Day 3
Part (2) in the link below
Musings of a Soul returning to Its Eternal Home. (Part2) The Flame that waited
The Kingdom Where Night Never Enters
“Every pilgrimage on Earth is a sweet rehearsal.
The Archirādi Mārga is the Homecoming.”
Yesterday…
Fire welcomed me……
Not to test me……..
but to receive me……..
Its warmth carried no heat……..
Its brilliance carried no shadow…….
As I bowed to Archis, its golden radiance slowly faded behind me.
Ahead………..
an endless horizon unfolded.
There was no sunrise.
For there had never been a sunset.
The entire realm glowed with a gentle splendour that no earthly dawn could imitate.
Then I understood.
This was Ahaḥ…
The Realm of Eternal Day.
The deity of Day stood before me.
Not as a ruler demanding reverence…
but as a servant of my Lord, waiting to receive another child returning Home.
With folded hands, he smiled.
His smile reminded me of countless mornings on Earth.
How many sunrises had I watched during my pilgrimages?
I remembered standing before the Lord at Tirumala during Suprabhāta Seva. I had thought that was the brightest dawn I would ever witness. Today I realised it was only a loving rehearsal for the Dawn that never ends.”
The fragrance of fresh tulasī.
The echo of Suprabhātam.
The sound of temple bells awakening entire towns.
The first glimpse of Supreme Lord Venkateswara beneath the glow of oil lamps.
Each sunrise felt sacred.
Yet today…
I realised something that made my heart overflow.
Those dawns were never the destination.
They were invitations.
By His immeasurable grace, I had the blessing of worshipping at all 106 Divya desams upon this sacred earth.
Every kṣhetra revealed a different facet of His compassion.
At one temple, Lord stood waiting.
At another, He reclined in infinite serenity.
Elsewhere, He walked, sat, or manifested in majestic splendour.
Each Divya Deśam whispered the same promise in a different language:
“Do not stop here… There is still another journey awaiting you.”
When I completed my 106th Divya Deśam, many lovingly congratulated me.
I too thought…
“My pilgrimage is complete.”
But standing now in the Realm of Eternal Day, I smiled.
No…
The pilgrimage had only prepared my heart.
The 107th Divya desam……..
is not reached by train.
Nor by aircraft.
Nor by weary feet…….
It is reached only when HIS infinite compassion says,
“Come.”
And the 108th……..
Ah… Ah…
Even the thought made my soul tremble.
For the Ācāryas tell us that the final Divya deśam is not upon this earth.
It is Śrī Vaikuṇṭham itself…………the Eternal Abode…
where the Lord is forever surrounded by Śrī Mahālakṣmī, the Nitya Sūris, and the liberated souls.
Suddenly every sacred river in which. I had bathed flashed before my memory.
Gaṅgā…
Yamunā…
Godāvarī…
Kāverī…
Krishna
Tāmiraparani…
Triveni Sangamam
Narmada
Pushkar
Sarayu
Gomathi ,
Mandankani
Gandaki
Each holy dip had cleansed the body.
But this journey…
This was cleansing remembrance itself.
I no longer remembered the miles I had walked.
Only the mercy that had carried me……
The radiant guardian of Ahaḥ gently lifted His hand.
It was time to continue.
Far ahead…………
I saw another path.
Its light shimmered like the waxing moon.
Its brilliance seemed to grow with every moment.
“What realm is this?”
The guardian smiled………….
But answered nothing.
Perhaps………
Some truths are too beautiful to be spoken before their appointed moment.
Tomorrow……….
Our journey enters Śukla Pakṣa—
the realm where
Light never diminishes,
where every step draws the soul nearer to the Eternal Embrace of Śrīman Nārāyaṇa.
When I completed the 106 Divya Deśams, I believed I had reached the end of a sacred journey.
Today I realise……….
those blessed temples were not the conclusion.
They were loving invitations.
Each Garuḍa Maṇḍapam…
Each Dhvaja Stambham…
Each Divya Prabandham recited before Perumāḷ…
was gently preparing my heart for the one pilgrimage that no Google maps can show.
Perhaps every devotee who bows before Perumāḷ in a Divya Deśam is quietly rehearsing for the day when the Lord Himself will say,
“Come… let Me take you Home.”
Tomorrow’s Mystery……
The light ahead grows brighter with every step.
Yet…
No sun rises there.
No moon sets there.
Why does Light itself continue to increase in a realm where darkness has never existed?
Tomorrow…
we shall enter Śukla Pakṣa…
where every ray of light reveals another measure of His infinite compassion.
Until Tomorrow………….
Another step.
Another welcome.
Another mystery.
Another glimpse of the Lord who has been preparing our Eternal Home long before we began our earthly pilgrimage.
Let your heart continue its journey toward its Eternal Home.
Srimathey Ramanujaya namah
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan 🙏
Pictures Courtesy Google images
