Swami Desikan's Birth Day : 1996

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends :

 

I want to share with you the wonderful experience

of celebrating this year's birth day of our illustrious

Acharya .Earlier , Mrs.Nagu Satyan was kind enough to invite me to

Denver to celebrate this important day . I could not make it

due to a business commitment at Cambridge , Mass .

 

It so happened that the business appointment got fixed

for the day after Swami Desikan's Thirunakshatram . As a

result of this fortutious development , I was able to be at

the Mahalakshmi Temple at Ashland , Mass . Lord

Venkateswara is the presidng deity of this temple .

Sri Murali Rangaswami had extended the invitation to join

the celebrations at the temple for the dual occasion of

the birthday celebratons of Lord Srinivasa and Swami

Desikan (Purattasi SravaNam ).

 

On a beautiful autumn day of New England , I joined

Sri Murali Rengaswamy , Sri Kannapiran and the two

devout and learned Bhattars ( Balaji Bhattar and

Krishna Bhattar ) to offer our salutatons to the Lord of

Thirumalai and his Ghantaavatharam (Pranava Naatha Svaroopi ).

 

The Bhattars had done magnificient Alankaaram to the

Utsava Murhty and had seated Him on a swing in the company of

Maha Lakshmi and the Ubhaya Naacchiyaars . We gently

moved the Unjal . The scene was reminiscent of

the occasion ,when Sri Ramanuja saw the Divya Dampathis

at Sri Rangam temple seated on a Unjal on a Panguni Uttaram day and

offered his saranagathi through the Saranagathi Gadyam

and was blessed with the vision of SrivaikunTam and

described it in the magnificient Sri Vaikunta Gadhyam .

 

In this context , the Bhattar suggested that we recite the three Gadyams of

Ramanuja infront of the Divya Dampathis . We were seated

two feet away from the Divine couple and recited the three

Gadhyams with reverence and humility . Earlier we had recited Vishnu

Sahasra Namam , Raguveera Gadhyam , Godha Sthuthi

and Nyasa Tilakam . After Nyasa Tilakm , which was Swami

Desikan's moving Saranagathi to SRI Ranganatha , it seemed

fitting to conclude with the recitation of the three gadhyams

of Sri Ramanuja .

 

It so happened that the Purattasi Sravanam day was the last day

of Pavithrotsavam . Balaji Bhatar explained the significance

of Pavithrothsavam to the assembled devotees

and had a moving Satthumurai and Deepaaradhanam to

the Divya Dampathis to conclude the activities of this sacred day .

 

Thanks to Sri Rangaswamy and Sri Kannapiraan of

Ashland temple , who are very knowledgable and devout ,

the Bhattars feel uplifted in their efforts to serve the Lord . I am glad that

I was blessed to be with them on this day and share with them

this wonderful experience this year. Usually , I am at

the Sri Ranganatha temple at Pomona , NY for this occasion.

 

In a separate posting , I will attempt to summarize the extraordinary

work of Nyasa Tilakam of Swami Desikan.

 

Swami Desikan Thiruvadigaleh SaraNam,

 

V.Sadagopan