Sri VaradarAjan "s MangalAsAsanam

From the Bhakti List Archives

• December 6, 1997


Dear Sri Satish Bukkapattnam :

You raise an important question on the AzhwArs
mangaLAsAsanam of AtthiyUrAn in divya prabhandham . 
This issue has baffled a lot of devotees of Sri Varadhan . 

First of all there are 7 paasurams , where the Lord of 
Atthigiri at Kaanchipuram ( Kacchi ) has been saluted by 
three AzhwArs {Thirumangai (4) , BhUtham (2) and pEy (1)} . 

The references are as follows :

Thirumangai : 

1 . periya Thirumozhi : 6.10.4 -- KallAr mathiL soozh 
kacchi nagaruL --- yellA ulahum vaNanga virundhavammAn 
nAmam sollil namO nArAyaNamE ( ThirunarayUr series ) 

2. ThirukkurmthAndakam : paasuram 19 ;

---kacchi pEr mallai yenru mandinnAr , 
uyyalallAl maRRaiyArkkuyyalAmE 

3 & 4 :. ThirunedumthAndakam : 9 & 15 pasurams 

3 : vangatthAl maamaNi vanthundhu munneer 
        mallayAi MATHIL KACCHIURAAI -----

4.  kallurntha nedumathiL soozh KacchimEya --

5 & 6 : Second ThiruvandhAthi : 95& 96-- BhUthatthAr

5 . --- ulahEtthum aazhiyAn atthiyUrAn

6. atthiyUrAn puLLai oorvAn -----

7 . Third ThiruvandhAthi : Paasuram 26 of pEy AzhwAr 

sirandhaven sinthayum , senkaNNaravum 
niraindha seer neeL KacchiuLLum , - urainthathuvum--

Mudal AzhwAr's paasurams have great depth of meanings .

Swami Desikan understood the  references to the five forms
of the Lord of Kaanchi ( Kacchi) and elaborated on that 
doctrine in many of his Sanskrit , Tamil and MaNipravALam
works . He performed SaraNAgathi to the Lord of Kaanchi
thru nyAsa Dasakam and Adaikkala patthu verses .

I will send by separate mail the recent postings on
Adaikkalap patthu ( two parts ) , which cover the 
deep salutations of Swami Desikan 
a la the seven verses of the 3 AzhwArs cited above .
Those postings will appear in the SaraNAgathi 
Journal 1.8 issue today .
 
Thirukkacchi Nambhi , AlavandhAr , RaamAnujA ,
 AppuLLAr , KuREsA  , Vaatsya VaradAchAr  ,
Sudarsana Soori , MaNavALa Maamuni and other 
AchAryAs  have more than made up for the lack of 
numbers of AzhwAr Paasurams thru their affiliation 
with PerumAL Koil ( Kanchi ) and their sthuthis . 
 The broader doctrines related to Sri VaradarAjA are  
embedded in ThiruvAimozhi , whenever NammAzhwAr 
salutes antharyAmi Brahman , Vyuha mUrthys 
and VibhavAthArams and Para VaasudEva svarUpam 
following the tradition of Mudal AzhwArs . 

One of the explanations given for the paucity of paasurams
on VaradarAjan is associated with Guhai Narasimhan of
Kaanchi , whom we worship first before worshipping 
the Lord on Atthigiri . This is because of His status as
the Adhimurthy of this sthalam and BrahmA sought 
His permission to build the yaj~na vEdhi on 
the hillock revered today as Hasthigiri  or Atthigiri . 
The Lord appeared under PuNyakOti VimAnam 
from that Yaj~na Vedhi . 

Many feel however  that all the AzhwAr's
mangaLAsAsanam is to Sri Guhai Narasimha Bhagavan 
of Kacchi . The situation is similar to the Varaha PerumAL
residing at  His temple on the banks of Swami PushkaraNee at
Thirumalai , where He has precedence over Sri Thirumalaiappan 
alias Timmappan alias VenkatAchalapathi alias 
SEsghAdri Sekhara Vibhu alias ThiruvEnkatamudayAn .
We worship Him first before going inside the sanctum 
of yEzhumalaiappan .
 
V.Sadagopan