Page 37 - History of Tirupathi Balaji and comparison of Sri Vaishnava

beyond imagination with the good fortune that the Lord wanted to marry his
daughter. He also revealed that Padmavati was actually an expansion of the
Goddess of Fortune, who is the Lord’s eternal consort. He encouraged the king
to immediately arrange for the marriage.
Aksharaj sent a letter to Srinivasa offering the hand of his daughter in
marriage. Bakula devi and the sage, Shuka, delivered that letter to the ant
hill where Srinivasa was residing. The Lord was very happy to hear the good
news. Because the marriage was very soon, He meditated to call Garuda and
Anantadeva to help Him. He requested them to invite all the devas to witness
the marriage. Lord Brahma, Siva, Indra, Vayu, Agni, Surya, Yamaraj and many
other appeared for the festive occasion.
Lord Srinivasa borrows from Kubera
When Srinivasa saw the large crowd of very respectable demigods, He
became anxious. Lord Brahma asked, “Is there a problem? Why are You not
happy?”
Srinivasa answered, “How can we feed all these people? I live in an anthill
without any means to offer a grand feast with decorations and precious gifts
for the august assembly of guests. I have nothing. What am I to do?” Lord
Brahma summoned Kuvera, the treasurer of the demigods. Kuvera stood before
Lord Srinivasa with folded palms, offering his repeated respects and homage.
He said, “My Lord, whatever I have is Your property. You are the proprietor
of everything that exists. The entire treasury of all the demigods belongs to
You because You are sarva loka Mahesvara, the Lord and Master of all the
universes.”
Lord Srinivasa insisted that the treasury of the devas belonged to them. He
was simply asking for a loan, for which He stated the terms. He said, “Please
give Me fourteen lakhs of gold coins (1.4 million) until the end of Kali yuga.
When my devotees come for darshan to see Me, they will bring their valuables
and other wealth to pay the interest of the loan that I will owe you.”
Due to his astute loan contract, the temple of Srinivasa at Tirumala Tirupati
is the wealthiest temple in the entire world. Srinivasa said that until the end of
Kali yuga My devotee pilgrims will donate substantial sums of wealth to pay
back the interest. At the end of Kali yuga, the Lord will pay the principal to
completely close His debt to Kubera.
The arrangements of the wedding were nearly completed, but Srinivasa still
remained sad. The demigods understood that the Lord was feeling discouraged
because Lakshmi was still in Maharastha performing tapasya by Herself. The
Lord did not want to marry Padmavati without Lakshmi. Srinivasa alled for
Surya (the sun god), and asked him, “Go to Lakshmi devi and tell Her that I
am sick and She should come at once.” Surya protested, “But You are not sick.
How can I tell Lakshmi devi a lie.” What will happen to me if I tell my Supreme
Mother a lie? She will know. She knows everything.” And Srinivasa said, “No,
I will cover Her by Maya potency so she will believe you.”
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