SamAshrayanam - part 4

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Sri :

 

Srimate Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha Para Brahmane Namaha

 

Srimate Sri Lakshmi - Nrusimha Divya PAdukA Sevaka -

Srivan Shatagopa Sri NArAyana Yateendra MahAdesikAya Namaha

 

Srimate NigamAntha MahAdesikAya Namaha

Srimate Bhagavad RAmAnujAya Namaha

 

Sriyai Namaha ; SridharAya Namaha

 

 

Dear Bhakti Group Members ,

 

Namo NArAyanA . kindly accept adiyens pranAmams.

 

Let us now discuss about the second samskAram .

 

 

2. Pundra SamskAram :

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The achAryA makes the disciple aware of the places in the

body where the 'upavyUha' forms of the Supreme Lord Sriman NArAyanA, are

to be saluted.The sishya becomes fortunate enough to know the names of the

Lord and piratti ,associated with each 'upavyUha' form of NArAyanA and

also comes to know about the way in which he has to offer his salutations.

 

From the para-vAsudevA ( Sri Vaikuntam) form ,nArAyanA emanates

into the four vyuha forms namely VAasudevA ( Vyuha VAsudevA) , SaNkarshaNA

, PradyumnA and AniruddhA . From each of these four vyuha forms , nArAyanA

emanates into three sub-vyuha forms known as 'upavyuha'(vyuhAntarA) forms.

 

VAsudevA -> KeSavA ,NArAyanA, MAdhavA

SaNkarshaNA -> GovindA , Vishnu , MadhusUdhanA

PradyumnA -> TrivikramA, VAmanA, SridharA

AniruddhA -> HrusIkeSA, PadmanAbhA, DAmodarA

 

There are some minor differences in these forms of Sriman NArAyanA.All

these different forms of our merciful Lord are highly relished by

different Yogis deeply meditating upon Sriman NArAyanA. For instance ,

let us take the case of sweets .Each one relishes a particular variety of

sweet more than the other ones .Similarly ,the taste of the Yogis

/BhakthAs also differs .Each one gets attracted to a particular feature of

Sriman NArAyanA.

 

Each 'upavyUha' form of Sriman NArAyanA is externally represented by

the 'OOrdhva pundram'(Thiruman kaapu).The 'thiruman' represents the

Lord and the 'Sri Choornum' represents PirAtti.The salutation to the Lord

has to be done with folded hands ( Anjali Mudra ) : "KeSavAya Namaha"

prefixed by pranavA, "MAdhavAya Namaha" prefixed by pranavA etc. The

salutation to the pirAtti is also done in a similar way : "Sriyai Namaha"

, prefixed by pranavA , "AmrutodhbhavAyai Namaha" , prefixed by pranavA

etc.

 

 

The thiruman (white color) should be like the outline of NArAyanAs

Lotus foot. Sri choornum is yellow in color since the pirAttis thirumeni

(divine body) is Golden in color. Since Red Color is for mangaLam

(pirAtti) , some do wear red colored Sri Choornum. There are minor

differences between sampradAyams in the way of wearing Thiruman .SishyAs

should follow their respective AchAryAs.

 

 

OOrdhva Pundram is vertical and faces upwards denoting that it helps one

in reaching 'Sri Vaikuntam' , the spiritual abode of Sriman NArAyanA.These

twelve OOrdhvapundrams are known as the 'DvAdasa OOrdhvapundram '.

 

According to the varnA of the sishyA , there are also differences in

the number of OOrdhvapundrams he has to wear.

 

 

The location of the Thiruman kaapu , forms , names and colour of all the

UpavyUha NArAyanA are as follows :

 

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Location Forms of Lord

(Part of for Meditation Name & Colour Name of PirAtti

Human Body) of Lord

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1. Forehead ChakrA in all four hands KeshavA Sri

(Golden)

 

2.Lower Abdomen Conch(Sanka) in all NArAyanA AmruthodhbavA

(Middle) four hands (blue cloud)

 

 

3. Chest Mace in all four hands MAdhavA KamalA

(Gem)

 

4.Front Neck Bow in all four hands GovindA Chandrasodari

(Middle) (Moon)

 

 

5.Lower Abdomen Ploughshares in all Vishnu Vishnu Patni

(Right) four hands (Lotus Filament)

 

 

6.Right Arm Pounding Rod in all MadhusUdhanA Vaishnavi

four hands (Lotus)

 

 

7.Neck(Right) Sword in all four hands TrivikramA VarArohA

(sparkling fire)

 

8.Lower Abdomen Thunder Bolt in all vAmanA Hari VallabhA

(Left) four hands (rising sun)

 

 

9.Left Arm Axe in all four hands SridharA shArngini

(Lotus)

 

10.Neck(Left) crow-bar in all four hands HrusIkeSA Deva DevikA

(Lightening)

 

11.Back all weapons in eight hands PadmanAbhA MahALakshmi

(Lower Spinal) (Lustre of Sun)

 

 

12.Back whip in all four hands DAmodarA Soorasundari

(Upper Spinal) (Silk-worm)

 

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The upavyUha forms of NArAyanA also represent the twelve suns in

the Universe corresponding to the twelve zodiacs of the universe . KeSavA

is the presiding deity of month MArghazhi, NArAyanA is the presiding

deity of month 'thai' and so on.They are the presiding deities of the

twelve AdityAs.

 

 

Thus , the sishyA gets the unique previlege to wear the Thiruman

kAppu. So, only after SamAshrayanam should one wear the dvAdasa OOrdhva

pundram .From then onwards, the sishyA WITHOUT FAIL should wear them. All

the evils fly away on seeing the thiruman kApu (kAApu => protection).

 

Materialistic people apply powder,cream etc to their faces,hands etc

..They keep on polishing this temporary body with their deep materialistic

attachment towards it.They more over put many more ornaments over the lump

of flesh(body) and foolishly think that they look beautiful. The very

basic understanding is that one is a jIvAtmA ( soul) who is ever

subservient to the Divya Dampati, and not the lump of matter surrounding

it.

 

 

The BEST ORNAMENT for the body is THIRUMAN KAAPU. This should be

applied with great humility , thanking the achAryA and Sriman NArAyanA for

their mercy . One should be really proud of the fact that he is a servant

of NArAyanA .He should be highly enthusiastic to wear the thiruman kAApu

for the reason that it reminds him of the servant - master relationship

eternally existing between himself and the Supreme Master Sriman

NArAyanA.

 

Materialistic people take pride in identifying themselves as a 'fan' (

follower) of some other materialist ( cinema star , sports hero etc)

, who is also a jIvA suffering in this whirlpool of samsArA . These

so-called 'stars' of the material world are going to take bodies like

donkey,cat etc in their future births .They are followed by thousand fools

who are also going to take such bodies in the next births.Materialists are

highly ignorant fools because, their level of understanding that someone

is 'great' is highly limited. Once one becomes a fan of the greatest of

all greats 'Sriman NArAyanA' , he CANNOT become a fan of any other person

(except NArAyanAs staunch devotees).Even the greatness of demigods like

BrahmA ,SivA , IndrA in comparison with the greatness of nArAyanA is

like the brightness of a small spark of light in front of the brightness

of billions of suns.

 

 

A Sri VaishnavA is thus never attracted to even any of the demigods

( what to speak of tiny materialists in earth). One who gets attracted to

NArAyanAs divya mangala vigraha ; kalyAna gunAs ; avatAra lIlAs as in NrusimhA ,

RAmA and KrishnA avAtAra ; Holy Names etc can never turn back to anything

short of it.

 

 

It is furthermore a duty of a Sri VaishnavA to follow what the

AchAryA has taught him during samAshrayanam.Some may feel that they are

ignorant about these facts .But , they also see so many Sri VaishnavAs,

wearing the thiruman kApu and thus should automatically enquire into

it.But , there are some who even after knowing that they should wear the

DvAdasa OOrdhva pundram daily , doesn't wear them out of shyness.Actually

,this is due to their ignorance. Any devotee of Sriman NArAyanA is never

a cheap personality . He is the most glorifiable one. So , one should wear

them with love and enthusiasm without any hesitation. Once one understands

about the glories of Sriman NArAyanA and the eternal connection existing

between himself and the Lord , he will automatically wear the dvAdasa

OOrdhva pundram.

 

 

One can talk a lot about VedAs ,upanishads etc. If he doesn't put them

into practice, there is no use in learning them.NArAyanA gets pleased

when one follows the sAstrAs .Moreover , if it is a upadeshA from an

AchAryA and is followed by the sishyA , NArAyanA gets pleased to a much

greater extent.At the same time , if a sishyA doesn't follow the AchAryA,

NArAyanA will never be pleased with him. So, if a Sri VaishnavA

doesn't wear the OOrdhva pundrams , he is obviously not following the

AchAryA and thereby becomes avaishnavA in practice . In extreme

circumstances ,when one is not able to wear the dvAdasa OOrdhvapundrams ,

salutations to Sriman NArAyanA with Anjali MudrA , should be performed

without fail as explained above (AchAryAs Upadesam) .

 

 

The katA portion in YajurvedA says " One who prays to the Supreme

Lord Vishnu by wearing the OOrdhvapundram and by accepting the hot chakrA

on the shoulder , reaches the Supreme Lord Himself ". Such is the glory of

pundram and thApa samskAram.

 

 

 

Namo NArAyanA

 

Adiyen

 

Anantha PadmanAbha dAsan

 

 

Sarvam Sri KrishnArpanamastu