The Foreword for Sri VenakatEsA Home Pages

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Dear BhakthAs :

 

Today is the day before BhOgi Pandigai.

Today is the day of " SiRRam SiRukAlE

vanthunnai Sevitthu , Unn PoRRAmarai

adiyE poRRum poruL kELAi " ThiruppAvai

dinam . The team that is creating the home

pages for Thirumalai-appan is rushing towards

completion of the work towards the next

phase release on Makara sankarAnthi day .

The recent postings that You all saw about

Sri VenkatEsa Prapatthi, MangaLam and

SthOthram are SamarpaNams for those

home pages , which will contain exquisite

images of the Lord assembled by Sri haresh

Balasubramanyan of Simhapuri .

 

AdiyEn is sure that these home pages will

grow and delight the SrinivAsa BhakthAs .

Today , I am having the prerelease of

the textual section of the Foreword

for these home pages .We will provide

more particulars on makara SankarAnthi day

about other contents.

Daasan , OppilA-appan Koil SadagOpan

 

 

SRI VENKATESA VAIBHAVAM

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

 

Thirumalai SrinivAsan is a timeless treasure

for human beings everywhere . His vaibhavam has

been celebrated by the ten AzhwArs through 205

exquisite paasurams . His anantha KalyaNa guNams

have been saluted by a host of AchAryAs belonging

to Vaidhika Mathams .Many great NadhOpAsakAs

like ANNamAcharyA , Purandara DaasA ,

Mutthuswamy Dikshithar , Saint ThyagarAjA

sat at the holy feet of the Lord and

offered gems of krithis as Naama KusumAnjalis.

 

AzhwAr's moving Tributes

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

Ten out of the twelve AzhwArs with the exception of

ThoNdaradippodi and Madhura Kavi have performed

their MangaLAsAsanams through 205 exquisite Paasurams

brimming with Bhakthi and Bhagavath anubhavam .

The number of paasurams associated with each of

the ten AzhwArs are: Thirumangai:62 , NammAzhwAr:54 ,

PEy AzhwAr :19 , ANDAL:16 , Thirumazhisai:15 ,

KulasEkarar:11 , Poygai:10, Bhutham:9 ,

PeriyAzhwAr:7 and ThiruppANar 2 in a Prabhandham

devoted mostly to Sri RanganAthan .

 

PEy AzhwAr's Vandhanams

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

The AzhwArs celebrated the exquisite ,

indescribable beauty ( avAngh mansa kOchara

soukumAryam ) of the Lord of Thirumalai.

PEy AzhwAr saw Him seated inside his

heart space and declared " uLLatthin uLLE

uLaN -- kaNDai nannenjE " (svacchandha

Hrudhaya sadhanan). Elsewhere in his

MoonRAm ThiruvandhAthi , PEy Azhwar

explained to us that Sri VaikunTam and

Thiruppatthi are one and the same ( ThirumAl

VaikunthamE TaNN Thiru VenkatamE).

 

Poygai AzhwAr's salutations

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

Poygai AzhwAr revealed to us that ThiruvEnkatam

is the most endearing dhivya dEsam for Sriman

NaarAyaNan ( VenkatamE VeNN sankham Oothiya Vaai

Maal uhanthavoor ). There , the Lord destroys

the ancient sins of ours and blesses the devotees

with anugrahams such a sIsvaryam, Kaivalyam and

Moksham ( ThozhuvAr manacchudarai nathuvikkum

VenkatamE). AzhwAr enjoyed the true svarUpam of

the Lord of Seven hills as insatiable nectar

( athrupthi amrutha roopan/aparyApthAmruthan).

 

BhUthatthAzhwAr's tribute

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

The third of the first triad of AzhwArs

explained to us that the worshippers of

Sri VenkatEsan attain the state of exquisite

equalibrium between Sukhams and Dukkams

as Sthitha Praj~nAs as attested by GeethAchAryan

( sama dukka sukam dhIram sOmruthathvAya kalpathE).

AzhwAr asks us to recite and reflect on the 1000

names of the Lord for our salvation as we climb up

the seven hills to offer our worship at His lotus

feet( -MaNi Venkatavn malar adikkE sella aNi

Venkatavan pEr aaynthu ).

 

Thirummzhisai AzhwAr's celebration

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

Thirumazhisai at one time could not find

the sacred clay ( ThirumaNN) for wearing

and Lord VenkatEsA appeared in his dream and showed

the place , where ThirumaNN was available

for this Parama VaishNavan . Thirumazhisai

asked us to reach the sacred feet of

the Lord at ThiruvEnkatam and attain

salvation ( Venkatam adaintha Maal

paadhamE adhianthu naaLUm uyyminE).

 

PeriyAzhwAr's enjoyment of the Lord

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

As YasOdhA pirAtti , AzhwAr enjoyed

the Baala kreetais of Govindhan and

performed Govindha Naama Sankeethanam

at Thirumalai.The adhbutha rasa varNanam

filled paasurams of PeriyAzhwAr are exquisite.

AzhwAr invited the Baala GopAlan , who was

running away from him to come near him :

" Vedap PoruLE Yenn VenkatavA VitthahanE

inghe pOtharAyE " ( Oh my child , the essence

of Veda manthrams !Oh clever one ! Oh VenkatEsA !

Please do not run away from me . Please come

near me ).In another of his moving paasurams ,

PeriyAzhwAr reveals his special blessings

that made it possible for him to store to

his heart's content the auspicious VenkatEsa

tatthvam just as filling a pot with the nectar

churned out of the milky ocean .

 

ANDAL's love for ThiruvEnaktamudayAn

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

Her father adored the Lord as his son,

Baala KrishNan .ANDAL adored the Lord as

Her bridegroom .She begged the nightingale

in Her garden to sing and call for the Lord's

arrival at Her side ( KuyilE! Thenn Venaktavan

varak koovAyE ). Her prayer to the clouds rushing

towards Thiruvenkatam was to let the Lord know

of Her sufferings from separation form Her Lord

and to intercede on Her behalf for union with Him.

She prayed to Kaama devan and begged him to unite

Her with the JyothisvarUpa ChakrapANi at ThiruvEnkatam .

Her exquisite anubhavam of SamslEsha Aanandham

(Bliss out of union with Her Lord) and VislEsha

dukkham ( Pangs of sorrow over separation from Him )

and the undescribable joy rsulting from Her insepaerable

union with Him are described beautifully by Her

in the exquisite verses of NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi.

 

KulasEkara AzhwAr's prayers

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

This king of Kolli dEsam begged the Lord to bless

him with the anugraham of being any thing , sentient

or otherwise, in the Lord's hills so that he can be

near the Lord to enjoy Him .

 

ThiruppANar's links to Sri VenkatEsan

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

In his AmalanAdhipirAn prabhandham ,

BhaNa Naathan decides to enoy the beauty

of Lord RanganAthA from His lotus feet

(Kamala Paatham ) to His crown . In the very

first verse itself , Sri Venkatesan

squeezes in for MangaLAsAsanam :

" --vimalan ViNNavarkkOn VirayAr Pozhil

VENAKTAVAN " . In the third paasuram ,

BhaaNa Naathan makes a passing salutation to

the Lord of seven hills : " manthi paayi

Vada Venkata Maamalai " and recognizes

the sacredness of the mighty mountains ,

which are purified by the sambhandham

with Lord VenkatesA.

 

Thirumangai's multi-faceted Tributes

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

AzhwAr takes on the role of ParakAla Naayaki

and begs for the Lord's love ( ThiruvEnkata

PoruppA ! ninn kaathalai aruL yenakku).

She appeals to Her mind to reach Thiruvenkatam

-TeLLiyAr VaNangum malai ThiruvEnakatamadai

nenjE ). AzhwAr salutes the Lord as the conferrer

of Bhakthi , Mukthi , while He resides as

AntharAtma svarUpi ( Bhakthi Mukthi pratha

daharAkAsam).AzhwAr salutes the bliss conferring ,

pervasive lotus feet of the Lord standing

eternally on top of the venkatam hills

( sathatham akhaNda SacchidhAnandham ,

Moksha SaamrAjya pratha CharaNAravindham ).

 

Thirumangai appalingly converses with

the Lord and tells Him that as a lowliest

one , he has arrived at ThiruvEnkatam

with a longing to have the darsanam of the Lord

( unaik kANpathOr aasayinAl --nAyEn vanthadainthEn).

AzhwAr describes to the Lord the samsAric

afflictions that he faced and his travails and

begs the Lord to bless Him ( alanthEn, vanthu

adianthEn, ADIYAANAI AATKKONDU ARULE ).AzhwAr

describes his total dependence (ananya gathithvam)

on the Lord of seven hills and appeals movingly

to the Lord to remove his unbearable sufferings

(aNNA ! adiyEn idaraikkaLayAyE -- Venkatamaamalai

mEya Aayan adi allaathu maRRaRiyEnE ).

 

NammAzhwAr's SaraNAgathi at ThiruvEnkatam

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

NammAzhwAr presented 54 paasurams at the sacred

feet of ThiruvEnaktamudayAn and performed His

Prapatthi at those lotus feet of the Lord. In

one paasuramof Periya ThiruvandhAthi , AzhwAr

revealed that Sri Venkatesan stays in his

heart permanently ( --NediyAn uLL puhunthu

neengAn adiyEn uLLatthaham ). In Thiruviruttham ,

AzhwAr transforms himself into PadmAvathi

ThAyAr and tightly questions the Lord about

His intent .Then Azhwar takes on the role

of parAnkusa Naayaki and describes her

sufferings over sepaeration (VislEsham)

from her Lord .ParAnkusa Naayaki sends

the clouds as messengers to Her Lord

to unite her with Him . In ThiruvAimozhi's

sixth decad , the Mother of ParAnkusa

Naayaki (in Kaliyan's words) describes

the immense injustices made by the :Lord

of ThiruvEnkatam (Kattezhil sOlai nall

VenkatavANan) to her dear daughter .ParAnkusa

Naayaki could not take in the condemnation

of the Lord by Her mother and explains

to Her mother and friends that the Lord

is " aaRRA nall vahai kaatum AmmAn ,

mEvi ninRu thozhuvAr vinai poha mEvum

PirAn " and celebrates Him with MahA ViswAsam.

Naayaki begs the Lord to reveal when She will

reach His sacred feet ( ThiruvenkatatthAnE !

unn paadham sErvathadiyEN yennALE ?).

The Lord accedes to the moving prayr of

NammAzhwAr and blesses him with Prapatthi

anugraham and the AzhwAr bursts forth

in joy and thanks the Lord for granting

the greatest boon through the most famous

SaraNAgathi Paasuram (AhalahillEniuRayum yenRu

AlarmElmagai uRai maarbhA !). Through another

famous paasuram , he enjoins us to join in

performing nithya kaimkaryam to the Lord of

ThiruvEnkatam ( Ozhivil KaalamellAm udanAi

manni, vazhuvila adimai seyya vENDum naam ,

--yezhil koLL sOthi Yenthai Tanthai TanthaikkE).

 

The ruchi from the enjoyment of the aanandhAnubhava

paasurmas of the Ten AzhwArs on ThiruvEnkatamudayAN

reminds us of the famous Upanishadic Paasage

in TaittirIyam : " yadh vai sukrutham, rasO vai

saha: rasamhEvAyam labdhvA aanandhI bhavathi "

( This which was self-manifested--that is verily sweet .

For only after perceiving this sweet can anyone

experience Bliss. Who could breathe if that Bliss

/ parabrahmam existed not in the daharAkAsam ?

For that Bliss alone causes Blessedness) .

 

To Be continued...