When sages performed penance and offerings were to be made, Narada said the offerings should be made to the God who had the qualities of gentleness and patience. Sage Bhrigu was asked to find out which of the gods had these qualities.
Bhrigu first reached Satyaloka, the abode of Lord Brahma. Brahma, enjoying the veena performance of Goddess Saraswathi, did not notice Bhrigu's entry. An enraged Bhrigu cursed Brahma that He would no longer be worshipped by anyone. He next went to Kailasa. There Lord Siva and Goddesss Parvati did not pay attention to him either. Angered, he left Kailasa also. The sage then made his way to Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Narayana. The Lord was reclining on His serpent bed, with Mahalakshmi at His feet. Bhrigu went unnoticed here too.
Bhrighu was so furious that he kicked at the Lord's chest. However, Narayana did not lose His temper. Instead, He nursed Bhrigu's foot. Impressed by the Lord's qualities of concern and patience, Bhrigu decided that He be given the offerings by the sages, said Velukkudi Krishnan in a discourse.
However, Mahalakshmi, who resides in the Lord's chest, was furious that the Lord should have forgiven the sage for kicking at His chest, for that was where She had taken up residence upon emerging from the milky ocean. So She left Vaikuntha. Narayana took the form of Lord Srinivasa and came down to the hill known as Venkatadri. The Lord, as Varaha, had already taken up residence here; with Varaha Swamy's permission, Srinivasa began to do penance there. Brahma and Siva assumed the form of a cow and a calf and served the Lord.
In His avatar as Rama, the Lord had promised a woman called Vedavati that in a later avatar He would marry her, for as Rama He was committed to Sita. It was Vedavati who was born as Padmavathi, the daughter of Akasaraja. When Srinivasa marries Padmavathi, His promise to Vedavathi is fulfilled. In the Krishna avatar, Yasoda had not witnessed Krishna's marriage to Rukmini. So the Lord had promised that she would be able to see His marriage in a later avatar. Yasoda had appeared as Vakuladevi, Srinivasa's foster mother.
