CONSTRUCTION OF SRI VANAMAMALAI MUTT-KAINKARYAM AT THIRUMALA
Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha
Sri Vara Vara munayE Namaha
Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha
In Srivaishanava sampradayam, all the divine places and temples adorned and sung by azhvars, the divya sooris are called as divya desams. Among the 108 divya desams, 106 are in this world and the rest two being thiruparkadal and Srivaikundam. One such divine place is vanamamalai, sirivaramangalanagar. Swamy nammazhvar in his thiruvaimozhi (5-7) sings the praise of this divyadesams in 11 paasurams. This is azhvar’s first sharanagathi declaring his Akinchanyam (no credits to help him attain his results, kaimudal ellAmai) and ananyagadhithvam (no one else to aid).
Sri Azhagiya manavala perumal nAyanar, in his masterly work Acharya Hrudhayam elaborates the various kalyana gunas exhibited by emperuman in various divyadesams in a few sutras. While talking about vanamamalai, Sri AMP says,
“ruchi vivasarkkum pAdhamE sharaNakkum owdhAryam vAnamAmalaiyilE kozhundhu vidum” (AH 163).
In thirukkurungudi nambi exhibited his lAvanyam and mesmerized azhvar.
Lavanyam- samudhAya shObhA – collective beauty;
Sowndaryam – avayava shObhA – Beauty of the parts;
Slowly azhvar’s devotion started to grow. It reached its peak and finally he sings “Arenakku nin pAdamE sharaNaga tantozhindhAi” [Oh! Lord you have blessed me with your divine feet as refuge] Thus emperuman in vanamamalai, deivanAyakan expressed his owdAryam (benevolence) and made azhvar to surrender unto to his divine feet.
“vandaruli ennenjidam Konda vAnavar kozhundhE”
[Nammazhvar did not approach deivanAyaka perumal just like kaliyan who cherishes visiting each and every divyadesam personally. Instead, DeivanAyaka perumal sacrificed his divine abode and landed in vanamamalai. Not stopping with that now he has traveled all the way to azhvar thirunagari to get settled in the heart of azhvar.]
Every year during this divine month vaikasi, on the 5th day of the azhvar utsavam all the navathirupathi emperumans come to azhvar thirunagari to get mangalasasanams from nammazhvar. All the emperumans give darshan to nammazhvar in garuda vahanam as requested by azhvar to have the darshan of the lord in his street once. One speciality in these 9 divya desams around azhvar thirunagari is that there is no archa vigraham for nammazhvar other than the one at thirukkurugur. In vanamamalai, swamy nammazhvar is found in archa on the Sri satari of deivanayaka perumal. In thirukkurungudi, there is no archa vigraham for nammazhvar as azhvar is considered to be the avatara of nambi himself.
Nammazhvar’s first sharaNagathi
NORRa nOnbilEn nun arivilEn Agilum eni vunnai vittoNdrum
ARRakiRkindRilEn aravinanai ammAnE
SERRutAmarai sennalOdu malar sirivaramangala nagar
VeeRRirundha endhAi! Vunakku migai allEnangE.
Nammazhvar did sharanagathi totally in 5 padhigams, under the divine feet of vanamamalai deivanayakan (“nORRa nOnbilEn”), thirukkudandhai Aravamudan (“ArA amudhE adiyEn vudalam”), thiruvallavAi nArAyanan (“mAnEy nOkku”), vibhavaAvatara krishnan (“pirandha vAraum”) and finally under the divine feet of thiruvEnkatamudaiyan (“vulagamunda peruvAyA”). Immediately one doubt may arise in all our minds; is sharanagathi not done only once? Can it be done more than one time?
Sharanagathi is done only once. Sri Rama piran himself says “sakrudeva prapannAya”. Swamy Nammazhvar gave the essence of sharanagathi in four padhigams but the actual sharanagathi is only in the “akalakillEn” paasuram since only there, there is a reference to piratti, the purushakAra bhoothai. Without piratti’s purushakaram sharanagathi will not be complete and hence azhvar did his final sharanagathi unto the divine feet of Srinivasan, emperuman with the divine mother always in his chest.
Our acharyas rightly say, “NoRRa nAngu rahasya dvayaththai pOlE; vulagamunda peruvAyA vAchya dvayaththai pOlE” Rahasya dvayam indicates Thirumanthram and charama slokam where piratti sambhandam is not explicit. NoRRa nAngu represents the 4 padhigams followed by NoRRa NOnbilEn. VAchya dvayam indicates dvayam (manthra rathnam).
In “NoRRa nOnbilen” azhvar expressed his Akinchanyam and ananyagadhithvam. Swamy alavandaar almost translates this paasuram in his stotra ratnam “na dharmanishtOsmi nacha AthmavEdhi na bhakthimAn tvat charanAra vindhyE akinchana: ananyagathi: sharanyA tvat pAdhamoolam sharaNam prapadhyE”
NoRRa NonbilEn – na dharmanishtOsmi- no karma yoga;
Nun arivilEn – na cha Athma vEdhi – (nun arivu represents the knowledge of self and the paramatma) no jnana yoga;
Agilum eni vunnai vittoNdrum ARRakiRkindRilEn – ananyagathi:
Since bhakthi develops only from karma and jnana it is implied that there is also no bhakthi yoga; thereby azhvar expresses his Akinchanyam.
Further in the same canto 10th paasuram (5-7-10) azhvar says, “Arenakku nin pAdhamE sharanAgath thanthozhindAi vunakkOr kaimAru nAnondrilEn enadhAviyum vunadhE” [Oh! Lord you have shown me your divine feet to be the only way to attain the ultimate result what can I do for this great help since even my athma is yours]
Sri Azhagiya manavala perumal nAyanar in his magnum opus Acharya hrudhayam says, “dvayArththam deerga sharanAgathi endradhu sArasangrahaththilE” (AH-210)
Sara sangraham is a masterly work of swamy pillai lokacharya (elder brother of swamy azhagiya manavala perumal nayanar) in which swamy shows how the ten divine meanings conveyed by the mantra ratnam, dvayam is clearly given by swamy nammazhvar in his ten cantos in thiruvaimozhi.
Each canto in thiruvaimozhi is supposed to give out the meanings of dvayam (recorded to be ten by our poorvacharyas).
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We hope that all bhagavatas will contribute liberally towards this divine kainkaryam and get the blessings of Srivaramanga sametha Sri deivanayaka perumal, Sri alarmEl mangai sametha Sri Srinivasa perumal along with the blessings of Sri onnana vanamamalai jeeyer swamy (father of Srivaramangai nachiyar of thirumalai and father-in-law to deivanayaka perumal) and mangalasasanams of our revered acharya, Sri Kaliyan vanamamalai jeeyer swamy (30th pattam).
