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Sri Venkateswara Ashtotthram 

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Thiruppathi Srinivasan

  The 1st Naamam of SrI VenkatEsa AshtOttharam :
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  "SRI VENKATESAAYA NAMA:"= SALUTATIONS TO  THE LORD OF AUSPICOUS VENKATAM HILLS !

  The names of Tiruvenkatam-udayAn,ThiruvenkatatthAn ,  Venktapathi, Venkataachala-pathi , VenkataramaNan,  Venkata Raaghavan , Venkata Varaahan , Venkata KrishNan  arise from the links of the Lord to Thiruvenkatam  ( VenkatAdhri) hills . Venkatam hills have the power  to burn away all our sins and bless us with  the bliss of darsana souubhAgyam of the Lord standing on top of it.

  PurANic Significance of this Naama :
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  The sacred temple of Lord SrinivAsa is located on  the top most (Seventh ) peak of a group of hills in  today's Andhra PradEsh , which is revered as VenkatAdhri or Venkata hills . It is considered as the hill  resting on top of  the hoods of AdhisEshA . The sacred  feet of the Lord (VishNu Paadham ) are resting on VenkatAdhri Sikharam (crest/peak ) and that is why He is recognized as VenkatAdhri SikharAlaya KaaLamEgham ( the dark rainy cloud hued Lord on top of the Venkatam hills).

 Once upon a time , in a fierce competition involving the testing of   the strength of Vaayu and AdhisEshan , latter tied himself around the Ananda hills and Vaayu tried to blow that mountain away . Lord intervened in that powerful contest and suggested that AdhisEshan to let go of that mountain so that Vaayu can place it in the southern part of the country for the benefit of the BhakthAs to come and worship Him there. He also blessed AdhisEsha to carry that hill on his thousand hoods forever . Hence the hills below VenkatAdhri are known as
 SeshAdhri.

 Spiritual and Philosophic significance of Venkatesa Naamam
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 The first naama has deep philosophical and spiritual significance. The name Venkatam has been intrepreted as
 akshaya Isvaryam ( Eternal, imperishable Wealth ). All AzhwArs except the RanganAtha pathivrathai
 (ThoNDaradippodi AzhwAr) have performed their MangaLAsAsanams (eulogies ) of this Eternal Isvaryam with a total of 202 Paasurams. His unique Isvaryam is that of being SarvalOka SaraNyan( Refuge for the entire world ).

 SrI Venkatesa Naamam /manthram in His SuprabhAtham
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 Among the 29 slOkams Of Thirumalai SuprabhAtham , Lord of Thirumalai is addressed 14 times as
 Venkatachala-pathi (SrI VenkatAchalapathE ! Tava  SuprabhAtham ).

 SrI Venkatesa Naamam/Manthram in Venkatesa SthOthram
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 After wishing the Lord of Venkatam an auspicious dawn, SrI VenkatEsa SthOthram salutes the Akshaya Nidhi ( undepletable treasure) standing on top of the Venkatam hills through a moving slOkam :

 VinA VenkatEsam na NaaTO na NaaTa:
 SadhA VenkatEsam SmarAmi SmarAmi
 HarE! Venkatesa! praseedha praseedha
 Priyam Venkatesa ! prayaccha prayaccha

 --Sri VenkatEsa SthOthram: 9th SlOkam

 (Meaning): There is no Lord for me other than  VenkatEsa . I will always remember and reflect on Him . Oh Hari! Oh VenkatEsA ! May Thou be  pleased (with my imperfect aarAdhanam).May Thou  shower me with the undecaying Isvaryam of  Moksha Sukham (bliss of freedom from the cycles of  births and deaths) and Nithya Kaimkaryam ( eternal service  to You as the Lord of SrI Vaikuntam)!

 SrI VenkatEsa Naamam/Manthram in VenkatEsa Prapatthi
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 Fourteen of the Sixteen SrI VenkatEsa Prapathti slOkams conclude with a moving surrender at the holy feet of  Sri VenkatEsan : " Sri VenkatEsa Charanou SaraNam PrapadhyE " . One of the Prapatthi slOkam refers to the sacred feet of the Lord being hailed in Rg Vedam as the most exalted (VishNO: ParamE padhE )and as the fountain of honey ( Yau Madhva uthsa ) and as the most enjoyable.

 Those Thiruvadis of Lord VenkatEsa are the objects of moving surrender ( Prapatthi) as revealed in another VenktEsa Prapatthi SlOkam :

 SrIman ! KrupA-jalanidhE! Kritha-sarvalOka!
 Sarvaj~na! Saktha! Nathavathsala! Sarvaseshin!
 SwAmin! Suseela-Sulabha Asritha-PaarijAtha!
 SRIVENKATESA CHARANOU SaraNam prapadhyE

 (Meaning): Oh the consort of the most auspicious SrI Devi! Oh Ocean of Compassion! Oh the Creator of all the worlds and their beings ! Oh Omniscient One! Oh the Omnipotent One! Oh the Lord filled with DayA for those , who prostrate before You! Oh the Lord of the chEthanAms and achEthnams! Oh the easy object of attainment by people of righteous conduct ! Oh boon granting KalpakA tree for those , who seek Your refuge ! Oh VenkatesA ! I perform Prapatthi at Your holy feet.

 SrI VenkatEsa Naamam/Manthram in VenkatEsa Managalam
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 There are 14 slOkams in SrI VenkatEsa MangaLam. Ten out of the 14 slOkams celebrate the VenkatEsa
 Naama Maahthmyam . Here are selected examples :

 ChakshushE sarva-lOkAnAm VenkatEsAya MangaLam (MangaLam to Lord VenkatEsa , who is the eye of
 all the worlds)...SlOkam 2

 SarvAntarAthmanE Srimath VenkatEsAya MangaLam (MangaLam to Sri VenkatEsa , who is the indweller
 of All )..SlOkam 5

 SulabhAya SushIlAya VenkatesAya mangaLam ( MangaLam to Sri VenkatEsa , who is easily
 accessible to His devotees and is known for His noble GuNAs)..SlOkam 6

 prayunjE ParatatthvAya VenkatEsAya MangaLam ( Mangalam to VenkatEsa , who is the Supreme
 principle with no equals or superiors)..SlOkam 7

 atrupthyamrutha-roopAya VenkatEsAya MangaLam ( Auspiciousness to VenkatEsa , whose enchanting form
  is like the insatiable nectar to the ChEthanams)..SlOkam 8

 prAya: sva-charanou pumsAm saraNyathvEna
paaNinA KrupayA disathE SrImadh-VenkatEsAya MangaLam
 ( May MangaLam be to Sri VenkatEsa , who with His right hand indicates His Feet , as the sole refuge to
 all human beings)...SlOkam 9

 apAngai: sinjathE visvam VenkatEsAya MangaLam ( MangaLam to VenkatEsa , who moistens/nourishes
 the universe with His rejuvenating glances)..SlOkam 10.

 SarvArthi-samanAyAsthu VenkatEsAya MangaLam ( May auspiciousness be to VenkatEsa , who subdues
 all the three kinds of afflictions /taapa thrayam )... SlOkam 11

 SrI Vaikunta VirakthAya Swami pushkariNee-taDE
 RamayA RamamAnAya VenkatesAya MangaLam
 ( MangaLam to SrI VenkatEsA , who gave up His  fondness for SrI Vaikuntam in favor of sporting
 with LakshmI on the banks of Swami PushkariNi at Thirumala) !......SlOkam 12

 The celebration of VenkatEsa Naamam by the AzhwArs
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 AzhwArs celebrate SrI VenkatEsa Tatthvam , His Soundharyam and GuNAdhisayams through 200 plus Paasurams and lose themselves in those delectable anubhavams. For the sake of brevity , we will quote selected examples from their divine Paasurams:

 PeriyAzhwAr salutes Him as " Vitthahan VenkatavANan (all powerful Magician , the Lord of ThiruvEnkatam), Minnu  MudiyAn , MinnalankAran ( One with resplendent crown), Veda PoruL ( the inner meanings of the VedAs) , Ulahu tannai Vaazha ninRa Nambi ( The great One , who is the cause for the existence and thriving of the world ) .

 AndaL , the daughter of PeriyAzhwAr loses Herself in the beauty and majesty of the agni-spitting chakram that rotates in the right hand of the Lord ( VeyyathOr Tazhal umizhum Chakkarakkai Venkatavan) and the Pure white Conch on the left hand  ( VeLLai ViLi Sankidankayyir  KoNDa Vimalan).

 She loses Herself also in the beauty of His seven hills (TeNNeer Paay Venkatatthen ThirumAl) and says that She will wait for Him to come before Her and keep Her soul together with Her body through reciting His Govindha Naamam ( KuLir aruvi Venkatatthen Govindhan GuNam Paadi --aavi KaatthiruppEnE).

 She loses Herself over the beauy of the Lord and with great affection and describes Him as "AzhagappirAnAr"  and salutes  MahA Lakshmi residing on His chest and giving Him the name of SrInivAsan ( Venkatatthut-tannAhat-Thirumangai tangiya seer mArvan ).

 KulasEkhara AzhwAr wants to be near Him by taking the form of any thing appropriate to enjoy Him on His golden hills ( SempavaLa VaayAn ThiruvEnkadamennum EmperumAn ponn malai mEl yEthEnum aavEnE ). This AzhwAr locks in to the VenkatEsa Tatthvam through the Paasura Vaakyam : " chediyAya Vall vinaikaL theerkkum ThirumAlE ! NediyAnE VenkatavA ). KulasEkharar reminds us that this Lord towering over the seven hills is the One , who destroys utterly even the most heinous of sins.

 Thirumazhisai AzhwAr states that the Venkatam hills are those , which burn away all the sins and recommends us to go to Venkatam hills and worship the Lord to recieve that anugraham ( senRu VaNaguminO sENyuar Venaktatthai , ninRu Vinai kedukkum Neermayaal) .This AzhwAr points out that the Venkatam Hills is the abode of the Lord , who comes to the rescue of the worshipping DevAs by destroying the asurAs with His fierce ChakrAyudham  and banishes totally all the sins of those , who prostrate before Him ( VenkatamE mey vinai nOy theerpathuvum).

 Thirumnagai AzhwAr introduces Him to us as " PiRappaRukkum PirAn" or the One who destroys the cycles of births and deaths and grants us Moksham. Elsewhere , Thirumangai says: " Immamnisap-piRaviyai nOkki, TannAkki TanninaruL seyyum Talaivan" ( He takes pity on our human births full of sufferings and grants us MOksham and grants all His kalyANa guNams to us as the Supreme Master).

 The three Mudhal AzhwArs attest to the Lord of ThiruvEnkatam residing permanently in their heart cavities ( ManatthuLLAn VenkatatthAn, VeLLattharuvi ViLangoli neer VenkatatthAn uLLatthinuLLEuLan) .

 Swamy NammAzhwAr pays moving tribute to ThiruvEnkatatthAn in Thiruviruttham , ThiruvAimozhi and Periya ThiruvandhAthi . AzhwAr identifies with SrI VenkatEsan as his Mother, Father  and his life itself and submits  that he can not ever leave Him now that he has gained Him ( Thiruvaimozhi 2.6.10): ( Thaay Tanthai uyir aahinRAy Unnai naan adainthEn viduvEnO?).

 In ThiruvAimozhi (3.3.1), Swamy NammAzhwAr states that the greatest goal of life should be to stay close to the Lord of ThiruvEnkatam and serve Him at all times , without any gap or flaw and with no thought of other things in mind ( Ozhivil Kaalam yellAm udanAi manni vazhuvilA adimaiseyya  VeNDum nAmm ).We should perform Kaimkaryams for the Lord for the Kaimkaryam's sake alone.We should perform that Kaimkaryam and establish our Seshathvam since we are subservient to Him  at all times. In this decad on  ThiruvenkatamudayAn, Swamy NammAzhwAr avers that ThiruvEnkatam temple is equivalent to SrI Vaikuntam since the Nithyasooris led by  VishvaksEna come to Thiruvenkatam to serve Him  there . Next , AzhwAr saultes  the Lord's ease of access by all(Soulabhyam)  be they a great Devotee or a nomadic tribal . His magnanimous  Dayaa  towards   those who seek His protection is praised by  the AzhwAr  this way : He stands there permanently even today, waiting for  protection  of seekers unmindful of the merits of the  person , not  satisfied even when  hosts of souls reach  Him and are to be redeemed .   His  simplicity and  magnanimous guNams are His greatest virtues that really mark Him  out ."

 ThiruvAimozhi 3.3.6 Paasuram on the Lord of Seven hills reveals the significance of  reciting  Sri  VenkatEsa Manthram :

 VenkatangaL MeymEl  Vinai  MuRRavum
 AngaL Tangatkku nallanavE seyvAr
 Venkatatthu uRaivArkku NAMAVENNAL
 AANGKADAMAI ATHU SUMANTHAARKATKKE

 When we utter " NamO VenkatEsAya", all the sins are burnt like cotton thrown in the fire. This is due to the power of UpAya anushtAnam . The subsequent Paapams wont get attached to him. This fact is emphasized by Brahma Soothram ( IV.1.13): Tadhadhigama utthara-poorvAgayO: aslEsha vinAsou--"
 Here the Soothram is referring  to the fruits of meditation on Brahman The result is that all previous sins are destroyed and the subsequent Sins  do not cling to the Jeevan.The meditation on the Supreme Brahman with His manthram ( NamO VenkatEsAya) destroys the displeasure of the Lord produced by the sins accumulated by the Jeevan before meditation and that paves the way for His limitless grace and removal of all sins .Through the just utterance of His Manthram( Ukthi Maathram) , He takes care of the rest . Past sins are burnt and future sins do not cling . The Lord of ThiruvEnakatam sees to that .With devoted service to him  and recitation of His Manthram with svaroopa Jn~Anam , we are assured of  Moksham by the Lord of Venkatam hills.

 AzhwAr instructs us to get to the ThiruvEnaktam hills before old age or disease disables us (yeythu iLaippathin munnam adaiminE). Even if we get to the bottom of His sacred hills and are unable to proceed higher, the  Lord will fell the cycles of births and deaths along with old age and disability  as long as we meditate on Him and His lotus feet through the utterance of  His manthram and meditation on Him:

 Ooya moopup-piRap-piRappup-piNi
 veeyumARu seyvAn ThiruvenkatatthAyan
 NaaNNmalarAm aditthAmarai
 vAyuLLUm manatthuLLUm vaippArhatkkE

 The individual salutations of Swamy NammAzhwAr to SrI VenkatEsa are nectarine anubhavams of a great soul steeped in Bahgavath Bhakthi. Here are some  examples:

 " anthamil Puhazh kaar yezhil ANNal" ( The most beautiful Lord with   limitless glory ).

  " Aadhi Moorthy " ( the primordial Lord)

  " Paran senRu sEr ThiruvEnkata Maamalai
    onRumE thozha namm vinai OoyumE"

 ( If we worship the ThiruvEnkatam hills reached by   the Supreme Lord , all of our sins would disappear).

  " PaNN pudai Vedam payantha Paran" ( The Supreme One who blessed    BrahmA with the Vedams as Lord HayagrIvan) .

  " TilathamulahukkAi ninRa ThiruvEnkatatthemperumAnE "
  ( The Lord of ThiruvEnkatam , who shines as the Tilakam    for the world ).

  "Naal ThOLamudhE YenathAruyirE " ( Oh Lord with four beautiful   shoulders and my life itself ).

  " ThirumAmahaL kELvA ( Oh SrInivAsa , Lord of MahA Lakshmi )

  " YeNNam Puhunthu titthikkum amudhE  ImayOr adhipathiyE"
    ( Oh Lord of DevAs who enters my thoughts and delight me      like the nectar ).

  " Sanku Vill VaaL TaNDu ChakkarakkaiyA " ( Oh Lord with the weapons     of Conch, Bow, Sword , Mace and Disc in Your hands ).

  " ThirunEmi ValavA DeivakkOmAnE" ( Oh Divine Lord with the Chakram     on Your upper right hand).

  " SediyAr VinaikaL theer marunnthE ThiruvEnakatatthemperumAnE "
    ( Oh Lord of ThiruvEnkatam , who is the oushadham /medicine for       the cruel VinaikaL).

   Why such a celebration of VenkatEsa Naamam ?
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   The First AshtOttharam is " (PraNavam) VenkatEsAya Nama:".  One may wonder why there is such a celebration of this VenkatEsa  Naamam in His SuprabhAtham , SthOthram , Prapatthi ,  MangaLam  PurANam and dhivya Prabhandhams . The reason is because  this first nAmam  is  the most powerful SrI VenkatEsa manthram:  " (PraNavam) namO VenkatEsAya ". This First AshtOttharam is  thus the most appropriate and auspicious start and confers  MangaLams on all the reciters .

  VenkatEsan is the Lord of VenkatAdhri or Venkata Giri.  The significance of that Giri (Hill ) has been revealed
   to us by Sawmy Desikan in the very first slOkam of his   famous SrI DayA Sathakam:

  PrapadhyE thamm GIRIM prAya: SrInivAsaanukampayA
  IkshusArasravanthyEva yannmUrthyA sarkarAyitham

 (Meaning): AdiyEn performs Prapatthi at the Sacred hills of  VenkatAdhri , which is the crystalized version of  the flood of cane sugar juice representing the Dayaa  guNam of Lord SrinivAsan . The limitless compassion of  Lord SrInivAsan flows swiftly as a flood to reach  His devotees.That compassion of the Lord is most  enjoyable.That compassion is like a river of cane  juice. That cane juice has transformed  ultimately in to  the sweetest rock candy to be enjoyed by His BhakthAs .  That rock candy takes the form of VenkatAdhri , which  bears the trespasses of the chEthanams and grants  all the desired boons sought by the BhakthAs.

   Such is the MahAthmyam of the First AshtOtthara   nAmam of SrI VenkatEsa !




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