The stairway to the Divine

[Guest guest]

My compliments to Mr. Sudarshan on his outstanding presentation of

Paramapada Sopanam. Swami Desikan's examination of the psychology of

spiritual progress was very well accentuated by Mr. Sudarshan's eloquent

writing style and his witty references to modern day analogies.

 

The Srirangam Acharyas also have similar concepts regarding the slow

progressive process towards prapatti. Patricia Mumme, in defining prapatti,

cites the example of Acharya Hrdayam 14 - 15. In commenting on these

verses, Manavalamamunigal describes in some detail how the Lord, out of His

Boundless Compassion, guides an individual from the stage of agnosticism to

the level of a prapanna:

 

1. An agnostic/atheist first becomes aware of some small aspect of Sastra,

such as a mantra or a pooja, that can be utilized to procure some material

benefit.

 

2. By securing such a material benefit, the once atheist now becomes a

believer in Sastra, as both a means for obtaining material benefits as well

as a means of enjoying Swarga at the end of his/her present life.

 

3. The disciplined life associated with adhering to Sastra leads the now

aspirant to recognize the difference between the temporal material world and

the immortal self, leading he/she to pursue self-realization.

 

4. Self-realization leads to the recognition of the Sriman Narayana as the

Antarayami, causing the aspirant to strive towards Him through Bhakti Yoga.

 

5. The path of Bhakti Yoga leads the aspirant to recognize his/her

inability to reach the Lord through self effort, which results in the

realization that the Lord Himself is both the Way and the Goal. The

aspirant then ceases his/her self-motivated activities through Prapatti and

realizes his/her true nature as a Sesa of the Lord.

 

Daasanu Daasan,

 

Mohan

[Guest guest]

I would prefer if we moved away from using terms such

as ``Srirangam acharyas'' and ``Kanchi acharyas'' on

a regular basis. This implies that there were two

opposing camps then and there itself, which could not

be further from the truth. Further, Desika, nominally

a Kanchi acharya, spent some of the most productive

years of his life in Srirangam. [The thirumaaLigai-s

of both Desika and his praacaarya Nadadur Ammal can

be seen to this day in the southeast corner of the

first prakaaram outside the kOvil.]

 

Similarly, Manavala Maamunigal, nominally a Srirangam

acharya, spent a great deal of time in Kanchipuram.

He is said to have done one full kaalakshepam of

the Sribhashya in Yathoktakari Swami Sannidhi [Thiruvehka].

He has also composed the Devaraja Mangalam on

Varadaraja Swamy. I request some Kanchipuram natives

can enlighten us as to whether this Mangalam is still

recited regularly in perumaaL kOvil.

 

Perhaps it is better to refer to the acharya by name

when we speak of their teachings, rather than lumping

them into an artificial Srirangam or Kanchi category?

There are also mutual disagreements between Periya

Vaaccaan Pillai, Pillai Lokacarya, and Azhagiya Manavala

Perumal Nayanar, at least on the surface. So it may

be better to leave the compartmentalization for those

rare occasions which truly require them.

 

Mani