You are here: SriPedia : Oppiliappan : Sri Venkatesa Ashtotthram Home  Index  BrahmANDa : Home  Nama List :  CD&Donation  Credits

Sri Venkateswara Ashtotthram 

Prev   ::   (pranavam) KesavAya Nama: - 11   ::   Next

Guess the name of the perumal and Check the answer
 The 11th Naamam of SrI VenkatEsA AshtOttharam
 ***************************************
 KESAVAAYA NAMA: = KESAVA MEANS (1) THE DISPELLER OF STRESS  IN THE WORLD AND (2) THE ONE WHO HAS SOFT, CURLY ,SHNING BLUE LOCKS OF HAIR  AND (3) ONE WHO DESTROYEDTHE ASURAN BY TH NAME  OF KESI .SALUTATIONS TO THAT KESAVA !

 Additional Comments:
*********************
1) "Naarasimha Vapu: SrImAn KESAVA: PurushOtthama:"thunders SrI VishNu Sahasra Naamam. It is the 23rdSrI VishNu Sahasra Naamam."Kesava" naamam is made upof "Kesa" with a suffix "Va" added to it for grammatical correctness according to Swamy ParAsara Bhattar.Our Lord's hair (Kesa:) is known for its natural curliness ,softness and exquisite bluish-black color. Niruktha definesthe Kesava Naamam this way:

" Prasastha neela-kEsathvAth Kesava: Parikeerthitha:( because of His celebrated blue locks of hair , He  is well known as Kesavan).

 2) " ThrilOkAthmA ThrilOkEsa: KESAVA: KesihA Hari"is another SrI VishNu Sahasra Naamam passage ,whereKesava Naamam appears again as the 654th Naamam.

 Nirukthi defines the Kesava Naamam this time with reference to BrahmA and Sivan arising out of Sriman NaarAyaNan's body :

 "BrahmEsayO: svAngajathvAth Kesava: Parikeerthitha:"

 A well known Hari Vamsa SlOkam is quoted by Swamy ParAsara Bhattar in this context is :

 Ka ithi BrahmaNO nAma IsOham Sarva dEhinAm
 aavAm TavAngE sambhoothou tasmAth Kesava nAmavAn

 (Meaning):  Lord Siva describes to Sriman NaarAyaNa the origin of the Kesava Naamam this way: " Ka is BrahmA's name; I am Isa , who rules over all the embodied beings with the command of You , the sarvalOka SaraNyan.Both of us (BrahmA and I) have been born out of Thy body and therfore Thou art known by the name of Kesavan"). The combination of Ka+Isa gives the name , "Kesava".

 3) Kesavaaya Nama: is the first of the 12 NaamAs  that a SrI VaishNavan utters , when adorning the 12 PuNDrams as VaishNava LakshaNam every day to remind him of the Lord's sacred feet . The PunDra SthAnam for Kesavan is the Forehead . His color is golden and He presides over the Eastern direction.His weapon is Sudarsanam /Chakram:

 "Chathus-cchakram namasyAmi Kesavam Kanaka-prabham"

 We invoke Him during our PuNDra DhAraNams on our foreheads. Kesava Moorthy adorns four chakrAyudham  in His Four hands.

 4) After Aachmanam , we touch twelve parts of our body with five right hand fingers . The first of them (anga nyAsam) is the touching of the right cheek (Kannam) with the right thumb and the salutation at that time is " (PraNavam) KesavAya Nama:" . Kesava Naamam takes precedence among the 12 salutations to the Lord.

 5) In the KesavAdhi TarpaNam during the SandhyA worship, the first salutation is " (PraNavam) Kesavam TarpayAmi".

 6) The importance of Kesava Naamam among the Twelve names of the Lord is pointed out by Swamy NammAzhwAr in ThiruvAimozhi's Panniru Naamap Paattu :

 KESAVAN tamar keezh mEl yemarEzhuezhu piRappum
 maasatirithu peRRu nammudai vaazhvu vaaykkinRavA
 Isanen karu-mANikkam yenn sEnkOlakkaNNan viNNOr
 Naayakan YempirAnammAn NaarAyaNanAlE

 --ThiruvAimozhi: 2.7.1

 (Meaning according to Dr.V.N.VedAntha Desikan Swamy): " My Lord , Cool like the blue gemstone , beautiful doyen of Nitya-Sooris , the Lord with red (lotus) eyes , NaarAyaNa , has made all , in my line, KesavA's servants. What a fine achievement for me , that I had never dreamt of, that seven generations previous, seven including me and seven succeeding , have all been transformed into true VaishNavAs.( The twelve names from Kesava to DaamOdhara are the names of the Urdhva PuNDrAs to be adorned by every SrI VaishNava . They are the insignia of a true VaishNava. Thus the designation of the Lord's men/BhAgavathAs ( Kesavan Tamar)is inseparably associated with this simple practise of adorning the upper torso with 12 nAmams , each corrsponding to one name of the Lord)".

 7) In the 7th ThiruppAvai Paasuram , Andal chides one of her beautiful friends , who is a leader of Her ghOshti (Naayaka PeNN PILLai) for not getting out of bed to open the front door although she is wide awake:

 "Naayaka PeNN PiLLAi NaarAyaNan Moorthy
 KESAVANAIP-Paadavum nee kEttO kidatthiyO
 tEsamudayAi ! thiRavElOrempAvAi"

 8) In Her NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi paasuram (NTM), Andal prays to Manmathan to assign Her to the Lord of ThiruvEnkatam :

 " Kesava Nambiyai kaal pidippAL yennum
   ippERenakku aruL kaNDAi--NTM: 1.8

 ( Oh ManmathA! Please bless me with the boon of pressing the sacred feet of Kesava Moorthy standing on top of the Seven Hills !)

 Thus in this First decad of NTM , Our Andal reveals the identity of VenkatanAthan, the Lord of Saptha Giri as the One with the dark blue tresses , who removes the distress (SamsAric afflictions) of all and who killedthe asuran named Kesi during KrishNAvathAram .




Donate by credit card via PayPal