Sri VaishNavam-2

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SRI:

 

SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAH:

 

SRIMATHE NIGAMANTHA MAHADESIKAYA NAMAH:

 

SRIMATHE GOPALA DESIKA MAHA DESIKAYA NAMAH:

 

SRIMATHE RANGANAYIKA SAMETHA SRI RANGANATHA PARABHRAHMANE NAMAH:

 

Dearest Sisters and Brothers, the bhakthAs of Sriman NarayaNA!

 

Ennuyir thandhu aLitthavaraich charNampukki/ yaanadaivE avargurukkaL

niRai vaNanghi/

PinnaruLaal perumpudhUr vandha vaLLal/ periya nambi Alavandhaar

maNakkal nambi/

NanneRiyai avarkku uRaittha uyyakkoNdaar/ nathamuni sadagOpan sEnai

nAthan/

Innamudhath ThirumagaLenRu ivarai munnittu/ Emperumaan ThiruvadigaLai

adaiginREnE!

 

 

The True SiddhAntham

 

Our VaishNava SiddhAntham is the Most truthful SiddhAntham for its right

interpretation of VedAs and the srutis. In previous yugAs, Paraasarar,

VyAsar, Sukhar, BhOdhAyanar have all propagated and campaigned for this

VaishNava SiddhAntham. Paraasarar established this tradition of

Visishtaadvaitam firmly in his VishNu PuraaNam. His son, VyAsar wrote

Vedanta sUthram, wherein he ascertained the supremacy of Sriman Narayna

in his sUtram, and raised his hands above his head three times and

proclaimed that Sriman Narayna is the Parathvam. (sathyam sathyam punas

sathyam ....vedAs saastrA param naasthi..na deivam kEsavaath param).

This sUtram was detailed and commented to a great extent by BhOdhAyanar

in his Brahma sUthram. After BrahmasUthram, Brahmanandhi (dunkar,

Dhramidar, GuhadEvar) had also written purports for Brahma sUthram but

are lost somewhere and are not available for us unfortunately. (Brahma

sUthram was later unearthed and studied by Sri RamanujA and understood

for his establishing the VishishtAdvaitaic traditions.) It was Our

dearest AchAryA, YatirAjA, Sri RamanujachAryA, who re-established and

organised the Sri VaishNava SiddhAntham and explained the conflicts and

wrong interpretations in other SiddhAnthams and in other religions. He

was extremely compassionate towards all, irrespective of case, colour,

sex, etc. Calling Him the Greatest is very much an understatement. His

Golden colour, Towering figure, 12 ThirumaN, Smiling face, long arms,

broad shoulders- It must have been a great sight to even see him walking

like a lion- Understanding his philosophy is the next step. Firstly, he

must have half-won over his enemies ("other" philosophers) with his

simple towering personality. He appointed 74 disciples to propagate the

VishishtAdavtic SiddhAntham all over India. Sri Pillai Lokacharya and

Sri Vedantha Desikar, the other Greatest AchAryAs , who were

contemporaries and descendants of Sri RamanujA, due to differences in

schools of thought and interpretations, gave rise to Thenkalai and

Vadagalai Sampradayams respectively. It is more appropriate to call as

Sri Ramanuja SiddhAntham. Our reverence to all achAryAs, the giants of

Sri Vaishnavam including Sri RamanujAchArya down to Sri Vedanta Desikan,

ManavaaLa MamunigaL upto our present (respective) AchAryas is all the

same and profound.

 

Tatva trayam

 

TatvAs are said to be of three forms; chEtanA, achEtanA and Iswaran.

 

ChEtanA- It is also called as atmA, jIvAtmA, chit. This jIvAtmA is in

every body of very being. It is only inside the body, but is different

from the body, mind and the intellect. It is smaller than the smallest

that one can imagine and is smaller than the atomic particle. In every

being, be it human, animal, plant, tree, bird, insect, ant, amoeba

(unicellular organism), or whatever- be it any being, the jIvAtmA is in

its body. It stays in it. Hence, it is NOT possible to count jIvAtmAs in

the world or the universe. But, whatever may be the size of the body of

the being, the jIvAtmA is of the same smallest atomic size. Even though

the bodies of beings (like elephant, ant, human, tree, etc.,) differ,

there is NO DIFFERENCE between the jIvAtmAs; But they are mutually

exclusively (independent of each other) jIvAtmAs. They are all alike in

its size, nature. They are all eternal- no end for jIvAtmAs; they exist

since time immemorial; When the body perishes (or dies), the jIvAtmA

does NOT end; If "it" had surrendered to Emperumaan, it goes to

Srivaikuntam and gets the eternal salvation (mOksham). Else, "it" enters

into some other body (in next birth) - it can be any "body"- need not be

a human form- it can be a pig, a street dog, a dEvA, an ant, a tree, or

a mosquito, a cockroach. It can be ANY BODY- depending on what all karmA

you (as a jIvAtmA in your previous births) did and puNyAs or paapAs it

had accumulated;

 

Sri KrishNa tells this to arjunA that no good action goes waste;

whatever attempt you make to reach Me- however failure the attempts are-

depending on efforts of your attempts-the quality and severity of them-

you (jIvAtmA) will be made to enter in a conducive environment (or body)

that will facilitate you (jIvAtmA) to continue from where you (jIvAtmA)

had left in the last birth without your knowledge at all; (Now do you

understand why we are being dragged into these discussions in Bhakti

Group and talk about Sriman NarayaNA- it is all due to His

grace/mercy/dayA on us (jIvAtmAs) for our getting benefited and

uplifting ourselves.)

 

mOksham is SriVaikuntam. When we live in this world, in this human form-

let us grab this opportunity to surrender to Emperumaan and prostrate at

His Lotus Feet for His Grace on us; Let us approach our AchAryA and at

His Feet, surrender to him and to the Feet of Sriman NarayaNA. That will

ensure and ascertain our definite salvation and mOksham at the end of

this life so that there at SriVaikuntam, we can eternally enjoy the

Absloute Bliss of Sriman NarayNA, the Sriya: Pathi: and perform

kaimaryam (render service) eternally to Divya Dampati forever and ever

continuously. (Have NO DOUBTS ABOUT IT; It has been told and promised by

SRI RAMA Himself; He is the Satya Vratan.-Parama kAruNyan- He was ready

to forgive even rAvaNA, if he surrenders. Have we committed more paapam

than rAvaNA? He will forgive us too- all that He wants is (y)our

SURRENDER at His Lotus Feet)

 

This jIvAtmA, by its very nature has been blessed with limitless

knowledge (jnAnam) and is of aanandha swarUpam". It is jIvAtmA’s nature

to be of Emperumaan’s servant and render eternal kaimkaryam to the Lord.

But, when jIvAtmA is in physical bodies, it gets attached to matter and

forgets its Divine nature and belongingness to the Lord. Due to karmAs

and actions, paapams and puNyams, due to vibharItha jnAnam that the body

is permanent, all bliss and unbounded jnAnam are blocked and forgotten

by jIvAtmA. i.e jIvAtmA enjoys the Divine Bliss and gets jnAnam only to

certain extent (limited extent); After mOksham, it gets back to its

original position. There is nothing new it gets; it gets back to where

it belongs. It gets its natural paripoorNa aanandham, paripoorNa jnAnam.

 

These jIvAtmAs are of three types:

 

1. Bhatthar- they are trapped in samsaaric ills and are in viscious

cycle of births and deaths, experiencing sorrows and pleasures

alternately. They are bound by karmAs.

2. Mukthar: In this life, the human being, who gets to his AchAryA and

with his grace and kataaksham, surrenders to the Lotus Feet of Sriya:

Pathih and reaches SriVaikuntam after the life, and attains mOksham- he

gets into Mukthar category. Mukthar renders eternal service to Sriya:

Pathih, enjoying the absolute bliss, pErAnandham.

3. Nityar- There is no bondage of karmAs for them and they always

render eternal service to Sriman Narayanan. GarudA, VishvaksEnar,

AdhsEshan are all Nityar categories. They are of suddha satvam.

 

AchEtanA- There is no intelligence for achEtanA. Hence, it does not

enjoy. It is always to be enjoyed by others. ChEtanAs enjoy the

achEtanAs. AchEtanAs are classified into prakriti, kaalam and

suddhasatvam.

 

Prakriti- This is also addressed as Moola Prakriti, ThriguNam,

Avyaktham, or Pradhaanam etc.. This has three guNAs, i.e satva, rajas

and thamas. This prakriti always undergoes changes. When the three guNAs

become EQUAL in quantum, there comes the Cosmic Cycle end- i.e PraLayam.

When they differ in quantum, there comes "mahat" tatvam out of Prakriti.

Out of mahat comes Ahankaaram.

 

Kaalam- This expands and spans everywhere. This is constituted by Past

Present and Future. But this does Not have satva, rajas, tamas. This is

divided into various measures of time.

 

Suddha satvam- This has got ONLy satva guNam. SriVaikuntam is FULL OF

THIS SUDDHA SATVAM. In this world, all archAvbathAra ThirumEni of

Emperumaan in the temples are also of Suddha Satvam.

 

Iswaran: As described earlier, VedAs proclaim that Sriman NarayNan is

the SarvEshwaran; Sarva Vallabhan, Sarvayagnan, Parathvam. He, by His

unbounded, limitless, jnAnam, swarUpam, occupies everywhere in

AnandhaswarUpam. He is the One who creates everything. He is the One who

destroys everything; He is the Same one who protects everything; BrahmA

only has been assigned by Sriman NarayaNA to do the creation work. So is

Sivan for destruction. They are all at His command. Sriman Narayanan is

the essence of everything and everyone at all times; Those who worship

any other demigod or devathA or deities, get all their benefits through

their devatAs from Sriman NarayaNan only. (It is His own statement in

GITA-Let us have NO DOUBTS ABOUT it).

 

Under all situations and in all avataars, He is always accompanied by

Sri MahAlakshmi -Periya Piraatti. She stays in His chest. She is

NiyAnapaayinee. She is also of same nature and powerful as Sriman

NarayaNan and is also unbounded and limitless. (Being a mother, She is

more merciful at us, the paapAtmAs and forgives us immediately and

recommends us to Him for redemption- There is no word to describe Her

guNAs- "seerithyEvacha nAmathE bhagawathI bhrUmah kathas thwAm vayam)"

Except for Piraati and Sriman NarayaNan all others are jIvAtmAs. BrahmA

and Sivan are also described as positions or posts/designations like

IndrA, which the Greatest puNya jIvAtmAs occupy and get these glorified

posts to render service to Sriya: pathih. (I have even heard that

AnjanEyA is going to be the next BrahmA).

 

ISwaran’s Divine body (ThirumEni) is of five types., viz., Param,

VyUham, Vibhavam, Antharyaami and Arcchai.

 

1. Param: The Lord who is at Sri Vaikuntam.

2. VyUham: The Four Moorthys addressed as VasudEvan, SankarshaNan,

Pradhyumanan and Aniruddhan. (Explanation of these mUrthys is beyond

the scope of this article.)

3. Vibhavam- Raman, KrishNan- such avataars - there are many avataars

taken by the Lord; Out of them, the important ten are the DasAvathAram;-

other are like., Hayagreevan, PadmanAbhan, Hamsam, et al.

4. Antharyaami- the sUkshma status of the Lord Who exists inside the

cave of every being’s heart. (Hrudaya kamalam).

5. Arcchai: In all Divya dEsams and in other temples- The Lord- Sriya:

Pathih is the ArchAvataara ThirumEni.

 

In the next post, it is intended to cover sarIra Athma bhAvam, Hitham, a

brief reference to Pancha samskarams, mAnasIka ArAdhanam, etc.

 

AchAryAL ThiruvadigaLE saraNam

 

 

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