gokulkr 1 Report post Posted July 16, 2009 First Three Alwars The first 3 alwars (Mudhal alwars) - Poigai, Bhutham and Pei Alwar met among themselves in Thirukkoviloor divyadesam. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gokulkr 1 Report post Posted July 18, 2009 Sudarsana-sata-nama stotra Lord Nrsimha is so exalted that even His nails are glorified by the Vaishnava acharyas! In the Sudarsana-sata-nama stotra of the Sri Vaishnava sampradaya, it is said that Lord Narayana's Sudarshana Chakra descended as the tusk of Varaha, the axe of Parasurama, and the nails of Nrsimha. In this way, the nails of Nrsimha accompany the Lord in His various avatars. Sri Madhavacharya worships the power of Lord Nrsimha's nails in his Nakha-Stuti. What follows is the Sanskrit, a word-for-word meaning, and English translation by Madhusudana Rao. (Note: The English translation as it appears here has been partially edited.) Nakha-Stuti - First Sloka pantu asman puruhuuta vairi balavat matanga madhyat ghata kumbi uchadri vipatana adikapatu pratyeka vajrayitabr "O Sri Nrsimha, who is omnipresent, may your nails protect me and others at all times. Just as a lion attacks powerful elephant groups and splits apart their heads with its nails and the vajrayudha (Indra's defense weapon) splits the highest mountains, in the similar way, the Asuras (who through the blessings of Sri Brahma, Rudra and the demigods) are like powerful exhilarating elephants who are easily killed by each of Sri Nrsimha's nails which are precious and powerful." Second Sloka prathatha shrimadkanteravasya sunakhara darita arati duura pradvastha dvanta shanta pravitata mansa bhavitah buribhagai "All demigods are devoted to and praying to this nail, which eliminates all bad elements in this world. They are very [devoted to] this nail as it will give all six senses of a brahman or devataas. This nail will even give complete knowledge and the gods will come out of the darkness (of ignorance). By praying to this nail, they will get peace and knowledge of all the qualities of Sri Hari." Third Sloka lakshmiikanta samantata kalayan opi eshita te samam pashyami naiv yah uttamavastu ataratah astama rasaha. "O Sri Nrsimha, who has Sri Lakshmi, there is no body equal to you. If there is any thing which is equal, it is 'astama rasa' the famous six essences. Similarly, there is nobody equal or uttama [more excellent] than you." Fourth Sloka yad roksha roksha utkara daksha netra kutila prant opita agni spurat khadhyotopama vishpulinga basita brahm esha shakra otkara "There are many Brahma's, many Rudra's, many Indra's and all of these and other demigods became ashes because of your smallest vision. Your vision is like the smallest firefly [a twinkling insect which glows in night], yet it has the brightness of the sun's rays." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gokulkr 1 Report post Posted July 22, 2009 Swayam Vyaktha sthalams Temples, which originates on itself are called as "Swayam vyaktha sthalam". Sri Rangam, Sri Mathura, Tirupathi, Salagramam, Naimisaranyam, Pushkar, Sri Mushnam and Thiru Narayanapuram are some of the Swayam Vyaktha Kshetrams. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gokulkr 1 Report post Posted July 23, 2009 Shodasaayudha Stotra This stotra further elaborates the greatness and glory of Sudarsana by singing about the weapons which Sudarsana wields. The first of them is Sudarsana itself (2) and the sixteenth is trisoolam (17). Sloka 18 invokes the protective grace of Sudarsana who is referred to as Shodasaayudha -- one who has 16 weapons. One peculiarity of this stotra is that all the slokas, 1 to 17, invoke protection of Sri Sudarsana on the listener -- May He protect you or confer auspiciousness on you and so on. It is believed that this stotram (possibly Sudarsanaashtakam too) was sung by Desika at Kanchipuram when he was told that at Tirupputkuzhi (about five miles from Kanchipuram) a fever was raging in epidemic form. His prayers made in this stotra were answered and the place was freed from the epidemic and people resettled there as before. This tradition explains why these two stotras, Sudarsanashtakam and Shodasaayudha Stotram, find a place next to Paramartha Stuti, which as we saw was a hymn in praise of the Perumal of that place. http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/acharyas/desika/stotras/pdf/shodasa.pdf Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites