Click on the image to open:
नामैव ते वरद वाञ्छितदातृभावं व्याख्यात्यतो न वहसे वरदानमुद्राम् ।
न ह्यागमोदितरसः श्रुतिसिद्धमर्थं लिङ्गेन बोध्यमुररीकुरुते विपश्चित् ॥८०॥
T: Oh Lord Śrī Varadarāja, Your very name means the one who gives boons and fulfills the devotee's desires graciously. That is the reason why You do not hold Your hand in the Mudra of Abhaya. The scholar learned in Āgama will not accept the mere form as attestation of the Śruti declaration.
Explanation: Many deities hold their hands in the Mudra of giving. This is not depicted in the idol of Śrī Varadarāja. But the poet argues that since His very name means Vara-Da i.e. the gracious giver of boons, there is therefore no need for the deity to explicitly show the hand in that Mudra. According to Mīmāmsakas, Śruti is the final evidence for any understanding, not Liṅga as a deity image (empirical depiction). Thus there is no problem in the Abhaya Mudra not being shown for 'Vara-Da" here. We can quote lines from the Vāmana Purāṇa in this context:
आर्थिभ्यो वै वरं दत्ते प्रणतार्तिविनाशनः । आख्यां वरदराजेति ययौ नित्यं कृतार्थयन् ॥
This has been cited in Appayya Dīkṣita's Kuvalayānanda as विश्वप्रसिद्धतरविप्रकुलप्रसूतेर्यज्ञोपवीतवहनं हि न खल्वपेक्ष्यम् (Vāmana, born as the son of the world's most reputed Brahmin parents, did not even need to sport a sacred thread to establish himself as a Brahmin.)
