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Sri Venkateswara Ashtotthram 

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Thiruvananthapuram Ananatha Padmanaabhan
13) PadmanAbhAya nama:
 
Like the rest of His glorious tirumEni, the Lord's navel too resembles a  beautiful lotus.
 
The Lotus Connection doesn't stop there, for from the navel emerges
a creeper with a lotus in full bloom at its end. And on this lotus sits
the Chaturmukha BrahmA (hence the name "Padmabhoo:"), charged by
the Lord with the nuts and bolts of Creation.
 
It is thus the Lord's navel which is the Primordial Cause of all Creation.
"ayanai padaittha naLir mA malar undi" enthuse Azhwars, eulogising
the lotus-navelled Emperuman.
 
Looking at the number of names of Sri Mahalakshmi associated with
the lotus ("Padma priyE, Padmini, Padma hastE, PadmAlayE,
PadmadalAyatAkshI, PadmagandhinIm, PadmavarNAm") etc.,
it is quite natural for Her insepareble Consort too to be a PadmanAbha.
 
This Lord is matchless in magnificence and unparallelled in prowess,
says Sri Nammazhwar--"ParpanAbhan, uyarvara uyarum perum tiralOn".
 
Commenting on other unique features of this Emperuman, Swami Desikan
tells us that His tirumEni resembles a thousand Suns blazing away at their
peak--"Vem pon Kadiravan Ayiram mEviya mey uruvAi".
 
This is borne out by the PanchAyudha StOtra, which salutes Him as
"SahasrArkka sama prabha:".
 
He holds five brilliant weapons in His four hands glowing like beaten gold
--the Chakram, Shankham, Sceptre, Bow and the GadA.
 
It is this Lord whose name we utter when wearing Urdhva Pundram (TirumaN)
in the middle of our back. This Lord is ever present in our hridaya kamalam
(the lotus-shaped heart)--"hrith padmE PadmanAbhO mE sahasrArkka sama prabha:" 



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