Sri Srinivaasa Vaibhavam- NammAzhwAr's divine anubhavams- Thiruvaymozhi 3.3.7- Offer flowers, waters, dhoopam, deepam to Him... and be saved

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:

Dearest all,

 

Let us continue to enjoy AzhwArs wonderful verses on

Thiruvenkatamudiayaan.

 

BhakthAmrutham viswa janAnumodhanam

sarvArthatham Sri Satakopa Vaangmayam

sahasra SaakOpanishadh samAgamam

namAmyaham Draavida Vedha Saagaram

 

Meaning ): adiyEn salutes the ocean of Tamizh Vedam ,

which is of the form of Sri SaThakOpan's vaak

(speech/aruLiccheyalkaL). These are linked to the

thousand upanishads and includes in them all the deep

meanings (Taathparyams)of Tatthva-Hitha-PurushArthams

and artha Panchakam. They are nectar to the minds of

the devotees of Sriman NaarAyaNan and they enjoy it

with relish as aparyAthAmrutham [insatiable amirtham].

 

Today’s ThiruvEnkatam verse is: NammAzhwAr’s

Thiruvaaymozhi 3.3.7

 

sumanthu maamalar neersudar dheepamkoNdu,

amarnthu vaanavar vaanavar kOnodum,

namanRe zumthiru vEngadam nangatku,

saman_koL veedu tharumthadaNG kunRamE. 3.3.7

 

ThiruvEnkadam is the Mountain that can grant us

mOksham (the Ultimate for us); There only NitysUris.,

like Anantha, Garuda, Vishvaksenar come and pay

obeisance to Lord VenkatEsa; They hold the " PooraNa

kumbham " , offer most fragrant flowers, light deepam,

burn incense sticks / saambhraaNi during their prayers

to Venkata vaaNan;

 

AzhwAr says: in order to get the kaimkaryams that we

would like to do and serve; it is not necessary to ask

ThiruvEnkatamudaiyaan; even the mountain itself can

grant the same to us. Devas led by Devendran; and the

chief of Devas – chathurmukha brahmA et al come to

ThiruvEnkatam carrying most fragrant flowers, crystal

clear sacred waters, dheepam [lamps], dhoopam [incense

powder] etc., come to ThiruvEnkatam with lots of

preethi [love]. They are granted the kaimkaryam of

such nature. Thus those who aspire for celestial

wealth also come here and seek His grace and are

blessed with kaimkarya ruchi. Thus prayOjaanantha

parars also become paramaikAnthins by coming and

steeping into ThiruvEnkatam.

 

If we out of devotion and love, carry and bring the

flowers, waters, dhoopam and dheepam to tiruvEnkatam,

and offer them at the feet of ThiruvEnkatamudaiyaan,

the Lord considers them as the heaviest objects and

valuable ones offered by us and blesses us.

 

Here thus Nithyasuris as well Devas come carrying the

flowers, lamp and incense to offer to the Lord.

samankoL veedu tharum.. Thirumalai itself would grant

mOksham even. Paramam saamyamupaithi; thadankunRam-

Like chithrakoota malai, Thirumalai is also well laid

out and hence can house many…

 

When Sri InjimEttu Azhagiasingar and Sri Madhurantakam

Swamy were before Sri Parthasarathy’s sanctum

sanctorum for mangalasasanam, they had to wait for a

few minutes outside, as the Lord was adorning Himself

after tirumanjanam, perhaps trying to look His best to

the two mahAns who were awaiting His audience.

Noticing Srimad Azhagiasingar bearing in his hands the

rather heavy garland intended for Perumal, Sri

Madhurantakam Swamy requested the former to put down

the garland in a suitable place, till the sannidhi

opened for worship. With his usual smile, Srimad

Azhagiasingar replied, adiyen would rather carry this

garland, as this too is a form of kainkaryam, for

didn’t Sri Nammazhwar say, sumandu mAmalar....?

 

" patram pushpam phalam toyam yo me bhaktyA

prayacchati|

tadaham bahktyupahr*tam aSnAmi prayatAtmanah

||(gItA 9.16)

 

" If a devotee offers to me a mere leaf, flower, fruit,

or water with sincere devotion and love, I accept it

as invaluable treasure. "

 

[sri Velukkudi Krishnan in one of his upanyasams

said:] Be it any flower, it is the bhakti with which

it is to be submitted that matters. Tirumangai azhwar

in his tirumozhi states " kaLLAr tuzhAyum kanavalarum

koovilayum mullAr mulariyum Ambalum mun kandakkal

pullAi Or EnamAi putkidandAn ponnadikkenru ullAdAr

ullathai ullamAkkoLLomE. " He has listed adhama pushpa,

madhyama pushpa and uttama pushpa. Anything would do.

As Gitacharya says " patram pushpam phalam tOyam yO mE

bhaktyA prayacchati ..' Any flower - it need not be

costly. There is an itihyam here : Nanjeeyar asked

Bhattar ( his acharya) - " In the sastras it is said

that kantakarika pushpam should not be used for the

Lord. If the Lord accepts any flower (as per azhwar),

then why does the sastra ban one flower. Bhattar

replied " it is not because the Lord does not want it.

But kantakArika plant would be full of thorns. Lord

cannot tolerate a bhakta being wounded by the thorns

when he goes to pluck the flowers. So in HIS love

towards his bhakta, the Lord banned the flower

itself. " Can any other match this quality of Sriman

Narayana It is the bhakti that counts and not the

quality of flowers.

 

Andal says " toomalar toovi thozhudu " nammazhwar says

" soottu nanmalaigal tooyana endi " What do these great

souls refer to as " tooymai " (blemishlessness)for

flowers. That which is submitted to the Lord, without

expecting anything in return from him. This is called

" madi tadavadu soru " in our sampradayam. We invite a

guest for lunch. Lunch is over. When the guest leaves

- if we search his pocket to find whether he has

brought anything for us in return of the lunch we

offered - that is the same as expecting something from

the Lord in return to the flowers we offered. Then

they are flowers with blemishes.

 

AzhwAr ThiruvaDigaLE saraNam

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan