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Annamacharya - Part 7
 The third lecture in the series, on the dashAvatAra kritis of Annamacharya was held on September 8, 2003 at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam premises on Venkatnarayana Road, T Nagar, Chennai. Swamimalai Suresh, vocal and Hari Babu, mridangam, accompanied Sri Ranga
Rao.
The programme began with the rendition of a verse in praise of Annamacharya’s songs, composed by his grandson Chinna
Tirumalacharya.
PAvanamulu haribhakti vibhAvanamulu
Sarvamantra parama rahasyotbhAvanamulu
GAyaka nikarAvanamulu
TALapAka annayya padamul
Vajra Kavacha
The verse was explained by Ranga Rao as follows:
The songs of Talapaka Annamayya, are sanctified, holy. They enable us to concentrate our thoughts on Lord Venkateshvara. They are the essence and efficacy of all mantras. They give protection and satisfaction to those who sing them.
The first song of the evening, dealing with the ten incarnations, was tuned by Swamimalai Suresh himself, in the rAgAs sAvEri, mOhanam, varALi and sAranga. The rendition was preceded by a brief account of the dashAvatArAs, related by Ranga
Rao.
The song puDaminindari paTTE bhUtamu, plays on the word bhUtam, or ghost. He equates all the popular thoughts that people have about ghosts in describing the ten avatArAs. The words are finely wrought. Ranga Rao drew a parallel with Christian tenets where the supreme is referred to as the Holy Ghost. Annamayya uses the word ghost to indicate its attributes of being big, powerful, omnipotent and able to go anywhere at will. The meaning is as follows:
 This spirit has caught hold of so many in this world!
It is so tall that it swallows a ship (matsyAvatAra)
It is a shell backed ghost (kUrmAvatAra)
It is a dark angry ghost (varAhAvatAra)
It is a crouching ghost (narasimha avatAra)
It is a huge figure with winnow like feet (vAmana avatAra)
It is the big ghost that revels in fighting (parashurAma avatAra)
It is the steadfast ghost with matted locks (rAma avatAra)
It is the cunning ghost with a black cloth cover (krShNa avatAra)
It is the naked ghost that roams unhindered (buddha avatAra)
It is the powerful ghost which strides (kalki avatAra)
It is the ghost of Tirumala Hill, the ghost on the bird.
There are in all 45 songs of Annamacharya that talk of the ten incarnations, either in full or in parts. At this point Sri Ranga Rao, digressed and gave interesting information on some temples for the lesser known avatArAs. There is a temple for matsyAvatAra in Nakalapuram and for kUrmAvatAra near Shrikakulam (Shrikurmam). He said that he is yet to come across a temple for Buddha (as per Vaishnavite scriptures) or Kalki. He said that the earliest inscription in stone that refers to the ten incarnations is at Mahabalipuram and dates to the 7th Century AD. Jayadeva, in the 12th Century has a full song in his Geeta Govinda. There is a dashAvatAra carita of Kshemendra, which is a Sanskrit work of the same period. There are however several temples where there are shrines for the ten avatAras (these do not usually have Buddha, but include Balarama) and Srirangam is one. So too is the Chenna Kesava Perumal Temple, George Town, Madras, that includes Buddha.
The talk then progressed towards other aspects of Tirumala Hill and Lord Venkateshwara as described by Annamacharya.
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