Paramapadam (Sri Vaikuntham)

Sthala Purāṇam

Paramapadam, also called Sri Vaikuntham, is the supreme and eternal abode of Sriman Narayana, and the first and foremost of the 108 Divya Desams. It is the second of the two celestial Divya Desams, lying wholly beyond the material universe; in Sri Vaishnava theology it is the nitya vibhuti, the eternal realm, as distinct from the leela vibhuti, the transient cosmos of sport. The presiding Lord is Paramapada Nathan, enthroned upon Adisesha beneath the Ananthanga Vimanam, attended by his consorts Sri Devi, Bhu Devi, and Neela Devi. Its boundary is the river Viraja, which separates samsara from the deathless realm; the liberated soul (mukta) crosses it and sheds all trace of material bondage. Paramapadam is the home of the nitya suris, the ever-free eternal beings such as Ananta, Garuda, and Vishvaksena, who serve the Lord in perpetual bliss. The soul reaches this abode by the archiradi marga, the path of light described in the Upanishads, along which divine guides (ativahikas) lead it until the nitya suris and the divine consorts, with the Lord himself, come forward to welcome it. Nammalvar's Thiruvaymozhi decad 10.9, 'Soozh visumbu ani mugil,' is the celebrated description of this ascent, where, having attained parabhakti, the Alvar is granted the vision of the soul's journey through the archiradi marga into the assembly of the nitya suris. Verses on Paramapadam come from Nammalvar, Periyalvar, Andal and Thirumangai Alvar. As the goal of every Sri Vaishnava, Paramapadam is moksha itself: eternal, unbroken kainkaryam to the Lord.