śrī śrīnivāsa stutiḥ (toṇḍamāna kṛtam)

The praise made by King Toṇḍamān, from the Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya — the local scripture of the hill — and spoken by the ruler whom that tradition credits with building the first shrine. It begins as the report of a journey rather than as praise: there is nothing higher than the sight of you, Govinda; the sages and the best of men call you the ruler of the gods, knowable through the Veda, ancient — hearing that, I have come here. What follows sets out the standard theology in the king's own voice, that the body is not of the elements but a form taken in play, and that the wise call him the cause and the womb of nature, present in creation, in keeping and in withdrawal alike. It ends with the god's own promise, that those who do as the king has done will share his world.