nirvANa sundarI

यस्य स्मरणमात्रेण नामभक्तिः प्रजायते |
तं नमामि यतिश्रेष्ठं बोधेन्द्रं जगतां गुरुम् ||

भगवन्नामसाम्राज्यलक्ष्मीसर्वस्वविग्रहम् |
श्रीमत् बोधेन्द्र योगीन्द्र देशिकेन्द्रमुपास्महे ||

It has been almost an year since we visited the adhiShThAnam of shr bhagavannAma bodhendra sarasvatI mahAsvAmigal at Govindapuram on the banks of kAverI. Our friend Sri Sudarshan Balasubramanium had narrated an awe-inspiring incident where an elderly relative of his decided to visit the AchArya's adhiShThAnam one night and had been blessed with the pratyakSha darshana of H H. That had sparked an intense desire to visit Govindapuram.

During last year's sUryoparAga, there were too many places to visit, the chief being madhyArjuna and bhAskararAjapuram. Not many in our group seemed keen on visiting Govindapuram. What indeed was so special about an old yati who sang rAma nAma - especially to a group of shAktas interested in mantra, tantra and yantra? There would be no mantra, tantra, prayoga, prati-prayoga etc here. An ignorant one once commented - It is BS to believe that Meera, Tukaram and other saints simply sang songs and recited names and performed miracles? To some, there is nothing spiritually worthwhile except when there are gory scenes of aghora or pAshupata practices involved, and similar seemed to be the attitude of some who accompanied us. Though well-versed in mantra shAstra, they seemed to forget the core concepts of nAda, prANa and manas - interplay of which leads to siddhi and anugraha. The grace of the lotus feet of our Guru Brahmasri Asthana Vidwan KPS has never failed to guide us and there seemed to be clear instruction to visit the adhiShThAnam of this mahAn. Taking the pose of a stubborn child, I finally made it to the adhiShThAnam along with the group. Once we set our foot in the holy shrine, the reluctance in the minds of those accompanying us (some of them being accomplished upAsakas) was replaced by inexplainable serenity and joy. We were greeted by hanumAn in his vAnarAvatAra right at the entrance and he seemed to utter: rAma, rAma, as though attesting to our belief that there is no greater rasa than nAma-rasa.

As we circumambulated the adhiShThAna of the AchArya, the nAda of nAmasmaraNa emanating from it was unmistakable. Overcome with joy, a few tears shed were all we could offer as prayers to the great yati. Then came the instruction from the AchArya to take up koTi japa of the sacred aShTAkShara mantra of shrImannArAyaNa, which is the Adi for vyUha-chatuShka and the most important anga-mantra of our iShTa-daiva, shrI nrsimha. Owing to the grace of the compassionate Lord and the Acharya, we have completed the japa and several lakhs of viShNu sahasranAma pArAyaNa (as a group) in the last year. We wish to thank all members of the maNDalI who joined us in this sacred endeavor and urge all to benefit by visiting the vibrant adhiShThAnam of the AchArya.