Page 32 - History of Tirupathi Balaji and comparison of Sri Vaishnava
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(demigods) cannot match. The demon grabbed her hair and dragged her along
        with him. Vedavati used her mystic power to cut off the part of her hair touched
        by Ravana. Then she invoked Agnideva, the demigod of fi re, to appear. She
        addressed Ravana, Because you have touched my body, I have become impure. I must
        give up this body contaminated by the fi lth of your despicable hand. In the future, I will take
        birth again and I will be the cause of your destruction and the extermination of your entire
        Raksasa dynasty. Lord Agni engulfed her body in fl ames and she disappeared.
             Vedavati appears as the Maya Sita in the pastimes of Lord Rama
            During the exile of Sita and Rama in the forests of India, Ravana heard
        about the incredible beauty of Sita. He decided to kidnap her and convince her
        to become his most cherished wife above Mandodari and the thousands of other
        beautiful women that he sequestered in his harem. He had Rama and Lakshman
        lured away from protecting Sita by his accomplice Marici who transformed
        himself into a bewitching golden deer. Sita saw the golden deer and requested
        that Rama catch it for her so she could  enjoy having it as a pet. When she was
        alone, Ravana attempted to kidnap her. It is not possible for any mortal being
        to even touch the sacred body of Lord Rama’s eternal consort. To protect Sita,
        Agni appeared and replaced Sita with her look-alike Vedavati, who is called the
        “Maya Sita” or false Sita. Unknowingly, Ravana kidnapped Vedavati thinking
        she was the real Sita.
                 The diffi culties encountered by devotees can be a blessing
            It may appear to some persons that worshipping Lord Krishna or His
        expansions such as Narayana, Vishnu or Rama is a thankless task because one
        may not see any material rewards. In fact, the devotee of Lord Vishnu may be
        living in a state of poverty as was the case of Vedavati or all sincere yogis and
        renounced sadhus (saints). On the other hand, by worshipping the demigods,
        one may receive all sorts of material benefi ts. These are temporary and require
        repeated birth and death to enjoy. The material blessings of the demigods give
        a false sense of immediate gratifi cation. But in the long term, one soon realizes
        that they simply distract the living being from concentrating on the goal of life.
        Krishna becomes concerned for his devotee that may become distracted from the
        path of pure devotion. There is a verse in the Srimad Bhagavatam that explains
        how Krishna may help his devotee in such a condition. It is by the mercy of the
        Lord that one gets all material opulence, but if such material opulence causes one to become
        puffed up and forget the process of self-realization, the Lord certainly takes all the opulence
        away. (SB 10.88.8) Material opulence and power may divert one’s attention away
        from spiritual life. This is confi rmed in the Bhagavad-gita, “In the minds of those
        who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are
        bewildered by such things, the resolute determination for devotional service to
        the Supreme Lord does not take place.” (Bg 2.44) One loses the determination
        for spiritual life by the development of false prestige by thinking he is the owner
        and master of everything he sees. This was Ravana’s delusional mentality. He
        thought he was so powerful that he was invincible. He was convinced he could
        kidnap the eternal consort of Rama with impunity.
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