The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c32.51

v1.c32.51

¹ The Prapannamrtam, which affords this information, gives the following legendary account of Virupaksha's conversion to Sri Vaishnavism: "Nrsimhacharya and his younger brother, as they entered the city during night, mistook this haunted palace for the King's residence and entered it, Ramayana in hand. At their approach the ghosts remained quiet; and they were admitted into the palace. Entering the palace they found the ghosts holding court with king, council and attendants. On their approach all the ghosts bowed to them and showed them the respect due to scholarship; and the ghost-minister inquired who they were, and for what purpose they had come there. They narrated their whole story, on which the king directed them to come secretly every night and read to them the Ramayana; for which he promised to pay them at the rate of one nishka every day. This they did for some time. When they came to the end of the Ramayana, Nrsimhacharya and the brother directed them to make due preparation for the celebration of the coronation of Rama, as is usually the practice even now. On the day of the reading of the coronation portion of the Ramayana, the brothers were presented with many thousands of gold coins and precious stones. After the reading was over, the ghosts narrated to the brothers their story as follows: 'We are all related to Virupaksha, the present sovereign of the country, and have been foully murdered by him in our sleep. This horrible death has forced us to haunt the palace. It was on our account that Virupaksha left this palace and built another, seeking to get rid of us by vows and charities. But all that was of no avail. You two holy people by coming here every night and reading to us the Ramayana have ridded us of our sins, and we now go to the heaven of Santanika'. They took