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 Sri Mukkur Lakshminarasimhachariar is a reputed and much-respected, scholarly discourse exponent. His discourses are laced with subtle, but powerful humour that brings home a 'truth', unforgettably. He is a great devotee of Lord Sri Narasimha for whom he has 'nourished' a special cave temple at Mattapalli near Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. It is a well-known fact, and I can personally attest to this conscientiously, that whenever Sri Mukkur Swami (as he is fondly called) discourses on 'Prahlada Caritam' (the story of Prahlada, son of demon-chief Hiranyakasipu, slain by Lord Narahari - the lion-faced-man-bodied Lord) - he gets possessed by the Lord - The 'possession' takes place, slowly, steadily and surely till he faints or passes into a trance. It is an awesome (inspiring though) experience to see the Swami's huge girth, heaving up and down, his nostrils flaring and his mouth emitting lion-roar-like guttural sounds! The trance lasts for an hour or so and then he gets revived and gets home duly escorted. This invariably happens whenever he discourses on Sri Narasimhavataara! On such occasions, people worship him as Lord Narasimha Himself!
Meaningful discourses
His discourses are splendidly meaningful. In one of his discourses at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam's Information Centre's 'Sravana Mandiram' (discourse hall), Chennai-17, Mukkur Swami had occasion to recount the following two episodes he had personally experienced.
Gohinda! Gohinda!
It seems, once, when he visited the abode of the Lord of the Seven Hills at Tirumala, he came across a naive-rustic pilgrim who kept on shouting 'Gohinda! Gohinda!' fervently, instead of the correct divine call 'Govinda, Govinda!' He repeated his quaint calls loudly and almost incessantly. The good-natured Swami, quite amused at the pilgrim's naivete, wanted to correct him and went near him. But, before meeting him personally he chanced to hear the uncouth rustic exclaiming rapturously: "O Lord Gohinda! I have been visiting you every year as a sacred duty. You have looked after me very well all these years. I am quite happy. I salute you most fervently. I hope to visit you next year also. Please give me, as before, the necessary wherewithal to offer my gratitude to you year after year. Gohinda, Gohinda, Thou art the greatest of all Gods on earth!"
So what! The Lord likes 'Gohinda'!
Mukkur Swami stopped dead in his tracks. He realised that if Lord Govinda liked being called 'Gohinda' by a simple rustic devotee and conferred on him His Grace, who was he to correct the villager! After all, what is the harm in calling the Lord by any name as long as it is inspired by heart-felt devotion! The Lord must have been quite pleased with the child-like devotional hymn, a lisp of a simple man devoid of any artifices! Why not I also call Govinda, 'Gohinda' just for once! Mukkur Swami tasted the new name (not in any Sahasranama) and found it very sweet. Amused earlier, concerned later, the Swami found himself duly chastened now! He remembered the Gita verse (Ch: 9, verse 26) "Patram Pushpam...Prayataatmanah' - whosoever offers me anything whatsoever (a leaf, a flower, a fruit, a drop of water even) with pure devotion, that I accept and relish most!"
R Srinivasan
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