Garland of Teachings -- "vaarththaamaalai"

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Those bhAgavatas who have been members of this forum

for a few years may remember reading excerpts of

"vaarththaamaalai" posted by Sri M.G. Srinivasan.

Sri Srinivasan was then a resident of Chicago and

now has the good fortune of the daily company of the

Divya Dampatis in Srirangam.

 

I am indebted to Sri Srinivasan to introducing me to

this marvellous work. Sri Pinpazhagiya PerumaaL Jeeyar,

the author of this "Garland of Sayings", records countless

teachings of Sri Ramanuja and his disciples that were

until then only part of spoken tradition. Because of this,

"vaarththaamaalai" is indispensable in understanding the

day-to-day mindset of our early acharyas.

 

I started reading "vaarththaamaalai" on the plane during

my recent trip to India. As I perused the 450 and odd

"vaarththais" or teachings, several struck me as presenting

profound truths of our religion in very simple ways.

Sri P.P. Jeeyar either relates a short conversation

between an acharya and his disciple or presents short,

pithy statements that embody the highest teachings of

the tradition. Many of them describe the "lakshaNas"

or qualities that a true Sri Vaishnava should have.

As such, I felt that I should share some of these

with this group. I shall present translations of

some selected sections in no particular order as I

find time.

 

A brief note about Sri Pinpazhagiya PerumaaL Jeeyar

himself. Sri P.P. Jeeyar was a disciple of Nampillai,

the famous acharya whose lectures on the Tiruvaymoli

formed the basis of the famous "eedu" vyaakhyaanam.

Sri P.P. Jeeyar was also a junior contemporary of

Periya Vaaccaan Pillai and Nadadur Ammal, the great

acharyas who flourished at the end of the 13th century.

Both of these saints are mentioned in this work.

 

P.P. Jeeyar himself was an erudite scholar. His other

work, the 6000 guru parampara prabhAvam, is the first

extant history / hagiology of the Alvars and acharyas,

and abounds in references to the Upanishads, Itihasas

and Puranas, as well as the Divya Prabandham.

 

Enough for now. The work shall speak for itself in

successive posts.

 

| aazhvaar emberumaanaar dEsikan jeeyar tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam |

 

Mani