S S V Temple - ruthaavaree.files.wordpress.com · 2 Sri Siva Sri ayyappa Sri GaneSha Sri andal Sri...

1Friday, June 22 to Monday, July 2, 2012

S R I V E N K AT E S W A R A M A H O T S A V A M

Sri Siva Vishnu Temple6905 Cipriano Road, Lanham, Maryland 20706

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Sri Siva

Sri ayyappa

Sri andalSri GaneSha

Sri Sudarshana

Sri Yoga Narasimha

Sri MalikapurathuAmma

Sri Nagaraja

Sri SaraSwati

Sri durGa

Sri parvati

navaGraha

Sri lakShmi

Sri hanuman

Sri kriShna

Sri rama w Sita & lakShmana

Sri kartikeya-Subramanya-muruGan with valli and devaSena Sri venkateSwara - balaji

Sri viShnu - anantapadmanabha

Sivam Sivakaram Saantham Sivaathmaanam Sivoththamam

Siva Maarga Pranethaaram Pranathosmi Sadhaa Sivam

Shadaananam Kumkuma Raktha VarnamMahaamathim Dhivya Mayoora VaahanamRudhrasya Soonum Sura Sainya Naatham Guham Sadhaaham Saranam Prapadhye

Saanthaakaaram Bhujagasayanam Padhmanaabham SuresamVishwaadhaaram Gaganasadrusam Meghavarnam Subhaangam.

Lakshmikaantham Kamalanayanam YogihrudhyaanagamyamVandhe Vishnum Bhavabhayaharam Sarvalokaikanaatham

Lokaveeryam Mahaa Poojyam Sarva Rakshaakaram Vibhum

Paarvathee Hridhayaanandham Saasthaaram Pranamamyaaham

Gajaananam Bhoothaganaadhi Sevitham Kapiththa Jamboo

Phalasaara BhakshithamUmaa Sutham Soka Vinaasa

Kaaranam Namaami Vigneswara Paadha Pankajam

Saraswathi Namasthubhyam Varadhe Kaama Roopini

Vidhya-Arambham Karishyaami Sidhdhir Bhavathu Me Sadhaa

Sarva Mangala Maangalye Sive Sarvaartha Saadhike,

Saranye Trayambake Gauri, Naarayani Namosthuthe

Parvatha Vardhineem Dheveem Raama Naatha Priyaam Subhaam

Sree Chakra Raaja Peetasthaam Namaami Loka Maatharam

Aadhithyaaya Cha Somaaya Mangalaaya Bhudhaaya Cha

Guru Shukra Shanibhyash Cha Raahave Kethave Nama:

Namasthesthu Mahaamaaye Sree peete Sura poojithe

Sanka Chakra Gadhaa Hasthe Mahaa Lakshmi Namosthuthe

Manojavam Maarutha Thulya Vegam Jithendhriyam Budhdhimathaam Varishtam

Vaathaa-thmajam Vaanara Yootha Mukhyam Sree Raama-dhootham

Sirasaa Namaami

Krishnaaya Vaasudhevaaya Dhevakee Nandhanaaya Cha

Nandhagopa Kumaaraaya Govindhaaya Namo Nama:

Raamaaya Raama Bhadhraaya Raama Chandhraaya Vedhase

Raghu Nathaaya Naathaaya Seethaayaa Pathaye Nama:

Godhaa Dheveem Aham Vandhe Ranganaatha Priyaam Ramaam

Sukahasthaam Kshamaaroopaam Vishnuchitthaathmajaam

Subhaam

Vinaa Venkatesam Nanaadho Nanaadha Sadhaa Venkatesam Smaraami Smaraam

Hare Venkatesa Praseedha Praseedha Priyam Venkatesa Prayaccha Prayaccha

Ê¶É´ÉÉªÉ Ê´É¹hÉÖ°ü{ÉÉªÉ Ê¶É´É°ü{ÉÉªÉ Ê´É¹hÉ´Éä áIVËYA VIâÛURÍPËYA áIVARÍPËYA VIâÛAVÓ

Ê¶É´ÉºªÉ ¾þnùªÉÆ Ê´É¹hÉÖ& Ê´É¹hÉÉä�É ¾þnùªÉÆ Ê¶É´É& áIVASYA HÎDAYAê VIâÛUé VIâÛÕáCA HÎDAYAê áIVAé

+¦Éänù nù¶ÉÇxÉÆ YÉÉxÉ¨ÉÂ ABHÓDA DARáANAê JØËNAM

DEITIES OF SSVT

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Dear Devotees

On behalf of the SSVT Board of Trustees, Committee members and volunteers, I wish to express my deepest sense of gratitude for your contributions and service to our ever growing Institution.

I am deliberately using the term ‘Institution’ to describe what we are today. Many of you know SSVT’s humble beginnings. We started off with weekend prayer gatherings at neighborhood high school facilities. We now are one of the premier Hindu Temples in North America. We first established SSVT as a Hindu religious institution, carefully designing the temple to reflect authenticity in architecture and religious tradition. We then added several programs to cater to the ever growing needs of our congregation making SSVT a rich multi-faceted temple. We established our by-laws and have continually refined it and the governance structure to enable us change with time. And by doing so, we have truly become an ‘Institution’. All this could not have happened without your involvement, volunteerism, financial contributions and your devotion to building the Institution that we are today.

A major religious function - SRI VenkateSwaRa MaHOtSaVaM is being conducted from June 22nd - July 2nd for a continuous duration of ten days including two weekends. We are honored to have the esteemed priests from Tirupathi Devasthanam to conduct the function alongside our SSVT priests. As part of the Mahotsavam, we are celebrating Sri Srinivasa kalyanam on a grand scale with 1000 families participating at the same time on June 30th. We are also fortunate to have a discourse and blessings by Pujya Swami Tejomayananda from Chinmaya mission on June 23rd. We request all of you to register online at www.ssvt.org to participate in the Mahotsavam and receive prasadam from Lord Balaji.

Our goal this year is to raise funds for the following items:

a. Over a million dollars for the SSVT Endowment through Life-time Pooja sponsorships. The SSVT Endowment fund will provide for the long-term sustainability of the temple.

b. Sponsorships for the SRI VenkateSwaRa MaHOtSaVaM.

c. Funds to complete several key projects that are pending a) the elevator project to provide ease of access to the handicapped and senior members of our congregation is ready with the necessary approvals, b) the BalaAlaya renovation and c) the Kitchen renovation.

I am requesting your participation in the SRI VenkateSwaRa MaHOtSaVaM in June and your generous donations to support your temple.

Sincerely,

Suryanarayana M. SiramChairpersonSSVT Board of Trustees

6905 Cipriano Road,Lanham, MD20706Tel: (301) 552-3335 Fax: (301) 552-1204

E-Mail: [email protected] Web Site: http://www.ssvt.org

Sri Siva Vishnu Temple

2012 Board of Trustees

ChairpersonSuryanarayana M. Siram(301) 983-8951

Vice-Chairperson (Operations)Prakash Hosadurga(301) 352-8529

Dep. Vice-Chairperson (Operations)Sreenivasa S. Kumar(703) 277-3467

Vice-Chairperson (Policy)Sasidharan Mattampillil(Sasi Menon)(301) 937-2697

Dep. Vice-Chairperson (Policy)Sasikala Chandar(301) 983-0627

TreasurerAnjana Sriram(240) 839-8777

SecretaryHari Har Singh(301) 972-3944

Trustees

Chaitanya Ravi(410) 296-8324Meena Krishnan (703) 849-9823Nithya Nagarajan(301) 576-9648Rajagopala Rao Tripuraneni(410) 879-1907Ramachar Mukunda(301) 309-9012Ramaswamy Chandramouli(240) 477-3447Sarada Ashok(703) 860-2431Suresh Babu(301) 330-5533Umesh Shankar(301) 774-7924 Vijaya Gollamudi(703) 904-9354

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Contentsmessage from the Chairman, board of trustees

Suryanarayana M. Siram ..........................................................................................1

Sri mukham from Ch. thirumala Charyulu. .........................................................................................................................3

Sri mukham from Sri kanchi kamakoti peetadhipathi. .........................................................................................................................4

Sri mukham from Sri Savyasaachi Swamigal. .........................................................................................................................5

Sri mukham from Sri puthige math. .........................................................................................................................6

Sri mukham from Sri Shanmukha Sivacharyar. .........................................................................................................................7

Sri Venkateswara mahotsavamProgram .........................................................................................................9

list of Sponsors & advertisers(List includes only sponsorship received till 6/1/2012) .................................................. 10

editorial noteEditorial Committee ............................................................................................. 11

the vaibhavam of lord Venkatesa V. Sadagopan .................................................................................................... 13

kaliYuga varadaa VenkateswaraNarayanaswamy Subramanian .............................................................................. 15

lord of Seven hills. ...................................................................................................................... 17

Four-fold morning prayers to lord Sri VenkateshaM.G. Prasad (www.taranga.us) .............................................................................. 19

“GOvinda” – where are you?Ananth Krishnan ............................................................................................. 23

Glory of shrI Venkateswara by shrI vAdirAja tIrtha Sri Kesava Rao Tadapatri ....................................................................................... 25

sadagOpa or sadAri Gopal Gopinath .................................................................................................. 27

ashta lakshmi, eight Forms of Goddess of wealthDigalakote Narayanachar, Priest, Sri Siva Vishnu Temple .......................................... 31

why do we celebrate the wedding of Gods - devataa kalyanam?Dr. B. V. VenkataKrishna Sastry, Yoga-Samskrutham University. ............................... 33

mahotsava phalamKomandur Sri Venktatcharyulu, Pancharatragamam Priest , Sri Siva Vishnu Temple ...... 37

knowing Brahman Raghuveer Rao ................................................................................................. 39

the boat of liberationKrishnamurthy RamaKrishna .......................................................................... 41

parokshapriyA hi vahi devA:Shri Divakaran Namboodiri .................................................................................... 45

Sri Venkateswara Shrine at SSvt - a historical perspective Seetaramayya Nagula ......................................................................................... 47

historicity of mahaabhaaratSri Kuntimaddi SadAnanda .................................................................................... 51

what is hinduism to a First-Generation indo-americanNithya Nagarajan ................................................................................................ 55

a personal journey through the temples of my lifeAditi Banerjee .................................................................................................... 57

what is good about Sanatana dharma? Vasu Murthy ...................................................................................................... 61

a Selection of prayer Offerings to lord Venkateshwara|| srivenkatesa suprabhatam ||Sanskrit ............................................................................................................ 68|| srivenkatesa suprabhatam ||English ............................................................................................................. 70|| sricatuh sloki ||Sanskrit ............................................................................................................ 72|| Gadyam ||Sanskrit ............................................................................................................ 72|| Gunaratnakosham ||Sanskrit ............................................................................................................ 72|| sricatuh sloki ||English ............................................................................................................. 73|| Gadyam ||English ............................................................................................................. 73|| Gunaratnakosham ||English ............................................................................................................. 73|| taniyan ||Sanskrit & English ............................................................................................... 74|| Seva Kaalam ||English ............................................................................................................. 75|| tiruppavai ||English ............................................................................................................. 75|| tiruppalliyezucci ||English ............................................................................................................. 79|| tiruppallandu ||English ............................................................................................................. 81|| kanninum siruttambu ||English ............................................................................................................. 83|| Dhyana Slokam ||English ............................................................................................................. 84|| ulagam unda ||English ............................................................................................................. 84|| Neerattam ||English ............................................................................................................. 84|| Poochudal ||English ............................................................................................................. 85|| Sattrumurai - Tengalai ||English ............................................................................................................. 85|| Kappidal ||English ............................................................................................................. 85|| Sattrumurai - Vadagalai ||English ............................................................................................................. 86|| divya deça maìgalänuçäsanam ||Sanskrit & English ............................................................................................... 87|| Sudharshanaashtakam ||Sanskrit ............................................................................................................ 88|| Sudharshanaashtakam ||English ............................................................................................................. 89|| Kamaasikaashtakam ||Sanskrit ............................................................................................................ 90|| Kamaasikaashtakam ||English ............................................................................................................. 91|| Nyaasadashakam ||Sanskrit & English ............................................................................................... 92|| Venkateshasthotram ||Sanskrit ............................................................................................................ 93|| Venkateshasthotram ||English ............................................................................................................. 94|| Govindanaamaavali ||Sanskrit & English ............................................................................................... 95

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Sri Mukham from Ch. Thirumala Charyulu

BALAJI MAHOTSAVAM 2012

Section 1: Blessings

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Sri Mukham from Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetadhipathi



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Sri Mukham from Sri Savyasaachi SwamigaL



translation of Sri Mukham from Sri Savyasaachi SwamigaLWe are very happy to know that all of you are celebrating Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Swamy Thiru Mahotsava from June 22, 2012 to July 2, 2012.

We have no doubt that this Thiru Mahotsava of the Lord will be highly successful. Let everybody be blessed with auspicious happenings in their lives. Let there be peace in the world. Let all the devotees good desires materialize. Let the blessings of Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara be upon everybody. Let the divine mahotsvam be celebrated in a grand manner.

Sarve JanAH sukhino bhavantu . samasta sanmagaLAni bhavantu.(Let all people be blessed with Happiness. Let all people be blessed in all auspicious happennings).

Jai Sriman Narayana.Adiyen,

Savya sAchi dAsan

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Sri Mukham from Sri Puthige Math



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Sri Mukham from Sri Shanmukha Sivacharyar



10 BALAJI MAHOTSAVAM 2012

With best compliments from

Dr. Suryanarayana M. Siram

krishnaveni Siram

Sumitra Siram

Dr. Gautam Siram

11BALAJI MAHOTSAVAM 2012

Sri Venkateswara MahotsavamProgram

Friday, June 22–Monday, July 2, 2012

Nineteen years after the consecration of the Balaji shrine in the Nation’s Capital, SSVT is celebrating a major 11-day Festival for Lord Venkateswara. This function embodies the temple’s “Oneness” with community-wide participation, prayers for world peace and the well-being of all. Acharyas from Tirupati Devasthanam will conduct the rituals along with the Acharyas from SSVT.

The Festival, in addition to the core religious events, will feature a variety of programs supporting the thematic objec-tives of Community Seva and NextGen. The culmination is a grand Srinivasa Kalyanam with 1008 or more devotees on Saturday, June 30.

Nadaswaram, discourses and bhajans during the program Each evening: Alankaram (different alankaram for utsava moorthy)

Day & Date Time Event

Friday, June 22 5:30 p.m. Bhagavat Prarthana, Sabha anujna, Sankalpam, Visvaksena Aaradhana, Punyahavachanam, Rakshabandhanam, Aacharya Rutvikaavaranam, Mruthsangrahanam, Ankurarpanam, Kalashaadhivasam

8:00 p.m. Lakshmi Aradhana- Lakshmi Sahasranama Stotra Parayanam.

Saturday, June 23 7:00 a.m. Suprabhatam, Sevakalam, Sri Venkateswara Abhishekam, Dwaratorana Dwaja, Kumbhaavahanam, Agnipratistha, Chathusthana-archana, Sri Mahasudarshana Homam

2:00 p.m Cultural EVent by and for Next Gen (dance) 5:30 p.m. Discourse by Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayananda, Chinmaya Mission 7:00 p.m. Prakaarotsavam, Sri Venkateswara Deepaarpanam , Sahasra Deepaalankarana Seva.Bhajans by Sai group.

Sunday, June 24 9:00 a.m. Suprabhatam, Sevakalam, Tiruvaaradhanam, Ashtottara kalasha snapanam 9:00 a.m. Chathusthanaarchana, Dhanvanthri Homam (Amritha Sanjivini Homam), Poornahuti 11:00 a.m. Children’s puja1:00-3:00 p.m Cultural Event by Next Gen- local talent (music) 3:00 p.m. Srimad Bhagavatha Leelotsavam 6:00 p.m. 108 Divya Desha Devata Puja, Prakaarotsavam, Uyaala/Unjal seva

Monday, June 25 9:00 a.m. Suprabhatam, Sevakalam, Tiruvaaradhanam 9:00 a.m. Chathusthanaarchana, Sri Rama Moola Mantra Homam, Poornahuti 6:00 p.m. Sri Rama Alankaram, Prakaarotsavam

tuesday, June 26 9:00 a.m. Suprabhatam, Sevakalam, Tiruvaaradhanam 9:00 a.m. Chathusthanaarchana, Sri Ramaanjaneya Moola Mantra Homam (Sarva Sanjivini Homam), Poornahuti 6:00 p.m. Sahasra Nagavalli Dala (Beetle Leaves) Archana, Ganga Sindhura Seva to Sri Anjaneya, Prakaarotsava

wednesday, June 27 9:00 a.m. Suprabhatam, Sevakalam, Tiruvaaradhanam 9:00 a.m. Chathusthanaarchana, Srimad Ashtakshari Homam, Poornahuti 6:00 p.m. Vaikuntavasa Alankaram , Prakaarotsavam

thursday, June 28 9:00 a.m. Suprabhatam, Sevakalam, Tiruvaaradhanam 9:00 a.m. Chathusthanaarchana, Sri Santanagopala Homam (Putra Kameshti Homam), Poornahuti 6:00 p.m. Venugopala Alankaram, Laksha Tulasi archana, Prakaarotsavam

Friday, June 29 9:00 a.m. Suprabhatam, Sevakalam, Tiruvaaradhanam 9:00 a.m. Chathusthanaarchana, Sri Mahalakshmi Homam (Kaamita phala daayaka Homam), Poornahuti 6:00 p.m. Sri Mahalakshmi Alankaram, Lakshmi Sahasranama Kumkumaarchana, Prakaarotsavam

Saturday, June 30 6:00 a.m. Suprabhatam, Sevakalam, Venkateswara Abhishekam, Swarna Kavacha Alankaram. 7:00 a.m. Chathusthanaarchana, Sri Venkateswara Moola Mantra Homam, Poornahuti11:00 a.m Grand Srinivasa Kalyanotsavam 4:00 p.m. Musical concert by The Fourth Stream. Cultural Event by and for Next Gen. 6:00 p.m. Jnanavikasini Sri Venkateswara puja by Next Gen. 7.30 p.m. Vishesha Alankaram, Prakaarotsavam

Sunday, July 1.

7:00 a.m. Suprabhatam, Sevakalam, Tiruvaaradhanam. 7:00 a.m. Chathusthanaarchana, Sri Narasimha Homam, MAHAPOORNAHUTI12: 00 p.m. Rathotsavam, Acharya Sambhavana. 2:00 p.m. Sponsor package pick-up. 3:00 p.m. Annamacharya Keertanas by Smt. Jayanthi Savithri, TTD. 6:00 p.m. Prakaarotsavam

Monday, July 2 9:00 a.m. Suprabhatam, Sevakalam, Tiruvaaradhanam, Vishnu Sahasranama Parayana. 6:00 p.m. Dwadasa Aaradhana, Sri Pushpayagam, Ekanta Seva, Sri Satyanarayana puja


List of Sponsors & advertisers(List includes only sponsorship received till 6/1/2012)

LIFetIMe PUJa SPOnSORS & OtHeRS

Allied Party Rentals ..................................................................................... 36

Angari Venkatasubramanian .......................................................................

Chaganti, Venkata ....................................................................................... 74

Chaitanya, Ravi & Rajani ............................................................................. 46

Chandar, Sasikala & Prem ............................................................................ 64

Chitra & K.G. Venkatraman ......................................................................... 12

Kempanna, Sudhakar & Ganga ................................................................... 60

Nagula, Seetaramayya& Kamala ................................................................ 23

Narasimhan, Shekar & Charu (Upkar) .......................................................... 24

Narayan, Ravi & Vasantha (Dulles University) .............................................. 38

Nimmagadda, Vijayalakshmi ......................................................................

Nirmala Rao (Helping Hands Veterinary Clinic) ........................................... 18

Potaraju, Ramu & Uma ................................................................................ 18

Prakash Hosadurga .....................................................................................

Rangamani & Madhu Murthy ......................................................................

Sekaran, Chandra and Jayashree ................................................................. 54

Shivacharan B.S & Anupama ...................................................................... 32

Siram, Suryanarayana & KrishnaVeni ............................................................ 8

Sivasubramanian, K.N. ................................................................................

Sriramachandran, Anjana ...........................................................................

Swaminatha Reddy & Surya ....................................................................... 64

Umesh and Nalini Shankar ..........................................................................

PLatInUM SPOnSORS

AnanathanPillai Raj & Radhika.................................................................... Chalakala, Gunda & Vijaya Reddy ................................................................ 24

GOLD SPOnSORS

Davita, New Dialysis Center ......................................................................... 53

Garud Technologies ..................................................................................... 32

Kidney Medical Associates, Inc. ................................................................... 54

Ramachar & Meera Mukunda ......................................................................

Srinagesh Paluvoi ........................................................................................

Tripuraneni, Rajagopala Rao & Sirisha .........................................................

SILVeR SPOnSORS

Ananth K. Rao ............................................................................................. 81

Bhamidipaty, Satish .................................................................................... 40

Diners World Travel, Inc. .............................................................................. 52

Intelliva ....................................................................................................... 96

Mysore, Ramarao ........................................................................................ 82

Sivakumar Srinivasan, DND, MDS ................................................................ 91

BROnZe SPOnSORS

Adusumilli, Durga Prasad ............................................................................

Andhavarapu, Ranjit & Swapnasudha ......................................................... 22

Das Narayan ................................................................................................

Harihar & Somwati Singh ............................................................................ 56

Iyer, Ramakrishnan & Banu .........................................................................

K.G.V. Krishna .............................................................................................. 56

Kannan & Jayashree Subramanian .............................................................. 59

Madnure, Sudesh ........................................................................................

Priya Srinivas ...............................................................................................

S. Krishna Murthy........................................................................................

Shailaja & Gundu Rau..................................................................................

Sharma, Purnima ........................................................................................ 56

Sreenivasa Kumar .......................................................................................

Sri Harsha Hindupur ....................................................................................

Srinivas Valluri & Rama Reddy .....................................................................

Yadla, Nirmala .............................................................................................


Sri gurubhyo namaHOm Sri Venkateshaya namaH

Shambhavae namaH

editorial noteEditorial Committee

SSVT is celebrating an auspicious fes-tival called Sri Venkateshwara sar-vaabhisTa prada vishwa shAnti yAga mahotsavam from June 22nd through July 2nd. This divine occasion is being celebrated with many homams, poojas and a grand kalyanotsavam. As Jnana karya portion of these celebrations, we offer this souVenir at the feet of Sri Ven-kateshwara.

This souvenir consists of five different sections. We start with anugraha sand-esha and blessings from maThAdipa-tis and AchAryas. In the end, we have many stotras on Sri Venkateshwara collected in one place for the benefit of the devotees. Devotees will find it use-ful to have all the stotras in one place, available at moment’s notice.

In the middle, we have a group of Eighteen articles from variety of scholars from across US that is being offered to Sri Venkateshwara. Articles have been divided into three areas, articles on Sri Venkateshwara, articles on Hindu-ism and articles for Youth. There is an eclectic mix of articles on traditional stotras as well as articles that speak to new paradigms. View points of all three Vedantic sys-tems, Advaita, VishishTAdvaita and Dvaita (tattvavAda) are well represented. There is a special section that contains articles by youth that present their perspectives on grow-ing up as a Hindu in the US.

SanAtana Dharma (Hinduism) in the US has to develop in its own way and address the challenges faced by the next generation of adherents in this day and age. SanAtana Dharma’s openness, flexibility and diversity have been key in its ability to survive the challenges of the day. These articles explore various facets of SanAtana Dharma and show the key features of SanAtana Dharma in this regard. Various aspects of the Glory and the path of bhakti and sharaNAgari in the worship of Sri Venkateswara are pre-sented lucidly. Concept of Philosophical Inquiry has been explored in some articles. A fundamental question dealt critically in an old Upanishad is expounded in modern terms. Legacy of saints and their poetic creations are dis-cussed. There is a special section that contains articles by

youth that present their perspectives on growing up as a Hindu in the US. By His Grace, we hope that this souvenir is not just read and recycled but studied and used for reference.

We are very happy that two youth members have written outstanding articles on their experiences of grow-ing up as Hindus in the US. There is an article that talks about features of SanAtana Dharma that are relevant to youth in West or youth with Western education. We hope these articles will spur other youth members to reflect on their experiences with SanAtana Dharma and to dive deep inside the religion to find out the valuable trea-sures inside. Our underlying goal is to

spark the interests in the young and able generations of Hindus here about the tenets of our Dharma. The articles in the souVenir are not meant to provide all the answers but stimulate more questions from our community.

We thank all contributors for sharing their excellent arti-cles with the readers. The articles came together in a short amount of time. The articles have arranged themselves in a nice order without any particular efforts of Editors. All this shows the principle of non-doership (nAham karta HariH karta - I am not the doer, sri Hari is the doer) and how all real work is done by divinity inside all of us.

We offer this small garland of articles to the Lotus feet of Lord Venkateshwara. We pray for Sri Venkateshwara’s bless-ings of Jnana, Bhakti and Vairaagya to all devotees.

All views expressed in the articles reflect author’s opinions and are not necessarily a reflection of the views of SSVT or the Editorial board.

editorial Board

C. DhananjayanGopal Gopinath

Charu NarasimhanVasu Murthy

V.S. Raghavan

14

7300 Hanover Drive, Suite 301Greenbelt, MD 20770

Office: (301)-345-1800Fax: (301)-345-3854

Hematology, Oncology, and Internal Medicine


the Vaibhavam of Lord Venkatesa V. Sadagopan

The glories of LOrd VenkATeSA Of THIruMALA have been cel-ebraTed by eleven of The Twelve azhwars, acharyas and greaT poeTs over many cenTuries. These TribuTes have Taken The form

of Ashtottarams, Sahasra namams, Suprabhatam, stotram, prapatti, Mangalam, sankeertanams by Saint Annamacha-rya, ThyagaBrahmam, Muttuswamy Dheekshitar, poems by Tarigonda Vengamambha and so many other devotees.

Some of these tributes in the form of ashtottarams and Sa-hasra namams are used in worship every day at Thirumala; these are from Varaha and Brahmanda Puranams. There are other tributes from recent times such as the majestic Srinivasa gadhyam, stotrams awakening the Lord (Suprab-hatam), euology, Self-Surrender (Prapatti) and Benedic-tions (Mangalam). A short bibiliography of some of these tributes to Lord Venaktesa in the form of detailed ebooks is provided at the end of this essay.

Dayaa Satakam: a tribute to the Dayaa Gunam of the Lord by Swamy Vedanta Desikan

One of the poems known as Daya Satakam stands out among all these tributes. This poem known for its po-etic excellence and deep bhakti to Lord Venkatesa is by Thuppul Swamy Vedantha Desikan aka Sri Venaktanathan (1268-1360 C.E). This great poet/Acharyan is revered as an incarnation of the temple bell (Ghantaa) of the Lord of Thirumala and has contributed immensely to the rein-forcement of Bhagavad Ramanuja’s divine teachings. We will highlight the bhakti anubhavams of Swamy Vedan-tha Desikan as experienced by him in his brilliant poem of Daya Satakam in this article.

The Ten poetic Meters of Dayaa Satakam

Daya Satakm has 108 slokams set in ten different poetic meters such as anushtup(1-10), Aryaa (11-20),

Oupachandhasikam (21-30), Maalini (31-40 and 105-106), Mandhakranatha (41-50), Natkutakam (51-60),Sikarini (61-70), Harini (71-80), Pruthvee (81-90), Vasantha Tilaka (91-100) and Saardhoola Vikridita ( 107-108). The superior poetic skills and Vedanta Jn~Anam of Swamy Desikan dis-played in these 108 slokams of Daya Satakam are match-less.

The Ten Bhagavad Gunams of the Lord of SeVen hills cel-ebrated in Daya satakam

Every set of ten of the 108 slokams of Swamy Desikan’s magnum opus focuses on a particular guNam of the array of innumerable auspicious attributes ( ananta kalyana gu-nams ) of Sri Venkatesa. The ten meanings associated with

the ten sets of ten slokams are:

1. The Lord of Tiruvenkatam is the One, who can bless us with the boon of freedom from the cycles of births and deaths and thereby grant us the boon of moksham.

2. He comprehends every thing (omniscient) and He is ca-pable of carrying out whatever He chooses to do.

3. He destroys the enemies of those, who surrender unto Him and seek His help.

4. He is the means for attaining all the worthwhile goals of life ( Purusharthams).

5. He is the fruit (phalan) of ALL worthwhile endeavors.

6. He can be reached easily through the glorious means of Self-Surrender (Prapatti/Saranagathi).

7. He will rush to help the lowest and the highest among His bhaktas with the same speed, when they seek His pro-tection sincerely.

8. He is the Supreme Principle ( Paratvam) standing on top of the Venkatam hills.

9. He is the One, who incarnated as Rama and Krishna (Vib-hava avatarams).

10. He is the One, who can confer on us the bliss associated with Moksham right here on this earth.

Examples of the celebration of the Dayaa GuNam of the Lord from the ten sets of slokams

1. In the very first slokam of this poem, the poet compares the Lord’s Dayaa as the sweet flowing river of cane sug-ar juice, which has solidified to become the mountain of Thiruvenkatam. The poet states that he offers his prapatti ( surrender) to that mountain, which has become the em-bodiment of the Lord’s dayaa. The FIRST THEME covered by the first ten slokas revolves around the fact that the Lord of Tiruvenkatam is eminently suitable for worship and adoration. The reason is that He is an ocean of Mercy (dayaa). He serves as the treasure for those, who have no riches to speak of. He is the field out of which grows the four fruits of human life ( Purusharthams). That concept of blemish-free mercy makes Him the Supreme object of contemplation and worship.

2. The SECOND THEME of Dayaa Satakam is that the Lord is eminently enjoyable as Bhagavad anubhavam. Here Swa-my Desikan visualizes Dayaa Devi standing tall in Thirum-ala representing the merciful aspects of Sri Venkateswara. She grows at the feet of the Lord and serves as His boon-

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The Vaibhavam of Lord Venkatesa


Section 2: Sri Venkateswara

granting, Kalpaka tree that fulfills the wishes of those who pray to Him. His cool glances at the sight of His devotees cause the tree of Dayaa DEvi to send out tender shoots and later ripe, tasty fruits. Those, who worship at the sannidhi of Sri Venkateswara become beneficiaries of His dayaa and the fruits of that kalpaka tree. Hence, Swamy Desikan says that the mercy-laden glances ( Karunaa Kadakshams) yield indescribable riches to the devotees. His dayaa makes Him eminently enjoyable.

3. The THIRD ESSENTIAL THEME of Dayaa Satakam is that He has the most beautiful divine auspicious body ( divya mangala vigraham) and to feast on Him with our eyes is equivalent to the tasting of the divine nectar generated by the churning of the ocean of dayaa of Sri Venkatesa. That nectarine vigraham made entirely of Suddha Sattva guNam ( totally free from rajo and tamo gunams) is stand-ing on top of Tirumala. This most beautiful iconic form of the Lord removes our fear for Yama and guarantees us the Moksha phalan. Such is His power !

4. The FOURTH ESSENTIAL theme of this stotram is that Lord Venkatesa is the most delectable experience to enjoy among all delectable experiences that the human beings can hope to enjoy. His blue effulgence radiating from the top of Tirumala hills and its sacred associations provide the richest item of enjoyment for the sentient beings.

5. The FIFTH CENTRAL THEME of Dayaa Satakam is about the blessings that one accrues from the divine glances of the Lord of seven hills. The poet points out that the glance of the Lord frees the sentient being to become free of the three kinds of debts (to the devas, pitrus and Rishis ). The debt to the devas is normally discharged through the per-formance of Yajn~aas and offering the havis to different devaas.The debt to the Rishis is discharged through Veda adhyayanam. The debt to the Pitrus is discharged by get-ting progeny. Lord Venkatesa’s compassion–filled glances not only chase away the three kinds of debts but confers on the jeevan, the boon of Moksham.

6. The SIXTH CENTRAL THEME is that Lord Srinivasan is easy to approach through the act of Self Surrender ( Prapatti). Here, Swamy Desikan points out that Bhakti and Jn~Ana yogam are difficult to practice as the means of moksham compared to Prapatti at the holy feet of Lord Srinivasan as taught by Acharyas like Bhagavad Ramanuja.

7. The SEVENTH CENTRAL THEME advocated in Dayaa Sa-takam is that Lord Venkatesa’s incomparable dayaa gunam removes any and every obstacle that a surrendered soul (Prapanna) faces on this earth.

8. The EIGHTH THEME refers to His kalyana gunam by which He accomodates Himself to the wishes of the Prapannaas.

Although He knows that some of the desires of the prapan-nas relate to are non-lasting, perishable and trivial things, Sri Venkatesa gives them with what they desire. Later, He gives them the knowledge and discriminative powers to overcome the desire for perishable sukhams and elevates their sight to the lasting sukham of Moksham. He goes along with the wishes of His devotees first and then slowly helps them to seek higher goals such as enjoying the bliss of eternal service to Him in Sri Vaikuntham.

9. The NINTH CENTRAL THEME relates to His sincere friend-ship out of His compassion for those who surrender unto Him. His friendship to these prapannas does not count on any returns from them. It is the most natural and uplifting of all friendships.

10. The TENTH CENTRAL THEME of Dayaa Satakam deals with Sri Venkateswara’s grace in leading the Prapannas on the divine path to His Supreme Abode(Sri Vaikuntham).

In the 100th slokam of Dayaa Satakam, Swamy Desikan acknowledges the glorious mercy of Lord Venkateswara in crowning him as “ Vedanthaacharya” at the end of recit-ing Dayaa Satakam. The poet and great devotee of Lord Venkateswara, Swamy Desikan states that he was just an instrument in the hands of the Lord of TiruVenkatam in composing Dayaa Satakam.

The circumambulations (PradakshiNams) around the sanc-tum sanctorium (garbha graham) of Lord Venkatesa with the recitation of Dayaa Satakam will confer all soubhag-yams on the devotees.

Subhamastu ! Sarva Mangalani santu ! NamO SrI Venkate-saya,

BIBILIOGRaPHY

1. Sri Venkatesa WebPortal http://www.sriVenaktesa.org 2. Sri Venkatesa Ashtottarm from VarahaPuraNam used daily at Sri Balaji Sannidhi: the 96th ebook in the Sundarasimham ebook se-ries, http://www.sundarasimahm.org 3. Another Sri Venkatesa Ashtottaram, the 95th ebook in the above series from Brahmanda Puranam 4. Sri Venkatesa Sahasranamam used daily at Tirumala, the101st ebook in the Sundarasimham ebook series.

DaILY HInDU wISDOM

Whatever takes form is false. Only the formless endures. When you understand The truth of this teaching, You will not be born again. For God is infinite, Within the body and without, Like a mirror, And the image in a mirror. As the air is everywhere, Flow-ing around a pot And filling it, So God is everywhere, Filling all things And flowing through them forever.

- Ashtavakra Gita 1: 18-20


Om Sri Gurubhyo Namaha

kaliYuga Varadaa VenkateswaraNarayanaswamy Subramanian

Paritraanaaya Saadhunaam,Vinaashaaya cha DushkritaamDharma Samstaapanaarthaaya,Sambhavaami Yuge Yuge

In this popular verse from Bhagavad Geeta, Lord Krishna declares that to protect the good, destroy the evil and to re-establish righteousness, the Lord reincarnates from time to time. Even though the Lord’s incarnations are in-numerable, the Bhaagavatha Puraana describes twenty four prominent ones. However in each of the Yugaas (eons of time) one incarnation stands out that illustrates the declaration of the Lord. “Kruthethu NaarasimhouBhooho, Tretaayaam Raghunandanaha, Dwaapare Vaasudevasya, Kalou Venkatanayaka”, meaning in the Kruta Yuga it was Lord Narasimha, in the Tretaa Yuga it was Lord Raama, in the Dwaapara Yuga it was Lord Krishna and in the pres-ent KaliYuga it is Lord Venkateswara. The term “Ven” means sin, “kata” means to destroy and “Eeswara” means the Lord who bestows auspiciousness and prosperity. Hence “Ven-kateswara” means the Lord who destroys our sins and be-stows auspiciousness and prosperity.

the Divine Incarnation

Once Sage Kasyapa along with other Rishis were perform-ing a sacrifice. Sage Narada approached them and asked as to who among the Trinity they were trying please with the sacrifice. Unable to answer the question, the Rishis ap-proached Sage Brugu to find a solution. Sage Brugu first went to the abode of Lord Brahma and found Him im-mersed in the recitation of Vedaas while being attended to by Goddess Saraswati. Since Lord Brahma did not pay at-tention to him, he considered Lord Brahma unfit to receive the offerings of the sacrifice and cursed Him to not have any temples of worship on earth. Next the Sage visited Kailasa and found Lord Siva and Parvati also ignoring him. The Sage also found Siva unfit to receive the offerings and cursed Him to be worshipped only in Linga form. Finally when the Sage arrived in Vaikunta, he found Lord Vishnu reclining on Adisesha with Sri Mahalakshmi in service at His feet. When Lord Vishnu also ignored him, the Sage in anger kicked Him on His chest, the abode of Mahalakshmi. Lord Vishnu, in an attempt to pacify the Sage, apologized to the Sage, got hold of his feet and squeezed the extra eye that the Sage had in the sole of his feet (representing the Sage’s ego) and in the process made the Sage realize his mistake. The Sage apologized to Lord Vishnu for his sin-ful act and concluded that Lord Vishnu is the fittest being among the Trinity to receive the offerings of the sacrifice.

Sri Mahalakshmi, who was angered by the action of the

Sage and the apologies by the Lord, left Vaikunta to reside in Kolhapur (in Maharashtra). After Mahalakshmi’s depar-ture, Lord came down to earth and started meditating in an ant-hill under a tamarind tree on the Venkata Hill for His re-union with the Goddess. Seeing His predicament, Lords Brahma and Siva assumed the forms of a cow and its calf to serve Lord Vishnu. Surya, the Sun God, informed Mahalakshmi about Lord Vishnu’s arrival on earth and re-quested Her to take the form of cowherdess and sell the cow and the calf to the king of the Chola region. The Chola king bought the cow and the calf and sent them to graze on the Venkata Hill along with his herd of cattle. Discover-ing Lord Vishnu in the ant-hill, the cow started emptying her udder and feeding the Lord daily. As a result the cow was not yielding any milk at the palace. When the Chola queen found out about the lack of milk, she took the cow-herd to task. Thereafter the cowherd followed the cow and discovered the cow emptying her udder into the ant-hill. Angry at the conduct of the cow, the cowherd was about to hit the cow with his axe, when the Lord rose from the ant-hill and took the blow. Seeing the Lord bleed, the cow-herd swooned and died.

The blood-stained cow returned to the palace, only to bring the king back to the scene of the accident. Lord Vish-nu cursed the king saying that he would become an Asura for the fault of his servant (the cowherd). When the king pleaded for mercy, the Lord blessed him by saying that his curse would end soon when in his next birth the king would be born as Akasa Raja and would present the Lord with a crown at the time of His marriage to Sri Padmavati. With these words, the Lord assumed the form of a stone image. This is the idol of the Lord that we see in Tirumala Tirupati today.

Thereafter the Lord, in the name of Srinivasa, requested Sri Varaahaswamy (also a form of Vishnu), the presiding Lord of that place to grant Him a place to stay on the hill. In return, Lord Srinivasa ordained that a pilgrimage to His shrine would not be complete until the devotees first take bath in the holy tank (Pushkarini) and have the darshan of Sri Varaahaswamy. Lord Srinivasa also ordained that the Naivedyam be first offered to Sri Varaahaswamy before they are offered to Him. Lord Srinivasa lived on the hill like a hermit, while Vakulaadevi looked after His needs like a mother.

the Divine wedding

Sometime later, the Chola king was born as Akasa Raja

18

KaliYuga Varadaa Venkateswara



and he with his Queen Dharanidevi ruled over the region known as Thondamandalam. Since they had no children, they wanted to perform a sacrifice to bless them with progeny. While ploughing the fields, in preparation for the sacrifice, the king discovered a female child in a lotus on the ground. An ethereal voice commanded the king to take care of the child as his own and said that in due course good fortune will befall them. Treating this as an act of divine grace, Akasa Raja and his queen adopted the child and named her “Padmavati” (since she was found in a Padma – lotus). Padmavati grew up to be a beautiful prin-cess and was well attended by a host of maids.

One day, Lord Srinivasa, while hunting, chased a wild el-ephant and was led into a garden, where Padmavati and her maids were picking flowers. The sight of the elephant frightened the Princess and her maids, but the elephant saluted Srinivasa, who was following on a horseback, and disappeared into the forest. Padmavati fell in love with the Lord. However when the frightened maidens started pelt-ing Him with stones, He returned to the hills and informed Vakulaadevi about His intention to marry Padmavati. He narrated to Vakulaadevi the story of Padmavati’s previ-ous birth and His promise to marry her. After listening to Srinivasa’s story of how he had promised to marry Vedavati in her next birth as Padmavati, Vakulaadevi realised that Srinivasa would not be content unless he married her. She offered to go to Akasa Raja and ask for Padmavati’s hand on behalf of the Lord. On the way she met the maids of Padmavati and learnt from them that Padmavati was also pining for Srinivasa. Vakulaadevi went along with the maids to the palace.

Since seeing Srinivasa, Padmavati’s thoughts were only about the Lord and in the process she began to neglect her health. Meanwhile, Akasa Raja and his Queen grew anxious about the health of their daughter. They learnt about Padmavathi’s love for Srinivasa. Akasa Raja consult-ed the divine astrologer Brihaspati about the marriage and was informed that the marriage was in the best interest of both the parties. Kubera lent money to Lord Srinivasa to meet the expenses of the marriage. The marriage party including Lords Brahma, Siva and the Bridegroom was re-ceived by Akasa Raja with full honors and taken in a grand procession to the place of marriage. In the presence of all the Devas, Lord Srinivasa married Padmavati, thus blessing Akasa Raja and all mankind. This marriage is re-enacted daily in Tirumala for the benefit of all devotees. Participat-ing in these Kalyana Utsavams is believed to bring peace, prosperity and happiness to the families of devotees and is also believed to help prospective brides and grooms find suitable life partners.

Saints at Tirumala

Several saints have visited and worshipped the Lord at Ti-rumala. Sri Adi Sankara installed a “Sri Chakra” and “Dhana Aakarshana Yantra” in the temple and composed the hymn “Sri Vishnu Paadadi Keshanta Sloka” which describes the beauty of the Lord from feet to crown. Sri Ramanuja set-tled the dispute between Saivites and Vaishnavas, when both groups were claiming the Deity to be their own. He asked the Lord to resolve the dispute by placing the weap-ons of Vishnu and Siva in the temple before the closing and asking the Lord to choose. The next morning when the temple opened the Lord was bearing the “Sankha” and the “Chakra”, indicating that the Deity was an image of Vishnu. Sri Ramanuja also laid down in detail the pro-cedures for the worship of the Lord according to the Vai-kanasa Agama. Sri Ramanuja’s disciple by name Ananthal-van settled down on the Hills in fulfillment of the wishes of his Guru and totally dedicated himself to the maintenance of the temple and its properties. Sri Vaadhiraaja Swamy, a prominent saint in the Madhwa tradition, is said to have climbed the Tirumala hill on his knees because it appeared to him like a huge Saaligrama and is said to have offered a garland of Saaligrama to the Lord. Saivite saint Appayya Dikshitar (who was believed to be an aspect of Lord Siva) was refused darshan of the Lord by the priests because he was a Saivite. When the temple opened the next the Lord appeared in the form of Siva. Realizing their mistake the priests asked for forgiveness, after which the Lord changed back to his original form. The Aalwaars of the Sri Vaishnava tradition, Sri Ramanuja, Thirumala Nambi, Anan-tacharya, Kuruvarthi Nambi, Annamaacharya are a few of the saints that have composed several devotional hymns on the Lord. The experiences of all these saints combined confirm the Hindu faith that the Lord is one, but His forms are many.

Lord of our age

It is said in our scriptures that during the earlier Yugas, the demonic forces resided in the other worlds and outside the human bodies and the Lord had to incarnate appropri-ately to destroy the menace of these forces. For instance the Lord had to take the form of a boar (Sri Varaahaswamy) to rescue Mother Earth and the Vedaas and to destroy the evil Hiranyaaksha. Lord Narasimha was in the form of Man-Lion to destroy the Asura Hiranyakashipu and save the three worlds from the tyranny of the Asura. During the Av-ataars as Sri Raama and Krishna, the forces of evil got clos-er to home but were still outside the human bodies. In the KaliYuga, it is said that, the forces of evil have moved closer and penetrated the human minds and hence more diffi-cult to uproot. In the previous Yugas one had to practice

19

Lord of Seven Hills



severe penances for several years, perform difficult sacri-fices for long periods of time, and observe strict austerities to make progress spiritually. In the KaliYuga the people’s ability to observe such practices is greatly diminished, in addition to their minds being weakened by the tempting forces of evil.

Recognizing the inherent human weakness, the Lord in His infinite mercy has declared that practising devotion is sufficient to attain the Lord in the KaliYuga (Kalou Bhakti). The Bhaagawatha Puraana explains nine different forms

of Bhakti, of which the easiest and universally appeal-ing form is “Naama Sankeertanam” (Singing and repeat-ing the name of the Lord as often as possible). One can reach the Godhead simply by repeating His name (Kalou Sankeertaye Kesavam). Repetition of the Divine name not only destroys our sins but also bestows material and spiri-tual wealth, fulfills all our righteous desires and ultimately leads us to salvation. Devotion to Lord Venkateswara helps us in destroying our sins and attaining peace, prosperity and happiness in this world and beyond.

May Lord Venkateswara continue to bless us all.

Om Sri Gurubhyo Namaha

Lord of Seven Hills.

Lord Venkateswara is also known as the Lord of the seven divine hills, which go by the names of Seshaadri, Neelaadri, Garudaadri, Anjanaadri, Vrushbhaadri, Naaraya-naadri and Venkataadri. Sometimes the phrase “adri” in these names is replaced by the phrase “achala” or “achalam” meaning a mountain or a hill. There are different legendary beliefs about the origins of these names. According to one such legend, the seVen sages (Sapta Rishis) performed penance on these hills praying for the Lord to save mankind from the evils of KaliYuga. Hence these seVen hills are also collectively known as “Sapta Giri”. Some of the other beliefs are:

Seshaadri: When it was time for the Lord Vishnu to incarnate as Lord Venkateswara, AdiSesha (the serpent bed on which the Lord reclines in the milky ocean) took the form of the hill so that the divine feet of the Lord may rest on his head. During the Raama Avataar the privilege of bearing the divine Paadukaas on his head went to Bharatha. When Lakshmana (an avatar of AdiSesha) expressed his disappointment at not being giVen this privilege, Lord Raama promised him that his desire would be fulfilled in the KaliYuga when the Lord would incarnate as Venkateswara. Hence this hill on which the temple rests is known as Seshaadri. Sometimes all the seVen hills combined are referred to as “Seshaachalam”, the seVen peaks representing the seVen heads of AdiSesha. According to Bhavishya Puraana, there was once an argument between Adise-sha and Vaayu (Wind God) as to who is stronger of the two. In order to resolve the argument, Lord Vishnu asked Adisesha to hold one of the peaks of Meru Mountain and asked Vaayu to blow away Adisesha from the mountain. Whoever succeeded would be deemed stronger. Initially Vaayu tried but could not blow away the mighty serpent that was coiled around the might mountain. Later when Adisesha got curious and lifted his head to know what Vaayu was doing, Vaayu blew away Adisesha and the Anaadha peak of Meru and dropped both on the banks of river Swarnamukhi. Hence, according to this Puraana, this hill known as Seshaadri.

Neelaadri: When Lord Srinivasa was hit on His head by a Shepard, a part of His head lost hair. A Gandharva princess named Neela, on seeing the partly hairless scalp, cut a portion of her own hair and planted it on the bald portion. Lord Srinivasa blessed her for her sacrifice and ordained that all hair offerings to Him go to Neela. The hair offerings by devotees symbolically represent the offering of ego. In honor of Neela one of the hills is named Neelaadri.

Garudaadri: Garuda, the vehicle of Lord Vishnu, started performing penance to Lord Vishnu to repent for the sins of killing snakes (children of Kadruvas). Lord Vishnu was pleased with his austerities and asked him to remain as one of the seVen hills during the KaliYuga. Hence the name Garudaadri.

Anjanaadri: Anjanaa, the mother of Lord Anjaneya, was childless for many years. A sage advised her to do penance on one of the seVen hills. Lord Siva and Parvati, pleased with her austerities, asked Vaayu to deliver a fruit Prasad to Anjanaa. After eating the fruit, Anjanaa conceived and Lord Anjaneya incarnated. The hill on which Anjanaa did her penance is named after her. It is tradition among many devotees to worship Lord Hanuman before commencing their climb up the seVen hills.

Vrushabhaadri: A demon (in the form of a bull) by name Vrushabhasura, obtained several boons by performing severe austerities. He challenged Lord Siva to fight him and was defeated after a long battle. Before attaining salvation at the hands of the Lord, he asked the Lord to name the hill where he was defeated after him. Hence this hill goes by the name Vrushabhaadri.

Naaraayanaadri: Sage Narayana asked Lord Brahma to show him a place where he could do penance to Lord Vishnu without being disturbed. Lord Brahma pointed to the hill near the Akaasa Ganga. Lord Vishnu, pleased with the sage’s penance granted that the hill be known as “Naaraayanaadri”.

Venkataadri: This is hill on which the Lord incarnated as a “Swayambhoohu” (self-born). According to Bhavishya Puraana, this is the place where Garuda brought Lord Vish-nu from Vaikuntam. Because of such a close association with the Lord, it is capable of destroying all sins. Hence it is known as “Venkataadri”, the hill that destroys sins.

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With our Best Wishes for the Grand Success of Sri Venkateswara Mahotsavam

June 22- July 2, 2012Ramu & Uma PotarazuJuan & ZeljkaKrishna, Roshan and Nitin

Om Namo Venkatesaya


Four-fold Morning Prayers to Lord Sri VenkateshaM.G. Prasad (www.taranga.us)

IntRODUCtIOn

It is well known that the four-fold morning prayers to Lord Sri Venkateshawara refers to the four prayers and they are:

(1) Sri Venkatesha Suprabhatam, (2) Sri Venkatesha Stotram, (3) Sri Venkatesha Prapatti, and (4) Sri Venkatesha Mangalashasanam.

It is also very well known that these four prayers are recit-ed daily around 3 AM in the temple of Lord Venkateshwara on the Tirumala Hill above the town of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, India, as part of the first worship (at the begin-ning of the day) referred as Vishwaroopa seva. The same four-fold morning prayers are recited daily in the morning as the first prayer in all the temples of Lord Sri Venkatesh-wara around the world. Also, these four-fold prayers are also recited daily as the first prayer in the homes of innu-merable number of devotees around the world.

This four-fold morning prayers are generally referred as Sri Venkatesha Suprabhatam. The Sanskrit word “Suprabha-tam” means in English language as “Good Morning”. This should not be taken as simple greeting. It is important to note that the word Suprabhatam is composed of Su and Prabhatam. The prefix Su refers to “noble and spiritual” and Prabhatam refers to “morning”. It is also important to note that the Lord who is Omniscient. Omnipotent and Omni-present does not sleep like human beings and does not need to be awakened by devotees in the early morning. In every worship (Bhagavad-Aradhana) of the Lord at the end, He is requested by the devotees to have Yoga-Nidra, which symbolically refers to returning to transcendental state of Yoga, in which He is ever active in taking care of the universe. Yoga-Nidra is also termed as Ajadya-Nidra, which refers to Non-Inert or spiritual state of being. The oppo-site of this is Jadya-Nidra, which refers to inert state or our every night’s sleep. So it is we, the humans, who need to wake up from the inert sleep every morning. In order to fo-cus and sustain the spiritual frame of our mind throughout the day till sleeping at night, we need to seek the energy and grace of the Lord in the early morning hours.

The Sanskrit word “Venkatesha” etymologically refers to “Visheshena Papam Katati”. This means that “the Lord, Who specially dispels the undesirable thoughts and burns the sins”. Also according to the Hindu scriptures, the Lord Venkateshwara is the manifestation of the Supreme Being in Kali-Yuga (present times). It is well known that when thoughts are pure which then refers to pure mind due

to which, speech and actions of the devotees will also be good. In addition when the mind in the early morn-ing engages in the immersion of the glories of the Lord through prayers, then it will be spiritually strengthened to deal with the rest of the day worldly activities. This four-fold prayers were composed by Sri Hastyadrinatha a great scholar and a devotee of the Lord Venkateshwara. He is also known as Sri Annan in Tamil. He is also referred by his title as Prativadi Bhayamkara, which means that he used to convince successfully those who argued against him in scholarly debates. He lived during 1361 A.D to 1454 A.D. in Kancheepuram. He belonged to Srivatsa gotra. The tradi-tion of reciting these four-fold morning prayers for Lord Venkateswhawara in the temple on Tirumala Hill has been there for long time. It is also said that these four-fold morn-ing prayers can be seen as four types of spiritual food for nourishing the devotees’ minds as referred in the state-ment by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita (verse15.14). The verse is

Aham Vaishvaanaro Bhootva Praaninaam DehamaashritahaPraanaapaana Samaayuktaha Pachaamyannam Chaturvidhaha

This means, “ I (Krishna) dwell inside all beings in the form Vaishwaanara fire. Through the vital forces as prana and apana, I (Krishna) digest four kinds of food namely Bhak-shya (fried snacks), Bhojya (cooked rice), Lehya (sweet pudding) and Choshyam (like sugar cane)”

A brief discussion of the essential message of these four-fold morning prayers are presented here. The meaning of all 70 verses of the four-fold prayers can easily be found elsewhere.

SRI VenkateSHa SUPRaBHataM

The first two verses in the suprabhatam are taken from Va-limiki Raamayanam (Bala-Kanda: I.23.2) in which Sage Vish-waamitra addresses Sri Ramachandra for the purpose of awakening him and Sri Lakshmana. These two verses could have been an inspiration for the author Sri Hastyadrinatha. The next 27 verses are addressed to Lord Sri Venkatesha-wara. In verses 3 and 4, Goddess Lakshmi is addressed first as She is not only the consort of Lord Venkateshwara but also the Mother of all the beings of the three worlds. It is a tradition that a devotee worships Mother and seeks her blessings first and then with her blessings and grace, seeks the blessings of the Lord Vishnu (Venkatesha). In the next two verses 5 and 6, the author describes that not only the seven sages namely Atri, Bhaaradwaaja, Gautama, Jama-

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Four-fold Morning Prayers to Lord Sri Venkatesha



dagni, Kaashyapa, Vasishta and Vishwaamitra but also the various gods (devas) namely Shiva, Brahma, SuBrahmanya, Indra and others worship and praise Him.

In the verse 15, the author describes the Lord as One whose abode is always referred as Hills namely Seshaadri, Garu-daadri, Venkataadri, Naarayanaadri, Vrishabaadri and Vr-ishaadri. Here the author refers to six hills and the seVenth hills is Anjanaadri. Thus Lord is known as the Lord of Seven Hills. The first Hills namely Seshadri refers to the shape of a serpent that symbolizes Adisesha, who always serves the Lord Vishnu (Vekateshwara). Adishesha is also a rep-resentation of our inner Kundalini Shakti. In the verse 16, the eight presiding deities of the eight directions namely Shiva, Indra, Agni, Yama, Niruriti, Varuna, Marut and Ku-bera are ready to serve Him with folded hands. In verse 17, the author describes the various divine animal vehicles namely Garuda (divine vehicle), celestial Lion, Adishesha, Airaavata (celestial elephant) and Uchhaishravas (celestial horse) are all eagerly waiting to take you in grand proces-sion.

In verses 18 and 19, the author describes that all the nine stellar bodies (grahas) such as Sun, Moon, Mars, mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Keu along with other main deities and their entourage are all eagerly waiting to receive your grace. It is important to note that the lives of human beings is influenced by these stellar bodies as de-scribed in astrology. However, as they are serving the Lord Venkatesha, the human beings should seek the grace of Lord Venkatesha In verse 20, the author describes that the human beings as devotees on the earth are offering morn-ing salutations to the Supreme Being Lord Venkatesha. The author in the verses 21, 22 and 23 addresses the Lord with beautiful attributes. The author makes a devotional appeal for the Lord to bless devotees through His glance.

In the verse 24, the author describes the various glories of the Lord Venkatesha as Supreme Being including His ten major incarnations namely Matsya, Koorma, Adi Vara-aha, Narasimha, Vaamana, ParashuRaama, Ramachandra, BalaRaama, Sri Krishna and Kalki (to appear). In verses 25, 26 and 27 the author is describing that not only the devotees of all types but also various gods and sages have come with all the sacred offerings to seek blessings from you in the early morning. In verse 28 the author addresses the Lord Venkatesha, as you are with

Goddess Lakshmi, you are an ocean of spotless virtues, you are the bridge to cross the mundane human exis-tence, your great virtues are made known to us through the sacred Upanishads and you grant blissful experiences to your devotees. In the last verse 29, the author describes that the devotees who recite these prayers sincerely in the

morning hours, to them very thought of you grants the ut-most intelligence and wisdom, which would lead them to realize the ultimate Bliss.

SRI VenkateSHa StOtRaM:

The word Stotram etymologically comes from “Stuti” which means “to praise”. In the words of Yogi-Seer Swami Sri Ranga Priya, “In reality the Lord does not gain anything by listening to any praise from the devotees. The Lord is ever contented and is always full of bliss. However, it is the devotees that gain much by praising the Lord. When devotees address the Lord as the One who is full of knowl-edge and bliss, One who is an ocean of tranquility and One who is immortal, then the thoughts and vibrations of knowledge and bliss, of tranquility and of immortality are awakened in the minds of devotees. When the Lord is ad-dressed as the Merciful One, then His Mercy will flow out of Him and wash out the sinful thoughts of the devotees.”

This Venkatesha Stotram which has 11 verses describes Lord’s unlimited capabilities of protection and granting desires of His devotees. In verse 1 the Lord (whose con-sort is Goddess Lakshmi) is described as one having blu-ish complexion as it symbolic of all-pervasiVeness likened to the blue sky. In verse 2 the Lord is described as the Su-preme Being as the most benevolent one. In verse 3 the author expresses that the devotees are liable to not only commit but also repeat innumerable omissions and com-missions and it is only the Lord due to His merciful nature should forgive them. In verse 4, the author describes Lord Venkatesha as the Self-manifestation of the Supreme Be-ing referred in the Vedas. He is established on seVen hills that represent the height at which undesirable thoughts are dispelled.

In verse 5 the author describes the magnetic personality of Lord Krishna. In verses 6, 7 and 8, the author describes Lord Sri Ramamchandra, who exemplified the ideals for all devotees.

In verse 9 the author describes that he as a devotee will ever remember Lord Venkatesha and seeks His protection always. In verse 10 the author pleads that he comes from far to worship the Lord and seeks His blessings always. In verse 11 the author expresses that as an ignorant person he (devotee) commits mistakes thinking as though they are good actions. So a devotee should ask for forgiVeness from the most merciful Lord residing on the Seshashaila mountain.

SRI VenkateSHa PRaPattI

It is our common experience that our universe and cosmos is full of infinite wonders no matter where and when we

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look. It is the purpose of our precious human life to seek and realize the Supreme Being, Who creates, sustains and dissolves these wonders all the time. The

Scriptures refer to Him as Lord Sriman Naarayana. The universe with all sentient and non-sentient things forms His body. A devotional process to achieve the realization of Lord Naarayana as the Supreme Being and experience of eternal Bliss is referred as Prapatti or Sharanaagati. This process is non-discriminatory and open to all. However this process has six requirements and they are giVen in a verse below.

Aanukoolasya Samkalpaha Praatikoolasya varjanamRakshishyateeti Vishvaasaha Goptritvaranam tathaaAatmanikshepa Kaarpanye Shadvidhaa Sharanaagatihi

The Aanukoolasya samkalphaha refers to doing whatever is agreeable and conforms to the will of the Lord Naaraya-na. Then Praatikoolasya varjanam refers to not doing any-thing that is disagreeable and which displeases the Lord Naarayana. Then Kaarpanya refers to helplessness that results from one’s own realization that one is utterly inca-pable to protect oneself. Then Rakshishyateeti Vishvaasa-ha refers to the uncompromising faith at all times and all situations in the saving Grace of the Lord Naarayana. Then Goptritvaranam refers to the knowledge and action of sin-cere seeking of the protection of the Lord Naarayana. Then the Aatmanikshepa refers to the total surrender of the self at the holy feet of Lord Naarayana. Although six compo-nents are described here, it is seen that the Aatmanikshe-pa is the main purpose for which the other five compo-nents referred above integrally supports the main purpose of the surrender of the self. The five components are the natural conditions that have to manifest in the individual for the surrender of the self at the holy feet of the Lord Naarayana, which is referred as Prapatti or Sharanaagati.

This segment contains 16 verses, in which the verse 1 addresses to Goddess Lakshmi who is inseparable from the Lord and who blesses both spiritual and materialistic wealth. In verse 2 the author addresses the Lord citing His great qualities such as ocean of compassion, creator and protector of the world, omniscient, etc. In verses 3 through 6, the author describes the feet of Lord with all its charac-teristics. In verses 7 and 8 the author describes the holy feet of the Lord which are served by Goddess Lakshmi. In verses 9 through 11 The grandeur of the feet of the Lord which are worshipped by various Devatas and Arjuna. In verse 12 the author describes the greatness of the feet of the Lord, which danced on the snake Kaliya. In verse 13 and 14 the author describes the beauty of the feet of Lord, which are an ornament to the Venkatachala hills and

also surrender to the feet of Lord is essential for spiritu-al nourishment of devotees as mother’s milk is essential for the child’s nourishmen. In verse 15 and 16 the author describes that the feet of the Lord has protected and has blessed the eternal bliss for many devotees earlier. Hence the author describes that he has been advised by his acha-rya that a devotee should surrender to feet of the Lord and then serve the Lord.

SRI VenkateSHa ManGaLaaSHaSanaM

Mangalaashaasanam means “best wishes for the well-be-ing, auspiciousness and the prosperity of”. This prayer is an emotional and devotional offering. The devotee is seeing the Lord as a mother (devotee) is seeing her child (Lord). As an example in Valmiki Ramayana (II.25.35), the mother kausalya pronounces the mangalaashaasana to her son Sri Ramachandra as “May you (Sri Rama) have safety and suc-cess. Oh! Rama, just as Mahavishnu, with his vast powers that He had in Vamana Avataara”. There have veen several examples in the devotional literature where a devotee in the state of emotional love and care, offers the best wishes and seeks Lord’s blessings. In the words of scholar-profes-sor T. Venkatacharya, “The purpose of Mangalaashaasanam is to express the glory of the Divinity, and to request inter-nal illumination. The Mangalaashaasanam is not a prayer for protection of the deity, but an expression of devotional offering. The aim is to get the blessings of the Lord, which will lead to the devotee’s benefit”.

The Mangalaashaasanam has 14 verses. Each verse has two lines. In verses 1 and 2, the author describes the Lord as the inexhaustible treasure trove of best virtues and He is always with His consort Goddess Lakshmi to execute His wishes. The Lord is observing the all the worlds (lokas). In verse 3 the author is describes that the Lord is standing on the Venkatadri hills to shower His blessings to all the devotees. In verse 4 the author describes the ever attrac-tive and magnetic beauty of the Lord which has a benevo-lent influence on the minds of the devotees. In this verse 5 the attributes of Lord Venkatesha as the Supreme Being are described as eternal, without any shortcomings, real, blissful, source of everything and indwelling entity in ev-erything. In verse 6 the Lord is described as omniscient, omnipotent, totally independent of everything, accessible to every devotee and is fully benevolent to the entire cre-ation.

In verse 7 the Lord is the Supreme Reality, as Supreme Being has no desires unfulfilled. In verse 8 the author de-scribes that as devotees focuses their mind on the beauti-ful form of the Lord Venkatesha they experience the bliss-ful eternal joy which is like nectar not producing satiety at all. The verse 9 describes that the Lord Venkatesha is show-

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ing the destination for his devotees by indicating his right hand towards his feet. In verse 10 the author beautifully describes the nature of His divine compassion flowing like a river with ambrosia. The cooling waves coming out of His divine compassion are symbolized by the sidelong glances of the Lord. In verse 11 the author describes that the gar-lands, ornaments, weapons derive their beauty because the Lord Venkatesha wears them. These beautiful weap-ons on the Lord Venkatesha, not only symbolizes eternal principles but also provide protection for the devotees.

In verse 12 the author points to the significance of the Ti-rumala hills where the Lord Venkatesha manifested with his Consort Lakhsmi (Ramaa) on the banks of the pond Pushkarini to receive the worship offerings and to bless His devotees. He has preferred the hills to His abode Vai-kuntha. In verse 13 the author offers prayers through man-galaashaasanam to the Lord Srinivasa (Venkatesha) who not only is present in all abodes (lokas) but also dwelling eternally in the heart of his achaarya Sundara Jaamaatri-muni (Manavaala Mahamuni). In concluding verse 14 the author gratefully records the tradition received by him from previous achaaryas through his achaarya Manavaala Mahamuni. The author extols that the Lord Venkatesha is worshipped by not only his achaaryas but extensively worshipped by many great achaaryas.

COnCLUDInG ReMaRkS

Thus the four-fold morning prayers beautifully describe the Supreme Being as Lord Venkatesha in all aspects. The Lord Venkatesha is also lovingly addressed as Lord Sriniva-sa. The seven hills on which Lord Venkatesha has manifest-ed refers to the seven lokas namely Bhu, Bhuvaha, Suvaha, Mahaha, Janaha, Tapaha, Satyam. The seven hills also sym-bolize the great divine serpent Adishesha eternally serv-ing the Lord. The Lord Venkatesha is worshipped by in-numerable devotees as He is referred as Kali-Yuga Varada meaning as the Lord who grants all desires of his devotees in this Kali-Yuga (our present age that started about 5000 years ago).

It is important to remember that the four hands of the Lord Venkatesha signify the four-fold objectives of our life. The four-fold objective are Dharma (knowledge or wisdom), Artha (rightly earned wealth), Kama (right kind of desires for enjoyment) and Moksha (spiritual freedom). Human life derives total fulfillment only when all these four objec-tives are pursued and achieved. This is only possible with the blessings of the Lord Venkatesha complimenting our human humble efforts.

Also we see the beautiful form of Lord Venkatesha hold-ing the Sudarshana Chakra and Panchajanya Shankha in

His two hands directed upwards. The Chakra and Shankha signify the principles of mind and intelligence and the upward directions indicate that both our mind and intel-ligence are to be directed towards higher (spiritual) goals. The lower right hand of Lord Venkatesha is directed to His feet and His lower left hand is touching His left knee. This signifies that we should surrender to the feet of the Lord who will bless us and enable us to cross the ocean of life (samsaara) without being submerged in the ocean of life.

Thus when we recite these four-fold prayers (or listen) in the early morning hours we need to focus our mind on the beautiful form of Lord Venkatesha. When we focus our mind on the Lord Venkatesha with contemplation of the inner meanings described above then our mind is being drawn into the spiritual depths. The early morning hours is the best time for dwelling on the great qualities of the Lord because not only the mind is in fresh state but also that gives strength and a reference to our mind in dealing day’s activities.

ReFeRenCeS

(1) Srinivasa Smarane by H.H. Sri Sri Ranga Priya Swami, (in Spe-cial Issue on Srinivasa), Bharata Darshana Publications, Tyagaraja Nagara, Bangalore, April 2007.

(2) Sri Venkatesha Suprabhatam, (an exposition in English) by Pro-fessor T. Venkatacharya, The Adyar Library and Research Centre, Chennai, 1999.

(3) Tirupati Timmappa by Professor S. K. Ramachandra Rao, Abhi-jnana, N. R. Colony, Bangalore, 2006.

(4) Balaji – Venkateshwara by Nandita Krishna, Vakils, Feffer and Simons Ltd., Mumbai, 2000.

Dr. M.G. Prasad is a spiritual disciple of Sriranga Sadguru, founder of Ashtanga Yoga Vijnana Mandiram, Mysore, India. Dr. Prasad gives regular lectures on various topics in Hinduism at various places including temples, churches and universities. He has conducted youth camps for several years at many temples. He has written five books on Hinduism. He is a professor of mechanical engineering at SteVens Institute of Technology, New Jersey.


“GOVInDa” – where are You?Ananth Krishnan

wiTh my perspicaciTy, i ThoughT i knew The answer for The quesTion; “govinda” where are you?

I feel recalcitrant that initially I did not know the answer and I whispered God please speak to me and just then a bird sang.

I did not hear You and I whispered “Govinda” speak to me and the loud noise of thunder rolled across the sky.

I did not listen and looked around and said “Govinda” let me see You and low and behold there was this beautiful star in the sky.

I did not notice and cried out in despair: “Touch me “Govinda” and let me know You are here”;

whereupon He reached down and touched me and I brushed the butterfly away.

I cried “Govinda, I need Your help” and an e-mail arrived reaching out with good news and encouragement. I almost deleted it because it was not packaged the way I expected!

And I walked on. I wanted a miracle and He showed me the miracle and a life was born. With ubiquitous joy, I whispered I know the answer: “Govinda” You are everywhere.

I found this to be a great reminder that God is always around us in the little and

simple things that we take for granted … even in this electronic age.

xÉzÉ„¡¡ûûcÉ¢ÇÇü xÉÌMüUÏOûû MÑÑühQûûsÉÇÇ xÉmÉÏiÉuÉx§ÉÇÇ xÉUxÉÏÂWååûû¤ÉhÉqÉçç |xÉWûûÉU-uÉ¤ÉÈxjÉsÉ-zÉÉååÍpÉ-MüÉææxiÉÑÑpÉÇÇ lÉqÉÉÍqÉ ÌuÉwhÉÑÑÇÇ ÍzÉUxÉÉ cÉiÉÑÑpÉÑÑïïeÉqÉçç ||saSankhacakraM sakirITa kuNDalaM sapItavastraM sarasIruhekShaNam |sahAra-vakShaHsthala-Sobhi-kaustubhaM namAmi viShNuM SirasA chaturbhujam ||

[I bow with my head to Lord Vishnu with four hands, who has the (protective) conch and disk (in His hands), who is adorned with a (lustrous) crown and (shining) ear rings,

who is attired with saffron (yellow) colored clothes, who has (beautiful) lotus eyes, and who has a (magnificent) “Kausthubam” Diamond necklace across his chest].

[Dedicated with SashtangaNamaskarams to the LORD and our Acharyas.]

Best Wishesto

Sri Siva Vishnu Temple

on

from

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Best Wishes to

sri siva vishnu temple

On the occasion of the Sri Venkateshwara (Balaji) Mahotsavam

Gunda, Vijaya & Samatha ReddyFallston, MD


Glory of shrI Venkateswara by shrI vAdirAja tIrtha Sri Kesava Rao Tadapatri

Introduction

This article talks about the Glory of Venkateswara as de-scribed in the varAha purANa and other sacred scriptures. This article describes the stotra of Venkateswara con-tained in the tIrtha prabandha of shrI vAdirAja tirtha (1480-1600CE), a pontiff in the sode maTha, one of the eight maThas in Udupi established by Shri madhvAchArya. shrI vAdirAja tirtha is considered one of the most important saints in the mAdhva tradition.

VenkaTEsha-samo devo na bhUto na bhaviShyati: - There No deity equal to shrI Venkateswara has been there in the past not going to be in the future. What does the word VenkaTesha or VenkaTEshvara mean? vem means sins (in accusative case or dvitIya vibhakti) ; kata means destroy; vemkTa = one who destroys the sins of the devotees. Oth-er deities also destroy the sins of the devotees. So, what is special about Lord VenkaTesha or VenkaTEshvara? He is VenkatanAM Isha: or Ishvara:. He is the Lord of all those dei-ties as well. He is the greatest among them. Others have that capability due to His grace. He alone is completely in-dependent. All others are totally dependent on Him. There was no one like Him and there will be no one like Him ever.

Glory of shrI Venkateshwara in varAha purANa

One can note that He is extolled in purAnas like BrahmaN-Da purANa. Many devotees, both gruhastAs and yatis have extolled Him over many centuries and earned His grace. One such yati is shrI vAdirajaru and in his devotion-filled travelogue of pilgrim centers known as “tErta prabandhA”, he has expounded in a heart-filling manner the glories of Lord VenkaTEshvara, known as “KaliYuga pratyakSha daiva”, ever willing to grant the boons to His devotees.

The purAnik name in KaliYuga for tirupati is Venkatachala or Venkatadri. The same is known as vRuishbhadri in Kru-taYuga, anjanadri in tretAYuga and SheshAdri in Dvapara-Yuga.

The famous episode of Lord shrinivAsa descending to Earth is described in varAha purAna. When SatrayAga was being performed, Narada was asked as to who among the tri-mUrthis will be the yAga addressed to. As per the desire of the saints, BhRugu set out to find the Supreme among them. He goes to vaikuNTha after visiting the abodes of shivA and Brahma. There he kicks on the chest of the Lord Vishnu and still shri vishnu washes the feet of BhRugu dem-onstrating His ShAnta guNa or ever-tranquil disposition. Convinced of the supremacy of Lord Vishnu, he returns

and proclaims the same. Though all those saints were fully aware of all this, the Lord sets stage for spreading this eter-nal truth on Earth and thereby to enable His devotees to reach Him. To that end, he continues His leela by making shri lakshmi feel insulted and go to kOlhapur. shrI nArAya-na comes to Venkatadri and as per His will, Brahma devaru and rudra devaru come as cow and calf and the Lord does “lOka viDambana” and marries padmAvati. He continues His stay in tirupati to bless His devotees.

Glory of shrI VemkatEswarA in tIrtha prabandha

shrI vAdirAja teertha composed a work on all the sacred places in India in a poetic master piece called “tIrta pra-bandhA” . This work describes the special mahAtmya of many sacred places in India. The following verses describe the special mahime (powers) of vemkatadri and Lord shrI Venkateswara. It is believed that recitation of these stotrAs gives the same benefit as visiting the place.

It is well known that both shri vAdirajaru and shri vyAsarA-jaru climbed Venkatadri on their knees as they saw the hill itself as made of sAlagrama stones. shri vyAsarajaru made a garland of sAlagrAmas for Lord VenkaTEshwara. shri vAdira-jaru extolls Lord VenkaTEshwara in the following manner -

´ÉÏuÉåÇMüOûsÉxÉŠæsÉuÉÉxÉÏ SÉxÉÏM×üiÉÉqÉU: |NûÉrÉrÉÉ mÉÉiÉÑ qÉÉÇ ÌlÉirÉÇ ´ÉÏÌlÉuÉÉxÉxÉÑUSìÓqÉ: || 19 ||shrI veMkatalasaccailavAsI dAsIKrutamara:|CAyayA pAtu mAM nityaM SrInivAsasuradruma:||

SØwšÉÌSÍzÉ ÌSÍzÉ xuÉÏrÉÉlÉç SrÉrÉÉ mÉÉsÉrÉÍ³ÉuÉ | uÉiÉïiÉå ÌuÉzuÉiÉ¶É¤ÉÑuÉåïÇMüOåû uÉåÇMüOåzuÉU: || 20 ||dRuShTyAdiSi diSi svIyAn dayayA pAlayanniva|vartatE viSvataScakShur VenkatEvEMkaTESvara: ||

“Oh Lord VenkaTEshwara, you dwell on Venkatadri and constantly served by the gods. Please protect me like a shadow, always granting the beneficial boons to me. You have the universal purview and your protective vision ex-tends on all your devotees. Your two arms are adorned with Conch and Discus.

rÉå zÉÇZÉcÉ¢üÉåeeuÉsÉoÉÉWÒûrÉÑaqÉÉ: xuÉÉÇÍbÉë pÉeÉÇiÉå pÉuÉÍxÉÇkÉÑUåwÉ: |MüÌOûmÉëqÉÉhÉÎxiuÉÌiÉ uÉåÇMüOåûzÉ:xTÑüOûÏMüUÉåirÉÉiqÉMüUÉÇoÉÑeÉÉiÉæ:||21|| ye SaMKacakro jjvalabAhuyugmA: svAMGri BajaMte Bava-siMdhureSha: | kaTipramANastviti veMkaTeSa: sPuTIkarotyAtmakarAMbu-jAtai: ||

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Glory of shrI Venkateswara by shrI vAdirAja tIrtha


To symbolize that you are the bimba (object) and all the jIvas are your pratibimbAs (reflections), your devotees bear the marks of conch and discus. You assure such devotees by indicating with one hand to surrender to your lotus feet with devotion and another hand that the ocean of sam-sAra (the cycle of birth and death) cannot cross the waist-line of those devotees.

mÉëÉrÉÉåslrÉ§É aÉiÉÉÇ Í´ÉrÉÇ ÌlÉeÉuÉzÉÉÇ MüiÉÑïÇ qÉÑWÒû:MüÉÇÍ¤ÉiÉÇ pÉ£üÉlÉÉÇ mÉëÌSzÉlÉç kÉlÉÇ mÉëÌiÉÌSlÉÇ xÉÇxÉÉkrÉ xÉÉkrÉÌmÉërÉ: | iÉiÉç iÉ§ÉæuÉ mÉÑlÉ: xÉWûxÉëaÉÑÍhÉiÉÇ mÉzrÉlÉç bÉlÉzrÉÉqÉsÉ: iÉåwÉÉÇ uÉåzqÉxÉÑ ÌuÉÎxqÉiÉÉå ÌlÉuÉxÉÌiÉ ´ÉÏuÉåÇMüOåûzÉÉåsÌlÉzÉÇ || 22 ||prAyo anyatra gatAM SriyaM nijavaSAM kartuM muhu:kAMkShitaMBaktAnAM pradiSan dhanaM pratidinaM saMsAdhya sAdhy-apriya: |tat tatraiva puna: sahasraguNitaM paSyan GanaSyAmala: teShAM veSmasu vismito nivasati SrIveMkaTeSo aniSaM

Intending to get back shrI mahAlakshmi, you ask for the wealth of your devotees, assuring to grant their wishes in-stead. As a result, shrI mahAlakshmi ends up residing thou-sand-fold in the homes of your devotees. Perceiving this you also reside in the houses of your devotees, meaning your devotees are blessed by both shrI mahAlakshmi and shrI VenkaTEshwara. With an embracing gesture, you hold shrI and BhU, and are mounted on GaruDa. Your devotees see everything in you and see you in everything; you grant every desire to those, who are completely devoted to you. I seek refuge in you.

AÉÃRûaÉÂQûxMÇükÉqÉÉÍsÉÇÌaÉiÉUqÉÉkÉUÇ | AÉlÉqÉ‹lÉxÉuÉïxuÉqÉÉ´ÉrÉå uÉåÇMüOåûμÉUÇ || 23 || MüÍzÉmÉÔM×üirÉ rÉÇ zÉåiÉå ÌaÉUÏM×üirÉÉÍkÉ¸ÌiÉ | AÉuÉïiÉÏhÉÉåïslÉÑeÉÏM×üirÉ xÉ iÉ°£üÉaÉëhÉÏ: TühÉÏ || 24 ||ArUDhagaruDaskaMdhamAliMgitaramAdharaM | AnamajjanasarvasvamASraye veMkaTeshvaraM || kaSipUkRutya yaM Sete girIkRutyAdhiShThati | ArvatIrNo anujIkRutya sa tadBaktAgraNI:PaNI ||

You blessed your great dear devotee Adi-Shesha in three ways. You lie down on him in a resting pose. You made him a mountain so that you can reside there. You made him your younger brother lakshmana, so that he is blessed by serving you so closely.

zÉÇMüUUÌuÉzÉÍzÉqÉÑZrÉÉ: ÌMÇüMüUmÉSuÉÏqÉÑmÉÉÍ´ÉiÉÉ rÉxrÉ | uÉåÇMüOûÌaÉËUlÉÉjÉÉåsxÉÉæ mÉÇMüeÉlÉrÉlÉ: mÉUÉimÉUÉå eÉrÉÌiÉ || 25 || ´ÉÏ uÉåÇMüOûÌaÉËUSìÉåhÉÏ ¤ÉÉåhÉÏ rÉxrÉÉlÉhÉÏrÉxÉÏ |iÉÇ uÉUåhrÉ xÉÑUÉaÉëhrÉÇ uÉåSaÉqrÉÇ pÉeÉÉqÉWåû || 26 ||SaMkararaviSaSimuKyA: kiMkarapada vImupASritA yasya | veMkatagirinAtho asau paMkajanayana: parAtparo jayati || SrI veMkatagiridroNI kShoNI yasyAnaNIyasI |

taM vareNya surAgraNyaM vedagamyaM BajAmahe ||

Gods like Shiva, ravi and Shashi worship you like servants. Oh Lord of Venkatagiri, you are greater than great gods like Brahma devaru. You are ever-effulgent and ever victorious with lotus eyes and enchanting beauty. Though your form is much bigger than this universe itself, for the sake of your devotees, you made the mountain of Venkatagiri as your abode. Oh Lord, you are all supreme and you are extolled in the entire Vedas and I completely surrender to you and serve you.

´ÉÏ uÉåÇMüOûmÉiÉå SÏlÉaÉiÉå UqrÉÉM×üiÉå Í¤ÉiÉÉæ | xÉqÉ: xÉqÉxiÉqÉirÉÉïÌiÉïmÉëqÉSïlÉ ÌMüqÉÎxiÉ iÉå || 27 ||SrI veMkatapate dInagate ramyAkRute kShitau | sama: samastamartyArtipramardana kimasti te ||

Oh Lord VenkaTEshvara, you are the remover of all the hardships of your devotees, who are born as humans and are caught in samsAra. How can there be any one, who can be compared to your most enchanting and beautiful form, that is ultimate refuge on this Earth to those who are suf-fering.

xÉqÉxiÉxÉÑeÉlÉÉkÉÉUÇ SÉåwÉSÕUÇ aÉÑhÉÉMüUÇ | ´ÉÏuÉåÇMüOûÉcÉsÉÉuÉÉxÉÇ ´ÉÏÌlÉuÉÉxÉÇ pÉeÉåsÌlÉzÉÇ || 28 ||samastasujanAdhAraM doShadUraM guNAkaraM | SrIveMkatacalAvAsaM SrInivAsaM BajeaniSaM ||

You give support to all good natured devotees. You are completely flaw-less and full of auspicious qualities. You reside in Venkatachala and shrI lakshmi resides in you. I bow to you always.

AÉlÉÇSiÉÏjÉïuÉUSå SÉlÉuÉÉUhrÉmÉÉuÉMåü | ¥ÉÉlÉSÉÌrÉÌlÉ xÉuÉåïzÉå ´ÉÏÌlÉuÉÉxÉåsxiÉÑ qÉå qÉlÉ:|| AnaMdatIrthavarade dAnavAraNyapAvake | j~jAnadAyini sarveSe SrInivAse astu me mana:||

My only prayer to you is “May my mind always be steadfast in Lord shrInivAsa, Who is the grantor of boons to Anan-datIrtha, fire-like destroyer of the forest of evil-minded de-mons, grantor of true knowledge, and Lord of the entire universe.”

We can see that in tIrtha prabandha, shrI vAdirAja tIrtha has described the Glory of shrI Venkateshwara in a manner filled with devotion and adorned it in beautiful poetic me-ter.

Author: Sri Kesavarao Tadapatri ([email protected]) comes from a family of mAdhva scholars. He learnt shastras from his father Sri T.V. Subba Rao. He teaches and writes on mAdhva philosophy and its works.



sadagOpa or sadAri a Symbol of Integral Surrender and Consecration

Gopal Gopinath

In the path of Bhakthi (loving devotion), a devotee seek-ing the Lord with his own efforts is often besieged with doubts about the process, anxiety about the final result and agony of anticipation of deliverance. The total sur-render to shrIman ~nArAyaNA with sheer with abandon-ment or any qualifications is called as saranAgati / prapatti in shrI vaishnavism. In the path of prapatti, clinging to Him with absolute surrender with only His Grace as the means and destination is prescribed as a sure path to liberation from this samsAra. Surrender in this context is the handing over the responsibilities of one’s life to the Lord without any reservation. For the sake of our sanity, we will stick to the above simple description of saranAgati / prapatti / sur-render and respectfully avoid the vast collection of texts from bhAshyams to blogs of vaishnavite schools that high-light the schism in defining this path of ‘saranAgati or pra-patti’ in contrast to ‘bhakti yOga’. All of the Hindu religious schools of sAdhana (worship and prayer) in general em-bellish this attitude of “submission-without-reservation” by presenting a symbol or icon for such a self-dedication in the form of Lotus Feet of the devatA.

tiruvAymozhi and sadAri: Legacy of ~nammALvAr Saint ~nammAlvAr (our ALvAr) was born at kurugUr in tirunelvEli, Tamil Nadu during 9th century CE. He is men-tioned with many names in the biographical texts, chief among them are mARan and parAsaran. As an extraordi-nary child, he did not speak or eat for a long time. Thus he was placed under the care of the reigning deity of ku-rugoor and grew up in a trance under a tamarind tree in the temple. He was also called sadogOpa, as he scoffed (kOpan = one who is angered) at sada (earthly ignorance). As an amsha of shrI hari, he had the deities of vaishnava divya dEsams visit him. He is considered to be the head of ALvArs and this seer-poet’s works include tiru vrittam, tiru Asiriyam, periya tiruvandAdi and tiruvaymozhi. tiruvay-mozhi is called as the drAvida vedam having the distilled essence of vedas in Tamizh and is recited along with ve-das in vaishnava temples. In the verse 6:3:11, ~nammALvAr urges the devotees to recite the preceding decad (10 vers-es) on oppiliappan (deity at viNNagaram vishNu temple) and signs off as: “I, satagOpan of kurugUr, one who is equal to (or joined with) His Holy Feet that grew to the heaVens” - kaN mugappE ~nimir~nta tAL iNaiyan. It is understood that in recognition of ALvAr’s spiritual greatness, a custom of retaining sadAri, a silver dome with a physical depiction of His Holy Feet (by inference, ~nammALvAr himself ), was started. sadAri, also called as sadagOpa after the saint, is

offered at the sanctums associated with shrI ~nArAyaNA to devotees on their heads emphasizing the need for complete surrender at His Feet. Thus ALvAr remains at the service of the Lord in each sanctum as sadAri and keeps reminding us to submit ourselves constantly to His Feet for deliverance.

Holy Feet or tiruvaDi as an object for surrender: Surrender to the Holy Feet or shrI pAda or tiruvaDi of the Lord is unique to hinduism. Other religions invariably de-fine the attitude of surrender in similar terms - at the Heart, in the Soul, revering the Holy Relics, worshipping the Book, etc. There are references to devotees washing the feet of prophets and messiahs with tears, cleaning with hair or own robes, anointing with oil and perfume and caressing (for example, Luke: 7). But the widespread symbolism of the Lotus Feet of devatA as the last or only refuge and the action of offering oneself at all levels at this icon of surren-der is rarely seen other than the hindu dharma. shrI pAdA or tiruvaDi or Holy Feet is considered as the last refuge, sole solace, only source of hope and deliverance, culmina-tion of the journey through many lives, key to Immersion in the Divine plane or some form of immortality, the rea-son to give up the sense of ownership of one’s actions and their outcomes, the locus sacrificii (the site of sacrifice) for one’s ego. In the worship of Pure Spirit or sat (Existence or Being), the concept of surrender is just an afterthought to the seeker confined to some crude initial dualistic expe-riences. Whenever the Supreme Brahman is worshipped with attributes like Form (rUpA), Name (~nAma), localiza-tion in Space and Time (as in deities of temples in different places and kshEtrAs) and anthropomorphic Personalities tied to purANas and itihAsas, then the heterogeneity in the modes of worship becomes obvious. Still, surrender to the Holy Feet of one’s Deity of Personal Affection – ishTa de-vatA - is common to all of these diverse schools.

We will now explore the principle behind this symbolism based on the works found in the vast ocean of our shAs-trAs. There are a few questions to be asked to get a clearer picture: How does the concept of surrender to Holy Feet figure in saguNa (with Form) worship? What is meant by surrender and how the symbol of Holy Feet helps in sur-rendering? What is the significance of the tiruvadi that Saint ~nammALvAr impresses upon us to remember that it got imprinted on the sadAri or sadagOpa? What purpose does the remembering of Holy Feet serve in one’s own seeking? Let us examine each of these questions briefly.

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sagunA and nirgunA worship Countless saints and yogIs have described the differences of Form and Formless modes of worship. shrI Krishna cau-tions arjunA that the worshipping the Supreme as Form-less – avyaktA- is of tremendous difficulty (gatir duhkham) for body-centric mortals that form the majority of the so-ciety (Gita 12:5). “On the other hand”, He declares, “I am the deliverer (samuDhartha BhavAmi) for those from the ocean of birth and death (mrithyu samsAra sAgaraha:) who meditates on My Form with unlimited attributes” – Gita 12:6,7. EVen when the Rishis were calling on agni to bring the Divinities like Indra, TvashtA and pUshaN, the relation-ship between the Divinity that was invoked and the devo-tee needed a human format for emphasis. madhuchanDa vaisvAmitra rishi prays to Agni: “Like father to his sons, be to us with easy approach” (sa na: pitEv sUnave agnE sUpAya-nO bhava - Rig Veda 1:1:9). Again and again, starting from the oldest of samhitas to the lives of contemporary sages and saints, we see that for the seeker with a devotional fer-vor, his or her mindset towards the devatAs have always had the same firm emotional framework foundation vital for human relationships or attachments. For the ordinary decaying mortals – jIryan martyA: of nachiketas - this in-nate need to love and be loved is tuned only towards the others and worldly objects. But for the seekers, there is in-variably and inevitably a sudden and precise Godward-re-structuring of this fundamental fiber of being that ALwArs and ~nAyanmArs called as ATkollutal” – being taken over by the Deity. Thus it is essential that the seeker in the path of saguNa worship initially needs an object or an attribute related to the Form to train and tune in his emotional be-ing. The saints and seers of the past have identified two attributes of His saguNa rUpA or His iconic representation (archA mUrthy) is sufficient in our times for salvation: His Holy Feet and His Name. In this article, we will briefly ana-lyze the importance of the symbol of Holy Feet and It’s role in the sAdhanA path of surrender.

Universe is just one-fourth of HimIt may be a mere speculation but a wondrous and exalted hymn of the Primordial Man in Purusha sUkta (Rig Veda 10:90) describing the original Sacrifice of Purusha lead-ing to shrushti at the cosmic scale may provide us with a proper perspective for the symbol of Holy Feet. richAs 3-4 of this popular sUktam state that: “ all beings are fourth of Him; three fourths are the immortals in heaVen. Three fourths of Man ascended high, one fourth took birth again down here” (pAda: asya vishwA bhutAni, tripAdasya am-ritham divi || tripAdUrDva udait purusha: pAdA: asyEhA Bha-vat puna:). shrushti or creative manifestation – what we call as the cosmos – is just about a quarter of this PurushA. The visible manifestation of IshwarA is just a quarter of His

corpus or about equal to his feet. pAda: in samskritam also means “foot”. Such a common word usage for a ‘foot’ and a ‘quarter’ is seen also in other Indian languages. When we prepare to offer ourselves to the Lord with a ‘fixed and un-failing’ aspiration for deliverance, what else is more visible than the His tiruvadi - the visible quarter of the Supreme Brahman? Then, it should not be surprising that His Holy Feet - the source and succor for the Universe - are the only focus recommended for a bhaktA who bemoans like ti-rumazhisai ALvAr quoted below.

~nala~ggaLAya ~naRkalaikaL ~nAvilum ~navinRilEn / pulangaLai~ntum VenRilEn poRiyilEn punita / ~nin ila~ggu pA-tam anRi maRROr paRRilEn em IcanE

“I have not studied vedas or shAstrAs / I have not done tapas to control my senses, do not have any other attach-ments except your Holy Feet.”

The idea of surrender is as old as Rig Veda where the ri-shi cries “I surrender to you” - sharanam aham prapaDyE to Durga, She who glows with tapas ( tapasA jvalantIm ). Later, Krishna declares with authority “Hold just me for your surrender“ - mAm ekam sharanam vraja. One of the great mahAns chosen by devI sarasvati to redeem the hindu society from the clouds of ignorance due to foreign aggression, shrI rAgaVendra swami (1595–1671 CE) pleads to his beloved Krishna: “I have reached your presence with nobody else to give me salvation. Oh VenugopAla, please show me your feet” - ArU kAyuvarilla sEride ninagayyA / dhI-ra VenugOpAla, pAda kANiso hariye. With this background, it becomes easier for us to look into the act of surrender in more detail and explore how this can be related to sadagOpA or sadAri.

the paths of total surrender – a realistic perspectiveIn shrI vaishnavism, as in almost all other traditions, prapat-ti or surrender with abandonment is repeatedly said to be the simplest means for one’s redemption. This supposedly simple process is often contrasted with the cumbersome path of devotion (Bhakthi yOga), arduous paths of Knowl-edge (jnAna yOga), insipid way of Action (karma yOga) or sublime, esoteric path of meditation (dhyAnA yOga). But the experiences of the seekers who attained siddhi in this path seem otherwise. The lives of the saints and sages chronicled for at least 3000 years in samskritam, tamizh, telugu and kannada (to name a few) languages speak at times in a darker tone. A bleak outlook is common during the periods of inner development and maturity of saints and yogIs who dedicated their lives seeking Him. It is not uncommon to see a sense of intense desperation, deep anguish and mounting sense of anxiety that the Lord is delaying or going to disappoint them in the poetic out-pourings and volumes of texts. For example, shrI nammAl-


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vAr repeatedly begs to shrInivAsA:

tiruVengadattAnE, ..un pAdam chErvadu aTiyEn e~n~nALE.. / .. aTiyEn un pAdam agalagillEn / pugalonRllA aTiyEn un aTikizh ama-rntu pugundenE … (tiruvAymozhi, ulagam uNTha pattu)

“Lord VenketEshwarA, when I would reach your Feet? / This dAsa will not leave Your Feet.../ this dAsa without any other refuge has settled at your Feet.”

If eVen Saint nammAlvAr has to plead in anguish to Lord VenketEshwara on the hills of tirupati for the fulfillment of his surrender to Him, for us who are drenched and soaked in the swirls of samsArA, how long will be the path? How many reminders are enough?

The seeking by surrender seems also to be a process of un-winding or un-engineering of the process of making of a so-called ‘civilized, societal human’. The seeker leaves all his known attachments, kith and kin, possessions, voluntarily impoverishes oneself, adopts a life of mendicant thereaf-ter and goes through rest of the life in loneliness devoid of any serious human camaraderie. At the same time, the seeker who has offered himself to God, is highly communi-cative of inner purpose, knows exactly what he wants from Him and had deep commitment and attachment to what tiruvaLLuvar calls in tirukuRaL as paRRu aRRAn paRRu – “at-tachment to One who is devoid of attachments”. We shall be able to note this in the following sample from praBhan-dam, where tondaradipodi AzhvAr cries to ~nArAyaNa:

UrilEn kANi illai, uRavu maRRu oruvarillai / pAril ~nin pAda mUlam paRRilEn

“I do not belong to a place or have kin for support; still, I am lost (only) because I am not holding on to your feet (that are my sole refuge).”

Thus we see opposing narratives with regards to surren-der with bhakti to the Holy Feet of the Lord. On one hand, it is emphasized that the process is as simple as eating a banana. On the other, the trials and travails of the seekers who have walked on this Path seem no less intimidating than that ascribed to other Paths of sAdhanA. It also seems that while the act of surrender may take just a moment or so, the process of surrendering is life-long (if one is lucky) and tortuous. In same vein, all the saints and seer-poets cannot emphasize more that there is no path easier and surer than surrender to Him without any withholdings or reservations. If such a fulsome single act of surrender is enough for salvation, why do we need something like sadagOpA to keep reminding us of His Feet during every visit to His sanctum? Once a devotee or sAdakA declares that he has surrendered to the Lord, why there is need to do anything else? Anything that needs so many remind-ers and may be running through many lives should either

be an arduous exercise or unfit for the subject. Why then it is repeatedly mentioned that just one act of willful sam-kalpA of surrender would suffice? Is the act of surrender assures of a successful outcome based on one’s efforts or the Grace of the Lord is solely instrumental in the transfor-mation? These questions require us to examine the topic of surrender more closely.

sadAri: Confluence of Surrender and Consecration EVen if technically the process of offering oneself to the Lord is a long and effortful process, when a sadhakA’s sam-kalpA is strong enough, then the first and a single act of surrender alone would be sufficient. The samkalpa of total surrender to shrI hari is a momentary one – the only mo-ment that makes the lives we have lived or going to live fruitful. In real life, with all our accumulated and carried-over luggage of karmAs, such a Divine moment is rare to come or worse still, rarer to be recognized so. Normally it is just a small part of our being that makes a weak-willed vow of surrender while the other parts of us are clamoring behind worldly distractions and dispositions. How do we reconcile these realistic experiences of ordinary bhaktAs with the emphasis on surrender by the saints? What makes this equally arduous path easier? shrI Aurobindo’s remarks may provide us a clue: “There are two powers that alone can effect in their conjunction the great and difficult thing which is the aim of our endeavor, a fixed and unfailing aspiration that calls from below and a supreme Grace from above that answers.” ~nammALvAr describes this succinctly in tiruvAimozhi 8:8:3 as: “I placed Him in my Heart (by surrender) and eVen that only by His Grace” – en uNarvinuLLE iruttinEn / atuvum avanatu innaruLE.

shrI Aurobindo provides us with further explanation in his short treatise, The Mother: “…so long as the lower nature is active the personal effort of the sAdhaka remains neces-sary. The personal effort required is a triple labor of aspira-tion, rejection and surrender, - an aspiration vigilant, con-stant, unceasing - the mind’s will, the heart’s seeking, the assent of the vital being (to receive the Grace); rejection of the movements of the lower nature… of the mind’s ideas, opinions, preferences, habits, constructions…of the vital nature’s desires, demands, cravings, sensations, passions, selfishness, pride, arrogance, lust, greed, jealousy, envy, hostility to the Truth … surrender of oneself and all one is and has and every plane of the consciousness and every movement to the Divine and Shakti”.

For constantly keeping oneself fit for His Grace, the pro-cess of consecration (the act of making sacred) is essen-tial. Self-consecration is offering what we are, what we do and what is - to His tiruvadi in our every living moment. While surrender to His Holy Feet sets the seeker in the path


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to Him, consistent and sincere consecration helps him to walk the miles. When the process of consecration to His Feet is a constant and continuous process, then the ardor and tapasya it takes to reach the readiness and maturity for that one moment of total surrender or prapatti becomes bearable with His Grace. Such osmosis of the seeker’s love towards Ishwara and the Grace of the Supreme in response is epitomized by the symbol of sadagopA or sadAri. To keep the flame of aspiration alive, to continue the process of rejection of distractions in our lives of sensory pursuits and to encourage us to try to totally surrender to His Holy Feet every moment by offering all we are to Him, Saint ~nammAlvAr has giVen us in his compassion, a symbolic token in the form of an imprint of His Feet. sadagopA or sadAri is the reminder for us NOT just to surrender and go on with our lives with only a faint memory of that act. The purpose of taking it up on our heads is to re-invigorate by constantly consecrating ourselves with offering all our liv-ing at every moment to His Holy Feet. abhirAmi bhaTTar, a poor, mad priest of tirukadiyUr sees Her in full Glory only because he “worshipped Her Lotus Feet constantly eVen when standing, sitting, lying down, walking”.

What are the tell-tale marks of this oil of self-consecration that keeps the lamp of surrender glow incessantly? shrI Adi shankarA has a description of the mature state of self-offering in soundarya lahari, verse 27:

“Let my spoken words be Your japam / Let all my hand movements be the display of Your mudrAs. Let my walk be an act of circumambulation / Let my eating food be hOmam to you. Let my lying down be my prostrations to You / Let all my enjoyments be Yours as I offer all of me to You. Thus please make all my actions are a form of Your worship”.

japO jalpa: shilpaM sakalaM api mudrA-virachanA / gati: prAdak-ShiNya-kramanaM ashanAt Ahuti-vidhi:praNAma: saMvesha: sukhaM akilaM atmArpaNaddRushA / sapa-ryA-paryAya: tava bhavatu yan me vilasitaM

When the movements and very existence of a seeker’s life, are offered to Holy Feet, then there is no other sAdhana necessary for His Grace to choose and act. How does Grace act in the path of Surrender?

Grace of shrIman ~nArAyaNA

kripA or Grace of the Lord works in ways that do not obey the rules of the world. It is hard to come but when it does, it opens the sight to a new vision and the vision to a new sight. For an arju~nA blessed with a Divine Sight – divya chakshu but not yet ready to behold the Lord in His Splen-dor, His Cosmic Form or viswarUpa seems to have an “ef-fulgence of a thousand suns bursting forth all at once” –

divi sahasra sUryasya Bha: His mind gets tormented by fear (bhayEna cha prathyatitam mana:) and he pleads to return to normalcy. But the humble and meek tiruBANAzhvAr, who consecrates every moment of his life by singing shrI hari’s Glory in a small islet near shri rangam, is ready for the wholesome Form of the Lord. So when he is brought to the sanctum of shrI ranganAtA and is blessed with a dar-shan of His corporal Form, the ALvAr sees His Feet first and could only exclaim in ecstasy: “Yes, They have come! Lotus Feet of One who is - blemishless, ancient, luminous, the Lord of the devAs, residing on the hills of tirupati, spotless, pure, just, the master of shrI arangam - have entered into my sight to make me subservient to His devotees.”

amalan Adi pirAn aTiyArkku ennai ATpaThutta / vimalan viNNavar kOn viraiyAr pozhil Venkatavan / ~nimalan ~ninmalan ~nIti vAn-avan nILmatiL ara~ggattammAn/ tiruk Kamala pAdam v~antu en kaNNinuLLan vokkinRatE

The same kripA or Grace or aruL (in tamizh) of Ishwara made Saint vaLLaLAr out of a rAmalingam of chidambaram to praise the Lord as: ponnaTi en chenniyilE poru~ntavaitta deyvam ் – “Lord has fixed His golden Feet on my Head” because he “ the Great, nurtures me as His child” - chEyAga enai vaLarkkum deyvam ்.

Conclusions

Thus we saw the practical application of a simple ritualistic object of sadagOpA or sadAri that came about by the com-passion of Saint ~nammAlvAr. It is true that a true willful and sincere samkalpA of surrender carried out in a golden moment is sufficient to end the cycle of samsArA. But the path to that moment is difficult, tenuous, takes many lives and demands constant consecration of our lives every mo-ment to Him. We also briefly speculated based on vedic hymns that this universe is the manifestation of one Su-preme and is only about a quarter of Him or is represented by His Feet (both denoted by the word pAda: in samskri-tam). Thus in this Kali Yuga, His Holy Feet are the only visi-ble and tangible object for surrender and consecration. To constantly aspire for His Grace by consecrating our small selves by offering our every living moment, to reject un-wanted distractions of this mundane world and to totally surrender all our being always to Him, sadagOpA or sadAri helps us by putting our heads in the right place - under His Feet. Finally, we saw that eVen the saints plead to Him at His Feet. Considering all these, we have to be pause a moment to offer our gratitude to Saint ~nammAlvAr for providing a constant reminder in the form of sadagOpA or sadAri to us:

e~nthai saTagOpan pAda~ggaL yAmuTaiya paRRu - “We hold to the holy feet of our Father, shrI saTagOpan”.



Om Sreeyai Namaha

ashta Lakshmi, eight Forms of Goddess of wealthDigalakote Narayanachar, Priest, Sri Siva Vishnu Temple

The goddess lakshmi is mosT ofTen known as The goddess of wealTh. ashTa lakshmi are The eighT forms

of Goddess Lakshmi whereby She bestows various types of wealth to Her devotees.

1. aaDHI LakSHMI

Aadhi Lakshmi is the Goddess of creation. She provides universal love, joy and happiness, peace of mind, contentment and compas-sion to Her devotees.

2. DHaanYa LakSHMI

Dhaanya Lakshmi is the Goddess of food and grains. A multi-bil-lionaire cannot eat gold, pearls or diamonds. Little food or cereal removes the hunger of living be-ings. In this form she provides necessary nourishment to all.

3. DHaIRYa LakSHMI

Dhairya Lakshmi or Veera Lakshmi is the Goddess of cour-age. In this form She is the personification of fearlessness, enthusiasm, initiative, diligence, good character and con-duct.

4. GaJa LakSHMI

Gaja Lakshmi is the Goddess of sojourn to various places. The four states through which one sojourns are as fol-lows:

(i) Jagrath -the wakeful stage. The conscious mind transcends to higher consciousness and super con-sciousness

(ii) Swapna - the dream stage where one experiences the mystery of insightful enjoyment.

(iii) Sushupti- the stage of Sleep. It is also a mystery, one cannot buy it. The subconscious mind is busy preserving the necessary memories and erasing the

unnecessary memories. This stage rejuVenates the body and mind.

(iv) thureeyavasta - the stage of bliss. Only good people can enjoy it.

In the form of Gaja Lakshmi She guides us through these four stages.

5. SantHaana LakSHMI

Santhaana Lakshmi is Goddess of good children. Children bring name, fame prosperity and hap-piness to their parents. All noble people are examples of the gift of the Goddess in this form.

6. VIJaYa LakSHMI

Vijaya Lakshmi is the Goddess of success. Failures are the stepping stones towards success; no pain no gain. Negative reinforcement helps ones’ progress in life. In this

form She guides us to victory.

7. VIDYa LakSHMI

Vidya Lakshmi is the Goddess of Wisdom. Wisdom is di-vided into two parts:

(i) apara Vidya is helpful in this lifetime only

(ii) Para Vidya helps us in this life and in the next life too. All the austerities lead to good fortune because the present is a product of the past and the future will be the modification of the present.

Vidya Lakshmi provides us the means to attain wisdom.

8. DHana LakSHMI

Dhana Lakshmi is Goddess of Wealth and Health. Wealth means material wealth; Health includes mental health and physical health. Goddess Lakshmi bestows all the wealth and good will.

MAY GODDESS SRI ASHTA LAKSHMI BLESS US ALL OM TAT SAT


why do we celebrate the wedding of Gods - Devataa kalyanam?

Dr. B. V. VenkataKrishna Sastry, Yoga-Samskrutham University.

Introduction:

The wedding event of Gods or devatAs is a unique reli-gious tradition celebrated by Hindus. Why do Hindus cel-ebrate eVents like shrlnivAsa kalyAnam - like the ongoing wedding celebrations of Lord shrlnivAsa with padmAvati at SSVT and other wedding eVents of shivA-pArvati, rukmani-shri Krishna, sltA- rAma? Why is this observance designed as a part of hindu mandir activities and as a community celebration? This article deliberates on different perspec-tives of this kind of religious celebration.

Overview of different Sampradayas and celebrations in Hinduism

Hindus worship many forms of devathAs or Gods. It is im-portant to understand this concept of Hindu Gods before we Venture out to explain their ‘weddings’. To define the complex array of explanations of origin of Gods (theogo-ny) in Hinduism in simple terms is not an easy task. There is no single accepted notion and wars have been fought to establish supremacy of each school of thought in the past 2 millennia. Defining the fundamental view of God and His/Her relationship with the shrushTi (manifestation) is the role played by the core scriptural texts or shAstrAs. In general, all Hindu schools that accept Vedas as the pri-mary source agree that there is one Supreme Godhead or Source or Deity. This Supreme Being takes different forms of devathAs, which is stated by some as different forms of one Ishwara. Some others state that this Supreme Being is the primum movens or Primary Mover for all the other lesser forms of devatAs. This Supreme Being may or may not have a name and form (nAma- rUpa). Within this sim-plified framework, we can proceed to explain that those praying to God with Forms (saguNa) or without (nirguNa) have different ways how their religious and spiritual prac-tices are implemented in day-to-day life, worship etc. In a way, we can describe these differences in the schools of thoughts as specific software programs running on different operating systems (OS) in a computer- OS be-ing schools of thought and the programs being religious practices. The beauty of sanAtana Dharma is that we have a functional computer, our religion, with whichever OS we get to use either by birth (family sampradaya) or choice (by means of initiation or dhlkshA). When personified, the Gods and Goddesses are invoked in temples, sanctums, homes, in individuals psyche, in external objects, idols, paintings, pictures etc. Then, it becomes the responsibility

of the devotees to treat such Divine Entities or the devatAs as though they are part of our lives, communities and fam-ilies. AgamA and Dharma shAstrAs outline established pro-tocols and frameworks for such community level daily and seasonal worship (like nitya pUja and utsavams) in temples and at individual levels (like vrats and pUjAs).

This framework naturally leads to many opportunities and formats of celebrating God related events in temples and communities. This model of celebrating the suggested life eVents of God as socio-religious events in various cul-tural formats by communities is unique to Hinduism. In a way, this cultural feature provides a subtle connectivity to the devotees with the devatAs they worship. It is best to remember that the purpose of these celebrations for the deities is for the sake of the society and for the humanity in general, i.e. lOka kshema (well-being of the world) and lOka kalyAnam (welfare of the world). By celebrating these festivals, the deities invoked in the temples are pleased, the community is brought together for a common pur-pose, the bonds connecting human with the workings of the Divinity are strengthened and the devotion of the con-gregation reaffirmed. The interconnectedness between celebrating anthropomorphic life-events of devatAs and the dissemination of positive effects in the associated communities has been recognized for many centuries. The practice of celebrating the wedding of Gods as a part of Hindu mandir (devAlaya) dates prior to the beginning of the modern era. Many marvelous temples of south India (1000 C.E onwards) are associated with the anecdotes con-nected to the annual and seasonal celebration of devatA kalyANam. The Gods and icons of other religions like Chris-tianity, Buddhism or Jainism do not have any provisions for such eVents based on their life histories, philosophies they preached or their Personalities when they walked on Earth.

about Hindu Marriage:

Marriage is one of the sixteen sacraments reckoned in sanAtana dharma traditions. Marriage transforms the ‘sta-tus of an individual from ‘BrahmachAri ‘- unmarried stu-dentship - to gruhasta, a householder. gruhasta needs to comply with the prescribed rules for a householder, an married individual with a family and fiscal responsibili-ties. The dhArmic guidance on lifestyle, relations and ob-ligations for a householder are given in grihya sutrAs and kalpa sutrAs- some books of dharma shAstras dedicated

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Why do we celebrate the Wedding of Gods - Devataa Kalyanam?



to gruhasta Ashrama Dharma - house holders’ duties, re-sponsibilities and privileges. The ideals of living as a house holder is exemplified by the ‘house holder’ deities involved in the wedding events of deities. The community presentation of the purpose and practice of these dhArmic ideals of gruhasta life style is provided to all, as a part of celebration of the wedding event of Gods at hindu man-dirs. Hence, many of the rituals associated with a typical hindu wedding like kalyAna shobha yAtra (wedding pro-cession), mAngalya dhArana (adorning mAngalyam) are re enacted for the divine couple on the occasion of the kaly-Ana utsavam.

about the Married Gods of Hinduism:

How many are married amongst the hindu Gods? How many with single wife? Like the presentation of multiples forms of DevatAs, this issue has been the forefront of dis-cussions in various groups inside or outside the purview of hindu customs and traditions. As the Hindu society evolved and adapted over many millennia, many sources of sacred documents contribute to the emergence, per-sonality and attributes of Gods and Goddesses. These ori-gins could be grouped as:

(a) Vedas

(b) revelations and compositions- purAnAs and itihAsas as-sociated with sages ( like vAlmlk/, ryAsa, vaiishampAyana, Narada), Gods (like shivA, vishnu, Ganesha) avatArAs or in-carnation of Gods (like matsya, varAha, kUrma), other Gods like Agni, vAyu, Garuda.

(c) historical personalities deified in one way or the other (Bhagavan BuddhA, MahAveera, Acharya ShankarA)

(d) works that recognize natural processes and objects vibhUthis or special objective manifestations as Gods -like mountains, rivers , trees (for example, Bhagavad glta says Himalaya mountains, River gangA, the cow, the sun, moon, stars, air, fire are all expressions of Lord).

(e) works from yoga, tantrA traditions giving special form to Gods and Goddesses (as in dasa MahAvidyAs).

The marital status of these gods is a complex topic of discussion. The Hindu Gods occur in multiple layers or mixed hierarchies - as original manifestations, secondary manifestations, avatAras, purposive manifestations, par-tial incarnations, amsha devathAs, vibhuthi-s and the like as stated above. For example, shrl mahA vishnu can be seen as married, married multiple times etc. depending on the context. Similarly, shiva is depicted as a yogi par excel-lence, married twice, a widower, and also as a lustrous en-ticer of wives of sages. Hindus do have shrl Ganesha who could be unmarried, married, not married but with female

consorts represented as energies. His brother shrl suBrah-manya is presented as a celibate yogi while his wedding with two wives is also celebrated. It is impertinent to ques-tion why Ganesha’s wedding is not celebrated like being done for his brother. One needs to be very careful before passing judgments based on the ethics human societies and contemporary gender sensitivity perspectives. Irre-spective of the numbers and forms of Gods, the weddings of the Gods, like many other samskArAs or rites of passage, are carried out based on the established devata-kalyAna traditions and customs of the practicing communities pro-vided by the purAna and Agama texts even if the primary procedures and represented values are the same.

wedding event

In case of wedding events for Gods with multiple con-sorts, only select combinations are taken as a part and are approved in tradition. For example, pArvathi (daughter of himavAn, the king of himalayas) and Ganga (river) are accepted as wives of shivA. But shivA pArvathi kaly-anam alone is recommended eVen to increase the chances of weddings in the families with wards with less luck in that matter while shiva- Ganga kalyanam is not heard of. Although vishnu has many avatArars, only sltA-rAma kaly-Anam, rukmani-shri Krishna kalyAnam are approved for community performances (for individual couples celebrat-ing mature years of marriage like twenty five or more and helping daughters in shooing away their marriage-related difficulties respectively). shrinivAsa kalyAnam is the most common eVent noted in many Hindu mandirs in India and outside. The wedding event is used as a generic way of showing gratitude to God for the favors received. Aga-ma shAstrAs that detail the procedures to be followed for temple and communal festivities suggest that the undertaking the celebration of such kalyAna utsavam pleases devatAs and brings great amount of merit punya to the individual families apart from other benefits to the community in general.

Some parts of the ceremony are carried out in detail so as to emphasize the necessary for proper conduct of all as-pects of the prescribed procedures. It is common to see that in hindu weddings the procedural edicts of wedding samskArA are not giVen due respect as the ritualistic sec-tions are rushed through to give priority to the cultural and social eVents related to weddings. In the case of deva-tA kalyAnam, these missteps are avoided. For example, as part of the ceremony, the details are revealed in the step where a narrative is made on how parents make an audit of qualities of bride and bride groom to make sure that there is some level of compatibility among the couple. In shrlnivAsa kalyanam, the narrative dialogue of sage Nara-

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Why do we celebrate the Wedding of Gods - Devataa Kalyanam?



da covers the part of how the bride and groom sides of shrlnivAsa and padmavathy get familiar with each other’s family lineage and personalities. The puranic texts associ-ated with such episodes are recited in detail during the celebration of this Divine wedding. shrlnivAsa kalyAnam in kannada language is a traditional piece of lyrics from the state of Karnataka rendered during both human and Divine wedding events.

Other benefits of performing kalyAna utsavam:

The periodic performance of the event has been recom-mended with the hope that the community members become aware of the values and standards of good married life through binding religious traditions and spiri-tual undertones. We can only continue to hope, as did our ancestors when forming these protocols or sampradAyA-s, that the purpose of these communal events induce a favorable outlook at the way of our lives. They seem to have encouraged participation in such community perfor-mances to put an emphasis on dhArmic norms amongst the couples and would-be couples to avoid emotional disruptions with unwanted consequences in their family lives. Any couple who performs a sitA-rAma kalyAnam with an understanding of the life of shrl rAma and sltA will be impressed upon sub-consciously to perceive the travails of married life more. That the original story of shri rAma in vAmlki rAmAyanA presents a separation of sitA from shri rAma on a frivolous issue normally acts as an impetus to involved couples on how to resolve their differences on a positive note. Anyone who performs a rukmani - shrl Krish-na kalyAnam may hesitate pick up a quarrel with their chil-dren for not going through the route of their own choices of marriage instead of the parental claims. This is also a way to grooming youngsters to recognize standards and values of Hindu marriage. For the participating parents in the community, the event is considered as a symbolic discharge of the Dharmic responsibility of engaging their wards in the gruhasta path.

The house holder sponsors play the roles of the families of bride and groom like friends and relatives. It is an occa-sion where sponsors feel that Gods are present there with them as would their own children in such family celebra-tions. During the performance of this event, the devotee is playing several roles - as parents, families, friends and relatives of the Divine bride and groom according to the purAnic legends associated with that devatA. In setting this role play scenario in a religious atmosphere, the original designers of these procedures apparently aimed to cre-ate a social standard of human relations and re-sponsibilities in a context. For a Hindu householder, such events like devatA kalyAnam reinforces a positive outlook

on his or her own personal life leading to the confidence that just like the “God couples”, they would go forward to complete the missions of their own lives.

Spiritual significance:

The format of celebration of wedding event of Gods is pro-vided by traditional books that provide rules and proce-dures of various samskArA-s rule books in tradition. The formats are in three types - Vedic, purAnic and Agamic and local cultural formats. The Vedic Marriage format focuses on performing specific samskara-s or rituals. The purana (itihasa, Agama and purAna) marriage format focuses on religiosity (DharmaAchAra) and the local cultural formats reflecting the customs and practices of that region/con-gregation. Such versatility in the procedures motivates the devotees of all flavors to participate in the celebra-tions and affirm their devotion. In the backdrop of yoga and tantrA, kalyAna utsavam is a symbolic unification of the Shiva-Shakti - the Male and Female principles of uni-verse, for the welfare of the community. In terms of ve-dAnta, the event is a symbolic representation of Supreme Divinity -Brahman- presenting itself and operating in the forms of this universe. The interconnectedness of spiritual, ritual, social, ceremonial and cultural facets of devotion is evident during the ceremony of a traditional kalyAna ut-savam as a community event. The significance and bene-fits of this event at all levels is presented to the community without reservations.

Conclusion:

Celebrating the wedding event of Gods as a part of Hindu mandir is an important community event for community benefit. kalyAna utsavam celebrations catalyzes the appli-cation of Vedic traditions for affirmation of devotion and shaping the spiritual leanings of communities involved. The benefits can be tangible at the level of personal life highlighting the values and standards of traditions and grooming youngsters to recognize standards and values of Hindu marriage; at the social level for cultural celebra-tions in a community; and spiritually by affirming devo-tion of the members of congregation. Such utsavams are celebrated for the lOka kshEmam and lOka kalyAnam (world-wide well-being and welfare). May the Lord Sri Ven-katanAtA and His Divine Consort shrl padmAvati, who are always full of auspiciousness, bless the communities involved in this kalyAna mahOtsavam celebrations at the SSVT devastAnam with all good things from all directions.

sarvO J”anAnAm sukhinO Bhavantu; samasta manga/Ani Bhavantu. Let all people beget happiness; let them all beget auspiciousness

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Srimaathe Narayanaya Namaha Sri Venkatesaaya Namaha

Mahotsava PhalamKomandur Sri Venktatcharyulu, Pancharatragamam Priest , Sri Siva Vishnu Temple

There are Two ways of prayers (upaasana) To receive blessings from god. They are sagunopasana, praying To god who is in The form of an idol (vigraha) or nirgunopasana, praying To

GOD who does not take any form. Out of these two ways Sagunopasana is easier than Nirgunopasana. With Sa-gunopasana people can perform pooja, i.e. rituals and prayers, in their own houses as well as in common facilities like the TempleS. Temples are places which are built for the purpose of individuals, or groups of people, to perform their prayers and rituals to the installed idols of deities.

Aagama Saastra is the science that defines the rules and regulations involved during the Architecture and design of the Temples. It also includes the details for making idols (vigrahas) of GODS. Aagama Saastra also defines the procedures involved during the performance of daily and periodical pooja, special poojas performed during Hindu festivals and also homa rituals. In other words, Aagama Saastra is the proper source of knowledge for mankind to lead them to receive the blessings of GOD. In Sabda Kalpadhruma Grandha, it is quoted that Aagama Saastra is the saastra which defines the details about the six karmas namely: Srushti, Pralaya, Devata-Archana, Saadhana, Man-tra Purascharanamu and Yogamu.

The importance of this Saastra is as given below:

Ardhibhyo Vanchitam Sarvam Prayachhati Gatim VinaaPancharatrakhya Sastrantu Chaturvarga Phala Pradam

The meaning of the above sloka is that Pancharatra Saa-stram is the only source through which mankind can achieve all the Chaturvarga Phalams i.e., the four goals to our existence: Dharma (Duty), Artha (Wealth), Kama (De-sire) and Moksha (Liberation).

Pancharatrocta Vidhina Yat Samaradhayeth HarimKyvalyam Paramapraptho Na Bhuyo Samsayediha

Pancharatra Saastram has been given by Lord Sri Hari himself. Hence people, who follow this Saastra and pray to GOD accordingly will achieve the goal of Moksha and reach Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Sri Hari.

Moolabhutastu Mahato Vedavrikshasya Yo MahanSad Bhrahma Vasudevaakya Paratat Vyka SamsayamDivyairbaladi Kyarmantrayihi Sakshat Prati PadakyhiAlankrita Masamdigdhama Vidya Timirapaham

According to the Vedas ,to attain Moksha there is no easier way than following this Saastra and hence it is named as Ekaayanam and has become well known thus. This Saastra has its roots deep into the great Veda tree. The narrations

of Lord Vasudeva are in the form of Bala Adi Mantrams. Further in the Smruthis, Jamadagnya Smruti mentions about the effectiVeness of Pancharatram. In Balakanda of the epic Ramayana, the following is mentioned:

Puranaschaiva Vedaischa Pancha Ratraistha Dhaivacha Dyayanthi Yogino Nityam Kramabhischa Yajantitam

Meaning that the Rishis (sages) have performed yaagas with veda mantras in accordance to the Pancharatram.

Also in the Santhi Parvam of the epic Maha Bharatam the following is mentioned:

Idam Mahopanishadam Chaturveda SamanvithamSankya Yoga Kritam Tena Pancha Ratraanu SabdithamNarayana Mukhodgitam Narado SravayatpunahaBrahmanas Sadasee Tata Yadhadrushtam Yadha Srutam

Meaning that Lord Srimannarayana has narrated this Ekayana Veda Pancharatram along with the four Vedas to Narada, when Lord Brahma and the others were present. That is the importance of Aagama Saastra.

Hence in the interest of the welfare and happiness of man-kind it is essential that temples are built, and the rituals in the temples are performed in accordance with the Aaga-ma Saastra by competent Priests, who are well acquainted with the Saastra.

Sri Rangasthala Venkatadri Karigir Yadavu Sata AshtottareStane Gramanikee Taneshucha Sada Saannidhya Vaase Dushee Rcha Rupinamarchakabhimatith Sveekurvate VigrahamPujam Chakhila Vanchitan Vitaratee Sree Saya Tasmainamaha

Meaning that whoever prays and totally submits himself to the all pervasive GOD at any of the 108 holy pilgrim cen-ters like SriRangam, Venkatadri, etc. or even in their own places, villages, towns or cities, will have their material wishes granted and blessed by GOD.

Sruyatam Akhida Swamey Brahmannaradhanam HarehiEna Vishnoh Padam Martyaha Prapnotty Amara Durlabham

Meaning that Lord Narayana himself has told Lord Brahma that human beings can achieve Vishnu Loka by their sub-mission with proper prayers to Him. This is not so even for Devatas. Proper rituals performed in the utsavas (celebra-tions) of the Lord, will relieve mankind from all the bur-dens of unhappiness and misery.

But unfortunately priests who are not well trained in Aagama Pancharatra Saastram are performing the rituals during the daily poojas, yaagas, and utsavas of the GOD

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Mahotsava Phalam



in temples. They are performing the rituals with false pro-cedures and mantras which are harmful to themselves as well as the society around them. This may result in peace-lessness, greed, jeolousy and violent behavior, and will thus end as a serious threat to the society.

Yas Sastra Vidhi Mutsarajya Vartate KamakaratahaNa Sasiddhi Mavapnoti Na Sukham Na Paramgatim

Meaning, he whoever performs against the procedures laid out in the Saastras, will not be benefitted as envisaged, but will also ultimately go to Narakam (Hell). Hence it is very essential to appoint proper Priests for this purpose.

Aa Douthu Brahmano Vidwan Pancha Ratra ParayanahaAacharyam Varayet Purvam Tadadhi Nahi Siddhayee

Hence the Temple Management has taken necessary care to assign the performance of Sri Venkateswara Mahot-savam to a young, knowledgeable and competent acha-rya who is working as a professor in the Sri Venkateswara Aagama Paatasala, in Aagama Saastram, and who has the experience of executing such a program.

Temple management is organizing this grand festival

with firm commitment and proper performance of the ritual , to receive the blessings of Lord Venkateswara to all devotees .this is being organized with a lot of interest, shraddha and bhakti and all efforts are being made for it’s success.

Sri Pancharatra Divya Agamokta Prakarena Yah YajamanahaMahotstsavam Anustithi Saha Swakulam Samastha MuttharyaVishnu Sayujyam Gachhathi (Eevam)Aswamedha Yaga Saahasrasya Adhava Sarvesham Veda Chodita-naamYagaanaamanushtane Yat Phalam Prapyate MahotsavanushtaneTadeva Phalam Prapnoti Na Samsayha

Meaning that the devotees who are participating in this Mahotsavam which is being organized in accordance with the Pancharatra Aagamam, will be benefitted not only with the blessings of the GOD, but will also get the punyam of performing aswamedha yaagas.

Wishing All Devotees To Receive The Blessings of GOD for Good Health and Prosperity and Continued Devotion!

Swasti,

(Note: Original Text in Telegu Translated by Sri. Chintaluri Sundara Venkata Rao)


knowing BrahmanExample of Philosophical Inquiry in Taittirya Upanishad

Raghuveer Rao

Introduction:

Philosophical inquiry is one of the hall marks of sanAtana Dharma (Hinduism). This is used as a primary means of investigating the Brahman or the supreme Truth in the Upanishads. This article gives an example of philosophi-cal inquiry as described in the Taittiriya Upanishad, one of the main Upanishads in sanAtana Dharma.

The Taittiriya upanishad belongs to the Krishna yajur veda and is divided into three sections or valli-s, literally mean-ing creepers. They are 1) sikshavalli on instructions 2) Brah-manandavalli or the section of bliss of ‘knowing’ Brahman and 3) Brighuvalli, the section on Brighu. All three sections of this upanishad have been quoted widely for various ex-planations and in philosophical discourses. In general, a diligent and deep study of Taittiriya is expected of any seri-ous student of vedAnta.

example of Inquiry in Brighuvalli:

Brighuvalli begins with Brighu approaching his father, Varuna, and asking him to teach about Brahman. I n response, Varuna explains to Brighu about food (annam), pranam (prana can be translated in spirit to ‘life-force’), eyes (chakshu), hearing (srotram), mind (manas), and speech (vAcha). He then asks Brighu to do tapas ( deep contemplation ) on “From what all beings are born? From what do those born draw sustenance to live? What do they enter after they have lived out their lives?” He wants Bri-ghu to get the answer to these questions and take that as Brahman.

Brighu then embarks on his tapas. He comes to the con-clusion that food (annam) is what living beings are born from, food is what sustains them after they are born and food is what they return to. Apparently dissatisfied with this logical conclusion, Brighu goes to Varuna and asks again for the lesson on Brahman. Varuna again points to tapas as the way to know Brahman. In the second stage of his tapas, Brighu concludes prana as the answer to these questions and thus prana as being Brahman. He then re-turns to Varuna who yet again recommends tapas. At the next two stages of his tapas, Brighu concludes mind (ma-nas) and knowledge (vijnana) as being Brahman. On these occasions as before, he goes unconvinced to Varuna only to be pointed to pursue tapas as the means and as the goal, as tapas is Brahman. At the fifth, and what turns to be the final stage of his tapas, Brighu realizes that ananda is Brahman and does not return to Varuna. Ananda has

variously been translated as joy or bliss. The narrative on Brighu’s lesson on Brahman ends with the mentioning of his realization that ananda is Brahman.

explanations:

There are several instructive points to note in this episode:

1. Varuna, being a cosmic Lord, ‘knows’ the answer to the questions and yet he does not give a direct an-swer to his son, Brighu. That which is to be known by tapas cannot be taught by words. The answer has to be self-realized by means of one’s own tapas.

2. The process of tapas or deep introspection yields various answers to Brighu but his self-doubt persists with all of the answers in the first four stages prompt-ing him to return to his father on each occasion only to be instructed to do tapas. The search is on in his being until the last stage where he touches the live wire of ananda or Brahman-bliss.

3. When Brighu finally has the right answer, the search ends and he knows it on his own, without returning to Varuna. The role of a Guru ends after the dawn of knowledge and the true Guru does not stand be-tween the student seeker and the Knowledge.

In the larger context of philosophical inquiry, it is interest-ing to compare the above with some other methods of ar-riving at conclusions. With syllogisms, for example, conclu-sions are drawn following the posing of major and minor premises. As an illustration, suppose we pose the ques-tion, “Does a dog sleep?” A syllogistic reasoning would be the following: ‘All animals sleep (major premise)’. ‘A dog is an animal (minor premise)’. ‘Therefore, a dog sleeps (con-clusion)’. This approach clearly requires knowledge of at-tributes of the general class to which the specific object of interest belongs. In the illustration chosen, the general class is animals while a dog is the specific object and sleep-ing is the attribute of interest. Syllogisms are connected with “if this then that” type of logical reasoning. In the above instance, we have, “if this is an animal then it sleeps.” In this context of Varuna, Brighu and our little selves, we narrow down our focus to the question: is Brahma jignAsA – a seeker’s thirst for Brahman – satisfied by logical exer-cises of intellect? Or is it beyond the domains of mere logic and intellect?

For the purpose of our exploration to understand this episode in the framework of syllogistic logic as explained

Knowing Brahman

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Section 3: Hinduism

above, we will recast Varuna’s initial suggestion as, “if all beings are born from, draw sustenance from and return to one entity then that entity is Brahman.” Varuna also hints in the beginning that food, prana, the eyes, the ears, the mind and the speech have something to do with knowing Brahman. In fact, in various canonical texts and even in the Taittiriya upanishad itself, food is equated with Brahman. From a strictly logical viewpoint, at each level of tapas, Bri-ghu should have been satisfied with his own answer. In-deed, he could have stopped at the earliest since it would be straightforward to conclude, “If Brahman is the source, sustenance and final destination”, and “if food has these three attributes”, then Brahman is food.

How does philosophical inquiry terminate?

Clearly, Bhrigu’s self-doubts persist and his father, who is also the Guru here, makes him go further inward four times – pushes him for longer tapas. Essentially, the eager student’s laborious logic of the intellect fails to reassure him when he encounters the question: “Brahman is food but can food alone be Brahman?” Logic fails four times on this note; the final experience of the fifth stage alone, the one that goes beyond annam, pranam, chakshu, srotram, manas, vAcha and the intellect, begets the answer. In the domain of ananda – it is the experience of the Self that is inexplicable to the reasoning intellect. The questioner is closest to the answer and thus the inquiry process for Brahman – Brahma vichArA- terminates. Philosophical Inquiry persists until the inquirer is satisfied that answer is correct. How does a person knows that he has arrived at the final answer in the inquiry? Sri madhvAchArya has introduced the concept of sAkshi pramANa (validity from inner conscience) . When the inner conscience of a person knows that some thing is correct, the correct answer has been reached. When Brighu’s inner conscience knows that ananda is the right answer, he does not return.

In the upanishads in general, it has been stated that, pro-gressively from the outside-in, anna, prana, mana, vijnana and Ananda are the five kosas or sheaths covering the in-nermost self. One might thus regard Brighu’s final conclu-

sion as indicating that Brahman is ‘known’ when you are in touch with your deepest self; without the aid of logic or in-tellect but only through one’s own experience of the Self.

It is pertinent to make a final note to conclude this short exercise to catch a glimpse of upanishadic seeking. The seeking of or inquiry into ‘truth’ has been a long-standing feature of the human mind since the dawn of human self-awareness. Inquiry based on logic has given us mathemat-ics, the sciences, engineering, medicine and technology to name a few. The reasoning and logic attributed to the an-cient Greeks have usually turned Man outwards. The seers or the Rishis of the sindhu, Saraswati, ganga and narmada plains and of the Himalayan mountains turned their gaze inwards and found the horizons that are beyond the pro-cess of inquiry that is enlivened by mere logic. They found that the long – sometimes enduring many lifetimes – pro-cess of tapas is essential to complete Brahma vichArA, in-quiry into Brahman. Whereas the power of intellect deter-mines the time it takes for logical derivation of knowledge of objects of the external universe, this internal tapas is only for the patient and the brave, one willing to spend an eternity, a dheera as one upanishad warns. It is easy to for-get that the object of inquiry in the upanishads emerges only when the inquiry itself ceases and the intellect of the questioner dissolves into something experientially real. To remind ourselves of this, we shall pray to Varuna, who knowingly declared to eager Brighu to carry out the long process of tapas – sa tapOtapyata, sa tapas taptvA – be-cause the very process itself is Brahman – tapO brahmEti.

Summary:

In this dialog of Brighu and varuNa, we see a good ex-ample of philosophical inquiry that leads Sage Brighu to the highest truth. This is a model for all of us to do the philosophical inquiry using shravana (learning about the sacred texts), manana (contemplation on what is learned ) and nidhidhyAsana (process of deep contemplation ).

Author: Dr. Raghuveer Rao ([email protected] ) works as Director at US Army Research lab. He is interested in Indian philosophy as a self-study and self-improvement practice.

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the Boat of LiberationKrishnamurthy RamaKrishna

[The goals of human life are defined by the four puruShArthas – dharma (righteous living), artha (acquisition of wealth), kAma (fulfillment of desires) and moksha (libera-tion from the cycle of birth and death). While animals are hardwired to eat, sleep and procreate, humans are endowed with an intellect , the use of which obligates him to discriminate right and wrong (dharma) in his pursuit of artha and kAma. The source author of the dharmashAstra is none other than Lord Himself. Following dharma and the ensuing pleasure helps the individual develop a love towards the Lord, culminating in bhakti or devotion towards Him.

mAyA is the power of the Lord, by which He chooses the individual to whom He reveals Himself – “na aham prakAshaH sarvasya yoga-mAyA-samAvRutaH – enveloped by my yogamAyA, I am not revealed to everyone (gItA, 7-25)”. So what should an individual do to crack through this veil of mAyA to receive His grace? The Lord says to surrender to Him. The surrender or sharaNagati / prapatti is possible only through mature bhakti, when the Lord’s grace flows freely to the devotee. This then, is the state of mokSha or liberation, when the devotee enjoys absolute bliss in the companionship of the Lord – sAyujya.

This article reviews mAyA and its antidote bhakti exemplified by a verse from rAm charita mAnas by shrI tuLasi dAs.]

One of the mangaLAcharaNa (introductory) verses of bAl-akAnDa in shrI rAma charita mAnas by shrI tuLasi dAs is:

यन्मायावशवर्ति विश्वमखिलं ब्रह्मादिदेवासुराः ।यत्सत्वादमृषैव भाति सकलं रज्जौ यथाहेर्भ्रमः ।यत्पादः प्लव एक एव हि भवाम्भोधेस्थितीर्षवतां ।वन्देऽहं तमशेषकारणपरं रामाख्यमीशं हरिं

yanmAyAvashavarti vishvamakhilaM BrahmadidevAsurAH |yatsatvAdamRuShaiva bhAti sakalaM rajjou yathAherBra-maH |yatpAdaH plava eka eva hi bhavAmbhodhesthitIrShavatAM |vande ahaM tamasheShakAraNaparaM rAmAKyamIshaM hariM

Whose mAyA dictates the entire universe – from Brahma to demons

By which everything illusory shines as real, like the illusion of snake in the rope

Whose feet alone is the boat to cross the ocean of exis-tence

I bow down to that supreme absolute source hari in the name of shrI rAma

pUjya swAmi Harshananda has giVen a comprehensive commentary on this verse(1).

aham vande – I will bow down to rAmAkhyam Isham harim - the lord of the universe shrI hari by the name of rAma. shrI hari is the Lord of the universe - Isha or jagadIshvara. He is described differently as

1. harati pApAn iti hariH, harati pApAn iti haraH – the remover of sins is hari or hara. hari and hara are one and the same;

2. eko devaH keshavo vA shivo vA ; one God keshava or shiva.

This Ishvara has incarnated here as shrI rAma – rAmAkhy-am. The name rAma has its origin in the sound ‘ram’; ram-aNAt iti rAmaH – one who delights is rAma. He by whose

grace, by his touch, by his life, by his virtues, gives us hap-piness is rAma. I bow down to such supreme lord, by the name of shrI ramachandra. The rest of the verse describes the adjectives of the lord.

‘akhilam vishvam yat mAyA vashavarti’ – this entire uni-verse is under the influence of His vaishNavI mAyA (the mAyA at the time of creation is brAhmI mAyA and the mAyA at the time of dissolution is shaivI mAyA). We are now in the period of the sustenance controlled by His vaishNavI mAyA, witnessing many wonderful happenings. bhgavAn shankara has described mAyA in viveka chUDA-maNi (Verses 110-111).

mAyA is an unmanifest power of the Supreme Lord; it is beginning-less ignorance comprised of the three proclivi-ties – satva, rajas and tamas. This mAyA is superior to its ef-fect (the manifest universe). A wise person, in accordance with scriptures must deduce this cause, called mAyA, by its effect, the universe. The mAyA is neither real, nor unreal, nor both; the mAyA is neither different from the supreme Lord, nor not different from the supreme Lord nor both; the mAyA is neither with parts, nor without parts nor both; it is very wonderful and indescribable.

In vedAnta, in particular in advaita vedAnta, paraBrahman is the only Reality - ekam advitIyam Brahma. If so, is not this universe that we witness real? The obvious question is what is the standing of this universe? What then is the rela-tion between this supreme Brahman and the creation, sus-tenance and dissolution of this universe? We then run into a philosophical anomaly of recognizing this universe along with the only Reality – para Brahman. AchArya shankara explains this apparent anomaly through this power called mAyA. It is important to note that mAyA is not a creation of AchArya shankara. Rugveda describes mAyA – indro mAyabvhH pururUpa Iyatre. Shri RamaKrishna descriibes that the relation between Brahman and mAyA is like the relation between fire and its heat, milk and its white color, a coiled serpent and the uncoiled moving serpent – heat cannot be separated from fire or white color cannot be

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The Boat of Liberation


Section 3: Hinduism

separated from milk. So is with paramAtma and mAyA and cannot be separated. The non-dual paraBrahman appears to us as the duality or plurality of this universe by this in-describable power mayA. This reconciliation is easy today when science tells us that at the sub-atomic level, all mat-ter is identical – the water, gold, iron, milk etc. are all the same at the sub-atomic level; name, form and utility of the plurality are different, yet in basic form and basic charac-teristics, they are all one and the same. Scientists say that this transformation of subatomic particles to the plurality of the universe is indescribable.

The Brahman that pervades the entire universe is equally present in all beings. Ignorant (ajnyAna) of his true nature of sat, chit, Ananda, the individual sees the duality; this is the effect of the mAyA. technically speaking, AchArya shankara describes the power of mAyA as a combination of two powers – (1) AvaraNa shakti - concealing power, that conceals the true nature – Brahman and (2) vikShepa shakti – power of projection, superimposes the duality over Brahman. The experience of this duality generates kAma – desire; the desire is possible only in the state of du-ality; the desire motivates us in to action; with actions arise the fruits of action, and experience of the fruits of action necessitates another life…. thus everyone, from Brahma to animals/plants is subject to the wheel of samsAra – cycle of birth and death. Thus …

Brahmadideva asurAh vashavarti - Everyone is under the influence of this mAyA - from the four faced Brahma, the demi-gods, the demons and the humans in between. Even as the entire universe is paraBrahman, even as the nature of all human beings is sat, chit Ananda – Real, Conscious-ness and Bliss, by the power of mAyA, we still experience that the Gods are different, the demons are different, and we humans are different; in addition, we see differences among human beings.

yatsatvAdamRuShaiva bhAti sakalaM - mRuSha means vain, unreal or illusion. This universe and the multiplicity of entities in it, though appearing as real, does not have a real existence. Its appearance is an illusion and this illusory appearance is due to the presence of that reality, called shri rAma.

rajjou yathAherBramaH - shrI tuLasi dAs exemplifies this by the most famous and celebrated example - the illusion of seeing a snake in a rope. In twilight or darkness, one notices a snake and calls for help. When light was shown on the spot where a snake was seen, it was recognized as a piece of rope and not a snake. What appeared as snake in bad light is in reality a rope; likewise what we recognize as universe due to ignorance, is in reality, the Brahman; one comes to experience this Brahman, when ignorance is re-

moved. This rope-snake analogy, called rajju sarpa nyaya is a classical analogy in advaita philosophy. This brings us to the origin of the universe.

Shvetashavatara upanishat begins with this discussion. The sages assembled pose this question – kim kAraNam - What is the source of this universe and related ques-tions. Following meditation and subsequent discussions, they came to the conclusion that the universe appears by a very special power of paramAtma. From that source (cause) paramAtma, came the effect that is recognized as the universe. Different philosophies interpret the appear-ance of the jagat caused by the paramAtma in one of the three following theories:

1. asatkaryavada – The theory of non-existence : the effect (kArya) is not present in the cause (kAraNa). The effect is produced by the cause. The effect is a new entity, a new creation. For example, pot (effect) is produced by the clay (source or cause). The ques-tion is, is the pot present in the clay in a subtle form or not? The nyAya vaisheShikas argue that the pot did not exist in the clay and the pot is a new entity. The clay cannot be used to cook, carry water, does not break etc., while the pot can support all these activities. Name, form and utility are all different. Therefore the pot is a newly minted entity, which did not exist before. This is the argument of the nyAya vaisheShikas – strict logicians. The sAnkhyas, yoga and vedAnta do not accept this theory. It is not pos-sible to create a new entity that did not exist before; a non-existent entity has no basis for existence any-time – something can never be produced from noth-ing. So they offered the satkAryavAda - the theory of existence.

2. satkaryavada – The theory of existence. This theory posits that the kArya (effect) did exist in the kAraNa and was in a subtle form; the pot existed in clay in a subtle form and manifested as a pot under appropri-ate circumstances. What was present in an unmani-fest state is now in a manifest state. For example, a tree is in subtle existence in the seed and in appro-priate environment the tree manifests; the tree was involved in the seed and evolves to a manifested tree in appropriate environment.

3. vivartavada – the theory of apparent change: at the contemporaneous time of shankara, the Bud-dhists’ influence was very strong in India and shan-kara had to debate the Buddhist view points (There seems to be some confusion among some sections that shankara did not believe in veda and Iswara; he was a proponent of mAyA – this is a very errone-

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Section 3: Hinduism

ous conclusion. He was a great devotee, witnessed by the very many devotional compositions). He had to debate the shUnyavAda (the theory of nihilism). He had to counter this shUnyavAda and uphold ve-dAnta. The satkAryavAda was insufficient to coun-ter the Buddhist arguments. satkAryavAda would accept Brahman undergoing a change; the unverse in a subtle unmanifest state, manifested as universe would amount to Brahman undergoing a change, like clay transformed in to pot. But one cannot ac-cept a transformation of Brahman. So shankara put forth the mAyAvAda – the theory of illusion. How-ever, it should be noted that mAyA is not inVented by bhagavAn shankara to explain jagat. The shRutis and smRutis extol this mAyA in several contexts like;

indro mAyAbhiH pururUpa IyatE – indra (Brahman) appears to be of many forms due to mAyA ( brihadA-raNyaka upanishat – 2.5.19)

mAyAm tu pRukritim vidyAt, mAyinAm tu mahEsh-varam - The nature should be understood to be mAyA and the Iswara as mAyAvi (shvetAshvatara upanishat – 4.10)

daivI hi eshA guNamayI mama mAyA duratyayA

mAmeva ye prapadyante mAyAmetAm taranti te – This divine mAyA of mine, caused by the guNas is dif-ficult to crossover; those who take refuge in Me alone cross over this illusion (gItA – 7.14).

bhagavAn shankara, through application of mAyA, suc-cessfully debated Buddhism and reestablished sanAtana dharma. The vaidhIka dharma that was challenged by Bud-dhism, is now flourishing due to the great contributions of AchAya shankara. Many seem to have misunderstood shankara in labeling him as avaidhIka, because of his ap-plication of mAyA. His bhakti flows like waves of sea in the mountain of devotional compositions composed and ren-dered in real time in the temples he visited in all corners of India during his multiple criss- crossing of the country.

Whatever transforms or undergoes a change is not per-manent, it will perish. All transforming entities are thus destined to perish; transformation of Brahman to universe (satkAryavada) is synonymous with the perishing of Brah-man, which is contrary to upanishats. Therefore shankara had to dismiss both satkAryavAda and asatkAryavAda. So he promoted the vivartavAda, the theory of apparent change. By this logic, the Brahman appears to undergo an apparent transformation, not a real transformation – an il-lusion from the viewer’s perspective. Just as the illusion of seeing a snake in a rope, or silver in the sea shell. Why does this illusion appear and for whom does it appear? The illu-

sion is temporary and appears to the person who does not recognize Brahman. This ignorance about the knowledge of Brahman is what makes us see the universe in place of Brahman and that is mAyA - the power of Ishvara.

Here shankara offers the example of a dream state. In dream, we experience many entities and situations. As long as the dream lasts, the dream itself and the people, entities and situations of the dream are real to the dreamer. He negates the events of the dream only when he wakes up from sleep – svapnakAle satyavat bhavati, prabhode asat bhavati. Likewise, when one is under the influence of ignorance – avidya or ajnyAna, he reckons that the duality of the universe is real. shankara called this illusion as trans-actional reality. But on the dawn of knowledge (coming out of ignorance), he dismisses the world as unreal, fully established that only Brahman is real which is the state of non-duality. It is to be noted here that a for a person of Self-knowledge (jnyAni), the physical universe per se, does not vanish; the AvaraNa shakti has lost its potency, because he has known Brahman; then where is eVen the vikShepa shakti? It is nullified. Though he sees the same physical universe as the ignorant (ajnyani), he does not see the duality or plurality of the universe. He sees Brahman and Brahman only in the universe. This is a paradigm or attitude change, described by shrI Krishna - IkShate yoga yuktAtma sarvatra samadarshanaH: He sees the same ev-erywhere or he sees identity (bhagavad gItA, 6-29).

But how about the current scientific theory of the Big Bang as the cause of the universe! Big bang itself presupposes the existence of matter and space. The scientific commu-nity identifies such matter as an infinitesimal singular-ity - zones of infinite density - which is not yet properly understood. So it may be said that the universe as we see today existed as a singularity like the tree in a seed. The ex-pansion of the singularity in to universe is a physical event that cannot by itself transform without a sentient support! Scientists speculate that there was no space or time prior to the expansion of the singularity (some speculate space was in the singularity). Vedanta posits that space and time are products of mAyA. It is the ignorance (of Brahman) that causes the appearance of duality – hence space and time. It may not be difficult to imagine that the big bang could somehow, very well be, an eVent in the act of mAyA. If and when science unravels the beginning of universe, it may not be unreasonable to expect that science may be stand-ing alongside the upanishats.

The illusion of snake is possible, only when there is the existence of the rope; without the presence of the rope, the illusion of the rope is impossible. So the rope is the substratum that makes the illusion of the snake possible.

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Likewise, Brahman is the substratum that makes possible the illusion of the universe.

The actual reality or eternal reality is shrI hari who is here by the name shrI rAma. Just as we see the snake in the rope, we see universe in Brahman by the sway of mAyA. However, the reality is Brahman, the eternal is Brahman – rAmAkhyam Isham harim

asheSha kAraNa param – When we look at an object, the object is the seen and the eye is the seer. When the eye develops myopia, the mind recognizes the problem in the eye; in this context, the eye is the seen and the mind is the seer. Going backwards this way, ultimately the Atman is the ultimate seer. Similarly, the cause/effect phenomena in the universe; this is the cause of that and that is the ef-fect of this. Going backwards step by step, the ultimate cause for all effects is the paraBrahman, which the poet describes as “asheSha kAraNa param”. Whatever cause is witnessed in this universe, the source cause is paraBrah-man; he is beyond all those kAraNa. Accordingly, advaita philosophy stipulates that paraBrahman is the ultimate cause or source cause. It is the power of mAyA (or para-Brahman + mAya) is the cause behind this universe. Para-Brahman is nirlipta – detached – and does not part take in any action. The ultimate source that is even beyond the mAyA is asheSha kAraNa, that is paraBrahman. paraBrah-man is imperishable and so is beyond the cause-effect chain; only his power-mAyA is associated in the cause/ef-fect chain.

yatpAdaH plava eka eva hi bhavAmbhodhesthitIrShava-tAM So to cross this ocean of samsAra (bhava), the only boat is the holy feet of the Lord. Devoted to the feet of the Lord, surrendering to him, enables the devotee to cross this ocean of samsAra(cycle of births and deaths). Just as it is very difficult to cross the physical ocean, bhava – ex-istence or cycle of births and deaths is compared to the ocean. This cycle of births and deaths is due to the igno-rance of who he is. This ignorance is caused by the recog-nition of duality – the universe and the Lord are two differ-ent entities. When this duality arises, the desire for worldly possessions motivates him to acquire the desires and to keep away the undesirables. These motivations set him on the path of karma or action. The karma results in kar-maphala –fruits of action - and another life to experience those fruits of karma. In fact it is said that several lives may be required to experience the fruits of some actions (like a burn on an injury of a few seconds needs several days to heal it). God, in his infinite mercy, parcels this baggage of karma in to several lives; otherwise, we cannot sustain the onslaught of severe grief to experience all the fruits of some actions in a single life.

The question is, how did we get into this trap of the bhav-asAgara – the ocean of existence? The existence is de-scribed as beginning-less – anAdi – or is unknown. What this means is, it is the mind that has to know. The existence of the mind itself is due to ignorance, ie. Ignorance pre-cedes mind. Therefore, the mind that has to know, has no ability to go behind its beginning (itself ) to know the be-ginning.

But the ignorance has an end; it is destroyed by Self knowl-edge (jnyAna). Ignorance is identification with body and mind; With Self knowledge, this body/mind identification is destroyed.

This universe is an oddity or a puzzle. As long as we have an attachment to the universe, that is as long as we identi-fy (tAdAtmya) with this universe, we are not spared of this misery and suffering of samsAra. To be liberated from this misery, we must develop detachment from this universe and its happenings and this detachment is not an easy tar-get. To develop detachment from the path of knowledge is very difficult. This identification with body/mind is very difficult to get rid of – to establish the dictum of

chidAnanda rUpam shivo aham shivo aham.

shrI rAmaKrishna describes that in this KaliYuga, the peo-ple are food/body centric – attached to body nourished by food. Being so, the easier path is the path of devotion, propagated by the likes of Narada.

bhava ambodeH titIrShAvat – one who desires to cross the ocean of samsAra, the one and sure path is to hold on to the lotus feet of shrI rAmachandra. Sages like Narada and others instruct to meditate on his lotus feet. One whose mind always dwells on his feet (meaning removed from the thoughts of the world or universe), the Lord will give refuge in him. By his support, the ocean of existence can be easily crossed.

yatpAdaH plava eka eva hi – His lotus feet alone is the boat to cross the Ocean of samsAra or Liberation from mAyA.

EVents like the celebration of Venkatesha mahotsava at the shri shiva vishNu Temple, Lanham, Maryland are eVents of great opportunity to the devotees of the temple. May the eVent help the devotee in developing the bhakti and sur-rendering at the lotus feet of the Lord - the Boat of Libera-tion to cross the mAyA and samsAra.

References

1. Talk by shrI swami Harshananda, lectures on nAma rAmAyaNa, shrI RamaKrishna Math, Bangalore .

Author: Sri Krishnamurthy RamaKrishna ([email protected]) studies, writes and speaks on Indian philosophy and religious topics. He was the editor of the re-cently produced souVenir for mahArudram.

Section 3: Hinduism


parokshapriyA hi vahi devA:Shri Divakaran Namboodiri

Translated from Malayalam by Smt. Thaila Ramanathan

There is a saying, ‘parokshapriyA hi vahi devA:’ This means Devas like indirect (in absentia) and not the direct (pres-ent). Bhagavata MahapuraaNam talks about many Devas who are associated with senses (indriyas). These are the main Devas too - like Indra, Agni, Rudra, Vishnu etc. We have to understand that these are the Devas who feel proud of the fact they are the senses of VirAT purusha (the Supreme Being who contains the whole universe). Hence they are the working forces behind our senses as we are all a min-ute part of that Supreme Being.

We have to review and find out who these Devas are. It is well known that they are the children of Kasyapa and Aditi. Then we have to analyze Kasyapa and his wives. When we read the syllables in Kasyapa in reverse, it becomes Pasya-ka which means the observer. Aditi, Diti, Danu etc. (thirteen of them) are the wives of Kasyapa or Pasyaka and the im-portant ones are the two: Aditi – mother of Devas, and Diti – mother of Asuras or Demons.

Let us see how Kasyapa or Pasyaka become the husband of these ladies. The observer is formed when three parts of ahankaara (ego) join together. Those three are the one who sees (the force behind seeing), the act of seeing and the object that is seen. The saatwika ahankaara (positive or divine) is the experience of seeing, the raajasa ahankaara is the seeing, and the taamasa ahankaara is the object that is seen.

Aditi is the saatwika ahankaara (positive or divine). Aditi means one who does not donate or one who accepts. The one who accomplishes the act of sensing is Diti and Diti means one who gives. The food for senses (objects) like birds, fishes, directions, are giVen by the taamasa ah-ankaara Danu etc. When explained like this, it is easier to understand the wives of Kasyapa or Pasyaka.

Devas are the children of Aditi who is always the accep-tor. They are continuously agitated by the children of Diti who are Daityas. In other words there is constant action between the Devas who experience the senses and the Daityas who feed the matter to the experience. This rous-ing will stay forever as well.

The eleVen wives like Danu etc are the providers of matter and we can derive this conclusion from their names and their children’s name. Those eleVen names are Danu, Kaas-htha, ArishTa, Surasa, Ila, Muni, Krodhavasa, tAmra, Surabhi, Sarama, and Timi. Among them, Timi gave birth to fish-es. The Canine family came from Sarama. Surabhi gave birth to split hoofed animals like cows etc. Hawks etc. are

the children of Taamra, Apsaras are the children of Muni, Snakes are the children of Krodhavasa, and Trees are the children of Ila. Yatudhaanaas are from Surasa and Gand-haravas are from Arishta. KaashTha gave birth to hoofed animals like horses etc. Danu had 61 children starting with Dwimoordha (a dAnava with two heads). Once we under-stand these wives and children of Kasyapa, we realize that those are the matters that come in front of our senses that lead us to all sorts of misunderstanding.

Let us look into the process of materials leading to experi-ence through the indriyas. All materials which are taama-sic are made up of the five elements (panceeKruta bhoo-tas). The janaanendriyas (senses of information) accept only a concoction of the five elements and their proper-ties (apanceeKruta bhootas). Here it is necessary that we examine what pancheeKruta bhootas and apanceeKruta bhootas are. PanceeKrutam means a set of five. The panca bhootas are aakasam (space), vaayu (air), tejas (fire), jalam (water) and bhoomi (earth). The property associated with akaasam is sabdam (sound), vaayu is sparsam (touch), te-jas is roopam (form), jalam is rasam (taste), and bhoomi is gandham (smell).

What the ear can sense is sound; that is the sound particle (tanmatra). Likewise, skin perceives touch, the eye sees the form, the nose senses smell and the tongue senses taste. What we sense, therefore are the sound particle, touch particle, smell particle, form particle and taste particle. These are called the Bhootasookshmas.

What is Pancheekaranam? Pancheekaranam is the process of each of the above said tanmatra or Bhootasookshmas mixing with the other tanmatras to create the mahab-hootas, (what we know as the panca bhootas). The sound particle gives up half of itself and that half is divided into four parts- each of which join with one of the other four particles. At the end, half off each particle would be mixed by 1/8th part each of the remaining four to create the pan-ca bhootas. For example, half of the sound particle would be associated with 1/8th of the taste particle, 1/8th of the touch particle, 1/8th of the smell particle and 1/8th of the form particle to create aakasam (space,) which is the bhoo-ta associated with sound.

Here, we see how panceeKrutam forms the different bhoo-tas including earth (prithvi). While it implies the coming to existence of earth (meaning the earth we live on), the word cannot be limited to just that one definition but also entails many other possibilities. Prithvi, as defined by those

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parokshapriyA hi vahi devA:


who spoke of it in general context, contains anything sol-id, creation, scent, the ability to smell, happiness, or the ability to go back. Just as in this bhoota, the others also en-compass more than just the word’s literal definition, hold-ing much broader implications.

From the pancheeKruta bhootas, it is only the apanceeK-ruta Bhootasookshmas (the particles or tanmatras earlier discussed) that we can sense with our different senses; this is a concept we saw earlier. For the senses to be able to register and perceive those tanmatras, they have to be in the pancheeKruta form. Let us look at a simple example. Observe the night sky. We see dark space, stars here and there and the glowing moon. It is well known that we see the form of the moon when the light rays of the sun reflect on its surface. The rays of the sun are projected, not only to the area of the moon but to other parts of space with the same strength which are invisible to us. For us to be able to see the light, it has to reflect upon a surface which is made of a bhoota that has been formed through the mixture of

the other tanmatras- not just the roopa tanmatra.

The taamasic apanceeKruta materials are separated into panceeKruta by the rajasic Daityas and they transfer it though the indriyas for the Devas to enjoy. That is one rea-son for the saying, ‘parokshapriyA hi vahi devA:’

So we can assume that the great Rushis understood the paroksha priyatwam (love for indirect nature) of beings and decided that it is easier to make people understand with indirect presentation.

Hence, in the puraanaas all the lessons are giVen in an in-direct manner. The story of Kasyapa is an example. These stories are far deeper than its outward appearance. The MahaRishis, who wrote such stories, to explain nature, cre-ation etc. in an indirect way, are to be commended and any amount of obeisance to their brilliance would be too little.

Shri Kariannur Mana Divakaran Namboodiri, is currently serving as Chief Priest & Thantri at the Guruvayurappan Temple of Brampton, Canada. Before that he served as Priest at Sri Lakshmi Temple, Ashland, MA. He had served as Priest at Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, Lanham, MD from 2000 to 2005. Before that he had served as Chief Priest at Guruvayurappan Temple in Guruvayur, Kerala. He is trained as a Tantri , and was conferred the title “Thanthrarathnam (Jewel of Thantra)”. He taught and trained Priests at Thantra Vidya Peedham, Alwaye

Section 3: Hinduism

With the best compliments of

Rajani Ravi Ph.D

Chai tanya Ravi MDSowmya Ravi MD

Kalyani Ravi


Sri Venkateswara Shrine at SSVt - a Historical Perspective

Seetaramayya Nagula

when The original design of The sri siva vishnu Temple was conceived, iT was designed as a single 90’ x 90’ sTrucTure, housing boTh lord vishnu as lord ananThapadmanabha

and Lord Siva as lord Ramanathaswamy. We celebrated Kumbhabhishekam for Lord Siva in 1991 and for Lord Vishnu in 1992.

Devotees quickly recognized the absence of a Venkateswara Deity at the Temple. In discus-sion with our beloved Late Sri Ganapathi Stapathi, we learned that one could not have two ma-jor Vishnu Deities under one roof. Constructing a separate Ven-kateswara Shrine was a possible solution, but it would disrupt the symmetry of the original Temple. Coincidentally, devotees of Sri Ayyappa were passionately work-ing to establish a Sri Ayyappa dei-ty at the same time. Construction of an Ayyappa Shrine along with a Sri Venkateswara Shrine would maintain the original symmetry and Vastu of the temple.

All the shrines at SSVT are mod-eled after a corresponding ma-jor Temple in India. Similarly, the Venkateswara shrine was to be modeled after the Sri Ven-kateswara Temple in Tirupati. As an example, our Stapathi de-signed a skylight within the shrine to visualize the Venkateswara en-shrined on the Vimana. Sri Narasimha, Sri Vishnu and Sri Lakshmi Varaaha Swamy were also to be installed around Venkateswara shrine as Goshta Vigrahas.

Funding the construction of the Venkateswara Shrine was an enormous challenge. The main temple was already fi-nanced by a large loan from Perpetual Bank. At the time, the temple was under tremendous economic hardship. To remain financially solVent, the management needed to debate and prioritize every payment, often paying routine utility bills once every 2 months due to monetary con-

straints. Because of these concerns, the Board decided not to fund the Venkateswara Shrine with any further loans, and made a commitment that the new Shrine should be built with cash donations only.

Fueled by the overwhelming pas-sion of Venkateswara devotees, initial fundraising efforts were successful, particularly during Srinivasa Kalayam on Ugadi in 1992. Tirumala Tirupati Devast-hanam provided an interest free loan of $25,000 towards the con-struction and related activities. Although we were able to raise $139,000, this still left us far short of the total construction costs of $240,000. Fortunately, by God’s Grace, a devotee stepped for-ward to guarantee the remaining balance, allowing construction to begin.

Bhoomi Puja was celebrated in the summer of 1992 and con-struction began in October of that year. By that time, we had established Sri Savyasachi Swamigal as our Asthana Vaish-nava Aacharya, and under his guidance as Pradhanacharya, the temple celebrated Sri Ven-kateswara Kumbhabhishekam in May 1993.

At that time, it was the largest gathering in the temple’s history;

and the devotee base has expanded exponentially ever since. The iconic Priest Sri Narayanachar, who arrived in 1992 for the celebration of Kumbhabhishekam for Lord Ananthpadmanabha, became a pradhana bhakta of Sri Venkateswara. Since the Kumbhabhishekam in 1993, we celebrate every Saturday with an Abhishekam to the Lord.

It has been a twenty year journey from conception to the current day, and we, the congregation of Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, are celebrating Sri Venkateswara Mahotsvam this year for Universal Peace and Prosperity.

S w a r n a K a v a c h a A l a l a n k a r a m t o L o r d V e n k a t e s w a r a

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Sri Venkateswara Shrine at SSVT - A Historical Perspective


SRI VenkateSwaRa teMPLe BHOOMI PUJa (SUMMeR 1992)

SRI VenkateSwaRa teMPLe COnStRUCtIOn (1992 - 1993)

SRI VenkateSwaRa kUMBHaBHISHekHaM (MaY 1993)

51




52



GOPURaM COnStRUCtIOn anD JeeRnODHaRana kUMBHaBHISHekHaM (2003)

BRaHMOtSaVaM (2012)



Historicity of MahaabhaaratSri Kuntimaddi SadAnanda

This article is based on the information that I found in the March 1995 issue of Saptagiri published in Telugu by Tirumala Tirupati Devastaanam, authored by Shree Jana-maddi Hanumanta Rao. The article itself was based on the research effort by Professor K. Srinivasa Raghavan. The re-search was acclaimed by several famous pandits of Pan-changa Shaastra, including the Secretary of the All India Panchanga Samskarana Sangha, Pandit Radhashyaam Shaastri from Haryana, and Vice-Chancellor of Saurashtra University, Shree D.R. Mankad.

Based on the astrological information provided by Veda Vyaasa (position of the stars etc), Mahabharata war was estimated to have started in 3067 B.C. on November 22. On the day of the war, the astrological positions of the Sun, Moon, Rahu, Saturn, Guru, Mangala and Sukra plan-ets have been described by Vyaasa. By looking at the posi-tion based on Panchangam, Indian calendar, and match-ing with the position of the stars described by Vyaasa and comparing with the Julian calendar, one can arrive at the precise dates of the war. Furthermore, all other related incidents that took place before and after the war were described in Mahabharat, and the dates of these can pre-cisely be matched with the Julian calendar, as discussed below.

Shree Krishna made a last minute effort to make peace but failed. He left Upaplaavya city on Kaartiika Shuddha Dvaa-dasi day in Revati Nakshatra (star) between 7:36 – 8:24 a.m. He reached Hastinaapura during Bharani Nakshatra, and had discussions with the Kouravaas till Pushyami Naksha-tra. The day Duryodhana rejected the peace proposal was Krishna Panchami. Krishna left Hastinaapura, and had con-sultations with KarNa before he departed (He revealed to KarNa that He was the eldest son of Kunti on Uttara Palg-huni day). Krishna informed KarNa that Duryodhana must get ready to fight, seventh day from that day, which will be Amaavaasya day (New-Moon day) with JyeshTa Nakshatra. Krishna returned to Upaplaavya city on Chitta Nakshatra. Three days after that on Anuuraadha Nakshatra, Balarama came to Upaplaavya. Next Pushya Nakshtra day, Pandavaas left with Krishna for Kurukshetra.

Fifteen days after return from Upaplaavya city, Balarama left on Punarvasu Nakshatra on a tour of sacred places. (Balarama did not want to participate in the war that in-volved cousins on both sides.) He returned to Kurukshetra after forty-two days in the ShravaNa Nakshatra. The war al-ready started eighteen days earlier. On the nineteenth day, BahuLa Caturdashi day, ShravaNa Nakshatra, Duryodhana

died. It was the fifty-ninth day after Amaavaasya with Jye-shTaa Nakshatra.

Krishna returned from Hastinaapura after his unsuccessful peace mission, on Uttara Palghuna day. Starting from that day, the seventh day was New-Moon day (amaavaasya) with Saturn on Rohini Nakshatra as discussed by Vyaasa. Rahu was approaching the Sun, and the moon was turning towards Amaavaasya (New-Moon day).

36 years after the Mahabharata war, Yaadava kula was de-stroyed. This was predicted by Krishna by astrological hap-penings – “Rahu has compressed Purnima on Chaturdasi day. This happened once before the Mahabharata war and again will be happening soon and this will lead to our de-struction”. He remembered Gandhari’s curse on the Yadava kula.

Astronomically, a strange phenomenon occurred during the Mahabharata war. The lunar cycle (paksha – normally is 15 days) sometimes happens in fourteen days. However, during the Mahabharata war time a rare thing happened – the paksha got compressed to 13 days (may be 13 is a bad number). This aspect has been discussed in the Bhiishma parva – 3rd Adhyaaya. Guru and Shani are in Vaishaaka, Moon and Sun entered the same house one after the other making amaavaasya occur on the trayodasi day itself . This peculiar condensation of the thithiis into thirteen from fif-teen is a rare phenomenon as discussed by Vyaasa in Ma-habharat and is inevitably followed by mass destruction due to war. This incident provided a direct means to estab-lish the precise date of Mahabharata war.

According to Julian calendar this type of planetary colli-sion occurred definitely in 3076 BC, in November. Vyaasa writes:

Caturdashiim panchadashiim Bhuuta puurvamca shood-hashiimImaantu naabhi jaaneham Amaavaasyaam trayodashiimChandra suurya bhougrastou Ekamevam trayodashiimAparvaNi grahaNe tou Prajaa sakshapaishyataH||

“ I have seen fourteen days a paksha, fifteenth day comple-tion or extension to sixteenth day also. This amaavaasya falling on the thirteenth day itself I have never seen be-fore” – says Vyaasa. That in the same month Sun and Moon eclipses falling during the missing thithiis was a rare phe-nomenon, resulting in large-scale disaster to people.

One month before, in Margashira, during Purvaashhaada Nakshatra, armies of Pandavaas and Kouravaas assembled

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Historicity of Mahaabhaarat


on the West and the East sides of the Hiranya river, respec-tively. The next day was Navaraatri and Durga Puja day. Duryodhana was itching for the war. That evening Duryod-hana sent a word with Sakuni’s son Ulaka, “We have fin-ished the prayer to the arms and everybody is ready – why there is further delay in starting the war?” The next day, Margashira Shudda Ekadashi day, in KRittika Nakshatra, the war started. Hence, the famous Bhagavad Geeta teaching also started on that day. The war began at 6:30 a.m. The date according to Julian calendar was 22nd November, 3067 B.C.

Other notable incidents that occurred:

Bhiishma’s death: Maagha Shuddha AshTami day in Ro-hini Nakshtra in the afternoon that 58th day after the war started, Bhiishma died (that was the actual day of his ac-tual death – he actually fell in the war on the 10th day after the war started).

Sri krishna’s Birth – He was born in 3112 B.C. on a Friday at 11:40 p.m.

Pandavaa’s Birth – YudhishTara was born on August 31, 3114 BC, Tuesday (Mangala Vaaram) Shudda Panchami Jye-shhTaa Nakshatra – he was 696 days elder to Krishna.

Bhiima was 347 days younger to YudhishTara. – Krishna Trayodashi, Makha Nakshatra, and Arjuna was 303 days younger to Bhiima, Shukla Chaturdashi Soma Vaaram (Monday) Uttara PhalguNi Nakshtra.

When Pandavaas came to Hastinaapura after the death of their father Pandu, it was 3091 BC and YudhishTara was 14 years, 9 months and 11days old.

When he was coronated by Bhiishma as a prince, Yud-hishTara was 20 years, 1 month and 26 days old. (Novem-ber, 3094 BC).

They reached Varanasi in PalguNa Shuddha AshTami RohiNi Nakshtra.

Droupadi’s Swayamvaram – in 3091 BC, April – to reach the Wax-house it took 10 days for Pandavaas. They stayed there for a year. After the burning of the wax-house, they spent six months in the Shaalihotraa’s ashram and seven months in Ekachatra city.

The second coronation and building of Indraprasta were in November 3091 BC, seven months after the marriage.

Rajasuuya yagna was performed after Arjuna’s digvijaya tour – It took five years and six months for Arjuna.

Subhadra’s marriage was in April 3084 BC. Three months after that was Khadava vana dahanam.

Abhimanyu was born in 3083 BC, February.

KaliYugam started in 3105 BC, October 13th, Amaavaasya Mangala (Tuesday) JyeshaTa Nakshatra - Kali was born. This was the most inauspicious day. The next Pournima day (Full-Moon day) was full eclipse of the Moon, October 1, 3104 BC. That was the day when the five grahaas along with moon were in DhanishTaa Nakshatra.

Dharmaja’s Rajasuuya – Fifteen years before the Mahab-harata war was the Rajasuuya yagna of Dharmaja. That day was amaavaasya (new-moon day) JyeshTa Muula nakshtra. YudhishTara shakam started in 3082 BC, October 26th . The gambling and the banishment of Pandavaas to forest was in November 3081 BC, Margashira shukla-Trayodashi.

Vanavaasam was 12 years and liv-ing incognito was for one year (13 lunar years + 5 lunar months + 12 days or 13 solar years plus 18 days) – Bhiishma calculates and declares that Dhuryodhana’s calculations were wrong.

Ajjaata vaasam (living incognito) began in Margashira, 3069 BC. Ar-juna was noticed on Margashira Krishna Navami, 3068 BC.

The Great War began on Friday, 22nd November, 3067 BC, Mar-gashira shudda ekadashi Naksha-tra.

During the time of the war Yud-histira was 45 years, Bheema was

Section 3: Hinduism

55

Historicity of Mahaabhaarat


44 years and so on.

The war lasted 18 days.

Dharmaraju ruled for only 36 years.

25 years later YudhishTara shaka started. (Thursday, Octo-ber 26th).

Fifteen years after Dharmaja rule started, Dhrutaraashtra, Gandhaari, Vidura, Kunti and Sanjaya left for Vaanaprasta (living in forest). That year itself Vidura performed praay-opavesham.

Two years after that Dhrutaraashtra, Gandhaari and Kunti got caught in the forest fire and died.

Sanjaya was only left.

Shree Krishna passed away on Friday, April 13th, 3031 BC.

Pandavaas’ Maahaa Prasthaanam was in November 3031

BC.

These are the dates that matched the Indian astrological description of the stars and the moon, and Julian calendar predictions.

There is so much self-consistency in all the eVents and the descriptions that it makes one amazed. Based on this ex-act information Mahabharat must be five thousand years old (from today) as per the historical reckoning.

The analysis is extremely precise and scientific, matching the astrological position of the Indian and the Julian cal-endars.

The beauty and the scientific psychoanalysis of Bhagavad Geeta stand out as monumental contribution by the Ma-habharat period to the mankind. Based on the above facts, the historicity of Mahabharat cannot be questioned.

Author: Sri Kuntimaddi SadAnanda ([email protected]) is a disciple of Sri Chinmayananda and teaches Vedanta at Chinmaya mission. He is also one of the Founding Trustees of Sri Siva Vishnu Temple.

Section 3: Hinduism

56

KIDNEY MEDICAL ASSOCIATES, Inc.

with our best compliments to the SSvt board of trustees

on the Sri Venkateshwara mahotsavam

jayshree & Chandra Sekaran

6 Post Office Road #101Waldorf, MD 20602

(301) 638-7802

Hearty Congratulations To

Sri Siva Vishnu Temple & the Wonderful Volunteers

Dr. Ravinder Sindhwani

Dr. Atul Katyal


what is Hinduism to a First-Generation Indo-american

Nithya Nagarajan

i was inviTed To wriTe This arTicle abouT and for The venkaTeshwara celebraTion and aT firsT i was exTremely doubTful. Then afTer dis-cussion wiTh a few individuals, iT seemed ThaT This would be a good

opportunity to express my thoughts on why the first-gen-eration still believes in Hinduism and in most cases tries to instill some of the Indian culture and religious values into their children when the whole connection gets weaker as the generations pass.

My parents came to the U.S. in 1966. They had spent all their youth and their young adulthood in Southern In-dia and were well versed with Hinduism and how it was practiced both in their homes as well as in the general ex-tended community. When my parents immigrated to the U.S. there was no organized temple anywhere in the U.S. Religion and the preservation of Hindu beliefs and cus-toms were practiced at home and in the manner that was prevalent in each persons’ family. Both my parents were not regular temple goers but at the same time they were devout Hindus who through the personalized practice of Hinduism and a belief in the culture tried to teach me about our religion.

The question in the modern context is -- what is it to be a Hindu? Which further leads to the question of how did my parents teach me to be a Hindu, and now how do I teach my own child how to be a Hindu? These are complex ques-tions which cannot be answered easily. This is because we are faced with a growing number of Hindus that are born and brought up in the U.S. and not in India. We are not the generation for whom temple going and temple culture are second nature. We have to be taught that we should go to the temple to not only understand how to publicly prac-tice our religion but also to understand how Hinduism dif-fers for each individual. Large ritual functions, such as the Sri Venkateswara Mahotsavam, symbolize how different Hindus worship and practice their faith in vastly differing ways. The problem is that the variations in the levels of be-lief and variations on how to worship (whether in private or in public) can lead to the potential alienation of the next generation of Hindus.

In my family, Hinduism was very personal and that is how I was taught to be a Hindu by my parents. By personal what I mean is that I was taught that Hinduism can be practiced at home without the need for a public display of the religion. I was taught slokas and my mother and father celebrated the various religious holidays through-

out the year at home, but at no point was I ever required to go to a temple or other public religious eVent. In addi-tion, I was never reprimanded or told not to ask questions about why certain things were done nor was I forced to go to a temple. If I was not interested in participating ac-tively, that was also acceptable as they did not want me to be compelled such that I would turn my back on the religion. Instead, I was given books and tales on the vari-ous mythological stories so that I could read and under-stand the broad spectrum of religious thought that is a part of Hinduism at my own pace. As I became older, the messages in the stories that were told, the purpose of the religious holidays and celebrations began to make more sense from both a philosophical and religious basis. This is what I hope to achieve with my own child – to accept that we are Hindus but to also question why we believe in what we do. This is more and more difficult as the generations have looser and looser ties with India, the ability to pass this belief system along becomes more attenuated.

One important point to note in the personal aspect of how my parents taught me to value the teachings of Hinduism, is that there was no temple in the metro DC area when I was a child. Temple visits were done on vacations to In-dia, or after the mid-1970’s to either the New York Gane-sha or the Pittsburgh Venkateswara temple. Temple going and temple-oriented public worship was not an integral part of daily or weekly life in my family because it was not available. Nor did my parents believe that public worship was the only way to impart knowledge about a religious belief system. As a family we made annual and/or bi-an-nual trips to either New York or Pittsburgh, but again these trips were not forced upon me for religious reasons, it was presented more as a road-trip to go have some fun than anything to do with religion. Of course, once we got to the temple I was told what to do and what not to do in order not to be disrespectful but in a very nonchalant and also practical way. Similarly, when SSVT was being con-ceptualized my parents were involved in a very deep way. They volunteered their time and their effort for various fundraising functions. My mother cooked vats and vats of puliyogare. My father helped in arranging concerts and recorded several of the early fundraising concerts. We as a family were there for the Kumbabhishekam and the instal-lation of the first idols – Ganesha, Durga, and Parvati, as well as the subsequent consecrations of the main deities at SSVT. But one thing I clearly recall is that at no point

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What is Hinduism to a First-Generation Indo-American


Section 4: Youth

did they force me to accept without question the rituals or eVents that were occurring. They welcomed the question-ing arguments I raised and at several opportunities both my parents would agree that the practices they accepted as part of the religious ceremony were alien and meaning-less to me. This enabled them to teach me how important it was to them to hold onto that very personal and private side of the religion that did not manifest itself in the overt display of rituals. That ability to privatize the religion and make it personal to oneself is what makes it possible for me to accept the religion and to be a Hindu.

Never in my childhood did my parents ever tell me that I must go to the temple, or that I must say my slokas, or that I must perform any particular ritual or function. That was not how they wanted me to accept my religion. Rather they wanted me to learn the philosophy, the mythology, and choose how I wanted to practice Hinduism. That in essence is what is great about Hinduism. You do not have to go to the temple, you do not have to perform the rituals, you do not have to say your prayers in a flamboyant or ritu-alistic manner, you just have to accept the philosophical tenets of the religion and believe that there is someone or something that is more powerful than you that can affect the patterns of your life. You can accept this very basic reli-gious philosophy that is prevalent in all the world religions and practice Hinduism in a manner most comfortable to you. This is what I want to pass on to my child – to accept the philosophy and purpose behind the rituals and the practices, to challenge them as needed, and then come to understand that he too can be a Hindu in his own way.

As a result, for me, not only as first-generation Indian who was born and brought up in the U.S, but also because my parents were very forward thinking about how the next-generation will accept or not accept Hinduism, it is a chal-lenge for me to accept the increase in the more ritualistic aspects of Hinduism and the shift from the personal reli-gion that is prevalent in my family to the public religion

that is becoming more and more common in both India and the U.S. Hinduism and my practice of the religion is not incumbent on these large religious functions. In fact, to be totally honest - I cannot understand or appreciate the need for large ritual functions without someone sit-ting down and explaining the whys, wherefores, and hows of the reasons behind the existence of the function, the effect and purpose of the function, etc. But I may be in the minority where I have the strength to question the pur-pose and function of large ritual gatherings because my parents welcomed this type of challenge to the religion.

This begs the question of how does SSVT try to attract the next-generation and accept temple worship. Correspond-ingly, SSVT also faces the hurdle of addressing this di-chotomy of personal and private religion versus the public religion that is evident in large temple functions. This is a very big challenge to understand and accept both from an individual and organizational perspective. Thus, I hope SSVT uses this function as an opportunity to provide the necessary education to the next-generation as to the pur-pose behind these large-scale religious rituals. Otherwise, it may alienate rather than attract the next core group of devotees that the temple wishes to garner.

With Best Compliments From

Mrs. Purnima Sharma & Family(Severana Park, Maryland)

On The Auspicious Occasion of

Sri Balaji MahotsavamTo all friends, devotees and volunteers of

Sri Siva Vishnu temple


Soma, Hari Har Singh & Family(Germantown, Maryland)

On The Auspicious Occasion of

Sri Balaji MahotsavamTo all friends, devotees and volunteers of

Sri Siva Vishnu temple

May the Blessings of

SSVt

be upon us all

Leela and k. krishna


a Personal Journey through the temples of My LifeAditi Banerjee

IntRODUCtIOn

I am delighted about the special Sri Venkateswara (Ba-laji) Mahotsavam taking place at the Shiva Vishnu tem-ple in Lanham, MD this summer, particularly the special pujas that will be performed by purohitas from Tirupati. Although I have never been to Tirupati, the home of Sri Venkateswara, I feel a strong connection with Him and His image is emblazoned on my heart. While I have not seen Him in Tirupati (a pilgrimage I long to make one day soon), I have seen and worshipped His vigraha in various local temples where I’ve grown up and lived in the West. I was reflecting about Sri Venkateswara and the various temples where I’ve worshipped Him and then started thinking about how these local temples have shaped and enriched my spiritual life.

The Sanskrit term for temple is devalaya—a home for the devatas (divine beings and/or forms of Iswara). For me, the temples in America I’ve lived nearby have been truly that — houses where my beloved devas and devis reside, where I could visit them, offer them my respects, converse with them and seek their blessings. We some-times mistakenly think that the only true temples are the ancient storied temples of India. While such temples do carry a unique spiritual energy, Iswara is universal and is not bound to any particular place or time. Iswara may also be found in our homes and in our community temples. Ultimately, for those of us who have a devotional bent of mind, sadhana (spiritual practice) is about forming a closer relationship with our Ishta Devata (one’s personal chosen form of Iswara for worship and devotion) wherever we are, and the local temple experience plays an important role in our sadhana.

I say this from personal experience. I have had the bless-ing and the privilege of making pilgrimages to some of the most ancient and sacred temples in India and those have been among the most sublime experiences of my life. However, I have also found strength and succor at the temples in America where I grew up and lived. These mandir experiences have been foundational to my life and identity as a Hindu and to my sadhana.

tHe teMPLeS OF MY LIFe

The first mandir I remember is the Hindu Temple of Great-er Chicago, in Lemont, Illinois. That was the temple of my childhood, about a half-hour’s drive away from my home. My favorite place there was the Radha-Krishna shrine. This was a separate room that belonged to Radha-Krishna, and

on all the walls were wooden plaques inscribed with se-lect quotes by Krishna from the Bhagavad Gita. And the vigrahas (a vigraha is an embodiment of a devata in metal, wooden, stone, etc., form) of Radha-Krishna, especially their facial expressions, were exquisitely sculpted white marble. As a child, I loved doing pradakshina (circumam-bulations) in that shrine room, reading the quotes from the Gita—especially: Whosoever offers Me anything such as a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or even water with devotion; I accept and eat the offering of devotion by the pure heart-ed (Gita, 9:26)—and gazing upon the beautiful forms of Radha-Krishna. The Krishna of the Gita and the Krishna of Vrndavana were living presences before me in that room.

I do not remember a time in my life when I did not know who Sri Krishna was, but at the time when I first visited that temple, I did not know who Radha was. I began to know Her from my darshana (vision) of those vigrahas—the Radha who is the consort of Krishna, the Queen of Vrnda-vana, She who shines as radiant as the moon, who is gold to Krishna’s black. From then on, Radha-Krishna became inseparable in my heart as my Ishta Devata. Later in life, I read the books that explained properly who Radharani is and visited the sites in Vrndavana and Barsana Dham where Radharani lived and performed her lila (divine play). But it was in that Midwestern temple that I was first introduced to Her, where I learned to talk to Radha-Krishna as my friends, my guides, my family, my Ishta. It was that temple that introduced my Ishta to me.

I remember one Sunday my father and I had gone for satsang (congregational gathering / puja) at the temple, which was held in front of the Radha-Krishna shrine. The group started singing a beautiful hymn, Govinda Damoda-ra Stotra (http://vrindavana.wordpress.com/2006/07/31/sri-govinda-damodara-stotra/). The stotra made a deep imprint on my soul, although I could not recognize the words or the melody at the time and I was too shy to ask. Many years later, my diksha guru prescribed to me the chanting of that particular stotra as part of my daily sadha-na. I was thrilled to have that stotra come back into my life. Satsang at the temple had lit a spark that came to life so many years later when my karmas had sufficiently ripened.

One summer, I stayed in New York for a law firm internship. That summer, I spent almost every evening at the Hindu Center in Flushing, Queens. The temple had a rotation of visiting swamis and other acharyas who would come for a week or two at a time and gave pravachans (discourses) in the evening. I would hang on to every word spoken by

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A Personal Journey through the Temples of My Life


Section 4: Youth

the swamis, even though I could barely understand Hindi at that time. But I could feel the energy and wisdom, the divine energy, behind their words and I would feel up-lifted. I met two of my spiritual teachers that summer at the Hindu Center. I had the sukarma (good fortune) of not just hearing their pravachans but also having separate ses-sions with them where they unstintingly gave of their time and wisdom to me and instructed me on spiritual practice. In India, I would never have had that opportunity because their schedules are too hectic there. But the Hindu Center gave me this opportunity and blessing, for which I will al-ways be grateful.

Another temple that has been important in my life is the Ganesh temple in Flushing. When I first moved to New York after I graduated from law school, I lived in Flushing but not very close to the temple. Still, I would go for a visit once every few weeks and for all the important pujas and observances. Every year, Shivaratri was performed at that temple with such devotion and meticulousness, with such bhavana and sincerity from a community determined to preserve the religious traditions from India in a new coun-try, that for days together afterwards I would carry that sa-cred energy with me. So many blessings have come into my life from those Shivaratris; I was able to go Amarnath and Kedarnath and other holy sites of Shiva only because the Shiva from that temple in Flushing blessed my way and made it possible for me. According to the agama sas-tras when pranapratisthapana (enlivening the vigraha) has been correctly done, the caitanya / vibhuti of that form of Iswara comes alive in the vigraha and is capable of giving such blessings.

Since childhood, I have had an affinity for Krishna, for Shi-va, and for Durga. For whatever reason, I had never felt much of a visceral connection with Ganapati in my earlier years, though I knew that He is beloved of children in In-dia. But such is the power of vigrahas, of temple worship, that, through my visits at the temple, my pradakshinas and offerings to Him, I slowly began to know Ganapati, to feel a bond with Him, to see His image behind my closed eyelids when doing japa of His name. Now He is like family to me. Now when I go to the temple, I am eager to see His face, to check His expression to see how He is feeling, to ask Him how He is doing, to talk to Him and to feel His presence. Now the happiest part of my day is the eVening aarti and watching the glow of the ghee lamp illuminate His beauti-ful visage. He is living and real and beloved to me, and I owe that to the temple where I first started worshipping Him.

Some years after moving to Flushing, I had relocated to London for a two-year period. Although there were sever-

al temples in London, I didn’t live particularly close to any of them and I lost that part of my regular routine. I didn’t realize how much I would miss this, how much of a loss it would be. When the time came to move back to New York and I was thinking about where to live, I knew I wanted to live in Flushing again but this time to be closer to the Ganesh temple and the Hindu Center.

It seems odd to choose one’s home on the basis of how close it is to the temple. In the West, it is usually a matter of school districts and the cachet of the neighborhood. Or, people often move to be close to their friends and family. For me, it was also the call of family. The devatas who live in these temples are my family. I was fortunate enough to find just the kind of apartment I was looking for within a five minutes’ walk from the Ganesh temple and the Hindu Center. I had searched for a suitable place for months and nothing was panning out, until my present residence prac-tically fell into my lap at the last moment, through what I can only call Iswaranugraham. Every weekend, in the twi-light, I go for my daily walk to the park and then to the temple for the eVening aarti and I visit with those who I consider to be my family. This is the most fulfilling and happiest time of the week for me.

I have different types of relationships and visits with each of the devatas at the temple. When I circumambulate Maha Ganapati, I feel comforted and protected and know that He is watching over my shoulder like an affectionate and non-judgmental older brother. When I approach His father Shiva, I am transported to the snow peaks of the Hi-malayas and it is like I am at Amarnath again. In front of Sri Venkateswara, I tear up in awe of His beauty and opu-lence and am overcome by longing to meet Him in Tiru-pati. In front of Hanuman, I am shy and humbled by all of His heroic qualities—His unparalleled bhakti, His strength, honor and steadfastness. I ask Him to make me as good a devotee as He is. When I prostrate to Lakshmi, I feel im-mense peace and serenity and feel Her pouring auspicious blessings into me. When I stand before Parvati, I am like a baby in front of her mother.

ROLe OF teMPLeS

There are many things that I have learned from my temple visits. I have learned that Iswara’s grace and compassion is ever present. It is said that, for every little offering, for every little step we take towards Iswara, Iswara comes ten steps towards us and takes our hand. I have learned that Iswara gives to us whatever we ask for and that it is up to us to ask for the appropriate blessing. I have learned that the deepest fulfillment and serenity comes when I pray for what would be pleasing to Iswara rather than for what would be pleasing to me.

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A Personal Journey through the Temples of My Life


Section 4: Youth

I have learned that a temple is not just a building or a place—it is a nexus of energy / blessing as a result of the interaction between us and the residing devatas. When we visit a temple, we are blessed by the temple but we also have an impact on the temple. If we go simply to ask for this or that, we make a debit from the spiritual energy of the temple. If we go to make offerings and because it is our dharma, if we go out of a feeling of devotion and rev-erence, then we add to the spiritual energy of the temple. We should always try to enhance the spiritual energy of the temple to the best of our abilities. We should be in the proper mood—quiet, calm, serene and focusing on posi-tive rather than negative thoughts. We should be clean in our body, in our heart and in our thoughts. When we are overwhelmed with troubles and we go to the temple to alleviate our troubles, we should leave them at the feet of the Lord with a sense of surrender and faith that succor will surely come. Swami Vivekananda has spoken about these attitudes in relation to temples, with great feeling, in his Raja Yoga.

We should never go to the temple empty-handed, just as you would never go to a dinner party empty-handed. That does not mean one has to make expensive donations; even a piece of fruit or a coin offered with devotion is sufficient. An offering is not the same thing as treating a temple visit like a transaction. We should not barter or bargain with Bhagavan for favors and materialistic gifts. We should give an offering in a spirit of gratitude and thankfulness that it is there so we can express some concrete appreciation for the grace that Iswara is always showering on us. Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi says that the Wind of Grace is always blowing; all we have to do is put up our sail. We should do proper archana as an offering of gratitude. Archana is not paying $51 to a purohita to toss some flower petals and mutter 108 names so that we get a husband or a wife or a brand new car or job—archana means offering of praises; true archana is the offerings that are made from within our hearts.

When we visit a temple, we should remember that the vigrahas are not mere stone, metal or wood. No; the vi-grahas are living embodiments of the spiritual energies of those devatas—they are real and living beings. If we ap-proach them as such, we will have experience of a deep objectless joyousness through kinship and companion-ship with them. Ultimately, this leads to bhava samadhi when one’s spiritual practice matures, c.f. Andal, Meera Bai, Akka Mahadevi.

There is a lot of hullabaloo of late about what a real tem-ple is, what it should be and how temples in 21st century America should function. There is a space for such discus-

sions and planning, but there can never be any definitive model or prescription of what a temple is. A true temple, plain and simple, is the abode of our devas which they open to us for our devotions / gratitude. The hallmark of Hindu spiritual life is organic diversity. Each type of tem-ple provides its own unique benefits. We need all types of temples to enrich the spiritual life of the community. We need temples that are bhava pradhana (based on feelings / moods) and those that are meticulous about observing proper vidhi (procedures of puja) and madi (ritual purity); those that are silent, solitary and remote and those that are congregational and community-oriented.

SUMMaRY

Ultimately, what makes a devalaya (temple) meaning-ful is a nurturing environment built upon an attitude of seva (service) and surrender, to honor the devatas and to offer a haven and succor for the people. It is our particu-lar duty and dharma to inculcate this attitude of worship, honor and service amongst our young so that the values and world view of Sanatana Dharma, the Eternal Faith, are transmitted down the ages.

We should do whatever we can to build, grow and pre-serve true devalayas in every Hindu community, great and small, which can sustain such an entity. This is not the same thing as spending millions of dollars to build a piece of architecture. Even a small room, a corner of a park, or a basement can be a temple. What matters is the underly-ing intent. The intent should be to create a place where the community can gather to learn about and practice our ancient Dharma, to undertake spiritual practice and reflec-tion, to care for our community and all sentient beings, to transmit Dharma to the next generation of Hindus, and to invite, invoke, Venerate and serve the Divine in whatever form or forms.

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Sri Gurubhyo namaH Sri Venkateshaya namaH

what is good about Sanatana Dharma? Openness, Diversity of thought, Ethics, Inner Transformation and Philosophical Inquiry in SanAtana Dharma (Hinduism)

Vasu Murthy

what are the benefits of reading this long article?

It is customary in Indian philosophical works to state right in the beginning, information about who are the intended readers and the benefits of reading the work.

This article is intended for youth and their parents. This article clears many of the misconceptions about SanAtana Dharma (Hinduism). Hinduism is portrayed many times as ritualistic and having strange beliefs about caste and cows. This ar-ticle points out that SanAtana Dharma has at its core philo-sophical inquiry that is highly logical and is among the best philosophical systems the world has produced. SanAtana Dharma (Hinduism) helps to answer the big questions of life, and helps practitioners to lead life in an ethical way. SanA-tana Dharma (Hinduism) promotes the practice of SAdhana (spiritual practice) that takes a person on an evolutionary path towards highest levels of consciousness and spiritual realization. One of the unique strengths of SanAtana Dharma (Hinduism) is that it takes a person out of the realm of blind faith. Instead of blind faith, it offers thoroughly logical, open and diverse schools of thought. It has built-in mechanisms for adaptability since it is open, allows diverse schools of thought and mechanisms for introspection.

After reading the article, youth and parents will have an idea about strengths of SanAtana Dharma (Hinduism) and will be able to answer some of the questions about SanAtana Dhar-ma (Hinduism) that are asked by people outside the SanA-tana Dharma.

This article is an introduction into the basic concepts of sanA-tana Dharma. We hope that the youth and parents will be in-terested to learn lot of more about the philosophical inquiry in sanAtana Dharma after reading this article.

Introduction:

On the occasion of the Sri Venkateshwara Mahotsavam at Sri Siva Vishnu Temple (SSVT), this article is presented to youth in the community. SanAtana Dharma has giVen methods and processes that can take a human being from being a selfish person with animalistic tendencies, to a human with higher level emotions such as love and compassion and finally trans-forming the human being into a spiritual being who is full of divine qualities. The concept of Dharma as a tool for ethical principles of good living is something that can help all humans.

SanAtana Dharma that is practised today consists of many rituals. The meaning behind the rituals and why these rituals should be done are not properly explained to youth. Youth

raised in Western societies or raised with Western educa-tion in India, have scientific education that stresses logical thinking and a spirit of rational inquiry. This generation will question why certain rituals are being done. Explanation of SanAtana Dharma that shows that there is a rich and rigorous intellectual framework as the foundation of SanAtana Dhar-ma will be very appealing to this group. Using this rigorous intellectual framework, answers can be obtained to many of the issues that have been misunderstood in the West such as the issue of polytheism, caste, sacredness of the cow etc. This framework helps in obtaining answers to many of these questions instead of mechanically accepting the practices that have been done by one’s parents.

There are two sections in this article. The first section talks about unique features of sanAtana Dharma. The second one talks about the philosophical inquiry framework that exists inside many of the traditions of sanAtana Dharma.

SeCtIOn 1: UnIqUeneSS OF Sanatana DHaRMa

Meaning of Dharma:

Meaning of the SanAtana Dharma itself conveys the unique features of SanAtana Dharma. SanAtana means eternal or timeless. Dharma is a very complex word that does not easily lend itself to translation. An approximate translation will be righteous (ethical) behavior. This insistence on correct ethical behavior is at the foundation of SanAtana Dharma.

Foundations of Sanatana Dharma:

SanAtana Dharma says that it a path for all without limita-tions of time and space, nationality, color and race. Most oth-er religions are history centric [Ref 5]. Each of these religions has founder who lived in particular time and place. It has one book that the founder has given that is the authorita-tive text for the religion – usually considered to be a divine / revelatory text.

In the case of SanAtana Dharma, things are very different. There is no one founder and there is no one sacred book. There are many sacred books called Vedas, Upanishads, Brah-ma sutras, PuraNas and Sri Bhagavad Gita. Among them, Ve-das and Upanishads are called revealed or unauthored texts. There were many Rishis or sages to whom these sacred texts have been revealed – they saw these in deep meditation. PurANas and Sri Bhagavad Gita were written by sage Sri ve-davyAsa who is highly regarded and is considered incarna-tion of Sri Narayana in some sampradAyAs.

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What is good about SanAtana Dharma?


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Openness, Inclusive nature and Diversity of thought:

SanAtana Dharma has great variety of thought and spiritual principles within it including atheism. All schools of thought have been allowed to present their case to the scholarly com-munity and get people to follow them. There were vigorous debates between the various schools and large number of books written to promote one point view and point out de-fects in others. These back-and-forth debates about different ideas and perspectives were done in a peaceful way without violence. There are only a few instances of violence between the various factions within SanAtana Dharma in India.

SanAtana Dharma has never sought to convert anybody by use of force. SanAtana Dharma spread to South East Asia by completely peaceful means.

There are six major philosophical schools of thought in SanA-tana Dharma. These are nyAya, vaisheshika, samkhya, Yoga, mimAmsa and VedAnta. These schools of thought within san-Atana Dharma presented different ideas about the individual, God and the nature of the world. Details of these schools are presented little bit later in the paper. Apart from these six ma-jor schools of thought there have been many minor schools of thought that existed at one time. Some of the schools of thought did not survive the passage of time. This history of Inquiring, debating and discussing, while at the same time acknowledging and accepting different schools of thought in one of the hall marks of SanAtana Dharma.

To an outsider, and to those of the younger generation this difference and diversity in philosophy of thought may look confusing. There are many different schools of philosophy, styles and practices of worship. There are many regional dif-ferences in practice of pooja. In spite of these differences, there are core values and principles that all schools agree on.

This diversity of thought is one of the greatest contributions of Sanatana Dharma to the world. Sanatana Dharma has shown how different viewpoints about spirituality and reli-gion can co-exist in peace, while at the same time competing in the market place of ideas in the public. There are very few places in the world until this century, where such a peace-ful co-existence was possible. Sanatana Dharma has led the world in this area.

In most of other religions of the world, any deviation from the official doctrine of the religion is severely discouraged. There are many examples in history, where any deviation from the doctrine in other religions, have been punished with extreme violence and death. Violent campaigns and wars have been waged over small doctrinal differences. Diversity of thought, inclusive nature and openness of SanAtana Dharma are in sharp contrast to these practices.

Core Values of Sanatana Dharma:

EVen though there are diversity of views in SanAtana Dhar-

ma, there are some core values that bind all the traditions. We will briefly state them here. Some of these require very detailed explanations.

� Acceptance of Vedas, Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita as sa-cred texts. All the major branches of Hinduism accept these as sacred texts. Of these all major branches of sanAtana Dharma also accept the Vedas and Upanishads as authori-tative revelatory texts.

� Acceptance of principle of rebirth: All Schools of thought accept the principle of rebirth and a soul having multiple births.

� Acceptance of principle of Karma. All schools of thought accept the concept of Karma and its effects over multiple births.

transcending Religion:

We have seen that SanAtana Dharma accepts different schools of thought and different practices. In fact, SanAtana Dharma also recognizes and accepts schools of thought and religions from outside India as valid. SanAtana Dharma considers Christianity , Islam as valid schools of thought and never looks down on them. There is a famous saying in SanAtana Dharma “ekaM sat, vipra bahudhA vadanti” ( Truth is one, but wise men call it by different names) that shows the catholicity and broad mindedness of SanAtana Dharma towards other paths.

At that same time, by allowing vast variety of different schools of thought under its fold, SanAtana Dharma can accept and integrate good values from all religions in its fold. This value of SanAtana Dharma enabled it to withstand the onslaught of Islamic rule for 500-600 years and British rule for a couple of hundred years.

By accepting and incorporating all different view points, San-Atana Dharma transcends the narrow viewpoints offered by most other religions. SanAtana Dharma is an universal um-brella that encompasses different view points of God, souls and the world. This allows people to live in peace, while at the same time exploring the truth and discussing the various view points in a harmonious way.

Importance of ethics in Sanatana Dharma:

SanAtana Dharma places great importance on ethics. This is because the ethical living is the first step in the spiritual practices of SanAtana Dharma. SeVenth Canto of Srimad BhAgavatha purANa says that the following are the ethical qualities that should be there in all human beings. Each of the qualities has many layered meanings and needs detailed explanation to really understand it. Here we will cover them in a brief fashion.

� SatyaM (Truth, Integrity) � Daya (Compassion) � tapaH (Austerity, Spiritual practices including meditation ,

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or deep thinking about a subject) � Saucham (Purity of body and mind) � Titiksha (Tolerance) � ijya (pooja of the Lord) � Shama (Control and tranquility of mind) � Dama (Control of sense organs) � ahimsa (Non-violence) � Brahmacharya (focused on Brahman) � tyagaH (renunciation, sacrifice) � svdhyAyaH (self-study)

These qualities listed above are the top ethical qualities that all human beings should have. This sets a high bar for ethical behavior for human beings. Focus on ethics is an important part of the practice (sAdhana) in sanAtana Dharma.

Practitioners should measure themselves at the end of the day on how their daily behavior stacks up to these qualities listed above. They should be asking them selves how they can improve their daily behavior comparing against each one of the attributes.

This kind of serious daily introspection allows a person to grow rapidly in spirituality.

Spiritual Psychology in Sanatana Dharma:

In SanAtana Dharma , mind is used as an instrument for spiri-tual elevation. Art of training the mind has been studied and enhanced from ancient times resulting a very high fine tuned method that can used by all human beings. Bhagavad Gita, kaThopanishad, svetAshvatAra upanishad and Patanjali Yoga sutras detail methods for controlling the mind and elevat-ing a person’s consciousness to higher levels of spirituality. Bhagavad Gita is one of the first books on psychotherapy and Sri Krishna is one of the world’s first and perhaps the greatest psychotherapist!

SeCtIOn 2: PHILOSOPHICaL InqUIRY In Sanatana DHaRMa

evolution of Philosophical thought in India:

We have already seen how there were many philosophical thought systems in India. These philosophical systems un-derwent a steady evolution. Many new systems of thought were developed and other systems rose as challenge to pre-vious systems. This kind of change , evolution and competi-tion for ideas helped the Indian Philosophy develop to great heights over a period of time. These systems are enumerated in the chronological order [Ref 2] [Ref 3]

� Vedic religion and Philosophy. This represents the religion and philosophy in the VedAs and upanishads.

� Heterodox systems or non-Vedic systems: These systems do not believe in the authority of the Veda. Among them are:

Ù CarvAka system or materialism Ù Jainism Ù Buddhism: There are two major schools here.

� YogAchAra Buddhism � MAdhyamika Buddhism

� Orthodox systems or Vedic systems: These systems believe in the validity of the Vedas.

Ù Nyaya Ù Vaisheshika Ù Samkhya Ù Yoga Ù MimAmsa

These five systems do not have any significant following today except for Yoga which is remaining as a practical method of sAdhana.

Ù Vedantic systems: All the three main Vedantic systems be-lieve in the Validity of Vedas and Upanishads. Other two ca-nonical texts apart from the upanishads are Brahma sutras (summary of Vedanta written using style of aphorisms (sutras)) and Bhagavad Gita, both written by sage Sri ve-davyAsa . All three founding AchAryas of vedAntic systems have written commentaries on Upanishads, Brahma sutras and Bhagavad Gita. The three main systems are:

� Advaita VedAnta (school of Idealism): This school founded by Sri ShankarAcharya (8th century CE) states that relation-ship between Brahman and individual Atman (soul) is ad-vaita or non-dual.

� VishishTa advaita vedAnta (school of qualified idealism): This school founded by Sri RamAnujAcharya (between 11th and 12th century CE) states that relationship between Brahman and individual Atman is one of VishisTa advaita (qualified non-dualism).

� Dvaita vedAnta (school of Realism, also called tattva vAda): This school founded by Sri MadhvAchArya (between 13th and 14th century CE) states that relationship between Brah-man and individual Atman is dvaita or Dualistic.

This gives a brief history of the evolution of different schools of philosophy in India. These schools evolved from ones be-fore them and interacted with others in a variety of ways. This shows the diversity of philosophical view points and peaceful interaction between them. The three vedantic schools men-tioned above had vigorous debates promoting their view points. This debate was always held at scholarly level with respect and dignity for all the participants. EVen the struc-ture of these debates was highly formal where a vedantic ex-pert would be assisted by experts in logic and grammar on both sides. Many books have been written summarizing the dialectic argument between various schools. Some of these books such as “nyAyamrita” by Sri vyAsa teertha and “Advai-ta Siddhi” by Sri Madhusudhana Saraswati are some of the seminal works of Indian Philosophy. This kind of philosophi-cal debates involving religious schools is a testament to the diversity, tolerance, and respect for different view points that is unique to SantAtana Dharma.

Note: These are very brief description of these schools. Please

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refer to the references for more details.

Philosophical Framework of Indian Philosophy and ve-danta:

Sage Sri VedavyAsa is a towering figure in SanAtana Dharma. He has played a pre-eminent part in consolidating the Ve-das, composed Mahabharata and Sri Bhagavad Gita, wrote Sri Brahma sutra and eighteen mahA purANas His contribu-tions to the spiritual heritage of India are amazing. Sri Ve-davyAsa has written the sutras in the style of aphorisms or concise statements that can pack a great deal of meaning inside them. They are a great summary of all philosophical concepts found in upanishads.

Upanishads, Sri Bhagavad Gita and Sri Brahma sutra are con-sidered “prasthAna traya” , a trio of source documents. To be considered an Acharya of a Vedantic school of thought, one must write commentaries on the prasthAna traya i.e. trio of upanishads, Sri Bhagavad Gita and Sri Brahma sutras. All three vedantic AchAryas, Sri ShankarAchArya, Sri RamAnu-jAchArya and Sri madhvAchArya have written commentaries on these three sacred texts.

Six fold method of analysis:

Study of Vedanta philosophy uses analysis of the six attri-butes to compare different schools of thought. This is called the six-fold method of analysis. These six attributes are:

� Epistemology (Theory of Knowledge -pramANa vichAra shAstra): This subject studies definition of how knowledge is obtained and what are the good sources of knowledge.

� Ontology (Theory of nature and relations of being - Tattva vichAra shastra): This subject studies the nature and rela-tions between various sentient and non-sentient entities.

� Theology (Theory of God/gods - Isvara vichAra shAstra): This subject studies attributes of God/gods and their workings with respect to souls and matter

� Cosmology (Theory of Space and Universe - Jagad vichAra shAshtra): This subject studies the concepts of time, space and nature of matter.

� Psychology (Theory of nature of Soul and mind -JIva vichAra shAstra): This subject studies the nature of soul, mind and its relation to other metaphysical entities.

� Soterieology (Theory of Salvation - Moksha vichAra shAs-tra): This subject studies the nature of Salvation, means of Salvation and nature of jIvas in Salvation.

Here one can see that Indian Philosophy has a very for-mal framework that is used in studying different schools of thought. Detailed study of these frameworks is beyond the scope of this article. Various references will have the details.

Open logical inquiry can lead to ultimate truth:

Spirit of open logical inquiry is at the core of vedantic tradi-tions. First Brahma sutra says “athAtho Brahma jignAsa” or ,

“then , there afterward, let there be an Inquiry (study) of Brah-man”. Note that this sutra says to the aspirant to do Inquiry or deep study of Brahman. It does not tell the aspirant to believe in Brahman or even that Brahman exists. All the properties of Brahman including His existence have to be proved/realized by deep study into Brahman.

This kind of openness and logical inquiry into the deepest spiritual truths are very similar to scientific inquiry. It is based on set of axiomatic principles to start with. This is followed by very rigorous logical analysis to reach a specific set of conclu-sions.

This kind of logical analysis should appeal to youth raised in western scientific education. The spirit behind the philo-sophical inquiry is the same as the one in scientific inquiry. Only difference is that in the scientific inquiry we are study-ing material objects and their relationships. In the sanAtana Dharma’s philosophical inquiry, we are studying non-mate-rial sentient objects and their relationships to other sentient and non-sentient objects.

epistemology, foundation of Philosophical Inquiry:

We will give a brief introduction to the Epistemology or The-ory of Knowledge here. There are differences between the various schools in this theory. In this simple introduction , we will introduce the most common elements of this theory.

Valid sources of knowledge:

Correct knowledge (pramANa) can come from the following sources.

� Perception (pratyaksha): We get knowledge by correctly observing things around us. This is what we do in scientific inquiry as well.

� Inference (anumAna): We can get knowledge by using logic to infer things. One example in Western logic is , if A implies B and B implies C, then A implies C. One example giVen in Indian Philosophy is “If one observes smoke in a mountain, then one can infer there is fire in the mountain”.

� Scriptural or Verbal testimongy (Agama): For truth about non-material objects, we have to rely on revealed or non-authored (apaurusheya) texts. We can also rely on words or writings from Saints we highly admire because we rely on their experience and wisdom. In vedantic schools, we rely on vedas and upanishads as they are non-authored texts which have been revealed to highly qualified saints . We also trust Sri Bhagavad Gita , Sri Brahma sutras and PurANas as they are composed by the Venerable saint Sri vedavyAsa and the words in them have same meanings as vedas and upanishads. If we can an analogy in the material world, medical student relies on the text book written by a well regarded profes-sor when a student begins his /her study. Later on by actual practice and seeing patients, student verifies that what is written in the book is correct. In the same way, in the spiri-

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tual world, aspirant starts by trusting the revealed literature in the beginning. As the student becomes more proficient by his/her sAdhana or practice, then the student realizes that what is in the revealed literature as correct.Now we will see how to answer some of the misconceptions about sanAtana Dharma using the tools of inquiry that we have developed here.note: What is presented here is a very basic introduction to philosophical inquiry. It requires many years of study to fully understand the subject. Books listed in the reference will help.

Does Sanatana Dharma promote Polytheism?

This is a common question posed by people who are not fa-miliar with SanAtana Dharma. This is one of the misconcep-tions of sanAtana Dharma.

The answer will be brief given the space constraints. We briefly looked at the sources of knowledge giVen in the previ-ous sections. VedAs talk about many gods at a first glance, but upanishads talk about only one supreme entity called Brahman. So, question is how do we resolve apparent contra-dictions in the different revealed literatures. Sri madhvAchA-rya has answered this by using the concept of samanvaya or the concept of connections. All the spiritual literature say the same truth. Some the literature have three levels of mean-ings, one meaning that appears at first glance, inner meaning and some meanings that have interpolations. If we apply this concept of samanvaya to the Rig veda, eVen though there ap-pears to be many gods, the inner meaning of all the sholkas can be shown to be primarily refer to the One God or Brah-man. References to multiple gods such as agni, varuna etc. are a secondary meaning.

So, by using inquiry we can definitely say that SanAtana Dharma has monotheism at its core. SanAtana Dharma wor-ships many gods who are controlling various aspects of the universe beneath the One God or Brahman.

Does Sanatana Dharma promote caste and discrimina-tion?

This is also a complex question. We will answer it briefly here. Word for caste in Sanskrit is called “Varna”. Real meaning of the word is inner nature of a person. In English language also we use similar interpretation. We say “Now we know the true colors of this person”, when an inner nature of a person has been revealed. Sri Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita that I have created the varNa system based on qualities of human be-ings . varNa system is a psychological classification system for all human beings in all places and countries. In the an-cient days, people who used to teach students and spend time in searching for Brahman were called Brahmins. In mod-ern days, people who are interested in teaching and educa-tion like College Professors, scientists are Brahmin in nature. People who are interested in Military, police administration

are Kshatriyas or Warrior class. People who are interested in Commerce are called Vaishyas. People who are interested in service and who work for others are called Shudras. With this classification, 90% of the people in the modern world, who work for others, will be classified as shudras.

You can see that VarNa system is a system psychological clas-sification of human beings. In the days of mahAbhAratha, varNa system was not birth based. Sri VedavyAsa, one of the greatest saints of India, whom many people consider as an avatar of nArAyaNa, was born to a fisher woman. Over a peri-od of time, the system changed to being birth based because for most people, it was not easy recognize the inner nature of a person.

Earlier in this paper, we looked at ethical qualities that all human beings should have. These qualities listed before are the finest ethical qualities a human being should have. In a system that promotes these greatest ethical qualities human being has ever cultivated, there is no place for discrimination. There is only love, compassion and tolerance for all sentient beings including human beings, plants and animals.

Summary:

This paper gives an introduction to the openness, diversity of thought, finest ethical principles humans have ever known, and very rigorous high quality philosophical framework that are unique characteristics of SanAtana Dharma. These quali-ties of sanAtana Dharma can be utilized by all human be-ings for their happiness, spiritual growth and elevation of all humanity. We have shown with some examples, how these philosophical inquiry can clear the misconceptions about sanAtana Dharma and lead us to the ultimate truth about God, soul and the universe.

Let us pray for blessings of Lord Venkateshwara to the whole world.

OM shantiH shantiH shanthiH

ReFeRenCeS:

1. Essentials of Indian Philosophy - by Dr. Hirianna2. Survey of Indian Philosophy - Dr. RadhaKrishna3. Classical Indian Philosophy - Dr. Deepak Sarma4. Classical Indian Philosophy - Dr. Mohanti5. Being Different- Rajiv Malhotra6. Lectures of Dr. Hebbar on Indian Philosophy7. Lectures by sri Bannanje GovindAcharya

DaILY HInDU wISDOM

Use all your power to free the senses from attachment and aversion alike, and live in the full wisdom of the Self. Such a sage awakes to light in the night of all creatures. That which the world calls day is the night of ignorance to the wise.

- Bhagavad Gita 2:68-69


a SeLeCtIOn OF PRaYeR OFFeRInGS tO LORD VenkateSHwaRa

vishnu, The proTecTor of The cosmos, preserves life and en-sures ThaT all creaTures enjoy

a meaningful existence. When-ever Dharma or righteous law is threatened, he appears on Earth as an incarnation or manifestation to protect good and his devotees.

Venkateshwara, Srinivasa, or Balaji, is one such manifesta-tion, and we are blessed to have His sanctum sanctorum in our temple.

The special shlokas, Divya Pra-bandham composed in cel-

ebration and praise of Lord Venkateshwara, along with the Veda mantras, are recited every Saturday during each of the rituals from the time the Lord is awakened.

We have compiled in this section the regularly recited prayers to Lord Venkatesh-wara but have not included the Veda mantras that are re-cited during the Tirumanja-nam or Abhishekham and Asht-totarashata namavali during Archanas.

Prayers1. Suprabhatam

2. Chatussloki and selected verses from Gadyam and Gunaratnakosham

3. Taniyan

4. Seva Kaalam

5. Dhyaana Shlokams

6. Neeraattam, Poochudal, and Kappidal

7. Sattrumurai

8. Mangalasashanam

9. Sudharshanaashtakam

10. Kamaasikaashtakam

11. Nyaasadashakam

12. Venkateshasthotram

13. Govindanaamaavali

Acknowledgements and heartfelt gratitude to Sri Sunder Kidambi for graciously allowing SSVT to use some of the materials from his Web site: www.prapati.com.


|| srivenkatesa suprabhatam || Section 5: Prayers


|| srivenkatesa suprabhatam ||Section 5: Prayers

(Continued on page 71)


|| srivenkatesa suprabhatam || Section 5: Prayers


|| srivenkatesa suprabhatam ||Section 5: Prayers

srivenkatesa suprabhatam Sanskrit (Continued from page 69)


|| sricatuh sloki || Section 5: Prayers

Égvn! naray[aiÉmtanu ép SvépépgunivÉvEñyR zIlaXynvixkitzy As’œOyeykLyangu[g[am! . pÒvnalyam!. ÉgvtIm!. iïym! . devIm!.inTyanpaiynIm!. inrv*am! .devdevidVymih;Im!. AioljgNmatrm!.ASmNmatrm!. AzrNyzrNyam!.AnNyzr[Zzr[mhm! àp*e.

|| Gunaratnakosham ||Sanskrit

|| Gadyam ||Sanskrit

%‘as p‘ivt pailt sÝlaekI invaRhkaerikt nem kqa] lIlam!,ïIr¼ hMyRtl m¼¦ dIp reoam! ïIr¼raj mih;Im! iïymaïyamh>.


|| Gunaratnakosham ||Section 5: Prayers

bhagavan näräyaëäbhimatänu rupa svaruparupagunavibhavaiçvarya çélädhyanavadhikatiçaya asaìkhyeyakalyänaguëagaëäm || padmavanälayäm ||bhagavatém || çriyam || devém ||nityänapäyiném || niravadyäm ||devadevadivyamahiñém || akhilajaganmätaram ||asmanmätaram || açaranyaçaranyäm ||ananyaçaraëaççaraëamaham prapadye ||

|| Gadyam ||English

|| Gunaratnakosham ||English

ulläsa pallavita pälita saptalooké nirvähakoorakita neema kaöäkña léläm |çréiraìga harmyatala maìgaøa dépa rekhäm çrééraìgaräja mahiñém çriyamäçrayämahaù ||


|| taniyan || Section 5: Prayers

May Sri Venkateswara guard us wherever we go, and guide us in whatever we do – and may his loving protection be a blessing to us always.

krishna, Geetha, abhijith & Seetaravamma Chaganti

ïIman! ve»q nawayR> kivtaikRk kesrI vedaNtacayRvyaeR me siÚxÄa< sdaùid

ramanuj dya paÇm! }an yEraGy ÉU;[<ïImdœ ve»q naway¡ vNde vedaNt deizk<

ïIzElez dya paÇm! xIÉKyaid gu[a[Rv<ytIÔ> àv[m! vNde rMy jamatrm! muinm!

lúmI naw smarMÉm! naw yamun mXyma<ASmdœ AacayR pyRNtam! vNde gué prMpram!

çrémän veìkaöa näthäryaù kavitärkika kesaré vedäntäcäryavaryo me sannidhattäà sadähådi

rämänuja dayä pätram jïäna yairägya bhüñaëaàçrémad veìkaöa näthäryaà vande vedänta deçikaà

çréçaileeça dayä pätram dhébhakyädi guëärëavaàyatédraù pravaëam vande ramya jämätaram munim

lakñmé nätha samärambham nätha yämuna madhyamäàasmad äcärya paryantäm vande guru paramparäm

|| taniyan ||Sanskrit & English


|| Seva Kaalam ||Section 5: Prayers

|| Seva Kaalam ||English


|| taniyan ||Section 5: Prayers


|| tiruppalliyezucci ||Section 5: Prayers


|| tiruppalliyezucci || Section 5: Prayers


|| tiruppallandu ||Section 5: Prayers

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|| tiruppallandu || Section 5: Prayers

Shashtaanga Pranaams

On the Occasion of

Sri Venkateshwara Mahothsavam

2012

******

Madhura and Satyaraj

&

Uthra and Ramarao Mysore.


|| kanninum siruttambu ||Section 5: Prayers


|| Dhyana Slokam || Section 5: Prayers

|| Dhyana Slokam ||English

|| Neerattam ||English


|| Sattrumurai - Tengalai ||Section 5: Prayers

|| Poochudal ||English

|| Sattrumurai - Tengalai ||English

|| Kappidal ||English


|| Sattrumurai - Vadagalai || Section 5: Prayers

|| Sattrumurai - Vadagalai ||English


|| divya deça maìgalänuçäsanam ||Section 5: Prayers

idVy dez m¼lanuzasnm!|| divya deça maìgalänuçäsanam ||

Sanskrit & English

lúmI cr[ la]aka<] sa]at! ïIvTs v]se]em<kray sveR;am! ïI r¼ezay m¼¦m!lakñmé caraëa läkñäkäìkña säkñät çrévatsa vakñaseekñeemaìkaräya sarveñäm çré raìgeeçäya maìgaøam

iïy> kaNtay kLya[ inxye inxyeiwRna<ïI ve»q invasay ïIinvasay m¼¦m!çriyaù käntäya kalyäëa nidhayee nidhayeerthinäàçré veìkaöa niväsäya çréniväsäya maìgaøam

AStu ïI Swn kSturI vaisna vaistaerse ïI hiStigir naway devrajay m¼¦m!astu çré sthana kasturé väsinä väsitoorasee çré hastigiri näthäya devaräjäya maìgaøam

kmlak…c kSturI kdRmai»t v]se yadvaiÔ invasay s<pt! puÇay m¼¦m!kamaläkuca kasturé kardamäìkita vakñasee yädavädri niväsäya sampat puträya maìgaøam

nIlacl invasay inTyay prmaTmne suÉÔa àa[ naway ïI jgÚaway m¼¦m!néläcala niväsäya nityäya paramätmanee subhadrä präëa näthäya çré jagannäthäya maìgaøam

saei½ó mailka b<x g<x b<xur ij:[ve iv:[uicÄ tnUjayE gaedayE inTy m¼¦m!soocciñöha mälikä bandha gandha bandhura jiñëave viñëucitta tanüjäyai goodäyai nitya maìgaøam

ïI ngyaRm! mhapuyaRm! taèpi[R %Äre tqeïI it<iÇi[ mUlxaçe zQkaepay m¼¦m!çré nagaryäm mahäpuryäm tämraparëi uttaree taöeçré tintriëi müladhämnee çaöhakoopäya maìgaøam

ze;aeva sENy nawaeva ïIpit> veitsaiTvkE>ivtKyaRy mhaàa|E> Éa:ykaray m¼¦m!çeeñoovä sainya näthoovä çrépatiù vetisätvikaiùvitarkyäya mahäpräïaiù bhäñyakäräya maìgaøam

tula mUlavtI[aRy taei;taiol sUryesaEMyjamat& munye ze;a<zayaStu m¼¦m!tulä mülävatérëäya tooñitäkhila sürayeesaumyajämätå munayee çeñäàçäyästu maìgaøam

m¼¦zasn prE> mdacayR puraegmE>svERí pUvER> AacayER> sTk«tayaStu m¼¦m!maìgaøaçäsana paraiù madäcärya puroogamaiùsarvaiçca pürvaiù äcäryaiù satkåtäyästu maìgaøam


|| Sudharshanaashtakam || Section 5: Prayers


|| Sudharshanaashtakam ||Section 5: Prayers


|| Kamaasikaashtakam || Section 5: Prayers


|| Kamaasikaashtakam ||Section 5: Prayers


|| Nyaasadashakam || Section 5: Prayers


|| Venkateshasthotram ||Section 5: Prayers


|| Venkateshasthotram || Section 5: Prayers


|| Govindanaamaavali ||Section 5: Prayers

ïI ve»qeñr gaeivNd namavilçré veìkaöeçvara govinda nämävali

ïI ïIinvasa gaeivNd ïI ve»qez gaeivNd É´vTsl gaeivNd Éagvt iày gaeivNdinTy inmRl gaeivNd nIlme” Zyaml gaeivNdpura[ pué; gaeivNd pu{frIka] gaeivNdçré çréniväsä govinda çré veìkaöeça govinda bhaktavatsala govinda bhägavata priya govindanitya nirmala govinda nélamegha çyämala govindapuräëa puruña govinda puëòarékäkña govinda

gaeivNd hir gaeivNd gaek…lnNdn gaeivNdgovinda hari govinda gokulanandana govinda

nNdnNdna gaeivNd nvint caera gaeivNdpzupalk ïI gaeivNd pap ivmaecn gaeivNdÊò s<hr gaeivNd Êirt invar[ gaeivNdizò pirpalk gaeivNd kò invar[ gaeivNdnandanandanä govinda navanita corä govindapaçupälaka çré govinda päpa vimocana govindaduñöa saàhara govinda durita niväraëa govindaçiñöa paripälaka govinda kañöa niväraëa govinda


v¿ mk…qxr gaeivNd vrah mUiÄR gaeivNdgaeipjn lael gaeivNd gaevxRnaeÏar gaeivNddzrw nNdn gaeivNd dzmuo mxRn gaeivNdpi] vahn gaeivNd pa{fv iày gaeivNdvajra makuöadhara govinda varäha mürtti govindagopijana lola govinda govardhanoddhära govindadaçaratha nandana govinda daçamukha mardhana govindapakñi vähana govinda päëòava priya govinda


mTSy kªmR gaeivNd mxusUdn hir gaeivNdvrah n&is<h gaeivNd vamn É&guram gaeivNdblramanuj gaeivNd baEÏ kiLkxr gaeivNdve[ugan iày gaeivNd ve»q rm[a gaeivNdmatsya kürma govinda madhusüdana hari govindavaräha nåsiàha govinda vämana bhåguräma govindabalarämänuja govinda bauddha kalkidhara govindaveëugäna priya govinda veìkaöa ramaëä govinda


sIta nayk gaeivNd iït pirpalk gaeivNddirÔjn pae;k gaeivNd xmR s<Swapk gaeivNdAnawr]k gaeivNd Aapt! baNxv gaeivNdzr[agt vTsl gaeivNd ké[asagr gaeivNdsétä näyaka govinda çrita paripälaka govindadaridrajana poñaka govinda dharma saàsthäpaka govindaanätharakñaka govinda äpat bändhava govindaçaraëägata vatsala govinda karuëäsägara govinda


kml dla] gaeivNd kaimt )ld gaeivNdpap ivnazk gaeivNd paih murare gaeivNdïImuÔai»t gaeivNd ïIvTsai»t gaeivNdxr[Inayk gaeivNd idnkr teja gaeivNdkamala daläkña govinda kämita phalada govindapäpa vinäçaka govinda pähi muräre govindaçrémudräìkita govinda çrévatsäìkita govindadharaëénäyaka govinda dinakara tejä govinda


pÒavit iày gaeivNd àsÚ mUiÄR gaeivNdAÉyhSt àdzRn gaeivNd mTyaRvtar gaeivNdzŒ c³xr gaeivNd za¼‰R gdaxr gaeivNdivrj tIwRSw gaeivNd ivraeix mxRn gaeivNdpadmävati priya govinda prasanna mürtti govindaabhayahasta pradarçana govinda martyävatära govindaçaìkha cakradhara govinda çärìg gadädhara govindaviraja térthastha govinda virodhi mardhana govinda


sal¢amxr gaeivNd shönam gaeivNdlúmIv‘É gaeivNd lúm[a¢j gaeivNdkStUir itlk gaeivNd kaÂna<br gaeivNdgéfvahn gaeivNd gjraj r]k gaeivNdsälagrämadhara govinda sahasranäma govindalakñmévallabha govinda lakñmaëägraja govinda


|| Venkateshasthotram || Section 5: Prayers

kastüri tilaka govinda käïcanämbara govindagaruòavähana govinda gajaräja rakñaka govinda


vanr seivt gaeivNd vairix bNxn gaeivNd@fukae{fl vafa gaeivNd @k Svép gaeivNdïIram k«:[a gaeivNd r”uk…l nNdn gaeivNdàTy] dev gaeivNd prm dyakr gaeivNdvänara sevita govinda väridhi bandhana govindaeòukoëòala väòä govinda eka svarupa govindaçréräma kåñëä govinda raghukula nandana govindapratyakña deva govinda parama dayäkara govinda

v¿ kvcxr gaeivNd vEjyiNtmala gaeivNdvifœfkasul vafa gaeivNd vsudev tnya gaeivNdibLv pÇai½Rt gaeivNd iÉ]uk s<Stut gaeivNdôIpu<êpa gaeivNd izv kesv mUiÄR gaeivNdäüa{f épa gaeivNd É´ r]k gaeivNdvajra kavacadhara govinda vaijayantimälä govindavaòòikäsula väòä govinda vasudeva tanayä govindabilva paträrccita govinda bhikñuka saàstuta govindastrépuàrüpä govinda çiva kesava mürtti govindabrahmäëòa rupä govinda bhakta rakñaka govinda


inTykLya[ gaeivNd nIrjnaÉ gaeivNdhtIramiày gaeivNd hirsvaeRÄm gaeivNdjnaxRn mUiÄR gaeivNd jgt! sai]êp gaeivNdAiÉ;ek iày gaeivNd AapiÚvar[ gaeivNd

nityakalyäëa govinda nérajanäbha govindahatérämapriya govinda harisarvottama govindajanärdhana mürtti govinda jagat säkñirüpa govindaabhiñeka priya govinda äpanniväraëa govinda


rÆ ikrIq gaeivNd ramanujnut gaeivNdSvy< àkaz gaeivNd Aaiït p] gaeivNdinTy zuÉàd gaeivNd iniol laekez gaeivNdAanNdép gaeivNd Aa*Nt riht gaeivNdratna kiréöa govinda rämänujanuta govindasvayaà prakäça govinda äçrita pakña govindanitya çubhaprada govinda nikhila lokeça govindaänandarupa govinda ädyanta rahita govinda


#hpr dayk gaeivNd #Éraj r]k gaeivNdprm dyalae gaeivNd pÒnaÉ hir gaeivNditéml vasa gaeivNd tulis vnmala gaeivNdze;aiÔ inly gaeivNd ze;zaiyne gaeivNdihapara däyaka govinda ibharäja rakñaka govindaparama dayälo govinda padmanäbha hari govindatirumala väsä govinda tulasi vanamälä govindaçeñädri nilaya govinda çeñaçäyine govinda

ïIinvas gaeivNd ïI ve»qez gaeivNd gaeivNd hir gaeivNd gaek…lnNdn gaeivNdçréniväsa govinda çré veìkaöeça govinda govinda hari govinda gokulanandana govinda

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