namo-venkatesha-rathayatra
Ancient Hindus have considered Lord Venkateshwara as a form of Lord Shiva, and worshipped him as Shiva. Some of them were of the opinion that Lord Venkateshwara is a form of Lord Muruga, since both Lord Vishnu and Lord Muruga have two wives. Some of them have claimed that Lord Venkateshwara is an aspect of both Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva, by citing an example from his name itself. VENKATA – Lord Vishnu, ESHWARA – Lord Shiva, but the great Venkateshwara devotee, Sri Annamacharya, who is also considered to be an aspect of Nandaka, the divine sword of Lord Vishnu, had expressed his views clearly on his songs, and also explained to the devotees, that Lord Venkateshwara is none other than Lord Vishnu, and he cannot be considered as Lord Muruga.
The great Madhwa Saint, Sri Vyasaraja who has worked as a priest in the Venkateshwara Temple for a few years, has also mentioned in his holy works, that Lord Venkateshwara is a form of Lord Vishnu only. Before few hundred years ago, some mischievous people have done this sort of confusion work, in order to make the devotees of Muruga and Vishnu to clash with each other.
But if we refer to the songs of Ma Vengamamba, who was a staunch devotee of Lord Venkateshwara, she has mentioned that Lord Venkateshwara is an aspect of Lord Vishnu, since Lord Vishnu only would have the Sudarsana Chakra and the Holy Conch (Shanku) with him. In fact, some ancient Andhra kings have also awarded price money to those who were able to cite out the actual god belongs to Tirumala, whether it was Lord Vishnu or Lord Muruga!
But in course of time, devotees began to realise themselves, that the deity present inside the Tirumala Temple is Lord Venkateshwara only, and this was known by them through the grace of Lord Venkateswara.
But according to me, as per the one god concept, all of the gods were formed only from a supreme power, also known as Divine Shakti, and they forms part and parcel of that power (Shakti) only. Lord Krishna in his Bhagavat Gita Teachings, has clearly stated that, “Among the gods, I am the god Muruga”, and in his Viswaroopa Avatar, Lord Muruga was also present on his body!
Hence let us put an end to this matter, by considering Lord Venkateshwara, as a form of Lord Muruga also!
“OM SRI VENKATASUBRAMANYA SWAMIYE NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR