Agastya ate Vatapi - Vedic Food For Thought - Part 3

Did Brahmins Eat Meat?

 

In Yesterday’s post I had mentioned about the requirements of following a vegetarian diet in order to embark on the spiritual path. The Puranas tell us that Sage Agastya ate a goat. This has led most people to believe that in ancient times, Brahmins were allowed to eat meat. Let us examine the legend about Sage Agastya to see if this was the case.

 

Legend of Agastya: 

Sage Agastya spent all his time meditating. Once he was met by his departed ancestors. His ancestors asked him to marry and have a son so that Sage Agastya could fulfill his debts to them.

The Sage was unable to find a suitable woman. He then created a beautiful woman out of everything that was good in this Universe.  He made it possible for this lady to take birth as the  daughter of Satyavati the wife of the King of Vidharbha. When the girl came of age, Sage Agastya asked her hand in marriage. The king afraid of being cursed by the Sage if he refused gave his daughter, Lopamudra in marriage to Sage Agastya.

As the Sage was a mendicant, Lopamudra requested the Sage to seek wealth so that they could start a family. The Sage approached three kings successively for wealth. The kings were called as Srutarvan , Bradhnasva, and Trasndasyu. Upon examining their account books the Sage found out that their income and expenditures were balanced. The kings did not have any funds in the treasury to donate to the Sage. The Sage then took the Kings with him to seek alms from a Dhanava called Ilvala. The Dhanava hated Brahmins as he had requested some Brahmins to bless him with a son equal to Indra and they had refused. Ilvala’s brother Vatapi had the powers to transform himself into a goat. Ilvala cooked Vatapi as food for the Brahmins and after they had eaten, Ilvala would call Vatapi to come out of their bellies. Upon hearing the words of Ilvala, the dead Vatapi would become alive. He would tear the stomachs of the Brahmins to come out thus killing the Brahmins.

When Sage Agastya approached Ilvala with the kings, Ilvala requested the Sage to have lunch served by him. Ilvala then cooked his brother Vatapi, disguised the food and served it to the Sage and the kings. The Sage prevented the kings from eating the food and he consumed their share as well. After the meal, Ilvala called Vatapi  but before he could say “come out”, the Sage rubbed his belly and said that “Vatapi has been digested”.  Thus the Sage prevented Vatapi from bursting out of his belly.

Ilvala repented his mistakes and offered sufficient wealth to the Sage as well as the three kings. After the Sage returned home to his wife they had a son  called Idhmavaha.

Esoteric Meaning:

From a brief overview of the story it looks like it was the norm for Brahmins to eat mutton but if we examine the story we can easily see the actual meaning.

Sage Agastya is shown to create his wife from all good things. This indicates the birth of “faith” in him to get the absolute knowledge. As a Sage, he is married to faith. Lopamudra is Lady Faith. She sends him on an errand to gain the best wealth which is true knowledge. There are four Purusharthas in this world which are a form of wealth. The four Purusharthas are Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha.

The Sage meets with the three Kings who have the wealth of the first three Purusharthas respectively. The efforts they had to put in according to the shastras to obtain the Purusharthas is the income and their enjoyment of the Purusharthas is the expense. The income and the expense balance out. Upon examining their income vs expense statements the Sage realizes that the first three Purusharthas are not eternal wealth. He therefore takes the three kings with him to obtain the eternal wealth from the Dhanava Ilvala. The five stars in Orion’s head are called as Ilvala. The moon called as soma is the regent of these five stars. Thus we have a hidden meaning about the Soma Sacrifice in this legend.

The sacrificial oblation is often represented as a victim in the form of a goat. The moon Soma cooks his brother Vatapi as a goat. That is the moon sacrifices something which is very dear to him. Thus Vatapi is the Soma juice obtained from the moon Soma. Vatapi has the essence of the Soma Juice and is the “food of true knowledge”.

The stomach is used to represent a samsaric man’s sufferings from hunger and thirst. A Brahmin is a person who seeks Brahma Vidhya. Ilvala feeds knowledge in the form of Vatapi to the Brahmins. As soon as the Brahmins consume this supreme food, Vatapi is shown to burst forth from their bellies to show us that true knowledge ends the troubles of samsara.

When Ilvala offers knowledge Vatapi as food, Agastya consumes everything without leaving a single morsel for the kings. This is to show that only Brahmins have the right to consume the Soma Juice. Even though Agastya eats Vatapi without leaving a single morsel for the kings, they too are benefited when Sage Agastya obtained true knowledge. It was shown earlier that Vatapi burst out of the stomach of Brahmins in order to show that true knowledge ends sufferings. It is also equally essential to show that true knowledge makes a person immortal. Thus Sage Agastya is shown to have digested “Vatapi” and he is not harmed. Ilvala granted wealth to  the Sage as well as the three kings to show that people of other varnas (castes) are benefited as well when a Brahmin acquires true knowledge.

The Sage then returned home and his wife Lopamudra conceived. The embryo grew in her womb for seven years and after the completion of the seventh year was born as Idhmavaha. It should be noted that it took seven whole years for the embryo to develop. This part of the legend shows us that the Sage obtained the Supreme-Self as his son i.e to show the Sage’s spiritual birth. A person who is initiated into spiritual path through the Upanayanam ceremony is called a Dwija. The Upanayanam ceremony is typically performed after the completion of the seventh year. Thus Idhmavaha is shown to grow in Lopamudra’s womb for seven years and then take birth after the completion of seven years to indicate the Sage’s spiritual birth.

Through Ilvala’s sacrifice of Vatapi Idhmavaha is born; thus, Ilvala’s wish to have a son equal to Indra is fulfilled as well. The word “Indra” means king and refers solely to Lord Vishnu. Only when we add a prefix to the word “Indra” the word is used to refer to other kings like Devendra, Gajendra etc. Idhmavaha is thus the Supreme-Self and He is realized by sage Agastya.  The name Idhmavaha means the one who carries the fuel. The Supreme-Self carries the fuel "jeevatma"; i.e Paramatma is the means as well as the end. This is the true knowledge required to attain moksha.  This is the true meaning of the story.

 Reference:

Essays on Indo Aryan Mythology by Narayan Aiyangar.

 

Worlds Richest Temple? Ananthapadmanabha Swamy

 Image courtesy: http://www.indian-temples-history.com/2011/07/sri-anantha-padmanabhaswamy-temple.html

Background Information:

Thiruvananthapuram  is one of the 108 Vaishnavite Divya Desams. The temple is located in Trivandrum the capital city of Kerala. The moolavar is Ananthapadmanabhan in a reclining posture and the Thayar is Sri Hari Lakshmi.

The Theertham is Matsya Theertham

The Vimanam is Hemakooda Vimanam.

According to the sthala puranam Divakara Muni regularly worshipped a salagrama. Once he was enraged to learn that the Salagrama was swallowed by a two-year-old child. The Muni chased the toddler but the child ran to a tree and hid himself behind the tree. The Muni was surprised to find Lord Vishnu appear from the tree in His Vishwaroopa form. The Muni requested the Lord to appear in a smaller form so that the Muni can worship the Lord properly. Thus the Lord took the form of Ananthapadmanabhan. The moolavar in this temple is the largest Perumaal in the reclining posture. He is around 15 feet long Due to His large appearance, He has to be viewed from three entrances of the garbha griha to have complete darshan.

Esoteric Representation of Thiruvananthapuram

The form of Lord Vishnu as Ananthapadmanabhan reveals to us His superior nature. If you refer to the following image, you can see Lord Brahma seated on a lotus appearing from the Lord’s navel. The Lord is also seen to be holding a Shiva Lingam in his right hand. To me the Lord appears to be holding the lingam playfully. Lord’s name “Keshavan” means He is the birth place of both Ka and Esha; Ka is the name for Brahma and Esha the name for Lord Shiva. Lord Ananthapadmanabhan reminds us about the meaning of his name  “Keshavan” at this temple. He is the origin of everything in this Universe and the Lord of both Brahma and Shiva. 

Image coutesy: http://vaadinen.wordpress.com/tag/sri-anantha-padmanabhaswamy/

The Lord is resting on top of the five headed snake Adisesha also known as Ananta. It is said that when Ananta uncoils, creation takes place and when he coils up dissolution takes place. The word “Sesha” means remainder in Sanskrit and refers to that which is left when the Universe is dissolved. Sesha also means servant. Adi Sesha means the first servant or the Lord’s eternal servant. Adisesha is always ready to serve the Lord. He is the Lord’s bed , throne, shoe as well as umbrella. His five heads represent the five elements. As the Lord is resting on Adisesha depicted with five heads, it can be understood that the Lord controls the five elements which form Prakruthi or nature. The five heads of Adisesha also represent our sense organs. At Thiruvananthapuram, the five heads of Adisesha are drawn inward in contemplation. This shows us that by controlling our senses we can focus on the Lord within our heart.

Tiruvananthapuram: The Lost City of Gold

The discovery of buried treasure at Thiruvananthapuram made news recently. There have been mixed feelings about the discovery. The temple is currently run by a trust set-up by the Royal Family of Travancore. The Maharajahs of Travancore belonged to the Chera dynasty. They were the descendants of the great saint Kulashekhara Alwar. The Maharajah of Travancore bears the title, "Sree Padmanabhadasa’ (Servant of Lord Padmanabha).Most of the treasure uncovered at the temple was donated to the Lord by the Royal Family of Travancore. It was preserved safely to be used to perform service to the Lord when the temple faces financial crisis. The Government of Kerala is trying to gain control over the treasure and there is an ongoing dispute between the Royal Family and the Government.

Communism Rears Its Ugly Head!

There are many people who feel that the treasure must be removed from the temple to be used as public property. We all know that this can never happen; the general public  will be mislead to believe that the temple property is used to improve the conditions of the common man while the riches will land in the pockets of rich private collectors. If the people feel that the Lord who is the master of this universe is not entitled to retain the treasures and must donate the riches to promote communism then should this not be applicable to other mortal billionaires on earth? Why is it that we are ready to take riches from the Lord but we do not ask billionaires to do the same? If we believe in communism then we should may be start with all the richest people in the world and ask them to donate everything they own to benefit the common citizens.

True Capitalists Evade The Radar Of Communism!

The following is the list of the richest people on planet earth.

Carlos Slim and family  - 69 billion US dollars

Bill Gates – 61 billion US dollars

Warren Buffet  - 44 billion US dollars

The Vatican – 10 to 15 billion dollars

Mukesh Ambani 21000 million US dollars

From the above list we can easily see that Lord Ananthapadmanabhan does not even make third on the list! The Vatican has as much net worth as the temple of Lord Ananthapadmanabhan ; how can it be fare that we demand money only from Lord Ananthapadmanabhan and not from the Vatican ? This is taking advantage of the peaceful nature of Hindus.

In reality the treasures have been donated by the Royal Family of Travancore and only they should have control over the riches. If Carlos Slim and his family can own 69 billion US dollars’ worth of estate why shouldn’t the Royal Family of Travancore possess a mere 20 billion US dollars? Since the colonial period the Europeans have robbed the various Indian Royal families. It is time to put a stop to such robberies. As the private owner of the treasure, the Kings of Travancore had every right to donate to the Lord. Private collectors all over the world spend their money like water to collect the most expensive diamond or desire to own more than 7000 expensive cars like the Sultan of Brunei. The crown jewels of England contain the famous Kohinoor diamond & the Hope diamond both of which have been forcefully taken from India ; the priceless Kohinoor diamond is valued at 12.7 billion Euro! The hope diamond is worth anywhere from $200-$250 million US dollars! In a private auction, the famous Sancy diamond which was also taken from India during the colonial period was sold to a private collector at ten million US dollars!

The world’s most expensive cell phones are the Diamond Crypto Smart phone at 1.3 million US dollars, GoldVish ‘Le Million’ Piece Unique at 1.3 million US dollars, Peter Aloisson’s Kings Button iPhone 2.4 million US dollars, Goldstriker iPhone 3GS Supreme at 3.2 million US dollars and the Stuart Hughes iPhone 4 Diamond Rose Edition at 8 million US dollars! Has anyone ever given thoughts about the estate of the owners of these phones? What must be the net worth of their estate if they can spend millions of dollars on something frivolous as a cell phone?

Communists Stop Targeting East Indian Maharajas and Paramatma!

If we allow the billionaires to use their money to fulfill their selfish desires instead of uplifting the common man then we should definitely allow the Royal family of Travancore to retain the treasures to perform service to the Lord. Performing service to the Lord is an honourable deed and the good karma generated by this will definitely work for the benefit of everyone. The funds from the temple are used to pay a salary to the Brahmin priest and other people who are employed by the temple authorities. In this day and age the most neglected of all communities is the Brahmin community as a result of the stigma associated to them. They are hardly paid and are pushed into a dark world of poverty. It is very unfair to hold the Brahmins alone responsible for the cast discrimination. Please refer to my previous posts about the caste system for further detail.

The temple should definitely retain the treasures within its walls. If a religious institution like the Vatican can have an estate worth 15 to 20 billion dollars (this is a conservative estimate; the real value is estimated at 292 billion US dollars!) I don’t see why the temple of Lord Ananthapadmanabhan should not be allowed to hold 20 billion dollars. While the funds from the Vatican are used in unwanted proselytizing efforts and create nuisance to people of other cultures, the funds from the temple will be used to truly serve the Lord if and when the temple faces financial crisis. If we state that the funds should be considered as the property of the Royal family of Travancore then we definitely cannot prohibit the Royal family from owning such a large estate as, individuals like Carlos Slim and Bill Gates own roughly three times the net worth of what was discovered in the temple! 

Suggested Reading:

http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/01/caste-system.html

http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/01/caste-system-continued.html

http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/01/caste-system-continued_12.html

http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/01/caste-system-continued_13.html

http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/01/caste-system-continued_14.html

http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/01/caste-system-continued_7359.html

 http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/01/conclusion-caste-system.html

Aramudhan Perumaal of Thirukudanthai Divya Desam

The Third Tirupati in the List of 108 Tirupatis 

ArAvamudE! aDiyEn uDalam ninpAl anbAyE

nIrAy alaindu karaiya urukkukinRa neDumAlE!

sIrAr sennel kavari vIsum sezhu nIrt tirukkuDandai

ErAr kOlam tikazhak kiDandAy! kaNDEn emmAnE!

Sri Nammazhwar in the 5^th pasuraam of the eight thiruvaimozhi states that the Lord Sarangapani of Thirukuddandai (Kumbakonam) divya desam is like pure nectar! He is the elixir which can never produce satiety.

When we eat something very sweet after a while we become sick and tired of eating the same thing. This is true for other types of worldly enjoyment as well like listening to music or reading a book; we do not like to read or listen to the same thing over and over again. After a few repetitions we get bored. Even if it is the best chocolate cake we do not like to eat it every day for the rest of our lives.

We get bored with only worldly enjoyment but when we turn our senses towards the eternal Bagawan we find that we can enjoy Him continuously without feeling bored. The more we enjoy the nectar that is Him, the more we want to continue enjoying this nectar as our desire for this nectar becomes insatiable; Perumaal is called as Apariapthamrutham in Sanskrit and as Aramudhan in Tamil. Apariaphtamrutham and Aramudhan mean “the pure nectar which can never produce satiety”. By using the rules of sandhi the name Aramudhan is split into Ara + Amudham. Ara is insatiable or that which is never boring. Amudham is nectar or elixir. Thus Azhwar starts this pasuram by calling Sarangapani Perumaal of Thirukuddandai as “Ara Amude” and then says that, ‘When I see You my body melts in the love I feel for You and flows with a force equal to the force generated by a powerful flood. I flow like molten gold melted by a goldsmith. The reason I feel such strong emotions is because of your grace and the deep love you have for me. At your beautiful divya desam of Thirukuddandai the stalks of red paddy sway in the breeze and it looks as if they are fanning you! Your reclining posture at Thirukuddandai is very striking. I yearn to be united with you and to converse with you’

Not only is Aramuda Perumaal beautiful but also very compassionate. He even performed last rites for one of His devotees.

 Perumaal performs the last rite to His devotee:

Once there existed a devotee called Narayanaswamy who did not have any progeny. Narayanaswamy spent his entire life doing kaimkaryams to Lord Aramudhan. When Narayanaswamy passed away the people were worried about performing his last rites. When the bhatachariar entered the sanctum of Lord Aramudhan he noticed that Perumaal was wearing the yagnopavithram in the direction worn while performing last rites. The bhatachariar thought that he had made a mistake while decorating Perumaal on the previous day. Therefore he corrected the direction of the yagnopavithram but to his utter amazement found that the yagnopavithram switched direction again. The bhatachariar realized that it was Perumaal’s way of saying that He was going to perform the last rite for Narayanaswamy. Perumaal performed the last rite for Jatayu during Rama Avataram and as Aramudhan performed the rites for Narayanaswamy. To this day the rites are continued to be performed for Narayanaswamy at Thirukudanthai.

ASTA Trust:

The beauty of Aramudhan arrests all our mundane thoughts. He occupies our mind and heart completely. He is very compassionate and is ready to come down to our plane to help us. The incident in which Perumaal performed the last rites for His devotee illustrates Perumaal's compassionate and loving nature.  It is sad to note that due to lack of proper funds the temple is facing difficulties in conducting utsavams for Aramudhan Perumaal. Due to lack of funds the temple authorities were unable to facilitate kaimkaryams to Lord Aramudhan. For example due to a shortage of funds to facilitate payments to Sripadams, the temple authorities had to use motorised vehicles thus causing damages to the beautiful Utsavar murthy.

Sri U.Ve Karunakaran Swami has set up a trust called ASTA - Aramudhan Sripadam thangi Anbargal trust to facilitate payments to the Sripadams as well as to finance other kaimkaryams at Thirukuddandai Divya Desam.

Interested Bhagavathas can contribute to the trust  by cheque to :
ASTA Trust
“Srinidhi Karuna” # 6, Bharathiyar Street
Sivakami Nagar, Gowrivakkam
Chennai 600073 . Tel : 044 22780854.
For electronic transfer, the account Details of ASTA Trust are :
Account No 1787 01 00000 4835
Indian Overseas Bank,
Gowrivakkam Branch, Chennai
IFS code No IOBA0001787.

Bhagawathas can also order CDs/DVDs on Yaksha Prashnam and Tat Tvam Asi by Sri U.Ve. Karunakaran Swami. The sambhavanai for the CDs/DVDs are added to the ASTA trust account. Please send an email to Sri Ananthanarayanan giving details of the number of CDs/DVDs required. Sri Ananthanarayanan is the administrator of Sri Karunakaran Swami’s website http://www.nadadoor.org/ and he can be reached at anonavinakere@gmail.com

You can also send an email to myeffort4asta@gmail.com  as this is the contact detail provided by Anudinam.org The link to the page is http://anudinam.org/2012/01/09/sri-u-ve-karunanakarachar-swamys-upanyasam-dvd-and-cd-yaksha-prashnam-and-tat-tvam-asi/

Facts about Thirukudanthai:

I would also like to provide some background information about Aramudhan Perumaal.

Thirukuddandai Divya Desam is the 3^rd Tirupati in the list of 108 Divya Desams.

The Vimanam is called Vaideeka Vimanam

The pushkarini is Hema Pushkarini

The moolavar is seen in a reclining posture and is called as Aramudhan. This posture is known as Utthana Sayanam. Moolavar is also called as Utthanasayi and Apariapthamruthan.

The utsavar is Sarangapani.

The thayar of this Divya Desam is called as Komalavalli.

 Sthala Puranam:

According to the sthala puranam, Lord Vishnu gave the Vaideeka Vimanam with Lord Aramudhan to Lord Surya. The thiruvaradhanai to Aramudhan Perumaal was performed regularly by Lord Surya. Lord Vishnu also gave the Pranavakara Vimanam with Lord Ranganatha to Lord Brahma.

Lord Surya passed the Vimanam with Aramudhan Perumaal to his son Vaivaswatha Manu who took the Vimanam and consecrated it at Ayodhya.

Lord Brahma passed the Pranavakara Vimanam to Ishvaku who took it to Ayodhya as well. At Ayodhya the two vimanams merged into one and the Lord was called as Jagannathan. A celestial voice declared that when the right time arrives the Vimanam will split once again into the Vaideeka Vimanam and Pranavakara Vimanam; the Pranavakara Vimanam will remain at Sri Rangam while the Vaideeka Vimanam will remain at Thirukuddandai. Lord Jagannathan was worshipped by Lord Rama. After the coronation ceremony, Lord Rama gave the Vimanam as a present to Vibhishana. We all know the story that Vibhishana was unable to lift the Vimanam again after placing it on the banks of river Cauvery. As per the akashavani, the two Vimanams split with the Vaideeka Vimanam remaining at Thirukudanthai and the Pranavakara Vimanam staying at Sri Rangam.

I remember that when my mother and I looked at the picture of Lord Aramudhan we were amazed that He looked identical to Lord Ranganatha. After reading the above sthala puranam I realize that the two Perumaals were worshipped as one Perumaal in Ayodhya.
Pic 1: Ranganathar at Sri Rangam

Pic 2: ranganathar

Pic 3: Aramudhan

Pic 4: Aramudhan


Once, some rishis gathered on the banks of river Saraswati. They were planning to perform a yagnam. They had some disagreement about to whom they should make the offerings. Brigu Maharishi suggested that they must offer to the most satvik devathai. He left to find out the most satvik devathai. He first went to Lord Brahma’s Sathya Lokam. Brigu Maharishi was the mind born son of Lord Brahma but he was very disappointed when Lord Brahma did not even notice his arrival. From there Brighu Maharishi left for Kailasham where he was told that Lord Shiva is with Parvati Devi and hence he cannot obtain darshan. Brighu Maharishi rushed past Lord Shiva’s guards but upon entering their private chambers Lord Shiva started to chase him with his trident as the rishi had disobeyed the rules and regulations of Kailasham. From there the rishi went to Paarkadal. He recognized Sesha Sayee Bhagawan as the Supreme Being. He wanted to show everyone the satvik nature of Bhagawan. As a test the rishi kicked Perumaal’s chest with his left feet. Perumaal’s chest is the abode of goddess Mahalakshmi. In spite of the rishi’s behaviour, both Perumaal and Thayar received the rishi with due honours. Perumaal massaged the rishis’s feet afraid that the rishi’s foot might have been injured when he kicked Perumaal.

The rishi returned to the bank of Saraswati River and proved to his colleagues that Lord Vishnu is the most satvik as well as the Supreme being.

Brighu Maharishi repented kicking Perumaal. He felt that he did not deserve to receive the grace of Perumaal. He left his body and took birth as Guha in Shringiperapuram and served Lord Rama and Sita Devi. In his next birth, Brighu Maharishi took birth as Hema Maharishi. He retained knowledge about his previous births. As he had kicked Perumaal on his chest which was the abode of Mahalakshmi Thayar, Brighu Maharishi felt that he must undertake a severe penance. As fruit for his penance he wanted Mahalakshmi to be his daughter so that he can give her hand in marriage to Perumaal.

Perumaal and Thayar always want to please their devotees. In order to make the Maharishi’s wish come true, Sri Mahalakshmi Thayar pretended to be upset with Perumaal because He had allowed the rishi to kick him on his chest which was her abode. Thus she left Perumaal and came down to Kolhapur. When she heard that the Lord had incarnated as Srinivasan and had wed Padmavathi Thayar, Mahalakshmi pretended to be upset with the Lord and rushed towards Tirupati. Lord Srinivasan left Tirupati to escape her wrath.

Sri Mahalakshmi Thayar arrived near a beautiful pond in Thirukudanthai. She meditated upon the Lord sitting on top of a beautiful lotus and was hence called as Komalavalli. Hema Maharishi was instructed by the Lord to go to Thirukudanthai. Upon his arrival he saw the goddess and adopted her as his daughter. The Lord then appeared before them and received the hand of Komalavalli Thayar in marriage.  

Aramudhan Perumaal and Thirumahizhai Azhwar:

Thirumahizhai Azhwar visited Thirukudanthai. He was looking forward to see Lord Aramudhan and expected Perumaal to receive him. Azhwar was disappointed when the Archai Vigraham of Lord Aramudhan did not  receive him. The Azhwar then requested Perumaal to get up from His snake bed to receive the Azhwar. He sang the following pasuram.

Nadanda kalgal nondhavo nadunga gnala menamai

Idanthamei kulungavo vilangumaal varaichuram

Kadanda kaal parandha kavirikarai kudanthaiul

Kidanthava yezhundirundu pesu vazhi kesane

Azhwar wondered if Lord Aramudhan was lying down on His snake bed on the banks of Cauvery River because His feet ached from walking all over India as Lord Rama during Ramavataram. Azhwar wanted to know if the Lord was feeling tired because He had raised the submerged Earth from the ocean floor during His Varaha incarnation. He then asked the Lord to get up from His bed and to speak with Azhwar.

To everyone’s amazement Perumaal started to get up. The Azhwar requested Perumaal to remain in the reclining position as this posture of Perumaal looked very attractive. Thus the posture of Aramudhan is called as Udhana Sayanam as He appears in a reclined position as if ready to get up from His snake bed. Lord Aramudhan like Sonnavanam saitha Perumaal of Thiruvekha Divya Desam has also received credit for obeying His dear devotee Thirumahizhai Azhwar. As a result of this incident Perumaal is known as Aramudha Azhwan in this Divya Desam and the Azhwar as Thirumahizai Piran. The word Piran means Lord. As Thirumahizai Azhwar asked Perumaal to get up from His bed, Azhwar was given the title of "Piran" by Perumaal. Aramudhan took the title "Azhwan" to show us His love for Azhwar.

Sarangapani and Chakrapani:

The utsavar Sarangapani is always accompanied by Chakrapani during utsavams when Perumaal travels around the streets surrounding the temple to bless His devotees. Komalavalli Thayar is known as “padi thanda pathini”. She always stays in her sanctum and never ventures out. She is always keen on us obtaining Perumaal’s grace. She has appointed Chakrapani (Lord Sudarsana) to accompany Perumaal to ensure that Sarangapani Perumaal blesses us with His divine grace. Due to this same reason the moolavar Aramudhan is seen to be holding the Sudarsana Chakram close to His ear. This is to remind us the Chakrapani prompts Perumaal to bless all of us.

Such is the compassionate nature of Aramudhan Perumaal. He loves each and every one of us and is ready to shower us with His supreme grace. To express our gratitude we must provide financial aid to the temple to support the Bhagawathas and bhatachariars working for Perumaal. Any little we can provide will help the temple administration to run smoothly. Unfortunately a temple cannot depend upon government grants alone as the funding from government is very less. I implore every one of you to contribute to the ASTA trust and protect the beautiful Indra Neela gem lying on the banks of Cauvery.

BEAUTIFUL VIDEO OF THE JYESHTABHISHEKAM OF THE RESPLENDENT

DIVYA DAMPATHIGAL OF TIRUKKUDANTAI.

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a21bFmnxFKE
Part 2 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFjBPNoDr4c
Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82geF1UKYp8
TIRUKKUDANTAI GARUDA VAHANAM/PAVITROTSAVAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNNoq7H2buM&feature=channel
TIRUKKUDANTAI TIRTAVARI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNNoq7H2buM&feature=channel

To listen to some upanyasams rendered by Sri U.Ve Karunakaran Swamin please visit the following link.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=karunakaran+swami+upanyasam&oq=karunakaran+swami+upanyasam&gs_l=youtube.3...66.5049.0.5379.24.19.0.5.5.0.175.1547.14j5.19.0...0.0...1ac.1.78pmDYrFFCo 

Photos from sadagopan.org