Srimad Azhagiasingar's thirunakshatram

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SrimathE SrivanSatakOpa Sri VEdAntha Desika

YathindrA MahA DesikAya Namaha.

 

 

 

The

Holy Cloud

 

 

 

On the eve of the Thirunakshatram of

prakrutam Srimad Azhagiasingar, adiyen would like to

offer this little piece at His lotus feet.

From time immemorial,the Megham(cloud) has

been an object of irresistible fascination for our

AlwArs,AchAryAs and,mahAkavis like Sri ValmIki and

KalidAsa. When adiyEn was on a flight of fancy,it

struck adiyen as to what a lot of similarities the

cloud had with our AchAryan ,and I ventured to put

this down to paper(or the Word Pad-in modern idiom)

and offer it to the bhAgavatAs.

Sri DEsikan,in Sri GuruparamparA Saram ,says

“Meghangal samudra jalatthai vAngi sarvOpajeevyamAna

thanneerAga umizhumAp pOlE”. How well this description

suits our Srimad Azhagiasingar – for HE ,through

constant toil ,imbibes the scriptures in all their

multitude and gives us the sAram,in a highly palatable

manner. This simile is fitting in more than one way-

1.The boundless body of shastraic knowledge

(comprised of the shrutis,smritis,ithihAsAs,purAnAs

and dharma shAstrAs) is akin to an ocean.It is

impossible for human beings with limited faculties

like us to master all these, for the time available

is short (alpascha kAla:)and the impediments to

knowledge, many(bahavascha vignA:). Further, often

conflicting and varying concepts may emerge from an

untutored perusal of shAstrAs(shAstra gnAnam bahu

klEsa kAranam).

It is here that Srimad Azhagiasingar comes to the

rescue of mithapragyAs like adiyEn. He absorbs ,like a

cloud from the ocean, all that is of the

essence(sArabhootam) and delivers it to us in an

easily digestible capsule form. One who has heard His

upanyAsams or read His arulmozhis ,would definitely

agree with adiyEn that each of them incorporates the

quintessence of sampradAyic scholarship absorbed by

Him through decades of hard toil and AchArya

susrUshanam, which we are able to obtain second

hand,without undergoing any difficulty whatsoever. So

much so, that the tribute to SwAmi Desikan-‘Orondru

thAne amayAthO thAraniyil vAzhvArkku vAnErap pOmalavum

vAzhvu”-can be equally well applied to our AchAryA’s

sree sookthis.

 

2.Further,as clouds absorb sea water, and deliver

it in the form of rain to the crops and to quench

people’s thirst, Srimad Azhagiasingar has tapped the

ocean of riches in the possession of various dhArmikAs

and carried out several bhagawat,bhAgawata

kainkaryams with the funds so obtained. While rain

water provides bAhya tApa shanthi,a cooling dharshan

of Sri VeerarAghavan or Sri PrahlAda Varadan in their

new thiruvAbharanams ( lovingly submitted by Srimad

Azhagiasingar ) provides tApatraya shAnthi.

 

3.EmperumAn is described by several poorvAchAryAs

as an ocean of virtues (samastha kalyAna guna

amrutOdadhi:, asankyEya kalyAna guna ganougha

mahArnavam, aparimita guna sAgaram, karunA varunAlayam

etc.).Each of these gunAs is immeasurable, so much so

that the vEdAs themselves, engaged in such an

endeavour, return thoroughly vanquished (yethO vAchO

nivartantE ,aprApya manasA saha---tEyE satam iti

anukramAth,etc.).Our AchAaryan delves deep into the

bhagawat guna sAgaram and encapsulates the kalyAna

gunAs in a manner which is anubhAvyam for us.

 

Dark,rainbearing clouds are the darling of

peacocks,which dance with their beautiful plumes

spread out wide.Similarly,the very sight of Srimad

Azhagiasingar is enough to provide immeasurable bliss

to anaya bhaktAs and to vidwAns.

.Carrying the analogy further, clouds never stay in

the same place in the sky and are always on the move.

Our AchAryan is also constantly on sanchAram, as

ordained by Sri MalOlA. While clouds are propelled by

winds,our vriddha yati is driven by bhakta vAtsalyam,

and has already traversed BhArata Varsha several

times,AsEthu HimAchalam, in his eternal search of

souls to be saved through pancha samskAram, ,bhara

samarpanam and sadupadEsam.

 

One feels,as Sri Madhurakavi did,that the mere

mention of Srimad Azhagiasingar’s thirunAmam and His

guna keerthanam bring eternal bliss to our

tongue(annikkum amudhoorum en nAvukkE). One also

feels like exclaiming, with IlayaperumAl,”Gunair

dAsyam upAgatha:”. .Hence,tempting as it is to

continue in the same vein,adiyEn would like to end

here with a presumptious prayer to Sri MalOlA to keep

prakrutam Srimad Azhagiasingar hale and hearty in our

midst for a hundred more years atleast(adiyOmOdum

ninnOdum pirivindri Ayiram pallAndu).

 

Etri manatthu ezhil gnAna vilakkai

irulanaitthum

MAtrinavarkku oru kaimmAru mAyanum

kANagillAn

Potri ugappadum pundiyil kolvathum

pongu pugazh

 

ChAtri valarppathum chatrallavO munnam

petratharkkE.

 

SrimatE Srivansatakopa SriLakshminrisimha divya

pAdukA sEvaka Sri NarAyana YethIndra mahA dEsikAya

Namaha.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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