Reflections of the week of January 13 , 1997

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Bhakthi group :

 

This was indeed a busy week with a lot of soul-searching

postings on topics that deeply concern us as members of

" the diaspora" . The only difference between our diaspora and the

other historical one is that we left on our own and we can go back ,

if and when we want to listen to our AcharyAs and charge our spiritual

batteries . The trip report of Sri Kalale is a case in point. To some extent ,

we seem to have the best of both worlds and some times it looks that we never

" left " home . It is delightful that we can help our Acharyas and traditions

from here

and be united through the Cyber-sathsangam and be sensitized to

the diverse traditions that we are heir to . Most of the time , I feel

comfortable writing about our Kula Dhanams and learning from others

rather than get on to the slippery slopes of "nirNyam" and navigate

my way . There are some brilliant people in our group with razor-sharp

minds and they are complimented well with the other set of people

with astonishing depth of faith and desire to learn . The postings

of erudite scholars like Sri Anbil Ramaswamy gives us the points

of references on the ardous personal journey to reconcile

the happenings in one's personal life and the society in which we are

finding a home away from home .

 

I will continue to write during the weekends on topics that I hope will

be of interest to all of us . I would like to concentrate on some of the

brilliant works of "Acharyas of Srirangam " to understand their

Bhakthi-laden contributions and to learn from fellow bhakthAs

raised in this tradition . It was a wonderful sight to see the picture of

the VanamAmalai Jeeyar and the Ahobila Matam Jeeyar together in

the last issue of Nrusimha PriyA journal . What struck me as thoughtful

step taken by the Uttamur Swamigal Centenary committe officials is

their efforts to arrange the participation by five different groups of

AcharyAs representing Sri Bhagavadh RamAnuja SiddhAntham

from the states of KarnAtakA , AndhrA Pradesh and Tamil Naadu .

 

During this week I came across very meaningful insights on the topics

of this week's discussion on VarnAsrama Dharmam, Guru paramparA

and SaraNAgathi (the moving poems of Adi SankarA on Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan

and Sri RamachandrA as testaments to His Bhakthi for Sriman NarAyaNa) .

These source literature are :

 

1. Anna PughaZh Mudumbai Azahagiya ManavALa PerumAL NayanAr's

extraordinarily terse and insightful work revered as Acharya Hrudhayam

written in aphoristic (SutrA ) form . He has a lot to say on " the Karma

NishtAs and

Kaimkarya NishtAs ". He describes the first group as AnthaNar , marayOr

and

the second group as " AdhiyArs and Thondars ". He traces their respective

roots

to Parasara , BodhAyana in the case of anthaNars and Parrankusa ,

parakAla

(Nammazhwaar and Thirumangai ) for the Kaimkarya NisshtAs or Thondars .

These are covered in the 34th and the 35th sutrams of the first prakaraNam

of

Acharya Hrudhayam. There are many more references to this subject

elsewhere in this work of Azhagiya MaNavALa perumAL NaayanAr , the brother

of Sri PiLLai LokAcharyar and the son of Vadakku Thiruveedhi PiLLai of

Srirangam .

 

2 . Upadesa Ratna Maalai and Thiruvaimozhi NurrandhAdhi by the Visadha Vaak

SikhAmaNi ManavALa Maamunigal . It is such a pleasure to read together the

 

Dramidopanishad , Tatparya RatnAvaLi and Divya Prabhandha Surukku of

Swami Desikan and Acharya Hrudhayam to develop an appreciation for their

use of the Naalyira Divya Prabhandham of AzhwArs as their daily

nourishment .

 

3. I have had the good fortune to study the great sthothra works and PrakaraNa

granthAs

of the giant Adi SankarA . The new sthothrAs in the context of the Bhakthi

group's

discussion that I reread this week are : (a) SriramabhujangaprayAta

sthothram

(29 verses) written in the most beautiful Bujanga PrayAtha Metre . To give

an

example of the exquisite taste of this mesmerizing sound effects of this

metre

on the sacred Subject of "Ramatvam " , I quote the 17th verse :

 

pavithram charithram vichitram tvadheeyam

narA yeh smaranthyanvaham Ramachandra I

bhavantham bhavAntham bharantham bhajanthO

labhanteh kruthAntham na pasyanthythOanteh II

 

(meaning) : O Lord RamachandrA! Those who meditate and

reflect daily on your sacred and wonderful charitram immortalized by

Sage Valmiki and offer their salutations to You as the sole rakshakan

(saviour ) attain fredom from the bonds of SamsArA ; they esccape the cycles

of births and deaths and attain moksham . Thus they escape from

the snares of the God of Deathat the end of their life on earth .

 

The other two sthothrams of Adi sankarA that I had the good fortune to read

this week are Sri lakshmi Nrusimha KarAvalampana Sthotram and

the Shatpadhee Sthothram . I will quote the first and the fourteenth

slokams of the first sthothram to illustrate the joy that Adhi SankarA

had in visualizing the majestic and beautiful form of Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan:

 

Verse 1 : SrimathpayOnidhinikethana chakrapANeh

bhogheendhra bhogamaNi ranjitha punyamurthE I

yogeesa saasvatha SaraNya bhavAbdhipotha

Lakshminrusimha mama dehi KarAvalampam II

 

Verse 14 : ekEna chakramaparENa karENa sankham

anyEna sindhutanayAmavalampya thishTan I

vamEtarENa varadhAbaya padmachinha

Lakshminrusimha maam dehi karAvalampam

 

In the 17 verses of this sthothram , Adhi SankarA , who Himself is

an incarnation of SankarA , the Lord of Kailaasam prays to the auspicious

Lakshmi Nrusimhan to quench the fires of SamasAram that is

scorching His body .

 

The third sthothram of Adhi SankarA that I had the good fortune to come

across this week in the context of the week's discussion is the Shatpadhee

sthothram composed in the simple AryA metre with profound SabdhAlankaarams

and arthAlankaarams . There are 7 slokams in this sthothram , which

has been recognized as a PrakaraNa grantham (i-e) .,a work anootating the

meaning of SaasthrAs . Adhi SankarA covers the meanings of some of the sAsthrAs

in the first six verses ( Six-legged like a bee hovering around the flower of

MahA VishNu)

and in the seventh verse houses His prayerful appeal to the Lord of Lakshmi

 

The first verse is a moving one . Here the AcharyA prays for five boons

from the Lord : removal of ego( the aasura sampath ) , control of the mind ,

vairAghyam to remove the taste for vishaya ruchis , bhootha daya ( compassion

for

all living beings ) and moksham ( na punaraagamanam ) .The verse is as

follows :

 

avinayamapanaya VishNO , Damaya mana: samaya vishayarasatrushNAm I

bhoothadhayAm visthAraya , taaraya samsArasAgaratha : II

 

The seventh prayerful verse is another moving one :

 

NaarayaNa karuNAmaya , saranam karavANi tAvakou charanou I

ithi shadpathee madheeyE , vadanasarojE sadhA vasathu II

 

(Meaning ) O most merciful Lod NArAyaNA ! I offer my SaraNAgathi at

both of your sacred feet .May this sthothram of mine offering such

SaraNAgathi through the six verses reside permanently in my lotus

face .

 

Here Adhi Sankara Compares his face to a Lotus in the context of the

six-versed shatpadhee sthothram seving as a six-legged bee . He

saluted the six Taatparya Lingams starting with "Upakramam , UpasamhAram"

to have proof (NirupaNam ) for the svarupam of ParamAthma and chose the name

of Shatpadhee for this sthothram . It has also been pointed out that the six

padhams --nArAyaNa , karuNAmaya , saraNam , karavANi , taavkou and

charaNou --found in the seventh verse are the shatpadhee (six Legs )

of the sthothram . The echo of Mantra Ratnam , Dhvayam , is heard

here in the AchAryA's appeal to Sriman nArAyanA .

 

In conclusion , During 1996 , I have made promises to number of

our dear members to cover specific topics of interest to them in my postings as

material for discussion and contemplation for us .Some of them to

the best of my recollection are :

 

1. Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha Sthotram by the 44th Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt

(for Sri Sudarshan of Bahrain/Madras ) . I am waiting for a sanskrit text

here .

 

2. SaraNAgathi Gadhyam of Sri RamAnujA (For Dr. Murali Rangaswamy )

 

3. Achyuth Sathakam ( My own promise to thank Mrs. Nagu satyan for her

much appreciated help in all Kaimkaryams . The name " Satyan " and

"Achyuthan " are the names of the Lord of Thiruvaheendrapuram

celebrated by Swami Desikan in his Achyutha satakam written in

Praakritham , an old form of Sanskrit influenced by Maraatti language

according to scholars ).

 

4. Sandhya Vandhanam and Vedic paasages for a dear member form

Philadelphia studying for his doctorate in Computer Science based

on reasoning/logic .

 

5. A promise to Sri Mohan Sagar to cover YathirAja Vimsathi

of Sri ManavALa MaamunigaL and other works of

MaNavALa MaamunigaL .

 

6. Please remind me of any other promises made that I may have

forgotten to add to the above list . The response to htese promises

will fortunately keep me busy for quite a while .

 

7. Rest of my energy and time , I will devote to the 108 Divya Desam

CD ROM Project , which thanks to Sri Dileepan's effort is moving along

nicely . I pray to Bhumi Devi sametha Sri Oppiliappan to bless us

with strength and energy to complete this unique project in 1997

as a SamarpaNam from the Bhakthi/Prqapatthi group to the world of

SrivaishNavAs .

 

I want to remind our dear members that what I am attempting to do

throught these postings is NOT an execise in display of knowledge or

wisdom or ego (Dampam ) , BUT a NishkAma Kaimkaryam to our

traditions in a spirit of sathsangam . That is all !

 

AzhwAr , AchAryAL , Divya DampathigaL thiruvadigalE SaraNam ,

Subhamasthu .

 

Oppiklaippan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan