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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00273 May 2004

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SrI:
 
Dear BhakthAs:
 
SrIman Sudarshanan touched upon some important points
regarding the origin of the Word , "gOpuram " and wondered about
the word "VimAnam " over Garbhagruham(Sanctum Sanctorium).
 
Here are some thoughts:
 
1. "Gopura Darsanam Paapa vimOchanam(VinAsanam)" is
the old adage (i-e)., The darsanam of the Gopuram of the Lord
removes all of our sins.
 
2. "Gopura darsanam kOti puNyam  is another adage( The sight of
the gopuramgenerates crores of puNYam for us ). gOpuram really
refers to the walk way covered with a sculpted tower over it .
It can have many tiers.
 
3. It is not necessary or possible that one should worship
inside the temple every day.The mere gOpura darsanam
from near or far would lift one's spirits/mind and make them
remember the source of our earthly bhOgams and potential
for eternal service to the Lord in the other world.
 
4. gOpuram is really dhvAra gOpuram ( walkway with a tower over
that gateway ).
 
5. There can be many gOpurams inside a major temple in addition to
the four main ones in East , South ,West and North . At SrIrangam ,
there are 22 gopurams . The VimAnam for the presiding deity is at
the epicenter of all these gopurams .
 
6. "Temple is not merely a home of God , but a form of God as well ".
Gopuram, VimAnam are then to be considered as "samj~na " of
God. Gopuram and Vimaanam are embodied energy entities
( PrAsAdham Purusham mathvA poojayEth Manthravitthama: ) .
 
7. The Sthapathi ( expert in Aalayam construction ) should be
an authority on Saasthrams/Vaasthu Saasthram  and be knowledgable
about Vedams : " sTapathi: Sarva-Saasthraj~na: VedavicchAsthra paaraga: "
 
8. The gOpuram , gates and VimAnam of a temple are defended by
AadhisEshan , Garudan , VishvaksEnar , DwAra PaalakAs of
unimaginable valor ( achinthya bala vikrama: ) as stated by
Swamy  Desikan in one of the slOkams of Abheehti Sthavam.
 
9.The 20 th SlOkam of SrI VenkatEsa SubrabhAtham ( Tvath gOpura
sikharANi nirikshyamANa :) salutes the puNyasAlis , who have the good
fortune of the darsanam of the gopuram of Lord VenkatEsa at Thirumala.
The slOkam says: " Those blessed persons , who complete the different
Yaj~nAsto reach svargam and those , who follow Bhakthi or Prapatthi
route to gain Moksha siddhi are prepared to give up those hard earned
riches , when they by accident have the darsanam of Your gOpuram.
After that darsanam , they wish to return to the earth to be near You ".
 
10. There is an esoteric text known as "Silpa VidhyA RahasyOpanishad " ,
which is the Vedic Text for Sthapathis , who construct the temples including
gOpuram , Garbha graham and VimAnam over it. This and derivative texts
describe Vaasthu Purusha MaNDalam and the MahA Purushan residing inside
that MaNDalam .
 
11. The VimAnam unlike gOPuram has one to one match with the body of
Parama Purushan inside it . The VimAnam typically has SthUpam , Sikaram ,
nEtram , Galam , Prastaram , Padha Varagam , AdhishtAnam and Upapeetam .
The corrsponding parts of the Parama Purushan residing in that vimAnam are:
Hair Lock (SthUpam) , Mukham+Eye+Face ( sikharam ) , neck (galam) ,
shoulder ( Prastaram ) , arms+navel ( Pada vargam) ,  knee cap ( AdhishtAnaam )
and Feet ( Upapeetam). 
   
12) Coming back to gOpuram , as is usually the case with the Sanskrit
words/roots , there are more than one meaning for this word and context
is important to generate the different meanings for the word gOpuram.
We will focus on the "gO" part of gOpuram , which is also seen in
"gOvindhan " , "gOdhai". We will not get in to the Puram portion of
the word "gOpuram ".
 
In the case of "gO" sabdham forming the front end of the word 
"gOpuram " there are atleast 10 meanings :
 
"gO" means (1) Moksham (2) Speeding arrow (3) Cow
(4) Divine speech (5) Vajra weapon (6) dhivya chakshus/
JnAnakkaNN (7) Sight (8) Flame/Jwaalai (9) BhUmi
(10) Victory .
 
We will elaborate on these ten different meanings as they relate to
the word "gOpuram " and the auspicious Phalans arising from
gOpura Darsanam .
 
Thus a whole set of contextual meanings are derivable from
the combination of "gO" + Puram .  
 
SrI RanganAtha's Gopura darsanam from across the river Cauvery  
has been a source of enthrallment for all devotees in general and
the AzhwArs and AchAryAs in particular .
 
(To be continued)
 
Daasan , Oppiliappan KOil VaradAchAri Sadagopan
  
 

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