Introduction / Notes from Sri Bhuvarahacharyar's Upanyasam

[Guest guest]

[ Posted on behalf of Sri Sudarshan Agaram, Chicago <vsagaram ]

 

I have been an active reader of the above lists for sometime now

and would like to post a little about myself and also an

announcement. I am from Bangalore and have been in the

continental US since 1994. I am shishya of Sri Anantha

Narasimhachar. [ resides @ 160 south chitra street in

Srirangam, Trichy.]=20

 

I will be hosting a few teleconference calls in the near future

[along with Sri Mukundan Pattangi's help]. We are

having upanyasams on Ashtasloki from Sri E.S. Bhuvarahar Swami,

Bangalore [in tamil]. I would request you all to participate

in the forthcoming teleconferences. Sri Bhuvarahar has been giving

Upanyasams for a long time now and we are honored to have his

Upanyasam the 3rd Saturday of every month. Also, he was my

sanskrit tutor at St.Joseph's College, Bangalore.

 

During the day, I work in the computer consulting arm of an

Accounting firm= .. My wife Veena and I live in Chicago, IL

and can be reached at 773-755-7565.

 

Dasan Sudarshan

 

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

Notes from Bhuvarahar Swami's Upanyasam on 6/16/01

 

The following compilation is our interpretations of the

Ashtasloki. For further clarifications and to get to know

more about this excellent slokam, please join us for the

teleconferencecall on the 3rd Saturday of every month=

=20

 

What is ashta sloki? It is a slokam of eight poems that gives the

meanings o= f Thirumantram,Dwayam and Sarama slokam. It was

written by great Parasara Bhattar [the son

ofSri.Koorathalwan]

 

Who compiled it? It was written by great Parasara Bhattar [the

son of Sri.Koorathalwan]

 

When can a srivaishnava recite it? How many times do we need to

recite it? How would one get started reciting theashtasloki?

This can be recited at any= time and by anybody, and any

number of times. Before chanting the ashtasloki= , there is a

small tanian for parasara Bahattar,which is as follows:

 

sri parasara bhattarya, sri rangesa Purohitaha

srivathsankitha sutha= sriman shreyase mesthu bhuyase

 

In addition, Ashta slOki is composed of 8 terse verses on the

three Rahasyams of Sri VaishNavAs . Using long metres,Bhattar

hinted at the depth of the subject matter . The metres used by

Bhattarare SikhariNi , Saardhula Vikridhitham and

Sragdharaa.

 

In the first four verses, Bhattar gives the meaning on the

Thirumantra.The next two verses i.e 5th and 6th, Dwaya mantram

is explained. The last two verses viz. 7th and 8th gives us

the meaning of the sarama shlokam. Going further into the

meaning of each verse, the 1st verse gives the meaning of the

word. Om. The 2nd verse gives us the meaning

of the= 2 lettered word Nama:. The last

five letters Narayanaya of the thirumantram

is explained in the 3rd verse. And finally, the 4th verse

tells us how the above 8 letters of the thirumantra take

form in life. In the ashtaslOki , the verses 6, 7 and 8 deal

with Prapatthi . Sixth verse is about the Prapatthi to Sri

Devi as the means to the end of resorting to the Lord. In the

7th slokam, the great scholar explains the meaning of sarama

SlOkam. In the 8th verse, he declares his prapatthi, "where

he expresses his inability to implement the Karma,Jnaana and

Bhakthi yogAs as means of salvation. Even regarding Prapatthi,

he is unable to follo= w it because of his utter helplessness

and lack of firm conviction of its implementation. Still the

hope of being saved by the Lord, He being the fina= l means,

sustains him =E2=80=9C.

 

Foot note1: Om is 1 letter and Namo consists of 2 letters. Foot

note2: In Kurkshetra, Krishna teaches Sarama slokam to

Arjuna. Foot note3: Swami Desika in Rahasa traya sara. says the 8

slokas of the above 3 mantras is a wonder of wonders. Foot note4:

When a person seeks the blessings of his/her elders they bless

the person with happiness, prosperity, Good health,

children=E2=80=A6etc. but earlier our acharyas would bless the

person by saying =E2=80=9CThirumanthirathille pirundu, Dwayathile

valundu [Thethirumantram, dvayam and charmaslokam is similar to

the way one is born, bred and prosper phases of life.]

 

Our next teleconference call is on July 21st 2001. at 11 am EST

[united States]. Please watch out for more dial in information

that will be distributed a few days prior to the call.