Page 24 - History of Tirupathi Balaji and comparison of Sri Vaishnava

At a certain time each day, during the grazing of the cows, the cowherd
man would take a nap. He would sleep under a tree. When he slept, the special
cow would hurry to the anthill and stand over it with her udder. She would
induce herself to pour down her nectar-like milk to nourish Srinivasa. The Lord
accepted the loving offering of the cow by opening His mouth so that the milk
would drop right into His mouth for his daily repast. The cow was Brahma who
was a very dedicated devotee of the Lord.
The cowherd man pretended to take his daily nap. However, he kept one
eye slightly open to observe the cow. When the cow thought the cowherd was
dosing off to sleep, she quickly walked toward to anthill and stood over it as milk
dripped from her udder into the hole. Seeing this, the cowherd man understood
why the cow’s udder was empty every day. He became enraged. Due to his
anger, he impetuously picked up an axe and hurled it toward the neck of the
cow. Srinivasa popped up from the anthill hole and took the blow of the axe on
His forehead to protect the cow from injury. The Lord seemed to be injured by
the axe. His forehead was bloodied. When the cowherd man saw the beautiful
Lord bleeding profusely, he fainted.
The king was informed of the tragedy. He came immediately to see for
himself. On fi rst sight, he thought the victim was dead because of the large
amount of blood everywhere. The king was prepared to severely punish the
cowherd man. While closely looking at the injured man, he was enchanted by
Srinivasa’s attractive features. The king became convinced that the victim was a
heavenly being. “What has happened,” asked the king. Srinivasa described how
He blocked the axe from striking the cow. The king begged forgiveness for his
servant’s offense.
There is a prayer that glorifi es the Supreme Lord. Namo brahmanya devaya/
go-brahmana-hitaya ca/jagad-dhitaya krishnaya/govindaya namo-namah - I offer my
respectful obeisances unto Lord Krishna, who is the Deity worshipped by all brahmanas, the
well-wisher of cows , brahmanas and the benefactor of the whole world. I offer my repeated
obeisances to the Personality of Godhead, known as Krishna and Govinda. This prayer
reveals how affectionate Lord Krishna considers brahmanas and cows. He is
ready to protect them at all cost even at the risk of personal injury. In the episode
of Bhrigu Muni, Lord Krishna as Vishnu tolerated the injustice of being kicked
in the chest and went so far as to forgive the brahmana. To save the cow from
certain death, Krishna as Lord Srinivasa accepted the pain of an axe wounding
His forehead by its sharp blade and blunt force. This is an indication of how
dear cows and brahmanas are to the Lord.
Lord Srinivasa walked into the forest bleeding from His wounds. Brihaspati,
the chief priest of the demigods met the Lord. Srinivasa asked Brihaspati if he
could recommend herbs to heal His head injury. The priest gave Him a list of
natural herbs that could heal the wounds. The Lord began to search for them.
He wandered the forest and came to a holy place named Varaha Kshetra.
Signifi cance of Varaha Ksehtra
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