Sriman NaarAyaNA's parathvam

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs :

 

I have been sitting this out until my name has

been specifically mentioned by more than one of

the members. The encouragement that I have given

to the talented essayist , Sriman Sudarshan is

to write about Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha KarAvalampana

Sthothram and not about Soundarya Lahari in the Bhakthi

forum . There should not be any confusion on

this point .For the record ,I am pretty familiar with

Soundharya Lahari and the brilliant commentary by

the Sri VidyA UpAsakar , late TEthiyUr SaasthrigaL

covering NavAvaraNam and other Taantric mode of

worships .

 

In SaakthA literature as well as in others ,

there are passages that are painful to a SrivaishNavan ,

since it is disrespectful of the views of all of our

purvAchAryAs . For example , one of the LalithA

Sahasra Naamam describes the dasaavathAra mUrthys

as arising from the ten finger nails of Sri LalithA .

This is a case of poetic fancy landing the composer of

this sthuthi into the land of absurdity .

 

In the paradEvathA-paaramArthyadhikAram of Srimadh

Rahasya thrya Saaram , Swami Desikan has clearly

established Sriman NaarAyaNa parathvam and the futility

of anya-devathA worship at many levels .

 

ThiryvAimozhi Paasuram ( 10.10.3 ) is the beacon light

for us , whenever we get into doubt :

 

aavikkOr paRRuk Kompu NINNALAAL aRihinRilEn

yaan mEvit Thozhum Biraman Sivan IndiranAdhikkellAm

naavik Kamala MudaRk kizhankE umparanthathuvE

 

What we have to grasp and what we have to abandon

are clearly stated here.

 

The first line of the Paasuram categorically

states that there is no support ( leaning stick )

to the soul (jeevan) other than Sriman NaarAyanan .

 

NammAzhwAr's aruLiccheyalkaL are our kalankarai

ViLakku (light house). Here is one to formulate

our code of conduct :

 

veevil Inbham miha yellainihazhantha namm Acchuthan

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

veevil seeran malark KaNNan ViNNOr perumAn

--Thiruvaimozhi :4.5.2

 

Our Lord Achyuthan is the very boundary of BrahmAnandham

that Upanishads talk about. Limitless are His auspicious

qualities , also His charm and His reputation as the

Sarva lOka SaraNyan .He is the unparalleled master of

the NithyasUris and Brahma SivAdhis.I sing about Him

all the time without let.This joy of singing Thiruvaimozhi

about Him has brought me close to Him .Now , my joy too

has become vast and limitless ,as He is said to be .

 

NammAzhwAr's uplifting message to us is that

Sriman NaarAyaNan is the one and only Refuge

for us , He is the UpAyam , He is the UpEyam ,

Phalan .He is Praapyam and he is the Parama-

PurushArtham . None else !

 

Thirumangai in his Paasuram on ThirukkaNNapuratthu-

EmperumAn elaborates on this important topic further

and ends the discussion :

 

maRRum Ohr dhaivam uLathu yenRiruppArOdu

uRRilEn; uRRathum unnadiyArkku adimai

maRRellAm pEsilum ninn Thiru Yettezhutthum

kaRRu naan KaNNapuratthuRaiammAnE

--Periya Thirumozhi: 8.10.3

 

(Meaning): Oh Lord who resides permanently in

ThirukkaNNapuram ! I have learnt thoroughly

the Sacred ashtAkshara manthram that celebrates

Your glories.I have now learnt that the parama

purushArtham is all about being the servitor( Sesha

BhUthan ) of Your BhagavathAs . After comprehending

this fundamental doctrine , I have detatched myself

thoroughly from anyone , who considers that there

is a Supreme God equal or greater than You.All of this

bhAgyam came my way by learning Thirumanthiram that

celebrates You directly ,from You as my AchAryan .

 

All our Ajn~Anam , AnyathA Jn~Anam and ViparItha

Jn~Anam will be destroyed to its root , once we

reflect on the AzhwAr's paasurams , AchArya Sri Sookthis

and keep repeating Swami Desikan's Statement :

 

Sriman NaarAyaNO na: pathi: akhila tanu:

mikthidhO mukthabhOgya:

 

I conclude this clarificatory note with

some mula pramANams about the parathvam

of our Lord , which I believe in :

 

Na VaasudEvAth paramasthi MangaLam

Na VaasudEvAth paramasthi Paavanam

Na VaasudEvAth paramasthi Dhaivatham

 

NaarAyaNa , NaarAyaNa , NaarAyaNa

Daasan ,Sadagopan

[Guest guest]

Sri:

 

Dearest Sisters and Brothers,

 

That was the usual yet another excellent post from our dear Sri Sadagopan.

Its great explanations and rich narration reminded me of another superb post

(the author's name, I have forgotten) in another list. I remember the words

because I have memorised for its great impact.

 

It is tiltled "Essence of All SaashtrA"

 

Essence of All SAstra-s, as nicely mentioned by SrImad azhagiya singar:

 

1. Only SrIman-nArAyaNa & none other than SrIman-nArAyaNa, is the Supreme

Reality.

 

2. Only SrIman-nArAyaNa & none other than SrIman-nArAyaNa, is the only Means

to reaching the only Supreme Reality, SrIman-nArAyaNa.

 

3. Serving SrIman nArAyaNa in SrI-vaikuNTham (ie mOksham) is the only

Supreme Goal.

 

That's all there is to know!

 

What a lovely dynamite packed great Truth!

 

Narayana Narayana

 

Narayana dAsan Madhavakkannan

 

>

> Sadagopan [sMTP:sgopan]

> Wednesday, March 24, 1999 11:55 AM

> bhakti

> Sriman NaarAyaNA's parathvam

>

[Guest guest]

Sri Madhavakkanan wrote:

> 3. Serving SrIman nArAyaNa in SrI-vaikuNTham (ie mOksham) is the only

> Supreme Goal.

 

If I may modify this slightly, according to our acharyas,

the Supreme Goal is to serve Sriman Narayana at all times, in any

condition, wherever the Divine Couple is. It does not matter

whether it is in Sri Vaikuntham or not. Recall Sri Vedanta

Desika's famous words from Varadaraja Panchasat:

 

vaikuNTha-vAse'pi na me'bhilAsa:

 

I have no desire to even stay in Vaikuntha

 

The goal is then nitya-kainkaryam alone. It just so happens

that while embodied, there are continuous obstacles to

performing divine service. Since there are no such

obstacles in Parama-Padam, the state of liberation,

we ask for moksha. But this is only to subserve the

true goal of nitya-kainkaryam.

 

rAmAnuja dAsan,

Mani