The meaning of parakaala

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SrI:

SrI laXmIhayagrIva parabraHmaNe namaH

SrI brahmatantra swatantra parakAla mahAdeSikAya namaH

SrImad Abhinava RanganAtha parakAla mahAdeSikAya namaH

SrImad Abhinava vAgIsha parakAla swAmine namaH

 

Dear bhaktas:

 

On Thursday, July 19 2001 (the eve of Aadi punarvasu

which was the 118th thirunakshatram of 33rd. pattam

SrImad abhinava ranganAtha brahmatantra swatantra

parakAla mahAdeSikan swAmi) - adiyOngaL were in the

Mysore parakAla maTham for SrI laXmihayagrIva archa

and AchAryan sEvippu. I had written earlier about

our witnessing Anhikam/nityAnusandAnam at the maTham

uLsannidhi, and adiyEn's good fortune to be able to

address certain questions directly with parakAlaswAmi.

 

In addition to the specifics of parakAla maTha guru

paramparai and questions re: swAmi deSikan's possible

role in maTha sthApanai, there were other interesting

things mentioned by parakAlaswAmi which I would like

to briefly describe. Again, adiyEn must reiterate

the fact that parakAlaswAmi spoke not with sAtvIka

ahankAram or with the desire to make exalted claims

about the maTham, but with a kalakshepam approach

where HH simply responded to my questions based upon

what has been taught in the parakAlamatha AchArya

paramparai. And that is exactly the manner in which

we must accept these clarifications. After all, we

believe numerous other things such as bhAshyakaarar

being the avataaram of AdiSeShan, vedAnta deSikan as

the maNi of thiurvEnkatam udayAn reborn, etc. which

can NEVER be historically or scientifically proven.

 

In the case of parakAlamaTham/origin, it is even less

mythological. For, swAmi deSikan did exist, and SrI

brahmatantra swatantrar was his foremost disciple and

first peeThadipati of parakAlamatham. Therefore, if

there is a kAlakshepam tradition right from the days

of brahmatantra swatantrar which states that deSikar

as prathamAchAryan established parakAlamaTham, and

if prakrtham parakAlaswAmi belongs to such tradition,

should we harbor doubts about it? Should we doubt

the words of a sanyAsi belonging to bhagavad rAmAnuja

sampradAyam? You decide. adiyEn for one, accepts

this kalakshepam tradition as true, and requests all

skeptics to examine the premise of their skepticism.

 

As a matter of fact, parakAlaswAmi said that although

the historically accepted beginning of parakAlamaTham

is 1368 CE (as an institution), its actual beginnings

were as far back as 1338 CE, when SrI brahmatantra

swatantra swAmi won a major polemical debate against

advaitins in an agrahAram near present-day mElkOte.

I need to verify this fact, but from what I remember

hearing, kumAra varadAchArya was unable to be present

at the agrahAram on that day, and SrI brahmatantra

swatantrar (who normally would NEVER utter a single

word until *after* kumAra varadAchAryar had finished

addressing devotees) - had to break this practice

and meet the challenge. Learning of brahmatantra

swatantrar's victory in this difficult debate some

time later, swAmi deSikan ensured that his bright

pupil took sanyAsam and became the head of a maTham.

This maTham did not become a *physical* institution

or have a location/place to function from until the

year 1368 CE, when it was established at thooppul.

 

So how did this maTham gain the prefix "parakaala"?

Is it similar to how SrI ahobila maTham is referred

to as "paraankuSa maTham"; i.e. is there a connection

with kaliyan (thirumangai), just like ahobila maTham

is connected with SatakOpan?? adiyEn asked this

question simply because thirumangai AzhwAr, during

nAyikA bhAvam was parakAla nAyikai. ParakAlaswAmi

said it was not so. There is NO connection between

the naming of parakAlamaTham with thirumangai AzhwAr.

Rather, the name "parakaalan" was a title conferred

on brahmatantra swatantrar (parA~nkAla iti parakAlaH

- the one who is the nemesis of opponents in debate)

after his demonstrated prowess in polemics. It is

therefore, SrI brahmatantra swatantrar, after whom

this maTham is named, not kaliyan.

 

Further, parakAlaswAmi clarified (in response to

another such question by me) that after the period

of 21st pattam periya parakAla swAmi (chatussAstra

vidwAn and drAvida veda vyAkhyAtA) - there has been

NO *systematic* practice in the study of nAlAyira

divya prabandhams within the maTham. My question

had been, whether it was indeed true, that studies

in divya prabandham in parakAlamaTham traditionally

began with learning kaliyan's pAsurams... not true,

said parakAlaswAmi. The only prabandhams that are

studied, are those associated with nityAnusandAnam,

sARRumurai, and deSikar's Tamil compositions.

 

adiyEn thanked parakAlaswAmi profusely for the time

and patience with which swAmi had answered all of

these questions. With parakAlaswAmi's permission,

adiyOngaL took leave of the maTham and returned to

Bangalore. Was a wonderful experience altogether,

being present at Mysore parakAlamaTham and spending

1-2 hours listening to swAmi describe many AchArya

paramparais in ALL of rAmAnujar sampradAyam - and

how several of those originate from parakAlamaTham,

by means of direct guru-shishya paramparA as well

as kAlakshepam. Prakrtham parakAlaswAmi SrImad

abhinava vageesha parakAla deSikan encourages all

SrIvaishnavas to learn more about this ancient

maTham and to spread its glory.

 

adiyEn SrIrangapriya mahAgurukkaL thiruvadi,

-Srinath C.