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Sri Venkateswara Ashtotthram |
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41) HarayE SrI VenkatEsAya
nama:
This is one of the most popular
names the Lord sports.
The glory of this tirunamam can be
well understood from the fact that all Veda parayanam (recital) commences and
concludes with the intonation, "Hari:Om", revealing the secret that
Hari is indeed the beginning and end of all Vedic wisdom.
The Scripture tells us that Hari
is a destroyer, ("Harim harantam anuyanti Deva:"--Taittiriya
Aranyakam) who annihilates not only our sins but sinful thoughts too ("Hari:
harati papani, dushta chittairapi smrita:"). Just as a fire scorches us
whether or not we know its properties, the Hari nama too cleanses us of all
wrongdoing, whether or not we utter it with full realisation of its potency or
just as a joke.
In one of the slokams cited with respect to
Vaasudeva naama , the Vaamana puraaNam tells us that the Lord destroys all
sins
of His Bhakthaas:
DevadEvam SamaarAdhya ya upaasatE JanArdhanam
karOti asya saanidhyam Bhagavaan Adhi hrit Hari
SrInivaasa is also te Paramaathma , who at thie
end of this kalpam destroys all these worlds and universes including
exaltd beings
such as Brahma , Rudra et al. He is hence known as
Hari (the destroyer).
This nama is considered so
important that we are exhorted by Shastras to utter it seven times the moment
we wake up in the morning. Thus Hari nama sankeertanam is supposed to be the
very first act we should engage in. That this is a hoary practice is attested
by Sri Andal in Tiruppavai--" vellathhu aravil tuyil amarnda vittinai
ullatthu kondu munivargalum yogigalum
mella ezhundu ari endra peraravam
ullam pugundu kulirndelor empavai"
Like Sri Rama, Sri Krishna etc.,
Sri Hari too is an avatara of the Lord, taken for the express purpose of
providing succour to the beleagured elephant Gajendra, who was being
inexorably pulled into a pond by a crocodile. Thus Hari is the avatara who
answered the distress call of the elephant, addressed to the Primordial Cause
(Adimoolam).
The mere utterance of this tirunAmam confers upon the devotee such merit, as could be earned through philanthropic acts of unimaginable dimensions, performed at puNya kshEtrAs like VAraNaasI, KurukshEtram and NaimishAraNyam, says the Scripture. .VArANasyAm KurukshEtrE NaimishAraNya Eva cha datttam syAt tEna yEnOktam Hari: iti akshara dvayam..
Hari is a renowned specialist in destroying all our ills, physical and otherwise and is thus the ultimate in physicians, says Sage Vyasa--"oushadham Jahnavi toyam, vaidyo Narayano Hari:"
And what does Dr. Sri Hari look like? Just as we think of Sri Rama always with a bow at the ready, Sri Krishna with a flute in His hands, does Sri Hari have some special features? Yes, says the following sloka, describing His glorious form, resplendant with an arrow, a sceptre, the PAnchajanya shankha, the magnificent bow SArnga, a KEtaya to ward off opponents. missiles and the magnificent mace, KoumOdakI, with one palm held up in the comforting .abhaya mudrA., promising protection to all those who approach- .AbibhrANO rathAngam sharam asim abhayam shankha chApou sakEtou Hastai: koumOdakIm apyavatu Hari: asou amhasAm samhatEr na:.
And it is to this Sri Hari that Sri Nammazhwar pays the ultimate tribute, in the very last of his nectarine outpourings in Tiruvaimozhi. .avA ara soozh ariyai ayanai aranai alattri avA attru veedu pettra Kurugoor SatakOpan sonna. |