Sri VenkatEsa AshtOtthara Satha NaamAvaLI: Part 3/Second NaamA

[Guest guest]

ChithrabhAnu Samvathsaram, UttharAyaNam ,

GrIshma Ruthu , VaikAsi BharaNi , TrayOdasi Tithi,

MahA PradhOsha dinam

 

SrI:

 

NamO VenkatEsAya

 

Dear BhakthAs of the Lord of Saptha Giri :

 

Let us reflect on the second NaamA of

SrI Venkatesa AshtOttharam !

 

The First Ten NaamAs of Sri VenkatEsa AshtOttharam

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

 

1. (PraNavam) SrI VenkatEsAya nama:

 

2. (PraNavam) SRIVAASAAYA NAMA:

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

3. (PraNavam) LakshmI PathayE nama:

4. (Pranavam) anAmayAya nama:

5. (PraNavam) amruthAmsAya nama:

6. (Pranavam) Jagadh-vandhyAya nama:

7. (PraNavam) GovindhAya nama:

8. (PraNavam) SaasvathAya nama:

9. (PraNavam) PrabhavE nama:

10.(Pranavam) SEshAdhri-nilayAya nama:

 

The Second Naamam : Meaning

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

" (PraNavam) SRIVAASAAYA NAMA: " = SALUTATIONS TO

THE LORD , WHO IS THE ABODE OF SRI DEVI

 

This is the 609th Sri VishNu Sahasra Naamam .

 

Swamy ParAsara Bhattar comments that Lord VishNu

(Venkatesa) is forever with Her (SrI Devi). She is

His " Nithya SrI " . He is the Nandavanam (UdhyAnam)

of Kalpaka trees , where SrI Devi is forever

sporting according to Her pleasure. She loves to

sport with the Lord on the banks of Swami PushkariNi.

He is the ground /abode for those sports of Her.

She will never be found outside that abode ,

the Vakshasthalam of the Lord , Her sporting ground .

 

Additional Comments

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

The First AshtOtthara Naamam celebrated the Sri VenkatEsa

manthram . The second Naamam celebrates the SrInivAsa Tatthvam.

Swamy NammAzhwAr's famous ThiruvAimozhi Paasuram

is to be linked here:

 

ahalahillEn IRayum yenralarmEl MangaiuRai MaarbhA !

nijaril puhazhAy ! UlahamUnRudayAi yennai ALvAnE !

niharil amarar munik kaNangaL virumpum THIRUVENAKTATTHAANE

PuhalonRllA adiyEn unnadikkeezhamarnthu puhunthEnE

 

-- ThiruvAimozhi: 6.10.10

 

(Meaning according to Dr.V.N.Vedantha Desikan Swamy):

 

" Not for a moment even will I leave this seat of mine "

says Alarmel Mangai ( MahA Lakshmi/SrI Devi ). That She is

always on Your chest is re-assuring to me. Your reputation of

Qualities is matchless. The three worlds are Yours. You have

enslaved me. I have adopted You as my Master for all time .

You are the unequalled Master since this relationship is

not conditioned by any circumstance .Great sages , who have

no match and devAs and nithyasooris come all the way to

this place to worship You , Oh Lord of ThiruvEnaktam .

I , who have no other prop to cling to , humbly surrendered

myself at Your feet and there I remained protected by You " .

 

PoorvAchAryALs have commented extensively on the deep links of

this paasuram with the most Sacred Dhvaya Manthram and

PurushakAram of SrI Devi as well as the presence of SrI

Devi during the UpAya dasai(Means) and UpEya Dasai (Target),

when one performs SaraNAgathi. She intercedes on our behalf

and pleads with Her Lord to forgive our trespasses and then

is there with Her Lord , when Prapatthi is performed and

accepts it along with Her husband.

 

SrI VishNu PurANam recognizes Her presence on the Lord's

chest always as Nithya SrI : " VishNO: yEsha anapAyini " .

AnapAyini means inseparable (ahalahillEn iRayum yenRu

AlarmEl MangayuRai Maarbhan is SrIvAsan or SrinivAsan).

Lord SrinivAsan follows the hints arising from the movements

of SrI Devi's brows and peforms His duites accordingly .

So says KurEsar in SrI Sthavam:

 

" YasyA Veekshya Mukham tadhihithaparAdhInO vidhatthE akhilam "

He is completely under Her sway (Ingitha ParAdhInan).

The Lord of Venkatam goes about His Creation, Protection,

Destruction of the universe duties (Jagath VyApAra leelais) ,

granting of Svargam vaasam or naraka Vaasam or Vaikunta Vaasam

and all other activities by taking the hints from the movement

of SrI Devi's brows. That is why She has to be there always

on His chest to help Him and participate in the joy of

Jagath VyApAram. Vedam says that She is present with Him

even during the time of PraLyam as " SvadhA Devi " , which is

another name for SrI Devi: " aanIdhavAdhag SvadhayA TadhEkam " .

For our SaraNAgathi to become fruitful , Her inseparable

presence with Her Lord is essential. Vedam again says that

She is the object of His (Lord's) Preethi and as such She is

inseparable from Him : " Sriyam lOlE DevajushtAm UdhArAm " .

Devan here is the ParamAthmA , SrInivAsan/SrIvAsan.

SrinivAsan and AlarmEl Mangai are Saha-dharmachAris.

They stay inseparable and grant the PurushArTam of

Moksham for saraNAgathAs: " LakshmyA saha Hrushee

DevyA KaaruNyaroopyA ! Rakshaka: sarvasiddhAnthE "

Swamy NammAzhwAr instructs us about this inseparable

Dhivya dampathis blessing us (their children)with

MokshAnugraham:

 

" oNDodiyAL ThirumahaLum ThaanumAhi oru ninaivAl

eenRa uyirellAm uyya "

 

They have taken this sankalpam to redeem us together.

 

There are many cross correlations to the Second Naamam

of " SrIvAsan " in Dhivya prabhandham:

 

1. " panthirukkum melviralAL Paavai PanimalarAL

vanthu irukkum Maaravan " --Periya Thrumozhi:2.2.9

 

The key words are " Vanthu-irukkum Maarbhan " . She elected

to stay on His Chest after Her coming out of the Milky Ocean.

ParAsara Maharishi states in VishNu PurANam that She took

permanent residence at the Lord's Chest as the DevAs were

watching ( PasyathAm Sarva-dEvAnAm yaTou vakshasthalam HarE:) .

She defined Her Lord through Her presence on His chest as

anapAyini. She is His LakshaNam .From that seat and

together with Her Lord, She does SaraNAgatha rakshanam

thru participation as saha-dharmachAri in the Yag~nam of

SaraNAgathi.

 

Swamy Desikan explains this tatthvam to us in

the fifth slOkam of ParamArTa Sthuthi: " The Periya PirAtti

is Your Dharma Pathni, who never ever leaves Your side.

Oh Lord ! Your GuNams like dayA are the helping adhikAris

(Rthviks) in that Yag~nam.This yag~nam focusing on the protection

of those , who seek Your RakshaNam is a very long and ancient

one. As per the Yoga Soothram defining pathni ( pathyunou

Yag~nya SamyOgE ) , Your consort , SrI Devi takes equal

part in that SaraNAgathi Yaagam and gives the Phalan .

 

Through the second naamam of " SrIvAsAya nama: " ,

we are reminded of the Lakshmi Tatthvam and

our duty to celebrate Her Lord as the abode of

the sarva MangaLa dhAyaka SrI Devi:

 

Sarva-kAma-pradhAm RamyAm samsArArNava-taaRiNIm

Kshipra-prasAdhinIm LakshmIm SaraNyAm anuchinthayEth

 

(Meaning): We should reflect upon SrI Devi , who is

the grantor of all desires quickly and is beautiful.

She gets us across the ocean of SamsAram and She is

the sarva-lOka -saraNyai).

 

She confers the name of " SrIvAsan " on Her Lord

through Her eternal presence on His chest .

 

(PraNavam ) NamO VenkatEsAya ,

 

SrImath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan