Guruvayurappan - Poonthanam liberates two Devatas

Part 8

Poonthanam liberates two Devatas

One night, Poonthanam had the following dream. A beautiful airplane landed in the courtyard of his house. The ‘Vishnu-Parshadas’ (Celestial servants of Maha-Vishnu) had come to pick up Poonthanam to take him to Vaikuntam. Poonthanam received them appropriately. The ‘Vishnu-Parshadas’ led him to the plane with due respect. That plane passed through many worlds and reached Vaikuntam. The celestials guided him throughout and Poonthanam got out of the plane. He saw many other Vishnu-Parshadas there who all had reached Maha-Vishnu’s abode due to their intense Bhakti-yoga. Poonthanam did namaskaram to the divine place.

As soon as he reached the entrance two divine gatekeepers bowed humbly while receiving him. Poonthanam thought he was unfit to receive that kind of honour from those Devatas. But they said they were two plantain trees growing near the portico in Poonthanam’s house in their previous birth. They got to hear Poonthanam’s Bhagavatham recitation every day, which elevated them to the level of immortals. So, they respected Poonthanam as their Gurudeva.

By this Poonthanam woke up from his dream with exciting memories of Vaikuntam. When he went to the front yard in the morning, he saw those two plantain trees fallen on the ground!

Another version

The Lord was very fond of Bhagavatam and hence Poonthanam used to read Bhagavatam all the time in his house. One day he had some guests at home and was not able to do Bhagavata Parayanam.

So he went to the backyard of his house since he did not want to ill-treat the guests and started reading Bhagavatam. He was reading the third canto - to be more specific, the 14th and 15th chapters - the incarnation Varaha Avatar, where the Devas went to meet Lord Brahma and they are consoled by Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma describes the Sanatkumaras’ voyage to Vaikuntam and the fifteenth chapter in the third canto describes Vaikunta in fine detail such as “The bees continuously buzz the names of Lord Hari and all the birds and animals chant the divine names and sing his divine glories.”

Poonthanam immediately went into a bhava where he himself goes to Vaikuntam and there he sees two people prostrating unto him. He immediately enquired about them and who they were. Devas replied that they were two plantain trees in Poonthanam’s backyard, and they were liberated by listening to Bhagavatam. Poonthanam wondered again at the greatness of Bhagavatam. The very listening of Bhagavatam bestows one with Vaikunta. It need not be a human and in this case it was a tree that was bestowed with liberation by listening to Bhagavatam, verily because the Lord is “Mara Prabhuhu”.

A New Krishna temple for Old Poonthanam and his celestial journey later

As Poonthanam grew old, he found it very difficult to travel up to Guruvayur. Once he set out for Guruvayur to see his dearest Bhagavan. But, after walking just a little distance, he felt extremely tired and had to abandon the trip. At this point, Poonthanam cried out to Guruvayurappan lamenting his inability to meet Bhagavan. Immediately, he saw Guruvayurappan standing on his left side (Idathu puram).

Bhagavan blessed Poonthanam, "You need not walk all the way to Guruvayur temple - I will be personally present here to accept your worship. Construct a temple here and do your worship."

Accordingly, a temple was constructed at that place, very soon. (It is very close to the Angadipuram Railway Station on the Shoranur - Nilambur railway line. This temple is walking distance from the station. There is a shortcut from Poonthanam’s house to this temple.) Poonthanam eulogized this Deity in many of his works as “Vaamapuraadi-naatha” (Vaama = left). At this temple, there is a marking on the ground to indicate the area where Poonthanam paid his ‘danda namaskaram’ to Bhagavan Krishna and we can easily understand that Bhagavan was to his left.

The Ultimate benediction: Vaikuntam

Poonthanam was getting too old. He couldn’t travel anymore. He remained at home and spent most of his time in reciting Bhagavatham and meditation. He used to get visions of Bhagavan very often. But others couldn’t understand what he was talking about. They thought he had gone senile.

One day Poonthanam said, “The ‘Vishnu-Parshadas’ are visiting our house tomorrow. So the whole house needs to be decorated with plantain trees and so on." Poonthanam’s servants thought he was going crazy. Still they completed all arrangements, as he had instructed. Next morning, while Poonthanam was resting after meditation, he could see the plane coming to fetch him. Immediately he called his wife and asked her to get ready to go as the plane had landed. She did not take it seriously and said she had to do a few more things in the kitchen. The maid servant who was listening to their conversation asked for his permission to go with him. Poonthanam gladly agreed.

After some time, Poonthanam’s wife finished her chores and came out. Poonthanam was missing and she saw the maid servant lying dead. Ever since nobody has seen Poonthanam!  Vedic Astrology and Tantras confirm the above-mentioned events. 

As desired by Guruvayurappan, traditions associated with Poonthanam are ritualistically celebrated at Guruvayur temple every year. His statue was also installed in the temple premises.

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya!