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Garuda Jayanthi : Aaadi SvAthi

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • August 16, 1999 


Dear BhakthAs : Tomorrow ( Tuesday, Aug 17) is
the last day of Aadi Maasam . The thithi is 
Sukla Paksha Shasti and the constellation in 
ascendance is Svathi, the nakshathram of 
Sri MalOlan and Garudan , the Periya Thiruvadi.
I will be sending you a separate post on the importance
of Svathi Thirumanjanam for Lord Narasimhan and
the observance of Thirumanjanam at AhObilam hills
for the nine Narasimhars.

Aadi SvAthi is celebrated by Sri VaishNavAs as
Garuda Jayanthi . recently , Sri Murali Rangaswami
had a spirited posting on Sri Garudan in the context 
of His name as Periya Thiruvadi.

At ThiruviNNagar , our family ManDakappaDi for
Sri PakshirAjan's Thirunakshathram will be 
celebrated tomorrow with Thirumanjanam , archanai
and Taligai.At ThiruviNNagar , Sri Oppilaippan
is prathyaksham to Garudan , MarkaNDEyar,
Dharma Devathai and CauvEry MaathA .

Garudan's prominence at Sri Villiputthur and 
TherazhundhUr has been covered by me in earlier postings.
At these two divya dEsams , Garudan stands next to the Lord.
Instead of standing in front of the Lord with folded
hands waiting for His command , Garudan has samAsanam 
at these two sits.Garudan stands at the feet of MalOlan 
as MalOlan goes on SanchAram with H.H. The Azhagiya Singhars.
This ArchA mUrthy is one of the nine Narasimhans of
Ahobila Divya desam . 

Sriman Rengarajan has written earlier about the importance of 
Garudan ( Kall Garudan )in his ThirunarayUr postings.
Our AchArya RaamAnujA CD ROM has the video of the famous 
Garuda Sevai of Selva PiLLai with vaira Mudi .The other famous 
Garuda Sevais are the Ones at Kaanchipuram , Thirumalai and 
ThirunAngUr Thiruppathis on Akshaya TrayOdasi dinam .

We have more than 60 postings in the Bhakthi archives
alone on the mahimai of Garudan as Veda Murthy 
and the Nithya Soori performing kaimkaryam 
to the Lord at Sri Vaikuntam .

Swami Deikan received Garuda manthra UpadEsam from
his AchAryan , Sri ApuLLAr. He recited this sacred 
manthram with five aksharams and had the SaakshAthkAram of 
Garuda BhagavAn at ThiruvahIndhrapuram . Bhagavan
GarudA presented Swami Desikan with the ArchA mUrthy 
of Yoga HayagrIvan and performed Sri HayagrIva
ManthrOpadEsam to Swami Desikan .Rest is Sri VaishNavite
History .

The grateful Swami Desikan composed Garuda DhaNdakam
and Garuda PanchAsath in acknowledgement of the MahOpakAram
of Garuda BhagavAn .

On this special day of Aaadi SvAthi , let us pray to
Garuda BhagavAn with the first slOkam of Sri Garuda
DhaNdakam :

Nama: pannaganaddhAya Vaikunta vasa varthinE
Sruthi Sindhu sudhOthpaadha mandharAya GaruthmathE 

(meaning ); Sri Garudan is the king of all Pakshis
(Pakshi Raajan ).He has conquered all the great
serpent kings , his enemies , and wears them on 
His body as AbharaNams. He serves as the antharanga
Daasar of the Lord and is blessed to perform all 
kinds of kaimkaryam .He churns out like Mandhara mountain 
the nectar-like Brahma vidhyAs from the Vedhams .With His
anugraham, we can become beneficiaries of the wealth
of Brahma VidhyAs. His whole body is Vedha SvarUpam .
His wings , which are golden in color, are the most
beautiful to look at .Inview of the beauty of His 
wings , He is called with affection as SuparNar.

The second slOkam of Garuda DhaNdakam is a beautiful
one extolling the unparalleled mahimmai of Garudan :

Nama Garuda SuparNa dharvIkArAhAra --satyAdhi mUrthE 
na kascchith SamasthE namasthE punasthE nama:

At the end of his beautiful Garuda DhaNdakam , 
Swami Desikan acknowledges that he composed 
this eulogy on GarudA to please the Garuda Dhvajan
(Sriman NaarAyaNan ):

Garudadhvaja ThOshAya GeethO garuda DhaNdaka:

Let us also recite Garuda DhaNdakam and Garuda
PanchAsath and Garuda manthram to please 
Sriman NaarAyaNA , who is always happy ,
when we celebrate His dear Nithya Sooris
and BhagavathAs .

NamO PakshirAjAya ,
Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan