Page 41 - History of Tirupathi Balaji and comparison of Sri Vaishnava

loved. His army was being routed because his men did not want to fi ght against
Srinivasa. He became so angry that he grabbed the Sudarsan chakra Srinivasa
gave him and threw it at the Lord. It hit the Lord and He fell to the ground. It
was His transcendental pastime (lila). He appeared lifeless. Everyone stopped
fi ghting. All the soldiers of both armies gathered around the fallen Lord and
cried along with their sincere prayers. They beseeched the Lord to not leave.
At that time, Thondaman and Vasudan thought, “What nonsense have we done
fi ghting like this? Look what has resulted from our selfi sh war. Lord Srinivasa is
injured and He may leave us.” They wept miserably. The news came to Agastya
muni’s ashram where Padmavati was staying. She ran to the scene with Agastya
and cried piteously. Srinivasa came back to consciousness. All the warriors and
leaders said, “Whatever You decide Srinivasa, we will follow. But, please do not
leave us.”
Srinivasa advised that the kingdom should be divided in half so that Vasudan
and Thondaman could each be king of one part and live in harmony. Both kings
agreed.
After some time, Srinivasa approached Thondaman who was a dear devotee
of the Lord. He said, “In the place that Lord Varaha deva gave Me on the top
of the mountain of Tirumala build a glorious temple for Me. That is where I
will reside.” Thondaman built the original temple of Tirumala. Srinivasa, Lord
Vishnu, resided in that temple with Lakshmi and Padmavati.
At another time, Srinivasa revealed to Thondaman and the great sages that
were assembled, At present, I speak freely with human beings and act as one of you. But
the age of Kali is progressing. I will no longer speak and move amongst you as before. I will
manifest My body as a deity and whoever comes to worship Me with sincere devotion, I will
deliver them from their sins. I will elevate them to Vaikuntha (the spiritual world) to live
eternally with Me.

Then Srinivasa stepped on the altar of the temple and manifested the vigraha
(deity form) of Sri Venkateshwara, the Lord who purges one of all sins. He is
also known as Lord Balaji.
The glories of the Tirumala Tirupati Balaji temple
Many great acaryas (spiritual teachers) such as Sankaracharya have come
to worship Lord Balaji. The great Vaisnava acarya, Ramanuja, has declared that
according to the Vedic scriptures the seven mountains called Tirumala Tirupati
are Vaikuntha (the spiritual world) on earth. Ramanuja lived in Sri Rangam, a
holy town where Lord Ranganath (Vishnu) is worshipped. He spent his time
singing devotional songs and the poetic hymns of the Alvar saints. He was always
in a trance of ecstatic love for Lord Ranganath. Once, while reading the glories
of Tirumala Tirupati Balaji, he decided to visit the sacred mountains where the
Lord resided. Accompanied by his disciples, he journeyed there on foot.
He came to the foot of the Tirumala mountain and performed his sacred
chants and gave lectures on spiritual topics. One of his disciples, Anantacharya,
was living on the Tirumala Tirupati mountain taking care of a garden where he
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