<Part I                                                                                                >Part III

Thiruvaheendrapuram is one of the 108 Divya Desams. (Divya Desams are those Vaishnava Kshetras sung by the Alwars). Cuddalore, close to which this Kshetra is situated and the nearby towns such as Vizhupuram, Vadalur are all 'Tapo Bhoomis' (holy soils), since many 'Mahans' (Saints) were born and lived here. Rivers such as Vegavathi, Paalar, Pennaiyar, etc. run across these lands. These areas have been divided into north and south arcot districts. They were ealier named as 'vada aaranyam' and 'then aaranyam'. Aaranyam means forest and 'vada'- north, 'then'- south and hence they were named 'vada' arcot (kaadu in Tamil means forest) and 'then' arcot. There are no temples, palaces, historical monuments, etc. in these areas as it was a dense forest .

A chozha king, while on a hunt, met a 'Gandarva' maiden from the 'Nagaloka'. They married and lived together for some time before she returned to her world. A son was born to her. This child had a strange form. It looked neither like a 'Naga' nor a human. The child questioned his mother about his appearance. He also asked his mother who his father was. The maiden then explained that his father was a human, a Chozha king. At the request of the child the maiden came up to the earth and left the child in the kingdom of its father. The king recognized his son and offered him the eight 'aaranyams' (forests) to rule over. This being dense forest area it had not been ruled over earlier. This son of the Chozha King was the first ruler and later came to be known as the 'Nawab of Arcot'.

The eight forests were divided into two - four in the north and four in the south - thus forming North Arcot and South Arcot. The towns of Vadalur, Vizhuppuram, Cuddalore, fall under these Arcot areas. Many Mahatmas have chosen to be born and spend their lives here. Therefore, this area has always been blessed with many Mahatmas and there has never been dearth of 'Mahaans' in these areas.

In the holy town of Thiruvaheendrapuram is the temple of Sri Devanatha Swamy, brother of Sri Uppiliyappan(Sri Uppiliyappan temple near Kumbakonam) and Tirupathi Sri Srinivasa Perumal. This temple of Sri Devanatha Swamy lies between the small hillock called the 'Owshadha Parvatham' on the one side and river Gatila on the other. Markandeyan after being blessed by Lord Siva in Thirukadaiyur came to this kshetra to Sri Devanatha Swamy. The devotees of Sri Devanatha Swamy ridiculed him, "In spite of being blessed by Lord Siva you had to come here to our Devanatha Swamy." However, the Lord of this Kshetra gave Markandeyan darshan as the 'Trinity' (Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Siva - the creator, the sustainer and the destroyer) in a single form.

Sri Devanatha Swamy thus holds a Padmam (the sign of Lord Brahma), a Crescent on the head (the sign of Lord Siva) and holds Shanka-Chakra in His hands (the sign of Lord Vishnu). It is because of this that worshippers of the different Gods look upon Sri Devanatha Swamy as their own God viz. as Devi, as Siva, as Subrahmanya, etc. Sri Desikan says the Lord is the 'antaryami' (one who resides within) of all. It is said in the 'Paancharaathra aagama' that during the Friday puja the 'saanidhyam' (presence) of all Gods can be found/felt here.

Sri Desikan, too, has sung on Sri Devanatha Swamy- "Moovarum oruvaraagi……. - 'the three have become one'. Vedanta Desikan who established the Vadagalai tradition of the Vaishnavites, born in Tooppul, came to this Owshadha Parvatham. It is on this hillock that Sri Desikan did upaasana of Garuda and was blessed with the Hayagreeva Mantra. Chanting this Mantra Sri Desikan attained 'saakshaatkara' (darshan) of Hayagreeva. Sri Desikan lived in Tiruvaheendrapuram. He has written the 'vairagya panchati'.

Once a poor boy approached Sri Desikan for assistance in earning some money as he desired to marry. During those times it was customary for the boy to offer some money to the girl while marrying her. Nevertheless, when any daanam (offering) viz. vasthra (clothes) danam, Boo (land) daanam, is made it is usual to place some money along with it as dakshina. Marriage means 'Kannika (girl) daanam. A girl is offered in marriage by her father to the boy. So some money is offered along with her as 'dakshina'. This is known as 'varadakshina'. Sri Desikan composed a 'Stree Sthuthi' for the sake of the boy and there was a rain of gold coins - just like it had when Adi Sankara Bhagavadhpadal sung 'Kanakadara Stotram' at the door of a poor lady who had nothing but just a gooseberry to offer him as Dwadasi Bhiksha.

In this holy town lived the pious couple Venkatranga Iyengar and Alamelu Ammal. In the Tamil month of 'Ippasi' (October-November months) in 'Sravana Nakshatram'(star) on 'Maha Navami' Alamelu Ammal gave birth to a son. The child was named Rajagopala Desikan. When the child was about six months the father carried him to the 'sannidhi' of Sri Rama in the Devanatha Swamy temple. Sri Rama here is very fine-looking - much more than the Vaduvur Thillai Vila Ramar who is renowned for his beauty. It is on this Rama that 'Raghu Veera Gathyam' has been sung by Sri Desikan.

As the father stood in front of this sannidhi holding the six months old baby Rajagopala Desikan in his hands, a bright light (Divya Tejas) from Sri Rama's eyes shot out and hit the child. The baby's body reacted as if struck by lightning and seemed unable to bear the strain of it. All these were visible to the father and he was at once joyful (as it showed the extraordinary signs of the baby) and fearful (for the baby seemed to cringe under the impact of the light). Back home he informed his wife of the happening and said, "This is no ordinary child that we have been blessed with. We should bring up this son of ours with all the care in the world." But, within a few days the child contracted a strange fever and appeared to be dying. The father was shocked and wondered how a child of this extraordinary stature could face death at such an early stage.

In this holy town lived Sri Ananthacharyar, a Brahmachari devotee of the Lord. A man of great tapas he was doing 'nandavana kaingaryam' (supplying flowers to the Lord from the garden). People used to approach him for solutions to their various problems - both worldly and spiritual. The perplexed Sri Venaktaranga Iyengar found Sri Ananthacharyar pass his house and rushed to him for help. In the Vadagalai Vaishnava tradition is the practice of 'prapatti' (surrender). A competent person, usually the Guru, surrenders the dying person to Lord Vishnu. Sri Ananthacharyar, too, with this 'prapatti' in mind went to Sri Devanatha Swamy temple and prayed to the Lord to accept the 'jiva'. However, things took a new turn with the child recovering quickly. The parents' joy knew no bounds.

Even as a child, Rajagopalan was drawn to God. He was unlike other children of his age. He could not play like they did. He always kept watching the 'Perumal'. He attended the discourses on various devotees of the Lord. When he heard the stories of Dhruva, Prahalada, he yearned for such devotion. He longed to experience such deep devotion. Only love and nothing else matters to God/Guru. Neither the study of the Vedas, nor learning of the scriptures (the elephant Gajendran just surrendered to the Lord and called on Him when the crocodile attacked him. And the Lord rushed to save him), nor beauty (kubjai, a hunch-backed woman was favoured by the Lord), nor valour (King Ugrasena, a weak-minded father of Kamsa enjoyed the Lord's affection), nor wealth (kuchela, the boyhood friend of Sri Krishna was the personification of poverty yet the Lord loved to have him for company), nor age (Dhruva was a mere child when the Lord blessed him with His darshan) are of any importance to Him. The child Rajagopalan spent most of his time on the banks of river Gatila in solitude and cried his heart out for the Lord's darshan. When his father found him crying and questioned him about it he would not reveal the real reason, for, he wished to keep his yearning for God a secret. Instead he would only say that he felt neglected by the other boys and that saddened him. A true devotee does not make loud talks about his devotion but keeps it hidden in his heart. Anger, lust, desire will never take him to God. However, if he does get to a Mahatma he will change, for, these would leave him.

Once in Brindavan a man who was a money lender attended the Bhagavadham discourse of a Sadhu. He felt so drawn to it that every evening at 6.00 p.m. he would quickly close the shop and rush to the Bhagavadham discourse. His neighbour who also ran the same kind of business questioned him, "Brother, how is it that you close your shop so early and rush elsewhere? What is it that draws you so?" The first man explained in all earnestness, "A Mahatma is discoursing on Bhagavadham. You, too, may come with me for it is so absorbing to listen about the Lord." The neighbour laughed at him, "Brother, have you become so weak-minded?" However, at the insistence of the friend he accompanied him to the Bhagavadham discourse. And lo! From the following evening this neighbour, too, rushed to the Bhagavadham discourse of the Mahatma, closing down his shop early!

The wives of these two men wonder-struck by their husbands' behaviour and worried about the fate of the business tried to bring them to their senses! But their efforts went in vain. It then struck them that creating a scandal against the Mahatma would turn their husbands away from Him. So they employed a prostitute to tarnish the name of the Mahatma. At their instructions this prostitute carried a baby to the place of discourse and claimed that this Mahatma had fathered the baby. Now, there are three kinds of people - the Sattvic - who refuse to believe rumours such as these. Second, the Rajasic - who try to explain all these in their own ignorant way and thirdly, the tamasic, who tend to believe it all and remain aloof from it. However, the Mahatma just looked at the prostitute and the mere look changed her heart. She fell at His Feet. She begged pardon for her sinful act and spoke out the truth. The very 'Kadakshsa' (look) of a Mahatma will change the heart of even the worst of people. Such is their power which is nothing but love - love for all!

An ordinary mortal would have felt grateful and thankful to God for having protected him from a scandal. But it is not so with a Mahatma. He would only question, "Oh! Lord! Why did you save me? Had this scandal been believed to be true the crowd would have left me and I would have been in the much-sought solitude." A Sadhu desires to leave but God pushes him back, again and again, into the world, for, He uses the Sadhu as his hands in redeeming the 'jivas'. In spite of so many impediments a SathGuru mixes freely amongst His people, as would a friend. Their joys and sorrows are His.

To see God one should either be a dharmata (righteous), or sathya santhan (Truthful) or have vishwas (possess unshaken faith). And this child possessed such deep faith in God that when Lord Devanatha Swamy was taken in procession he called out to Him. Since the Lord did not respond the child removed the ring from his finger and threw it at the Lord being carried in the chariot so that the ring-hit Lord would turn back to find out who had hit Him!

One day Rajagopalan heard the discourse of Tiruppanazhvaar. He listened to Sri Ranga Vaibhavam in rapt attention. The man at the dais explained that Sri Rangam was 'Bhooloka Vaikuntam' (the abode of Lord Vishnu on earth). The Sri Ranganathar now in Sri Rangam was initially in Ayodya in Maharaja Dasarathan's palace. Lord Rama had performed puja to this Ranganathar. A King by name Dharma Varman was one of the invitees to a Yaga performed by King Dasaratha in Ayodhya. After the yaga when King Dasaratha asked King Dharma Varma from the South if he desired to have anything, the latter asked for Sri Ranganathar being worshipped in the palace. King Dasarathar could not fulfill the invitee's wish as this Sri Ranganathar was being worshipped for generations in the royal family and as such could not be given away. But later after His return to Ayodya Sri Rama presented Vibhishanan with this Sri Ranganathar. Vibhishanan carried Sri Ranganathar in the 'Ranga Vimanam'. On his way back to Sri Lanka he stopped on the pushkarani which is located in the area where the temple of Sri Rangam stands now. It was at this time that King Dharma Varman was doing tapas on the banks of the Cauvery. Due to the power of his tapas he knew that Sri Ranganathar would come there. When Vibhishanan started on his journey back to Sri Lanka, Sri Ranganathar in the Ranga Vimanam refused to leave with him as he declared that this place was 'Bhooloka Vaikuntham' and He desired to be there! This is how Sri Ranaganathar worshipped by the Bhanu vamsa kings of Ayodya came to Sri Rangam. The residences of all the Vaishnava Acharyas here face the temple of Sri Ranganathar .

When Rajagopalan heard the description of the beauty and the grace of Sri Ranganthar he felt that Sri Ranganathar must be the true Lord and he at once decided to go over to Sri Rangam. Since he did not wish to raise the suspicions of his parents and create any immediate anxiety he used a different technique to quit home. One evening on his return from school when his mother served him the 'kachha' (unripe) banana curry he demanded more of it. When that was refused he feigned anger and quit home. He boarded the train leaving for Tiruchirapalli. When he reached Tiruchirapalli the child in all earnestness looked out for the person whom he believed Lord Ranganathar must have deputed to receive him at the station! This was so because in the discourse he had heard that the Lord had sent some people to receive 'Tiruppanaazhvar'. But none seemed to await his arrival. Yet, the child ran up to those whom he found wearing the vaishnavite mark on their foreheads and asked them if they were indeed here at the Lord's behest to receive him! Such faith for the Lord the child entertained in his heart! It is only FAITH born of LOVE that ultimately matters.

To be continued......

<Part I                                                                                                >Part III