SalakshaNa GanapADi : Vaikunta Vaasi Sri MukkUr Lakshmi NarasimhAcchAr Swamy

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs : One of the outstanding features of

Swamy's upanyAsam was the ghanam renditions of important

Vedic passages at the beginning of the upanyAsam. In between,

he will be inspired to recite additional ghanam renditions.

 

He was revered as SalakshaNa GhanapADi .What does

that title mean ?

 

It takes 8 full years for a student (BrahmachAri )

to complete his adhyayanam and gain possession of Vedic

wealth. After these 8 years, the same student has to study

Kaavyam , Saasthram et al and become proficient in

Sanskrit Jn~Anam . At that time , he is qualified to

be named "SalakshaNa GhanapADi". LakshaNENa Sahitha

Ghana Paadam is practised by him .

 

LakshaNam means mark, sign ,charactrestric, distinctive

mark.It also means excellence. Laksha means to percieve ,

characterize, indicate , denote .Swamy was one , who

was a mark of excellence , distinction even among

SalakshaNa GhanapAdis. He pestered his elder brother

to teach him Ghanam as a 5 year old boy already.There are

two audio clips in the CD ROM " Sri MukkUr Nruhari

Hrudhayam " that are proofs of this great SalakshaNa

GhanapADi's mastery over Ghanam rendering.In one of

the audio clips, Swamy recites Vedic passages in

Ghanam rendition with his elder brother and Teacher.

One should dim the lights out in the room or have

a small oil lamp in PerumAL Sannidhi or Koil AzhwAr

and listen with closed eyes to his Ghanam rendering

to have full impact of the Saannidhyam of the Veda

Purushan.One will be engulfed with the waves of

bliss entering thru the ears and seeking its home

in one's HrudhyAkAsam .

 

Swamy used to pose a question and provide the answer:

Question from people: " We went to the Temple and

saw the Lord and His consort. But, How do we know

if the Dhivya Dampahtis saw us ?"

 

The answer provided by Swamy Is this: "During

the recitation of Ghanam , if a person walking by

the road side is completely attracted by the recitation,

comes in and waits for more , he is the blessed one

on whom the Dhivya Dampathis have cast their eyes on .

Whereas during the recitation of Ghanam , if a person

thinks of when the recitation will be over, such

a person has not been fortunate to have been seen

by the divine couple.

 

Every one should purchase this CD ROM , listen to

the melody and feel the majesty of Swamy's

full-throated rendering of Ghanam .

 

After completing the VedAdhyananam and completing

the studies leading upto the title of SalakshaNa

GhanapADi , the study of Veda BhAshyam starts.

That study of the meaning of the Vedic passages

takes another 8 years. Our Swamy was a Master of

Veda BhAshyam . A student in the old times was

about 20 years in age by the time he reached

this stage.Swamy Desikan was around this age,

when he completed all these studies and more.

 

VedAs are so powerful that even rote recitation

with proper svarams confers auspiciousness

all around. Such people are called by Kaanchi

PeriyavAL as Veda Sabdha RakshakAs.The one , who goes

beyond that and studies the meanings of the ManthrAs

is superior . All of our SamskArAs have Vedic roots.

The Sreyas that comes from understanding the meaning of

these Veda Manthrams is unparalleled. Many

PurOhithars today are unfamiliar with the meanings

since they never had any exposure to Veda BhAshyams.

For the development of true Sraddhai in

the performance of nithya and naimitthika KarmAs ,

the understanding of the meaning of these manthrAs

is essential. Sri MukkUr Swamy's scholarship of

Veda BhAshyams gave him the benefit of not only

having Yaj~nAs conducted with power

and authenticity but it also helped him to reveal

to us the inner meanings of many rare manthrams .

His insight in to the manthram (Thrayambhakam

YajAmahE--) normally considered as referrring to

Rudran is explained by him as referring to

Lakshmi Nrusimhan in the light of Nrusimha

TaapanIyOpanishad and other pramANams.

 

His writings on mathra Raaja Padha SthOthram

is replete with his rare insights gained from

His mastery over the commentraries on Veda

Manthrams by Sayana , Bhatta BhAskarar ,

MaadhvAcchAryar and MahIdharar.

 

Swamy did Veda RakshaNam through His mastery

of the Vedams as SalakshaNa GhanapADi and

through His expertise over the various

commentaries on Vedam . We will illustrate

the great works of Saayana on Veda BhAshyam

in a sepaerate article.

 

Sri MukkUr Nruhari SwaminE nama:

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan