The cagey sages

The cagey sages appoint Bhrgu to device a devilishly simple provocative test for, and put the vise on the triumvirate.

The story goes like this: The great sages of yester year assembled on the bank of River Sarasvati for philosophical and vedic discussions. The sages raised a question as to who the most qualified Supreme Lord is to run this cosmos. They had to choose one from among the three candidates, namely Vishnu, Brahma and Siva. The burden of investigation fell on the laps of Bhrgu Muni, who is the son of Lord Brahma Himself. Bhrgu Muni devised a test to pick the winner. His test relies on the principle of goodness in full measure in a candidate. The other qualities, deemed undesirable in the candidates, are passion and ignorance. Bhrgu Muni walked on his father unannounced and failed to greet Him in the usual and conventional ways a father, Guru and a Vedic scholar should be. Remember, Bhrgu Muni is testing him. Not that he lacked respect for his father. Lord Brahma blew his stack, and had to contain himself from laying a curse on Bhrgu Muni, because he was his son. [Just a note on Bhrgu Muni's knack for getting under the skin of interlocutors and contacts. At the beginning of creation,  Bhrgu Muni crawled out of Brahma's skin.  Bhrgu Muni was one among the ten sons of Brahma, who were born from the body parts and mind of Brahma.  It was not a conventional birth.]

Bhrgu Muni made a quick exit from Brahma Loka and made a beeline to Kailasa, the abode of Siva. Just a reminder, Bhrgu Muni is the brother of Lord Siva Himself. Lord Siva upon seeing his dear brother rose to embrace him. Bhrgu Muni shunned his brother's embrace and quickly let loose a tirade. He asked him not to touch him, and made references to his personal hygiene, application of ashes over his body, etc. All these insults were flung in the presence of Parvati, the consort of Lord Siva. Lord Siva, in a fit of anger and with eyes inflamed and red with anger, picked up the trident and before he could lunge the trident at Bhrgu Muni, Parvati fell at the feet of Siva and sweet-talked him into holding himself back and out of grievously hurting his brother.

Having been saved in the nick time and extricated from jaws of death, he scuttled out of there as fast as he could. Having been subjected to his father's ire and near-death experience at the hands of Lord Siva, he felt like kicking somebody. Remember, this is only a test, however repulsive and unpardonable it is in the minds of the devotees of Lord Vishnu. Bhrgu Muni caught Lord Vishnu and Sri at a private moment, when Sri was tenderly massaging His lotus feet. The Muni, unknowing to the Lord and Sri - you sure can bet that the Lord knew all this before hand - kicked the Lord on His chest exactly in that spot wherein Sri took her residence. Bhrgu Muni looks like one bad dude. He has hurt Brahma with his mind by not paying obeisance, he has hurt Lord Siva by his speech and now he has hurt Lord Vishnu by his deed. The Lord jumped out of His bed and on his feet faced the Brahmana, the Muni. The Lord and Sri paid their obeisance to the Brahmana and offered him a seat, and apologies for not receiving him with the respect that is due a Brahmana and begged for forgiveness. The Lord offered to massage the lotus foot of the Muni, which might have been sprained from its impact on the hard chest of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu added that the kicked spot on the chest, which is the abode of Sri, was sanctified by its contact with Bhrgu's foot. He went ahead and actually massaged the feet of the Brahmana.

Lord Vishnu thanked the Muni for having sanctified the abode of Sri Lakshmi, the Goddess of Fortune on His chest and thus ensuring a permanent residence for Sri.   Sri is known not to stay in one place thus reversing the fortunes of many a being. The Lord was grateful to the Muni for guaranteeing Sri to stay on His chest permanently for He had a large debt to repay to Lord Kubera. Sri is known as Cancala which literally means " moving to and fro, unsteady".

Bhrgu Muni couldn't believe his eyes, ears or his mind, when Lord Vishnu addressed and treated him thus. He was stunned, his eyes were rivers of tears, his throat was lumpy, not for lack of words, but those words were not adequate to express his emotion and he stood still in silence.

Once he recovered from this unexpected turn of events in his encounter with Lord Vishnu, the Muni made a dash to the fellow sages. All the details were told, discussed , analyzed and a conclusion was reached that Lord Vishnu is a pure sattvic through and through. The sages were impressed that Lord Vishnu, having been subjected to physical abuse in the light of the fact that he is the supreme Lord, kept his cool under trying circumstances. He did not flicker at the turbulence caused by the winds of violence, abuse, and passion and stood there like the sun flickerless in its effulgence. They all decided that Vishnu's lotus feet is the only shelter that a sinner and a sage can seek for salvation.