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tirukkOvalUr dEhaLISa

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usdeiva • August 1, 1997 


Ref: SrImAn V. Sadagopan's message of to-day.

I am glad he plans a posting on svAmi-dESikan's "dEhaLiSa-stuti"
dedicated to tirukkOvalUr AyanAr.   There are certain crucial places and
milestones in the 'sampradAyam' about the course of events leading to
our inheriting the unique 'aruLiccheyal' literature.

We all know that SrInAthamuni became aware of the corpus of
'aruLiccheyal' right in his own birth-place, kATTu-mannAr-kOyil
(vIra-nArAyaNa-puram).   This was possible when he received from the
pilgrims of mElkOTE/tiru-nArAyaNa-puram the 'key' to the sacred
literature, namely, the tiru-vAi-mozhi decad 'ArAvamudE' dedicated to
the divya-dESam tiruk-kutantai.   It was in AzhvAr-tirunagari that he
came into the complete aruLic-cheyal inheritance through the grace of
nammAzhvAr.  It was SrIrangam which became the cradle and greenhouse of
aruLic-cheyal.   To cap it all, it was in tiruk-kOvalUr that
aruLic-cheyal started getting revealed.

When one stands in the AyanAr (ulakaLanda perumAL) sannidhi in
tiruk-kOvalUr, the experience is one of indescribable awe which suggests
the strident (idam vishNur-vichakramE) macrocosmic aspect of the Lord.
The 'sthala-AchArya' is the tirukkOvalUr jIyar who is NOT a san-nyAsin
but a 'gr*hastha'.   The (ardha-SilA) sculpture marking the 'tiruvaraSu'
(tomb) of the kUtastha, the first jIyar, is something to admire for its
movement and realistic representation, and which is unlike the heavily
stylised and static sculptures we normally see in the temples.

TirukkOvalUr is one 'dEhaLi', and I wish to speak briefly about another
'dEhaLi' (the city of [New] Delhi) where I lived for 35 years.   An
eminent SrIvaishNava scholar and Sanskritist, Shri Krshna-datta
Bharadwaj [who has authored an excellent book on viSishTadvAitam], had
explained to me that Delhi acquired this name as it was marked out as
the passage-way from the Indian port-of-entry (dvArakA) to the
Indo-Gangetic plains of AryAvarta.   There are many vaishNava tit-bits
about Delhi city which I shall eventually share with the
bhAgavatOttamA-s of 'bhakti list'.

Meanwhile, all strength to the shoulders of Shri V. Sadagopan.

aDiyEn rAmAnujadAsan, T.S. Sundara Rajan.