Kasturi Rangaa Kaaveri Rangaa Sri Ranga Rangaa Rangaa
Sri Ranga Rangaa Rangaa
Kalyaana Rangaa Karunaantarangaa
Sri Ranga Rangaa Rangaa
Garuda Gamana Rangaa Shesha Shayana Rangaa
Sri Ranga Rangaa Rangaa
Sai Ranga Rangaa Rangaa
Meaning:
O Lord Sri Sai Ranga, The Sacred Kasturi Tilakam which is a paste of musk, Adorns Thy Forehead beautifully and Thou Dwells on the banks of The Kaveri River. Thou art Lord Sri Narayana – The Saviour and Sustainer of all and art The Beloved Divine Lord of Mother Lakshmi – Who is The Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity. Thou art The Lord Who Liberates and art Most Compassionate. Thou Rides on Thy Divine Vehicle – The Garuda which is The Celestial Bird with a white mark on it’s chest and since time immemorial, Thou Reclines Blissfully, on The Serpent-Coiled Bed of The Great Cobra King – Lord Sri Aadi Shesha in The Ocean of Milk. O Most Beloved Divine Lord Sri Sai Ranga, Thou art The Divine Cosmic Director and we sing and chant Thy Divine Name incessantly. (Story of Kaveri River – Lord Sri Ganesha had blessed Agastya Rishi – who has composed several hyms of the Rig Veda. The Vedas are actually The Very Breath of God. The Unique Importance of Vedas, rests in the fact, that The Vedas Confer Peace and Security on the entire society. It is with the Blessings of Lord Sri Ganesha, that we have the Kaveri river flowing, where it stands today. Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri are the seven sacred rivers of India and The Kaveri river is known as The Ganges of The South, for pilgrims who visit holy places and perform various rites. Kaveri is therefore firstly, The Divine Mother in the form of water and is linked to life through the element of water. She purifies our karmas and washes our sufferings. She is The ONE Who soothes and gives us peace. In the ancient times, there was a severe drought in southern India. The crops were dying and wells were drying. Even the greatest trees wilted through lack of water. People starved. Agastya Rishi felt very sad about this and prayed to Lord Brahma – Who advised him to go to Mount Kailash – which is The Abode of Lord Shiva and bring some sacred water of the snow that never ends. Lord Brahma said that this snow-water would start a new river to save the hot land. After a long journey, Agastya Rishi filled a pot with the snow water and returned searching for a place to start the river in the hilly Coorg region. He was confused and wanted to rest and so handed over the pot to a near by shabbily-dressed dirty boy, reminding him not to spill any water. The little boy in reality was Lord Sri Ganesha in disguise and HE picked a place for the river to start, put the pot down and disappeared. Agastya saw this and was annoyed. Suddenly a large crow flew out of the sky, perched on the edge of the pot and spilled the very special water to the ground. Agastya was now furious and cursed the crow. A blinding light flashed for a moment and the crow disappeared. Instead a smiling Lord Sri Ganesha appeared in the place of a crow. Agastya’s anger turned to Bliss. As HE laughed, a crystal clear river bubbled out of the pot and no sooner had she changed, from a small stream to a fast-flowing river across the peninsula. Even today, she flows until she blends into the warm waters of Bay of Bengal. To this day, people tell the story of how Rishi Agastya brought Kaveri from The Himalayas and how he was surprised by Lord Sri Ganesha. It is said, that we should look at life from another angle – the things that we feel are holding us back are really helping us and that is the work of The Cheerful, Elephant-Faced Lord Sri Ganesha.)
