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Gunaseelam Srinivasan
 The 2nd Naamam of SrI VenkatEsa AshtOttharam:
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   " SRIVAASAAYA NAMA:" = SALUTATIONS TO   THE LORD , WHO IS THE ABODE OF SRI DEVI

    This is the same as the 609th Sri VishNu Sahasra Naamam .

    Swamy ParAsara Bhattar comments that Lord VishNu   (Venkatesa) is forever with Her (SrI Devi). She is    His "Nithya SrI". He is the Nandavanam (UdhyAnam/    Garden) of Kalpaka trees , where SrI Devi is forever    sporting according to Her pleasure. She loves to    sport with the Lord on the banks of Swami PushkariNi.    He is the ground /abode for those sports for Her.    She will never be found outside that abode ,    the Vakshasthalam of the Lord (the chest region) ,    Her sporting ground .

    Additional Comments
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    The First AshtOtthara Naamam celebrated the Sri VenkatEsa    manthram . The second Naamam celebrates the SrInivAsa Tatthvam.    Swamy NammAzhwAr's famous ThiruvAimozhi Paasuram    is to be linked here:

    ahalahillEn iRayum yenralarmEl Mangai uRai MaarbhA !
    niharil puhazhAy ! UlahamUnRudayAi yennai ALvAnE !
    niharil amarar munik kaNangaL virumpum THIRUVENAKTATTHAANE
    PuhalonRillA adiyEn unnadikkeezhamarnthu puhunthEnE
    -- ThiruvAimozhi: 6.10.10

    (Meaning according to Dr.V.N.Vedantha Desikan Swamy):

    " Not even for a moment  will I leave this seat of mine "    says Alarmel Mangai ( MahA Lakshmi/SrI Devi ). That She is    always on Your chest is reassuring to me. Your reputation of    Qualities is matchless. The three worlds are Yours. You have    enslaved me. I have adopted You as my Master for all times .    You are the unequalled Master since this relationship is    not conditioned by any circumstance .Great sages , who have    no match and devAs and nithyasooris come all the way to    this place to worship You , Oh Lord of ThiruvEnaktam !    I , who have no other prop to cling to , humbly surrendered    myself at Your feet and there I remained protected by You".

    Earlier AchAryAs have commented extensively on    the deep links of  this paasuram with the most Sacred Dhvaya    Manthram and PurushakAram( intercession ) of SrI Devi on    our behalf with Her Lord  as well as the presence of Her(SrI  Devi )    both during the UpAya dasai  ( enactment of the means) and UpEya Dasai   (prayer for Moksham as  PurushArtham ) at the time of surrender to    the divine couple. She intercedes on our behalf and pleads with Her   Lord  to  forgive our trespasses and then is again, She is there with    Her     Lord  when Prapatthi is performed and accepts it along with    Her husband  as     His  SahadharmachAriNi.

    SrI VishNu PurANam recognizes Her presence on the Lord's    chest always as Nithya SrI : " VishNO: yEsha anapAyini ".    AnapAyini means inseparable (ahalahillEn iRayum yenRu    AlarmEl MangayuRai Maarbhan is SrIvAsan or SrinivAsan).    Lord SrinivAsan follows the hints arising from the movements    of His SrI Devi's brows and performs His protective duites    accordingly . So says KurEsar in SrI Sthavam:

    " YasyA Veekshya Mukham tadhihithaparAdhInO vidhatthE    akhilam ". He is completely under Her sway (Ingitha ParAdhInan).    The Lord of Venkatam goes about His duties of Creation, Protection,    Destruction of the universe (Jagath VyApAra leelais) , granting of    Svarga vaasam or naraka Vaasam or Vaikunta Vaasam and all other    activities     by taking the hints from the movement of SrI Devi's    brows. That is why     She has to be there always on His chest to help    Him and participate in the joy of the conductance of the Jagath-    VyApArams. Vedam says that She is present with Him even during    the time of  PraLyam as "SvadhA Devi" ,  which is another name for    Sri Devi:  " aanIdhavAdhag SvadhayA  TadhEkam ".

    For our SaraNAgathi to become fruitful , Her inseparable    presence with Her Lord is essential. Vedam again says that    She is the object of His (Lord's) Preethi and as such She is    inseparable from Him : " Sriyam lOkE DevajushtAm UdhArAm ".    Devan here is the ParamAthmA , SrInivAsan/SrIvAsan.    Lord SrinivAsan and AlarmEl Mangai are Saha-dharmachAris.    They stay inseparable and grant the PurushArTam (ultimate    goal of life) , Moksham for SaraNAgathAs: "LakshmyA saha Hrushee    DevyA KaaruNyaroopyA ! Rakshaka: sarvasiddhAnthE ".

   She is a DEFINING MARK  for Her Lord . In fact , it is Her presence   that conclusively identifies Her Lord to us ; as such She is the "   Svaroopa  nirUpaka dharmam " , without whom we would be groping    in the dark in our search for the Parama Purushan . Just as His lotus    eyes  , it is Sriya: Pathithvam that reveals Him as the ultimate One   ( tiru illA dhevarai  tErElmin dEvu).

  Swamy NammAzhwAr instructs us about this inseparable  Dhivya dampathis blessing us (their children) with
  MokshAnugraham:

   " oNDodiyAL ThirumahaLum ThaanumAhi oru ninaivAl    eenRa uyirellAm uyya " ( They have taken this sankalpam    to redeem us together ).

    There are many cross correlations to the Second Naamam    of "SrIvAsan " in Dhivya prabhandhams:

    1."panthirukkum melviralAL Paavai PanimalarAL     vanthu irukkum Maaravan " --Periya Thrumozhi:2.2.9

    The key words are " Vanthu-irukkum Maarbhan ". She elected    to stay on His Chest after  coming out of the Milky Ocean .    ParAsara Maharishi states in VishNu PurANam that She took    permanent residence at the Lord's Chest as the DevAs were    watching ( PasyathAm Sarva-dEvAnAm yaTou vakshasthalam HarE:) .    She defined Her Lord through Her presence and stays on His chest as    anapAyini. As indicated earlier , She is His LakshaNam ,     the defining mark .

   From that  seat  and together with Her Lord, She does SaraNAgatha   rakshanam  through  participation as saha-dharmachAriNi in the Yag~nam   of  SaraNAgathi.

    Swamy Desikan explains this tatthvam to us in    the fifth slOkam of ParamArTa Sthuthi:  The Periya PirAtti    is Your Dharma Pathni, who never ever leaves Your side.    Oh Lord ! Your GuNams like dayA are the helping adhikAris    (Rthviks) in that Yag~nam.This yag~nam focusing on the    protection of those , who seek Your RakshaNam is a very long    and ancient one. As per the Yoga Soothram defining pathni    ( pathyunou Yag~nya SamyOgE ) , Your consort , SrI Devi takes    equal part in that SaraNAgathi Yaagam and gives the Phalan (fruits    of that Yag~nyam) .The pramANam for PirAtti's PurushakAra   function is " vEri mArAda poo mEl iruppAL vinai theerkkumE".   The PramANam for the Piratti's presence during the UpAya dasai is from   SrImad RaamAyaNam : "sa BhrAthu: charaNou gaadam nipeedya   Raghunandana: ". The other PramANam is from dhivya Prabhandham:   " on toddiyAL ThirumagaLum neeyum nilA nirpa , kaNda sadir kandu   ozhindEn adaindEn unn ThiruvadiyE ".

    Through the second naamam of "SrIvAsAya nama:" ,    we are reminded of the Lakshmi Tatthvam and    our duty to celebrate Her Lord as the abode of    the Sarva MangaLa dhAyaka SrI Devi:

    Sarva-kAma-pradhAm RamyAm samsArArNava-taaRiNIm
    Kshipra-prasAdhinIm LakshmIm SaraNyAm anuchinthayEth

    (Meaning): We should reflect upon SrI Devi , who is    the grantor of all desires quickly and is beautiful.    She gets us across the ocean of SamsAram and She is    the Sarva-lOka -SaraNyai).

   Replying to the doubts as to the lack of widespread and specific   mention by the name of Sri in the Sruthi (Vedam) , AchArya RaamAnujA   is reported to have said " PerumALai sonna idam yellAm   PirAttiyaiyum sonnasAyittru" (Wherever Lord is mentioned ,   PirAtti is also included there ). Swamy ParAsara Bhattar   echoes this sentiment in a Passage in of his GuNa Rathna Kosam:   " tat antarbhAvAt na tvaam prithak abhidattE Sruthirapi".

    She confers thus the name of "SrIvAsan" on Her Lord    through Her eternal presence on His chest .



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