Divya Desa - Preface 3

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Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

Srimad Vara Vara Munaye nama:

 

Only Madhurakavi AzhvAr has not sung mangaLAshAsanams for the Lord.

Instead he had sung a decad on NammAzhvAr considering NammAzhvAr as

his "everything(vERonRum nAn aRiyEn vEdham thamizh seidha mARan)".

The count of number of dhivya dhEshas on which AzhvArs have sung

mangaLAshAsanams is given below.

 

1. poikaiAzhvAr - 6

2. pEyAzhvAr - 13

3. bhUthathAzhvAr - 15

4. thirumazhisaiAzhvAr - 17

5. nammAzhvAr - 37

6. kulashEkharAzhvAr - 9

7. periyAzhvAr - 18

8. ANdAL - 11

9. thoNdaradippodiAzhvAr - 1

10. thiruppANAzhvAr - 3

11. thirumangaiAzhvAr - 86

 

And following is the count of number of AzhvArs who have sung

(mangaLAshAsanams) on "this many" dhivya dhEshas.

 

1. Srirangam - 11 AzhvArs

2. Tirumalai & TiruppARkadal - 10 ,,

3. Paramapadham - 8 ,,

4. Tirukkudandhai(kumbakONam) - 7 ,,

5. TirumAlirumsOlai(kallazhagar) - 6 ,,

6. six dhivya dhEshas - 5 ,,

7. three ,, - 4 ,,

8. five ,, - 3 ,,

9. twenty-one ,, - 2 ,,

10. sixty-seven ,, - 1 AzhvAr

 

The Lord,residing in these dhivya sthalas, gives sevai/

dharshan in three different postures namely standing(ninRa),

sitting(irundha) and reclining(kidandha). There is one more posture

called "udhDhAna shAyana" which is very rare and it is a state of

getting up from sleep/lying posture. The five different prathiShTas/

consecrations of the God as explained in pAncarAthra pAdhma is given

below:

 

1. sThApana - God is consecrated in standing posture

2. asThApana - ,, sitting posture

3. samasThApana - ,, lying posture

4. parasThApana - ,, on vAhanAs in different forms(rUpa)

5. prathiShTAna - ,, with sanmArcai

 

God, in one of these postures in the temple,assumes the form of

yOga,bhOga,vIra or AbhicArika. The yOgis worship yOga mUrThis,

grhasthas worship bhOga mUrThis,kshathriyAs(warrior class)worship

vIra mUrThis and those who wan to avenge their enemies worship

AbhicArika mUrThis. Only the yOga and bhOga mUrThis are still in

existence,vIra mUrThis are rare and the AbhicArika mUrThis are

extinct. In majority of the dhivya dhEshas,God is in standing posture

only and this count is 67. In this,

 

east-faced standing posture - 39

west-faced ,, - 12

south-faced ,, - 14

north-faced ,, - 2

 

In 17 dhivya dhEshas,the God is in sitting posture. In this,

 

east-faced sitting posture - 13

west-faced ,, - 3

south-faced ,, - none

north-faced ,, - 1

 

In 24 dhivya dhEshas,Gos is in lying posture. In this,

 

east-faced lying posure - 18

west-faced ,, - 3

souith-faced ,, - 3

north-faced ,, - none

 

There are ten types of lying(shayana) postures.

 

1. jala 2. sThala 3. bhujanga 4. udhyOga 5. vIra

6. bhOga 7. dharppa 8. pathra 9. mANikya 10. udhDhAna

 

In some dhivya dhEshas,all the three postures(standing,sitting and

lying)of the God can be seen. Examples are ThirunIrmalai,Madhurai,

ThirukkoShtiyUr,kUdalazhagar,and ThiruvallikkENi. If the Lord's hand

posture is upwards(like a stop sign for vehicles),it is called

abhayahastham. The beautiful "nAlAyirap poruLAm" NamperumAL is

protecting us in that posture only. With this the introduction is

over and we go straight to the individual dhivya dhEshas in the order

Tiruvaranagam,Tirumalai,TirumAlirumsOlai and so on and so forth.

 

Let the Divine Couple bless everybody with RAmAnujAcArya sambandham.

samastha lOkA DhAraka rAm

sakala jIva samrakshaka rAm

 

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam

NC Nappinnai