Sri Vaikunta EkAdasi : part 2

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Dear BhakthAs :In this posting , we will cover

the connection between Thitu Adhyayana Uthsavam

and Sri Vaikunta EkAdasi .

 

Lokan-Kantakan and Sri Vaikunta Ekaadasi

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Thiru Adhyayana uthsavam starts on Dhanur maasam Sukhla

Paksha Prathamai and continues for 21 days that are

divided into Pakal and Iraa Patthu .Sri PaancharAthra

Aagamam explains the reason for the initiation of this

Uthsavam .During the great deluge (PraLayam ) , Lord

was floating on the swirling waters of deluge on the leaf

of a pupil tree as a small baby ( Vata Pathra Saayee ).

He created chathurmukha BrahmA and commanded him to engage in

the act of Creation . Soon , BrahmA forgot as to who had created

him in the first place and was stricken with ego as he went

about his act of creation . At that time , two asurAs with the

names of Lokan and Kantakan emerged out of the ears of the Lord

and jumped on Brhama with an intent to kill him for his offenses .

Brhama quickly understood the fix that he got himself into

and prayed to his father , the Lord to save him . The Lord forgave

BrahmA . The Lord also wanted to give a boon for the two asurAs for

the services rendered and asked them as to what they would like

to have as boons . They begged the Lord to give them the boon

of battling with Him for a month and then reach His sacred feet .

The Lord blessed them with the boon and fought with them for a

month and at the end killed them ; thereafter , our Lord transformed

them into Nithya sUris with sankham and chakram and made them

residents of Sri Vaikuntam.

 

At that time ,Lokan and Kantan addressed the Lord and said :

" Oh Sriman NaarAyaNA !We have had the blessings

of sathgathi thanks to your killing us with Your own hands

and made it possible for us to reside in Sri Vaikuntam

and to perform nithya kaimkaryam to You .You let us in to

Sri Vaikuntam by opening the northern gates of Your divine

citadel on this Dhanur maasa sukla Paksha EkAdasi day .

We beg you to give us another boon , which will make it

possible for all the people to remember us and this day

as Sri Vaikunta EkAdasi.Please grant us this boon , which will

make it possible for ALL human beings , who enter the Northern

gates at all of Your consecrated temples on Earth to reach

Sri Vaikuntam , when their body falls down on this earth

at the end of their sojourn on Your earth . After reaching Your

Kingdom of Sri Vaikuntam , they should also be blessed with

Nithya sEvA Kaimkaryam like us and all other Nithya sUris :

 

tathA pasyanthi yEthvAnthu namasyanthi cha yE janA :

uttara dwAra maargENa pravisanthi cha yE HarE :

tE Vaikuntamimam prApya mOdhanthAm nityasUrivath

 

BhagavAn Sriman NaarAyaNA offered them that boon as well.

Fromthat day onward , Lord accepted Sri Vaikunta EkAdasi

Uthsavam and the entrance of BhakthAs through the northern

gate of His temples to reach Srivaikuntam at the end of

their earthly residence .Since this EkAdasi is connected with

Moksham , this uthsavam came to be known as MokshOthsavam

from then on .

 

AzhwArs and Thiru AdyayanOthsvam (Moksha EkAdasi )

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In Tamilnaadu , AzhwArs used Divya Prabhnadham

( Tamil Vedam/MaRai ) to worship Sriman NaarAyaNA

and attained Moksha Siddhi . The First AzhwAr in

our tradition that served as Maarga darsi or the

shower of the way , was " Vedam Tamizh seytha MaaRan " ,

Swami Sri NammAzhwAr . In the last centum of his

Thiruvaimozhi , he takes leave of many archA mUrthys

with a heavy heart and describes his joyous plans

to leave this earth at the end of his avathAra

mission to reach the abode of his Lord , Sri Vaikuntam .

Like ANDAL , who described in grat detail Her impending

marriage to Her Lord through a dream scene (VaraNamyiram

Paasurams ) , NammAzhwAr similarly used Veda PramANams

to describe his journey to Parama padham as revealed

to us in Brahma sUthrams and Upanishads .

 

Few hundred years later , the last of the AzhwArs ,

Thirumangai , was standing in front of Sri RanganaathA

at Srirangam enjoying His divine beauty and was reflecting

on the tenth ThirumAlai Paasuram of ThondaradipoDi :

" KaatinAn Thiruvarangam Uyvhavarkku uyyum vaNNam --"

AzhwAr wondered about his own moksham . He broke out in

a thought sequence , which took the form of the following

paasuram passage :

 

" aNiyAr pozhil Aranga naharappA ! tuNiyEn

ini ninnaraulallAthu , naNiyE , MaNi MaaNikkamE ,

MadhusoodhA ! paNiyAi yenakku uyyum vahai ParamjyOthi ".

 

Our most merciful Lord of Srirangam rsponded through

Uttama nambi , His priest and showed the way for

his salvation .

 

AzhwAr was thrilled with that revelation and

organized the ThirukkArthigai Uthsavam to celebrate

the immeasurable , tall Jyothi (anthar jyOthi:

kimapi yaminAm anjanam Yoga dhrushtE : , as revealed

later by Swami Sri Desikan )as Sriman NaarayaNa

Tattvam reclining on the bed of Adhi sEshan at

Srirangam . Thirumangai understood now that was

the same "tall" jyOthi tattvam revealed by

Sri RanganaathA to NammAzhwAr earlier . Recognizing

this as divine indication , Thirumangai brought

Swami Sri NammAzhwAr's archA vigraham from

AzhwAr Thirunagari with pomp and maryAdhai to

Srirangam and placed nammAzhwAr's vigraham

in front of Sri RanganAthan . He begged the Lord

and requested Him to instruct he world about

the Veda Saamyam of Thiruvaimozhi through

the conductance of an uthsavam to highlight

the extraordinary relevance and greatness

of ThiruvAimozhi as Tamil MaRai . Our Lord

of Srirangam agreed and gave the orders for

the initiation of Adhyayana Uthsavam ,which is

also known today as MokshOthsavam as a result of

Thirumangai Mannan's initative and the continuation of

that Kaimkaryam by our PurvAchAryas from AchArya

Naatha Muni's time .

 

Details of the 21 day Uthsavam at Srirangam

********************************************

As referred to earlier ,there are 21 days of

Thiru AdhyayaNOthsavam ( First Day for ThirunedumthANDakam ,

10 days of Pahal patthu and 10 more days of

Iraa Patthu ). Thirumangai saluted the Lord's

sacred feet as resting on his head in Thiru Nedum

ThANDakam ( yenthai TaLir Purayum Thiruvadi

Yenn TalaimElEyE )as a rsult of the Darsana

SoubhAgyam that he was blessed with . Therefore ,

Thiru Nedum ThANDaka Uthsavam serves as a preface

to the pahal and Iraa Patthu celebrations following

it. MinnuruvAi Paasuram form Thiru Nedum ThANDakam

is recited on the first day and the arayars perform

Abhinayam for it on the first of the 21 days Uthsavam.

This took place on Marghazhi 3 ( Dec 18)in 1998 .

The Pahal patthu started on Dec 19 and will conclude on

December 28 with SatthumuRai and MaryAdhais for

AzhwArs and AchAryAs .

 

On the next day ( December 29/ Margahzhi 14th ),

the First day of Iraa patthu is celebrated .

This is the Dhanur Maasa Sukla Paksha EkAdasi day

known as Sri Vaikunta EkAdasi day .

 

Schedule at Srirangam for Sri Vaikunta EkAdasi Uthsavam

********************************************************

 

**December 29: 3.30 A.M (Srirangam Time & 5.30 P.M

EST /USA Time on December 28, 1998 ):

TulA lagnam ; PerumAL's puRappAdu from AasthAnam

 

** paramapadha Vaasal opening : 4.30 A.M

 

** Entry into Thirukkottakai : 4.45 A.M.

 

** SaadarA maryAdhai : 8.30 A.M.

 

** Arrival at ThirumAmaNi mantapam : 9.30 A.M.

 

** Curtain for AlankAram & NaivEdhyam: 10.15 to 10.45 A.M.

 

** Darsanam in RathnAngi : 10.45 A.M to 6.00 P.M .

 

** Arayar Sevai for all : 6.00-8.00 P.M

 

** ThiruppAvadai GhOshti : 8.00-9.00 P.M.

 

** Curtain for VeLLI champA naivEdhyam : 9.00-10.00 P.M.

 

** UbhayakkArar MaryAdhai : 10.30-11.00 P.M.

 

** Curtain for preparation for PuRappAdu: 10.30 P.M to 11.30 P.M.

 

** PuRappAdu from TirmAmaNi mandapam : Midnight

 

** Arrival at AasthAnam to the accompaniment

of VeeNai Vaadhyam :1.30 A.M on December 30, 1998/

EST 3.30 P.M. on December 29 for East Coast

residents of U.S.A.

 

The days after Sri Vaikunta EkAdasi

*************************************

During the period between Dec 30 (Second day

of Iraa patthu to the sixth day of Iraa patthu ,

NamperumAl leaves the AasthAnam at 12.00 Noon

and stays at The Thousand Pillar mantapam until

9.30 P.M. and returns to AasthAnam with VeeNai

Accompaniment at 10.45 P.M.

 

Seventh day of the Uthsavam is known as

ThirukkaitthaLa Sevai and takes place between

3.00 P.M. and 12.45 P.M. NamperumAL leaves His aasthAnam

at 3.00 P.M and returs there at 12.45 P.M. HiraNya

Vadham arayar sEvai takes place on this day .

 

On the eighth day of IrAA patthu , Thirumangai Mannan

vEdu PaRi uthsavam is inserted .NamperumAL leaves on

Horse Vaahanam from Santhanu mantapam at 4.45 P.M.

and has VyAALi from 5.30-6.30 P.M. He reaches

the ThirumAmaNI mantapam at the 1000 pillared hall at

8.00 P.M. From there , He returns to AasthAnam at 1.15 A.M.

 

On the Tenth day ( January 7, 1999) , TheerthavAri at

Chandra PushkaraNi takes palce at 9.45 A.M. and our

Lord reaches the1000 Pillar Hall at 12.00 Noon.

Sri Bhattar SwamigaL's Brahma ratha Maryadai

takes place first and is followed by Thirumanjanam

(6.30 P.M to 9.30 P.M ) .Curtain comes down for

NaivEdhyam at 9 P.M and holds until 11 P.M.

 

At 11.00 P.M.Aayar sevai and ThiruppAvadai GhOshti

start and goes on until 3.00 A.M. Curtain comes down

again from 3-4 A.M for VeLLI champA amudhu naivEdhyam.

The elated PerumAL gives his subhAsraya daranam

to the assembled Bhaktha kOtis from 4-6 A.M.

 

Next follows the climactic event of NammAzhwAr's

Moksham (6-7 A.M on Jannuary 8/ Marghazhi 24 ).

The ritualastic steps of the NammAzhwAr Moksham are

similar to the one described in the Hindu Posting that

described the happenings at ThiruvallikkENi. AzhwAr is

clothed in white , wears dwAdasa puNDrams and TulasI maalai

and is brought on Kaitthalam to PeriumAL's presence with

chathra (umbrella )Saamara (Fans) maryAdhai .

During his travel to NamperumAl's side ,

"Soozh Veesum Pani Muhil " paasuram ( Thiruvaimozhi 10.9.1)

is recited .AzhwAr is placed at the holy feet of

NamperumAL and is covered with Tulasi leaves completely .

During that time , Arayar recites the paasuram ,

" MuniyE NaanmuhanE MukkaNNappA (TVM 10.10.1) " .

The coverage by TuLasi leaves refers to the paasura

Vaakhyam " nEsam seythu unnODu yennai uyir vERanRi

onRAhavE koNDAi " and denotes the granting of

Saayujya MOksham for NammAzhwAr by Sri Ranganaathan

in front of every one . This is the significance of

Meykalatthal ( uLL kalatthal ) doctrine.

 

After AzhwAr's Thiruvadi Thozhal , NamperumAL

prsents the AzhwAr with His ThirumaNN, Garlands and kasthUri .

This ceremony signifies the Lord's honoring of

the Mumkshu , who has become a resident of His Paramapadham .

AzhwAr is then placed on Tirukkaitthalam and

returned to his honored place with sakala MaryAdhais.

 

NamperumAl moves on to the four pillared mantapam

and performs maryAdhai to all the other AzhwArs .

Archakar then utters the word " PaDippu " .

At that time , the story of Lord RanganAthA

arriving at Srirangam from the Milky Ocean

is read for the benefit of the assembled BhakthAs .

SthAnikar then says with reverence " naayinthE

RaghunAthA " and prays for the Lord's blessings

for Uthsava sampUrNam . NamperumAl blesses the

SthAnikar with SevA and Theertham and orders him to

conduct the ThirukkalyANa uthsavam well . Bhattar,

Arayar Brahma Rathams take place after the Lord

leaves for AsthAnam. During the Iraa patthu uthsavam ,

Moolavar adorns Mutthangi and offers Mutthangi sEvai

to Bhaktha Kotis. At aasthAnam, IyaRppA recitation

is commenced .It continues at Santhanu MaNtapam

next day ( january 9,1999).

 

During the early morning of Jan 9 , after AarAdhanam takes

place between 2-4 A.M. , IyaRppA SaathumuRai is completed

at mUla sthAnam between 4 -5 A.M. Thriut ThuzhAi and Theertha

PrasAdhams are presented between 5-6 A.M. and another

Thiru AdhyayaNOthsavam comes to completion .

 

 

NaarAyaNa, NaarAyaNa, NaarAyaNa !

Swami Sri NammAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam,

DaasAnu Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan