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Thiruvananthapuram Paasurams of Nammaazhwaar :Part 2

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Sadagopan • October 3, 1998 


Dear BhakthAs :

In the fist paasuram of this decad , AzhwAr 
mentions the name of Kesava to free him from 
the threat of narakam and invites us on the journey 
to Thiruvananthapuram .

In the second paasuram , he reminds us that every name 
of Sri Anantha PadmanAbhan is like the sahasara naamams of
His .The reward arising from just reciting one of his names
is pointed out here .

In the third paasuram , he reveals to us that the mere 
utterance of one of His name will result in the Lord of
Thiruvananthapuram treating us like one of the nithyasUris.

In the fourth paasuram , he reminds us of the fortunate 
bhaagaavathAs , who perform aarAdhanam to the Lord with
devotion .He asks us to adore those BhagavathAs without
hesitation .

In the fifth paasuram , AzhwAr assures us that thoe
puNyasAlis , who worship the Lord of Thiruvananthapuram
with flowers will attain the status of DevAs . 

In the sixth passuram , he invites us to join 
with the devAs and nitya sUris in recognition 
of the fact that the Lord of Thiruvananthapuram is
nityAnithya sarva deva samArAdhyan .

In the seventh paasuram , Azhwar instructs us that 
the chance to be there at His temple and even to perform 
the kaimkaryam of sweeping the portals of His temple
with a broom would banish all of our sins. 

In the eighth paasuram , AzhwAr elevates us to
the status of fellow BhagavathAs and invites us 
to enjoy the  divya soundaryam of the Lord of
Thiruvananthapuram and get all of our sins destroyed .

In the ninth paasuram , Azhwar asks us to heed his
instructions , since his time for entering the Lord's
feet was fast approaching . He reminds us also of 
our mortality and asks us to hasten to Thiruvananthapuram 
and offer our worship to Sri Ananatha PadmanAbhan there 
to destroy our SamsAric sufferings once and for all .
AlavandhAr followed those instructions and
was blessed . This story is covered at the end
of this posting .

In the tenth paasuram , Azhwar asks us to rcognize 
Lord Ananatha PadmanAbhan as "Maadhavan " , or the One 
who is forever assoicated with Hari Lakshmi to get our
sins destroyed . By worshipping Him as the Lord of 
Lakshmi and performing AarAdhanam to the Divya dampathis
together , we will attain the status of the NithyasUris 
of undiminishing glory . 

The Maadhavathva , Kesavathva celebrations are recommended
for us to destroy all of our sins and to gain moksham . 
Swami Desikan points out that The Lord here is Kesavan
because , He is vyadhva kEdha prasamana mahithan or 
the One known for His glories as the remover of the sufferings
of the samsAris , who have lost their way to reach Him 
and thereby entrap themselves with all types of obstacles . 

The naamArchanAs appropriate to each of the ten paasurams
of this decad according to DramidOpanishad Taatparya 
RathnAvaLi of Swami Desikan are as follows preceded by
PraNavam :

1. KesavAya Nama:( kesi hanthAran )

2. adhbhutha charithAya nama: ( Maayan naamam 
   ohr aayiran ; from one naama recitation , we 
   get many blessings as though one recites 
   His entire Sahasra NaamAs )

3. kakAdhIsa kEtavE nama: ( One who is Garuda
   dhvajan ) 

4. aasatthimathE nama:( He is near to us ;
   sing about Him )

5. SathpathayE nama :( Most graceful Sarva Swaami )

6. amara parishadhAdhibhUthAya nama:( the Lord of 
   the assembly of the DevAs )

7. lOkAdhisrashtE nama:( One who created the entire 
   Prapancham with its chEthanAs and AchEthanams ) 

8. Madana janayAya nama:( the father of Manmathan )

9. VaamanAya nama : ( The Kapata Vaamanan )

10. LakshmidhavAya nama :( LakshmI kaanthan or
    Maadhavan ).

Sri AlavandhAr and Thiruvanthapuratthu EmperumAN
*************************************************

The Lord of Thiruvananthapuram was very dear to 
AlavandAr , the grand son of Naatha Muni . AlavandhAr
was only 8 years old , when his grandfather reached 
Parama Padham . The grand father , who gave us back
the lost Thiruvaimozhi with the anugraham of NammAzhwaar 
had also received Yoga Rahasyam (secrets of Yogic 
method ) from NammAzhwAr .That enabled Naatha Muni 
to have intimate communion with Lord KrishNA , 
the kula dhaivam of Sottaik kulam , the kulam of 
Naatha Muni. 

Sri Kurukaik kaavalappan was the dear disciple of 
Naatha Muni and was blessed to receive Yoga  Rahasyam 
from his AchAryan .None of the other sishyAs or 
sishya Paramparais of Naatha Muni had the privelege 
of initiation into the splendours of Yoga Rahasyam .  

Sri Raama MisrA , sishyA of the sishyA
of Naatha Muni ( Uyyak KondAr) became the AchAryan of 
AlavandhAr at the request of his AchAryan .
When Sri Raama Misra knew that his end was nearing ,
he asked AlavandhAr to approach Thirukkurukai Kaavalappan 
at Veera NaarAyaNapuram and get initated into 
the family treasure of Yoga Rahasyam . 
AlavandhAr approached Kaavalappan and 
prostrated before him and begged to be 
initated into Yoga Rahasyam . Kavalappan
asked AlavandhAr to come back to him before 
the next Thai month Pushya Nakshthram , when 
he was planning to join the Lotus feet of 
Sri Vaikunta Naathan . 

During this time of wait , AlavandhAr came across
the Thiruvanantha Pura paasurams of NammAzhwAr 
instructing all of us to rush to that divya desam
and offer our kaimkaryam to Sri Anantha PadmanAbhan
to cut asunder our shackles of SamsAram . AlavandhAr
was so excited that he took off right away to 
this MalayALa divya desam and got himself absorbed 
in service to the Lord there .One day , as he was 
looking at the beautiful face of the reclining Lord 
of this divya desam , he saw suddenly the face
of Thirukkurukai Kavalappan there . It flashed to him 
then that it was Thai Pushyam and Abhijin muhUrtahm 
and his would-be AchAryan to initiate him into 
the family jewel of Yoga Rahasyam had just ascended 
to Parama Padham . AlavandhAr was grief stricken
over his loss and from that day onwards , we have 
lost Yoga Rahasyam given to Naatha Muni by NammAzhwAr
and passed onto his sishya has been lost to posterity .
The beauty of " Kaamani payantha KaaLai " of 
Thiruvananthapuram bewitched AlavandhAr and 
made him forget his return to Kaavalappan
in time to be initated into the mysteries of 
Yoga Rahasyam . After that loss , AlavandhAr 
returned to Srirangam for Darsana pravachanam
and blessed us with 8 granthams as a result of 
the anugraham of " YezhilaNi Ananthapuram 
padamudai aravil PaLLI payinRavan " saluted 
by NammAzhwAr . These 8 granthams  are :

(1) Aagama PrAmANyam 
(2) Purusha nirNayam
(3) Aathama Siddhi
(4) Samvidh Siddhi
(5) Isvara Siddhi
(6) GIthArtha sangraham
(7) Chathus SlOki
(8) SthOthra Rathnam

He also blessed AchArya RaamAnujA to become 
the grand sire of our SampradhAyam .Such is 
the story of Thiruvananthapuram . 

Daasan , Oppiliappan Sannidhi V.Sadagopan