Srirangam IS No. 1

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SrimathE NArAyNAya namaha

 

Let me first clarify that this is not a personal argument or attack on any one

in particular. With this in mind I request all the bhagavathas to read the

following.

 

On 8/24/98 4:35 PM

 

Sri Sudarshan wrote.

--------------------------------Quote-------

 

He who worships at the "sannidhi" (altar) of "tiruvengada-mudaiyAn"

worships single-mindedly, without the distraction of a memory or impression

of another "divya-desam" like SriRangam or Kanchi ever flashing across his

mind.

-------------------------------Unquote----

 

Does this mean that all the bhagavatas, when worshipping in another divya

dEsam always worship with distraction on any other divya dEsam? I agree

that when I go to Thirumalai and see SrinivAsan, I am spell bound and don't

think of any other emberumAn. But the same is true with other divya dEsams

also. I request all bhagavathas to confirm this claim by Sri Sudarshan as

to whether they always think of SrinivAsan while worshipping at other divya

dEsams but not the reverse.

 

--------------------------------Quote----

And having worshipped at Tirumalai he ceases to crave for any other

"sannidhis".

-------------------------------unquote --

 

This looks like after having worshipped at Thirumalai, no one would go to

any other divya dEsam just because their heart is filled with only

Srinivasan. Dear BhAgavathAs, is this true? Don't you go anywhere after

going to Thirumalai? On the other hand let me ask you all, another

question. After you attend the "Adyayana Utsavam" at Srirangam, would you

like to attend the same in any other divya dEsam, not only Thirumalai. Is

there any other divya dEsam that can match the splendour of Srirangam's

Adyayana Utsavam, eventhough it is being done in most of the divya dEsam.

Similarly would you like to attend the Panguni Uthiram Utsavam in any divya

dEsam other than Srirangam. Isn't Srirangam's Panguni Uthiram more great

than any other divya dEsam.

 

Like wise is there any Utsavam that is particularly good only at Thirumalai

but not at any divya dEsam. Please don't tell the PurattAsi BrahmOtsavam.

This is , if not more, atleast equally, grand in divya dEsams like

Kanchipuram and ThiruvallikkENi etc.,

 

I would say that SrinivAsan will certainly be envying Arangan and all other

divya dEsa emberumAns for celebrating all the utsavams with great

splendour. Poor SrinivAsan has to undergo the monotonous act of -Get

up-listen suprabhAtam-thOmAla sEvai- KalyAnam- sit in any of the vAhanam

for the day- back at oonjal- and likewise every day. And to add to that,

sleed only for 30 minutes in a day. Can he relax like Arangan or any other

divya dEsa emberumAn on a cool veedhi ula during the Pancha paruvam days

and like wise. No. One may say that SrinivAsan is pouring His blessings on

his BhaktAs untiringly. But are we to feel happy about our perumAL, who we

consider to be one in our family to work so untiringly? Will we be happy at

our father working for us day in and day out without any rest for our

welfare? Will we not feel sad about this?

 

--Quote-

 

If you to do a bit of deep reflection you will admit that while we have

instances of AzhwArs like TirupAnn reflecting on Tirumalai while in the

presence of SriRanganathan there are no similar instances of any AzhwAr

offering "magalAsAsanam" to "tiruvengada-mudaiyAn" with half his mind

transfixed elsewhere in another "divya-desam" like SriRangam or Kachhi or

KumbhakOnam.... ("anda-anubhavam tirumaliyil yErpadAthu!").

 

-Unquote

 

Forget not, ThiruppANAzhwAr started with SrinivAsan but ended with Arangan

as the best. Actually all other AzhwArs have composed a minimum of near to

100 pAsurams excepting Thondar-adi-podi-AzhwAr and Madhurakavi AzhwAr whom

we need not take for comparison now. But pANan only had 10 pAsurams.

Actually he would have started of with SrinivAsan in mind but couldn't

resist from thinking about Arangan as he finally finished with the

beautiful line "... en amudhinaik kaNda kaNgaL maRRonRinaik kANAvE".

 

Does this not bear testimony that Arangan was prevailing in the AzhwAr's mind

always. Also as Sri Sudarshan said, it is true that no other AzhwAr has done

this. So Arangan wins on Single vote majority in this comparision of mixed

reflections, since no other AzhwAr was thinking of SrinivAsan when singing

about Arangan.

 

Also we have one Azhwar completely dedicated to only Arangan, needless to

say who. Is there anybody who has done compositions only on SrinivAsan but

nobody else? What does this indicate?

 

---Quote--

Next, take the great SriRamanujAcharyA.

 

I would venture to say, "tirumalai" was never really far from his thoughts

during his tenure of residence at SriRangam in the close company of

"periya-perumAl". We know from history that while discoursing one evening to

his disciples on the TiruvoimOzhi "pasUramozhivil kAlam-ellAm...." he

choked on the words,"sindhoo-poo maguzham tiruvEngadathu...." and collapsed

in tears recalling to mind the Lord of the Seven Hills. It was then that he

dispatched AnantAzhwAr forthwith from Srirangam to Tirumala to render

"pushpa-kainkaryam"..... the rest of the story is too well known to all of

you to bear repetition.

--Unquote-

 

I have nothing to comment against this. Yes it is true that RAmAnujar

choked on the pathigam "ozhivil kAlamellAm...". So am I. So are you and So

is every body. That is beautiful pAsuram and pathigam by NammAzhwAr. There

is no question to it. I am not arguing that no body is enthralled by

SrinivAsan. I am and we are, all enthralled by Him when we see Him. So

what is the big deal. A nature lover, who will dismiss Madras as a

"Concrete Jungle" will naturally be enthralled by the Sky Scrapers of New

York and Chicago and many places alike. So when one can get enthralled

just by a different creation of the Supreme, what is the big deal in

getting choked down in the beauty of another form of the Supreme Himself?

I mean to say that SrinivAsan is no body else but Arangan who is nobody

else but the Supreme Godhead, Sriman NArAyaNan. So just the choking of

RAmAnujar cannot alone be used to claim the supremacy of Thirumalai over

Srirangam.

 

-Quote--

The point that cannot be missed is this: it is common to be afflicted with

a sense of pining for TiruVengadam while residing elsewhere; on the other

hand, while remaining in TiruvEngadam it is uncommon for anyone to want to

even think of any other "divya-desam".

---Unquote-----------------------------

 

For this I have already thrown an open question in the beginning of this

post to all the BhAgavathAs to confirm this claim. Please do respond.

 

----Quote -----------------------------

 

I must beg the member to please grant Swami Desikan a modicum of plain

common-sense !

 

A man is on the run from marauder; he flees SriRangam, then the seat of

SriVaishnavism; now where would one wish to seek sanctuary under such

circumstances? In another great SriVaishnava capital like Tirumala which

would be the next most logical and likely place for the pursuers to

attack?!

 

If one were to wish to escape the authorities in New Delhi where would one

tend to head if one wished to disappear underground? Another metro like

Madras or Bombay?! Or some remote ravine in the Chambal ravines of Madhya

Pradesh ?!!

 

If you carefully examine the historical situation at that time

Tirunarayana-puram (relatively unknown at that time to the Muslims who in

all likelihood might have been unable to even pronounce the name properly

leave alone being able to fix its coordinates on a map !) was certainly a

safer "underground" sanctuary than the well-known "kshetra" of Tirupati.

 

Unquote-

 

The common sense issue is okay. But one should not forget that the attack

was only on Srirangam and the PerumAL vigrahams in the Koil, for all the

gold and other precious gems that adorn our PerumAL and not on Swami

Desikan. Little do the Muslim invaders know that there is a great AchAryan

by name Desikan and LokhAchAryan and that they should kill them, so that

they have to run for life. Actually Swami Desikan did not flee Srirangam

thinking that the attack was on him. He fled, just like any other common

man fled from the scene fearing the life due to the attack on the Temple.

So he could have very well stayed at Thirumalai. Also as pointed out by Sri

Mani and myself in my earlier post, Thirumalai became one of the most well

known divya dEsam to all other people, apart from SriVaishnavites, only

after Arangan reached there. Till then it was a known place to only the Sri

Vaishnavites and some Smarthas. But when did Arangan reach Thirumalai? Not

before 50 years after He left Srirangam. Actually, Arangan was lost in the

Chandragiri forest in the foothills of Thirumalai for a period of 40 years.

Only after 40 years, with the help of a General from Vijayanagar Kingdom,

Arangan was found in the forest and taken up the hill to Thirumalai and

pratishtai was done in the Ranga Mantapam.

 

So Thirumalai, hidden in the hills, was not a well known place at the point

of time to the invaders.

 

Again, let us assume that Thirumalai was a well known place, but remember

the attack was not on Swami Desikan in person so that he should think that

the attackers will certainly come to the next popular divya dEsam which,

for this argument, is Thirumalai. So once Swami Desikan, when he left

Srirangam, was safe in any part of India which, the invaders do not know

much about.

 

Quote---

 

Finally, a week ago I had posted my view on Tondar-adi-podi's

"pacchai-mA-mali pOl mEni....." verse where I had declared that the AzhwAr

actually compares the "tirumEni" of Ranganathan to the emeraldine beauty of

VenkatAdri. Not many members have adequately responded to my quip!

-Unquote--------------------------------

 

This is an unfortunate one. Actually, many bhAgavathAs including me, Sri

Viji and Sri Varadhan responded to it by clearly indicating that the word

"pachhai mAmalai" was NOT VEnkatAdri hills and that it was just an upamAnam

which anyone would use to describe the strength of the Hero of the song as

per the practice of any kavi(poet).

 

--Quote

 

It is a well-established Vedic ("tarka") convention to regard "upamAna"

being always superior to "upamEya" i.e. what is compared is inferior to

what it is compared with. (When we say that "a woman's face is as lovely as

the moon on a dark night" implicit in the statement is also the fact that

the moon must be more beautiful than her face, is it not?).

 

--Unquote-------------------------------

 

If the upamAnam is inferior to the upamEyam, and proven that "pachhai

mAmalai" in the pAsuram is just ANY hill and NOT VEnkatAdri, does it mean

that Arangan, the upamEyam is inferior to just an ordinary upamAnam a hill

which is His own creation.

 

Okay, even if we are to take that, for argument sake, the AzhwAr was

referring to VEnkatAdri only, does it mean that the mountain which is His

own creation is superior one of His own forms which is Arangan. Under the

same argument everybody may please note that the upamAnam is a mountain and

not SrinivAsan.

 

---Quote-

we have no choice but to also accede that the "upamEya" of SriRangam is a

shade inferior to the "upamAna" of "tiruvEngadam"!

---Unquote--------------------------------

 

Again, Sri Sudarshan has said "the upamEya of Srirangam". Please note that the

AzhwAr in this pAsuram is not talking about Srirangam. He is bringing out the

beauty of only Arangan in this pAsuram. So how can one say Srirangam is next

only to Thirumalai as per this pAsuram.

 

-----Quote

Quod erat demonstrandum (Q E D).

----Unquote

 

I don't understand what this means. Can you please enlighten me.

 

So I hope, Dear BhAgavathAs, after reading this post, you will all agree

certainly that Srirangam is the most favoured divya dEsam of our AzhwArs and

AchAryAs and hence undoubtedly is the NUMBER ONE.

 

Also I hope whoever is the floor crosser as referred by Sri Muralidhar in his

earlier posting will come back and make supporters of other side to cross the

floor !!!!

 

Sri RanganAyaki thAyAr samEtha Sri RangarAjan thiruvadigaLE saraNam

 

adiyEn RAmAnuja dAsan

 

Thirumalai Vinjamoor Venkatesh

[Guest guest]

T.V. Venkat wrote:

> Thirumalai became one of the most well

> known divya dEsam to all other people, apart from SriVaishnavites, only

> after Arangan reached there. Till then it was a known place to only the Sri

> Vaishnavites and some Smarthas.

 

Actually, Tirumalai / Tiruvenkatam was well-known, particularly

to Tamils even then. Recall that in those days, Tiruvenkatam

was in the northern part of the Tamil-speaking area. Old Tamil

literature such as Ilango AdigaL's "silappadigAram" mentions

Tirumalai prominently as a temple to Tirumaal.

 

However, pilgrimage to this place was attempted only by

the adventurous few; there were no busses, no tourist taxis,

not even a well-marked path up the hill in those days.

The hill was full of monkeys, tigers, and other animals

that made a trek to the summit rather treacherous.

 

There were occasional utsavams, as is the practice in any

temple. However, it was only till Ranganatha's presence

on the Malai was established, and the corresponding lack

of utsavams in Srirangam due to the destruction of that

kshetram, that Tirumalai also started to have regular

utsavams in the grant Pancaratra style (the priests of

Tirumalai are and have always been followers of the

Vaikhanasa Agama, which differs in many signficant

ways from the Pancaratra Agama. For example, Vaikhanasa

priests are not, strictly speaking, members of Sri Ramanuja

Sampradaya. They do not venerate the Alvars, and have

a slightly different philosophy. Even today, the saaRRumuRai

sEvai is led by the Tirupati Jeeyar, a Sri Vaishnava svAmi,

and the Vaikhanasa priests do not participate).

 

But it is true that only after these grand utsavams

started did Tirumalai start getting the grand fame that

it now enjoys.

> But when did Arangan reach Thirumalai? Not

> before 50 years after He left Srirangam. Actually, Arangan was lost in the

> Chandragiri forest in the foothills of Thirumalai for a period of 40 years.

> Only after 40 years, with the help of a General from Vijayanagar Kingdom,

> Arangan was found in the forest and taken up the hill to Thirumalai ...

 

This is why they say no one has suffered like namperumaaL has

suffered. One should hear devotees of Arangan recount this tragic

story -- how Arangan's centuries old palace was destroyed,

how he was forced to wander with his loyal protectors for years

in the forests, how he had to undergo all sorts of hardships

before setting at Tirumalai. It truly brings one to tears.

 

Mani