BG 8.2

Ahobile garudasaila madhye krupavsat kalpitha sannidhanam|

Lakshmya samalingitha vamabagam Lakshminrusimham saranam prabathye||

By His mercy or compassion, with Sri Lakshmi on His left, Sri LakshmiNrusimha has chosen to be in Ahobilam, in the Garudasailam mountains.

We have been seeing Bhagavad-Gita for past few days from this Kshetram, Ahobilam, which is under Sri Ahobila mutt management. Thiruvellore, Adhanur, Pullamboothangudi and Ahobilam- all these four Divya desams are under the management of Sri Ahobila mutt. In the Lower Ahobilam Sri Prahalada Varada temple, Swami Adi vann satakopa Jeer [1st jeer of the Mutt] is gracing the devotees. He was born in 1378 and with the name Srinivasacharya. As a bachelor, he came to Ahobilam in his twentieth year and was blessed with ascetic life [sanyasasramam], by Lord Sri Narasimha Himself. He was given the new name Sri Satakopa yati. He lived for 80 years till 1458. The Utsava moorthy of Sri Malola Narasimha jumped into the hands of Swami Adi van Satakopa jeer and was ordered to carry Him through out the country. He is the main Aradhya Perumal in Sri Ahobila mutt. Now the 45^th Jeer is administering the Mutt. In the mutt silver mantapam, Sri Malola Narasimha [Utsavar] graces the devotees along with many other idols, like the Child Sri Krishna [worshiped by Swami Ramanuja], the Golden Sri Narsimha donated by the King of Kakatya, etc. We will also listen to the speech of the present 45^th Jeer of Sri Ahobila mutt and with that we will conclude our pilgrimage to Ahobilam. It is requested all to come and worship the Nava Sri Narasimha here. A few years back about 50,000 pilgrims visited and this rose to 500,000 last year. Authorities here are expecting this figure also to rise to One Million shortly. Though it is happy to note more devotees come here, it is also the worry of the authorities here that the natural resources and beauty of the place should be preserved. Many facilities are arranged but devotees should ensure that they do not misuse and abuse these facilities. Now, on the way from Alaghatta to Ahobilam, in about 10 Acres, a new township is being constructed. It is called Nava Ahobilam, with the Dwadasa Nama of the Lord for its twelve blocks. Transportation and simultaneous viewing by about 1000 persons are being planned. It is expected to function in the next one year. We will now be ready to go to the next Kshetram. In the last tenth pasuram on this Kshetram [senganalai ittirainjum singavel kunrudaiya…], Thirumangai Alwar says that those, who come here to worship the Lord, will find evil things do not come near them.

H.H. Sri Lakshminrusimha paduka sevaka Sri Van Satakopa Sri Narayana yateendra maha desika in his anugraha bhashanam [felicitation speech]:

All Alwars had special mention for Sri Narasimha. Nammalwar says en singappiran – My Lord Sri Narasimha. There are many pasurams in which Sri Narsimha is praised. In Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam, Sri Narasimha is addressed as Sriman [possessor of wealth] [narasimhavapu sriman kesava purushottama]. It is believed that Sri Narasimha appeared in Ahobilam to protect Prahalada and kill Hiranyakasipu. Since then the Lord is residing in their Kshetram. Utsavar of this Kshetram is the main Deity in our Mutt also. Normally, people have special attachment to their Acharyas. In that respect since Sri Narasimha was the Acharya for Swami Adi van satakopa jeer, who was born in Thirunarayana puram in Mysore. It is believed that staying overnight in a kshetram yields lots of punya; but a night stay in Ahobilam yields millions of times those punya. Here, even animals worship the Lord says Thirumangai Alwar and cites Lions prostrating at the feet of the lord. For the word ‘senganaalai ittirainjum’, in his commentary Swami Periyavachan pillai, does not say the superficial red colored eyes, but says it depicts the red ochre robed Swami Ramanuja and he was blessed to propagate Visishtadwaitam through out the world. It shows that Swami Ramanuja was worshiping Sri Narasimha. By remaining in nine sannidhis spread out, the devotees’ devotion is tested. Every Acharya and ascetics

worship Sri Narasimha. Swami Parasara Bhattar praises the Sri Narasimha avatar. His blessings for all.