A SanyAsi ascends the throne of Ahobila MaTam

[Guest guest]

Dear Divya MaNi PaadhukhA SevakAs :

 

Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha Divya PaadhukhA Sevaka

SrivaNN SatakOpa Sri NaarAyaNa Yatheendhra

MahA Desikan is the 45th and current Jeeyar

of Ahobila Matam . He completed on November 21 , 1996

his Seventieth birthday . This special anniversary

(Sapthathi ) was celebrated by all aasthikAs, Vaidhikha

SreshtAs and AchAryAs at Thirupathi . A commemorative

souvenir celeberating the scholarship and Kaimkaryams of

this most merciful Aacharya Saarvabhouman was released

at that Mahothsavam in Thirupathi .

 

Sri Krishna Kalale met the Jeeyar recently and brought back

two souvenir issues . H.H , the Jeeyar instructed Sri Krishna Kalale

to make some of the extraordinary infromation assembled in this

souvenir on the internet for the benefit of Sri VaishNavAs of the World .

Sri Kalale wrote to me and asked me to undertake this Kaimkaryam.

 

The wish of H.H , the Jeeyar is my command and therfore , I have notified

Sri Kalale that nothing will please me more than fulfilling the wishes

of our most revered Jeeyar . I will begin the postings wiht this note.

What is assembled in the souvenir is of wide interest to all

Sri VaishnavAs rooted in Bhagavadh RaamAnuja SiddhAntham .

Hope you will find these postings useful as valuable source material .

I seek the special blessings of H.H , the Jeeyar at the outset

to complete this Kaimkaryam that is dear to his heart.

 

In an earlier posting , I included details on

the peetathipathis of four Acharya paramparais of

Sri VaishNavism , all of which are derived from

Sri Bhagavadh RaamAnujA and his poorvAchAryAs

going all the way upto Sriman NaarAyanan Himself .

Please add the ParakAla Matam tradition as the fifth

AchArya parampara that I missed to mention .

 

The links among these uninterrupted chains of AchAryAs

are profound and sacred . In each of these AchArya

paramparAs , by Bhagavadh sankalpam , a great AchArya

is "found "and he ascends the throne of that

particular Acharya Paramparai and serves as a beacon

for SadAchAram , Saddharmam and SanmArgam . Such

AcharyAs remind us through their many daily activities

that Bhagavadh, Bhagavatha sEvA is the ultimate goal of

a human being .

 

Tirelessly , such AchAryAs travel to the divya desams

and homes of the sishyAs , bring their aarAdhana Moorthys

to these blessed homes , perform pancha samskArAs

during these Vijaya YaathrAs , give pravachanams ,

initiate scholarly sadas to preserve the fine points related

to the tattvams and most of all through ManthrOpadesams

make all of us become the brides of Sriman NaarAyaNA

through their power of tapas . This sacred act of our wedding

to Sriman NaarAyaNA performed by our most compassionate

AchAryAs has been celebrated by AzhwArs in their Sri Sookthis

and by Sri RaamAnujA through his SaraNAgathi Gadhyam and

other AchAryAs of his tradition in many of their granthams and

sthothrams .

 

In this context , Swami Desikan has been prolific

and has blessed us with many saraNAgathi granthams and

eulogies such as NikshEpa RakshA , NyAsa TilakA , NyAsa

DasakA , NyAsa Vimsathi , SaraNAgathi Deepikai , AbhayaprAdhAna

saarA , Adaikkala patthu in Tamil ( Praptthi dasakA in Sanskrit ) ,

GithArtha sangrahA , Charama sloka surukku , paramapadha

sObhAnA , Achyutha SatakA , Rahasya SikhAmaNi and

finally the magnum opus , Sri Rahasya Traya Saaram .

 

In Achyutha Sathakam set in PrAkruthA language ,

Swami Desikan appeals movingly to the Lord of

Thiruvaheendrapuram for help and succor and begs the Lord

to accept him as " the bride " at the marriage function of

BharanyAsam( Aathma NikshEpam , SaraNAgathi , Prapatthi ) .

In the Rahasya grantham , Rahasya SikhAmaNi , Swami

Desikan deals with the greatness of the Prapatthi doctrine

and reminds us that the PrapannA , who has performed

Prapatthi under a SadAchAryA need not of his or her own

accord peform anthimasmrithi at the last moments

of their lives on this earth.

 

I would like to make reference to yet another work

of Swami Desikan known as the (Sri ) SampradhAya

Parisuddhi in the context of my postings related to

the 70th birthday souvenir of H.H , The Jeeyar of Ahobila

Matam . In this work , Swami Desikan discusses

the importance of AchAryAs in our sampradhAyam ,

the tattvAs and AchArya Paramparai from NammAzhwAr

to Sri RamAnujA and his successors. A paasage quoted often

from(Sri ) SamprAdhAya Parisuddhi that emphasizes the unity of

thought that runs thru the different AchArya ParamparAs that

are based in Sri Bahgavadh RaamAnuja samprahdAyam is

as follows :

 

" Sri BhashyakArarudaiya sishya sampradhAyangaLil onrilum

artha-virodham illai ; VakhyayOjanAbhedhamE uLLadhu "

 

Swami acknowledges that there is no basic conflict of thought

in substantive tattvAs among the different Sri Vaishnava

achArya paramparAs and the differences are limited to

interpretative aspects. This passage is often cited to

celebrate the significance of the Guru ParamparA and their

undrlying unitive relationships.

 

H.H , the Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt deeply believes in the above

statement of Swami Desikan and respects " the unity in diversity "

theme that runs through the different sampradhAyAs of Sri VaishNavism

and works closely with the other AchAryAs to spread the message of

Bhagavadh RaamAnujA SiddhAntham . All the Jeeyars of other

paramparAs were present at the 70 th anniversary of the H.H ,

the Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt to celebrate his scholarship and

Kaimkaryam and wish him pallANdu ..

 

One of the most moving articles in the Sapthathi malar is

the one describing his acceptance of SanyAsa Aasramam

from the hands of his AachAryA , H.H , the 44th Jeeyar of

Ahobila Mutt on October 21, 1991 at the age of 64 . The 44th Jeeyar

is the great MahAn , who built the south gopuram for

Sri RanganAthA , which could not be completed even by

kings for hundreds of Years .

 

I met H.H , the 45th Jeeyar at Bangalore soon after his initiation

and he jokingly referred to his acceptance of the Aasramam

at the time , when people are retiring from active life

and that he was taking on the full administrative and

spiritual leadership responsibilities for the 600 year old Matam .

Since that time , he has provided extraordinary leadership and

has travelled across India to bless His SishyAs many times

that culminated recently in the opening of the new Ahobila Mutt

building at Thirupathi , a function presided over by

the President of India . The illustrious kaimkaryam

of H.H , the 45th Jeeyar was applauded by

the President of India as matchless.

 

It is not often that we have the opportunity to learn about

the details of hte Aasrama SveekaraNam function of a Yathi

that includes Jeeva Srardham , prEksha manthra upadesam

and the other rigorous rites of pasage into the order of Yathis .

These infromation points would be of interest to many of

you . I will cover this topic and other items covered in

the Sapthathi malar such as Pancha SamskAra ceremonies

performed by this AachArya Saarvabhouman , the tightly

orchestrated daily activities of the AchAryA , which were

described movingly earlier by Sri jagannAthan during

his travels with his/this AchArya .

 

There are many invited scholarly articles by great

Sri VaishNavAs in this malar . I will include excerpts

from them as I make progress with my lekhana

Kaimkaryam .

 

I will start with the salutation to the many MangaLa Moorthys

that are enshrined in the silver mantapam of the Ahobila Matam ,

where Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan (MaalOlan ) presides .

He is surrounded by many ancient divya mangaLa

aarAdhana moorthys of our poorvAchAryAs .

 

I am hoping that many of the rare pictures of the Aasrama

SveekaraNam and ArchA moorthys of the Divya Desams

could be added to the archives of the Ahobila Matam

home page and the CD Rom project archives on

the 108 Divya Desams respectively. Sri ParthasArathy

Dileepan should be back soon from his archival material

collecting trip to India on the 106 Divya Desams for

the CD ROM project and can relate to these valuable

image archives.

 

ahObilE gArudasaila madhyE

krupAvasAth kalpitha SannidhAnam I

LakshmyA samAlingitha vAmabhagam

Lakshminrusimham SaraNam prapathyE II

 

Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha Divya PaadhukhA sevaka

Sri vaNN satakOPa Sri NaarAyaNa yatheendhra

MahA DesikAya Nama :

 

Oppilaippan Kovil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

Isvara samvathsaram , Mithuna Maasam ,

KrishNa Paksham , Chathurdasi , Mrugaseersham .