magazine article. thirumanjanam abishegam.

today as i was searching for an article on the net I came across this wonderful magazine. probably the author has run away from his home town and shared his supreme knowledge with some interested folks who are hungry for the rich culture of our land and so he has written these and many more for such individuals.
 i am indeed blessed and i think led by the lords grace to read and share  a few gems with my loyal blog followers.
May God Bless all the souls who contribute to our development.
with all due respects to the article writers and the magazine......

Why is Thirumanjanam/ Abishegam performed? Is there any scientific
significance attributed to it?
"Abishekam", as mentioned, is the term used with reference to saivaite formalities.
For Vaishnavites, it is "Thirumanjanam". The deities, very importantly made of
"Nava pashana" like the one of Lord Muruga in Palani and others made of "pancha
lokha" are applied with special preparations mainly to extract the medicinal
benefits of such vigrahas.
Nava Pashana is believed to be an amalgam of nine minerals – Veeram, Pooram,
Rasam, Jathilingam, Kandagam(Sulphur), Gauri Pasanam, Vellai Pasanam,
Mridharsingh and Silasat
Before applying items like Milk, Fruit-mix, Honey etc, the statues are cleaned with
oil, soap-nut, turmeric etc. Then the application of eatable items will render
transfer of Nava pashana or the metallic flavour into the applied items. These
items are later given to the devotees as prasadam and consuming the same
with medicinal particles of the statues, will add strength to our body and will
cleanse and clear any in-built deficiencies. This secrecy of science is not openly
conveyed to people, lest, they might think"Ho! only that!".
One other lateral concept is that the metal and stone statues have to be kept cooled
regularly -- even daily -- in order to suppress the physical phenomenon of
"expansion of solids", which might deform or crack the structure. Abishekam will
keep the structure at optimal temperature.
The third and commonly seen concept is to treat the deity as our child and bathe it
and adorn it with vasthram and flowers, to show our love, as you have rightly
mentioned Most of the Alwars have treated the Lord Narayana as child and
rendered pasurams of conducting bathing (Neerattam), which are sung in the
temple at the time of performing Thirumanjanam.

magazine

Sri Ranga Divya Dhambathigalin Panguni Uthiuram Thirunaal-- 9th
Day of uthhsavam of Adhi Brhma Thirunaal!


Sri Ranga Divya Dhambathigalin Thiruvadigaley Charanam
--
Dear Srirangangasri members and friends,
My Saashtaanga Namaskaram to Periya perumal and Sri Periya Paratiyaar
I pray to our Nam perumal and Sriranga Naachiyaar to bless all of us with
Prosperity, Happiness, and purify us from all the evil thoughts.
Dear Friends,
Before I start on this sacred narration, I would like to mention ( maybe
repeatedly ) that
the importance of Sri Rangam cannot be told less about. It is said that
Dharmavarman the
chola king, undertook a penance of 18000 yrs in SriRangam as given in the
SriRangam
Mahatmiyam. This Brahmostsavam is said to be celebrated by Lord Sri Rama
himself and 43
also by Brahma and said to be one of the oldest Festival known to man.
It is also said that King Dharmavarman along with Rakshasa Dharmishtan King
Vibhishana together celebrated this festival!.
According to a sloka ..
Kaveri Viraja Seyam Vaikuntam Rangamandiram,
Sri Vasudevo Rangesaha, Prathyaksham paramam patham
Vimanam Pranavakaram, Vedasrungam mahadbhutham
SriRangasayi bhagavan pranavaartha prakasakaha!
Meaning ..
River Kaveri is River Viraja which is a river in vaikuntam.
Sriranga Vimanam is nothing but vaikuntam itself.
Sri Vasudevan is Sri Ranganathan and the Pranavam is Vimanam and the
4 kalasa is equal to 4 vedas and the param is our Arangan.
This is one of the most sacred days of the year for all bhakthas of Sri Ranganathan
& Sri Ranga Nachiar. This is the only day of the year when Namperumal and
NamNachiyar are seen together on the same pedestal. In this article, let us see the
events that take place on this very auspicious day at Srirangam.
Todays article is little lengthier than usual, but please do take some time to go
through this to understand the "saaram" at the end and experience the joy of
Panguni uthiram.
A few days before Panguni Uthram, Namperumal visits Kamalavalli Nachiyar at
Uraiyur. The interesting events taking place on Panguni Uthiram are a sequel to
this visit. Sr Ranganayaki comes to know of His visit to another nachiyar and gets
upset. The dramatic events on the Panguni Uthiram day unfold as Sri
Ranganachiyar vents her anger on Namperumal and how He pacifies her and how
in the end the divya dampathis join together to bless the devotees.
Now, to the actual events:-
Lord Namperumal leaves the kannadi arai on his pallakku to go around the
prakarams of Srirangam. This is the only day in this uthsavam, the Lord goes
around both the Chithra streets (7th prakaram) and the uthra streets (6th
prakaram) of Srirangam.
He is aware of Sri Ranganayaki‟s upset mood. He is planning to pacify her. When
He marches through the streets, He stops at every house asking His bhakthas to
support Him when He faces Sri Ranga Nachiyar. With the temple elephant
(Andal) leading the way followed by the dhivya prabhandha goshti, He enters the 44
temple and walks towards the sannidhi of Thayar after three hours walking around
the prakarams. When Sri Ranga Nachiyar sees Lord Ranganatha coming towards
Her, she slams the door shut. For the next couple of hours, Pranaya Kalagam
Uthsavam (household quarrel between the Lord and His consort) takes place that
is wonderfully enacted by Arayar swamy.. We will see a few points of this divine
quarrel now. All the dialogues between Namperumal and Ranganayaki Thayar
are sent through Arayar swami (for Namperumal) and through Pandari swami (for
Ranganayaki Thayar) and they never face each other during this quarrel.
The Lord pleads and tries to appease Her in vain
She asks Him how He got all the scratch marks on His Thirukkazuthu (neck) and
that why His Thirukkangal (eyes) are so red. She also asks why His Thiruman
kappu and His Thirukkuzal (hair) are all messed up. She also goes on to ask Him
why His Thiruvadharam (lips) are white, why He has kungumappoo (Saffron
powder) all over his Thirumeni (body), His ThiruvadigaL (lotus feet) are
red. Hence, She says that She was very unhappy because He was also late and will
not allow people standing outside to come in and the people inside to go out.
The Lord responds back to each question. Since He is the protector of the universe
(Jagadhrakshakan), He was on His horse the night before fighting against all evil
to protect His devotees and so His eyes were red. His hair locks are all messed up
because of the fierce winds while riding His horse (kuthirai vaganam). His
Thiruman kappu had dissolved because of the harsh sun rays. His lips were white
because He had to fight against the asuras (demons) to protect the thevathas. His
neck was all scratched by thorns while He was riding through thick forests to fight
the Asuras. He continues to say that His legs were red because He had to ride the
horse with His feet in the stirrup and finally He has kungumappoo all over His
body because the Devathas praised Him after His victorious campaign by
showering Him with flowers. Thus, He says that He was late because of all the
battles He had to wage with the Asuras. After the battles, He lost the ring in the
river Kollidam when He was returning. So, He had to get a new ring and some
flowers for Her. This caused Him to be late.
She is still not convinced and She refuses all His gifts and flowers and asks Him to
never come inside and told Him to go back to where He came from (Woraiyur) a
couple of days ago.
Lord Namperumal with a very innocent look replies saying that He doesn‟t know of
a place called Woraiyur and has never been there.
Ranganayaki Thayaar asks the Lord to prove His statements.45
The Lord offers to put His hands in a vessel full of snake, cross any ocean and
offered to promise on His devotees that He has never seen Woraiyur.
Sri ranga Nachiyar is annoyed and states that all His claims are unjust. He, the
one who sleeps on a bed of Adhi Sesha would never be harmed by any snakes. He,
the one who lies in the great milk ocean (ThiruppArkadal) and for whom the river
Yamuna parted to let Him through as baby Krishna will have no problem crossing
any ocean. Also, He, whose lotus feet are sought after by all His devotees would
never be betrayed by them. She instead throws milk, curd, butter and flowers on
Him to get Him out of Her sight.
Lord Ranganatha then says that He has come to meet Her after going through such
difficulties and She is not letting Him in. He says He feels very depressed and
embarrassed as She shut the door in His face. The Lord says – “andha avamanam
umakku andri yamakku illai” meaning “this embarrassment is not for me but for
you.”
Seeing the Lord is feeling very sad, Nammazwaar, acts as the mediator and
approaches Sri Ranganayaki and says that if the supreme Lord and Goddess fight
against each other, then that would be the end of all known universe
(Pralayam). He says that the Lord is for all and She has to understand that He is
sought after by all and so She should be able to let Her Azhagiya MaNavalan go to
His devotees as well. So, He humbly requests that Sriranganachiyar forgive the
Lord and allow Him to enter Her premises.
Goddess Ranganayaki then understands Nammazwars reasoning and commands
Her assistants to let Her Lord inside. She mentions to the Lord that She is letting
Him in because of His Nammazwar‟s words.The Lord entering the sanctum of
Ranganayaki is very auspicious and is known as 1st Akantham (1st of three Divine
Oneness).Ranganatha and Ranganayaki come together and exchange garlands,
Kasturi Thilakam, turmeric and necklaces.
As soon as the door is opened, Lord Azhagiya Manavalan is delighted and rushed
in to be with His consort.
A beautiful scene transpires here. The Lord does not go immediately to our Sri
Ranganayaki sannidhi immediately. But rather goes to the
mudhal mandapam and stands there, as if to ascertain whether our Thayar has
really accepted and forgiven him. So the Lord sends his vastra across to thayar,
which is accept by the Thayar. After this the Lord then directly heads towards and
Thayar Sannidhi and then he seats directly across Sri Ranganayaki Thayar. Now
our Aranganathan looks at our Thayar's eyes directly as if to ask "why did you 46
make me go through this struggle" and Thayar in turn asks him "Why did you go
away without telling me". At this point of time
other than the Sri Ranganayaki's Archakas and our Sriranganathan's Archakas, no
one is allowed to be present.
Thus sweet conversation takes place between our Aranganthan and Ranganyaki
Thayar as it would take place between any husband and wife. After they have
talked for a long time, our Azagiya manavalan asks Thayars permission to go and
complete the Panguni uthram thirunal as several devotees are waiting. But Thayar
replies that how can she let him without having performed any upacharam.
She then gets delicious and sumptuous "Akkara adasil" prepared for him, with
copious amount of milk, rice, dhal ( lentils ) , jaggery and lots pure ghee. Both the
husband and wife sit together and have the delicious "Akara adisil" ! The
happiness of the lord and the thayar can be seen in the eyes of lord who cannot
take his eyes away from the Thayar!
After this beautiful sight, the lord then decides to head towards the beautifully
renovated Panguni Uthram mandapam. As soon as our Azagiya manavalan
reaches the mandapam, our Thayar immediately, but silently and surreptitiously
enters the mandapam as if she doesnt want anybody to talk about or ask her about
what happened!! :)
After this the Lord and Ranganayaki Thayar sit together and give darsanam to
several devotees who have thronged to see them. It has to be mentioned that here
only the thayar is adorned with a garland and not then Lord himself! This is called
the Second Ekantham.
After this both Sri Ranganathan and Sri Ranganayaki Thayar have thirumanjanam
performed, and the lord and thayar look like newly married couple, immediately
after which The chant or the recitation of the Gadhya Thrayam begins. Those
heavenly chants fill the air with beatitude and immense happiness. At this time the
whole srirangam is very festive and people make sweets and savories as if there is
a marraige in their own house.After all, it is a happy and beautiful unification
between the Royal couple!
The Gadhya Thrayam starts with the chant of "Vaikunta Gadhyam" and then
proceeds with the "Sri RangaGadhyam" and at last ends with the beautiful chant of
the
"Sarangadhi gadhyam"!47
After all this, the Lord then requests thayars permission to go and complete the
remaining procession. At this request, our Ranganayaki thayar's face becomes
immediately drops and looks downcast, which indicates her reluctance to part the
Lord at this point of time. But the thayar then mentions that First she will leave
and return back to her Moolasthanam after which the Lord can start. This shows
the patience,forbearance and the humility of our beloved Thayar.
The Lord then starts to leave towards the "Goratham (Chariot), before which the
peeks into Sri Ranganyaki Thayrs sannidhi, as if to take a glimpse of his beloved
wife and say "Bye" before. After this the Lord starts for the procession. This will be
discussed tomorrow.
People, it is well known, how much patience and forbearance and enduring power
that any woman might have. Anywhere in the world an woman has to undergo lot
of troubles and hardships and still puts up a smile to make everyone in her family
happy.
A woman is a mother, a wife, a caretaker of the whole family , teacher to her kids ,
caretaker of the house - all these and also works and earns money! All this clearly
shows the importance we must attach to womanhood. For all those woman in this
world, Sri Ranganayaki thayar and Lord Rangantha will always give inner
strength and shower their blessings, and guide them, maybe they deserve it a notch
more than men themselves! :)
Now, what is the significance of all this drama? All adiyars know that the Lord
and Thayar are above all such domestic quarrels taking place in our lives all the
time. We also know that He is the fountainhead of all things in the universe and
there is nothing like He going after several ladies etc. when He is the Nirguna
Brahmam.
Secondly will Thayar ever quarrel with the Lord?
1. The significance of all this drama is that Namperumal and
Thayar are doing a play act to demonstrate to ordinary mortals like
us how to run the household with harmony in the face of upsets.
They also show the deep love , Daya and kshma true ladies have and
why we have to give the ladies great respect and exalted position in
our society.
In the very beginning let us recall Periyazhvar‟s words;-
“Pathinaram ayiravar devimar pani seyya Thuvarai ennum48
Adil nayakaraki veeriruntha manavalar mannu koil”
Alwar describes Srirangam as the abode of the supreme Lord who had ten
thousand devi‟s (as he married all of them in His Krishnavataram). When he has
already taken ten thousand consorts which Sri Rukmini Devi whole heartedly
accepted, where is the question of getting upset about one Kamalavalli nachiyar?
Andal nachiyar explains:-
“Peyyu ma mukil pol vanna, un pechum seikaium engalai
Maiyal erri mayakka un mukam maya mandiram than kolo”
Heh, dark skinned Lord, your words, acts and your innocent looking face are all
designed to cast a spell over us
The Lord will always cast his spell over His devotees to protect them. And Maya
Jagan Mohini Thayar ably assists Him in his spell!
2. When the Lord knows that Nachityar is upset with him, He is
planning to pacify her indicating thereby that all of us should try
earnestly to take care of the ladies‟ concerns.
3. In this entire drama, what stands out is the “Paraspara
Anyonyam” of the Divya Dampathis. When Thayar is angry Lord
understands and adopts a seemingly submissive posture. And Thayar
relents ven overlooking the fact that it is the only day in a year she is
with Him and He has been to another nachiyar. She sets an example
of kindness and kshma for all the womenfolk.
4. When Thayar allows Him to enter Her Sannadhi, He at first
stops at first mantapam and sends His Vastra to her. He does not
rush in all the way. Thayar also understands His intention and
accepts the vastra. She knows He will be hungry and gets a
sumptuous Akkara Adisil prepared for Him. In these days of hurried
life when both the partners sometime go to work, can you imagine
such understandings? Both dampathis take their food together all
by themselves. Cant you see what message they are givin to our
present generation? All I can ask is at least on weekends, try to
emulate Divya Dhampathis in this respect. The rest of the week
anyway will go to adjust for other people- colleagues, bosses,friends
and even strangers!
5. When the Lord takes leave of Thyar to goon procession to bless
devotees, She silently follows Him so that the devotees do not smell 49
any difference between them! It is truly amazing that Divya
Dhampathis had set examples which are relevant even today!
Haven‟t you seen political candidates‟ spouses showing support no
matter what the differences in camera? But won‟t it be better that
the differences are ironed out truly- as acted out by the Divya
Dhampathis?
6. ParAsara Bhattar salutes their inseparability in two slokams of Vishnu
Puranam:
Nithyaivaisha JaganmathA Vishno: SriranapAyinI
YathA Sarvagatho VishNu: Tadhiveyam Dhvijotthama
devathvedeva deheyam manushayathvecha MaanushI
VishNo: dehanuroopam vai karothyesha aathmanas-tanum
(MEANING):
As a Vibhu, Mahaa LakshmI is never ever separated from Her Lord. She is the
Mother of all the Worlds and their beings. Just as Her Lord is pervasively present
(Vyapthi) everywhere, She is also present everywhere with Him as aNu or Mahath
(atomic size or gigantic size). She assumes the deva svarupam or manushya
svarupam in accordance with the deva or manushya svarupam taken by Her Lord.
She accompanies Her Lord with an anuroopam that corresponds to His roopam.
May the Lord and Thayar bless all devotees with such anyonyam.\
Vachaka Dhosham Kashamikkavaum,
Adeyen Dhasan
Narasimha Bhattar

from a magazine.

Dear Sriranga Sri and Respected Memebers!
My Shastanga Namaskarams to our Azagiyamanvalan with Sriranganachiyar!
It is indeed a great pleasure for me to narrate the events
on the 6th day of Adi Brahmostsavam.
Today is a very special day, when our Sri Ranganathan meets kamavalli thayar in Urayur.
Woraiyur purappadu, Sri Kamalavalli Nachiyar Sri Azhagiya Manavalan serthi
Early this day, at 4:00 AM, NamperumaL starts His procession towards Woraiyur on the southern banks the Kaveri river. Lord arrives at Woraiyur and is wedded to Sri Kamalavalli NachiyAr, about whom we will see in today’s
article. Lord Namperumal  with Sri Kamalavalli Nachiyar bless the bhakthas together on this auspicious day that happens only once every year on the 6th day of Adhi BrahmOthsavam. Now let us see the story behind Lord
Ranganatha’s trip to Woraiyur to get married to Kamalavalli Thayar.
Woraiyur was the capital of the ancient great Chozha  Kingdom. The story goes that the Chozha king Dharma Varman was childless but did a lot of kainkaryam (service) to Lord Ranganatha  of Srirangam. Pleased with his prayers,
Lord Ranganatha  asked goddess Lakshmi to be born as the kings daughter at Woraiyur. Being born from a lotus, the Goddess at Woraiyur is called Kamalavalli. As years went by, Kamalavalli grew up into a beautiful young girl. One day,
while she was playing with her friends, her eyes fell on a handsome lad, Lord Ranganatha  of Srirangam, and fell in love with Him instantly. King Dharma Varman was in a fix as his daughter had fallen in love with the Lord, who had
blessed the king with the child. He prayed to Lord to accept His daughter as the Lord's bride. Lord Namperumal  accepted the king's prayers and agreed to take Her as His bride. Delighted at this, Dharma Varman built the temple at
Woraiyur to celebrate it, which is now the Woraiyur Kamalavalli Nachiyar temple.
Lord NamPerumal in all his splendour, leaves Srirangam at 4 am across river Cauvery in a golden pallakku (palanquin) to meet his beloved goddess Kamalavalli for the kalyana uthsavam (marriage festivities). On this auspicious day in
the Tamil month of Panguni, the entire marriage formalities between Lord Ranganatha  and Goddess Kamalavalli will be enacted at the Woraiyur temple. Here, one can see Kamalavalli in a grand sitting posture all set to get married. A
unique feature of this temple is that this is the only Dhivya Dhesam (out of the 108) where the Goddess is facing the Northern direction or in the direction of the Srirangam Ranganatha  temple. After the marriage festivities are enacted,
Lord Ranganatha awill take the trip back to Srirangam across Kaveri that same night at 1.30 am. The story goes that Goddess Ranganayaki of Srirangam came to know about the Lords trip to Woraiyur through Kaveri Thayar who had seen
the Lord go across her river bed. This angered Goddess Ranganayaki Thayar and we will read about what happens in our future articles.39
We would like to point out a couple of very important notes on Woraiyur. This is the avatharasthalam (birth place) of Thiruppan Azhwar, who sung the ten beautiful pAsurams (Tamil verses) called amalanAdhipiran about Lord Sri
Ranganathaswamy.
There are also two pasurams sung on Woraiyur as (also known as Thirukkozhiyur) Azhagiya Manavala Perumal, the presiding deity.
In his Perumal  thirumozhi, Kulasekara Azhwar sings:
allimaamalar mangai naathan aranganmey adiyaarkaL thamm
yellaiyil adimaith thiRaththinil yenRum mEvu manaththanaam
kollikaavalan koodalnaayakan kozhikkOn kulasEkaran
sollin inthamizh maalai vallavar thoNdar thoNdarkaL aavare
Kulasekara sings these verses on the truly and divinely blessed bhagavathas, who have unalloyed devotion to Lord Sri Ranganathan - the master and chief of Sri Mahalakshmi seated on the red petal lotus flower. Kulasekara has his mind
always on these greatest bhagavathas; he is the king of kolli nagaram; the nayaka of Madurai (koodal dhesam); the chief of Woraiyur (Thirukkozhi). He has sung these verses in sweet and chaste tamil and those who are blessed to recite and
read these verses will become the servants of the servants (adiyarkku adiyar) of the Lord.
In his Periya thirumozhi, Thirumangai Azhwar sings:
kozhiyum koodalum koyil konda
kovala rEyoppar kundramannnna,
paazhiyum tholum or Naanngu daiyar
pandivar thammaiyum kandariyom,
vaazhiya rovivar vanna mennil
maagadal pondrular kaiyilveyya,
aazhiyondren renndhiy Or changgu patri
achcho  oruvar azhagiyavaa!
He has Thiruvuraiyoor (ThirukkozhiyUr) and Thirukkoodal as His place of residence. He is the Lord and the King. He stands like the Chakravartthi. He has four strong shoulders like huge mountains. We have never seen Him before. Let Him
live long for hundreds of years. Speaking of His gorgeous beauty, He stands like the huge, vast, deep blue ocean. He stands with the Chakra on one hand and Sangu on the other. Wow, what an unparalleled beauty of His!
Thus, on this sixth day, Lord Namperumal gets married to Sri Kamalavalli Nachiyar of Thirukkozhiyur (Woraiyur),
blesses the bhakthas together (serthi) for the entire day.
Had we known that the proceeding events would be cause of the Pralayakalagam, wouldn't we have told
this before hand to Sri Ranganachiyar? :) Dear Srirangasri members, at least one of you could have told Sri Ranganachiyar
about this!
After the Lord returns back to Srirangam, he directly goes to Veli Andal sannadhi where He exchanges garland with Sri Andal( Godha Devi)
there first - how mischeivous could our lord be?? - he does this to remove suspicion
from the mind of our Sri Rangayaki thayar. No matter what, who can stop the Pralayakalagam that is bound
to happen soon? Even our Namperumal chose to bind himself to fate and accepts it as a human being
would do.Well of course,he is not known as "Jagannataka suthradaari" for no reason.
After wards He returns very innocently back to kannadi Arai for the rest of the night.
Adiyen Dasan
Vachaka Dosham Kshamikavum
Narasimha Bhattar

from a magazine.

OrutthimaganAippirandhu Oriravil
orutthimaganAi oLitthhu vaLara
tharikkilAnAgi thAn theengu ninaindha
karutthaippizaippitthu kanjan vayittril
neruppennaninranedumAle unnai
arundhitthu vamdhOm paraitharudhiyAgil
thirutthakkaselvamum sevagamum yAm pAdi
varutthamum theerndhu magizndhElO rempAvai32
Oh Lord of massive form, being born to Devaki and being brought secretly
to Gokula and brought up by Yasodha you were like fire in the stomach
of Kamsa. We have come to entreat you for the fulfilment of our wishes.
If you grant our wish we will sing your glory and of the divine mother .
We extol the merits of our service to you and will be free of all miseries.
The avathara rahayam, the secret behind the incarnation is mentioned in
this pasuram. Krishna says in the Gita, 'janma karam cha mE dhivyam
Evam yO vEtthi thathvathah;thyakthvA dhEham punarjanma naithi
mAmEthi sO Arjuna,one who knows the truth behind my incarnation
and my actions, O Arjuna, never riverts back to brth once he leaves his
body.'
What is the truth of His janma? The upanishad says, 'ajAyamAnO
bahudhA vijAyathe,' the one who has no birth is born many times.' This
statement, though looks as self contradicting ,is not really so. The Lord is
never born like an ordinary mortal as he has no karma and hence need
not undergo the garbhavasa. He only manifests Himself and the mothers
like Devaki, Kousalya and even Adhithi feel as though they were giving
birth to Him through His mAya .And the truth that He was Lord Narayana
was a secret known only to a chosen few and His actions which seemed to
be baffling to a common mind were all explicable to them.
orutthi maganAi pirandhuVedanta
Desika says in his Yadhavabhyudhaya Devaki produced the
Lord like the eastern direction produces the moon. The implication is that
just as the eastern direction never really produced the moon but the
moon appeared in the east. Similarly Krishna simply appeared or
manifested himself in Devaki.
Pirandhu the birth of man separates him from God whereas the birth of
the Lord is to bring us near to Him.
Vasudeva and Devaki were prSni and suthapa, kaSyapa and adhithi in
their previous births and Lord Narayana incarnated as their son in the
previous births as prSnigara, VAmana respectively according to their
request repeated three times in the first birth to have a son like the Lord
and since there is no one like Him He Himself came as their son.33
orutthi maganai olitthu vaLara - He was not hiding from the fear of
Kamsa but hid Himself under the mortal form to protect the world. He
went to gokula for showering his grace on the Ayarkulam, which
represents the simple folk denoting His soulabhya and vathsalya. He
concealed Himself inside the pillar to protect Prahlada, disguised Himself
as Vamana to protect the devas, appeared as Rama to protect the rshis of
dandakaranya and here He came as Gopala to protect the yadhavakula.
tharkkilAnagi-----neruppenne ninra nedumAlE-Kamsa was seeing
Krishna everywhere and thought about him all the time and attained the
Lord through hate.
arundhitthu vandhOm - One must have done some poorvapunya to get
devotion to the Lord.
parai tharudhiyAgil- He has to give the necessary equipment for His
worship. He is both the upAya, the means and upEya, the end.
thiruthakka selvam - the best weaith one can get on this earth is the
service of the Lord. when the king of vijayanagaram, Krishna Devaraya
sent for Desika, prompted by his friend Vidyaranya, who held honourable
position in the court, Desika replied through his vairagya panchakam,
'asthi mEhasthisailAgrE vasthu paithAmaham dhanam, „I already
have my ancestral wealth on the Hasthisaila,' meaning Lord Varadaraja.
and refused to go to the court of Krishnadevaraya. This shows that when
one is blessed with the bhakthisamrajya , kingdom of God, all the others
appear to be worthless.
varutthamumtheerndhu magizndhWElorempAvAi- The sorrow is due
to samsara and that will go away by the grace of the Lord and what
remains is only unalloyed joy.
There are two mothers for the seeker. One is the gayathri manthra
through which one becomes dhvija, meaning twice-born and the other is
the ashtakshara manthra through which he becomes qualified for moksha.
Oriravu is the samsara in which the jeeva is hiding behind the
dhehathama buddhi forgetting the real nature of the self. To the evil
impulses that stand between the jeeva and his redemption, the Lord is
like the fire inside and burns them when one surrenders to him. He then
gives the thirutthakka selvam in the form of devotional service and
leads the jeeva to infinite bliss

The fourth kalasam on the praNavAkruthi vimAnam represents the Atharva Vedam .
Our Lord is also the ATHARVA VEDA SVARUPI . Let us reflect on selected Atharva Veda
Manthrams from the assembly of the total of 5933 Manthrams.
THE SACREDNESS OF ATHARVA VEDAM
*********************************************
Atharva Vedam is the last of the four VedAs and it was fashionable to consider it as less
important than the other three . Fortunately, this view has diminished in importance with time . 9
This Vedam is closely tied with sages AtharvaNA and AngirA. The literal translation of the name
of the above two sages ( Rishis ) have been given as :
Atharvan= holy magic bringing happiness
Angiras = hostile or black magic
The manthrams however contain more " theosophic matter" than any other samhithA and it is
unfortunate that the Atharva Vedam was not considered as an equal to the other three by the
Vedic priests for a long time. The Gopatha BrAhmaNam and the Mundaka Upanishad are
associated with Atharva Vedam and house some of the profound thoughts linked to Atharva
Vedam .
UCCHISHTA BRAHMAM AS THE COSMIC CREATOR
******************************************************
The concept of Ucchishta Bhrammam ( Final Reality , Sarva Seshi , Akshara Bhramam , the
Undecaying Self )is housed in this Vedam . In adition to housing Purusha sUktham like the other
three VedAs , Atharva Vedam salutes with great reverence the Cosmic form of the Creator in a
glorious hymn known as " Skhamba sUktham "( AV X.7.1-44 ) .The heights of imagination , the
sacredness of the conceptions are matchless .
Our Lord Sriman NaarAyaNA is visualized in this Vedam as the Master Weaver , who weaves
the entire Universe with His divine thread (tanthu) of Unified Law (rOhithO dhyAvA pruthvee
jajAna tathra tanthum ParamEshtee tathAna ) .
Sriman NaarAyaNA , our Lord is conceived as the divine support (Skhambha) that sustains the
Universe --the terrestrial ,the interspace and the celestial regions --in the most perfect manner .
Great concepts of Mathematics are invoked to describe the way in which our Lord balances the
entire creation and holds the six dimensions of space in a marvellous equalibrium ( skhambhO
dhAdhAra pravisa: shaDurvee skhambha idham bhuvanamA vivEsa ) . His leela of Creation at
the auspicious stage ( Sri Rangam ) has been compared to the weaving of a Cosmic Cloth " with
divine woofs and warps , shuttles and pegs , the art of two divine maidens (day and night )
working incessantly in the parameters of Space and Time . What a lofty vision ! What a grand
concept that wins over the unified Theory of Realtivity !
We will now choose 18 Atharva Veda manthrams.
 Worldly wealth , spiritual wealth --can only grow with the Blessings
of the Divya Dampathis of Srirangam .
The 5933 Manthrams of Atharva Vedam are housed in Twenty KhAndhams . We will pay our
salutations to EIGHTEEN OF THE MANTHRAMS from the different KhAndhams in this
and the subsequent posting .
1. THE WIFE'S VOW ( PATHIVRATHA DHARMAM )
**************************************************** 10
idham kanAmi bhEshajammaampasyamabhirhOrudham
parAyathO nivarthanamAyatha: prathinandhanam
--Atharva Vedam : VII.38.1
( Meaning ) : I , the wife , the Sumangali ,take this scred vow that makes my wedded husband
look at me , that deters him from straying afar from me , that bids him to return to me after
being away and greet him with affection as he returns to my side .
2. LORD OF THREE SPOKES AND THREE SUPPORTS
********************************************************
tasmin hiraNyayE thrayarE thriprathishTatE
tasmin yadh yakshamAthmanvath tadhvai BrahmavidhO vidhu: II
---A.V X.2.32
( Meaning ) : Men deeply conversant with the knowledge about Bhramman know that our Lord ,
who dwells in the multi-powered soul with three spokes and three supports.
One set of the traid of spokes has been described as STHAANAM (Capacity) , NAAMAM
( Token, Sign ) and JANMAM ( Existence ) . The three supports have been intepreted as
KARMA (Action) , UPAASANAA (Contemplation ) and JN~ANAM (knowledge) .
The SthAna VisEshAdhikAram , the Naama SiddhAntham and Janmam as BhagavathA have
been covered in the different sections of these postings . Bhagavadh GitA is an epitome of
Karma , JN~Ana and Bhakthi YogAs leading to Prapatthi
Yogam to acquire Moksham .
All of these concepts ( Tattvams ) are covered in this profound manthram .
3. ETERNAL BHRAMMAM AND ITS ACTIVITIES
*************************************************
apAdhagrE samabhavath sO agrE svarAbharath
chathushpaadh bhUthvA bhOgya: sarvamAdhattha bhOjanam
-----A.V: X.8.21
( Meaning ) : Our Lord , the indivisible , existed before creating this world . He realized perfect
joy prior to engaging in the act of creation of His world , just as a soul that experiences after
being blessed with Moksham to perform nithya Kaimkaryam in Sri Vaikuntam . Being fourfooted
, our ruler of the Universe absorbed the whole universe that He created in Himself as
food at the time of MahA praLayam .
While resting in the state of Yoga NidrA at Srirangam , He thinks with Joy about Creation as a
LeelA . He protects His creation and at the end of the cycle , protects the worlds by consuming
them and releases them in the next cycle (Vatapathra Saayee ).
The reference to Him being four-footed covers the concept of our Lord existing as "
PrakAsavAN (with Lustre), ananthavAn (limitless/infinity), JyOthishmAn (Cosmic Intelligence)
and AayathanavAn ( Immensity ) . These are the four metaphoric feet of our Lord as conceived
by this manthram . He is as the Upanishad visualizes Him : Yesha sEthurvitharaNa : ( He is the 11
immense , intelligent , lustrous Bhramma sEthu that safely gets us across the turbulent seas of
samsAram .
4. HOMAGE TO THAT IMMENSE LORD AT THE THREE SANDHIS
*********************************************************************
nama: sAyam nama: pratharnamO raathryA namO divA
bhavaaya cha sarvaaya chObhAbhyAmakaram nama:
--- A.V : XI.2.16
(Meaning) : Salutations to the Lord at evening and at dawn , homage at night , homage by the
day (noon). I have paid my humble obesiance to both His mighty powers of creation and
dissolution .
5-7: HIS OMNIPOTENCE AND OMNIPRESENCE
**************************************************
AgnirAseena utthithOasvinA
indra: prAngh thishtan dakshiNA thishtan Yama:
prathyangh thishtan dhAthOdangh thishTathsavithA
--- A.V: IX .7.19
(Meaning A.V.IX.7.19 ) : In the seated position , He is the sacred Fire and in the standing
posiiton , He is Day and Night .
( Comments on A.V. IX.7.19): At ShOlingar , He is Agni as the seated Yogapattai-Narasimhan ;
At ThiruviNNagar , He stands as Day and Night at the banks of AhOrAthra PushkaraNi ) .
( Meaning : A.V.IX.7.20&21):Standing Eastwards , He is full of Glory ; standing southwards , He
is full of Justice . Standing (facing) westwards, He is the supporter , standing northwards , He is
the Creator .
(Comments on A.V.IX.7.20&21): Sri RanganAthA faces southwards ( Therkku Paarkkum
RaajA ) . As DharmO VigrahavAn , He is full of justice and blesses VibheeshaNA after
destroying RavaNA . He established Dharmam and met out justice . He faces southwards at
ThiruvitthuvakkOdu as well to hear the moving prapatthi of KulasEkahra AzhwAr .
At Kaancheepuram , on Garuda Sevai day , He emerges out of the Western gate and always
looks westwards as our supporter /rakshakan . Other Divya desams , where He faces west
besides Kancheepuram are : ThiruvAli, ThirukkaLvanUr , DwArakai , ThirutthEvanArthogai,
Thiru Nandhipura ViNNagaram , ThirunilAtthingaL thundam , Thirup ParamEsvara
ViNNagaram , Thirup PaarthanpaLLi , ThiruvaNNvaNDUr , ThiruvAttAru and ThiruvehhA .
At ThiruvallikkENi and many other Divya Desams , He faces eastwards and is full of glory
( Indra: praangh Thishtan ) . At ThiruvallikkENi , he is fullof glory as the paramAchAryA , who
gave us the charama slOkam .
At ThirukkOzhi ( UrayUr ) , He faces Northwards as Azhagiya maNavALan , the Creator. 12
8. SAGUNA BHRAMMAM : SRI VISISHTAADHVAITHIC LORD
**************************************************************
UcchishtE naama rUpam chOcchishtE loka aahitha:
ucchissta IndrascchAgnisccha visvamantha: samAhitham
( Meaning ) : " GOD CONTAINETH NAME AND FORM , AND THE WORLD . CLOUD
AND SUN AND THE WHOLE UNIVERSE ARE COMPRISED WITHIN HIM " . The
Saareerika doctrine as elaborated in Srimadh Bhaashyam is covered by this profound manthram .
9. A PRAYER FOR THE VEDA PURUSHAN TO DWELL INSIDE US
********************************************************************
Rg Saama Yajurucchishta udhgeetha : prasthutham sthutham
himkAra ucchishtE svara: SaamnO mEdisccha tanmayi
---A.V: XI.7.5
( Meaning ) : The recitation of the Rg , Yajur and Saama Manthrams as well as the chanting of
the Saama Saamans by UdhghAthA priest , the Saamans sung by the PrastOtA ( a praiser ) priest
at the beginning of the Yaj~nam and the other Saama Saamans recited in laudatory mode , the
reverberarations ( hum ) , the tone and the murmur of the Rks and Saamans , ALL REST IN
HIM . May He reside in me , the soul .
10. SRI RANGANATHA KAVACHAM ( A.V : XII.3.24 )
*****************************************************
Agni pachan rakshathu tvaa purasthAdh
IndrO rakshathu dakshiNathO MaruthvAn
VaruNas tvaa dhrumhAddharuNE pratheechyA
uttarAth tvaa Soma: sam dhadhaathai
( Meaning ) : May the Omniscient Lord strengthening thee , protect thee from the Eastern
direction ; May the Opulent , splendorous Lord guard thee from the Southern direction ; May
the supreme Lord support thee from the western direction with His strength and power . May
our Lord , the cosmic creator hold thee together from the north .
11. A PRAYER FOR PURIFICATION AND LONG LIFE (AV:XII.2.13)
********************************************************************
asmin vayam samkasukE Agnou riprANi mrujmahE
abhUma yaj~niyA: suddhA; pra Na aayugumshi tArishath
(Meaning ): We dissolve our blemishes away with the anugrahm of our Lord , the Omniscient .
We have achieved the state of purity in His company and have become qualified to do
Yaj~nams . May the benevolent Lord give us long lives !
12. SRI RANGANATHA: SARVA SAAKSHEE ( AV: XIII.2.41)
************************************************************ 13
arvA disa: samacharadh rohithOadhipathir diva:
divam samudrAdh bhUmim sarvam bhUtham vi rakshathi
(Meaning): God , the Emperor of light penetrates all regions. He watches over the celestial
region , the Oceans and the earth and all the beings , He has created .
13.VEDIC KNOWLEDGE AND SRI RANGANATHA (AV: XV.6.9)
*****************************************************************
ruchAm cha vai sa saamnAm cha yajushAm cha
BrahmaNasccha priyam dhAma bhavathi ya yEvam vEda
(Meaning): He who is Brhamavidh ( Knower of Brahmman ) becomes the chosen abode of the
four VedAs .
14. A PRAYER FOR THE EMBRACE OF THE LORD (AV: XIX.15.4)
********************************************************************
urUm nO lokamanu nEshi vidhvAnthsvaryajjyOthirabhayam
svasthi
ugrA ta Indra sthavirasya bAhU
upa kshayEma saraNA bruhanthA
(Meaning): O Glorious Lord ! Thou take us by hand to the vast riches , bliss and to Your parama
padham , where shines the light of knowledge , perfect peace reigns and one is free form fear of
any kind . Your divine arms are strong and powerful . They are steadfast in coming to our rescue;
Your arms are firm in lifting us over all dangers . May we be blessed to find ample refuge as
PrapannAs in Your strong arms .
15. A CALL FOR LORD'S HELP ( AV: 20.26.1)
**********************************************
yOgE yOgE tavasthram vAjE vAjE hjavAmahE
sakhayA IndramUthayE
(Meaning): O Lord , As BhagavathAs devoted to Your service , we seek Your help and guidance
in every act of meditation undertaken by us ; we seek Your assistance and blessings in every act
of acquiring true knowledge about Your commands and SaasthrAs .
16. ACHAARYAA'S COUNSEL TO THE PEOPLE ( AV: 20.48.2)
****************************************************************
anarsarAthim vasudhAmupa sthuhi bhadrA Indrasya rAthaya:
sO asya kAmam vidhathO na rOshathi manO dhAnAya chOdhayan
(Meaning): O SamsAri ! worship the Lord , whose gifts are flawless.He is the generous grantor of
riches and wealth beyond your imagination. He is VaradrAjan , the king of boon-givers . Those
boons are the most auspicious and they are bountiful . He is the Lord of immeasurable fortunes .
He does not turn down the wishes of His devotees in anger, but He has vowed to grant the
boons that you seek . 14
17. ACHAARYAA'S DESCRIPTION OF THE MIGHTY LORD (AV:20.50.1)
*************************************************************************
YyO Adhribhith prathamajA ruthAvA
BruhaspathirAngirasO havishmAn
dvibarhjmA prAgarmasathpithA na aa
rodhasee vrushabhO rOraveethi
(Meaninmg): Our Lord ( Sri RanganaathA ) is the great protector of His vast universe. He is the
Master of the Vedic knowledge . He is the banisher of the dark clouds of vipareetha j~nanam
and evil. He is the First revealer ( prathamAchAryaa) . He is indeed the ordainer and the
regulator of the laws of nature . He is the one , who enters the created beings as antharyAmi
Brahmmam . He is the one , who supplies the nourishment to the embryo in the mother's womb
and food to the thErai inside the stone . He is firmly positioned in Heaven and Earth. He is
resolutely linked to devotees , knowledge and action . He is the One , who provides the heat and
light to the burning Sun . He is our protector and nourisher like a father to His children and
showers His blessings on us unfailingly . Hark ! Listen ! He loudly proclaims His instructions all
around the earth and Heavens through His AchAryAs and sends His nithyasUris as His
messengers to help us reach Him .
18. SVASTHI MANTHRAM (AV: XX.CXLIII.8 )
In this manthram before the very last manthram of Atharva Vedam , benedictions to the world
and its beings are housed and an appeal is made to follow the saastraic injnctions of our Lord
RanganAthA :
madhumatheerOshadheer dhyAva aapO
madhumannO bhavathanthariksham
KshEthrasya pathirmadhumannO
asthvarishyanthO anvEnam charEma
(Meaning): May the Oushadhis ( plants and medicinal herbs) be sweet and efficacious to us ! May
the Heavens , the waters and the mid-regions be all sweet , healthful and invigorating for us !
May the producer of food be sweet, friendly and helpful to us ! Let us follow our Lord and
engage in acts that please Him and stay away from acts that displease Him , perform Prapatthi
and be free from the disease of SamsAram and chase away all of our troubles !
With this crescendo of a prayer , Atharva Vedam comes to a close .
May the Lord of Srirangam accept this offering and sprinkle us with the pavithra theertham from
His four Veda Kalasams.
Sri Ranganaatha ParabrahmaNE nama:
Oppiliappan Koil VaradachAri SadagOpan 

from a magazine.

SlOkam 8
yadvA sramaavadhi yaTaamati vAapyasakta:
staumyevameva khalu teapi sadaa stuvanta: |
vedaas caturmukha mukhAsca mahArNavAnta:
ko majjato: aNukulaacalayo: visesha: ||
Anvaya kramam:
Yadhvaa asaktha: Sram a avadhi yaTAmathi vaa api sthoumi
sadhaa api sthuvantha: tE Vedaa: chathurmuka mukhAsccha
yevam yEva khalu mahaa arNava antha: majjathO: aNu kulAchalayO:
ka: visEsha:
Swamy Adidevananda’s Translation:
Yet in spite of my weakness, I am justified in praising him to the limit of my capacity and to
the20
best of my knowledge. For, verily, even the Vedas and the four-faced Brahma, ever engaged
in
singing his glory, could praise him only in a similar strain. What difference by contrast is
there
between an atom and a huge mountain range when both are submerged in the great ocean?
Commentary:
In this slOkam, the disheartened ALvandhAr, who was about to quit in his efforts to eulogize
the
vaibhavam of the Lord consoles his mind and says that he will do what he can within his
limits
as the proper thing to do. He says to his mind: It is true that I cannot find the boundary of the
Lord’s kalyANa guNams and eulogize him properly. I am an asakthan (powerless one) and
yet I
am not going to desist from eulogizing Him. There is no rule that only those who fully
comprehend the auspicious attributes of the Lord alone can eulogize Him. It is acceptable to
eulogize the Lord within the limits of one’s Jn~Anam and saamarTyam. Hence, I am going to
eulogize Him instead of backing off. VedAs and the DevAs are always singing His
praise (Sadhaapi sthuvantha: tE Vedaa:). Brahma dEvan might praise His Lord a little better
than
me (Chaturmukha mukhaasccha yEvam yEva khalu). Anticipating protests over his saahasam
in
dragging a Maha Jn~Ani, the Chathurmuka Brahmaa for comparison, ALavandhAr advances
his
reasons for such an analysis: kO majjatho: aNu kulAchalayOr visEsha:? An atomic sized
thing and a mountain may be both immersed in the ocean. Both have huge differences in size.
When they are immersed in the deep ocean, one cannot tell their differences from
outside. Similarly, my ukthis (utterances) and BrahmA’s ukthis are like an atom and a
mountain.
Both of them however will disappear into nothingness, when compared to the vastness of the
guNams of the Lord, the KalyAna guNa PoorNan (anavathikaadhisaya asankhyEya KalyANa
guNa gaNa arvaNan). ALavandhAr comforts himself with the statements of Poygai
AzhwAr (avar avar thaamm thaamm aRinthavARu yEtthi) and Swamy NammAzhwAr
(tankaL
anbar tamathu soll valatthAl talai talai siRanthu poosippa). They went ahead and eulogized
according to the limits of their Jn~Anam and sakthi. Therefore, I am going to eulogize my
Lord
to my limits. He comforts his mind and says that there is no apachAram from such an
endeavor. In the previous slOkam, ALavandhAr used the words: “na sakhya:” In this slOkam,
he
chooses the word: “sthoumi” and begins the Sthuthi. Instead of using “sthOshyAmi” to
indicate
the future plans, ALavandhAr uses “sthoumi " to show that he has started his eulogy (present
tense).21
srivaishnavism 

“DIVINE LOVE GAME” PRANAYA KALAHOTSAVAM PERFORMED WITH RELIGIOUS ECSTASY

By TTD News On 6 Jan, 2015 At 06:18 PM | Categorized As Temple News

TIRUMALA, JAN 6: The “Divine Love Game” enacted by the Lord with His two Consorts with religious ecstasy as a part of “Pranaya Kalahotsavam” festival on Tuesday evening much to the delight of tens of thousands of devotees who thronged Tirumala to witness this fun filled unique religious fete.

It was all about fun and frolic when the processional deities reached the north-east corner of the hill temple in opposite directions on their golden palanquins where the divine play was enacted.

The priests divided themselves into two groups. While the first group stood by the side of the lord, the second represented the consorts. After indulging in a few love baits, both groups engaged in lofting of flower balls at each other, adding the element of enticement. The Jeeyars rendered the pasurams in Alwar Divya Prabandham which were penned by Sri Nammalwar in “Nindastuti” style on this occsion.

Devotees were sent into peels of laughter when priests on both sides symbolically enacted escaping the floral ball attacks from the other group. TTD

Union Minister of State for Surface Transport Sri P Radhakrishna, TTD EO Sri Dr D Samba Siva Rao, Temple DyEO Sri Chinnamgari Ramana and other temple officials were also present.

As part of the festival, TTD authorities had dispensed with the conduct of Vasanthotsavam on Tuesday evening.