An Article of Faith

[Guest guest]

Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika yatindra

Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

Kurai ondrum illAda GovindA

 

The cry of “Govinda!Govinda!” rends the air. The

serpentine queue slowly winds it way to the holiest of

holies, and everyone in the many –thousand strong, but

orderly crowd, each come from hundreds of miles afar,

eagerly awaits his or her turn for the audience, which

may however last for less than a minute.

 

Which would you say is the most popular divyadesam on

earth? And the most frequented? And the richest,

growing richer by the day? No marks for guessing- of

course it is Tirumala, the hilly abode of Srinivasa .

The very name Tirupati induces in us an unmatched

devotional fervour. Almost all Hindu families,

irrespective of denomination, have the practice of

visiting Tirumala at least once a year, for cleansing

themselves of their sins and to get recharged

spiritually. Why speak of Hindus- even people of other

faiths are ardent devotees of the Lord of Seven Hills.

You must have read a recent newspaper report of a

pious muslim donating a sizeable amount to the temple.

What is behind all this? What mystical attraction does

Tiruvengadam, as the Azhwars call it, have for the

unlettered common man and scholar alike? Why do people

flock to the Seven Hills for a momentary glimpse of

the Lord, (for that is all the temple authorities

permit you to have) braving all sorts of physical

inconvenience? And why do people climb the seven hills

on foot, irrespective of their age, physical and

financial state, when they could travel the distance

comfortably in a bus or car? And here is a devata who

cannot be visited at our convenience and at a time of

our choice: for, even if we make all possible

arrangements, if He doesn’t want to see us, some

impediment or other will crop up, forcing us to drop

the plan. (This is not mere old wives’ tale, because

this has happened to adiyen, and adiyen is sure, to

others too, more than once). Finding answers to all

these questions is not easy, but let us try.

 

Perhaps one major reason for the unparalleled

magnificence and popularity of Tiruvengadamudayan is

the presence of not one, but two of His divine

Consorts on His chest. To adiyen’s limited knowledge,

there does not appear to be any other divyadesam

(except perhaps Oppiliappan Koil?) where Emperuman

accomodates both His nAchimAr on His chest.

This unusual phenomenon reminds one of the Purusha

Sukta vAkyA,” Hreescha tE Lakshmeescha patnyou”, which

acknowledges the twin Consorts of the Purusha or

Parabrahmam. The implication is obvious- Srinivasa is

none other than the Parama Purusha. We would have no

difficulty in accepting this, if we leave aside

technical objections like mixing up of Para svaroopam

with the archA murthy.

Accounting for Sri Rama’s fame and valour, Sri

Valmiki says “apramEyam hi tat tEjO yasya sA

JanakAtmajA”(Immeasurable indeed is His fame, whose

Consort Sri Sita is). Thus, if the presence of one

consort by His side was responsible for Sri Raghava’s

fame, you can imagine what two Consorts, that too

located much closer, on His chest, could do to Sri

Venkateswara. In Sri Ramavatara, Dasarathi had to bear

the separation of Janakanandini for what must have

felt like aeons. Srinivasa suffers no such loss, for

Sridevi and Bhoodevi reside on His tirumEni

constantly, without even a moment of separation.

”agalakillEn irayum endru alarmEl mangai urai mArba!”

says Sri Nammazhwar. This is confirmed by the Sri

VishnuPuranam thus-“nityA Eva Esha jaganmatA

VishNO:Sri: anapAyinI”. Sri Bhashyakara reiterates the

inseparability of Sri -“nityAnapAyanIm dEvIm”.

 

Here, one might ask, Sri Nammazhwar speaks only in the

singular, and refers only to Sridevi. Other references

in the Sri Venkateswara Suprabhatam also address only

Sri, and there is no mention at all of Bhoodevi-

“tava suprabhatam aravinda lOchanE”,

”tad vakshastthala nitya vAsa rasikAm”

“LakshmI nivAsa niravadya guNaika sindhO”,etc.

However, just as a reference to Emperuman

automatically includes TirumagaL too (“PerumALai sonna

idam ellAm PirAttiaiyum sonnadu Ayitru”), similarly

whenever Sridevi is referred to, Bhoodevi is also

included in the reference, being an amsa of the

former. Thus what Sri Bhattar says of the inclusion of

Piratti in all references to Emperuman, (“tat

antarbhAvAt na pritak abhidattE shrutirapi”) is true

also of Bhoodevi being included wherever references

are made to Sridevi. Hence there is no doubt that all

mangalasasanams to Sri on the Lord’s chest include

Bhoodevi too. Thus Srinivasa is also Bhoonivasa, so to

say, and much of His popularity with Bhaktas of all

hues flows from the presence of both His Consorts on

His tirumEni.

 

Another characteristic of the Parama Purusha, viz.,

avApta samasta kAmatvam (One who has no unfulfilled

desires) is present in full measure in the Lord of

Tirumala. We see in almost all divyadesams periodical

appeals for various causes like renovation, etc., but

not in the case of Tirumala. This Lord attracts so

much wealth from all and sundry that He has absolutely

no dearth of anything. Even though the Grand Old Man

of Srirangam is described as “Tiruvaranga SelvanAr”,

it is truly Srinivasa who qualifies for the title. The

Lord’s avApta samasta kAmatvam is extolled by Sri

Andal in Her reference to “Kurai ondrum illAda

GovindA”. Though this tirunAmam applies to the Divine

Cowherd Krishna, in the Kaliyuga, popular perception

attributes the Govinda nAmA almost exclusively to

Srinivasa of the Seven Hills.

And Swami Desikan’s tribute “tamadu anaitthum avar

tamakku vazhangium tAm miga viLangum”(Adaikkala

Patthu) applies much more to Srinivasa than to Sri

Varada. Though people have their own ishtta dEvatAs,

it is universally acknowledged that prayers to

Srinivasa are processed much faster, so much so that

He has acquired the sobriquet “Kali Yuga Varadan”. And

the more He gives, the more He gets too.

 

 

Several other reasons are attributed to the unmatched

popularity of Tirumalayappan, like the pratishttA of a

DhanAkarshaNa yantram in the sannidhi (This is

discounted by Agamic scholars). However, it is only He

who knows why He is able to achieve ChEtana lAbham in

such huge measure, vis-à-vis Emperumans of other

divyadesams.

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrsimha divya paduka sevaka

SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya

Nama:

 

------------dasan, sadagopan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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