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NAMO NARAYANA
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- sri:
- srimate ramanujaya
namah:
- sri padmavati
sametha sri srinivasa parabrahmane namah:
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-
-
-
- by
- Sri U.Ve.Varadachari
Sadagopan
-
- Sri Venkateswara
with Ubhaya Nachiyars@
-
-
- There are eleven beautiful
slOkams that are housed in Sri VenaktEsa sthOthram. They are
a delight to recite and reflect upon . The endearing affection
with which this bhakthan eulogizes the Lord and describes his
aakinchanathvam have few parallels . The Taalam patterns (chantham)
woven into slOkams 1-5 and 8 are remarkable. The MahA VisvAsam
in the Lord of seven hills and the personal prayer for His grace
captured in SlOkam 9-11 are one of the most moving appeals in
the annals of SthOthrams.
-
- (1)
KamalA-kucha-chUchuka-kumkumathO
niyathAruNithaathula nIlatanO !
KamalAyatha-lochana !LOkapthE !
Vijayee bhava ! VenkatasailapathE !
-
- Oh Lord
of VenkatAchalam ! Oh Lord of the Universe ! Oh Lord with
- long
eyes reaching almost to Your ears and reminding us of the softeness
- and
beauty of lotus flower ! Oh Lord whose matchless dark hued body
is
renderd red always with the vermillion (Kumkumam) marks from
the front portions of the breasts of MahA Lakshmi ! Victory be
always to Thee!
-
- (Comments): The Lord's
dark bluish body has a lasting redness due to the sambhandham
with Sri MahA Lakshmi's saffron and kumkumam paste
worn on Her breasts as beauty marks .The Lord's body is thus
visualized as " KamalA kucha chUchuka kumkaumathO niyatha
aruNitha athula neela Tanu".
The anyOnyam of the divya dampathis is celebrated here . ThAyAr's
intimate sambhandham is hinted as the reason why the Lord of
the Venkatam hills
will forgive our trspasses due to the intercession of our most
benevolent Mother united with Him in an inseparable manner .
AhalahillEn Paasuram of Swamy
NammAzhwAr has to be remembered by us in this context.
-
-
- (2)
sachathurmukha shaNmukha panchamukha
pramukAkhila dhaivatha mouLimaNE !
SaraNAgathavathsala ! SaaranidhE !
ParipAlaya maam VrushasailapathE !
-
- Oh Lord
of Vrusha sailam ! Oh Crown Jewel of all DevAs and Gods like
the four-faced BrahmA , the five-faced Sivan and the six-faced
KumAra Swamy ! Oh Lord immensely attached by the bonds of love
to those , who seek Your protection ! Please protct me !
-
- (Comments): Oh Lord
of VrushA hills ! You overlook the deficiencies of
- those , who perform
SaraNAgathi at Your holy feet and look upon that SaraNAgahti
as a vyAjam to come to their rescue and bless them fully.
- Just as poor people
at times of grinding poverty access their savings , we
- come to You at times
of great distress to save us . May You known for such vaibhavam
as Saara Nidhi (matchless treasure )and SaraNAgatha Vatsalan
protect me.
-
- (3)
athivElatayA thava dhurvishai-
ranuvEla kruthair-aparAdha sathai:
bharitham thvaritham VrushasailapathE
parayaa krupayaa paripaahi HarE !
-
- Oh Lord
of Vrusha Giri! May Thou befitting Your name as Hari extend to
me Your immense dayA and protect me , who is guilty of committing
limitless and unbearable sins without let .AdiyEn has now rushed
to Your paadha kamalam with the full trust in Your matchless
compassion to overlook my unforgivable trespasses and protect
me .
-
- (comments) Oh Hari!
" ParayA krupayA maam Paahi" is the moving prayerful
appeal to the Lord .He is Para Brahmam and hence His Krupai (grace
)is
also Para Krupai . It is a grace for which there are no equals
or superiors. The SaraNAgathan is brimming (bharitham ) with
AparAdha Sathams and is scared about what is going to happen
to him .Therefore , he rushes ( thvaritham ) to
the Lord's Thiruvadi and prays " HarE KrupayA paripAhi ".He
does not say "Paahi" , but appeals one step higher
with the request , "ParipAhi ".
-
- (4)
adhivEnkata sailam udhAramathEr
janathAbhi mataadhika dhAnarathAth
ParadEvathayA gadhithAn nigamai:
KamalaadayithAn na param kalayE
-
- Oh Lord
of Sri Devi ! Oh Lord who is saluted as the God of Gods by VedAs
and Upanishads ! adiyEn does not recognize anyone as being superior
to You ! Oh Lord residing in Venakata Giri ! Your generosity
is unmatched and You always bless Your bhakthAs with more than
what they desired .
-
- (Comments): "Tvath
param na KalayE" .There is none who is superior to You in
the sense that the Lordn is " SamAdhika daridhran "
. He is poor in the sense
that there is no one , who is His equal or superior .Sri VenkatEsan
is saluted here as " UdhAra mathi " and " janathA
abhimatha adhika dhAnarathan" . His generosity is unparalleled
and as a result , He always enjoys blessing people
- with more than they
prayed for.
-
- (5)
kalavENu ravAvasa gOpavadhU
SathakODi vruthAth smarakODi samath
prathi vallavikAbhimathAth sukhadhAth
VasudEva suthAn na param kalayE
-
- adiyEn
does not recognize anyone other than Sri KrishNA ( Lord SrinivAsan
as VenkatakrishNan) as a superior God. Sri VenkatEsan in His
KrishNA -vathAram is the one ParamAthmA ,who is surrounded by
hundreds of crores of Gopis , who have lost themselves totally
in the charming music coming out of His divine flute.This son
of VasudEvan is far more beautiful than the combined beauty of
crores of ManmathAs and is desired by each and every Gopi maiden
and He in turn blesses them with all pleasures that they desire
individually including Moksha sukham.
-
- (Comments): The power
of KrishNA's VeNugAnam has been movingly described by both PeriyAzhwAr
and Swamy Desikan (GopAla Vimsathi slOkams). This slOkam touches
on that Vaibhavam . The leelAs of "Gopa kanyA Bhujangan"
- are hinted here as well
.
-
-
- Venkatakrishna
and Venkatarama as visualized by*
- the composer,
Sri Prathivathi Bayanakram Annan
-
- (6)
abhirAma guNAkara ! dhAsarathE!
jagdhEka dhanurdhara ! dheeramathE !
RaghunAyaka! Raama! RamEsa! VibhO !
varadhO Bhava ! Deva! dayA-jaladhE !
-
- Oh the
treasure house of all auspicious GuNAs revered by every one !
Oh the son of DhasarathA ! Oh matchless archer in all the Universe
! Oh Lord of firm sankalpam !Oh the chief of Raghu Kulam ! Oh
SupremeLord! Oh effulgent One ! Oh Ocean of Mercy ! May Thou
assume the role of the boon giver(Varadhan) and bless us !(Comments):
Here the prayer is shifting to Sri VenkatarAman , who declared
His SaraNAgathivratham as " DhadhAmyEthath Vratham mama
".
-
- (7)
avanI tanayA kamanIya karam
rajanIkara chAru mukhAmbhu ruham
rajanichara rAja tamO mihiram
mahanIyam aham RaghurAmam ayE
-
- adiyEn
performs SaraNAgathi to RaghurAman ,whose hands are held with
affection by SitA PirAtti . He has the most beautifulm face reminding
one of a well blossomed , lotus flower . He is the valorous One
, who is like the Sun to the darkness of the unrighteous RaavaNan
. adiyEn seeks refuge in Him .
-
- (Comments):This passage
reminds one of thirty fourth sargam of Sundara KaaNDam of Sri
Vaalmiki RaamAyaNam , where HanumAn describes to SitA in AshOka
Vanam the beauty ,valour and the other auspicious qualities of
Lord Raamachandran : " roopavAn Subhaga: SrimAn Kandharpa
iva MoorthimAn , VikramENa upapannasccha yaThA VishNurmahAyasA
: ".
-
- (8)
sumukham suhrudham sulabham sughadham
svanujam cha sukAyam amOgha-saram
apahAya Raghudhvaham anyam aham
na kaThanchana kanchana jaathu bhajE
-
- Oh VenkatEsA
! You are Sri RaamAvathAran .As RaamachandrA ,
- the
crest jewel of Raghu Kulam ,You have the most beautiful face
and
- body
, compassionate heart and are easily accessible .You are known
- for
Your unfailing arrows. You incarnated with Your brothers as the
sons
- of DasarathA
and have the power to grant the boon of Moksham to those
- who
sought refuge in You.With all of Your aanatha kalyANa guNams
in mind , adiyEn will never seek anyone other than You for my
salvation.
-
- (Comments): In the fifth
slOkam, the composer of this sthOthram saluted ThiruvEnkatamudayAN
as KrishNA and in the slOkams from 6-8 he visualized
the Lord of Thirumalai as the Veera Raaghavan , Sundara Raaman
and Jaanaki RamaNan . In the concluding three slOkams ( 9-11)
, the composer reverts to
the adulation of the Lord of Thirumalai as Sri VenakatEsan .
-
- (9)
vinA VenkatEsam na NaathO na Naatha:
SadhA Venkatesam smarAmi smarAmi
HarE! VenkatEsa ! Praseedha Praseedha
Priyam Venkatesa ! Prayaccha Prayaccha !
-
- Oh VenkatEsa!
Even in my dreams , adiyEn does not
consider any God superior to You . Therefore ,
adiyEn is always meditating on YOu and You
alone. Oh Hari !Please grant me the boon of what
adiyEn desires or better still , bless me with
any auspicousness , which You deem appropriate
for me.
-
- (10)
aham dhUratas thE padhAmbhOja yugma
prANama icchayaa Aagathya sEvAm karOmi
sakruthsEvayA nithya sEvA phalam thvam
prayaccha prayaccha PrabhO VenkatEsa
-
- Oh Lord
VenkatEsA ! adiyEn has come from afar with the longing to worship
Your holy feet this one time .The fierce waves of paapam have
tossed me about far and wide and kept adiyEn away from You .
The benovolent waves of
PuNyam have brought me to Your sannadhi today. adiyEn is saluting
You heartily this one time. Please bless me with Mukthi SaamrAjyam
, where adiyEn can
delight in nithya Kaimkaryam to You .
-
- (11)
aj~nAninA mayA dOshAn
asEshAn vihithAn HarE !
Kshamasva Thvam Kshamasva thvam
Seshasaila SikhAmaNE
-
- Oh Hari
NaarAyana ! Oh Crest jewel of Sesha Sailam ! Please pardon adiyEn
for all the sins committed by me . If You do not forgive my trespasses
done out of ignorance , then Your Naamam as Hari will become
meaningless; further, Your sankalpam to leave Parama Padham in
favor of Thirumalai would become an act without any purpose.
Therefore ,Oh VenaktEsA , Please forgive my apachArams and bless
adiyEn .
-
- Subhamasthu ,
- Daasan
OppilA-appan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan
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- @Photo Credit : LIFCO
Books,Chennai
- *Image Courtesy of :The
Webmanster,Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams
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