Sixth day of Dhanur Maasam --Part 1

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Bhakthi Group :

 

Sri AhobilaMatam Jeeyar's appeal

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It is such an unexpected dividend to have the

summary of Srimadh Azhagiya Singhar's UpanyAsam

on VaikunTa EkAdasi day at Nangai Nallur . Thanks Sri Badri

SeshAdri for this special treat !

 

The unique and important plea of the revered Jeeyar to

the members of the two important branches of the same tree of

SrivaishNavism is most heartening to learn about .

There is much that unites the two sampradhAyams .

The appeal to close ranks and develop closer relations

is a poignant and timely one indeed !.

 

AndAL and Saint ThyagarajA : Two great VaishNavAs

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The reference to " Mayanai Mannu Vada Mathurai Maindanai "

section of the fifth PAsuram brought to my mind the prayer of

another BhakthA , Saint Thyagaraja . In one of his Sriranga Pancharatnam

krthis set appropriately in raga SarangA , our Sadhguru addresses

Lord RanganathA and appeals to Him to look at him (ThyagaraJa)

with compassion and listen to him. In the pallavi portion of this

krithi , He endearingly addresses the Kasthuri Rangan this way :

KaruNa Judumaiyaa ! MAAYAIYAA ! Kavedi RANGAIYAA !

 

He adresses the MaayOn /Mayan of AndAl's Thiruppavai as Mayaiyaa

with great affection . Our Sadhguru salutes Sri Ranganatha

as Mayan , or the one who performs miracles

or acts of Adbhutham or acts of alchemy , as it were to transform

the chetanAs , who are like soiled brass into shining Gold . The revered

Jeeyar referred to Lord KrishNa doing an act of miracle to counter BrahmA's

ill conceived stealing of the cows at BrindhAvanam . The deeds associated with

the Lord's MayA are many . It is interesting to note the coincidence in the

choice

of the sameword by of two great devotees of Sri RanganathA

separated.by many centuries.

 

Our AcharyAs and their service to Us

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Our AcharyAs perform the same "miracle " through BaranyAsam and unites

the JeevAthmA with ParamAthmA , Sriman NarAyaNa . Our Acharya ParamparA

starts from Sriman NarAyaNA Himself, followed by MahA Lakshmi , VishvaksenA ,

Sri SaTaari Suri , Nathamuni , PundarikAkshA , Ramamisrar , Yaamunacharya,

MahA purNar , Sri RamAnujA , ------, Pillai LokhAcharyA--

Sri Nigamantha MahA DesikA , ManavALa Maamuni ,

Ahobilam Jeeyars/ Munitraya Jeeyars / Vaanamaamalai

Jeeyars and many SvayamAcharyAs . I will concentrate on

the Munithraya SampradhAyam in this posting .

 

The Munithraya SampradhAyam and one of their lineages

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In the Munithraya Sampradhayam is rooted in the adoration of the three

Munis --Nathamuni , Yaamuna Muni and RamAnuja Muni .

Thirukkudanthai Desikan ( 1700-1782 ) was one of the most

distinguished Acharya of this SampradhAyam . He had 3 SanyAsins as his

SishyAs. One of them was Vazhutthur Vedantha RamAnuja MahA Desikan .

His principal disciple was Sri Andikattu Swami , who was blessed to

have Sri Kedandapatti Swamy as his disciple . Latter had

Sri Thirupathi Swamy as his successor. Thirupathy Swamy's

well known disciple was the most scholarly

Sri Ranga RAmAnuja MahA Desikan popularly

known as Sri KozhiyAlam Swami . He had Uttamur Veeraraghava

SwamigaL as his principal SishyA .

 

Uttamur Abhinava Desika VeeraraghavAcchAr SwamigaL

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Prior to his passing away , Sri KozhiyAlam swami nominated

Sri Uttamur Viraraghava Swami as his successor and asked latter to

be in GrahsthAsramam instead of becoming a SanyAsi like himself and

his PurvAcharyAs . Sri Utthamur Viraraghava Maha Desikan followed

the command of KozhiyAlam Swami and performed

SamAsrayaNam , BaranyAsam and conducted Kaalakshepams on

Sampradhya GranthAs including Grantha ChAthushtyam( Sri Bahshyam,

Srimadh Bhagavadh GitA BhAshyam , Sri Bhagavadh Vishayam and

Srimadh Rahasya Traya Saaram ) .

 

Sri Uttamur Swami was a genius in intrepreting

the VaishNava Granthams and had his own press to print and

release an enormous number of books , which have helped to keep

our sampradhAyam alive . He published 103 books in Sanskrit and 53

books in TamiL in his life time. The VishishtAdvaitha PrachariNi SabhA

has released the Prabhandha RakshA series dealing with his

erudite commentaries on NaalAiyra Divya Prabhandham.

 

His tireless service to the advancement of

Sri Bhagavth RaamAnuja SiddhAntham

earned him many recognitions including the first of the awards of the

President of India. In 1960 , Babu Rajendra Prasad conferred on

Sri Uttamur Swamy the President's medal in recognition of his invaluable

service to intrepret the VishitAdvaithA VedAnthic literature .

 

He was always a prolific writer Like Prathivaadhi Bhayankaram

ANNangarAcchar Swamy .The voluminous and valued contributions

of Uttamur swamigal were recognized during the occasion of

his 60th birthday at Madras with a title of Abhinava Desikan .

This title recognizes him as the reincarnated NigamAntha MahA Desikan

himself. We owe a deep debt of gratitude to Uttamur SwamigaL , which can

never be repaid in money or other material contributions. What he and

his AcharyA have given us is a everlasting gift , " intellectually

ever-nourishing

and pathfinding for our eventual salvation ."

 

Uttamur SwamigaL's Centenary Celebrations ( January 22 to February 5, 1997)

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His birth centenary falls on January 31 , 1997 . H.H . Srimadh

Azhagiya Singar , H.H. Jeeyar of ParakAla Mutt , H.H . Jeeyar of

Andavan Asramam , Srirangam , H.H. Srimadh Andavan of

Poundarikapuram Asramam , Srirangam will be participating in this

Once -in-a - life time celebration /tribute to honor the memory

of this great AchaaryA . ParAyaNams of two VedAs , Divya Prabhandham

and other Granthams , UpanyAsams , Vidwth Sadas and

TadhiyArAdhanams and rerelease of out-of -print books

of this AcharyA have been planned for the 15 days at Madras .

Eminent citizens of India haveagreed to cover the budget of 6 Lakhs

except for 50,000Rupees ( Approximately $1,400 ) . The

Centenary committe is NOT interested in collecting this sum from

one or more willing donors in India . The President and members of

the committe have heard about the Bhakthi and Naama group and their

service to all of the people interested in learning about the great

Sri Bhagavath RaamAnuja SiddhAntham . They would like very much

for us to be represented as participating members in this centenary

celebration for this MAHAAN .

 

Collectively for us , $1,400 is not a big sum . A donation of $100 by

14 people or better still a contribution of $50 by 28 well wishers or

the best of all $25 each by 56 members of the two groups can cover this

need and give us the opportunity to participate in the release of

some of the monographs of Sri Uttamur Swami that are out of print now .

 

I will contribute my share to this initiative and celebration since

whatever I know about our Sampradhayam has come from either

Uttamur SwamigaL or PratrhivAdhi Bhayankaram ANNangaracchAr swamigaL

or form my third guru , Oppiliappan Koil Srirama DesikAcchAr SwamigaL.

If I have been able to contribute anything at all to this private mailing

list , it has been due to the blessings of the prolific works of these

three great giants of recent times. May I therefore appeal to You

one and all to contribute wahtever you can to realize the sum of $1,400

as OUR contribution to cover either the Veda PaarAyaNam or

Divya Prabhandham recital or the book release or the creation of the

souvenir containing the proceedings of the Vidvath Sadas .

 

I shall be most grateful for your potential support to remember this

great AchAryA's magnanimous and magnificient contribution to our

SampradhAyam through his untring efforts. By copy of this note , I am

requesting Mrs.Nagu satyan to bring this appeal to the attention

of the members of the NaamA group .

 

Our contributions are tax deductible , if they are routed through

Sri Ahobila Mutt of North America administered by Sri BharadwAj Jagannath

of Arlington , Virginia. I am sending my contribution to Sri

Ahobila Mutt of North America today and humbly request You ALL to

join in this unique celebrations. We will get copies of the souvenirs of the

Proceedings of the Vidwath Sadas in March ,97 .

 

Sri VaishNava Daasan,

Oppilaippan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan