आमुक्तमाल्यदा (विजयनगर सम्राट् श्रीकृष्णदेवराय - गोदा देवी आण्डाल भक्ति एवं साम्राज्य-नीति)

Goda Devi 49
about Goda Devi’s incarnation? The Lord begins to tell a story, and
Krishnadeva Raya takes up the last of the digressions in Āmukta
Mālyada.
There was once a devotee of Narayana born in the panchama
caste who used to worship the Lord by singing the Mangala Kowsiki
raga. He was an honest fellow and was very much like a jewel
bound up by the dusty cloth of a ‘low’ caste. Twanging his lute,
tears streaming down his eyes, this Mala Dasari would sing soul-
fully and dance in self-forgetful ecstasy, lost in the vasts of god-
consciousness. After offering worship outside the temple for a long
time, he would take the water that flowed out of the sanctum
sanctorum when it had been washed, and drink the same as prasad.
He would also be given some left-over food by a passing devotee or
pedestrian.
One night a cat entered the hen-coop in his cottage and the
cock crowed. Mala Dasari mistook the call and decided that dawn
had come near. He got up and proceeded towards the temple
to perform his worship. He crossed the fields and entered a deserted
path on his way. Here stretched uncultivated fields where many a
vicious animal had prepared its lair. Alas, it was night still and he
had lost his way. He entered a forest where a big banyan tree
confronted him. Skulls, hair and dried pieces of flesh lay strewn
all over the place presenting a dreadful sight.
Now appeared before him a dire apparition, a Brahmarakshas.
Wearing a corpsc as an undergarment, dread-faced, the spirit had
clephantine legs and a pot-head. “Move not, you have been dis-
covered”, roared the spirit. Presently the Brahmarakshas and his
demon-wife caught hold of the devotee who, however, did not
forget the name of the Lord. The two strove for a while. The
Brahmarakshas said :
“The fat of your body pleases my desire. I would drink your
blood with red meat, sharing it with this demoness. My appe-
tiser would be wine filled in these skulls! You gave me quite
a bit of trouble. I will not kill you the easy way.”
The Mala Dasari spoke gentle words of good import (dharmamu
eriginchu sooktin) :
“O demon, even gods cannot defeat you. I am indeed food
that has reached your plate. Don’t get angry. After all, I
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