SRI VADIRAJA VIRACHITA
“TEERTHA PRABANDHA” – STEP 26
ಶ್ರೀ ವಾದಿರಾಜ ವಿರಚಿತ “ತೀರ್ಥ ಪ್ರಬಂಧ”.
SRI KOLLUR KSHETRA/ಶ್ರೀ ಕೊಲ್ಲೂರು ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರ
ಮೂಕಾಂಬಿಕಾ
ಕೃಪಾಲೋಕಾದಾಕಾಂಕ್ಷಿತಫಲಪ್ರದಾ|
ಮೂಕಾನಕೃತ
ಮೇ ಶತ್ರೂನ್ ಏಕಾಂತಿಕಜನಪ್ರಿಯಾ||56||
MookAmbikA krupAlOkAdAkAnkShitaPhalapradA|
MookAnakruta mE shatrUn yEkAntikajanapriyA||56||
SUMMARY: Goddess Mukambika, who is kind and
sympathetic, fulfills desires, loves ardent devotees of Lord Vishnu, made my
enemies dumb.
It is said that a few people were envious of the
mystic powers and popularity of Sri Vadirajaru. A few of them were Brahmins
from Taulava or Tulu-speaking region; some were saints. All those envious
people once sent a boy to Kolluru and told him to live there in a secret place,
without getting noticed by anyone. Later, they spread a false allegation that
Sri Vadirajaru had tortured and killed that boy. Goddess Mookambika then beat
that boy with a whip in dreams as well as during daytime. She frightened the
boy by luring him to be bitten by snakes. She told the boy: “Do not stay here.
Go to Vadiraja Muni.” Ignoring the threat some wicked people unleashed on him,
the boy met Sri Vadirajaru, explained to him whatever had transpired. Sri
Vadirajaru showed that boy to the public so as to remove the mistaken opinion of
people.
According to another source, a sage called Kola
appealed to Goddess Mookambika to kill a demon named Kamha and she killed the
demon. Sri Mookambika silenced some of the jealous detractors of Sri
Vadirajaru. Therefore, she came to be known as Sri Mookambika.
By fulfilling all the desires of her devotees, the
Goddess made her devotees dumbfounded or speechless. She also silenced those
who were playing silly tricks to defame Sri Vadirajaru. Therefore, she came to
be known as Mookambika, where “Mooka” means dumb. She would also expose the
enemies by exposing their wicked deeds so that they bowed their heads in utter
shame.
ಕ್ವಚಿತ್
ಪೃಥಿವ್ಯಾಂ ಪರಿತಶ್ಚರಂತೀ ನಭಃಸ್ಥಲಂ ಕ್ವಾಪಿ ಮುಹುರ್ವ್ರಜಂತೀ|
ವಿಪಕ್ಷವಿಧ್ವಂಸವಿಧೌ
ಸ್ಫುರಂತೀ ಕಾತ್ಯಾಯನೀ ಕಂದುಕವದ್ವಿಭಾತಿ||57||
Kwachit pruThivyAm paritashcharantee naBhahasThalam
kwApi
murvrajantee|
VipakShaviDhwamsaviDhau sPhurantee kAtyAyanee
kandukavadviBhAtee||
SUMMARY: Goddess Durga, who visits earth now and
then to kill enemy demons and frequents the sky regularly, shines like a ball.
It is said that “KaAtyAyanee kandukavadviBhAti” had
been given as a problem in an assemblage of scholars and Sri Vadirajaru decoded
it in his own inimitable way.
While playing with ball, it keeps moving from one
team to another. Sometimes it moves in strange manner and when kicked with raw
force, the ball springs up into the open sky. Similarly, Mookambika Devi visits
earth to liberate the world from the torture of demons. She also roams about in
the space or sky. If the demons living on earth run into the sky with their
mystic power, Mookambika chases them and kills them in the battle. Therefore,
she has been compared to a ball.
Kollur is about 30 miles from Kundapur. A temple
dedicated to Mookambika is there at Kollur. In this shrine there is a Linga
with gold lines.
Earlier, a sage named Kola was doing penance near
Sahyadri mountain range. Lord Eshwara was impressed by his penance and appeared
in front of the sage. Lord Eshwara told the sage that later, Lakshmi Devi would
bless him and the place would be called after his name, Kolluru. After some
years, a demon called Kamhasura worshipped Bhairavi Devi and secured a boon of
not getting killed by anyone. The demon threw sage Kola, who was in deep
meditation, to a distance and began living there. When the demon started
torturing common people, Tripurabhairavi descended there to kill Kamhasura, who
fled to Rushyamooka Mountain. Later, demon Mahishasura defeated Indra and began
troubling pious people. Meanwhile, sage Kola woke up from meditation, realized that
he had been thrown away by Kamhasura. He saw that Kamhasura and Mahishasura
were troubling good people. Sage Kola worshipped Lakshmi Devi and requested her
to relieve the world from the tyranny of Kamhasura and Mahishasura. Goddess
Lakshmi came there, killed Mahishasura. Eshwara, who had come down to witness
the battle between Lakshmi and Mahishasura, created Sri Chakra with divine
radiation in the form of a Linga and adored it with the divine presence of
Lakshmi Devi. The Goddess also killed another demon called Vetrasura and
dissolved into the Jyotirlinga in the form of Sri Chakra light. When Eshwara
was about to present boons to Kamhasura, who had done penance, the deities
appealed to Sri Lakshmi to prevent Kamhasura from securing the desired boons.
Accordingly, Sri Lakshmi made him dumb. Since then, Kamhasura came to be known
as Mookasura and the Goddess as Mookambika. Mookasura became very furious for
not succeeding in his attempt to secure boons and started creating trouble in
the entire universe. Mahalakshmi again descended, killed him and entered the
Jyotirlinga. The greatness and divine quality of Kollur Kshetra finds mention
in Skanda Purana.
Kollur is said to be a very powerful Shaktipeetha.
Sri Sankara also visited this place, consecrated a Sri Chakra and an idol of
Mookambika here.
RaupyapeeTham kumArAdri kumBhAsee DhwajEshwaraha|
KrODagOkarNa mUkAmbAha saptaitA mOkShadAyikAha||
ರೌಪ್ಯಪೀಠಂ
ಕುಮಾರಾದ್ರಿ ಕುಂಭಾಸೀ ಚ ಧ್ವಜೇಶ್ವರಃ|
ಕ್ರೋಡಗೋಕರ್ಣ
ಮೂಕಾಂಬಾಃ ಸಪ್ತೈತಾ ಮೋಕ್ಷದಾಯಿಕಾಃ||
As mentioned in the above Shloka, Udupi,
Subrahmanya, Kumbhasi, Koteshwara, Krodashankaranarayana, Gokarna and Mookambika
are the seven most powerful holy places. Of these, only Gokarna is in north
Karnataka district and six are in Dakshina Kannada district alone.
Please read, comment and share. SDN
