Thiruvaheendhrapuram RathnAngi Kaimkaryam : Part 188 : FIRST NAAMAA : Venkatesaaya Sri Venkatesaaya Nama:

[Guest guest]

Dear SrI Venkatesa BhakthAs :

 

You might recall the earlier postings on the commentaries on the BrahmANDa

PurANam version of the 108 NaamAs of SrI VenkatEsa , which have been

archived in the following URL and made in to a CD ROM with images of

the 108 dhivya dEsa Emperumaans:

 

http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/oppiliappan/sva

 

This CD ROM was prepared with the help of a dear devotee from California

and presented to Thirumala officials for their review to check against

the possibility of the CD ROM being released as a TTD

 

After that Kaimkaryam , adiyEn learnt that the 108 NaamAs of

Lord VenkatEsan used inside His sannidhi EVERY DAY are not from BrahmANDa

PurANam(BP) but is from VARAAHA PURAANAM ( VP) . The VP version focuses

more on the many happenings described in the Sthala PurANam, where as

the BP Version has more Upanishadic and esoteric references . It is very appropriate

that the VP versoion is used inside the Sannidhi daily for the Lord , who settled down in

Adhi Varaaha KshEthram with the permission of SvEtha VarAha Moorthy , who had arrived earlier .

 

Both Sriman K.Sadagopan IyengAr of Coimbatore known to all of you

from his scholarly postings and myself have joined together now to create

the comentaries of the Varaaha PurANam Version of the SrI VenkatEsa

AshtOttharam .

 

With Bhagavaan VenkatEsA's blessings , it is our hope that the two

AshtOttharams of the Lord of Saptha Giri will be released by the Thiruppathi

Thirumala DevasthAnam offiicals . We are getting ready to send our Text

commentraies on each of the AshtOtthara NaamAs with appropriate images

to go along with them.

 

Following is the sampling of the text commentary from us

on the FIRST ASHTOTTHARA NAAMA , WHICH HOUSES

THE MANTHRAM FOR LORD VENKATESA.

 

Please offer your prayers to Lord VenkatEsa for successful

completion of this Kaimakryam

 

FIRAT NAAMAA

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

 

1) Venkatesaaya Sri Venkatesaaya Nama:

 

Salutations to Lord of Venkatesa , who destroys one's sins

just like fire destroys(burns) cotton thrown in to it !

 

The Manthram for Lord Venkatesa is " Namo Venkatesaaya "

preceded by the Pranavam . This is a eight lettered manthram like the Moola

Manthram (Pranavam) Namo Naaraayanaaya . It is a very powerful manthram

to worship the Lord of Thiruvenkadam . All the intrepretations to Pranavam,

Nama: sabdham and Naaraayanaaya sabdham with its fourth case

for the Moola Manthram (Thirumanthiram) is equally applicable to

this Venkatesa Ashtaakshari manthram (Vide: SrImath Rahasya Thraya

Saaram of Swamy Desikan ) .

 

There are two intrepretations for the naama , "Venkatam " .

 

First , " vEm (paapam) kadathi (dahathi) ithi Venkata: " . Since

the Lord burns completely all the sins of His devotees , He is

called Venkatesan( the Lord of Venkatam) .

 

" agnisthUlamiva-agha yO dadhatyatha dadhAthi cha "

 

The BhavishyOttara Puraana furnishes the example of a brahmin called Maadhava, who had slipped from being a pious and devout paragon of virtues, to a condemnable existence with all sorts of unbecoming conduct. The moment this Madhava accidentally set foot on the Venkatachala Hills, all the sins residing in his person burnt themselves out and exited from his body with a great noise and flame, proving to the astounded onlookers the efficacy of the Hills and of its presiding deity in destroying accumulated misdeeds, just as the fire annihilates rubbish.

 

The second definiton is: " vEmkaarO amrutha bheejam thu

kadam isvaryam uchyathE , amrutha-iswarya sangathvAth

VenkadAdhri ithi " . vEmkaara sabdham denotes nectar

and kadam stands for immeasurable wealth (mahath Iswaryam) .

The union of amrutham (life rejuvenating nectar) with mahath

Iswaryam leads to the VenkatEsa Naamam .

 

Venkatesa Mahthmya slokams eulogize the Lord of Venkataachalam

in many moving ways:

 

" Sarvaadhaara: Sarva saakshee Sarvotthamasccha

Sarvaj~na: Sarva Swami "

 

He is indeed the basis of all, witness to all events , the loftiest

of all, omniscient and Master of all .

 

One of the slokams visualizes Him as having the lustre of a precious blue

stone and housing in His heartland Sri and Bhumi Devis .

 

Another slokam visualizes the presence of Brahma , Sivan and Devaas

in different limbs of His body :

 

Srinivaasa Ramaa Naatha Thvannaabhyabhje chathurmukham

Gireesam antha: karaNE angeshvindhraadhi devathaa:

 

Oh Lakshmi Kaanthaa ! Srinivaasa ! The god Brahma , Your son ,

resides in a lotus born out of Your navel . The deity Rudra , Your grandson ,

resides in Your soul (others view Rudhran occupying the right side

of the Lord) . Indhra and other devaas are found in other parts of

Your auspicious body (Subha tanu) . You are thus the support for all.

 

Yet another slokam praises His svaroopam as the embodiment of Dayaa .

 

" Beyond the seven oceans , there is an eighth ocean called Your grace ,

the endless bliss and happiness. In that ocean of grace, You are immersing

the devotees by fulfilling all their desires (i-e)., not only are You granting all

the material things that they seek but also grant Mohsha sukham as well to them ."

Here the union of the amrutha bheejam and Iswaryam emerge as Venkatesan .

 

Lord Venkatesaa's beautiful lotus feet ( Athisundara Paadha Padhma yugaLam)

have their own mysteries . The right foot is called "Su" symbolizing Jn~Ana

Svaroopam and the left is called " var " to represent blissful Aanandha svaroopam .

The pair of sacred feet is thus the union of amrutha bheejam (vEmkaaram)

and Isvaryam .One has to meditate on both the Paadha Yugalam .

 

Those sacred feet are the source of Virajaa theerttham , Maana sarovaram waters

and Dhanushkoti . Above great and sacred waters are resident at Lord

Venkatesan's sacred feet ; from those lotus feet , these sacred waters flow down

to earth to yield prosperity ( Iswaryam and nectarine bliss) to all the chethanams

on the earth .

 

Virajaa MaanasasarO DhanushkOti mahaaghahruth

Gangaadhi sarva theertthaani Thvath paadhaabhje vasanthi hi

--Venkatesa Mahaathmyam: 2.38

 

The power of the sacred feet of Lord Venkatesa and the good fortune of

those , who think and write about their glories is saluted by another slokam:

 

Paadha Pankaja Mahaathmyam likhithvaiva sva-hasthatha:

dhaathrunaam Vaishnavaagrebhyo mahaaghoughaadhri bhedhanam

-- Venkatesa Mahaathmyam: 2.48

 

(meaning): The great souls , who have the sacred knowledge of SrI VishNu

tatthvam and who propagate the grace and beauty of Your blessed feet through

writing about them and by other means are always liberated from all types of

bondages through Your abundant grace.

 

Of all the gunams of Lord Venkatesan , His Dayaa Gunam is the most

celebrated one. Swamy Desikan has composed hundred slokams to

single out the uniqueness of Lord's Dayaa gunam . This great Achaaryan visualizes

this Dayaa Gunam as a separate Devi (Divine Consort ), Dayaa Devi . Here are

two excerpts from this Achaaryan's extraordinary sthothram (Dayaa Sathakam):

 

Kamapyanavadhim vandhe karuNaa VaruNaalayam

Vrushasaila tadastaanam svayam vyakthim upaagatham

--Dayaa Sathakam : Slokam 9

 

(meaning): On its own , there is an ocean that has arisen for

the eternal enjoyment of those , who live near the Thiruvenkatam

hills. The waters of this ocean is Dayaa. This is the unique and

most merciful ocean revered as Thiruvenkatamudayaan. The dimensions

of this most compassionate ocean can not be calibrated by place ,

time or materials( Desam, Kaalam and Vasthu).

 

akinchana nidhim soothim apavarga thrivargayo:

Anjanaadhreesvara dayaam abhishtoumi niranjanaam

--Dayaa Sathakam: Slokam 10

 

(meaning): The dayaa of Anjana Giri's Lord (Venkatesan) is

a magnificient treasure . One does not need magical colyrium to

locate and enjoy this treasure. Those who wish to benefit from

this treasure do not need to undertake the difficult saadhanaas

like Bhakthi yogam. They can use the means of Prapatthi and

gain any one of the four kinds of Purushaarthams that they desire.

This dayaa of the Lord is blemishless. It spreads to every one

without making any distinction about their status (high or low),

gender or caste.

 

This first Naama of the Ashtotharam of the Lord of Venkataadhri

( Venkatesaaya Nama: ) from the Varaaha PuraaNam is the same

as the first naama in Brahmaanda Puraana version of Sri Venkatesa

Ashtottharam. Extensive commentary on the Brahmaanda Puranam

naama of Venkatesaaya Nama: is housed in the companion section:

http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/oppiliappan/sva

 

 

 

 

 

 

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