Caption: Many devotees have idols of Sampatkumara in their altars, but for princess Bibi Lachimar, who sought the original form, such replicas wouldn’t suffice.
Ramanuja’s dream and journey to Delhi
His dream vividly replayed before his eyes as Ramanuja awoke. The head acharya of the srivaishnava sampradayam had no time to waste.
“My dear Ramanuja, I am delighted by your service,” Sriman Narayana had told Ramanuja the previous night after appearing in his dream. “Having restored the grandeur of the Melkote temple, you steadfastly worship me in the form of Yadavadripati
“In every temple, it is essential to have not only my unmoving form that always dwells in the temple but also my utsava form that is brought out during festivals to grace all the devotees that may not visit the temple. Currently, my utsava idol that belongs in Melkote is under the possession of a Muslim king in Delhi. Traverse to Delhi without delay, dear Ramanuja, and restore my idol to its rightful home here in Melkote.”
Ramanuja interpreted this not as a mere dream but as a direct command.
Accompanied by his disciples, Ramanuja left Melkote that very day and embarked to Delhi on foot. After a strenuous journey, Ramanuja finally met with the king. Moved by Ramanuja’s effulgence and scholarliness, the king was happy to oblige and return the idol.
“Oh, pious one,” the king said as he guided Ramanuja through his palace. “Make yourself at home, and look through my halls for your idol.”
As Ramanuja and his disciples scoured through each of the king’s grand halls, they stumbled upon various other idols that had been stolen from Hindu temples, but Sampatkumara, the utsava idol they sought, was nowhere to be seen.
But later that night, the king approached Ramanuja with a surprise.
“I found this along with my daughter’s toys,” he said. “I know it’s unlikely, but perhaps is this the idol you are looking for?”
Ramanuja gasped. Tears of gratitude and joy began to fill his eyes. It really was indeed Sampatkumara that the king was carrying in his arms.
Elated to have fulfilled the Lord’s wishes, Ramanuja thanked the king and immediately started returning. With the divine Sampatkumara in his company, the arduous two-month-long journey ahead of him no longer seemed like a struggle.
Meanwhile, even as Ramanuja walked in blissful serenity, there was turmoil back in Delhi.
Princess Bibi’s yearning
The king’s daughter Bibi Lachimar was sobbing as she ran over to her parents. Gasping for breath, she explained how her most beloved possession had gone missing. And when her father told her that the idol had been taken away by Ramanuja, Bibi was simply inconsolable.
“Bibi, please don’t cry,” the king implored. “You are a princess from the royal family. You have no shortage of toys to play with. You know what? I can even arrange for a doll that looks just like that one to be custom-made for you, okay?”
Bibi firmly shook her head. “You don’t understand.”
For Bibi, this doll was irreplaceable. Through her purity, she had recognized the divine presence of the Lord within the idol. But how could Bibi possibly explain her pure love and devotion for Sampatkumara to her clueless father?
Her father wasn’t as oblivious as Bibi assumed, though. His heart broke seeing Bibi hardly touch her meals and cry herself to sleep day after day. It didn’t take long for the king to realize that Bibi just couldn’t live without Sampatkumara. He couldn’t understand or relate to his daughter’s devotion, but regardless, the king knew what she needed.
The king immediately sent a fleet of the army to follow Ramanuja South and bring back the idol. Bibi could not be convinced to stay behind, and the princess too eagerly joined the chase.
As several tiring days passed without a trace of either Ramanuja or the idol, the soldiers gradually started abandoning the journey. But Bibi refused to look back. She was guided not by royal troops but by her resilience and the purity of her devotion.
Bibi reunites with the Lord
And when she set foot into the city of Melkote and placed her eyes on the grand temple, all the energy she had spent on the exhausting journey came rushing back to her.
By then, Ramanuja had already returned to Melkote and established Sampatkumara’s shrine in the temple. In the middle of preparing for his daily worship, Ramanuja suddenly glimpsed Bibi hurriedly searching for an entrance into the temple.
After hearing Bibi’s story, Ramanuja at once recognized her undeniably supreme devotion. Even though some of his disciples and the priests were hesitant to let a Muslim princess into a srivaishnava temple, Ramanuja eagerly welcomed Bibi and guided her to Sampatkumara’s idol.
Bibi couldn’t control her ecstasy as she ran to Sampatkumara. That very moment, she became one with the Lord.
To this day, several srivaishnava temples across South India worship Bibi Lachimar as a form of Sri Mahalakshmi.
