Search:
Bhakti List Archives

Thirumala / Thiruvarangam

From the Bhakti List Archives

vasan • August 4, 1998 


I am thankful to Sri. Dileepan for having this discussion on the Lords of
Thirumala, Thiruvarangam, and others. Although, I must admit that my first
impression was that this discussion would cause more heartaches, I am
pleasantly surprised that it is only improving the quest for knowledge. In
this regards, I thought I would add my two cents of worth.
I am glad Sri.Mani views this from Sri.Ramanujacharya's viewpoint. Isn't it
true that when our Paramacharya was making a trip to Thirumala, he refused
to climb the seven hills of Thirumala, since he thought he was not pure
enough to make the trip and instead preferred to stay at the foothills,
which houses all our azhwars. It was only after a good bit of convincing
that he agreed to climb the seven hills. Does this mean that the Lord of
Thirumalai is higher than others, since, he (Sri Ramanuja) did not hesitate
when it came to visiting other divyadesams. Somehow, we tend to forget that
but for  Varaha Perumal, Thiruvenkatan would not be in Thirumalai. Does
this mean that if an azhwar sang in praise of Thiruvenkatan, he was
indirectly singing the praise of Varaha perumal? So, that must count as
twice as much, compared to other Perumals!
Now, on the other hand, our picture of the Lord of SriVaikuntam, is the
reclining posture, the anantha sayanam. So, this would mean that the Lord
of Thiruvarangam is higher than Thiruvenkatan.
>From my limited knowledge of the Divya Prabhandams, the single best
description of the Lord came from Thirupannazhwar. Although, the azhwar
refers to Thiruvenkatan as he starts in his praise of Sri Ranganathan, he
describes every aspect of this perumal so vividly and well, that it brings
tears to one's eyes. I am not sure if  Perumals at other Divyadesams have
been equally praised, from toe to head (literally)?
All these discussions only reinforce my happiness and joy that I am but an
extremely insignificant part of this Sampradayam, which can not be
described in words, but only experienced.
I sincerely thank all of u, in putting up with all the gibberish.. Please,
forgive me if I have wrongly misinterpreted.
srinivasan.