why does lord Vishnu have a white mark on his chin?
Answers
Ananthaacharya, the disciple of Ramanujaacharya, was a great devotee of Lord Sri Venkateswara. He was directed by his master to take up the service of the Lord at the temple in Tirumala.
He took the work of offering flowers, garlands to the Lord. He started a garden in Tirumala which was dedicated to the Lord. He wanted to do the work by himself. As wife was pregnant she was given smaller portion of work.
One day Anathaacharya wanted to dig a lake for watering his garden. He started the work with the help of his wife, who used to take the mud away. The Lord was moved as he couldn’t see his devotee working in such pain . He decided intervene as presented himself to Anantha as a young boy and told him that he would help him at his wife’s work since it was difficult for her to work. Anantha was so devoted to the Lord that he refused to take his help . The boy came to him many times to help but he refused every time. So, the boy went to his wife and started helping her.
One day, Anantha noticed the boy helping his wife. He got furious and chased the boy. He couldn’t catch up with the boy. So, in anger he threw a shovel at him. It hit him hard at his chin and he started bleeding. The boy ran into the temple with his bleeding chin.
In the evening, the temple priests gathered at the temple . They were worried. Anantha went into the temple and came to know that the Idol in the temple was bleeding at the chin. Anantha realized his mistake at once and repented. He was worried a lot and started crying at the lord’s feet. Then the lord spoke to his devotee that it was all part of his pastime.