(The whole article was prepared under the guidance of Vaikunthavasi Sri U. Ve. Koyil Athan Vijayaraghavachar swami, for a question Why Sthothras bear more importance in the spiritual literature? The core idea of this article is taken from a Hindi article Sthothra prasthana, appeared in 1977 November issue of Ananthasandesam, by Sri U. Ve vidyA bhUshaNam thirunAngUr prathivAdi bhayangaram aNNangarAcharya swami.)
Poetry is a powerful means of communication embellished with rhetoric and figures of speech. It is highly delectable. Sanskrit being an apt medium to translate the ideas into expressions due to the versatility, flexibility and grand vocabulary; the sthothra lore evolved and developed in Sanskrit. It was Yamunacharya who started the entire system of sthotras in vishishtadwaitha sampradayam. Yamunacharya, prior to becoming a yathi, sends a message to his opponent, AkkiyAzhvAn, starting with navAyam kavayasthu kEvalam – We are not only poets. The usage of “we” here is attributive of all the past and forth coming generations of pooravacharyas. How come alavanthar could predict it, kavi: krAntha darSI:, a kavi can foresee. Akin to the statement of alavanthar, we can see all our poorvacharyas were poets also. One can doubt whether Sri Ramanuja was a poet or not, “gadya: kavinAm nikasham vadanthi” goes a Sanskrit saying, Prose is the touch stone of poets, only a person well versed as a poet can indulge in writing prose. Sri Ramanuja’s extempore elaboration on Saranagathi through three gadyas bear ample testimony to his status as a kavi. We can see that prose works in sankrit itself are rare; kadambari and dasakumara charitha are examples.
The need of composing sthrothras were felt by Swami ALavanthAr, to depict the divine experiences and counsels of AzhvArs, in Sanskrit- which was then a language of scholars. He was a trend setter in composing sthothras. All succeeding acharyas used poetry as a good medium of expression. Many sthothras found their place in praise of nammazhvar, like parankusAShtakam a collection from various authors, parankusa pancha vimsathi of koyil kanthadai vadhula desikacharya and nakshathra malika of jeeyar nayanar. Each of these sthothra find their exalted places in nithyanusandhanam. For every srivaishnava, the knowledge of poorva/uthara dinacharya is a must as he has to chant them before having his every day meal.
The word prasthAna means pravESam or anvayippathu, meaning ‘a way to attain’, ‘a system’, ‘purport’ ‘being linked’ or ‘associated with’. In the three vedic religions, Srimath bhagavad githa, upanishads, and brahma suthra are collectively known as prasthAna thraya. By his works, SrIbhAshya, gIthA bhAshya, vEdArtha sangraha, VEdAntha deepa, and vEdAntha Sara, Sri Ramanuja did reassert the prasthAna thraya and gave a new life to Upanishad prasthAna. When it comes to our visishtAdvaitha sampradayam, we come across the term prasthAna chathushTaya – or the Four fold system. What are these four? brahma sUthra prasthAnam, gIthA prasthAnam, divya prabandha prasthAnam and rahasya prasthAnam. Rahasya means esoteric topics which were kept extremely secret as the knowledge of them leads to moksham. Even though, Upanishads are the root for all knowledge, Upanishad prasthAna was included into brahmasuthra prasthAnam itself, because of the fact that Upanishads forms part and parcel of the pravruthi vicharam in brahma mImAmsA- the enquiry to Brahman.
Sri Ramanuja, with his mercy, instructed thirukkurukai pirAn piLLAn to write a commentary on ThiruvAymozhi which was named as ArAyirappadi, which paved the pathway to the entire divyaprabandha prasthAnam. This was continued and extended to the entire prabandhams in due course by nanjIyar, nampiLLAi, vaDakku thiruvIthippiLLAi, vyAkhyAna chakravartthi swAmi periya-v-AcchAn piLLAi, vadikEsari azhagiya maNavALa jeeyar, azhagiya maNavALapperumAL nAyanAr, thiruvAymozhippiLLAi, thirunArAyaNapuram Ayee jananyAcharya and svAmi maNavALa mAmunikaL. The works of these acharyas were so elaborate and extensive that each one is a magnum opus by itself. Sri Ramanuja himself instructed parASara bhaTTar, the son of illustrious kUratthAzhvAn to write AshTasloki, thereby condensing the entire esoteric subjects. This led to the development of Rahasya prasthAna which was later developed extensively by periya-v-AcchAn piLLAi, vadikEsari azhagiya maNavALa jeeyar, swAmi piLLai lOkAcharyar, azhagiya maNavALapperumAL nAyanAr, thirunArAyaNapuram Ayee jananyAcharya and maNavALa mAmunikaL by their aphorisms and commentaries. Only those who were experts in the prasthAna chathushTaya are considered as ubhaya vedantha pravartthakAcharyas and it was not a prefix for namesake which is the practice as on date.
The divya prabandhAs of azhvArs are replete with the Vedantic concepts. Hence they are considered as drAvida veda or dramiDOpanishath as these prabandhas are capable of doing the job which Sruthis were supposed to do.
vEdanthacharya says,
Yasya SAraswatham Srotho VakulA modha Vaasitham
SruteenAm VisramAyAlam SatArim ThvAm UpAsmahe (yathirAja sapthathi 4)
We meditate on Satari (NammAzhvAr) for having blessed us with his glorious compositions which are a flood of nectar with the fragrance of vakula flowers and do the job of VedAs, well enough for the veDas to take rest. The sruthis aim only at ascertaining the supremacy and explaining the kalyAna gunAs, vibhUthis and lIlA vibhavAs of paramAthmA Sriman nArAyaNa. Swami nammAzhvar did the same exclusively through his prabandhAs.
The definition of Sthothra
It was Sri YAmunAcharya who started a new prasthAnam known as sthOthra prasthAnam. By doing so he accomplished a great task of compiling the essence and meanings of veda and vedantha in to a simple and understandable format.
One of his thaniyan says
svAdhayanniha sarvEsham thraiyanthArtham sudurgraham
sthOthra yAmAsa yOgIndra tham vandE yAmunAhvayam
I salute yAmuna who is a yOgi who gave us sthOthra prasthAna by which he achieved the simplification of the meanings of crown of thrayee (vedantha) for the use of every one.
Sri Ramanuja explains in this thaniyan, how yAmunacharya achieved the task of compiling the massive knowledge of vedantha into a simple form which is easily understood by the sathvika mumukshus. By the sthothra prasthAna the normal folk can get attracted in to the vedantha fold and the concepts like karma, jnyAna, bhakthi and prapatthi can easily be spread among them. The sthOthra prasthAna was given its complete life by kUratthazhvan, bhaTTar, thirukkacchi nambikaL, vEdanthacharya, maNavALamAmunikaL, prathivAdi bhayangaram ANNan, ErumbiyappA and countless poorvacharyas in our sampradayam. Only the adhyayanam of sthothras along with their meanings makes one’s training in vEdantha complete.
What is a sthothra? kUratthAzhvAn answers thus in Sristhvam
sthOthram nAma kimAmamanthi kavayO yadyanyadheeyAn guNAn
anyathra thvasathOdirObya phaNithi: saa tharhi vandyA thvayI
samyak sathyaguNAbhivarNanamathO bhrUyu: kathhaam thAdrSee
vaag vaachaspathinAapi sakhyarachanA thvathsadguNArNO nidhou
Azhvan elaborates the difference between his Stotra and that of other kavis. The common poets praise either gunaas that are not there in the subject being praised or describe the limited qualities of their subject. For instance, a poet may praise a bald man as the one, who has flowing locks of hair and thus describe something that is not there in reality. Some other common poets describe the qualities correctly, but find that there is a limited quantity of particulars to describe about their subject. There is not much to praise. AzhvAn reveals that he is not hampered by either of these two difficulties, when he attempts to praise periyapirATTiyAr and Her kalyANa guNas. There is no need of exaggeration in Her case, since She is the seat of all the auspicious qualities to a state of perfection. Her KalyaaNa GuNaas are also so abundant that there is no shortage on the subject matter to praise. Her KalyaaNa GuNaas are limitless and there is no possibility of exhausting them or exaggerating them. Even vachaspathi the Lord of speech cannot succeed in describing adequately her vast sea of auspicious guNams.
In general there can be two definitions for sthothra, 1) To describe a quality which is not there in the person, the example as said in the above sloka, praising a bald man as a person having matted locks of hair. Or 2) To describe all qualities existing in the person. Both definitions are not appropriate in the case of Sriman nArAyaNa and Sri mahAlakshmi, because there are no attributes in the entire universe which they don’t possess, He is samastha kalyANa guNAmrithOdhadhi. If we consider sthothra as a description of the entire qualities, the second definition, that also is a stretched statement. The attributes in the Lord are in exhaustible and Vedanta itself has pronounced yathO vAchO nivartthanthE aprApya manasA sahA– I cannot measure his happiness with neither words or mind. Since the God is the seat for all the kalyanagunas, it is impossible to describe all of them with our limited knowledge. But then what is sthothra?
AzhvAn describes in Sristhvam
yE vaachAm manasAm cha dhurgrahatayA khyAthA guNasthAvakA:
thAnEva prathi sAmBhujihvamudhithA hai mAmikA bhArathI
hAsyam tath thu na manmahE na hi chakOryEkAakhilAm chandrikAm
nAlam pAthumithi pragruhya rasanAmaaseetha sathyAm thrushi
Oh Maha Lakshmi! It is impossible to praise adequately all Your Kalyana Gunaas and do justice to them. My effort is similar to that of the Chakora bird which does not stop drinking the cool rays of the moon as its food, while being fully aware of its limited power to complete that impossible task. The moon rays are infinite and the bird cannot consume all of it. But it does not mean that the bird will not take its share at all. It drinks as much as it can. Azhvan says Similar to the efforts of the bird, I am also not holding back in my effort to praise all of Your Kalyana GunAs very well knowing that it is an impossible task. (chakora birds are said to nourish from moonlight).
From which we can conclude that, sthothram is to eulogize and describe those subjects which can be reached out by one individuals taste, knowledge and strength. Based on these we can find several topics in innumerable number of sthothras, describing the qualities, incidents, vibahva avatharas and archavathara.
In sthOthra rathna Alavanthar describes thus-
yadvA sramAvadhi yaTaamati vAapyaSakta:
staumyevamEva khalu tEpi sadA stuvanta:
vedAs chaturmukha mukhAsca mahArNavAnta:
ko majjatO: aNukulAchalayo: visesha:
In spite of my weakness, I am justified in praising Him to the limit of my capacity and to the best of my knowledge. For, verily, even the Vedas and the four-faced Brahma, ever engaged in singing His glory, could praise him only in a similar strain. Afterall a big mountain is no distinct from a small atom, they both submerge alike in an ocean.
Hence in the case of Sriman nArAyaNa it is impossible in attempting a description of the entire qualities. parASara BhaTTar wonderfully adds “yadi mE sahasra vadanAdi vaibhavam nijam arpayet sa kila ranga candramA: atha SEshavat mama ca tadvatyEva vA stuti Sakthi abhAva vibhave api bhAgitA” (SrirangarAja stvavam 14) – If only I am granted with the 1000 heads, of adiSEsha or of the lord himself I will be able to judge I whether I am capable of describing the qualities of emperuman.
parASara bhaTTar further conveys so in Sri guNarathna kOSam.
sthOthAram tamusanti dEvi ! kavayO yO visthrNeethE GuNAn
sthOthavyasya tathasccha tE sthuthidhurA mayyEva visrAmyathi |
YasmAdhasmath amarshaNIya phaNithi svIkAratastE GuNA:
KshAnthyoudharya dayAdhayO BhagavathI! svAm prastuveeran praTaam ||
(SriguNarathna kOSam 6)
Oh Bhagavathi! The world of scholars would acknowledge only that man, as a poet of worth, who is capable of publicizing the great virtues of the subject (that he is praising). Under this criterion, no one is better suited to praise you (than me). Yes. Because Your forbearance, mercy, graciousness and similar qualities would stand out in prominent perspective only when I am their target. I am the lowliest person; my words are poor and defective. But, Your qualities shine at their best only with regard to me.
Hence it can be concluded that a sthothram is a hymn in praise constructed by describing the guNas of the object under worship by using one’s knowledge and bhakthi. Why then, should we attempt it, if we cannot describe it fully. BhaTTar explains this as– varshabindaurivAbdhau sambandhAth swAthmalAbhaH (Sri rangarAja sthavam poorva Sathaka 19)- It rains and rain water flows to the ocean just to seek its relation to the ocean, similarly by singing in praise of him I too will be able to enjoy the inherent relationship to the lord. Vishnu sahasranAma also says that the lord is pleased easily by sthOthra – the two thirunamas sthavya: and sthava priya are indicative of this. He himself is the only possessor of all these qualities naturally – svAbhAvikI njAna bala kriyAcha says SvEthASvathara Upanishad. Sri Ramanuja also reasserts it in gadyam as svAbhAvikAnavadhikAdhiSaya jnjAna bala aiSvarya veerya Sakthi etc. Sriman nArAyaNa is not only the seat of all the guNas which are being praised by the sthOthrAs, but he also is the granter of all the boons. Sarva phala pradOhi vishNuH. With His divine relation special to, periyapirATTiyar, AzhvArs, bhAgavathOtthamas and AchAryas, they also become objects for sthOthra. Because emperuman himself states that “jnyAnI thu Athmaiva mE matham” (the bhaktha is my athmA, bhagavad gIthA), “sa cha pUjya yathAhyaham” (worship my bhaktha as equivalent to me, gAruDa purANam)”. Azhvar also stresses this concept that Emperuman is more happy to hear the glories of his bhakthAs : “nallakOTpATTulakangaL mUntrinuLLum thAn niRaintha allikkamalakkaNNan” (thiruvAymozhi)
PrasthAna chathuShTaya in Sthothra prasthAna
Our poorvacharyas have succeeded wonderfully in condensing the concepts of prasthAna chathushTaya into the sthOthra prasthAna. They have opted this method to simplify and popularize the bhagavad anubhavam as visualized by Upanishads and azhvars. For the sake of it they have adopted many different ways, either use their own words to express the vedanthic meanings, or to incorporate the very words or sentences used by vedantha/puranas as such inside sthothras, attempt a translation of azhvAr srisukthis into Sanskrit and condense the rahasyas into slokas. A complete understanding of this is only possible with a proper training under an acharya and a study of all sthothras with their commentaries. We shall try to look into some examples where the above said concepts are clearly evident.
The concept of akinchanya and ananya gathitva were explained by thondaradippodiazhvar and nammazhvar respectively in –kuLitthu mUntranalai Ombum kuRikoL anthaNamai thannai oLitthiTTen enkaNillai nin kaNum paatthan allEn (ThirumAlai-25) and nOttra nOnpilEn nuNNaRivilEn –(thiruvAymozhi-5.7.1) and they are considered as the most necessary qualities a prapanna should possess (mumukshuppadi dwaya prakaranam). This was translated to Sanskrit by Alavanthar – Na dharma nishTOsmi na cha Athma vEdi na bhakthimAn tva charaNAravindE akinchanO ananyagathiH SAraNya (sthOthrarathna-22). Yet another example is the translation of sentrAl kuDaiyAm (muthal thiruvanthAthi-53) pasuram into nivAsa SAyyAsana pAdukA (sthothra rathna – 40). kAnchee PBA swami equated the usage of kirITa makuTa chUDAvathamsa in SaraNAgathi gadyam to pEraraSE em visumbaraSE emmai nItthuvanchittha OraraSE (thiruviruttham-80), the usage of SrIvallabhA Evam bhUtha bhUmi nILA nAyakA (SaraNagathi gadyam) is a straight translation of inthuNaippathu mattu alarmakaL thanakkum inpan nar puvithanakku iRaivan than thuNai AyarppAvai nappinnai thanakku iRai (Periya thirumozhi-2.3.5). In Srivaikuntha gadyam Sri Ramanuja concludes as amritha sAgarAnthar nimagna sarvAvayavaH sukhamAsIthA is the anubhavam of thirumangai azhvar– en than ponnilangu mulaikkuvaTTil pUTTikkoNdu pOkAme vallEnAy pulavi eythi ennil angamellAm vanthu inpam eytha eppozhuthum ninainthuruki irppan (thirunedunthANdakam-28). parASArabhaTTar says in the SrirangarAja sthvavam madhyE virincha giriSam prathAmAvathAra: (utthara Sathakam-51) which can be traced back to thAnum Sivanum piramanumAki paNittha thanimuthalai (thiruvAymozhi-8.8.4). Mamunikal also have completely adopted two pasurams from irAmAnusa nUttanthAthi viz., poomannu mAthu and mozhiyai kaDakkum and incorporated into yathirAja vimSathi slokas SrimAdhavAnghri and vAchAm agOchara.
Sri Ramanuja incorporated plenty of purAna and bhagavad githa slokas in to SaraNAgathi gadya like pitaram mAtharam, pithAsi lOkasya charAcharasya, rAmOdvirnAbhibhAshathE and githa charama sloka etc wherever the situation demanded. The bhagavad githa slokam avajAnanthi mAm mUDhA mAnushIm thanumASritham param bhAvamajAnantha mama bhUtha mahESvaram is translated in to the sloka gareeyathvam prarijAnanthi (Sriranga rAjasthvam uthhara Sathakam-50). There are several adaptations of Vedic phrases like thathsavithurvarENyam (a part of gAyathri), ApraNakhAth suvarNam from chAndOgyOpanishath (uttharaSAthakam-79), yasyAsmi pathyurnna thamantharEmi (Sriranga rAjasthvam utthara SAthakam-81) an adaptation from acchidram, pathim viSvasyAthmESvaragum (SundarabAhu sthvavam-17) from mahAnArAyaNam, and the slokam starting with AnandamaiSvaram (SrivaikuNDTha stvam-24) being the equivalent of the concept of brahAnanda evaluated in thaithirIya upanishad ending with yathO vAchO nivartthanthE aprApya manasAsahA along with many more examples.
SAsthrAs describe the guNa’s of the Lord Sriman nArAyaNa in two different ways, swarUpa nirUpaka dharma and nirUpitha swarUpa viSEsha. swarUpa nirUpaka dharma explains the fundamental qualities by which one object should be understood, or it is the swaroopam itself. jnyAna ananda amalathva and ananthatva are taken as swarUpa nirUpaka dharmma (mumukshhuppadi thirumanthra prakaraNa), where as niroopitha swarUpa viSEshaNa are auspicious qualities in the Lord, normally used to eulogize his greatness. parASara bhaTTar says upAyOpEyathvE thadiha thava thathvau nathu guNau (utthara Sathakam-87) – Oh ranganatha you are the path and goal for a jIvAthma, this is not a GuNa for you, but it is Thau yourself. By saying so, bhaTTar has ascertained the entire message of azhvArs and the important sampradAya meaning distilled down into a single slokam, not only that, he goes to the extent saying that, being upAya and upEya is not a guNa, which normally means as nirUpitha swarUpa viSEsha, but it is the thathwa itself- swarUpa nirUpaka dharma.
Githartha sangraha of alavanthar and AshTasloki of bhaTTar are two examples where the former condensed bhagavad Githa whereas the latter is a first ever condensed representation of rahasya thraya. Yet another example is from Acharya Hridaya Suthram, athri jamadagni pankthi ratha vasu nanda sUnuvAnavanuDaiya yuga vaRNa kramAvathAramO translated into athryAdi sUnuriva vaRNayuga kramAth kim (parAnkuSa pancha vimSathi-8). Many of the SthothrAs were not written deliberately by sitting with writing equipments, we can see most of the important sthothras were extempore or came as Asu kavi. For example sthothras on thiruvenkadamudaiyan- the lord of seven hills, venkaTESvara suprabhAtham, sthOthram, prapatthi and mangaLam, by the Sishya of mamunikaL, prathivAdi bhayangaram aNNa, were written instantaneously in the sanctum. Sri ranganAtha sthothra was written in a state of great mental agony while bhaTTar was in exile at thirukkOTTiyUr. bhaTTar longs that when I will see that rangam again, where people are just taking the tickets to moksham, from their pathway as effortlessly as, those who are doing uncha vrithi are picking up the grains from the paddy fields – mArgE mArgE pathika nivahairunchyamAnApavarggam– (SriranganAtha sthOthram-5).
AthimAnusha sthvavam of Azhvan requires a special attention. We all know that AzhvAn was no less than Azhvars. Lord Sriman nArAyaNa as Rama declared himself –“I consider myself as a human”- AthmAnam mAnusham manyE (SrIrAmAyaNam). The same was repeated in krishNavathara during gOvardhanOddhAraNa- “I am born as your relative” – aham vO bAndhavO jAthaH ( Srimad bhagavatham). But were his acts humanlike? AzhvAn makes an anatomic study of vibhavavathAras and establishes the superhuman behavior-athimAnushathva- in many of his acts. The Sthothra mostly focuses on Rama & Krishna avatharas. The entire athimAnusha sthavam is a comprehensive description of the act on vibhavAvathAras, which is an immaculate task and we are tempted to opine that the work and the author themselves are Athimanusha. So are the sthothras of vEdAnthAcharya, all of them being masterpieces. One special mention should be made about achyutha Sathaka which was totally written in prAkrit- a language used by women. He also wrote two mahA kavyAs, yAdavAbhyudaya and SubhAshitha nIVi. SudarSana Sathaka is an exclusive work by the Sishya of kUratthazhvan, known as kUra nArAyaNa Jeeyar. He incorporated manthra siddhi bjiaksharas into the SudarSana sathakam, and it is a wonderful work on Chakratthazhvar.
Almost all sthothras were set into different metres while only a few sthothras are confined entirely to a single meter. An example of the former case, nakshathra malika an inimitable work in praise of nammAzhvAr authored by Jeeyar nAyanAr, the erstwhile grandson of maNavALamAmunikaL seeks a special attention amongst all sthothras. The names of 27 stars (nakshathras) are embedded into each sloka in their order of occurrence in astrology. It is the only sthothram set in the “anthAdi” style of poetry. AzhvArs have profoundly used anthAdi in their srisUkthis. We can see the entire thiruvaymozhi is an anthAdi, almost all iyarpA works are anthAdi comprising the majority of divyaprbandham. In an anthAdi mostly the ending letter/word/syllable of one sloka/pasuram will be the start of the next. This concept is closely followed by jeeyar nAyanAr in nakshathra mAlika. It starts with an 8 syllable metre known as “anushTup” with gradual increment of 1 syllable in each sloka ending up with a 21 syllable sloka set to the metre “sragdhara”. Then it descends back to the 8 syllable metre “anushTup”. This type of poetry comes under chithra kAvya one of which is known as “rathabandha” where an entire chariot is constructed by means of the verses. One of the well known ratha bandha is thiruvEzhukUttrirukkai of thirumangai azhvAr which comprises only one half of the ratham. That means only the top of the ratha was constructed by means of that prabandha where as nakshatra malika constructs the bottom part of the chariot as well.
The entire sthothra prasthAna includes not less than 200 sthOthras, which is not only a vast collection but also a summary of the concepts of the vedic religion as followed in viSishTadwaitha. The grammatically peculiar usages made in the sthothras, can only be appreciated and understood by the scholors. There are many commentaries for the sthOthrAs and we should not forget about the commentators. vyAkhyAna chakravartthi periya-v-Acchan piLLAi and vEdanthacharya both wrote commentaries on chathuSlOki and sthOthra rathna. Gadyas were given elaboration by Periya-v-Acchan piLLAi and SudarSana SUri. Apart from that pancha sthavams, and bhaTTar Srisukthis were given elaborate commentaries by Thirumazhisai Annavappangar, and late SrI U. Ve. kAnchI prathivAdi bhayangaram aNNangarAchArya. One commendable mention has to be made for the SriguNarathna kOSa commentary and its Tamil versification made by SrI U. Ve. Thirumalai nallan Ramakrishna Iyengar. The total study is only possible with a dedicated training under an acharya and also points to the need of fundamental Sanskrit knowledge.
The present book contains 29 sthothras of our poorvacharyas. The book follows the chronological order of acharyas. The present version is excellently type written by comparing several devanagari versions and has been carefully edited and proof read by the pain taking efforts of Sri U. Ve. Koyil AthAn Vijayaraghavachariar Swami. We also extend our heartfelt gratitude to Sri V. Naryana Iyengar and Sri. Bharath for the final corrections in the proof. Vedics expresses their sincere gratitude to Sri U. Ve. Koyil AthAn Vijyaraghavachariar Swami who allowed us to give poorvacharya sthothramala online. With the inability of putting a price label or copyrights to it, We expect that the entire srivaishnava community is benefitted by these gems. If at all we do have some gratitude to our poorvacharyas, lets learn them and practice them. Let the sriranga divya dampathis help us to live in our poorvacharyas line.
abjAsanasthamavajAtha sujAtha mUrtthim AmIlithAkshamanusamhitha manthra rathnam
Anamra maulibhirupAsithamantharangam nithyam munin varavaram nibhrtho bhajami
I worship the great seer Varavaramuni, as Seated in yogic padmAsana, surrounded by numerous disciples, excessively pristine and superseding everything else in purity, His appearance beautiful and divine , His eyes half closed in deep contemplation on the almighty Lord Sriman nArAyaN and His lips vibrating with Dvaya mantra
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ஸ்ரீ கோயில் கந்தாடை அப்பன் ஸ்வாமிகள் திருவடிகளே சரணம் –
ஸ்ரீ பெரிய பெருமாள் பெரிய பிராட்டியார் ஆண்டாள் ஆழ்வார் எம்பெருமானார் ஜீயர் திருவடிகளே சரணம் –