Poison, Pontiffs and Protection
Vyaasa Tirtha at Kanchi
Like Kashi in the North of India, Kanchi in the South was a renowned seat of learning. When Vyaasarajaru visited Kanchi, he was opposed by the intellectuals of Kanchi. However, they conceded defeat gracefully. Like in any society at all times, there were denigrators in Kanchi, too. One such person bribed a cook to mix poison in the food that would be served to Vyaasarajaru. The cook did as instructed but developed cold feet when the time came to serve the food. When the pontiff enquired as to why he was hesitant to serve he fell at the pontiff’s feet and begged for forgiveness. He confessed that poison had been mixed in the food to be served. Vyaasarajaru had two questions for him… Was the food offered to God as Naivedya? If yes, was it offered as “anna” (food) or as “visha” (poison)? The cook said it was offered as anna.
Vyaasa Tirtha eats prasaada
Upon hearing this, Vyaasarajaru insisted upon being served the naivedya, as he would not partake any food other than prasada. He is believed to have said, “Be it poison or be it nectar, we* shall have nothing other than “devara prasada”.
Immediately after eating, unaffected by it, he began to do penance for the sin of poison being offered to the Lord as naivedya.
When the people of Kanchi came to know about the incident, they were ashamed and wanted both the perpetrator and the accomplice to be punished severely, and sought the pontiff’s permission to go ahead.
Vyasarajaru soothingly said, “Vishamapyamrutham kwachidbhaveth”… the poison, if any, turned into nectar upon being offered to the Lord, hence, there has been no crime committed…
This miraculous incident and the forgiving nature of the pontiff raised his stature thousandfold and endeared him further to the people.
*sanyaasis refer to themselves as “we” instead of “I”
Vaadiraja Tirtha offers naivedya
Vaadiraja Tirtharu was the disciple of Vyaasarajaru. Every day, Vaadiraja Tirtharu would place some “hoorna” a mixture of jaggery and Bengal gram on a “harivaana” (plate). Sitting cross-legged and contemplating on the horse-faced form of God, Hayavadana, he would hold the harivaana on his head. And every day, without fail, Hayavadana came to him in the form of a white horse, stood on his hind legs, placed his forelegs on Vaadiraja Tirtha’s shoulders, partook the naivedya and left behind a bit for Vaadiraja Tirtha to eat as prasaada.
As this was performed in solitude, there were some who were unconvinced of the Lord eating the hoorna. In order to test Vadiraaja, they bribed a cook to mix some poison in the hoorna. That day, Vaadiraja Tirtha was perplexed to see the harivaana empty after Hayavadana had partaken the naivedya. He asked the Lord as to why there was no “shesha*” left behind for him?
*left overs
He was taken aback to see the Lord’s idol turn green from white.
Hayavadana then told Vaadiraja Tirtha that there was poison in the hoorna and hence he ate it all to protect the pontiff. He predicted the death of the conspirators by the next noon. He then asked Vaadiraja Tirtha to go to a village called ‘Mattu’ a few kilometres from Udupi, where the people had fallen into bad ways. He asked Vaadiraja Tirtha to chastise the people and have them grow a variety of brinjal, white and round, called “gulla’. Vaadiraja Tirtha was to bring the gulla and offer them to the Lord for 48 days upon which the poison would disappear and would remain symbolically as a patch of green at the idol’s throat.
Vaadiraja Tirtha gulla
Traditionally, brahmins have been prohibited from eating brinjal. However, in perpetual remembrance of the humble gulla’s contribution to healing the Lord, the Maadhwa sect is allowed to eat brinjal, but only the gulla variety grown in Mattu. And the vegetable has an honorific prefix, Vaadiraja Tirtha gulla!
The Mattu gulla was conferred the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2011.