Can Sri Vaishnavas count?

[Guest guest]

Iyarpaa containing, among other prabhandams, siRiya and

periya thiru madal (STD and PTD) of Thirumangai

aazhvaar and whether or not the 108 verses of iraamanusa

nooRRandhaadhi (INA) gets counted, results in

differences in the total count for the naalaayira Dhivya

Prabhandam (DP). Unlike other prabhandams, siRiya and

periya thirumadal are not neatly separated into paasurams.

 

Thenkalai sampradaayam treats STD and PTD as just one

paasuram each. Thus the count for iyaRpaa is 593

verses. INA is not counted as part of the 4,000 DP.

Thus the total count for DP is only 3,776. This must be

the most faithful way to count. Note that thenkalayaar

do recite INA at temples with great reverence. I had the

opportunity to witness this in the thaanaana thirumEni

shrine at Sri Rangam.

 

Swami Sri Desikar in his Prabhandasaaram broke STD

and PTD into 40 and 78 paasurams respectively. Further,

he included INA as part of iyarpaa. Thus, his total count

for iyaRpaa is 709, and the total count for DP is even

4,000. Since siRiya and periya thirumadal are quite

arbitrarily broken into 40 and 78 in order to force

the count to 4000, some consider this counting to be

artificial.

 

Why should INA be part of DP? The author is not

an aazhvaar and the subject matter is not Lord Sriman

Narayana. Well, kaNNinuN siruththaambu praises only

SatakOpan and it is included in the DP. Besides,

Swami Sri Desikar considers the inclusion of INA

more as a tribute to Sri Ramanuja than to Amudhanaar.

After all, Sri Ramanuja is as reverential as aazhvaars. So,

why not, say the Vadakalais. In prabhanda saaram, Swami

Sri Desikar praises each aazhvaar with a listing of their

prabhandams and details of their birth etc. For INA,

he gives such details for Sri Ramanuja in stead of

Amudhanaar. Here is that paasuram:

 

"thEsamelaa mukanthidavE perumpoo thooriR

sitthiraiyi laathirainNaaL vanthu thOnRik

kaasinimEl vaathiyarai venRa rangar

gathiyaaka vaazntharuLu methiraa saamun

poosurarkOn Riruvarangath thamutha Nnaarun

ponnadimE lanthaathi yaakap pORRip

pEsiyanNaR kalitthuRainNooR Rettup paattum

pizaiyaRavE yenakkaruLsey pENi neeyE."

 

According to my source Sri Ramanuja who first refused

to even look at INA, later acquiesced for it to be recited

along with DP. I take this to indicate that INA

was accorded equal status with the rest of DP

even during Sri Ramanuja's time, or at least immediately

after his paasing when there was no then or vada kalai.

 

It is interesting to note that Amudhannar first wanted

to compose his verses in praise of his guru,

kooraththaazhvaar. But koorathaazhvaar directed

Amudhanaar to compose his poems upon Sri Ramanuja.

 

AppiLLai's vaazhi thirun^aamam gives a third count with

70.5 and 140.5 for the two thirumadals resulting in 817

for iyaRpaa. Thus, the total for DP is an even 4,000

without having to count INA. Here again siRiya and

periya thirumadal are broken down to force the total

count to 4,000.

 

Which ever way we count, the 24 prabhandams, the

4,000 verses, and INA will always remain inspirational

for all Sri Vaishnavas.

 

Count for the other three thousands:

First thousand : 947

Second thousand (Periya thiumozhi, etc.) : 1134

Fourth thousand (Thiruvaay mozhi) : 1102

 

 

 

-- dhaasan Parthasarati Dileepan

[Guest guest]

On Mar 11, 6:33pm, Parthasarati Dileepan wrote:

> According to my source Sri Ramanuja who first refused

> to even look at INA, later acquiesced for it to be recited

> along with DP.

 

When Amudhanaar first composed Iraamaanusa NooRandhaadhi (INA),

Ramanuja objected to it because it did not contain enough

references to the aazhvaars. Amudhanaar revised the poem

to show how Ramanuja was indebted to the aazhvaars and

enjoyed their paasurams. Ramanuja then approved of the

poem. This episode is mentioned in the 6000 Guruparampara

Prabhaavam.

 

I am not sure if this is the same as what Dileepan is

referring to, but it may be.

 

Mani