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Sri Venkateswara Ashtotthram 

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Thiruppathi Brahmothsavam
72) Srikaraaya nama:
 
This tirunaamam occurs in the 65th sloka of Sri Vishnusahasranamam.
 
The Lord of Seven Hills is renowned for showering on His devotees all that is auspicious, be it wealth, wisdom, longevity or spiritual solace. All that is good is represented by the word "Sri:" and one who blesses His votaries with the best of everything is "Sreekara:".
 
There is apparently no limit to the bounties the Lord blesses us with. According to Swami Desikan, even after showering the devotee with all auspicous things in His possession, the Lord feels that He has done precious little for the devotee--"tamadu anaitthum avar tamakku vazhangium taam miga vilangum amaivudaya Arulaalar".
 
There are any number of examples for the Lord's Sreekaratvam. He transformed the penniless Kuchela into an extremely wealthy person overnight, all in return for a fistful of "aval". He raised Sri Dhruva from the sorry state of a prince spurned by his own father, to the exalted position of the Pole Star, reigning the skies with splendour. He furnished the beleagured Draupati with a copious supply of cloth, saving her modesty from being outraged by Ducchaasana. He arranged for the Pandava princes, driven from their own land, to become rulers of Hastinapura, through a bloody battle which eliminated much of the riff-raff of the royal clan which was plaguing the world.
 
The aforesaid is the ordinary purport of "Sreekara:". The Sahasranama nirukti slokas furnish a more interesting meaning for the word--
 
"Vyuhaadishu avataareshu svaanuroopaam karoti taam
 Shriyam ya: asou Shreekara: syaat munyarna: Shreekaro manu:"
 
The Lord is so enamoured of His Consort Sri, that He arranges for Her to be born along with Him in all His avataaraas too, assuming forms appropriate to His own. When He is born as the Magnificent Monarch Sri Rama, She too takes birth as the daughter of an equally great king, Sri Janaka, equal to and complementing Him in every way. During the Krishnavatara, She is born as Rukmini, ideally suited to Him in all respects. And so on. It is this trait of the Lord, in ensuring the accompaniment of His Consort in all His avataaraas, that makes Him "Sreekara:".
 
This interpretation of the term is ideally suited to Srinivasa too, as He arranged for Sri Padmavati to be born as the daughter of Akaasha Raaja and wed Her at the earliest opportunity, making HIm a real "Srinivasa" (abode of Sri or Mahalakshmi).



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