LORD VENKATESHWARA BECOMES DISCIPLE OF SWAMY ANATHAZHWAN

It may be mentioned here that TIRUMALAi is Kaliyuga Vaikuntam and Sri Vaikuntanathan has manifested Himself as Lord Srinivasar.

The sacred TIRUMALA Hills consisting of seven peaks is considered to be seven-hooded. Blessed are the devotees who are fortunate to have his darshan .

There are countless devotees who have served the LORD since ages .

One such great devotee was Swamy Ananthazhwan an ardent disciple of Swamy Ramanuja . As per Swamy Ramanuja’s directives he served the LORD few hundred years ago .

There are several pastimes of Swamy Anathazhwan with Lord Srinivasa . One divine pastime is memorable as Lord himself accepts to become Swamy Anathazhwans disciple .

Knowing about the initiatives taken by Swamy Anathazhwan in organising the temple rituals with religious fervor few devotees decided to trek the hills and have darshanam of Lord and seek the blessings of his dear devotee too . The  Srivaishnavites were walking from Srirangam and it was a very long journey .

While  ascending the Hills, coming fromthey were feeling tired and had to take some rest . Completely exhausted  they were perplexed how could they complete their pilgrimage. All of a sudden a young lad  appeared before them .

The boy was appearing with divine tejas . With  srivaishna Urdhva pundram he was almost looking like vamana avatara  brahmachari .

 He offered his humble obeisances   and  said .Oh swamins ! Adiyen has brought some temple prasada for all of you .

Kindly honor the same and please feel comfortable .

The srivaishnavites  being orthodox  were  initially impressed with the divine boy .However one Elder person among the group  wanted him to introduce his  lineage and his Acharyar whom he was initiated .  

The divine lad  he was , smiled at  the simple question .

 He proudly replied that his name was Madhurakavidasa and his Acharyar was Swamy Anathazhwan who is serving Lord in all ways .

It was his Acharyars instructions , he had walked down the sacred hills to handover the prasada  coming to know about their visit .

He further expressed that the Prasada was coming directly from the temple which was handed over to him by Swamy Anathazhwan  to  be given to them .

 

A bit surprised  , the elders said ..

Oh swamin  

Its nice to know about your association to Swamy Anathazhwan . But we wish to hear from you about his glories .

Can we hear your swamys Thanian ? as this a custom for the srivaishnavas to recite their Acharyars glories in the form of Thanians .

The divine boy majestically recited the thanian about Swamy Anathazhwan  in the seven hills which vibrated 

 

Akhilatmagunavasam ajnanatimirpaham

Asritanam susaranam vande Anantharyadesikam”

 

(I bow to Acharya Ananthazhvan, who is the repository of knowledge, mercy and wisdom, the one  Acharyar  who removes ignorance and is eminently  eligible for surrender by disciples)

 

 They liked the divine lads confident answer . However the Srivaishnavas then questioned the  youngster how his taniyan made no reference to Ananthazhvan’s  relation  to  Swamy Ramanuja.

The divine boy smiled and  replied Swamins ! Actually there are  two Thaniyans in praise of  adiyens Acharyar Swamy Ananthazhvan, one referring to the glory of his  divine  personality and another referring  to his connection with  Swamy Ramanuja.

 And please listen to the second verse of the Thanian  

 

‘Srimath Ramanujacharya Sripadamboruhadvayam 

 Sathutha manga sandaryam Anantharyamaham Bhaje..

 

( I prostrate before  adiyens Acharyar  Swamy Ananthalvan who is the lotus feet of Swamy  Ramanuja and who is worshipped by Srivaishnavas all  over the earth )

The Srivaishnavas were convinced that the  divine boy  was a true disciple of Swamy Ananthalvan  . They honoured the prasada  with relish .

They thanked the boy for his affection and love and blessed him .

 

The  divine boy took leave of them and   ascended   the Hills welcoming them to join him . Slowly, the Srivaishnavas ascended the Hills and walked into Swamy Anathazhwans ashram . 

Swamy Anathazhwan was overjoyed to recive the guests from Srirangam . They offered their obeisances and thanked him for the kind courtesy in sending the maha prasada down to the Hills They appreciated the young boy for his kindness and hospitality .

They praised the boys intellect and kindness  and expressed  their gratefulness  to   Swamy Ananthazhvan for having sent prasada through one of his bright young disciples.

Swamy Ananthalvan was bewildered.  Amazed to note the divine  leela , he  was in total dark .  He realised that it was his LORD who took the pains to walk down with the mahaprasada to his devotees . With tears , he wished to know about the divine lad .The Srivaishnavas explained  about the divine glow the boy exhibited . His majestic recitation of the Thanians was memorable  ..

The boy was so down to earth serving the prasada They  informed that the boy introduced himself as Madhurakavidasa  and had recited two slokas in his praise and  as they were  just trekking behind him up to the hills safely . They said that the boy went inside the temple citing some pending works.

 

Swamy Anathazhwan pleaded them to recite the verses the boy had sung ..

They recited the two verses before  Swamy Ananthazhvan.The entire assembly was wonder struck. Swamy Anathazhwan was in tears  .

They realised that the Lord had declared himself as Ananthalvan’s disciple and  had chosen the name Madhurakavidasa .

Even though there were so many other Acharyas  the second verse showed that it was Ananthazhvan who could be fittingly considered equal to the Lotus feet of Swamy Ramanuja.

Since then  the paduka (sathari) at the shrine of  Swamy Ramanuja sanctorium  up the Hills came to be known  as Ananthazhvan since then the two verses became famous as the Thaniyans in praise of Swamy  Ananthazhvan….

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pics : Credit Google pics,

videos credits  : SVBC channel and other social media