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The Foreword for Sri VenakatEsA Home Pages

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • January 13, 2000 


Dear BhakthAs :

Today is the day before BhOgi Pandigai.
Today is the day of " SiRRam SiRukAlE
vanthunnai Sevitthu , Unn PoRRAmarai
adiyE poRRum poruL kELAi" ThiruppAvai 
dinam . The team that is creating the home
pages for Thirumalai-appan is rushing towards 
completion of the work towards the next
phase release on Makara sankarAnthi day . 
The recent postings that You all saw about
Sri VenkatEsa Prapatthi, MangaLam and
SthOthram are SamarpaNams for those 
home pages , which will contain exquisite 
images of the Lord assembled by Sri haresh
Balasubramanyan of Simhapuri .

AdiyEn is sure that these home pages will 
grow and delight the SrinivAsa BhakthAs .
Today , I am having the prerelease of 
the textual section of the Foreword 
for these home pages .We will provide 
more particulars on makara SankarAnthi day
about other contents.
Daasan , OppilA-appan Koil SadagOpan

 
   SRI VENKATESA VAIBHAVAM
   ************************

Thirumalai SrinivAsan is a timeless treasure
for human beings everywhere . His vaibhavam has 
been celebrated by the ten AzhwArs through 205 
exquisite paasurams . His anantha KalyaNa guNams 
have been saluted by a host of AchAryAs belonging
to Vaidhika Mathams .Many great NadhOpAsakAs
like ANNamAcharyA , Purandara DaasA ,
Mutthuswamy Dikshithar , Saint ThyagarAjA 
sat at the holy feet of the Lord and 
offered gems of krithis as Naama KusumAnjalis.

AzhwAr's moving Tributes
**************************
Ten out of the twelve AzhwArs with the exception of
ThoNdaradippodi and Madhura Kavi have performed
their MangaLAsAsanams through 205 exquisite Paasurams
brimming with Bhakthi and Bhagavath anubhavam . 
The number of paasurams associated with each of 
the ten AzhwArs are: Thirumangai:62 , NammAzhwAr:54 ,
PEy AzhwAr :19 , ANDAL:16 , Thirumazhisai:15 ,
KulasEkarar:11 , Poygai:10, Bhutham:9 ,
PeriyAzhwAr:7 and ThiruppANar 2 in a Prabhandham
devoted mostly to Sri RanganAthan . 

PEy AzhwAr's Vandhanams
*************************
The AzhwArs celebrated the exquisite ,
indescribable beauty ( avAngh mansa kOchara
soukumAryam ) of the Lord of Thirumalai. 
PEy AzhwAr saw Him seated inside his 
heart space and declared " uLLatthin uLLE
uLaN -- kaNDai nannenjE " (svacchandha 
Hrudhaya sadhanan). Elsewhere in his
MoonRAm ThiruvandhAthi , PEy Azhwar 
explained to us that Sri VaikunTam and 
Thiruppatthi are one and the same ( ThirumAl
VaikunthamE TaNN Thiru VenkatamE). 

Poygai AzhwAr's salutations
****************************
Poygai AzhwAr revealed to us that ThiruvEnkatam
is the most endearing dhivya dEsam for Sriman
NaarAyaNan ( VenkatamE VeNN sankham Oothiya Vaai 
Maal uhanthavoor ). There , the Lord destroys
the ancient sins of ours and blesses the devotees
with anugrahams such a sIsvaryam, Kaivalyam and
Moksham ( ThozhuvAr manacchudarai nathuvikkum
VenkatamE). AzhwAr enjoyed the true svarUpam of
the Lord of Seven hills as insatiable nectar 
( athrupthi amrutha roopan/aparyApthAmruthan).  

BhUthatthAzhwAr's tribute
**************************
The third of the first triad of AzhwArs
explained to us that the worshippers of 
Sri VenkatEsan attain the state of exquisite
equalibrium between Sukhams and Dukkams 
as Sthitha Praj~nAs as attested by GeethAchAryan
( sama dukka sukam dhIram sOmruthathvAya kalpathE).
AzhwAr asks us to recite and reflect on the 1000
names of the Lord for our salvation as we climb up
the seven hills to offer our worship at His lotus
feet( -MaNi Venkatavn malar adikkE sella aNi
Venkatavan pEr aaynthu ). 

Thirummzhisai AzhwAr's celebration 
***********************************
Thirumazhisai at one time could not find 
the sacred clay ( ThirumaNN) for wearing 
and Lord VenkatEsA appeared in his dream and showed 
the place , where ThirumaNN was available 
for this Parama VaishNavan . Thirumazhisai
asked us to reach the sacred feet of 
the Lord at ThiruvEnkatam and attain 
salvation ( Venkatam adaintha Maal
paadhamE adhianthu naaLUm uyyminE).

PeriyAzhwAr's enjoyment of the Lord
************************************
As YasOdhA pirAtti , AzhwAr enjoyed 
the Baala kreetais of Govindhan and
performed Govindha Naama Sankeethanam
at Thirumalai.The adhbutha rasa varNanam
filled paasurams of PeriyAzhwAr are exquisite.
AzhwAr invited the Baala GopAlan , who was 
running away from him to come near him :
" Vedap PoruLE Yenn VenkatavA VitthahanE
inghe pOtharAyE " ( Oh my child , the essence 
of Veda manthrams !Oh clever one ! Oh VenkatEsA !
Please do not run away from me . Please come
near me ).In another of his moving paasurams ,
PeriyAzhwAr reveals his special blessings 
that made it possible for him to store to
his heart's content the auspicious VenkatEsa
tatthvam just as filling a pot with the nectar
churned out of the milky ocean .

ANDAL's love for ThiruvEnaktamudayAn
*************************************
Her father adored the Lord as his son,
Baala KrishNan .ANDAL adored the Lord as 
Her bridegroom .She begged the nightingale
in Her garden to sing and call for the Lord's
arrival at Her side ( KuyilE! Thenn Venaktavan
varak koovAyE ). Her prayer to the clouds rushing
towards Thiruvenkatam was to let the Lord know
of Her sufferings from separation form Her Lord
and to intercede on Her behalf for union with Him.
She prayed to Kaama devan and begged him to unite
Her with the JyothisvarUpa ChakrapANi at ThiruvEnkatam . 
Her exquisite anubhavam of SamslEsha Aanandham
(Bliss out of union with Her Lord) and VislEsha
dukkham ( Pangs of sorrow over separation from Him ) 
and the undescribable joy rsulting from Her insepaerable
union with Him are described beautifully by Her 
in the exquisite verses of NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi.

KulasEkara AzhwAr's prayers 
****************************
This king of Kolli dEsam begged the Lord to bless 
him with the anugraham of being any thing , sentient
or otherwise, in the Lord's hills so that he can be 
near the Lord to enjoy Him . 

ThiruppANar's links to Sri VenkatEsan
**************************************
In his AmalanAdhipirAn prabhandham , 
BhaNa Naathan decides to enoy the beauty
of Lord RanganAthA from His lotus feet
(Kamala Paatham ) to His crown . In the very
first verse itself , Sri Venkatesan 
squeezes in for MangaLAsAsanam :
"--vimalan ViNNavarkkOn VirayAr Pozhil
VENAKTAVAN ". In the third paasuram ,
BhaaNa Naathan makes a passing salutation to
the Lord of seven hills : " manthi paayi
Vada Venkata Maamalai " and recognizes 
the sacredness of the mighty mountains ,
which are purified by the sambhandham 
with Lord VenkatesA.

Thirumangai's multi-faceted Tributes
**************************************
AzhwAr takes on the role of ParakAla Naayaki
and begs for the Lord's love ( ThiruvEnkata
PoruppA ! ninn kaathalai aruL yenakku).
She appeals to Her mind to reach Thiruvenkatam
 -TeLLiyAr VaNangum malai ThiruvEnakatamadai
nenjE ). AzhwAr salutes the Lord as the conferrer
of Bhakthi , Mukthi , while He resides as
AntharAtma svarUpi ( Bhakthi Mukthi pratha
daharAkAsam).AzhwAr salutes the bliss conferring ,
pervasive lotus feet of the Lord standing 
eternally on top of the venkatam hills 
( sathatham akhaNda SacchidhAnandham ,
Moksha SaamrAjya pratha CharaNAravindham ).

Thirumangai appalingly converses with 
the Lord and tells Him that as a lowliest 
one , he has arrived at ThiruvEnkatam 
with a longing to have the darsanam of the Lord 
( unaik kANpathOr aasayinAl --nAyEn vanthadainthEn).
AzhwAr describes to the Lord the samsAric 
afflictions that he faced and his travails and 
begs the Lord to bless Him ( alanthEn, vanthu
adianthEn, ADIYAANAI AATKKONDU ARULE ).AzhwAr 
describes his total dependence (ananya gathithvam)
on the Lord of seven hills and appeals movingly
to the Lord to remove his unbearable sufferings
(aNNA ! adiyEn idaraikkaLayAyE -- Venkatamaamalai
mEya Aayan adi allaathu maRRaRiyEnE ).

NammAzhwAr's SaraNAgathi at ThiruvEnkatam
*******************************************
NammAzhwAr presented 54 paasurams at the sacred
feet of ThiruvEnaktamudayAn and performed His
Prapatthi at those lotus feet of the Lord. In
one paasuramof Periya ThiruvandhAthi , AzhwAr
revealed that Sri Venkatesan stays in his 
heart permanently ( --NediyAn uLL puhunthu
neengAn adiyEn uLLatthaham ). In Thiruviruttham ,
AzhwAr transforms himself into PadmAvathi 
ThAyAr and tightly questions the Lord about
His intent .Then Azhwar takes on the role
of parAnkusa Naayaki and describes her 
sufferings over sepaeration (VislEsham)
from her Lord .ParAnkusa Naayaki sends
the clouds as messengers to Her Lord 
to unite her with Him . In ThiruvAimozhi's
sixth decad , the Mother of ParAnkusa 
Naayaki (in Kaliyan's words) describes
the immense injustices made by the :Lord
of ThiruvEnkatam (Kattezhil sOlai nall
VenkatavANan) to her dear daughter .ParAnkusa
Naayaki could not take in the condemnation 
of the Lord by Her mother and explains 
to Her mother and friends that the Lord
is " aaRRA nall vahai kaatum AmmAn ,
mEvi ninRu thozhuvAr vinai poha mEvum 
PirAn " and celebrates Him with MahA ViswAsam.
Naayaki begs the Lord to reveal when She will
reach His sacred feet ( ThiruvenkatatthAnE ! 
unn paadham sErvathadiyEN yennALE ?). 
The Lord accedes to the moving prayr of 
NammAzhwAr and blesses him with Prapatthi
anugraham and the AzhwAr bursts forth 
in joy and thanks the Lord for granting 
the greatest boon through the most famous
SaraNAgathi Paasuram (AhalahillEniuRayum yenRu
AlarmElmagai uRai maarbhA !). Through another 
famous paasuram , he enjoins us to join in
performing nithya kaimkaryam to the Lord of
ThiruvEnkatam ( Ozhivil KaalamellAm udanAi
manni, vazhuvila adimai seyya vENDum naam ,
--yezhil koLL sOthi Yenthai Tanthai TanthaikkE).

The ruchi from the enjoyment of the aanandhAnubhava 
paasurmas of the Ten AzhwArs on ThiruvEnkatamudayAN 
reminds us of the famous Upanishadic Paasage 
in TaittirIyam :" yadh vai sukrutham, rasO vai 
saha: rasamhEvAyam labdhvA aanandhI bhavathi "
( This which was self-manifested--that is verily sweet .
For only after perceiving this sweet can anyone 
experience Bliss. Who could breathe if that Bliss
/ parabrahmam  existed not in the daharAkAsam ? 
For that Bliss alone causes Blessedness) .  

To Be continued...