He Will At Last Smash Your Ego!

The Lord is pleased not by the vast expanse of vibhakti (grammar or erudition) but by the true, simple-hearted reverential feelings of bhakti (devotion).

Narayana Bhattatiri belonged to a NBrahmin family that comprised of great poets, philosophers, and devotees. Coming from such a lineage, Bhattatiri too was blessed with a fine acumen and great literary skills, and evolved as an erudite Sanskrit scholar. Owing to these merits, Bhattatiri composed one of the finest Sanskrit texts of India named Narayaniyam. Studded with beautiful expressions, figures of speech, and c lass ic vocabulary , Narayaniyam has all the features of a 'mahakaavya' (great poem) and is greatly appreciated by one and all.

However, as is often seen, worldly fame, achievements, and accolades generally bring along with them the latent sense of pride and egoism. It so happened in the case of Bhattatiri as well. After a few years when Bhattatiri had composed Narayaniyam, he went to one of the temples to worship the Goddess. He entered the temple with a sense of great accomplishment that he has produced a masterly summary of Bhagavata. By then he had become a renowned figure among the masses. People regarded him as a great learned and held him in high esteem. In the temple, he was requested to compose a prayer in the honour of the Goddess.Bhattatiri thought it to be a child's play and readily agreed. He thus began to sing the glory of the Goddess by describing as to how Her entire appearance is infused with the fragrance of divinity. Bhattatiri started the description from the Goddess' divine feet. However, even after he had composed seventy stanzas, he could not proceed beyond the praise of the holy feet of the Goddess. He tried and tried but nothing worked out. At that moment, he realised that it is only the grace of God which makes one capable of singing His glory. Otherwise, an individual in himself has no such capability that he can sing His glory.