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Oppiliappan : The Matchless Veda NaarAyaNan: part 2

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Sadagopan • September 20, 1998 


VEDA NAARAYANAN OF THIRUVINNAGAR
********************************* 

1 .OUR SAMPRADHAYAM:
******************** 

Sri Bhagavadh RaamAnuja SampradhAyam 
of ours is one , which is the celebrated sampradhAyam 
rooted in the four Vedams ;further , it is the sampradhAyam 
that pays homage to the Chidachidh Visishta Brahmam , 
who is none other than Sri Vaikuntanaathan of ThiruviNNagar
saluted by NammAzhwAr , Thrumangai and PeyAzhwAr with 47 pasurams.

Our sampradhAyam is the glorious one which identifies
"thuyar theerkkum ThuzhAi ThirumudiyAn " as the One who 
blesses us to ascend the archirAdhi maargam to His parama- 
padham in the nithya VibhUthi . Swami Desikan salutes these 
blessings and says that through those blessings , He points 
the way for us to reach paramapadham thru the nine steps of 
the divine ladder ( vaan yERum vazhi kaNDOm ) . 

2.KSHETRA MAHIMAI
******************
ThiruviNNagar is the Kshethram , where we we dip in
the pure, sweet and cool waters ( vimala -madhura -
seethalam) of AhOrAthri PushariNi and offer our worship to
AkAsa Nagareesan in the middle of His TuLasee Vanam 
to get rid of all of our samsaric sorrows .MahA Bharatham
states that those , who have not overcome the desires for
vishaya sukhams can not reach AkAsa Nagaram (na tathra mUDA:
gacchanthi purushA: vishayAthmakA :) .The Saama Veda manthram
which forms the basis for this thought is as follows :

pavithram tE vithatham brahmaNaspatE
prabhurgAthrANi paryEshi visvatha: I
atapthanUrnam tadhAmO asnutE sruthAsa 
idh vahantha: sam tadhAsatha II 
   
(Meaning) : O Supreme Lord ! O Master of the Vedas! 
Vast is Thy pure knowledge. O Lord of Lords! Thou 
pervadest all physical bodies .A baddha jeevan devoid
of severe austerity can not comprehend your true svarupam .
Only the true JnA~nis annealed in the furnace of Tapas can 
perceive and comprehend Thee !

3.MY SOUBHAGYAM
****************

In this ThiruviNNagar ( Vaikuntam/AkAsa Nagaram )
of this earth , I was blessed to be born as the son of 
Poojya Sri Poundarikapuram Brahaspathi Sri Varadachar 
Swamy and the most merciful dharma mUrthy , PerugavazhundAn
AlamElu ammAl . My additional blessings have been to
claim Kaimkarya Sri Padma VeerarAghavan as my sister .
Thanks to the strength of the Aseervadhams of these three,
I have been blessed to become engaged in Bhagavadh and 
Bhaagavatha Kaimkaryams . Thanks to these and 
other AchArya anugraha VisEshams , I am fortunate to 
join the auspicious BhAgavatha ghOshti contributing 
to the souvenir for the Kaimkaryam to reflect upon 
the anantha KalyANa guNams of the Lord of ThiruviNNagar 
inspite of my lack of qualifications as a "seelamillA siRiyOn " .
My prayers to this Bhagavatha GhOshti contributing 
to this high quality souvenir is to consider the 
disqualifications of this veritable mandha mathi and 
overlook the mistakes made during the course of 
this essay eulogizing Yennappan .

4.AN APPEAL TO VEDA NAARAYANAN AT THIRUVINNAGAR
************************************************

I approach him with " chamara vyakra hastham "
( with hands carrying the fan made of bushy tail
of Chamara deer  ) and offer my fan service to Him 
in the spirit of NammAzhwAr , the far seeing 
and world renowned poet celebrated by the pavamAna
KhAndam saaman of Sama vedam ( pariprAsishyadhathkavi).
I appeal to Him to accept my prayer in the spirit 
of the following AgnEya KhAnda Manthram of Saama
Vedam : " sa paavaka srudhee havam " . 

The above  manthram states :" O my supreme Lord! 
O the Most sacred among sacred ! Please destroy 
our sins just as the Agni burns off without trace 
the dust particles ( theeyinil thUsAhum ) and 
listen to my sincere prayerful appeal ( adiyEn 
seyyum viNNappatthai mey ninRu kEttaruL ). Following 
the foot steps of the Vedam identified by 
the Lord Himself to be the dearest one to Him 
( vEdAnAm Sama vEdhOsmi ), I appeal to Him 
to bless this effort to eulogize this
agatitha gaDanan as "palvahayum parantha perumAn".
May we all hear clearly this "kELAtha maRayin geetham "
amd enjoy the "kidayAtha pErinbam " that is all
about the Sri VaikuntanAthan of Oppilliappan Koil
divya desam . 

5.THE MAHIMAI OF THIRUVINNAGARAPPAN
************************************

Rg Vedam refers to His glories with a rhetorical
question and answers it right away . The question is
" kvO gAvO na raNyanthi ? kO visAni soubhagA ? ".
It asks : " O Lord , who measured all the universe !
Please explain this to me. Is there a place , where your 
glories are not sung ? " You are "the Ongi ulahaLanda
PerumAn " . NammAzhwAr pointed Your sacred feet as:
" kaaNmingaLulahIr yenru kaNN muhappE nimirntha 
tALiNayan " . You are matchless (TannoppArillappan ).
Veadam gives the answer to its own question and 
states unambigouosly that there is no place in His 
Universe , where the Lord's mahimai is not celebrated .

Rg Vedic passage , " idham vishNurvichakramE 
trEdhA nidhadhE padham , samULhamasya paamsurE "
once again points out that our Lord of ThiruviNNagar
spread in all the directions and measured the Earth ,
AkAsam and the mid space (anthariksham ) with His two
steps . He then placed His third step in the deep dark mystery
beyond the knowledge of mankind.NammAzhwAr intuited 
the mystery of this third step and recognized Him 
as the luminous MaayAvi , who is residing in his heart
cave ( PaaviyEn manatthuraihinra Paramsudar ". NammAzhwAr
also pointed out in one of his ThiruviNNagar paasuram 
that that ThiruviNNagar is the seat of the Lord , who rules
over him ( yennai aaLvAnUr ) and the Lord of Thiruvinnagaram
is not easy to be understood fully by any from the perspective 
of His limitless auspicious attributes .

NammAzhwAr through his four Prabhandhams , which are considered
the essence of the four vedams received the special blessings 
of the Lord of ThiruviNNagar through his salutation in
the spirit of this UttarArchika Saama manthram :

pahi nO Agna yEkayA paahya atha dhvitheethayayA 
paahi gheerbhis thisrubhirUrjAm PathE paahi chathasrubhirvasO

(Meaning ) : O Lord ! Protect us with One vedam (Rg);
Protect us by the second (Yajus); Protect us by the 
third (sAma ); Guard us , O All-pervading Lord with
all the FOUR vedAs . 

Yet another UttharArchika Saaman recognizes the Lord
of ThiruviNNagar as sathakrathu and desribes how the
priests of the Four Vedams skillfully eulogize Him in
their roles as UdghAthA , hOthri , Adhvaryu and 
BrahmmA :

gAyanthi tvA gAyathriNOachanthyarkamakirNa:
BrahmaNAstvA Sathakratha udhvamsamiva yEmirE 

(Meaning ): O Supreme Lord of AkAsa Nagaram !
O performer of innumerable deeds as Sathakrathu 
to create, protect and dissolve this Universe ! 
The UdghAthAs of Saama Vedam sing about Thee ;
the HothAs eulogize Thee  with reverence ; 
the adhvaryus and the BrahmAs exalt Thee as 
jugglers , who lift aloft a pole and balance it 
on their forehead with skill .

(To be continued )