Relishing the Venkatesha Vaibhavam Series
Celebrating the arrival of Sri Aishwarya Srinivasa Perumal in Houston, Sri Ramanujamji, disciple of Sri Swamiji, took us on a journey to His divine abode by reminiscing the greatness of Lord Srinivasa and Venkatachalam, based on the divine work – ‘Divyadesa Vaibhavam’ by Paranur Mahatma Sri Sri Krishnapremi Maharaj.
Sri Vedanta Desika Swami on the Holy Tiruvenkatam
We saw earlier that,
“tyakta vaikunta vAsAya swAmi pushkariNI thaTe ramayA ramamAnAya shrInivAsAya mangaLam”
Sri Srinivasa Perumal, forgetting eternal abode of Vaikunta, Himself decided to come be with us all on earth and made His abode on the banks of Swami Pushkarini tirtha, standing there as archavatara with the sole purpose of bestowing grace on all those who come close to Tirumala.
As shown by Sage Narada, he decided to bless that arid land so that it would become fertile and prosperous. Till the sun and moon exist, our Sri Srinivasa Perumal will be there to bless us, while remaining blind to our faults, as He indicates through the tirumaN on His forehead that partly covers His eyes.
It is beautiful to see how the heart of mahatmas go along in the same direction, when it comes to prema and their love for Bhagavan.
In a lovely pasuram on Tiruvenkatam by Sri Vedanta Desika Swami, he says:
kaNNan aDiyiNai emakku kATTum veRpu
kaDuvinaiyar iruvinaiyum kaDiyum veRpu
thiNNamidhu vIdenna thigazhum veRpu
theLindha perum theerththangaL seRindha veRpu
puNNiyaththin pugal idhena pugazhum veRpu
ponnulagil bOgamellAm puNarkkum veRpu
viNNavarum maNNavarum virumbum veRpu
vEnkata veRpena viLangum vEdha veRpE
verPu in Tamil means hill or mountain. “kaNNan aDiyiNai emakku kATTum veRpu” means that these holy hills that have power to reveal or give benediction to attain the sacred feet of Sri Krishna.
Sri Krishna and Sri Srinivasa Perumal the very same. Even in our Guru Maharaj’s life, when his plae of Premika Bhavanam was first revealed, in the early 1990s, the moolavar or the ‘immovable’ deity was Sri Premika Srinviasa Perumal and the utsavar or the ‘moving’ deity utsavar was Madhuri Sakhi sametha Sri Premika Varadan. Now in North America too, Sri Swamiji’s heart has bestowed us with the same fortune of having Sri Aishwarya Srinviasa Perumal as the moolavar and Sri Premika Varadan-Madhuri Sakhi as the utsavamurthy.
Sri Vedanta Desika Swami says that the Venkatam hills have power to reveal lotus feet of Bhagavan to us, or in other words, to take us to His lotus feet.
“kaDuvinaiyar iruvinaiyum kaDiyum veRpu” means that the seven hills (not even Perumal, but just the hill itself) has the power to destroy every kind of karma committed by jivas, both pApAs and puNyas. Since the state of jnana or prema is attained only when both sins and merits are completely dissolved, this means that this hill has the power to bestow that highest state on mere jivas. It has the power to separate that karma that is inseparably with us since time immemorial and make us pure!
“thiNNamidhu vIdenna thigazhum veRpu” – the heart of all mahatmas are the same! There is no mahatma or bhagavata who prays to Bhagavan to be given Vaikuntam! Each one of them says that the place where their favorite deity is, is indeed Vaikunta! Kanchi is Vaikuntam, Azhwar sings, and Kanchi Varadaraja Perumal is Vaikuntapati. Tukaram Maharaj sings of Pandharpur as Vaikuntam. Thondaradipodi Azhwar says that I want nothing greater than being in Srirangam with You, O Ranganatha! Srirangam is Vaikuntam!
“thiNNamidhu vIdenna” means that this hill is indeed Vaikuntam!
In a lovely Madhurageetham on the Sesha Giri hills, Sri Swamiji’s heart echoes the same sentiment of Sri Vedanta Desika Swami in his pasuram. Sri Swamiji sings:
shEShagirimaham praNamAmi
parama bhAgavata pavitra girim
paramapada nAtha tharagirim
siddha chAraNa kinnara kEthanagirim
sarva dEvathA sEvitha girim
mangaLa paramapada tulya girim
muraLIdharasya sarvasva girim
The amount of love Sri Swamiji has for the seven hills is incredible. He has even gone to the foothills of the seven hills, stayed there gazing at the hills, rolled on the holy ground and returned. He simply loves Tiruvenkatam!
In this Madhurageetham, he sings, “mangaLa paramapada tulya girim”. It means the same as “thinnam idhu vIdenna thigazhum veRpu”, that these hills are equal to Sri Vaikuntam!
“theLindha perum theerththangaL seRindha veRpu” – the hill has the glory of having in it the Lord of all sacred waters, Swami Pushkarini. Another mahatma sings, “tava puNya thaTAke meeno bhavAmi vA – can I become a fish in the waters of your holy Swami Pushakrini?
“puNNiyaththin pugal Idhena pugazhum veRpu” – Like a huge banyan tree is a refuge for all kinds of little birds, the holy Venkata hill is recognized as the embodiment or ‘refuge’ of all virtues, of all puNyAs.
In the same vein, in Sri Swamiji’s kirtan, “mangaLa paramapada tulya girim” can also be taken to mean as “parama mangaLa padam tulya girim” which means, of all the punyas, this is the refuge!
“poNNulagil bOgamellAm puNarkkum veRpu” – poNNulagam is not the normal insentient world but the wonderful divine world of Vaikuntam. This line means that the wonderful joy of people who are liberated and reside in Vaikunta has been made available within reach of us, residents of bhooloka. Tiruvenkatam connects the divine joy that is available only in Vaikunta to us!
“viNNavarum maNNavarum virumbum veRpu” – this auspicious hill is desired not only by people of this world, but also by rishis, gandharvas, kinnaras, apsaras and all celestial beings, including even Vaikuntavasis, because they all relish the seva of Perumal here. Mahans say that Perumal stands on a hill – in the middle – so that he can be approached by both celestial beings as well as those living on earth!
Similarly Sri Swamiji sings “siddha chAraNa kinnara kEthanagirim, sarva dEvathA sEvitha girim” – all devatas including Brahma, Rudra, Skanda, Ganapati worship Perumal here. These hills have the saanidhya of Durga, Muruga, Vinayaka, Brahma, and others.
Finally Sri Vedanta Desika Swami says that this hill is “vEnkata veRpena viLangum vEdha veRpE” – that it is a hill celebrated in the Vedas! Only two kshetras have been celebrated by the Vedas – Puri and our Tirumala!
Based on Sri Ramanujamji’s Venkatesha Vaibhavam Series of Discourses
To listen and enjoy the complete episode 10 of Venkatesha Vaibhavam series, please click here –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ofyrOHjFb4&list=PLf2GTja1Pr3P0Yr_AsYTOi9KnzUBlI1sE&index=7
For the complete playlist on YouTube –
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLf2GTja1Pr3P0Yr_AsYTOi9KnzUBlI1sE
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