Worship of God upwards from feet

[Guest guest]

At 05:38 PM 3/18/01 +0530, you wrote:

>Dear All,

> I'm a new member to the group(Bhakthi Group).

> I'm not too sure about the reason for the reclining posture of

the God at Srirangam and several other places.

 

Dear Smt.Dweepa:

 

RESPONSE TO YOUR FIRST QUERY: WHY SAYANAM ?

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Bhagavaan Sriman NaarAyaNan is saluted by AzhwArs

as " ninRAn, IrunthAn, KidanthAn and NadanthAn "

following ancient texts(Aagamam , PurANam , Vedam ).

 

Aagama Saasthrams prescribe the consecration of

PerumALs in Archai (iconic Images worshipped at

the temples) in the context of VyUham theory

developed by PaancharAthra AagamAs .

 

FOUR THIRUKKOLAMS

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(1)NinRAN is the standing posture at dhivya Desams like

Oppiliappan Koil (ThiruviNNagar), Thirumalai .In 60 of

the 108 Dhivya Desams (DD)sung by AzhwArs , PerumAL is

seen in the NinRa ThirukkOlam (ParA form as Para VaasudEvan).

 

(2)IrunthAn is the seated posture. There are 21 DD,

where the Lord is in VeeRRiruntha ThirukkOlam.Examples

of such DD are: AyOddhi, ThiruvAli,Koodal azhagar et al.

This is as in Parama Padham as Sri Vaikunta Naathan ,

who is seated.

 

(3) KidanthAn is the perumAL in sayanam posture.

Lord RanganAthan, Thirukkudanthai AarAvamudhan and

25 other PerumALs are in sayana thirukkOlam .

This is to remind one of Lord's sayanam at Milky

Ocean in Yoga Nidhrai (VyUham ).

 

These 27 sayanams break up further into UdhyOga Sayanam

( Thirukkudanthai AarAvamudhan), Dharbha sayanam

( ThiruppullANi) , Bhujanga sayanam (20 DD including

Srirangam and Thiruvananthapuram ),Tala(sthala) Sayanam

( Thirukkadan mallai) ,BhOga Sayanam ( Thirucchithra Kootam ),

MaNikka sayanam ( Thiruneer malai) and VaDa pathra Sayanam

(Sri VillipputthUr).

 

These Sayana ThirukkOlams refer to the Sevai of

the Lord as in ThiruppARkkadal engaged in Yoga Nidhrai.

Specific sthala PurANams are also involved in

some of them : Dharbha sayanam of Lord Raamachandran

on the shores of the Ocean to get permission from

Samudhra raajan to build a dam (sEthu) over him

to reach LankA .

 

(4)NadanthAn is a special version of NinRAn and

is associated with ThrivikramAvathAram (SeerkAzhi et al).

These relate to Vibhava avathArams like VaamAna -

ThrivikramAvathArams.This avathAram is also celebrated

in Vedam .

 

There are also specifications on which directions

the Murthys face. Among the 108 DD , majority

of the perumALs face east (79 to be exact ).

SEVEN PerumALs face South like Sri RanganAthA.

NINTEEN PerumALs face West like Kaanchi VaradarAjan .

THREE PerumALs face North like those at SaaLagrAmam,

AyOddhi and UrayUr.Lord RanganAthA faces South to bless

His Bhakthan , VibhishaNan of Sri Lankai.

 

RESPONSE TO SECOND QUESTION

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> But as far worshiping the Lord by seeing him from feet and upwards, i

>can explain.

 

>This, I think is the reason why one should worship the God upside from

>feet onwards.

>

>Best,

>Dweepa.

 

THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF ANUBHAVAM OF PERUMAAL :

PAADHAADHI KESAANTHAM AND KESAADHI PAADHAANTHAM

( FROM FOOT TO HEAD AND FROM HEAD TO FOOT).

 

ThiruppANAzhwAr enjoys the Lord from Foot to Head

in His Prabhandham , AmalanAdhipirAn. SWamy Desikan

follows the same route in his Bhagavath DhyAna SopAnam ,

when he enjoys Lord RanganAthan. In the case of

enjoying the sarvAnga Soundharyam of the Lord

at ThiruvahIndhrapuram ( Lord DevanAthan ) in

his DevanAyaka PanchAsath , Swamy Desikan takes

the opposite route ( KesAdhi PaadhAntham) . In thirty

of the Fifty slOkams of this Sthothram , Swamy Desikan

starts from the resplendent Crown of the Lord and

descends down to the Lord's Thiruvadi and finally

stops with the salutation of the sacred dust associated

with those holy feet of Deva Naayaka PerumaaL.

 

Hence Both approaches are used in enjoying the Lord.

 

Your reference to ArjunA and DuryOdhanan waiting at

the foot side and head side of Lord KrishNA's cot

is a special situation . The awakening Lord sees

Arjuna first and DuryOdhanan later .Lord KrishNa

agrees to their different boons and the shape of

MahA BhAratham war is determined right there based

on who the Lord saw first and who was humble or

haughty in Lord's presence.

 

V.Sadagopan