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The Divine name

CHENNAI : The abodes of the Supreme Being glorified by the Azhwars of the Srivaishnava tradition are hailed as Divyadesas and they are 108 in number. Of them Srirangam has a unique distinction in that all the Azhwars have sung in praise of the deity there — Lord Ranganatha. An interesting aside is related in tradition about an Araiyar (temple minstrel in Srirangam) who went on a pilgrimage to Tiruvenkatam and attempted to compare the excellence of Lord Srinivasa (Tirumala) and Lord Ranganatha.

When he started describing them and observed that the ornaments, which adorned them shone with radiance because of their beauty, the Lord of Tiruvenkatam accepted his eulogy. The Araiyar then related that all the Azhwars had composed verses on Lord Ranganatha when Lord Srinivasa immediately asked him to stop comparing them saying that `Chozhiyan' (Tondaradippodi Azhwar) had indeed failed to extol Him. This is related to underscore Tondaradippodi Azhwar's singular devotion to the Lord of Srirangam. His hymns Tirumalai and Tiruppalli ezhuchi are testimony to his absolute loyalty to his chosen deity, said Sri K.B. Devarajan in his discourse. It is said that one who does not know Tirumalai cannot know Tirumal (God).

Such is the greatness of this work. Right at the outset he highlights the glory of the Divine name as the means to salvation in the Tirumalai. He declares that reciting God's names has made him fearless: "By the impetus of learning Your names the senses have come under control and Kali overpowered, and we exult stepping on the heads of Yama's agents." Thus the leitmotif of this hymn is the efficacy of chanting the Divine name as the means to liberation in this Kali age.

This is stressed on the lines of the Bhagavata Purana, which states that penance, dispassion and wisdom were essential to realise God in the other three Yugas (Satya, Treta and Dwapara), while in Kali devotion (chanting the Divine name) can give the same result. A devotee once asked Parasara Bhattar what the prerequisites were for chanting God's names. He asked in turn, "Is there any eligibility for addressing one's mother?" thereby driving home the truth that devotion is enough to chant the Divine name.

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