The last two lines of the Paasuram

malaittha selsAtthu yeRintha poosal vann-tuDi vaay kaduppa
silaikkai vEdar thezhippu aRAtha SingavEL KunRamE (2)

Let us focus study on the last two lines of the paasuram.

"Silakkai Vedar” (the Chenchus) are the natives of Ahobilam. They are the hunters with a tight sense of Community. Senchu Lakshmi was born as the daughter of the king of hunters here and She married the Lord here. Therefore, they consider Lord Narasimhan, who married Checnchu Lakshmi as their kulam's son-in-law (MaappiLLai Swamy). They have a sense of ownership of the hills and dales of Ahobilam. Now comes a band of devotees, who brave the dangers of the travel in Ahobilam hills and try to chase their fears away by talking loud and being noisy. This makes the natives unhappy. They want to assemble their clan by blowing on their trumpets and drums to fight "the intruders". The hunters have their bows in hand and do not hesitate to throw stones at the band of travellers rushing towards the Lord's Sannidhi before the Sun sets and the wild animals come out. The mutual distrust and the noisy quarrels between the two groups fill the air and there is commotion all around. That noise never subsides in the hills of SingavEL KunRam.

Out of their deep devotion for Narasimha BahgavAn, which at times appear to exceed even that of PrahlAdhAzhwAn, these BhaagavathAs climb the hills huddled together to overcome their anxieties arising from travel in the dangerous foot paths of Ahobilam hills populated by hostile tribes and wild animals.

Such is the inaccessibility of Ahobila Dhivya dEsam! The ardour of the devotees of the Lord overcomes their discomfort and fears as they march bravely up the hills to have the darsana soubhAgyam of the Narasimha BhagavAn. Today, thanks to the KaaruNyam of Prakrutham Azhagiya Singar, the travel to and stay at Ahobila KshEtram has become most comfortable.

 

Chenchu Lakshmi

 

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PASURAM 3

yEntha pEzhvaay vaaLL yeyiRROr kOLariyAy avuNan
vaayntha aaham vaLLuhirAl vahirntha Ammaanathu idam
Oyntha maavum udayntha kunRum anRiyum ninRazhalAl
tEyntha vEyum allathillA SingavEL kunRamE (3)

— Periya Thirumozhi: 1.7.3

 

MEANING

AhObilam is the dhivya dEsam of Veda Prasiddha EmperumAn, who became a matchless and majestic Lion with the lustrous cannine teeth fitting ideally with the huge cavern sized mouth. Here Narasimhan tore apart the hard chest of HiraNyan — gained from his severe penance — with His sharp, adamantine nails.

At this Hill of the matchless Simham (Narasimham), wild animals like lion, tiger, and elephants are unable to roam freely due to the wounds in their legs. Why is their free roaming thwarted? Why are they immobilized by the road side? It is because of the intensity of the forest fires that heat up the rocks to the point of the rocks cracking and shooting out in all directions. Treading over these splintered hot rocks and pebbles burns their feet and makes it difficult for them to move about freely. They have to wait for the forest fire to stop and for the floor to cool before they can resume their free movement deep inside the forests instead of hanging around in places, where the sevArtthees travel along narrow foot paths to the Sannidhi of the Lord. These sharp hot splinters present dangers to the pilgrims as well in addition to the dangers posed to them from the wild animals.

The forest is full of thorny bamboo bushes. When lightning strikes and the forest fire grows, the bamboo bushes catch fire and explode throwing thorns like shooting stars on to the foot paths used by the pilgrims and the trails used by the wild animals in their natural habitats. The hot thorns inhibit further the progress of the pilgrims and cause consternation to the wild animals. Hot rocky splinters from overheated stones, forest fire and flying hot thorn shreds from the bamboo forests make AhObila dhivya dEsam not an easy place to travel for the sEvai of Narasimhan. It is not a place for the faint hearted and the weak-limbed to travel. It is not an easily accessible dhivya dEsam like Srirangam, where nightingales sing, the peacocks dance and the region is abundant with pleasing lotus ponds and green rice paddy fields. Only the hardy and determined pilgrims can make their way up the wilderness of Ahobila dhivya dEsam taking their life in their own hands to have the bhAgyam of the SEvai of the Lord in this HiraNya SamhAra KshEthram (AmmAn Idam).

The hills and forests enroute to Jwala Narasimhan Shrine - Ahobilam

 

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Thanks to the foresight and DayA of Prakrutham Azhagiya Singar, clear pathways have been constructed to climb the hills of Ahobilam comfortably. Svathi Thirumanjanam takes place at every one of the nine sannidhis at Ahobilam today. People travel comfortably to this dhivya dEsam now to take part in these Thirumanjanams.

In Thirumangai Mannan's time, Ahobila KshEthrAdanam was the most dangerous one. It was hazardous. There was the wild forest full of ferocious animals. The frequent forest fires from lightning forced the wild animals to escape the deep forest to halt near the pathways used by the YaathrikAs. Even there, both the animals and the pilgrims could not escape from the dangers of flying bamboo thorns and sharp pieces of hot rocks set in motion by the intense forest fires. Oyntha Maa (immobilized animals), Udaintha KunRu (Splintered rock pieces) and azhalAl tEyntha vEy (bamboo thorns left over from the forest fire) all joined together to cause havoc for the ardent pilgrims intent on visiting the Sannidhi of the Lord of AhObilam.

 

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PASURAM 4

yevvam vevvEl Ponn peyarOn yEthalan inn uyirai
vavvi aahamvaLLUhirAl vahirntha ammAn idam
kavvu-nAyum kazhuhum ucchippOthodu kaal suzhanRu
DhaivamallAl sella oNNA SingavEL KunRamE (4)

 — Periya Thirumozhi: 1.7.4

MEANING:

The AhObila KshEthram is the place of residence of Lord Narasimhan, who stole the dear prANan of the asuran with the name denoting gold (HiraNyan) through His powerful nails of the fingers. The asuran carrying a sharp spear in his hand and caused sorrow to the people of the world was destroyed by Lord Narasimhan with His sharp nails. HiraNyan's chest was torn apart by the Matchless power of His nails.This dhivya dEsam of Ahobilam (SingavEL KunRam) is not of easy access to human beings; it is readily accessible to dEvAs alone. The hardships faced by the humans are hinted by Kaliyan:

(1) The intense heat of the mid day Sun and the fast moving hot winds from the forest fires slow down the pilgrims. Those adverse factors weaken the steps of the pilgrims

(2) There is also mortal danger that they experience: The wild dogs attack the weary pilgrims, who are in a weakened state and if they fall down, then the eagles sweep down to go for their flesh as their food. Under these circumstances, even the hardiest pilgrims find it extremely difficult to climb up the hills for Bhagavath darsanam. Thirumangai wonders whether this dhivya dEsam is accessible to dEvAs alone (Dhaivam allAl sella oNNA SingavEL KunramE).

Lord Narasimha and His hard-to-access dhivya dEsam of Ahobilam are dear to VaishNavAs, Sankara and Dhvaitha SampradhAyins as well. There are many sthOthrams about Lord Narasimhan, who destroyed adharmic HiraNyan with His nails alone. One of them is by MadhvAchArya named "Nrusimha Nakha Stuthi", a tribute to the finger nails of Lord NarasimhA, the instrument of destruction of HiraNyan. There are two beautiful slOkams in this Stuthi by MadhvAchArya: http://www.dvaita.org/stotra/nakha_stuti.html