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Mani Varadarajan • March 7, 2000 


Dear Members,

Those of you who receive the bhakti-list as a digest, please
read on. Those of you who don't, please ignore this message.

It appears that one digest was not sent out between last Sunday
and Monday, due to some bug in the new egroups.com software.  

I am working on making sure this doesn't happen again, but in
the meantime, attached are the three articles that I think you
missed.

--------------------------------------------------------

Subject 1: DhanyAs, by A. Bharat
Subject 2: Onwards to ThirunArAyaNapuram from Kanchipuram, by V. Sadagopan
Subject 3: Nine forms of Lord Narasimha Swamy in Ahobilam, by Anand Vangipuram 

--------------------------------------------------------

From: "A.Bharat" 
To: bhakti-list@egroups.com
Subject: DhanyAs
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2000 18:41:55 +0530

Dear BhAgavatOttamas,

It quite often occurs that when one is reading
something and suddenly comes across something
interesting,on the same day one sees a similar
reference at another place!

ADiyEn was going through the "SIlamillA cchiriyanElum"
stanza (4.7.1) of SwAmi NammAzhwAr and its absolutely 
delectable Eedu when the following explanation caught 
aDiyEn's eye:

Quoting Sita's Sundara kAnDa wail ,"Tam padma dala
patrAksham.......dhanyAh paSyanti me nAtham" Swami
NambiLLai in his inimitable language says-
 "she says- the whole country is looting
my belongings!"(i.e.,all of them are able to gaze
at his lotus eyes and leaf-colured body-they are
indeed fortunate-unlike me!).

Here the Arumbada Jeeyar asks the question: in the
VAlmIki text it is said that only Dhanyas gaze at
him ;so how could SwAmi Nambillai translate it as
"the whole country"?

And answers: the intention of Sita(and VAlmIki)is
to say " any one
who gazes at my Lord is Dhanya";so the adjective
applies to the whole KOsala country.

And within hours of reading this beautiful explanation
aDiyen received in the latest Digest Sri Sadagopan's
most entrancing series on his travels and THERE while
detailing SwAmi DESikan's anubhavam of the Lord of
Hastigiri he says:
---------------------------------------------------------
Swamy Desikan salutes the Bhaagavatha GhOshti assembled
to have His sevai and declares that these BhagavathAs
are dhanyAs ( the blessed Ones ) :

" Varadha Tava vilOkayanthi DhanyA : "
---------------------------------------------------------

Obviously here also SwAmi NambiLLai's perception holds
good.Any one who is fortunate enough to gaze on the
HastiSaila Lord is a Dhanya!

And so are we all who get this daily opportunity to
participate vicariously in Sri Sadagopan's travels
and share his anubhavam.

Sri EmberumAnAr tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam!


From: Sadagopan 
To: bhakti-list@egroups.com
Subject: Onwards to ThirunArAyaNapuram from Kanchipuram: Sixth day of
 the Journey towards AchArya RaamAnujA , Feb 10 , 2000
Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 09:36:15 -0500 (EST)

SrimathE RaamAnujAya Nama:

Dear BhakthAs :

Prior to leaving PerumAL Koil at Kaanchipuram ,
there were two more stops .One was at Sri Sudarsanar
Sannadhi at the banks of Anantha Saras , where 
the archai of Moolavr Varahdan is resting under
water in a special temple .That sacred archai is 
prsented to all BhakthAs every fourty (?) years .

SudarsanAzhwAn's archA silai is awe inspiring 
to behold . The slOka Vaakyams from Swamy Desikan's 
profound SudarsanAshtakam went through my mind :

"praharaNagrAma maNDitha , Parijana thrANa paNDitha
 Jaya Jaya Sri Sudarsana , Jaya Jaya Sri Sudarsana "

Lord Sudarsanan shining resplendently as Hethi Raajan
and nEmi Naathan on the right hand of Lord VaradarAjan
is indeed PraharaNa grAma MaNDithan ( One who is 
beautified by the assembly of weapons adorning His
sixteen hands ); He is indeed Parijana ThrANa PaNDithan
( The expert in protecting His adiyavars like AmbharIshan ).

The dhAyana slOkam was then reflected upon:

sankham chakram chApam parasu-
  masimishum soola paasaankusAsthram 
BhibhrANam vajrakhEDou hala musala-
  gadhA kuntham athyugra dhamshtram I
jwAlA kEsam thri-nEthram jwaladh-
  anala-nibham haara-kEyUra bhUsham
dhyAyEth shaDkONa samastham 
  sakala ripu jana prANa samhAra Chakram  II

The Sixteen weapons adorning the hands of
Lord Sudarsanan is saluted here and He is
visualized for meditation purposes as 
being inside the yanthram of six corners
made up of two intersecting triangles in
the dynamic Prathi-mukhAAleetam posture , where
one foot is forward and the other behind to rush
to our rescue. With the tall flames as His
hair , he is ready to destroy the enemies of 
BhagavathAs .

Sudarsana Prabhu is PraNathArthihara prabhu
and is able to destroy the enemies of the Lord
with His hoomkAram alone . The darsanam of Him 
in consecrated temples like at Kaanchi ,KumbakONam
and Srirangam burns away all paapams :

"hoomkAra Bhairavam bheemam PraNathArhtiharam prabhum 
 Sarva paapa prasamanam PRAPADHYEHAM SUDARSANAM "
-- Sri SudarsanAshtakam : Verse 5

In the Sudarsana) Kavaacham , Ahirbhudhnyan
( Lord Sivan) is the Rishi ; the chandhas is
anushtup ; the empowering Lord is Sri Sudarsana-
MahA Nrusimhan ; The sakthi is Sudarsanam ; 
the viniyOgam is " mama sarva rakshArhtE 
Sri Sudarsana-Purusha-Sri Nrusimha PreethyarthE
japE viniyOga: " 

Thus , there is no Sudarsanan without Lord Narasimhan .
We had the darsanam of Lord Narasimhan next in 
that Sudarsana-Narasimha Vigraham at this
sannidhi . Here , Lord Narasimhan has four chakrams
in His four hands . That (Four Chakrams)is also the emblem
of Lord Kesavan in Panniru ThirunAmam . When we
adorn the ThirumaNN on our forehead first , we say 
"KesavAya Nama: , Chathuschakram NamasyAmi
Kesavam Kanaka Prabham " for our protection 
of the Sri VaishNava Sri. That is why , we also say 
"KesavA " and invoke His name sanctified by 
the four chakrams in four dirctions , when we 
step out of our residences on important occasions.

On the  ArchA Vigraham , One can have the darsanam
of the dwAdasa Moorthis fitting Sriman NaarAyaNA's
twelve ThirunAmams( Kesavan, NaarayaNan , Madhavan ,
Govindhan , VishNu , Madhusoodhanan, Thrivikraman,
Vaamanan , Sridharan ,HrishIkEsan , PadhmanAbhan
and DhAmOdharan ). The Uthsavar has 8 weapons 
in His 8 hands compared to th 16 weapons adorning the 
sixteen hands of Moolavar, Sudarsana-Nrusimhan .  

The related prayer to Sudarsana-Narasimhan 
in Sri Sudarsana Kavacham is:

" Sudarsana NrusimhO mE Sareeram paathu sarvadhA ".
(May the Sudarsana-Nrusimhan protect this body
of mine always to make it fit for His AarAdhanam).

There were many beautiful and big Sudarsana-
Nrusimha SaaLagrAmams at this Sannidhi .We left
after this eye-filling sevai of Sudarsanar 
to AchArya RaamAnujA Sannidhi in the North West(?) 
section of the Temple of Sri VaradharAjan .

AchArya RaamAnujA's anugraham
*******************************

The puNyam from completing the AchArya 
RaamAnujA and His satAri Kaimkaryam with
the help of all BhakthAs propelled us perhaps 
to His Sannidhi. There , the life-like Moolavar
sitting in the company of all AzhwArs blessed us.
Earlier adiyEn mentioned that the archakar at 
Sri PerumbhUthUr RaamAnujA's Sannidhi presented
the KhAshAyam from the ThirumEni of Udayavar
to clothe the SatAri during its journey to Melkote.

Another miracle happened here at Kaaanchi. 
The Archakar at Udayavar Sannidhi presented 
another khAshAya vasthram adorning the upper
torso of the Moolavar and gave it to us to
house the navarathna SatAri. It was such a spontaneous 
act on the archakar's part , which can only be
understood as originating from the grace of 
our AchArya Saarvabhouman , who gave us Sri Bhaashyam.
Mudali AaNDAn (Sri RaamAnuja SatAri) -on his
way to ThiunArAyaNapuram to join His AchAryan 
at His sannidhi- was thus fully housed in 
the divine warmth of His AchAryan's ochre robes 
from SriperumbhUthUr ( His AchAryan's place of birth)
and Kaanchipuram ( His AchAryan's dhivya desam ,
where He entered into SanyAsAsramam ).

Thus started the Journey to ThirunArAyanapuram 
by plane and car from Chennai to Melkote with 
the satAri having the sambhandham of many 
EmperumAns , EmperumAnAr and AchArya PurushAs 

At Melkote ,adiyEn was the guest of Dr.Lakshmi ThaathAchAr
Swamy , the Director of the Melkote Sanskrit
Academy .He belongs to the Thaatha Desika Vamsam
as well as Thirumalai ANDAn PiLLai Vamsam ,
which has the distinction of performing 
Pushpa Kaimkaryam to lord SrinivAsan at Thirumalai
at the behest of AchArya RaamAnujA .Dr. M.A.Alwar ,
the Naveena NyAyam expert teaching this topic as a faculty
at the Mysore Sanskrit College and adiyEn's
partner in the AchArya RaamAnujA CD ROM project
is the son of Dr.Lakshmi ThaathAchAr Swamy . Not enough
can be said about the saathvic nature of this family,
their unfailing hospitality to the visitors to Melkote ,
and their tradition of Scholarship in ubhaya VedAntham.

AdiyEn will write in the next few postings about :

(1) The time spent at the Sanskrit Academy  in 
    the company of Sri Lakshmi ThAthAchAr Swamy
    after the first sevai of Lord ThirunArAyaNan 
    and Udayavar ( Feb 10 , the sixth day of the navAham).

(2) The Morning of Consecration of the SatAri 
    for AchArya RaamAnujA at the Yaaga SaalA 
    prior to travel of the satAri to His sannidhi
    and the afternoon visit to Jna~napirAN Sannidhi 
   ( the sixteen feet Moolavar of Sri Lakshmi Varahan
    from HoysaLA times enshrined in ekAntham at  
    a tiny hamlet outside Melkote) and conversations 
    with a great Sri VaishNavite scholar ,Kotthimangalam 
    Sri VaradAchAr Swamy (February 11 and the seventh day 
    of the NavAham). 
    
(3) The visit to Srirangapattinam on the Ratha Sapthami
    day and additional visits to some of the Pancha
    NaarAyaNa KshEthrams close to ThoNDanUr , which
    were constructed by Mudali ANDAn at the request
    of AchArya RaamAnujA to spread the glorious
    message of Sri VaishNavam in His adopted land 
    of KarnAtakA ( February 12th and the eighth 
    day of the NavAham ). AchArya RaamAnujA's 900th
    anniversary of entrance to Melkote was celebrated
    few months ago at Melkote by the Sanskrit Academy
    and the Sri Vaishnava AchArya Kulams .

Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan 
 
From: "Anand Vangipuram" 
To: bhakti-list@egroups.com
Subject: Nine forms of Lord Narasimha Swamy in Ahobilam
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2000 07:12:25 PST

Dear Bhakti List Members:

This is a continuation from yesterday's discussion.

6.	Chatravata Narasimha Swamy
Near Karanjia Narasimha Swamy shrine, uder the shade
of the great Chatravata tree, is located the temple of
Chatravata Narasimha Swamy.  It has a six-pillared Mukha
Mandapa in front of the sanctum.  The pillars have square
adhistanas and bear bas-reliefs of Sri Narasimha Swamy,
Anjaneya, etc.  The deity carved out of black basaltic
stone is very beautiful.  The Lord is seated in Padmasana
pose.  The two upper right and left hand holds abhaya hasta
and kati hata poses, placed on the waist and the left thigh,
respectively.  Various decorations on the Lord as well
Yagnopavitam are clearly seen.  This is perhaps the most
beautiful and well preserved idol Ahobilam.


To be continued...

The credit for the information provided herein should be
given to "Sapthagiri" which is a Tirumala Tirupati
Devasthanams Publication.  The original article was written
by Acharya Komanduri Ranga of Stillwater, OK.

adiyen rAmAnuja dAsan,
Venkata Yatiraj Anand

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