great scholars through; more light on Vardaraja perumal.

Saving Brahma’s Yaga was only one of them

The legend of a yagam, which Brahma planned to perform in Satyavratakshetram (Kanchipuram), in order to get back his task of creation (he had lost it because of Brihaspati’s curse) and the efforts his consort Saraswati made to scuttle the sacrificial fire is well-known and is in circulation with the rise of Athivaradar. Thanks to Mahavishnu’s intervention, Saraswati is mollified and the Yagam takes place. From the fire emerges Mahavishnu as Varadaraja, It is a Sunday, in the month of Chithirai (the first of the Tamil months), with the Conch, Discus and Gadha, his right hand sporting Abhaya mudra.

Brahma is overwhelmed and thanks the Lord. His mission is accomplished, his consort is back with him and he has got his job of creation back all due to the kindness of Mahavishnu. But Brahma has one more request. Says he to Varadaraja: “Oh, Devadhiraja! Whatever I have accomplished is all due to your Grace. And you have blessed me with this darshan of your glorious form. But I have one more wish. Please remain in this sacred place, for ever and bestow your kindness on human beings, just as you fill us celestials with happiness by your presence in the Milk of Ocean.

Vaikunte thu yathaaloke yadhaiva ksheerasaagare! thatha Sathyavratha kshethre nivaasasthe bavedhiha! Hasthisailasya sikhare sarva loka namaskruthe! punyakoti vimaanesmin pasyanthu thvaam narsaas sadhaa!

Lord Varadaraja obliged and in turn asked Brahma to conduct Brahmotsavam in the Tamil month of Vaikasi, to culminate on the day of Sravana Nakshatra.

Several divine acts are associated with Lord Varadharaja.

Made Nammazhwar Sing his famous Thiruvoimozhi.

Gave enough wealth to Thirumangai Azhwar to bring him out of a crisis.

Pointed out to Alavandar that Sri Ramanuja was the unparalleled Acharya of Srivaishnava Sampradhaya.

Conversed with Thirukkachi Nambigal in the Archa Form itself.

Sent Ramanuja to Srirangam to be the Pitadhipati of Srivaishnava Simhasanam.

Partook the milk offered by Nadadhur Ammal.

Reincarnated as Pillai Lokacharya and gave the 18 rahasyas to the world, in line with the preaching of Ramanuja.

Showered His blessings upon Vedanta Desika, believed to the avatar of the Ghanta Mani at Tirumala.

Earned the name, ‘Arulicheyal Pitthan’ (meaning, one that craves for the nectar like hymns).

Blessed Manavala Mamunigal, the reincarnation of Ramanuja, to compose verses on Himself, to ward off the evil eyes that He incurred due to the above mentioned act

In fact, Peria Thirumozhi of Thirumangai Azhwar is about Varadaraja

Any ready reckoner about Divya Desams will tell you that there are seven pasurams about Varadaraja. You will not find mention of any Nammazhwar pasuram in the list. But for a temple that is among the three most important Divya Desams for Sri Vaishnavas, how can there be only seven pasurams? Are we missing something? Vedanta Desika, whose favourite deity was Varadaraja (he has composed eight works about Varadaraja), shows us that there are many more references to Varadaraja in the Divya Prabandham.

In Thiruvoimozhi 1-4-6, Nammazhwar talks of Arulazhiamman. In his Upakara Sangraham, Desika shows us clearly that this pasuram is a reference to Varadaraja. Desika wrote a work called Meivrata Manmiyam, a sthala purana of the Varadaraja temple. And in this work, he uses the same name Arulazhiamman to describe Varadaraja.

In the same verse, Nammazhwar also says ‘pul kadaveer.’ ‘Pul’ is a reference to Garuda, and Nammazhwar is talking here about the Lord on His mount — Garuda. Since Varadaraja’s Garuda sevai remains unmatched in attracting crowds, this is another indication that Nammazhwar is most certainly talking about Varadaraja here.

In fact, in his Dramidopanishad Tatparya Ratnavali, Desika states that the first 100 verses of Nammazhwar’s Thiruvoimozhi refer to Varadaraja — ‘prathama satake veekshya Varadam.’

Thirumangai Azhwar was the one, who sang about the maximum number of Divya Desams. Usually, it is said that he sang four verses in praise of Varadaraja. But is that all? The answer would be an emphatic no. While singing about the Lord of Badrikasrama, Thirumangai Azhwar refers to Him as Perarulalan, a name that rightfully belongs to Varadaraja.

Thirumangai Azhwar’s ‘Thirumamagalai petrum yen nenjam koilkonda Perarulalan’ is quoted verbatim by Desika in his Meivrata Manmiyam, again showing that this too is a reference to Varadaraja.

There are many works in the Divya Prabandham collation, which take the name of Thirumozhi. Thus, we have Nachiar Thirumozhi, Perumal Thirumozhi and Periazhwar Thirumozhi. But when we just say Thirumozhi, it is a reference to Thirumangai Azhwar’s Peria Thirumozhi, wrote D. Ramaswamy Iyengar, scholar and devotee of Varadaraja.

Balarama and Parasurama also are avataras of Vishnu, but when we say Rama, it can only be a reference to the hero of Valmiki’s Ramayana. Likewise, drop the prefixes and say Thirumozhi, and the work that comes to mind is Thirumangai Azhwar’s Peria Thirumozhi.

Desika, in his Tiruchinnamalai, a work about Varadaraja, says of the deity — ‘Thiru uraiyaai thaam porulaai nirpaar.’ While urai is usually taken to mean commentary, here it just means ‘utterance’ or ‘spoken word.’ But the word ‘mozhi’ also takes the same meaning. So, if we substitute ‘mozhi’ for ‘urai’ in Desika’s statement, we get Thirumozhi, in place of thiru urai, and the sentence then becomes ‘Thirumozhiyai thaam porulaai nirpaar.’ As we have already seen, Thirumozhi used without a prefix is taken to mean Thirumangai Azhwar’s Peria Thirumozhi. So, according to Desika, the entire Peria Thirumozhi of Thirumangai Azhwar is about Varadaraja, argues D. Ramaswamy Iyengar.