Some Observations !

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Bhakthi group :

 

Yesterday's meeting at the Bridgewater temple sponsored

by the Nama group went well . I joined them for the afternoon

sessions. Professor Venkatacharya of the Univeristy of Toronto

gave a wonderfully clear and scholastic speech on the topic of

Bhakthi . It was a most enjoyable presentation by him . It was also

a pleasure to meet once again fellow members of the group :

Sriman Vijaya Raghavan of Buffalo and his family , Srimans

MuraLi Ramgaswami of Boston , KaNNapirAn of Boston ,

RajA of Oppiliappan Koil/Cambridge, Mass ( Husband of Srimathi

Vaidehi of ThiruvallikkENi ), Professor M.G.Prasad and other

lovely friends.

 

I talked about the divine mysticism of AzhwArs . After defining mysticism ,

I spoke about religious mysticism of the divine Azhwaars as revealed from

their aruliccheyalgaL and the commentaries(Eedu granthams) on Thiruvaimozhi

by the five Sri VIshNava Acharyaas . In his Upadesa Ratna maalai paasuram ,

Sri MaNavaaLa MaamunigaL refers to the five Acharyas

that preceded him , who opened our eyes to the extraordinary

anubhavam of NammazhwAr in his Thiruvaimozhi

through their commentaries and padha arthams .

The five Sri VaishNava AchaaryAs saluted explicitly by Sri MaamunigAl

are : Thirukkuruhai Piraan PiLLAn , Nanjeeyar , PeriyavaachAn PiLLai ,

Vadakku Thiruveedhi PILLai and Vaadhikesari Azhagiya MaNavALa Jeeyar.

 

I also referred to Sri Vedantha Desikan's contributions for the defense

of TamiL Marais at Kanchipuram and Srirangam as well as his help to

understand the inner meanings of Tamizh Marais thru DramidOpanishad

Saaram , DramidOpanishasd Taatparya RatnAvaLi and Sri Rahasya

Traya Saaram and other Rahasya Granthams.

 

Next , I discussed the unique contributions of Thiruvaimozhi PiLLai

and continuation of that tradition thru MaNavALa maamunigaL in

preserving and protecting the great heritage of the Divya Prabhandhams

in general and Thiruvaimozhi in particular. Next , I dwelt on

the interrelationship between the four AruLiccheyalgaL

of NammAzhwAr ( Thiruviruttham , Thiruvaasiriyam ,

Periya ThiruvanthadAthi and Thiruvaimozhi ) and the incomparable

mystic anubhavam of our Kulapathi .

 

I focussed on the two SaraNAgathi paasurams of NammazhwAr

( " Yennappan YenakkaiguLai Yennai PeRRavaLAi "

on ThiruviNNagarappan and " AhalahillEn " on ThiruvenkatamudayAn)

and the connections between the Dvaya Manthram and the SaraNAgathi

paasuram , " AhalhillEn " .

 

I concluded the talk with a statement that there is only one sampradhAyam for us

 

and that is the Bhagavadh RaamAnujA Siddhaantham , which celebrates

the Satyathvam , Jnanathvam , Ananthathvam , Aanandhathvam

and Amalathvam of Sriman NaarAyaNA . I emphasized the fact that

all AcharyAs that opened our eyes to the glories of Bhagavadh RaamAnuja

siddhantham are Sri VaishNava Acharyas worthy of equal respect and that

the two Sampradhaayams branching from Our ParamAcharya RaamAnuja

are branches of the same tree bearing the same flower and fruit . I mentioned

at conclusion that the ultimate purushArtham in Bahgavadh

RaamAnuja SiddhAntham according to our AchAryAs is not even Moksham ,

but " Bhagavadh Kaamam " or " the KrishNa TrushNaa "

experienced by NammaazhwAr in his Paasurams .

 

Personally , I am convinced that the Sri VaishNava Svarupa LakshaNam

requires reverence to all MahA AcharyAs , who established the Ubhaya

Vedaantham on its golden throne for us to enjoy. I welcome the comments of

Both Sri Dileepan and Sri Varadan in this context. This is not to gloss over

distinct differences in approaches developed by the AchaaryAs of the two

Schools . As Sri Mohan Sagar has pointed out in a number of postings ,

there are distinct points of views and they need to be studied

and understood. .Professor Vasudha NarayaNan has

kindly sent me portions of her Doctoral thesis , which throws a lot of

light on the early history of the development of these different points of view

..

She has kindly given me permission to make use of them for the benefit of

interested members. I will first make an effort to understand them fully

before venturing to write about them .The fact remains however

that the role of AchAryaas ( Desikaas ) remain the same in both the kalais,

when it comes to the tripartite relationship beteween the Jeevans , AchAryAs

and Sriman NaarAyaNaa .

 

In Sankalpa SuryOdhayam , Swami Desikan points out to the experience

of entering Brahmam and enjoying that unique bliss by jeevans is

reminiscent of us taking a plunge in the cool waters of a pond during

the scorching days of summer ( GreeshmE seethamiva hrutham

bahuguNam Brahma Pravishtam muni: ) . Extending this analogy

further , I am reminded of our village tank , where there were

naalu (four ) patitthuaris (bathing ghats ) . Some preferred the Eastern

and some others the Northern patitthurai . All enjoyed their abolutions

and were cleansed to perform their anushtAnams . The two sampradhaayams

appear to me like the two patitthurais for bathing in the cool pond of

Sriman NaarAyaNA and it really does not matter as to which bathing ghat

one uses to get relief from the taapaas of Samsaaram and to attain

the supreme bliss that our Azhwaars and AchAryAs experienced and

described through their AruLiccheyalgaL and VyaakyAnams .

 

Let us continue to discuss and appreciate the differnet points of view

with all respect and affection . We may end up feeling comfortable with

one or the other POV . That is the end result of a serious search . We are

not using this forum for proseletizing or for establishing the superiority

of one sampradhaayam over the other. The leadership provided by our

AchaaryAs like the Jeeyars of Ahobila Mutt and Vaanamaamali Mutt

at this time on the importance of mutual respect is particularly relevant

to us , the expatriates wanting to establish and benefit from a sathsangam

like the Bhakthi group initiated by Sri MaNi and others . I am proud to be

a member of this important and unique group. Let us continue to grow

from the sathsangam ........and resist the temptation to quickly brand points

of views as misconceptions of one great AchAryA or other . The sincerity

and the thirst for understanding of the subteleties of our sampradhayam

are great . It is also clear that we will never understand fully the

complexities

from discussions and intellectual exercises . Professor Venkatacharya had

an analogy yesterday in this context. He pointed out that reading a map

about travel from one city to another is quite different from actually

travelling

on that road . The mystic and intutive anubhavam of the Bhagavan by Azhwaars

 

and Desikaas is quite different from any amount of reading of

their paasurams or their sacred works. If however a flash of insight of

their Bhagavad anubhavam arises from the reading of their

Bhagavadhanubhavam from Vyaakyaanams or thru the Kalakshepams

of our AchaaryAs , then we are truly blessed .

 

Asmath GurubhyO nama : Asmath parama GurubhyO nama :

 

Bhootham Sarasccha mahathaahvya Bhattanaatha-

Sri Bhakthisaara Kulasekhara Yogi vaahaan I

Bhakthaangri rENu Parakaala Yatheendhra misraan

Srimadh Paraankusamunim PraNOthOsmi nithyam II

 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradaachAri Sadagopan

[Guest guest]

On 4 May 1997, Sri V. Sadagopan wrote:

> I concluded the talk with a statement that there is only one sampradhAyam for

us

>

> and that is the Bhagavadh RaamAnujA Siddhaantham , which celebrates

> the Satyathvam , Jnanathvam , Ananthathvam , Aanandhathvam

> and Amalathvam of Sriman NaarAyaNA .

 

Dear Sir, when you have the time, could you kindly

elaborate a little on these five aspects? Thank

you.

 

govind rengarajan