Pothana - God's Writing

God's Writing

ala vaikuMThapuraMbulO nagarilO nAmUla soudhaMbu dApala......

This is a verse which describes the palace of Lord Vishnu in his divine abode (VAIKUNTHA), at the time the elephant king prayed for the Lord's kindness to deliver him out of the deadly grip of crocodile in a lake.

The story goes that Pothana wrote the first line of the verse, but could not continue (because he did not know how vaikuntha looks!). So he paused the writing at that point, and went to farm (he was a cultivator by profession). When he came back in the evening, he saw the verse completed.

He enquired his daughter about who wrote the other three lines. The daughter replied - "You yourself came in the afternoon and wrote some thing!". So Pothana understood that Lord Sri Rama himself came and completed the verse.

In fact, Pothana himself ascribed in the following poem, the purpose of his writing the Bhagavatam:

PalikeDidhi Bhagavathamata

Palikinchedivadu Ramabhadhrundata Ne

Palikina Bhavaharamagunata

PalikedaVerondu GhadhaPalukagaNela

Translated it means : "That which is spoken is the Bhagavatam and the one who made me speak/chant this is Lord Rama. The result of chanting this (Bhagavathamata) is ultimate freedom, the Liberation of soul. So, let me sing it, since there is no other story better than this (Bhagavatham)."