INTRODUCTION
If we carefully observe the deity of Lord Venkateswara, we could see two images of the snakes which were installed in a golden ornament, on the two shoulders of Lord Venkateswara. These snake images closely resemble Lord Adisesha, the Divine serpent bed of Lord Vishnu. As per legend, when Lord Vishnu came down to the earth in the form of Lord Venkateswara, the divine serpent bed Adisesha wanted to serve Lord Vishnu who was in the form of Lord Venkateswara. Hence as per his request, Lord Venkateswara made him as an ornament, also popularly known as Nagabarana, and began to wear it on his body. From this incident we could clearly know, that Lord Vishnu and Adisesha cannot be separated from each other.
Likewise Lord Shiva also used to wear the divine snake Vasuki as Nagabarana on his neck, and since Shiva is considered as a simple god, it is believed that he didn’t wear costly ornaments and rich garments on his body.
The reason for wearing costly garments and ornaments by Lord Vishnu is to please his loving concert Ma Lakshmi Devi. Since Lakshmi Devi is considered to be the goddess of wealth, in order to satisfy her, Lord Vishnu who is now in the form of Lord Venkateswara pleasing wore rich ornaments and garments on his body.
As per another legend, once when Rishi Narada visited Vaikunta, to his surprise, Lord Vishnu appeared in a simple form like that of Lord Shiva. He didn’t wear any necklaces on his body, and he didn’t even have a crown on his head. Rishi Narada was very much shocked to see the simple form of Lord Vishnu, and hence he requested Lord Vishnu to wear good garments and ornaments on his body. In order to satisfy his great devotee Narada, Lord Vishnu began to wear rich things on his body, and that’s why in his Venkateswara Avatar also, he can be seen well-dressed and adorned with precious golden ornaments.
God lives only for the sake of his devotees, and without the presence of Bhagavathas, the significance of Bhagavan cannot be known by the worldly people!
“OM NAMO VENKATESAYA NAMAHA” Sent By
R.HARISHANKAR
