Sri Ranganatha Temple Construction: Sri Ranganatha Mahima :Part 1

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DHYAANA SLOKAM OF SRI RANGANATHA

*********************************

 

MukhE mandahAsam nakhE chandrabhAsam

karE chAru chakram surEsApivandhyam I

 

bhujangE sayAnam bhajE RanganAtham

Hareranyadaivam na manyE na manyE II

 

Dear BhakthAs of Sri RanganAthA :

 

There are already number of posts from Sri Sampath

Rengarajan , Thirumanjanam Sri Sundararajan ,

Sri M.K. Sudarsan , Sri N.Krishnamachari , myself

and others on Srirangam Festivals and Sri Ranganatha

SthOthrams . You can refer to them in the Bhakthi Archives

and SaraNAgathi archives .

 

AzhwAr aruLiccheyalgaL

***********************

 

I will focus here on the 245 paasurams on Sri RanganAthA

by the eleven AzhwArs . The individual AzhwAr's paasurams

are as follows :

 

1. Poygai : Mudal ThiruvandhAthi -1

2. BhUtham : Second ThiruvandhAthi-4

3. PEy : Third ThiruvandhAthi-1

 

4. Thirumazhisai :Naanmukan ThiruvandhAthi-4

:Thirucchanda Viruttham --10

5. NammAzhwAr :Thiruviruttham -1

:Thiruvaimozhi--11

 

6. PeriyAzhwAr : Periya Thirumozhi --35

7. ANDAL : NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi--10

8. ThiruppANar : AmalanAdhi pirAn --10

9. Kulasekarar : PerumAL Thirumozhi-31

10.Tondardipodi: ThirumAlai-45

: ThirupaLLIyezucchi-10

11.Thirumangai : Periya Thirumozhi-58

: ThirunedumthAndakam -8

: ThirukkurumthAndakam -4

: Siriya Thirumadal-1

: Periya Thirumadal-1

 

Thirumangai leads in the count of Pasurams with

72 to his credit followed by the Ranganatha

Pathivrathai ( Thondaradipodi ) with 55 paasurams .

PeriyAzhwAr and Kulasekarar take the third and fourth

place in the count with 35 and 31 paasurams respectively .

Rest of the seven AzhwArs share 52 paasurams between them .

Each of the 245 paasurams brim however

with beauty and deep devotion .

 

BhUlOka Vaikuntam and Azhagiya MaNavALan

*****************************************

 

The object of the eulogy of the AzhwArs is the handsome

bridegroom ( Azhagiya maNavALan ) or NamperumAL .

He rests in the verdant island of Srirangam formed

by the two branches of Cauveri river . He rests on

the timeless ( Ananthan ) AdisEshan under the shade of

the Vedasrunga VimAnam with the shape of PraNavam . He is

the ParavAsudEvan sung by the DevAs and worshipped

by our AchAryAs for a very , very long time . He is

AnAthi .He descended on this earth in response to

the prayers and penance of IshvAku dynasty kings ; He

is the kula dhanam of Surya Kulam of Sri Ramachandran ;

infact has been worshipped at AyOdhyA by Sri Ramachandran

Himself with His consort SitA Devi .

 

After Sri Rama PattAbhishEkam , He was given as a present

to VibhishaNan by Sri RamachandrA for permanent residence

in Sri LankhA . During transit , Sri RanganathA looked

over the verdant island of Srirangam and decided to stay

right there permanently to the disappointment of

VibhishaNan . Since , Lord RanganAthA prefers Srirangam as

a place of residence over Sri Vaikuntam and the milky

ocean , Srirangam is celebrated as His BhOga mandalam .

 

AchAryAs who resided at Srirangam

**********************************

 

Srirangam is one of the 8 svayamvyaktha (self-manifested )

KshEthrams and is one of the most important among the

108 divya desams celebrated by the 12 AzhwArs . Naatha Muni .

ALavandAr , Periya nampi , RaamAnujA , EmbAr , KurEsar ,

AmudanAr , Garuda Vaahana Pandithar ,

Parasara Bhattar , Namjeeyar , PiLLai LokAcchAr ,

Vadakku Thiruveethi piLLai , Vedantha Desikan ,

MaNavALa Maamuni , Adi VaNN SatakOpa Yatheendhra

MahA Desikan and his Acharya paramparai , The two

branches of Andavans and a great many SvayamAchArya

PurushAs ( TaatAchArs et al )have spent

a significant portion or all of

their lives at Srirangam .

 

Granthams that were born here

******************************

Here were born the immortal SaraNAgathi and

the other two Gadhyams of Sri RaamnujA ,

Sri Sthvam of KurEsA , RangarAja Sthavam of ParAsara Bhattar

and a host of other sacred granthams of Swami Desikan

such as Sri PaadhukhA sahasram , Sri Bhagavdh DhyAna

sOpAnam , Sri Abheethi Sthavam , DasAvathAra sthOthram ,

Tattva Muktha KalApam , SarvArtha Siddhi , NyAya Parisuddhi ,

NyAya Sidhanjanam , NyAsa Tilakam , Satha DhUshaNi ,

Tattva Deekai ,Sankalpa SUryOdhayam , YaadhavAbhudayam ,

and Hamsa SandEsam . That is why , Srirangam is known

and revered as Periya Koil and the EmperumAn is known as

Periya PerumAL .He inspired and blessed them all .

 

SthAna VisEsha AdhikAram of Srirangam

**************************************

 

In our Sri VaishNavite SampradhAyam , Koil ,

Thirumalai and PerumAL Koil are known for their

highest sthAna VisEsha adhikArams ( reputation

and reverence as the highest among divya desams ) .

These three fit well with the three rahasya manthrAs

dear to Sri VaishNavAs . Swami Desikan has therefore

prayed for uninterrupted ArAdhanam for Sriman NaarAyaNA

at these three special divya desams :

 

Sriranga dviratha VrushAdhri pUrvakEshu

sthAnEshu sthira vibhavA bhavath saparyA I

aakalpam Varadha ! vidhUtha vairi pakshaa

bhUsyA bhavathanukampayaiva bhUyAth II

 

Swami Desikan prays for the aarAdhanam and service

( saparyA ) from kalpam to kalpam without let at

these three special divya desams .

 

In sthAna visEsha adhikAram , Srirangam is connected

to AshtAksharam , Kanchipuram to Dhvayam and Thirumalai

to Charama slOkam .Therefore , Swami Desikan prays

for UttarOtthara aarAdhanam without interruptions .

 

Here on the beautiful banks of Cauveri river , Lord

RanganAthA rests in one of His panchAkruthis as

KasthUri Rangan . The other four are CauvEri Rangan ,

KalyANa Rangan , Hema Rangan at Thirukkudanthai and

ParimaLa Rangan at Thiru IndaLUr , where Cauveri

joins her Lord , Samudra Raajan .Soon, He will take up

residence in North America as Bhaktha Vaathsalya Rangan

on the banks of the majestic Hudson river .

 

Sri RaamAnujA's recognition of the SthAna VisEsham

***************************************************

 

Sri RaamAnujA , who was born close to Kanchi VaradarAjan's

temple got instructions in Thirumalai from his uncle and

spent most of his time until the end of his last moment on

this earth at Srirangam . His physical body rests

inside the temple of Srirangam even today as per the

wish of Sri RanganathA ( athraiva SukhamAsva ).

 

Sri BhashyakArar changed the ArAdhana protocols from

VaikAnasam to PaancharAthram . He conducted KaalakshEpam

at the great temple of Srirangam .On a Panguni Uttaram

day , he composed his three Gadhyams ( Sriranga , SaraNAgathi

and Sri Vaikunta Gadhyams) here and performed his saraNAgathi

at the feet of the divya dampathis on their annual day of being

together on Ekapeetam . The extremely pleased divya dampathis

broke their ArchAvathAra mounam and spoke to Sri RamAnujA

and accepted his saraNAgathi . They instructed Sri RamAnujA

to stay right there at Srirangam until he shuffles his

mortal coils ( Yaavacch.sareerapaatham , athraiva SrirangE

sukamAsva ) . They asked Sri RamAnujA to perform kaimkaryam

for them and stay right next to them until

his last moments and thereafter too !

That is the glory of Sriranga KshEthram .

 

The elated RaamAnujA thanked the Divya dampathis

for their krupA and was immersed in an ocean of

bliss .Out poured the incomparable eulogy of our

AchAryA to the Lord in his Sriranga Gadhyam :

 

" apAra KaruNAMbhudhE ! anAlochitha visEsha asEsha

lOka SaraNya ! PraNathArthihara ! aasritha vAthsalya

yeka mahOdadhE ! anavaratha vidhitha nikila bhUtha

jAtha yAthAthmya ! Satya kaama ! Sathya sankalpa!

Aapathsakha ! Kaakustha! Sriman NaarAyaNa !

PurushOtthama! SRI RANGANAATHA ! Mama Naatha!

thE nama: asthu ! ".

 

AchArya RaamAnujA performed SaraNAgathi directly

in SaraNAgathi Gadhyam and thanked the Lord for

accepting his SaraNAgathi in Sriranga Gadhyam .

After that , he wanted to remind people that it

is SRI VAIKUNTANAATHAN Himself , who is present at Srirangam .

For that purpose , he composed Sri Vaikunta Gadhyam .

With his JN~Ana dhrishti ( soul's eye) , he witnessed

the unparalled beauty and the sacredness

of Sri Vaikuntam . He received the bhAgyam of having

the Lord's holy feet on his siras ( head) and was immersed

in the ocean of aanandham .Thereafter , he returned to

BhUlOkam ( Srirangam , the BhOga mandalam ) and was

blessed to perform nithya kaimkaryam to the divya

Dampathis of Srirangam .Such is the sacredness of

Srirangam , where AchArya RaamAnujA's feet travelled .

 

Other AchAryAs who followed Sri RaamAnujA fertilized

and maintained the vitality of the tree of VisishTadvaitham

planted by him and made it yield abundant fruits .

 

Sri RanganAthA recognized the contributions of

one such AchAryA and gave him ( Swami Desikan ),

the title of VedAnthAcchAryar . His consort

was so proud of Her child's( Swami Desikan's )

accomplishments in many fields and recognized

Her son proudly as " Sarva Tantra Svatantrar " .

 

Sri RanganaathA attended the kaalakshEpam of another

achArya and recognized the outstanding services of

this AchArya ( MaNavALa MaamunigaL ) and composed

a Taniyan for him ( Sri SailEsa DayApaathram--) .

Such is the sacrednes of Sriranga KshEthram .

 

Sri RanganaathA had special affection for the elder

son of KurEsA , the precocious ParAsara Bhattar , His

PurOhithA . He conversed with him and had a wonderful

realtionship to him .

 

ParAsara Bhatar and his Unique relationship to the Lord

********************************************************

ParAsara Bhattar was born out of divine intervention

of Sri RanganAthA as the son of KuratthAzhwAn and

his wife ANDAL , an extraordinary woman .He was the elder

of the twins born to KurEsA and his wife .AchArya RaamAnujA

himself gave the name of ParAsarA to the elder child

and Veda VyAsA to the younger twin .Parasara Bhattar did not

live long , but his immortal contributions to Sri VaishNavism

are profound and could have happened only because of

the special blessings of Sri RanganAtha and His divine

consort , Sri RanganAyaki . The spiritual authority

invested in him by AchArya RaamAnujA is a direct

consequence of the Srirangam Divya Dampathi's wishes .

 

ParAsara Bhattar and AshtaslOki

********************************

 

Parasara Bhattar in his own way paid tribute to

the sthAnavisEshAdhikaarams of Srirangam , Kaanchi

and Thirumalai in his illustrious work :

AshtaslOki . The first four verses deal with

Srirangam ( assoicated with AshtAksharam ) ,

the next two deal with dhvayam ( Kaanchi )

and the last two cover Charama slOkam ( Thirumalai ) .

The three rahasyAs and their associations

with the three sthAnams of the Lord are thus

dealt with .

 

Bhattar and Sri BhagavadguNadarpaNa

*************************************

 

At Srirangam was born this scholarly commentary on

the thousand names of the Lord immortalized in

Sri VishNu Sahasra Naamam .He celebrated the

Tattva -Hitha -PurushArthams according to the

VaishNavite darsanam . His commentary is a celebration

of the SaguNA aspects of the Brahman that rests

in the state of YoganidrA at Srirangam .

 

Bhattar and Sri GuNarathna Kosam

*********************************

Through the 61 verses of this devotional poem ,

Bhattar pays exquisite tribute to Sri RanganAyaki

and salutes the special relationship She has to erring

jeevans from the intercession /mediacy ( purushakAra)

point of view as one of the SaraNya dampathis .

 

Bhattar relates Sri RanganAyaki to SitA pirAtti

and visualizes Her as an adolescent girl somewhere

between the throes of childhood and brimming

youthhood . The Lord has been celebrated as

ILamkumaran or Nithya YuvA by AzhwArs ( ThiruviNNagar

Paasurams ). Here , Bhattar salutes Sri RanganAyaki

as Nithya Yuvathi .

 

Bhattar had a special claim to Sri RanganAthA ,

the MaapiLLai ( Azhagiya MaNavALan ) , who married

Sri RanganAyaki . He used to tell Sri RanganAthA

that he is Sri dhanam that came with His divine bride .

He used to describe his special claim as " NaacchiyArkku

nallavar yenru yennai ThiruvuLLam paRRavum " . This was

his clever appeal to the beautiful son-in-law of Srirangam

( Sundara JaamAthrA /Azhagiya MaNavALan ) .

 

Bhattar's tribute in absentia from ThirukkOttiyUr

**************************************************

 

Bhattar according to hagiography had to exile

himself from the sweet proximity of the Divya

dampathis of Srirangam due to a disagreement

with the then ChOLA ruler . He spent that voluntary

exile at ThirukkOttiyUr dear to Sri RaamAnujA .

>From there , he pined for the daranam of

the divya dampathi and the daily life amidst

Sri VaishNavAs at Srirangam and the holy

waters of CauvEri . The eight verses composed

in a state of longing to be near his

Ishta Daivam are moving . Such is the haunting

glory of the sacred city of the Lord to His

bhakthAs and BhagavathAs .The eight slOkams of

" Sri RanganAtha SthOthram " are among

the treasured kula Dhanams of Sri VishNavAs

far from the home of Srirangam .

 

Sri RaamAnujA's anguish ,when he was away from

his beloved Srirangam and Swami Desikan's sorrow

during his own exile during the troubled times at

Srirangam come to our mind when we read Bhattar's

Sri RangarAja SthOthram .

 

Bhattar and SrirangarAja Sthavam

*********************************

 

In this magnum opus containing 232 slOkams

on His Ishta Daivam and the defense of Sri VaishNava

darsanam over the others , Bhattar follows the path

of his father , who composed the five Sthavams

(athimAnusha , SundarabAhu , VaradarAja ,

Vaikunta and Sri SthavAs ) . Extraordinarily brilliant

poetry in celebration of his Ishta Daivam ,

the Chakravarthy of Srirangam , is used to

crtically establish the soundeness of

Sri VisishtAdvaitham as the great darsanam

that it is following the tradition of Sri RaamAnujA

and his predecessors .

 

There are two SlOkAs of Sri Ranga Raaja Sthvam that

I would like to include here to illustrate the deep

devotion of Bhattar to Sri RanganAthA .

 

1. paathu praNatha rakshAyAm vilampamahasanniva I

sadhA panchAyudheem bibradhta na: SriranganAyaka : II

 

( Meaning ) : May the Lord RanganAyakA , who always

stands quite ready with five weapons on His person

come to our rescue and grant us protection . He carries

these panchAyudhams since He can not bear to have any

delay in responding to the cries for help from His BhakthAs

( Bhaktha Vaatsalya Rangan ).

 

2. svam samskrutha drAvida vedasUkthai:

bhAntham madhukthairmalineekarOthi I

Srirangakrama : kalabham ka yEva

snAthvApi dhULirasikam nishEddhA II

 

( Meaning ) : The beautiful Lord of Srirangam was well

adorned by the Sanskrit Veda Manthrams and the Tamizh

paasurams of AzhwArs. When He is eulogized by the two

VedAs ( Tamizh and Sanskrit ) , he revels as one , who

just had his Thirumanjanam . If that is so , why would He

like to tarnish His clean image by my praise ? By the way ,

who can succeed in preventing the free-willed elephant

from pouring dirt and mud over its clean body

after a fresh and cleansing bath in the river ?

 

( Even today ,The Lord of Srirangam hears PurushasUktham

first during His thirumanjanam ,then PeriyAzhwAr's

neerAtta paasurams next and finally the Bhattar's

28 Thirumanjana verses in Tamil , which is a most interesting

dialog between Jivan and Parabhramam , where the

latter is seeking the help of a referre to settle

their argument in His favor ) . The family of Parasara

Bhattar still recite these Thirumanjana kavis ,

which have been blessed with a MaNipravALa commentary

by Bhattar himself .

 

Such is the greatness of Srirangam , where Parasara

Bhattar's sacred feet hurried to the side of

Sri RanganAthA daily to do his assigned PurOhitam

( going ahead of the YajamAnA to assure hitham ) .

 

Sri RanganAthA , the Bhaktha DaakshiNyan is going

to settle on the banks of Hudson river in North

America at Pomona , New York in few months and I

invite your participation in the construction of

the temple for Him to be worshipped in the authentic

PaancharAthrA way established by AchArya RaamAnujA .

 

The Thiruvaimozhi ( entire 1,000 plus verses )

are considered by one pUrvAcchAryAr ( NampiLLai)

to be dedicated to Sri RanganAtha alone. The individual

tens( paattus) for ThiruvenkatamudayAn and other ArchA mUrthys

of other divya dEsams are considered as measured distributions by

Periya PerumAl ( namperumAL )Himself to His fellow ArchA mUrthys .

What a sweet anubhavam by NampiLLai !

 

Sri RanganAyikA samEtha Sri RanganAyaka

ParabhramaNE Nama :

 

ParAnkusa Daasan ,

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan