based on the vyakhyanam of Sri Periyavaccan Pillai
by Smt Sumithra Varadarajan

We Srivaishnavas consider 108 divyadesams to be very important to us though there are many more temples where the lord resides. We call the temples which have been sung by the alwars as divyadesams, since they have the mangalAsAsanams of the divyasooris, the alwars. Even among these divyadesams some have the importance because of the perumal there and in some the emperuman came to that place due to the magimai of the divyadesam itself. For instance, in Srirangam, lord ranganatha decided to stay in this place attracted by the beauty of the divyadesam. When vibheeshanazhvar was carrying lord ranganatha, gifted to him by sri rAma, to lanka, while passing srirangam lord ranganatha was very pleased with the kaveri river and the beautiful flora in the area that he decided to stay over there. In thirupathi, we find that the seven hills themselves are very sacrad and that the sins of who ever goes to the seven hills are washed out. This has been quoted even in rAmayanam. When sugreeva sent his men to search piratti in various directions, he instructed them not to go to the seven hills since if they go there then there punyams and papams will be nullified and they will attain moksham. That is why kulasekara alwar says "emperumAn ponmalai mEl Edenum AvEnE". Considering the importance of the seven hills, alwar here wants to take any birth in thirumalai. It may be an animal birth, an insect birth or a flower as long as it is in Thirumalai. Such is the importance of the divyadesam and that is why even the famous venkateswara perumal selected this to be his abode. Similarly when we see thiruvallikeni, this divyadesam was initially a tulasi forest, where various rishis did their tapas. When the king sumathi asked thirupathi perumal to give darshan to him like in krishnAvatAram, emperuman replied ' Go to the sacrad place BrindAranyam near the kairavini pushkarini where many other rishis are doing tapas and if you too do tapas over there then your wish will be fulfilled'. Generally the rishis do not do tapas in any place, they select the most sacrad place to do tapas where they can peacefully meditate on the god. In BrindAranyam already many rishis where doing tapas and hence thirupathi perumal directed sumathi also to the same place. So attracted by the charm and beauty of the divyadesam and the magimai of the place due to the number of rishis meditating on the lord making it a purely a sattvika place made lord, come over here. Since the rishis meditated on different forms of the lord the lord gave them darshan in the form they liked the most("ye yatAmam prapatyanthE thAm thathaiva bhajAmyaham" says sri Krishna in bhagavat geetha) and stayed in the same forms and hence now we all have the bhakyam to have darshan of the various perumals in various sannadhis, without any tapas or dhyanam. So we find that these places did not become divyam because emperuman came here but the emperuman's came here because these desams were already divine.

You may all be wondering why adiyen is telling all these without going to the explanation of the meanings of the next paasuram. This introduction has been given to clarify why alwar is suddenly singing about the natural beauty of Srirangam like other ordinary poets. We all know that alwars are not bothered about anything else other than the lord then why should they sing about the natural beauty? The alwars, mainly thirumangai alwar, does mangalAsAsanam to both the divyadesam and the perumal because he feels everything in a divyadesam is divine and praise worthy. In similar strands, thondaradipodi alwar also enjoys the beauty of Srirangam and says among this beautiful scenary we find another beauty reclining, the lord ranganatha and then he finally comes back to the same old story feeling for the people, who do not enjoy all these and put themselves to miseries, running at the back of worldly pleasures.

Paasuram-14
vandinam muralum sOlai mayilinam Alum sOlai
kondal meedhanavum sOlai kuyilinam koovum sOlai
andarkOn amarum sOlai anithiruvarangam ennA
mindarpAyindhu vunnum sOttrai vilakki nAykku edumineerE

vandinam muralum sOlai mayilinam Alum sOlai: Srirangam is filled with number of beautiful gardens. Those gardens are filled with beautiful and sweet smelling flowers which have honey in them. We find number of bees in these gardens which are attracted by the fragrance and beauty of the flowers. That's what alwar says here 'vandinam muralum sOlai', the gardens filled with bees flying from one flower to another. In this pleasant place there are number of peacocks which dance with joy. Alwar imagines that the sound made by the bees to be a praise to the lord and that to that music the peacocks dance.

kondal meedhanavum sOlai kuyilinam koovum sOlai: The kaveri river is flowing and the plants are flourished, seeing the richness of this place the clouds have appeared on the sky. The trees in these gardens are so well grown that they almost touch the skies. And the cuckoos in these gardens sing sweetly with joy. As andal says 'kootil erundu kuyil govinda!govinda! endrazhaikkum'. In srirangam if the parrots which have been kept inside a cage, can sing happily the name of the lord then wont the birds which have been left freely in the beautiful gardens sing with joy the praise of the almighty? Even Sri Bhagavatam says, that even the bees in brindavam always sing the praise of Sri Krishna only. So the gardens in srirangam, are filled with the cuckoos which happily sing about the lord and the bees hum the music and the peacocks dance to this and the clouds appear to be a spectator to this grand music performance.

andarkOn amarum sOlai: Still now alwar sang about all the other beauties in Srirangam. Now alwar says, the beauty which gave beauty to anything else in this world has also come to stay in this divyadesam. Any other beauty in this world is only a part of the emperuman's beauty. That emperuman, who is the king of kings and one who is the supreme, he also stays in this place. Sri PVP says like the bees, cucukoos, peacocks and the clouds which got attracted to the beauty of this place the emperuman also got attracted to this divyadesam and stayed here. It is no wrong in equating the parAtparan with these ordinary jeevans, since this is only to show the magimai of the divyadesam.

anithiruvarangam ennA mindarpAyindhu vunnum sOttrai vilakki nAykku edumineerE: Inspite of all these importance, people refrain from even uttering the name of this divyadesam. Many places people say are beautiful, even if we are unable to go there we imagine the beauty of that place and enjoy. But the unfortunate part is Srirangam is the most beautiful place in this world, still people do not even think of it or feel bad that we are unable to go there. They cease to accept the importance of this divyadesam but are only concerned about their wordly pleasure. How can people be so stupid? Alwar's anger is raised thinking about such people and hence he goes to the level of cursing them. He says grab the food, which these people jump to eat and throw it to a dog since a dog which stays in srirangam is worth living than such people who do not even utter the nAma of the bhagavan and his divya desam.