Resected U.Ve Swami Sadagopan: I was so elated by your explantion of "GO", I was expecting the continuation of your article with further explanation of "Puram". Did you already written the continuation? If so whether I missed it? If you have already written I would like to see it. Otherwise, I am expecting the same. I know you are busy writing so many topics, time is going to be your real problem. By the by your quotes that can be presented on convocation from vedhas and upanishads are mastepieces. Adiyaen Nerur S. Rajagopalan --- Sadagopan <sgopan@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > 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 > > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Friends. Fun. Try the all-new Yahoo! 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