This mail is really great to read.
S.V.SAI BABA
Surprise
Donation From A Muslim Devotee That Led To The Birth
Of
A Popular Arjitha Seva In The Holy Tirumala Temple
viz., Ashtadala - Pada Padmaaradhana (On Tuesdays)
Arjitham means Darshan or Seva to the Lord on payment of a fee as fixed by the
Temple Management
Some
time during 1982..
As
though instructed by the Holy Lord Sri Venkateswara Himself,
a
Muslim devote by name Sheikh Mastan - a resident of the Guntur
district
of the undivided state of Andhra Pradesh - walked up the seven
hills of Tirumala hill shrine and reached the Maha Dwaram
(main
entrance) of the holy Tirumala Temple.
He
then placed a request before the priests on duty there at the Temple
premises..
The noble Temple priests, who were shocked with his unusual
request,
hurriedly guided him to the top officials of the Tirumala Tirupati
Devasthanams
board..
The
drama then shifted to the Executive Officer (E O) of the TTD board..
Around
the same time and period, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams
(TTD) board, an independent trust that manages all the
operations the
related to the holy TirumalaTemple,
was planning to commemorate
Golden Jubilee year
of it's formation in a befitting manner.
Despite several rounds of discussions earlier, the TTD
board was still unable
to decide about what is that they
need to do to make their
Golden Jubilee year a
memorable one..
And
it was exactly during one such crucial meeting, that was taking place
inside
the board room, an office attender walked into the room and
informed
the then Executive Officer about the Muslim devotee’s
request seeking his urgent
appointment. .
The
E O asked the attender to send the Muslim devotee straight inside the
board
room so that he can quickly talk to him and send him off in a
couple of minutes
without wasting much of the TTD board’s valuable
meeting time..
But
unfortunately neither the E O nor his subordinates, at that moment,
knew
that the Muslim devotee whom they are all going to meet in a few
minutes,
was actually sent by the holy Lord Sri Venkateswara Himself and
because
of his request the TTD board is later going to take a crucial
decision
that would not only please the holy Lord Sri Venkateswara with a
new
Seva but will also make their golden jubilee year a most memorable one
.. PERIOD
The
attender came out and asked the Muslim devotee, Sheikh Mastan to
go inside the
board room and meet the E O... Sheikh Mastan got up
from the chair he was thus far
sitting in the waiting hall,and
slowly walked into
the
board room..
With
folded hands he greeted everyone there in the room...
Acknowledging his regards,
the Executive Officer told Sheikh Mastan,
“..We
are all in an emergency meeting now.. Where are you from and why
did you insist
on meeting me in person.. Is it so important..? ?..
If
so please let me know what it is, without wasting much of our time..”
Then
taking everyone there in the board room into a state of utter shock
this
is what Sheikh Mastan, the great devotee of Holy Lord Sri
Venkateswara told the
Executive Officer ..
“..Sir
my name is Sheikh Mastan.. Am a small merchant from Guntur
district..
For over many generations now my family members are great
devotees
of Lord Sri Venkateswara Swamy.."
"..As
a rule,every morning, my entire family stands in front of the holy
Sri
Varu, and recites Sri Venkateswara Suprabhatam. . Without any
mistakes we also recite
Venkateswara Sthotram, Srinivasa Prapatti and
Mangala Sasanam.. I can even recite
Srinivasa Gadyam fully..”
“..Sir
for many generations it has also been a sacred tradition in our
family
to perform ashtottara sata nama puja (108 holy names of Lord
Venkateswara are recited) to Sri Varu in our house every
Tuesday.."
"..We
perform this pooja with different varieties of flowers we personally
grow
in our back yard.. We place one flower each at the holy feet of Sri
Varu
every time we recite one of His 108 names during this sacred
pooja..”
“..
But sir, several decades ago my paternal grand father had made a vow to himself
that
he would place 108 Golden Lotus Flowers at the
holy Lotus feet of our Sri Varu for using them
during a similar
seva at the Tirumala Temple.."
"..Since
our financial resources were not substantial enough, my grand
father
could only procure a few Golden Lotuses.. Later my father
procured a few more and finally
I could finish the count and procure
all the 108 Golden Lotus flowers.."
"..Sir,
it was with a great difficulty that we could procure all these Golden
flowers.. Each one of these flowers weighs about 23
grams..”
“..I
now request you all, with folded hands, to please accept these
Golden Lotuses as a gift from
our poor family to Sri Varu and make
good use of them during the ashtottara sata nama pooja or
during
any other seva in the Temple.."
"..Sir,
our entire family will be very thankful to you if you can please
consider
our request without rejection.. Even my grand father’s soul shall
now
rest in peace at His holy feet.. That’s all I had to convey you
sir.. I
now
leave the decision entirely to you all..”
Sheikh
Mastan concluded..
SILENCE..
Holistic Silence.. Unusual Silence.. Uneasy Silence..Emotional
Silence..
Silence and Silence and Silence..
For
a few moments in the board room there was no other sound except
the oscillating sound of
the pedestal fans that were placed in all
the corners of the room..
The
Chairman, the Executive Officer, the Joint Executive Officer, the
deputy
Executive Officer and all the members of the board who were
there in that room at that
time were stunned into deep silence..
They
didn't know what to say and how to react to the claims of the great
Muslim
devotee who was standing in front of them, with folded arms, at
that moment..
Suspecting
something mysterious and smelling the divine presence of the
holy
Lord Sri Venkateswara right in the midst of them it was the Executive
Officer
who moved first..
With
unstoppable tears rushing out of his eyes he quickly got up from his
chair
and rushed to the place where Sheikh Mastan was standing..
Offering
his sincere apologies to him for making him stand for such a
longer
period of time, the E O then made Sheikh Mastan sit comfortably
in a chair beside him and
assured him in a humble voice..
“.Mastan
garu.. we are extremely delighted to have such a great devotee
like
you in the midst of us today.. We have seen many great devotees in our
career for sure
but we haven’t, seen one like you before..”
“..We
shall unconditionally accept these invaluable Golden flowers from
you..I,
however,cannot at this moment assure you that we shall certainly
use
them during a seva.. It’s a policy related matter Mastan garu and
we
are
also just His servants.. Any decision of using them during a seva
doesn't
entirely lie in our hands.. “
“..I
can promise you on behalf of the board that we shall all strive to do
our
best in fulfilling your family’s desire in making good use of these
Golden
Lotus flowers at the Temple... But Please give us some time and I
shall
get back to you at the earliest..”
Later
things followed in quick succession and after a couple of more meetings
the TTD board had decided to introduce a new Arjita Seva
during
which time
the 108 sacred names of the Holy Lord shall be recited
and during that recitation one
Golden Lotus Flower each, gifted by
the Sheikh Mastan family, shall be placed at the
holy Lotus feet
of Lord Sri Venkateswara.
TTD
introduced this new Seva called Ashtadala Pada Padmaradhana in
1984 and ever
since this popular seva is being performed at the holy
Tirumala Temple every Tuesday..
This
new arjita Seva not only made the Golden Jubilee year of TTD board a
memorable one
but also helped the great devotional family of
Sheikh Mastan fulfill their generations old desire..
But
what was that invisible hand behind all this drama that played the
entire game to perfection..
Is it a big
guess..??
GOVINDA GOVINDA HARE
GOVINDA GOVINDA HARE
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