Experiences at the Land Of Divya Desams - 4

[Guest guest]

Sri :

 

Srimate Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha Para Brahmane Namaha

 

Srimate Sri Kanakavalli nAyikA sametha Sri-

VeerarAghava Para Brahmane Namaha

 

Srimate ShatagopAya Namaha

 

Srimate Bhagavad RAmAnujAya Namaha

 

Srimate NigamAntha MahAdesikAya Namaha

 

Srimate Sri Lakshmi - Nrusimha Divya PAdukA Sevaka -

Srivan Shatagopa Sri NArAyana Yateendra MahAdesikAya Namaha

 

 

Dear bhaktAs of Sriman NArAyanA,

 

Namo NArAyanA . kindly accept adiyen's pranAmams.

 

--cont--

 

The very first day when Srimad AzhagiyaSingar & MAlolan graced the school

at West MAmbalam , adiyen was one amongst the fortunate souls to get their

divine blessings . Srimad AzhagiyaSingar was so kind & told that

the samAsrayanam article was really good (!) . Obviously , it is because

of the mercy of H.H.Jeeyar that, it is in whatever status it is. But

adiyen was very much moved at H.H.Jeeyar's encouraging words .

 

MAlolan further made adiyen to get the blessings of VeerarAghava perumAL ,

our kula dhanam/perumAL at ThiruYevvuLoor (TiruvaLUr) . Then MAlolan made

arrangements for getting the blessings of ThiruvengadamudayAn , probably

to make adiyen remember about the prapatti of "prapanna jana kUtastar"

NammAzhvAr , for , it was the most merciful Thiruk kurugoor Nambi

(NammAzhvAr) who practically demonstrated the performance of this most

glorifiable UpAyA (Prapatti) for the benifit of all the suffering living

entities esp. in kali yugA. NammAzhvAr is the first AchArya in our Guru

paramparA to adopt & propagate prapatti mArgA (the previous AchAryAs are

at Sri Vaikuntam itself) .

 

MAlolan then made adiyen get the blessings of kAnchi varadan , the

bestower of all boons . It was our varadan who gave us the AchArya

sArvabhaumAs of the likes of Bhagavad RAmAnujA , NadAdUr AmmAL & SwAmi

Desikan , the three all-time greatest exponents of "prapatti" which is

without any doubt the crown & culmination of all the sAstrAs . Bhagavad

RAmAnujA again practically demonstrated the way of performing

"prapatti"(recorded in the three gadyams for our benifit) . NadAdUr AmmAL

blessed us with the invaluable gem "Prapanna pArijAtA" , which was the

source for SwAmi Desikan to come up with his magnum opus - Srimad Rahasya

Traya SArA , the encyclopedia of prapatti sAstrA & the most glorified

granthA that has A..Z of whatever needs to be known ( the topmost

essence/cream of all knowledge) .

 

Not stopping at this , MAlolan has further made adiyen seek the

blessings of bhAgavathOthamAs like Sri Purusai KrishnamAchAryA swAmi, Sri

PerukkAranai ChakravarthAchAryA swAmi & listen to the pastimes of

bhAgavathOthamAs like BheeshmAchAryA & Injimettu AzhagiyaSingar (42nd H.H.

Jeeyar , Sri Ahobila Mutt) . The pinnacle was the Upadesam of Sri

purusai swAmi on "prapatti" - a perfect culmination . Hearing about

"prapatti" & understanding it properly without any misconceptions &

doubts , is possible only after seeking the lotus feet of Sriman NArAyanA

, who directs us to the bhAgavathOtamAs/AchAryAs ( They inturn make us

devoted more towards Sriman NArAyanA ! what a cycle !! ).

 

Eventhough adiyen has just read in scriptures about these things , it

has now happened in reality to adiyen . One cannot gaurantee MahA VisvAsA

by the vast amount of knowledge one keeps accumulating . It is purely by

the mercy of bhAgavathOthamAs & AchAryAs that MahA visvAsA arises &

dispels the cloud of ignorance that surrounds one regarding the efficacy

of prapatti. In other words , the sins that obstruct one from performing

prapatti , get burned by the divine blessings of bhAgavathOthamAs.

 

Adiyen woke up the next day in early morning & finished all the

basic anushtAnams as usual . The nithya thiru ArAdhana by adiyen's father

to sALagrAma perumALs & DwArakA shilA got over & we started to MAlolan's

sannidhi , after getting the bleesings from the PerumAL(s).

 

It was 18th of May with Sravanam (ThiruvOnam ) star . What a glorious

day ! Sravanam is the "star" attributed to Sriman NArAyanA . It is also

the birthstar of SwAmi VedAnta Desikan , the ghantA avatArA of

ThiruvengadamudayAn . It was SwAmi Desikan who beautifully elaborated ,

explained & established the eternal prapatti mArgA through his invaluable

granthAs ( numerous rahasyAs , stotrAs etc ) with undisputable authority

from sAstrAs , in his own inimitable way & made it appear crystal clear

to everyone. It was adiyen's bhAgyam to get prapatti performed on such an

auspicious day & adiyen took it as a sign of blessings from both MAlolan &

SwAmi Desikan . ( anyway , performance of prapatti is independent of

whatever the time , day etc is . It always yields its fruit of pleasing

Sriman NArAyanA to grant moksham , irrespective of the muhurtA )

 

 

Be it samAsrayanam (pancha samskAram / initiation ) or prapatti or

any upadesam , a sishyA should remain in empty stomach (should not eat

anything from the morning till the AchArya performs the initiation /

prapatti/upadesam ).Usually , kAlakshebams for the sacred granthAs like

Sri BhAshyam , Sri GItA BhAshyam & others are also performed in empty

stomach .

 

The hall in the school was filled with many devotees . Abhigamana

ArAdhanam to MAlolan was being performed by Srimad AzhagiyaSingar. It was

most enjoyable to observe the love with which AzhagiyaSingar did the

Thiru ArAdhanam . H.H.Jeeyar's eedupAdu (involvement as an ardent devotee)

in archA avatAram & esp. to MAlolan is _very_ well known . Actually

,MAlolan rests over a small swing inside the "Silver mandapam" .It was

highly memorable to watch the way H.H.Jeeyar lovingly adjusted MAlolan's

garlands ,ornaments then & then ; make MAlolan swing etc ( parama rasikA

of archA avatAram).

 

Adiyen was highly fortunate to sit in the first row ( around 700 bhaktAs

were present ) & closely observe the ArAdhanam . One very interesting

incident happend . All the upachArams to MAlolan like dhoopam , dheepam ,

etc would be given by a kainkaryaparA to Srimad AzhagiyaSingar , who

inturn would offer them to MAlolan & other perumALs ( thiruArAdhanam is

for all the perumALs , but MAlolan has the predominant status). After

performing all the alankArams , MAlolan would be shown a "mirror" , for

Him to take a good look at the way in which the alankArams were performed

for Him.

 

As soon as the KainkaryaparA gave that mirror to AzhagiyaSingar ,

H.H.Jeeyar probably observed some black spots / dust etc in the mirror .

AzhagiyaSingar started blasting the kainkaryaparA : "EppidiyA kudukkaradhu

? pArthu kudukkamAtte ? sraddhaye kadayAdhu . perumALukku indha

lakshanathulayA kAmikkaradhu ? ....." ( Is it the way to offer to

MAlolan? Can't you see the mirror & give ? You totally lack sraddhA . How

can this mirror be shown to perumAL ? .... ). That poor (fortunate!)

kainkaryaparA performs this same kainkaryam of helping AzhagiyaSingar in

the ThiruArAdhanam & does it very well ( pretty old aged bhAgavathA

only).But AzhagiyaSingar couldn't even tolerate even a small dust

somewhere in the corner of the mirror . Ofcourse the blastings were only

audible for probably first row ( adiyen made full efforts to hear the

words of AzhagiyaSingar) .

 

It hit adiyen's heart. Adiyen very well knows the standard with

which the thiruArAdhanam is performed by adiyen here to sAlagrAma PerumAL

& dwArakA Shilai !!! The standard of sevA by the kainkaryaparA was very

high (one could see from his face & actions ). But the standard of sevA of

AzhagiyaSingar is beyond the reaches of the kainkaryaparA & other

devotees , since the love of H.H.Jeeyar towards MAlolan has no bounds. It

is not that the kainkaryaparA gave the mirror without wiping it . But ,

AzhagiyaSingar could spot the dusts present (however small in

proportion) in a fraction of the second because of H.H.Jeeyar's great

eedupAdu towards MAlolan .

 

Love towards Sriman NArAyanA gets reflected in one's kainkaryam . The more

one loves NArAyanA , the stricter would be the standards with which one

serves Him . AzhagiyaSingar took the cloth & wiped it by himself .

H.H.Jeeyar was still unsatisfied . The mirror took two or three more

wipings . Atlast , AzhagiyaSingar was happy & then showed it to MAlolan

with great love .

 

Adiyen learnt a lot form this incident . It made adiyen deeply realize the

exaltedness of parama hamsAs like AzhagiyaSingar . One can only wonder at

the ardent devotion & the standards they set in performing a kainkaryam .

One can easily say that AzhagiyaSingar is a great mahAn / parama hamsA

etc. But the answers to the questions like "how great a mahAn ? How great

a parama hamsA ? " is really based on one's realization . It is purely

"relative" . Only by close acquintance with mahA bhAgavathAs like Srimad

AzhagiyaSingar that one can really understand from the core of one's heart

about the reason for calling H.H.Jeeyar as a parama HamsA .

 

The mangaLa Arathi performed by AzhagiyaSIngar always makes everyone

reach their peak of devotion. The beauty with which it is performed ,

supplimented by the beatings of the drums & other instruments , notably

the thiruch chinnam , makes one feel as if these divine sounds are

shattering the rAjasic & tAmasic tendencies of the body , & makes one

secure the cool glances of Lakshmi Nrusimhan (Adiyen still remembers the

rythm & music which is a characteristic of Ahobila Mutt MangaLa Arathi).

 

SAttrumurai was then performed .PerumAL theertam was distributed to

everyone (goshti) by the kainkaryaparAs . In Ahobila Mutt , the "shatAri"

is always blessed to a bhaktA by AzhagiyaSingar himself ( Sri pAda

theertam is also given by Azhagiya Singar only) . Eventhough there were

many bhaktAs , AzhagiyaSingar patiently blessed everyone with shatAri.

 

( shatAri ie. enemy of shata vAyu, is none other than NammAzhvAr who is

the position of the thiruvadi (lotus feet) of Sriman NArAyanA due to his

unparalleled devotion. As we know , "shata vAyu " hits on top of the

head of all the babies that just come into this world from their mothers

woumb . It is this shata vAyu that makes one get attached to wordly

matters/karmA .NammAzhvAr conquered even that "shata vAyu" & was

unperturbed by the effects of prakruti. Infact NammAzhvAr didn't even

eat/drink etc as any normal human beings does !! )

 

 

 

AzhagiyaSingar then started the UpanyAsam & simultaneously the goshti

viniyOgam of Abhigamana ArAdhana prasAdam took place . Adiyen left to the

nearby room for performing sankalpA etc for prapatti . First of all ,

Poonal (sacred thread) has to changed for all important events like

prapatti . Five or six more Sri VaishnavAs for whom prapatti is being

performed were also present alongwith adiyen . A very old bhAgavathA

(kainkaryaparA) made us perform sankalpA etc. He was very merciful to give

a short Upadesam on Prapatti to us for about 15 minutes & told that Srimad

AzhagiyaSingar would do the Upadesam in an elaborated manner regarding the

important aspects of prapatti. Several times adiyen has noticed

this bhAgavthA performing japam in solitude in that room ( probably

AshtAksharam / Dvayam ).

 

Meanwhile , the UpanyAsam of AzhagiyaSingar got over . Adiyen also

remember the performance of samAsrayanam to around 25 Sri VaishnavAs

prior to the UpanyAsam. There is a "pAdukA sahasra" pArAyana group formed

by ladies (mothers/devIs to be appropriate ) . Adiyen's father Sri

K.G.Krishnan (*) has made the arrangements some years back for the

learning of pAdukA sahasram , Divya Prabandam , Lakshmi sahasram etc by

the ladies through an AchAryA (adhyApakA) .It is still going on in our

house .

 

Another group of ladies also are there in West MAmbalam who can do

pArAyanam on "pAdukA sahasram" . Basically , Sri SeshAdri (ULL Desikan

swAmi ) is instrumental in all these types of kainkaryams . Around 108

ladies perform the pArAyanam every sravanam or so (probably twice a month

also ). They were very happy to get the oppurtunity of performing the

pArAyanam in MAlolan Sannidhi . It was simply marvelous - the traditional

way of recition , with the unique rAgA delineating the various padams

.....simply excellent . As we all know , pAdukA sahasram is a gem of a

composition by SwAmi Desikan which was finished in just 3 hrs ( 1008

verses with unrepeated glories on simply the pAdukAs of RanganAthA ) .

 

(*) Sri K.G.Krishnan is also running the Divya Prabandham classes (

morning & evening) for purushAs . The best AdhyApakA of Ahobila Mutt is

training everyone in the traditional recition of the nectarian

prabandhams. Many purushAs ( both Vadagalai & thengalai) eagerly learn

in our house . Some have completed all the 4000 . One of such sishyAs has

started the other branch nearby wherein many others are learning .

 

--to be continued---

 

 

Namo NArAyanA

 

Adiyen

 

Anantha PadmanAbha dAsan

 

 

Sarvam Sri KrishnArpanamastu