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Sri Venkateswara Ashtotthram |
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68) SridharAya SrI VenkatEsAya nama:
Salutations to Lord VenkatEsa , who bears SrI Devi
on His right chest as His lakshaNam ( mark of His defining identity)
!
It is this "Sridharatvam"
or the distinction of bearing Piraatti, which makes Srinivasa ever-merciful,
unmindful of our innumerable peccadilloes, extremely forgiving and
compassionate.
We find quite a few devatas in
the Hindu pantheon, affording exalted positions to their consorts.However,
there is none like the Lord of Lords, Narayana, who considers His Consort so
precious as to accomodate Her on His right chest. He is known thus as "Sridhara:".
In this sense, the Lord is an examplar as to how we ought to treat our
better halves.
It is this inseparable
association with His exalted Consort that confers upon the Lord an
unparallelled uniqueness, be it in bounties, prowess, supremacy, splendour
or mercy, say Acharyas. Sri Valmiki tells us that it is this Sridharatvam
that makes the Lord the Supreme Being that He is--"aprameyo hi tat tejo
yasya saa Janakaatmajaa".
It is not a one-sided
infatuation that the Lord has for Sri Mahalakshmi: She too is determined not
to undergo even a second's separation from the Lord and stays put on His
broad chest, says Sri Nammazhwar--"agalakillen irayum endru Alarmel
Mangai urai marba ! ". This line proves conclusively that
Sridharan is verily Tiruvenkatamudayan, for it is only He who sports His
Consorts, not one but two of them, on His broad and beautiful chest.
Azhwars make much of Sridhara,
with extremely moving eulogies, filled with love and devotion. Here are a
few samples--
"en Tirumagal ser maarvane!"
"nin vala maarbinil
vaazhgindra Mangaiyum pallaandu"
"Tirumaarban" etc.
This unique adornment of Sri
that the Lord sports on His chest, is the first to catch the eye of any
devotee, as Sri Peyaazhwar attests--"Tiru kanden, ponmeni kanden"--so
much so that the Lord's innumerable other physical attractions take a
backseat.
The Lord accomodates His Consort
on His chest, so that He could constantly savour the glances from Her
beautiful, deer-like eyes, says Sri Nammazhwar--"Maaney nokku
madavaalai maarbil vaitthaai Maadhavaa!"
Though the Lord is generally
said to have broad and beautiful lotus-like eyes, Sri Nammazhwar mentions
this as a unique attribute of Sridharan--"Siridharan, seyya taamarai
kanninan". His entire complexion in Sridhara roopam is that of a
glittering white lotus, says Swami Desikan--"ilangu ven taamarai menian".
Instead of the usual conch and discus, this Sridhara moorthi holds in His
four hands, four huge swords, intended to slice through our Karmic bonds
with ease . Swami Desikan tells us that these four sharp sceptres are meant
for choppig away the innumerable fears confront us--"pattayam
eerirandaalum bhayam arukkum" ( "Sridharam Pundareekaabham
chatushpattasam aashraye") .
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