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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00147 Oct 2003

 
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SrI:
SrImathE Nigamantha Mahadesikaya namah:
SrImAn venkatanAthAryaH kavitArkika kesarI |
vedAntAcArya-varyo me sannidhattAm sadA hRdi ||

May the glorious Venkatanatha, the greatest of teachers of Vedanta, and the 
lion among poets and debaters, reside forever in my heart.

Dearest Srivaishnavas,
Let us begin to enjoy the sthOthra granthas of Swamy Desikan [in 
alphabetical order]
Dehaleesa-Stuti -Hymn on the Lord in the Dehali

Dehaleesa-sruti is a stotra in twenty-eight verses on Lord Trivikrama in the 
shrine Tirukkovalur,  ?(Gopapuri)?, near Villupuram in South India. There is 
an interesting tradition about this shrine which reveals how Bhagavan chose 
to manifest Himself in an invisible form in the corridor of a small house to 
the three Alwars in their midst and get crushed, to give birth to the hymns 
of the Divya-prabandha.

  The tradition is: In the beginning of Kali-yuga, there were three great 
saints Poigai Alwar, BhootatthAlwar, and pEy Alwar born in consecutive days 
in the month of Tulaa (November-December) in South India. Being god-minded, 
they went from one holy place to another each in his own way thinking of God 
and worshipping Him. Once it so happened by the will of God that all three 
reached Tiru-k-kovalur near Villupuram. It was a pitch-dark night and it was 
raining. There was a small house with a narrow dEhaLI (corridor)and they got 
into it one after another. There was space there just enough for one to lie 
down, two to sit and three to stand. Being of identical nature, they stood 
there close to each other with thoughts of Bhagavan. After some time, they 
felt a pressure in their body as though someone has got into their midst and 
was pressing them. They wanted to light a lamp and dispel the darkness to 
find out who that invisible person might be.

  The first of the Alwars, Poigai Alwar, lit a wonderful lamp. The entire 
world was the basin, the waters of the vast ocean were the ghee and the 
blazing sun was the wick of the lamp. By this light in the form of a garland 
of words to adorn the Lord?s feet the external darkness was dispelled.

  The second Alwar, BhootatthAlwar lit a lamp of knowledge for which love 
was the basin, ardor was the ghee and the joyful thought was the wick. By 
this emotional and psychic light? the internal darkness of the heart was 
dispelled. When the darkness, external and internal was driven away, the 
third alwar, PEy AlwAr, jumped with joy singing, ?Thiruk kaNdEn pon mEni 
kaNdEn [Lakshmi have I seen, the golden-hued Dhivya mangaLa vigraha of the 
Lord have I seen.]?. The world became blessed with three centuries of 
devotional hymns which were the first three of the twenty-four ballads known 
as four-thousand Divya-prabandham  sung by the ten and two ?Alwars? for the 
enjoyment of all here and in Paramapada.

The ?Mudal Alwars? (the first three Alwars) are referred by the name of 
?Aadi-Bhakthaih?(27) in Dehaleesa-stuti and slokas 14-18 describe how they 
were blessed by the Lord. Paramatma also gets two new names-Dehalee-isa (the 
Lord of the corridor) and ?Bhaktopamarda-rasika? (He who enjoys the spicy 
pressure of devout saints).

The charming figure of Trivikrama Bhagavan is beautifully described in 
several moving slokas. When Bhagavan goes to the sacrificial hall of 
Mahabali, he is Vamana (Dwarf) as a Bachelor (Brahmacari). Lakshmi, on His 
chest is inseparable and He tries to conceal Her presence with a broad 
deer-skin worn as sacred thread. When He raises His foot to measure the 
worlds high above, the leg is described as a beautiful flag-post with the 
divine river Mandakini as the waving banner-indicating probably his own 
victorious visits as well as proclaiming the charitable and magnanimous 
nature of the demon Mahabali.

One unique feature of Bhagavan Trivikrama in the temple is that he holds the 
conch in the right hand and the discus in the left.

Sloka 27 of this Stotra is put at the end of Sac-carritraraksha, another 
work of Sri Desika.
Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Regards
Namo narayana
dAsan
kavi-tArkika-simhAya kalyANa-guNa-SAline |
Srimate venkateSAya vedAntagurave namaH ||

Salutations to Sri Venkatesa, in whom all perfections reside, who is the 
teacher of Vedanta and the lion among poets and debaters

PS: The summary of these 28 sthOthrAs are reproduced from the book "the Life 
and works of Sri Nigamantha Mahadesikan- by  Prof Sri A Srinivasaraghavan- 
typed by my wife Smt Brindha and as dictated by 8 year old daughter 
SowbhAgyavathy Harini- as they too wished to take part in this kaimkaryam 
for Acharya saarvabhouman.

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