VYUHA LAKSHMI

From the Bhakti List Archives

• June 21, 1999


 
   SrImatE rAmAnujAya namah.

  Dear BhAgavatas,
         
      namaskArams.
 
  Thanks to Smt Praveena Anand for her references to mahA dEvI (Periya
pirAtti) in her series of postings on  the vaibhavam of SrI  dESikar.
PirAtti on Lord's chest is also known as "vyUha lakshmI".

  vArAha purANa refers to the two-handed vyUha lakhmI seated on BhagavAn's
chest in "baddha padmAsana" posture, in the following SlOka:
  
 dvibhujA vyUha lakhmIh syAt baddha padmAsana sthitA
 SrInivAsAnga madhyasthA sutarAm kESava priyA

SrI rAmAnuja consecrated the image of vyUha lakshmI on Lord VEnkatESwara's
chest on the day of Sukla dwAdaSI, Friday, uttara phalguNI nakshatram.
Astrologically it was known as "ratna manajarikA yOgam", a very
auspicious timing. This was done for the exponential growth of the
mahaiSwaryam of BhagavAn.

Te priests of the temple had been daily performing abhishEkam to Lord
VEnkatESwara. BhagavadrAmAnuja thought that this would hamper otherother
kainkaryams to be introduced.

VaikhAnasa Agama, Ananda samhitA says:
 
kincha lakshmyabhishEkastu vAsarE bhArgavE harEh
sAnnidhya kArI satatam sarva sampatpradAyakah

R T: Doing abhishEkam of lakhsmI draws the
ArAdhaka closer to BhagavAn and
brings in all kinds of riches.

BhagavadrAmAnuja made it a rule that abhishEkam be performed to BhagavAn
every Friday only. After BhagavAn's abhishEkam, alarmEl managai descends
from His divya vakshassthalam for Her Tirumanajanam. But She can't
tolerate His viSlEsham even for a while (ahalahillEn iRaiyumenRu ...). So
bhagavadrAmAnuja thought it appropriate to recite nAcchiyAr Thirumozhi
which eals with the same topic. Since then this prabandham of gOdA dEvI is
recited during the Thirumanajanam of ThyAyAr.

  (From Thirumalai ozhugu)
                  
                    SrI bhU nIlA sahita SrI VEnkatESAya namah.
                           
                             dAsan
                            Vishnu