Some divya-kshetra-s in kA~nci.

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kA~ncIpuram tiruppatigaL.

 

As I am continuing with my experience of svAmi deSikan's stotra-s, I am now

beginning a series of stotra-s which relate to bhagavAn's arcA mUrti-s in

and around kA~nci (We have already covered Lord varada in SrI varadarAha

pa~ncAsat and

dIpaprakASa in SaraNAgati dIpikA). Since I am unfamiliar with the location

of the temples and do not know the sthala-purANa-s of these temples, I found

it necessary to at least get an overall understanding of the sthala purANa-s

of these different kshetra-s in order to appreciate svAmi deSikan's

compositions even more. Thus the following is a summary about some of the

divya kshetra-s in and near kA~ncIpuram whose arcA-mUrtis have been sung by

svAmi deSikan in his stotra-s.

 

Among the arcA mUrti-s in kA~nci on whom svAmi deSikan has composed stotra-s

are: SrI varadarAjap perumAL; SrI dIpa-prakASap perumAL; SrI vegA-setu

perumAL; SrI ashTa-bhujap perumAL; Lord nr*simha in tiruvELukkai; and SrI

vijaya-rAghavap perumAL in tirupputkuzhi.

 

The sthala-purANa of many of these kshetra-s are tied to the yaj~na that was

performed by brahma who wanted to have the pratyaksha darSanam of mahA

vishNu. The purANa-s have as their basis that brahma's saha-dharmiNi,

sarasvati was not part of this yaj~na by brahma, and in her anger she tried

to create several obstacles to the yaj~na. One version is that brahma

wanted to prove that he can function without the help of his consort and so

undertook the yAga, and sarasvati wanted to disprove it and this is why she

created all these obstacles. bhagavAn appeared in different forms during

different stages of the yaj~na as these obstacles were created, and

protected the yaj~na. In response to requests from brahma, bhagavAn agreed

to remain as the arcA mUrti in the different places after He appeared in

different forms to help brahma. bhagavAn's agreeing to remain as the arcA

mUrti in these different khsetra-s is because of His Infinite Mercy to be

easily accessible to His devotees for all time to come. Thus He appeared as

ashTa bhuja karap perumAl, as vegA setu perumAl, etc. to protect the yaj~na,

and then at the successful completion of the yaj~na, He became pratyaksha to

brahma in the form of the arcA mUrti, Lord varadarAja of kA~nci.

 

Of the 108 tirup-pati-s, 14 are located in kA~ncIpuram. Of these, I have

given a brief summary of the sthala-purANa-s of six divya-kshetra-s on which

svAmi deSikan has composed stotra-s.

 

1. tirukkacci, attiyUr, attigiri, hastigiri, perumAL koil, satya vrata

kshetram (?), vishNu kA~nci.

 

For those who want a point in favor of kA~nci vs. SrIra~ngam, tiruvE~nkatam,

etc., kA~nci is one of the seven mukti-sthala-s, while the other two are not

included in this list (bias on the part of the person who created the list

obviously). For the other side, the ammunition is that there are only a

total of 6 pASurams on varadarAja that are sung by three AzhvAr-s

(bhUtattAzhvAr, pEyAzhvAr, and tiruma~ngai AzhvAr), according to a book by

L. V. GopAlan. SrIra~ngam, tiruvE~nkatam, and tirukkuDanthai win easily in

this contest.

 

atti is the name of a rare kind of tree, also called udumbara. It is

believed that the tirukkacci location was full of atti trees once upon a

time, and so the place got its name attiyUr.

 

The kshetram where the temple is located is also called tiruk-kacci. This

is a svayam-vyakta kshetram i.e., the Lord appeared here out of His own

will, and not as a result of the installation of an arcA-mUrti by some deva

or other mortal. The Lord appeared in various other forms in the other

divya kshetrams around tiruk-kacci first to protect brahma's yAga. When the

yAga was ultimately completed, bhagavAn appeared as Lord varada in the

yAga-kUndam in hasti-giri in tiruk-kacci in response to brahma's prayer to

Him to become pratyaksham to him. Then brahma prayed to the Lord to become

pratyaksham to everyone so that the posterity can have the bhAgyam of

worshipping Him in the form in which He appeared to brahma in the

yAga-kUnDam. Thus resulted the arcA-mUrti of Lord varada, whom we worship

today in tiruk-kacci.

 

perumAL's tiru-nAmam-s:

 

BhUtattAzhvAr refers to perumAL as attiyUrAn. hastigiri also means the hill

of the elephant. PerumAL is also called karISan, again based on kari

referring to elephant. Gajendra is believed to have resided in this hill,

and Lord varadarAja the One who saved gajendra from the clutches of the

crocodile.

 

Other names by which bhagavAn is known in this kshetra are: vara-da and

vara-da-rAja because He bestows (da) whatever is prayed for (vara) by His

devotees. deva-rAjan, devap perumAL (The Lord of deva or brahma),

devAdi-rAjan (One who was worshipped by devendran or brahma), pEr-aruL-ALan

(One who, because of His Infinite Mercy, appeared as the arcA-mUrti in

brhama's yAga kUNDam to bless all the devotees for all posterity; also

because He was kind enough to send bhagavad rAmAnuja to SrIra~ngam in

response to Lord ra~nganAtha's request); hasti-giri-nAthan - The Lord of

hasti-giri - the small hill on which He is located; praNatArtihara;

hastigiri nAthan; satya vratan.

 

Among those who have sung on this perumAL are: bhUtattAzhvAr (attiyUrAn

puLLai UrvAn), pEyAzhvAr, tiruma~ngai AzhvAr (minnu mA mazhai tavazhum mEgha

vaNNA), tirukkacci nambigaL (devarAja ashTaka stotram), maNavALa mAmunigaL

(devarAja ma~ngalam), svAmi deSikan (SrI varadarAja pa~ncAsat), appayya

dIkshitar (SrI varadarAja stavam), purandara dAsar (kaNNArak kaNDEn),

tyAgarAjar (varadarAja ninnu kOri, vinata sutA vAhanuDu), and muthusvAmi

dIkshitar.

 

svAmi deSikan's SrI varadarAja pa~ncAsat, which we have previously covered,

is in praise of this Lord.

 

2. attabhuyakaram (ashTa bhuja karam)

 

ashTa bhujap perumAL, ashTa bhuja karattAn, Adi kESavap perumAL - He

appeared as the Lord with 8 hands bearing eight different weapons to

eliminate the obstacle created by sarasvati to brahma's yaj~na in the form

of a Sarabha (a fabulous animal with 8 legs and said to be stronger than a

lion). The weapons are: disc, conch, kamalam, sword, kEDayam, bow, arrow,

and gadA. tiruma~ngai AzhvAr has sung the praise of this perumAL as

aTTa-bhuya-karattammAn. PeyAzhvAr also has sung the praise of this perumAL.

Between the two, there are 11 pASurams praising the glory of this perumAL.

 

This kshetram is located within two kilometers of Lord varadarAja's

sannidhi, opposite the location of the yathoktakAri temple. It is believed

that the tank of this temple is where the crocodile caught hold of the leg

of gajendra, and where bhagavAn appeared and protected gajendra. svAmi

deSikan's composition "ashTabhujAshTakam" is on this perumAL. maNavALa

mAmunigaL has also sung the praise of this perumAL.

 

It is to be noted that this is the only divya deSam out of the 108 where

perumAL gives darSanam with eight hands.

 

3. tirut-taN-kA, tUppul, viLakkoLip perumAL kOil, hima-vanam.

 

dIpa-prakASa.

 

This kshetram is close to ashta-bhuja-karam. The sthala purANam of this

place is also tied to brahma's yaj~na. nammAzhvAr and tiruma~ngai AzhvAr

have sung about this perumAL. This is also the avatAra sthalam of svAmi

deSikan.

His composition SaraNAgati dIpikA is in praise of this perumAL.

 

There are different versions of why bhagavAn in this kshetram is called

dIpa-prakASa. The important point to note is that He is the emperumAn who

dispels the darkness both inside and outside us.

 

In the SrI deSikar sannidhi in tUppul, we can worship the very same ArAdhana

mUrti of lakshmi-hayagrIvap perumAL who was worshipped by svAmi deSikan

during his nitya ArAdhana.

 

tiruma~ngai AzhvAr has sung two pASurams on this perumAL (munaik-kadiraik

kuRu~nkuDiyaL)

 

4. tiruvELukkai, tiru-vEL-irrukai.

 

nr*simha mUrti, kacci-adbhuta-kesari - The Wonderful Lion of kA~nci.

 

This temple is located very close to the dIpa prakASa temple. This temple

was in a very dilapidated state (as of the source material dated 1992), with

not even a rAjagopuram. According to one source, the mUlavar vigraham is in

the middle of a tank which is not usually approachable, and there is no

worship. A later source (1995) indicates that the temple has been now

renovated and is in great shape with regular worship. The sthala purANam is

again related to brahma's yaj~na. When sarasvati discharged the kAbAlika

astra, bhagavAn appeared in the form of nr*simha mUrti and destroyed the

astra and thus protected the yaj~na. Then He consented to brahma's request

to continue to be present here in the arcA form in which He protected the

yaj~na in this instance.

 

vEL in tamizh means "willingness, consent with pleasure". "irrukkai" is

presence. Since bhagavAn in His nara hari form willingly consented to

brhama's request to be present here in this form as the arcA mUrti, the

place is called tiru-vEL-irrukkai.

 

peyAzhvAr and tiruma~ngai AzhvAr have sung in praise of the Lord of this

kshetra. svAmi deSikan's kAmAsikAshTaka stotram is about this perumAL.

 

5. tiruvehkA.

 

bhuja~nga Sayanan, tiruvaNaip-paLLi-koNDAn perumAL, yathOkta-kAri, Sonna

vaNNam Seyda perumAL, vegA sEtu.

 

This divya kshetram is within 1 km. of SrI vardarAjap perumAL koil. This

perumAL also reamined here as arcA-mUrti after appearing in this place to

protect brahma's yaj~na. sarasvati first created a huge fire, praLayAgni,

which was subdued by dIpaprakASa of tirut-taN-kA. She was angered by this,

and created several asura-s. When bhagavAn took several forms and destroyed

all these, she decided to take the form of a river, vEgavati, and rushed

with great force towards the yAgaSAlA. bhagavAn just lied down in His

bhuja~nga Sayanam in the path of the river, and this was sufficient to

subdue the force of sarasvati.

 

One writer on this divya kshetram has said that the name tiru vEga aNai (the

dam across the vega river) became vEgaNai first and then became vehkA over a

period of time, and this is how the current name came into existence.

 

PerumAL's name of yatOktakAri is related to the incident involving

tirumazhiSai AzhvAr. The king of this place drove away a disciple of

tirumazhiSai from kA~nci when the disciple refused to sing the praise of the

king. The AzhvAr decided to leave kA~nci with the disciple, kaNikkaNNan,

but he felt that bhagavAn did not belong in a place where a bhAgavata was

not respected, and so requested bhuja~nga Sayanap perumAL to role His snake

bed and leave kA~nci as well. BhagavAn did what He was told by the AzhvAr,

and the kingdom without bhagavAn was submerged in darkness. The king

realized his apacAram, and begged forgiveness from the AzhvAr. AzhvAr in

turn requested bhagavAn to go back and roll back His snake bed and lie down

again, which He did again as He was told by His bhakta.

 

poygai AzhvAr (vEnkaTamum viNNagarum vehkAvum), pEyAzhvAr (poruppiDaiyE

ninrum), tirumazhiSai AzhvAr, tiruma~ngai AzhvAr and nammAzhvAr have sung

the praise of this perumAL. poygai AzhvAr took avatAram in the tank

(poygai) nearby this temple. svAmi deSikan's vegA setu stotram is about

this perumAL.

 

6. tirup-put-kuzhi:

 

This divya-kshetram is located 12 km. from kA~nci. The divya nAmam of this

perumAL is vijaya-rAghavap perumAL. He has been sung by tiruma~ngai AzhvAr

through 2 pASurams. svAmi deSikan's pAramArtha stuti is on this perumAL.

It is believed that this is the place where the bird jaTAyu was cremated by

Lord rAma when jaTAyu breathed his last after conveying to Lord rAma the

news of the abduction of sItA pirATTi. Unlike in the previous cases where it

was brahma who requested bhagavAn to remain in these kshetra-s in the arcA

form to bless the devotees, in tirup-put-kuzhi it is believed that jaTAyu

requested bhagavAn to remain in the same form He appeared before jaTAyu and

gave moksham to him. The pushkariNi here is called jaTAyu pushkariNi. This

is also the place where yAdava prakASa, the teacher of SrI rAmAnuja, lived.

pinbazhigaya perumAL jIyar also was born in this place.

 

It is interesting to note that that sthala purANa for puLLam-bhutam-kuDi is

exactly identical to that of tirup-put-kuzhi. A researcher (A. etirAjan)

concludes that puLLam-bhutam-kuDi seems to be more appropriate as the

kshetram where jaTAyu was given moksham.

 

This concludes the brief introduction to the kshetra-s in kA~nci whose

arcA-mUrti-s have been sung by svAmi deSikan through his stotra-s. Starting

in the next write-up, we will resume the dip into the pleasure of the

stotra-s themselves.

 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan