lakshmana, and Shatrughna lived with all the Royal status and were in due course, got married . Rama was the Avatara of Lord Vishnu and this was to establish the General Dharmas. To keep the Satya ( Truth) of His father's words to his wife, Kaikeyi, Rama went to the forest for 14 long years along with wife Seetha and Lakshmana.  Rama showed the world that He lived to safeguard the  Shastras and Dharmas which anyone can follow.  In contrast Lord Krishna's Avataram was to show the Bhagavata Dharma to the World. Krishna did some wonderful Leelas which can not be played by the Jeevatmas. But the eternal Tatwa of His Leelas were wonderful and sweet as He Himself was.

             "Hare RAMA, Hare RAMA,

              RAMA RAMA Hare Hare, 

Hare KRISHNA,Hare KRISHNA,

KRISHNA KRIHNA Hare Hare"

 The Ithihasam Sri Ramayanam and the Puranam Sreemad Bhagavatam describe in details about the Divine Leelas of Sri Ram and Sri Krishna and it is only with the blessings of these two Poorna Avatara Purushas, we are able to chant the Nama Sankirtanas of these Gods. Oh, my Wonder Boy, Guruvayurappa, your Karuna is limitless.

Adiseshan as  Lakshmana took the role of younger brother of Sri Rama and served Him through out the Ramayana and during Krishna's time, it was Krishna's turn to become the younger brother of Sri Balarama and serve him through out the Avatara Period. How wonderful it was to serve the Lordships in those roles and that of Hanuman, Seethaji, Arjuna, Uddhava and the Vanaras. These Avatarams were not just to kill Ravana, Kumbakarna, Kamsa, Sishupal and Dantavktra etc, but just to prove how Their Lordships serve their Devotees and how Bhaktha Paradeenas were they.  Oh, my, Wonder Boy, Guruvayurappa, You are the Best BhakthaVatsala, we have ever seen....

Bhagavatam says the tenth Avatara of Lord Vishnu will be in the form of KALKI and His Avataram is the most anticipated  by we devotees in this Kaliyuga. As Krishna declared in the Bhagavat Geetha,

" Paritranaya Sadhunam, Vinasaya Cha Dushkrutam,

  Dharna Sam Sthapanarthaya, Sambavami Yuge, Yuge"

Bhagavatam says

"athāsau yuga-sandhyāyāḿ

dasyu-prāyeṣu rājasu

janitā viṣṇu-yaśaso

nāmnā kalkir jagat-patiḥ"

Kalki Bhagavan will come down to this earth when the Natural Dharmas are not maintained by the people of this planet, and at the rate at which we are damaging the Nature His appearance is not very far  from now. Bhagavatam also says that there are 24 Avatarams of the Lord. And we can go on and on and list Avatrams infinitely. .    avatārā hy asańkhyeyā

hareḥ sattva-nidher dvijāḥ

yathāvidāsinaḥ kulyāḥ

sarasaḥ syuḥ sahasraśaḥ

Like  the rivulets flowing from inexhaustible sources of water,  the incarnations of the Lord Krishna are indeed innumerable, and plenty. He exists in each and every, "live and inert" objects of this "Complete Universe". "Vishnum Sarva Mayam Jagat". Chetan and Achetan cells of all the objects in this world are pervaded by Him.  Oh, My Wonder Boy, Guruvayurappa, all these are your Avatarams. You are the Archa Vigrahams of all the Temples existing in this world, and as " Sarva Deva Namaskarams Keshavam Pratigachathi" all the Demi Gods worshipped are your Avatarams. 

And as "Isha Vasyam Idham Sarvam" says, all the living beings, including we Human Beings are your Avatarams, my Wonder Boy, Guruvayurappa, though, in an infinitesimal measure . All we Jeevatmas are part and Parcel of You Paramatama, and as all the "Parts" long to merge with the "Whole" to become the Fullness, "Poornam", we are also coming to your Abode in Guruvayur, and my Lord, nay, my Wonder Boy Gruvayurappa, please take us to your Pada Pankajam, Lotus Feet.

"Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya"