Stories 10
Tradition: Vaishnava · clear
Bhrigu's kick and the coming of Srinivasa
The sage Bhrigu tests the three gods and kicks the reclining Vishnu; in the Bhagavata Vishnu's humility settles the matter, while the Tirumala tradition adds Lakshmi's departure to Kolhapur and Vishnu's descent as Srinivasa, who marries Padmavati on borrowed money.
How Ranganatha came to face south at Srirangam
The Ranga Vimana rose from the churning, passed from Brahma to the kings of Ayodhya and from Rama to Vibhishana, and would not leave the Kaveri island.
Kumbakonam: Brahma loses the Vedas and wins them back
Brahma boasts that he alone can create.
Lakshmi as the badri tree at Badrinath
Vishnu meditates in the Himalaya while Lakshmi shelters him as a badri tree; the sages Nara and Narayana choose the site; Shankara recovers the image from the hot spring.
Nila Madhava and the unfinished images of Puri
King Indradyumna's priest finds Nila Madhava worshipped by a Sabara chief; the image vanishes; new images are carved from a sea-borne log and left unfinished when the carver is disturbed.
Pundalik's brick
Busy serving his parents when Krishna calls, Pundalik tosses him a brick to stand on; the god waits there still, hands on hips, as Vithoba of Pandharpur.
Shrinathji from Govardhan to Nathdwara
Krishna's arm and then his face emerge from Govardhan hill; the image is carried away from Braj in 1672 and stops where its cart wheels sink in Mewar.
The birth of Ayyappa
Brahma's boon to Mahishi — that only a child of Vishnu and Shiva can kill her — forces Vishnu to take the Mohini form; Shiva's desire for Mohini yields a son, found and raised by the king of Pandalam, who kills Mahishi and takes his seat at Sabarimala.
The image that came from Vaikuntha to Guruvayur
An image made by Vishnu himself passes from Brahma to King Sutapas to Uddhava, who has Brihaspati and Vayu install it in Kerala after Dwarka sinks.
Two origins of Padmanabhaswamy
Either Parashurama consecrated the reclining image, or Vishnu appeared to the sage Vilwamangalam as a mischievous boy and became a falling tree that took the shape of Ananta Padmanabha.