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I stop with this - Which is the real No.1 Divya dEsam ?

From the Bhakti List Archives

TV.Venkat • August 28, 1998 


                      SrimathE NArAyaNAya namaha

     On Date:    8/28/98 7:27 AM

     Sri Sadagopan Swamy wrote :

     -----------------------------Quote-----------------------------------
     Having said that , I will do some floor crossing in defense of our Kula
     Dhaivam and how all these come together at
     the Silver mantapam at AhObila Matam
     ----------------------------Unquote----------------------------------

     I would like to point out one thing in specific i.e, all along I have
     been arguing for Srirangam as the No.1 Divya dEsam on the basis of a
     very very few pAsurams that I know. I haven't even read any vyAkhyAnam
     to know the meanings of these pAsurams. All that I have quoted is what
     I really understood from the simple Tamizh in the pAsurams. I am not a
     scholar and have not attended any kAlakshebams.

     Now if great scholars like Sriman Sadagopan are going to enter into
     the 'gOdha' and bring out beautiful pAsurams and their true
     vyAkhyAnams just what our AchAryAs have interpreted, I will have
     hardly any qualification to argue against it. I simply do not want to
     do any more vidhandA vAdham. If such beautiful pAsurams are quoted
     with our poorvAchAryAs vyAkhyAnams , then even a divya dEsam which has
     only 10 or less pAsuram to its credit will look like it is the number
     one divya dEsam.

     Yes indeed, it is. All the divya dEsams are great and no divya dEsam
     is inferior to the other, as it is all Sriman NArAyaNan's abode.
     As aptly pointed out by Sri Anatha Padmanabhan in one of his earlier
     message, the very idea of taking a form in one divya dEsam is to
     please the devotee at that divya dEsam. So under this context, a divya
     dEsam in which/near which a bhAgavatha was born or living will indeed
     be the number one divya dEsam for him.

     For instance my native is Kanchipuram, but I am now living at
     ThiruvallikkENi. For me, I would say, Kanchi and ThiruvallikkENi is more
     dearer than Srirangam or Thirumalai or for that sake any other divya
     dEsam. However one should not forget that every bhAgavathA will have a
     personal interest in other divya dEsams also. Like, I would like to
     attend the Adyayana utsavam and Panguni Utthiram at Srirangam for its
     grandeur, would like to attend the PurattAsi Brahmotsavam in Thirumalai,
     and likewise.

     But inspite of all this, the fact remains that Srirangam is atleast an
     inch above the other divya dEsams.

     (1) If not, why the AzhwArs chose to sing more pAsurams in praise of
         Srirangam than any other divya dEsam.

     (2) Well even if we can discard this as a co-incidence, why was our
         AchArya peetam, always at Srirangam and not at any other divya
         dEsam.

     - Further to add, it was NamperumAL who gave us the Primary thaniyan
       "SrisailEsa dayapAthram...", which we recite at the beginning and
       the end of every gOshti. (This may be pertinent only to Thenkalais)

     - Also the drAvida vEdham, Divya prabhandam flourished only at
       Srirangam. Only after the prabhadams got its acceptance at
       Srirangam, it started getting acceptance everywhere in other divya
       dEsams including Thirumalai. So it is clear that the prabhandams are
       available to us now only due to NamperumAL's grace.

     We can add on and on. But I don't know much to write. It was for the
     above reasons that our poorvAchAryAs have always said that Srirangam
     IS the centre of Sri VaishNavAs and hence deemed it to be the number
     one of 106 divya dEsams existing in this BhoolOkam and referred to it
     as the BhoolOka Vaikuntam. I hope there is no doubt about this.

     Also, as I pointed out in my yesterday's message all the AzhwArs,
     while singing about one perumAL in a divya dEsam, says that He at that
     divya dEsam is the best. So this brings a question as to who is really
     the best as per the AzhwArs. There was no such question in the minds
     of AzhwArs when they sang about one divya dEsam. When they did the
     mangaLAsAsanam at a divya dEsam all that they saw was only Sriman
     NArAyaNan in that ArchA roopam. So it made no difference to them. So
     they say Oppiliappan is the best at ThiruviNNagar, SrinivAsan as the
     best at Thirumalai and so on. The meaning is that Sriman NArAyaNan is
     the best at any divya dEsam and amongst all the godheads.

     It was our poorvAchAryAs who for a reason, I think, on the basis of
     the four points above, settled as NamperumAL as the oldest and hence
     the eldest ArchA swaroopam of Sriman NArAyaNan and decided that
     Srirangam is No.1. There could be other reasons also. But adiyen do
     not know about them.


     So it is no wonder I would say, Sriman Sadagopan likes to vote for his
     kuladeivam as the best perumAL and ThiruviNNagar as the best divya
     dEsam. But the fact still remains that Srirangam remains number one
     divya dEsam in the BhoolOkam inspite of one's musings for any other
     divya dEsam as per our poorvAchAryAs.

     With this I conclude my argument on this subject. Hope all the
     bhAgavathAs agree with this. Lastly I would like to state one thing. A
     favoured divya dEsam can be any and many to a person but there is only
     one No.1. There is a clear distinction between the real number No. and
     a favoured divya dEsam.

     If, during any of my arguments for my dear Arangan, I have hurt
     anybody's feeling or my words where a bit crude, I request all the
     bhAgavathAs to kindly forgive me for the abachAram that I have
     committed.

     Sri RanganAyaki thAyAr samEtha Sri RanganAthan thiruvadigaLE saraNam.

     adiyen RAmAnuja dAsan

     Thirumalai Vinjamoor Venkatesh
---------------------------- Forwarded with Changes ---------------------------
From: TV Venkat at USMTNMO2
Date: 8/28/98 8:48AM
To: sgopan@computer.net at INTERNET-MAIL
Subject: I stop with this - Which is the real No.1 Divya dEsam ?
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