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Thiruvallur Veeraraghavan
 The 60th Naamam of SrI VenkatEsa AshtOttharam:
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 Aartha-lOka-abhaya-pradhAya Nama:

 One who grants relief for those whose minds are filled with grief and He provides  them succour and freedom from fear .

 Having dealt with two of His magnificent  MudrAs (KaDi and Varada mudrAs) , now the third and most important mudrA from the view point of mortals is taken up, Viz., Abahaya MudrA.

 As extolled by the  VishNu Sahasra Naamam  " Bhaya Naasana: " , the Lord provides us freedom from all kinds of fears that besets us. The surrender to the Lord removes our fears as stated by Upanishad: " ata sO abhayam gatO bhavati ".

 As JitantE sthOthram describes our status full of fear:
 " aham bhIthOsmi DevEsa ! samsArEsmin bhayAvahE "

 The worst of the fear is about the future after the end of life here. Once we seek refuge in the Lord ,our fears are destroyed in a trice as pointed out by Thirumangai Mannan: "naman tamar seyyum vEdanaikku odungi nadinginEn --nATanE vandu un Thiruvadi adaintEn NaimisAraNyatthu YenthAi " ) I was frightened about the tortures of the Yama kinkarAs and therefore I sought refuge at Your feet to be spared of such sufferings, Oh My Lord of NaimisAraNyam ! ".

 Abhaya PradhAnam or providing assurance of protection is the core of His SaraNAgathy dharmam . With His uplifted right hand , Our Lord shows us the Abhaya Mudhrai and tells those , who surrender to Him not to worry anymore.

 He declares in Githai:

 PartithrANAya SaadhUnAm vinAsAya cha dhushkrutham Dharma samsTApanArTAya SambhavAmi yugE yugE

 ( For protection of the devout and for destructon of the sinners , who cause harm to My devotees and for establishing righteousness , I incarnate on this earth in all yugams).

 He is Sarva Loka SaraNyan ( Protector of all chEthanams) . Srimad RaamAyaNam known otherwise as SaraNAgathy Saasthram is replete with the Lord's granting of SaraNAgathy for those in distress . In Baala KaaNDam , He grants abhaya pradhAnam to DEvAs , SiddhAs and GhandarvAs. In AaraNya KaanDam , He provided abhaya pradhAnam to the sages ofthe DaNDakaa forest .He saved the offending Kaakam , when it fell at His feet after roaming the world for finding some one to protect him from Raama BhANam . Even if that offending crow deserved to be killed , the Lord forgave him once he sought refuge at His feet. He gave abhaya  pradhAnam to the monkey king, SugrIvan and crowned him later as the King of  KishkindhA. He offered protection to VibhIshaNan on the sea side and crowned him later as the king of Lankaa.

 The abhaya PradhAnam vow of Lord Raamachandraa is etched in RaamAyaNam:

 "mithrabhAvEna samprAptham na thyajEyam kaTamchana"

 (Meaning):  I will not abandon any one even if he feigns to be my friend (and hides his enimity)  as long as he has performed SaraNAgathy at my feet and sought my protection.Even if any danger will come to me by  protecting  him against any danger. I will not abandon him.

 "abhayam sarvabhUthEbhyO dhadhAmyEthath vratham Mama "

 (Meaning): My vow is to protect all the janthus from fear  once they sought My protection.




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