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

54 Goda's Garland of Devotion
After being announced by Garuda, Vishnuchitta entered
Ranganatha's presence. The sight that greeted him is vividly
evoked in one long breathless sentence by Krishnadeva Raya.
Nammalwar and other devotees; Ranganatha reclining on Adi-
sesha; brilliances everywhere that destroy the sorrows in a devotee's
heart (bhakta jana manah tamah vidalanambun kavinchuchun); in short,
Sri Vaikuntha on earth. Vishnuchitta bowed deep to this Lord of
lords who alone could release us from the three passions (taapah
traya), this Narayana the Ancient, the Best among men, Prana-
taarthihara, Vasudeva, Hrishikesa, Creator of Cupid, the King of
Srirangam. An incandescent prayer blossomed forth from him:
I bow to you who are the wealth
Indestructible in Brahma's home;
My homage to you who was worshipped
By the Ikshvaku dynasty;
All hail to you, the family deity
In the home of Vibhishana;
You lead the hosts of gods
Including the powerful Siva.
Ranganatha is the throne-of-all, source-of-all; He is the Lord
of all creation, and yet resides within us as well, and pervades the
tiniest atom imaginable; He is the source of Light and Knowledge;
the jivatman is dependent upon Him, but He is transcendent and
beyond the dust of creation: the First, the Pure, the Power that
moves Time: unperceivable by human senses, He is yet our only
refuge.
Vishnuchitta's prayer brought out the prana svarupa as well as
the lovely archa figure of Ranganatha. The Lord looked at his devo-
tee with love and compassion and enquired about his well-being.
He then glanced at the lovely, youthful form of Āmukta Mālyada
who was offering flowers at His feet with meditative surrender, and
thought for Himself:
"The eyes of this girl must have given Cupid his flag (which
has a fish on it); her middle is so thin like a flower-creeper and
must have given Vasantha his residence (spring is famous
for its spreading creepers); her breasts no doubt gave Rati
the image of calabash for her lute; her lotus-face certainly
offered the resting-place for Saraswati's swan (which is sup-