One time Bhattar was giving a discourse during which he mentioned that Lord Sriman Narayana does suffer in the matters of his devotees.

After the discourse was over, two scholars who were in the audience were walking in the streets of Srirangam talking about the upanyasam.

They were saying "Bhattar said today in his upanyasam that the Lord has suffering. Yet the Upanishads say that He is 'Anandamaya:' - that is, He knows nothing but joy. Bhattar is a great scholar and no doubt has full knowledge of all sastras. So, why would he say that? Is what he said correct?".

One of Bhattar's disciples known as Panditha who had been listening to Bhattar's upanyasams for many years overheard this conversation. He was greatly saddened by it and went and told Bhattar about it.

Bhattar asked him "O Panditha! You have listened to me for many years. Why do you come and tell me this? Could you not have clarified their doubts there itself?"

Panditha replied "O Bhattar! I could have explained to them what you said based on your discourses. However, they were scholars and would not be satisfied by explanations alone. They would expect proof. As I could not remember any pramANas, I did not say anything".

Bhattar then told him "When Dasaratha decided to crown Sri Rama as the king of Ayodhya, he first asked his courtiers about it. They unanimously said that they wanted to see it done right away. So much so, they asked Dasaratha to run away and get the coronation done immediately.

Dasaratha told them that he was happy to see their interest in Sri Rama's coronation, but why did they ask him to run away. Was not his rule governed by dharma, did he not treat his subjects well?

The courtiers replied that while Dasaratha had ruled properly, they were pushed to say what they had by Sri Rama's divine and auspcious qualities.

Dasaratha then asked them what noble qualities they had seen in Sri Rama. They went on to describe Sri Rama's many wonderful qualities at the end of which they mentioned one thing - if any subject of Ayodhya were to suffer for any reason, then Sri Rama would suffer even greater than that person."

Bhattar then asked "O Panditha! Why did you not ask the two scholars whether Sri Rama's suffering was an auspicious quality or if it was a lowly quality?"

Bhattar then said "If they want proof from the sastras and not just the itihasas, do not the Vedantas say that He is alone and that He is not happy ('na rameti'). How can He, who is surrounded by shrI, bhU and nILa devIs, by nityasUris and by muktAtmas, be alone. And how is He unhappy.

We find in this world that if we get attached to someone through marriage or other reasons, then we suffer for them when they are hurting. If this is the case for a relationship that came in the middle, how could He, who is related to all the jIvas since time immemorial and who is the father of all these souls, not be worried when they are suffering in this world? He feels lonely because not all of His children are with Him in His abode and enjoying Him and He is unhappy for them."