|| Hari Sarvothama Vayu Jivothama ||
|| Sri Raghavendra Gurubyo Namaha ||
“Vyasaaya Bhavanaasaaya Srishaaya Gunarashaye | Hrdyaya Shudhavidhyaya Madhvayacha Namo Namaha”
Namaskara to Lord Sri Veda vyasa(Sriman Narayana), husband of Mahalakshmi who is filled with infinite auspicious qualities. Namaskara to beautiful saint who has full of knowledge,who has all the lakshanas in full none other than Jagadguru Sri Madhvacharya — Sri Vadiraja Tirtha in his magnum opus work “Yukthi Mallika”
Kanchipuram- Sri Vadiraja Tirtha Mahaprabhu~Part12
Dear Readers,
With Lord Shri Harih Vayu Gurugala anugraha after a very long time I have resumed writing this series on the great Saint, Sri Vadiraja Tirtha Mahan with my very limited knowledge. If you have missed reading our last post you can go back here and read it completely, and please come back to this post.
Shri Vadiraja Swamin after taking holy dip at the river Tamirabharani makes sanchara to punya shetra Kanchipura, Tamilnadu.
About Kanchipuram:
Kanchipuram is a city which is located about 70kms from Chennai,Tamilnadu. Kanchipuram is known for its temple architectures,silk sarees etc. One of the 7 punya shethra of Vaishnavites in India. Kanchipuram temples are classified in to Shiva Kanchi and Vishnu Kanchi and has very popular and famous temples. Our saint Vadiraja Swamin with his highly talented poetic skills narrates all the temples here which we are going to read in this post.
- Kanchi Varadaraja Temple:
Shri Vadiraja Swamin starts narrating the beauty of Lord as “ramya varadharaja ha:” , most handsome Lord one of the best and Supreme who stands here to grant boons to all his devotees ” varam dhatadhi Varadhaha” . Lord here is most beautiful and majestic is waiting for us to protect his devotees.
His holiness prays, Oh Lord Shri Varadaraja, I wont request you for any loukika (worldly) pleasures ” tvam iha kinchana na yacche”, but please give yourself to me. This shows the ultimate bhakthi of Shri Vadiraja Mahaprabhu. His holiness prays to give Lord himself than giving any other worldly pleasures. And this is the right way even we have to pray Lord.
History of Kanchi Varadaraja:
Vadiraja swamin now gives the history of Lord to appear here in Vishnu Kanchi. When Chaturmukha brahma did penance and homa at Kanchi Lord himself appeared from Agnikunda. Lord, who appeared has no birth or death as he is Sarvothama of entire seven worlds.
Shri Purandaradasa about Kanchi Varadaraja:
Sri Purandara Dasaru (1480-1564) has composed about 4,75,000 songs which include Keertanas, Suladis and Uga bhogas he has highlighted several aspects of Sri Madhva philosophy. Dasa has contributed to Carnatic music to such a great extent. You can click here to read in detail.
Dasaru has composed about 1,25,000 songs on mahimas of Temples such as Rameshwara, Badrinath,Udupi etc, and during his sojourn he visited Kanchipuram and sung beautiful song on Lord.
kaNNAre kaNDe nachhutana kanci puNya kOTi kari rAja varadana
Dasaru feels blessed by having the dharshan of Lord Kanchi Varadaraja, who is more brightest than 1000 suns, and importantly reflects Sri Vadiraja Tirthas words about Lord here. Dasaru sings that Lord here protects his devotees with his abhaya hastha.
Purandara Dasa & Athi varadharaja swamy:
As you all know Athi varadharaja swamy is kept in Temple tank and taken out every 40 years as per tradition. Sri Purandara Dasar has mentioned the greatness of Lord Athivaradha at Kanchi in one of the song which narrates the greatness of Vayu tatva(Vayu Jeevothama)
“biDuvEnEnayya hanuma hastivaradana tOruva tanaka” – I will not leave your holy feet till you show me Athi Varadharaja Swamy
Purandara Dasar brings out the concept of Vayu jeevothama tatva here, Vayu(Hanumantha) is the supreme Guru among souls and only with his anugraha he can show the Lord within us. Mukyaprana gives aproksha gyana as per orders of Shri Harih. Dasaru in this song brings the greatness of Hanumantha, he proves his supreme bhakthi on Hanuman and prays his lotus feet to bless.
- Ekambareswarar Temple:
Vadiraja Swamin explains about the name of the temple here,
In samskrit, Eka – single, amre – Mango, Eswara – Shiva means Ekambareswara. There is Mango tree which is huge and stands still for 1000 of years and under the tree where Parvathi devi embraced her lovely husband Rudra with smiles. This temple is part of Shiva kanchi and is beautifully constructed.
- Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple:
Swamin says that Rudra deva might felt two eyes are not enough to see Parvathi devi’s beauty, and hence he had the third eye. He says he takes refuge in her lotus feet and prays to bless all of us. Vadiraja Swamin adds to say that Rudra deva who is the master of Kailasa produced two sons without affecting her beauty. Shri Ganesha was born through her body dust, and for Skanda(Murugan) he appointed six mothers to feed milk to him to take care of her beauty.
Thus Swamiji through his great poetic skills narrates the beauty of Kamakshi Amman.
As per Shri Raghavendra Vijaya, Mantralaya Swamiji Shri Raghavendra had a dharshan of Vishnu Kanci and Shiva Kanchi and did the pooja of Ramachandra. It is also said Saint Vyasatirtha stayed for many years at Kanchi and did meditation on Lord shri Varadaraja.
Thus Vadiraja Tirtha through his excellent composition ends describing the mahima of kanchi puram shetra
Temple to visit nearby:
- Chitragupta Temple:
In holy epic Mahabharatha under Anushana parva, the importance of Chitragupta is described. Emerged by tapas of Brahma he appeared as his son. The important work of Chitragupta is to act as accountant of Souls good and bad deeds , such is the important work given by Chaturmukha brahma to his son. Chitragupta is prayed by both the followers of Vishnu and Shiva.
Temple is located on the main road, it is very close to Meekakshi Amman temple. It is said temple was built by cholas during 9th century and considered as very old and only temple for Chitragupta in the entire world. Chitragupta is the devata of Kethu planet, and having dharshan of Chitragupta removes the ill effects cause by Kethu bhagavan especially during his Dasa/Bukthi. It is special for one to visit this temple during Kethu’s nakshatras Aswini, Magam and Moolam
Please note Vaishnavas(especially the followers of shri Madhvacharya) do smarane of Chitragupta and Yama before having their food by keeping rice in side of their plate. The concept here is, every soul must remember good deeds and follow dharmic way of life every day, and must remember Yama and Chitragupta records every minute of souls activity. How great our santana dharma is?
In the service of Lord shri Harih,
Venkatesh Rajendran
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