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From the Bhakti List Archives

Parthasarati Dileepan • December 19, 1996 


At 04:13 AM 12/19/96 GMT, Badri wrote from Madras:
>
>moovulakum eeradiyaan muRain^irambaa vakaimudiyath
>thaaviya sEvadi sEppath thambiyodum kaanpOndhu
>sO_araNum pOrmadiyath thollilangai kattazhiththa
>sEvakan_seer kELaatha sevi_enna seviyE
>thirumaal_seer kELaatha sevi_enna seviyE!
>
>Guess the work and the author.


Off and on there have been claims about the deity in ThiruvEngadam being
other than Lord Vishnu.  Even during Sri Ramanuja's time there seems to
have been some dispute about this.  The author of the above verse, "IlAngO
AdigaL", a Jain who is at least 300 years before Sri Ramanuja's time, sings
about ThiruvEngadam in the same work "Silappathikaaram" thus:

"...pagai aNangu aazhium, pAl veN sangamum,
thagai peRu thaamaraik kaiyin Endhi,
nalangiLar Aram maarbiR pooNdu,
polam poo Adaiyin polindhu thOnRiya,
sengaN nediyOn ninRa vaNNamum..."

There cannot be any doubt.  Here Ilango mentions "pagai aNangu aazhi" and
paalveN sangu" are worn in His hands "kaiyin Endhi".  Yet, it seems the
deity did not have these weapons at the time of Sri Ramanuja!?

The verse Badri quotes should be familiar to those who have heard MS's
"Vadavaraiyai maththaakki".


Thanks, Dileepan


-- Dileepan