Upakarma

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Dear Friends,

 

Bhagavan NarayaNa Abimathanuroopa Swaroopa roopa GuNa Vibhavaishwarya

Sheeladyana

madhikatishaya Asankheya KalyaNa GuNa GaNAm Padma VanAlayAm BhagavatIm

Shriyam DevIm NityAnupAyineem NiravadyAm Deva Deva Divya Mahisheem Akhila

Jagan Mataram Asman Mataram AsharaNya SharaNyAm Ananya SharaNa: SharaNamaham

PrapadyE.

 

On this day of Varalakshmi Vratham commonly celebrated in Karnataka and

Andhra Pradesh, I offer prayers to Mahalakshmi Thayar through the opening

salutation of Sri Ramanujacharya's SharaNagati Gadyam to bless all the

members of our group with lasting health, wealth, prosperity and Sakala Vidha

Siddhi. Today marks the 151st Tirunakshatram of Sri ViNNaRRangarai Srinivasa

Mahadesikan, the founding father of Srimad Paundarikapuram Ashramam. A grand

celebration of this occassion was meticulously planned with great attention

to details by H.H. Sri Gopala Mahadesikan Swamigal, the present Pontiff of

the Ashramam. On behalf of the Ashramam, I take this opportunity to thank all

the members of our group, who contributed to this project.

 

I would also like to thank Srimans Sadagopan and Vijay Srinivasan for their

informative summaries covering various aspects of Upakarama. Sri Sadagopan

correctly pointed out that Gayathri Japam for those belonging to Sama Shaka

is not on the day following Upakarma. Instead Gayathri Japam is done by Sama

Vedis on the Prathamai following Sravana PowrNami of Bhadrapada Masam. As an

interesting aside, it is quite rare to find Sri VaishNavas belonging to Sama

Shaka. Most of the Sama Veda Sri Vaishnavas I have come across belong to

Bharadwaja Gotram. Among the Azhwars, Madhura Kavi Azhwar was a Brahmin

belonging to the Sama Shaka. As a result, it is no surprise that

Nammazhwar's outpourings,

which came about as a result of Madhurakavi Azhwar's probing questions,

contain the essence of the Sama Vedam. There are 1000 Shakas pertaining to the

Sama Vedam. Not all of them are currently available. Koutima style of

Sama Ganam rendition is the most popular among those trained in Sama Vedam.

Sama Ganam establishes the role of the seven swaras of music in Vedam.

Raivata Saman glorifies Lord Ranganatha, whose TN is Panguni Revati.

Sama Veda Upakarma falls on Hasta Nakshatram of Bhadrapada Masam, which

happens to be Sept.5 this year. Interestingly, this is also the TN of H.H.

the 44th Jeeyar of Ahobila Matham. Kozhakattai is part of the Sama Veda

Upakarma menu in addition to Idly and Appam.

 

Namo Narayana,

 

Muralidhar Rangaswamy