rangapriyam mamagurum SaraNam prapadye-III

[Guest guest]

SrI ranganAyakyai namaH

SrI ranganAtha parabrahmaNe namaH

SrI ranganAtha divyamaNi pAdukAbhyAm namaH

 

SrI SrInivAsa varadArya krupAtta cinham

SrI SrInivAsa yativarya niviShta bhAram |

SrI rangayogi varalabdha parAtma yogam

rangapriyam mamagurum SaraNam prapadye ||

 

Dear bhaktas:

 

adiyEn wishes to thank those of you who are taking

the time to read my ramblings about asmadAchAryan

SrIrangapriya mahAdeSikan swami, and to some that

even responded via email with suggestions etc. It

is a paradox of the times that we live in, that

those who have the inclination to write about their

gurus aren't often the ones qualified to do so. Yet

adiyEn desires to write about SrIrangapriya swami in

this lifetime itself, having no desire to undergo the

numerous additional births that will be required for

me to attain those qualifications!

 

A small request to other shishyas/abhimaanis of SrI

rangapriya swami is that they kindly post the details

of HH's different guruparamparais, i.e. samasrayana,

kalakshepa and bharaNyasa. SrIrangapriya swami has

gained knowledge of esoterics such as yogashastram

from SrIvaishnava preceptors whose antecedents are

not clear from the AchArya thaniyans alone. This

information will enable us all to indulge in (at least)

rememberance of the AchAryaparamparai which has brought

a yatheeswarar like SrIrangapriya swAmi in our midst.

 

Before describing adiyOngaL's experience of having

samASrayaNam and bharaNyAsam through the auspices of

SrIrangapriya swami, I would like to briefly mention

some important details from HH's poorvASrama; details

which are well-known to most Astikas associated with

this AchAryan. First and foremost is the astonishing

fact, that rangapriyaswami - today a yathi of great

pravachanaSakti and erudition, was completely mute as

an infant!! Not having uttered a single word until the

age of 5, rangapriyaswami in poorvASrama was taken to

a kalakshepam by SrISrInivAsa Mahadesikan Swami, the

founding Acharya of Srimad Poundarikapuram Ashramam.

After upanyAsam, having learnt about the child's plight

from its parents, the Acharya uttered, in succession -

the thaniyan of vedAntadeSikar, and the first verse of

nigamAntaguru's hayagrIvastotram into the child's ear.

Lo and behold!! The child reproduced these flawlessly.

 

SrISrInivASa mahAdesikan swAmi - having miraculously

dispelled a speech impediment that had afflicted this

child, then gave blessings and foretold that it would

go on to become a paramagnyAni and mahAyogi. Today, the

very child who received the anugraham of the founding

AchArya of Srimad Poundarikapuram Ashramam is now SrI

rangapriya swAmi, a yathi of SrIrAmAnuja sampradAyam,

who heads the AshTAngayoga vignyAnamandira in Bangalore.

In keeping with SrIpoundareekapuram prathamAchAryan's

divine benediction, SrIrangapriya mahAdeSikan is a an

extremely learned scholar, philosopher, and a recognized

expert in yogAbhyasam. In poorvASrama, HH was the chair

of Sanskrit Department at National College, Basavanagudi,

and has written a masterpiece on SrIviShNu sahasranAmam.

More recently, Sri Ahobila Matham reprinted a book on

sandhyAvandanam - where SrIrangapriya swAmi's foreword

beautifully explains the significance of the 3 arghyams.

 

Today, there are numerous shishyas/abhimaanis of SrI

rangapriyaswami who continue to seek knowledge, solace

and wisdom from HH on all matters mundane and esoteric.

Many of these learned bhaktas are Sanskrit students of

swami from poorvASrama; some of them are even members

of online discussion groups as this one. SrIrangapriya

swami's patience and kindness with everyone regardless

of gender, age and social standing - is immense. It is

these sAttvikaguNams possessed by HH that make AStAnga

yogavignyAnamandira such an accessible, peaceful place.

SrIrangapriya swAmi's unique explanations and approach

to resolving problems (best observed during HH's many

upanyAsams) are the ultimate answers to many of our

worries and tensions; adiyEn has personally experienced

this while in Bangalore recently - and will write more

on this particular aspect in another post.

 

SrIrangapriya swAmi's vAtsalyam was immediately evident

upon adiyOngaL's first sEvippu to AchAryan, the day

after reaching Bangalore (July 03, 2001). After I had

received answers to my questions about guruparamparai

and svayamAchAryas etc., adiyEn prayed to swami for

blessing us with panchasamskAram. SrIrangapriya swami

only mentioned that we would be "summoned" on a certain

date, sometime before my return to USA. Having thanked

AchAryan in anticipation of this memorable event, I

requested some words of wisdom from HH to my wife, who

was grieving over the loss of her grandmother. It was

rather late in the morning (after Anhikam, SArrumurai)

when swAmi would normally seek bhikSai and perform

sankalpam accordingly. Inspite of this, adiyongaL were

blessed with almost a half-hour discourse on the spot!

 

Upon hearing adiyEn's words.. "adiyEnoda pathni pavitra

-ukku than paatti iRandhupOnadhanaal avaL manasile romba

vEdhanai... AchAryan samAdAnam sollamudiyuma, viNNappam",

SrIrangapriya swAmi with eyes closed, immediately went

into silence and meditation. Almost 5 minutes later, HH

uttered "nArAyaNa, nArAyaNa...", and continued to speak

with eyes shut. It was an extremely moving upanyAsam,

one that I wish I had recorded or even written down in

excerpts. From what little adiyEn recollects now, swAmi

stated - "Do not grieve for those that led virtuous lives,

spare your grief for those who squandered their existence

on fleeting pleasures and lived in paapam..." - "The true

nature of SarIra is grief, and the true nature of AthmA

is joy (Anandamaya). In realizing this AthmA alone, do

we ultimately free ourselves from the travails of SarIra"

- "Everything in samsAra, cit and acit alike is filled

with imperfection and sadness. In this quagmire, would

we not be fortunate to find something that embodies the

perfect and the good? That entity is ISwara. Meditate

upon his arcas, his ponmEni, and his vaibhavam. Thus

will your knowledge of SarIra and AthmA be fulfilled"

 

- "Arjuna's son through UttarA; abhimanyu, was ruthlessly

and treacherously killed in war. And how did bhagavAn

geethAchAryan console the grieved parents? By imparting

knowledge of the AthmA to them; by educating them about

the origins of abhimanyu (borrowed as a deva-putra for a

specified 16 years only), and thus bringing them to fully

understand the parama-purushArtham." - "Therefore, grieve

not for those departed ones that did you good, did their

community good, and led a virtuous life. Rather, respect

them by lighting a thiruviLakku in their honor, remember

their thirunakshatram and commemorate it by putting a

garland on their picture, etc. and MOST importantly, by

living your life as an example of what they represented.

SarIrams come and go, but it is our elders' legacy that

we must honor by conducting ourselves accordingly"...This

and much more was said by SrIrangapriya swami, expressing

AchAryan thiruvuLLam in response to adiyEn's request for

words of samAdAnam. I never found my wife grieving over

her grandmother from then on - and for sure if she were

to "relapse", there is only one place I will take her to:

the AshTAngayoga vignyAnamandira!!

 

Since we weren't "summoned" at all to go and have our

samASrayaNam by swami (HH had asked us to leave my

parents' phone number with one of the shishyas, so that

we may be contacted accordingly) - adiyEn once again

approached SrIrangapriya mahAdeSikan swAmi a few days

later alongwith my father. All along, adiyEn had not

thought of becoming a prapannan through bharaNyAsam,

being under the (mistaken) impression that it needed

attainment of very lofty standards and vairagyam. It

was at a cousin's wedding, that a relative (who is a

disciple of both Dr. N.S. AnantharangAchArya and SrI

rangapriyaswAmi) convinced me NOT to delay this all-

important act of prapatti. Thus when adiyEn was at

the mandira before SrIrangapriya swAmi two days later,

I requested swAmigaL "adiyOngaL AchArya nishtaiyaala

prapatti mArgatthai adaiyanum enRa prArthikkaROm.."

 

SrIrangapriya swAmi began meditating, and immediately

uttered "nArAyaNa.." with joy. For the first time in

adiyEn's miserable life, I saw the reaction of a great

yathi and paramagnyAni when approached by an ordinary

human being with request for bharaNyAsam. Perhaps it

was swAmi's feeling that I should have prayed also to

become a prapannan, when requesting samASrayaNam the

first time. Or perhaps it was the relief, that one

baddhajeevan had expressed such inclination. Maybe

even (in adiyEn's case) - sheer delight on the part

of AchAryan to see a small spark of gnyaanam in an

otherwise useless existence such as mine... I will

never know the answer. Suffice it to say, that the

very experience of witnessing an AchAryan respond to

one's sincere prayer in an atmosphere of tranquility,

is extremely awe-inspiring - and leaves a permanent

feeling of fulfillment in one's mind.

 

Thus I was told, that adiyongaL would have samaSrayaNam

and bharaNyAsam on July 13, 2001. Accordingly, adiyEn

approached SrIrangapriya swAmi a couple of days earlier,

to ask about how to "prepare" for this occasion, what

padArthams/dravyams to bring for homam, etc. We were

informed about these (such as rice, ghee, vellam etc.)

and the pertinent dress code (panchakaccham, madisaar),

alongwith the time (8:00 am of that morning). At that

time, at least half dozen people were scheduled for

panchasamskAram on that day. The assisting brhaspathi

for the homam was none other than SrI Anantha Rangan,

who performed many of the sacred rites during the recent

thirunakshatram celebrations of prakrtham parakAlaswAmi

in Mysore. AdiyEn began to eagerly look forward to

the next 48 hours, somewhat of a "countdown" towards

initiation into SrIvaishnavam through the auspices of

SrIrangpriya mahAdeSikan swAmi.

 

To be continued...

 

SrIvAsa samyami vareNya niviShta bhAram

SrI rangayogi varadivya krupAtta yogam |

SrI laXmaNAkhya yativarya krupAtta cinham

rangapriyam mamagurum SaraNam prapadye ||

 

adiyEn SrIrangapriya mahAdeSikan thiruvadi,

-Srinath C.