The Foreword for Sri VenakatEsA Home Pages: Part 2

[Guest guest]

AchAryAL's Tributes & connectios to Sri VenkatEsA

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AchArya RaamAnuja :

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This great AchAryA followed the foot steps of

his predecessors like Nathamuni, Aalavandhar and

climbed these holy hills and delivered at the sannidhi

of Lord SrinivAsan a discourse on VedAs and Upanishads

to establish the essence of VisishtAdvaitham . Lord VenkatEsA

was very pleased with this exposition of Raamanuja

and said " This indeed is the meaning of the Vedas ,

My words". This divine discourse approved by the Lord

of the Seven Hills came to be known as the first

of the nine Sri Sookthis (Blessed compositions ) of

Acharya Ramanauja and is revered today as

VedArtha Sangraham .

 

The gigantic tree of Sri BhAshyam ,the magnum opus

of RaamAnujA grew out of this seedling blessed by

Lord SrinivAan Himself . The foundational

principle of VisishtAdvaitham , the Sarira-Sariri

relation , was thus established by Bhagavath RaamAnujA

here at Thirumalai in front of the Lord , who

was given the name of "SrinivAsan " by AchArya

Ramanujan himself. Earlier , AchArya RaamAnujA

established the true identity of the Lord of

seven hills as that of Sriman NaarAyaNan

through the Lord's own acceptance of Sankha-Chakrams

as His divine weapons .

 

Thirumalai Nambi aka Srisaila PoorNar (973-1073 A.D)

was very pleased with his nephew RaamAnujA's

intercession with the Lord of Thirumalai to reveal

His true form . RaamAnujA stayed at his uncle's

house for a few months and learnt about

the inticate meanings of important passages

in RaamAyaNA and PurANAs from him .

 

A host of other AchAryas followed the foot steps

of Bhagaavth RaamAnujA like Swamy Desikan , Swamy

MaNavALa Maamunigal down to present day AchAryAs .

One of the principal disciples of Swamy MaNavALa

MaamunigaL blessed us with the Sri VenkatEsa

SuprabhAdham , SthOthram , Prapatthi and MangaLam,

which is recited every day in front of the Lord

at Thirumalai.

 

NadAthUr AmmAL 's links to Thirumalai

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NadathUr ammaaL was the nephew of AchArya

RaamAnujA . He is the one , who blessed

the five year old VenkatanAthan (Swami Desikan)

to succeed in paramatha kaNDanam , the strengthening

of the fortress of VisishtAdvaitha VedAntham

and growing Bhagavath RaamAnuja SiddhAntham further.

 

At one time , NadAthUr ammAl went on a

pilgrimage to Thirumalai. He was near ThirucchAnUr

and the hot rays of the noon sun was bearing down on

him. AmmAL rested on the pial of a house

and was hungry . At that time , a Sri VaishNavar

appeared and presented dhadhyannam in a golden vessel

and mentioned that it was SrinivAsa's Niyamanam .

Once AmmAL and his sishyAls partook the prasAdham ,

the Sri VaishNavar and the golden vessel disappeared .

Sri NadathUr ammaaL recognized it was the Lord

of the seven hills that gave him and his sishyALs

His PrasAdham .Meanwhile , the sannadhi servants

noticed the missing golden vessel and were wondering

as to what had happened. The Lord explained to them

that He personally took it to serve AmmAL and had showed

where that vessel was.The Lord also commanded

His sannadhi parichArakAs to bring AmmAL with

all honors (maryAdhais) from ThriucchAnUr to

His presence .NadaathUr ammAl arrived in front

of the Lord and performed MangaLAsAsanam to

his heart's content and returned thereafter

to his native Kaanchi .Such is the relationship

of Lord SrinivAsan to His AchAryALs.

 

Swamy NigamAntha MahA Desikan

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Swamy Desikan was an incarnation of the divine bell

of ThiruvenkatamudayAn . His magnum opus

among sthOthrams is dayA sathakam , where he

eulogizes the most important KalyANa guNam of

Lord VenkatEsA , DayA , as one of His Five Devis .

 

Swami Desikan's contribution for the growth

of VisishtAdvaitham as the amsam of the Lord of

seven hills is legendary . His genius in intrepreting

Bhagavath RaamAnuja darsanam led to the creation of

many Sri Sookthis . He saved for us the master work

of Sudarsana Suri , Srutha prakAsikai ,the commentary on

Sri Bhaashyam of AchArya RaamAnujA by NadAthUr ammAl .

 

The master mind of Swamy Desikan summarized

for us the gist of the teachings of

the 16 paadhAs of the four AdhyAyAs of Brahma

Soothram as intrepreted by AchArya RaamAnuja

in verse number 19 in the SaasthrAvathArA,

AdhikaraNasArAvaLi this way (translation of

the original sanskrit SlOkam by Sri K. Bhaashyam) :

 

Here the Lord (Srinivasa NaarAyaNan) is seen

in the following 16 ways :

 

(1) He is the Creator

(2) He is the possessor of the World as His Body

(3) He is self-supporter ( does not seek other support )

(4) He is shining splendid with measureless glories

(5) He can not be denied

(6) He is the reliable friend for those , who

resort to Him (Achyuthan)

(7) He is the author of the birth of AkAsA et al

and the Jeevans

(8) He is the author of the senses and PrANA

(9) He is the controller of the movement of SamsArA

(10)He is the most beautiful, blemishless and

is full of anantha KalyANa GuNams

(11)He is the object of various devotions

(12)He is pleased by the performance of one's

appointed duty

(13)He is the destroyer of all sins (Venkatam)

(14)He leads the Muktha Jeevans through Brahma Naadi

(15)He leads the muktha jeevan through the ArchirAdi

maargam thereafter with His AadhivAhAs

(16)He is the one who grants the boon of Saayujyam

for the Muktha Jeevan .

Such is the synthetic and analytical genius

of this AchAryan , who is an important amsam

of Lord SrinivAsan of Thirumalai .

 

Adhi VaNN SatakOpa Jeeyar , the Founder of AhObila Matam

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Another great AchArya , Adhi VaNN SatakOpa Jeeyar

was the founding Jeeyar of Ahobila Matam . He had

received sanyAsam directly from the hands of

BhagavAn NarasimhA at AhObilam . When this Jeeyar

visited Thiruppathi , Lord SrinivAsA appeared in

his dream and commanded the Jeeyar to build steps

for pilgrims to climb Thiruppathi hills to reach

His sannidhi without difficulty . Adhi VaNN

SatakOpa Jeeyar obeyed the Lord's command and built

the steps for easy climbing and also mantapams

in between for the pilgrims to rest during their

climb up the hill .These steps are present even today

and devotees of Lord SrinivAsan climb them to

reach the Lord's sannidhi.

 

The ties between Lord SrinivAsan and the AchArya

paramparais are deep and profound .

 

To Be continued

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs :

 

Recently , there was some disucssions on the exact

height of ThiruvenakatamudayAn Moolavar in the context of

content assembly for the new CD ROM on dhivya dEsams

and AzhwAr's sacred collect .

 

One of my friends said that He is a Vaamana mUrthy

and is approximately 5 feet tall .Ohter friend said

that our Lord is 10 feet tall.

 

I requested some expert opinion from Sri Balaji

Narasimhan of Arizona , whose family is doing kaimkaryam

for the Lord on Thirumalai. I have appended Sri Narasimhan's

response inview of its potential interst to a wider

set of audience beyond the four of us.

 

ThiruvenkatamudayAn ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam,

Daasan,V.Sadagopan

>

> II SRI: II

>NAMO NARAYANA

>SHRI.SADAGOPAN SWAMIN,

>dAsasya vign~yAbhanam

>

>The height of mUlavar at thiruvEngadam is not that really

we see after all the sarvAbharaNa bhUshanAs.>During Fridays,

before and during thirumanjanam we can see HIS real height.

>The mUrthi is around 8-9 feets.

>

>To give a feel for it, during thirumanjanam the pradhAna bhattar

stands on a golden stand that heights our waist. After climbing on that,

he will be to the height of kirItam of thiruvEngadamudaiyAn.

>

>Many have told that he looks like a small kid without thiruvAbharaNams.

>

>IN A NUT SHELL, THE HEIGHT IS 3/4 TH OF THE HEIGHT WE SEE.

>THE LATERAL SPREAD OF ALANKARAMS MAKES HIM 3 TIMES FATTER THAN HIS

REAL SALAGRAMA THIRUMENI.

>

>Every Thursday, during nEthra dharsanam, (thiruman kAppu having

been removed and made very thin to see the eyes of perumAl) perumAl

offers to us divyadharsanam without kirItam. During night before

thiruvArAdhanam,Thomala seva, however HE offers pUlangi sEva with

flowers FULL of HIS body.Thursdays are good to see his real height.

>Getting tickets for Friday thirumanjanam is tough.( Booked till

2002 atleast from now).

>dAsan,

>SRINIVASA SARMAN

>

>***************************************************************

> sriya: kAntAya kalyANa nidhayE nidhayErthinAm

> Sri vEnkata nivAsAya srinivAsAya mangaLam.

>

> II SARVAM SRI SRINIVASA ARPANAM ASTHU II