The Strange Snake-2

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedantadesika Yatindra

Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

The Strange

Snake-2

 

----------------------------

Poets are extremely particular that the first stanza

or couplet of their work begins auspiciously, to

ensure unhindered completion (nirvignEna parisamApti)

of the work. As the adage goes, “well begun is half

done”. We can see this in Sri Bhashyam, where Sri

Ramanuja begins with an invocation to the Ultimate,

commencing his magnum opus with the auspicious letter

A (“akhila bhuvana janma stEma bhangAdi leelE” etc.).

Thus it is a measure of Sri Adisesha’s importance that

Sri Kulasekhara Perumal deems it fit to begin his

Perumal Tirumozhi with an invocation to the Lord of

Snakes. To adiyen’s limited knowledge, there doesn’t

seem to be any other prabandam, with an invocation

dedicated to a nitya suri (except perhaps “Odum

puLLEri” in Tiruvaimozhi, which in any case is not the

first pasuram of the work). Here is the beautiful

opening pasuram of Perumal Tirumozhi-

 

“IruLiria sudar maNigaL imaikkum netri, inattutti aNi

paNam AyirangaL Arnda

aravarasa perum sOthi anantan ennum aNi viLangum

uyar veLlai aNayai mEvi

Tiruvaranga perunagaruL teNNeer Ponni tiraikkaiyAl

adivaruda paLLi koLLum

KarumaNiai komaLatthai kandukond u en kaN iNaigaL

endru kolO kaLikkum nALE ‘

 

Each of anantA’s thousand heads is bejeweled with a

precious stone. While even one of these mANikkams is

luminous enough to dispel all darkness, consider the

dazzling brilliance of thousand such stones! Here,

Sri Kulasekhara Azhwar would appear to be expanding on

Sri Peyazhwar’s “maNi viLakkAm”(in the pasuram

“chendrAl kudayAm”). Perhaps Adisesha sports a

thousand heads, to provide an adequate canopy to the

thousand-headed Emperuman (“sahara seershA Purusha:”).

And as if the luminance provided by the headstones is

not enough, Sri Sesha has a brilliance of his own,

which Azhwar describes as a “perum sOthi”. It is

indeed in the fitness of things that the “ParamjOti”

has for His abode a “Perum sOthi”. And, indicative of

his character of “suddha satvam”,Sri Sesha’s colour is

a brilliant white (and hence the reference to the

“veLlai aNai” in the aforesaid pasuram). This

contrasts well with the colour of the Lord, which is a

shining black –this is borne out by the word

”karumaNi’ in the pasuram.

 

Moving on to Tiruvaimozhi, we find Sri Ananta’s

virtues extolled in several pasurams. Here is one for

a sample-

“aNaivadu aravaNai mEl, poompAvai Agam puNarvadu”

Azhwar says, just as Adisesha cannot live without

service to the Lord, the Lord too needs the constant

company of Ananta, in some form or the other, at all

times. Commentators recall here one of the paths for

liberation set out in the Kausheetaki Upanishad,

called Paryanka Vidya, where the MuktAtmA, after

reaching Sri Vaikuntam, is welcomed by Emperuman,

ensconced on the pure-white serpent bed (nAga

paryanka) along with the inseparable PirAtti. The new

entrant to Paramapadam, invited by Emperuman to join

Him, climbs up the steps to the bed (tam Evam vit

pAdEna adhyArOhati) and rejoices in eternal bliss.

And what sort of a bed does Ananta make? To suit the

delicate tirumeni of the Lord and His consort, Sesha

makes his body extremely soft. “Uraga mellaNayAn” says

Sri Periazhwar. “Mridu tara PhaNi rAt bhOga paryanka

bhAgE ” confirms Sri Bhattar.

The Kausheetaki Upanishad describes the Lord’s bed as

“amitoujasam”. Adisesha forms a four-poster bed for

Emperuman, with two of its legs represented by the

Past and the Future. The four Vedas form the bed

ropes, and Moonlight forms the bedspread. On Sri

Piratti’s side of the bed, « UtgeetA”, another Sama

mantra (or the PraNavA) forms the spread. No wonder

that with such comfortable bedding, Emperuman is

forever in Yoga nidra. Obviously, Sri Kalian was not

referring to Emperuman and His nAgasayanam, when he

talked about the danger of sharing a roof with a snake

(pAmbOdu oru koorayil payindrAr pOl).

Sri Ananta’s maternal affection for the Lord knows no

bounds and hence he is overprotective, even when there

is no danger (astthAnE bhaya shankA), for who would be

able to penetrate Sri Vaikunta (which the Vedas

describe as “Ayodhya” and “aparAjita”, meaning

impregnable and formidable) and harm the Lord, of all

people! This is akin to Sri Periazhvar fearing

Emperuman’s falling a prey to the evil eye and singing

“pallAndu” to Him, to ward off dhrishti dOsham. Sesha

even serves as a protective mountain barrier, as”

SeshAdri” to Srinivasa at Tirumala

 

This Strange Snake and his stranger master have

several strange similarities, probably due to their

eternal association. They share the same name- both

answer to the names Ananta and Ramanuja. Both have Sri

Vaikuntam as their abode. Both are timeless and

immortal. The glory of both is beyond description.

Both are famed for their thousand heads. Both have

taken avataras, mostly together. Both are the

personification of Suddha Satva. Both have been

eulogized by Azhwars.

 

 

Like other nitya suris, Ananta is also sent by

Emperuman to this world, as a part of His untiring

efforts to wean away mankind from evil and make them

toe the right path. The following sloka proves this-

“anata:prathamam roopam, Lakshamana: tu tata:param

Balabhadra : triteeyAstu kalou Ramanuja :smrita : »

For being of service to the Lord whenever He takes an

avatara, and to spread the light of knowledge, Sesha

in born in this world first as Lakshmana, next as

Balarama, and finally, in this Kali Yuga, as Sri

Ramanuja. Sri Vatuka Nambi, one of the Bhashyakara’s

closest disciples, describes Sri Ramanuja as an

incarnation of Sesha- “Sesha roopa pradarsaka:” in Sri

Ramanuja Ashtotthara sata nAma stotram. And the

Divya Soori Stotram authored by Sri Brahmatantra Jeer,

immediate disciple of Swami Desikan,affirms

this-“Sesha moortim Ramanujam bhajE”.

Guruparampara has it that Sri Ramanuja, while

engaged in a polemical battle with a thousand Jains,

resorted to his original swaroopam as a

thousand-headed snake, and argued individually,

simultaneously, with each of the thousand Jains.

 

That was a thousand years ago: finding that people

have still not mended their ways, Sri Sesha took

another avataram 75 years ago, in the form of the

Mahatma who is now venerated as Sri Narayana Yatindra

Mahadesikan, the 45th Pontiff of Sri Ahobila Mutt, and

whose avatara mahotsavam is being celebrated the world

over on 26th Nov. This Azhagiasingar is verily the

personification of kainkarya, the hallmark of

Adisesha. The services this Paramahamsa has performed

to the Lord would defy enumeration. Sri Devadiraja and

Sri Perundevi Tayar of Kanchi, Sri Veeraraghavan of

Tiruvallur, Sri Prahlada Varadan of Sri Ahobilam, etc.

all proudly sport beautiful jewels lovingly offered to

them by this Azhagiasingar. This Yati’s maternal love

for the Lord is evident from the way he bedecks Sri

Malola lovingly with flowers, natural and golden,

during ijyArAdhanam, just as Sri Periazhwar did. In

each upachara he offers to Sri Nrsimha, we can find a

reflection of Seshatvam. His indefatigable efforts at

protecting and preserving Sri Malola and His

ishwaryam, the radiance born of GnAnA and Vairagya

that He emits, His intolerance for separation from His

deity- all of these confirm that this mahatma is

indeed an avataram of Sri Adisesha, come to emancipate

us all through the panacea, Saranagati. Adiyen offers

this piece with all humility, at the lotus feet of

this great Acharya, knowing full well that it can do

little to enhance His boundless glory.

Srimate SriLakshmi Nrsimha divya paduka sevaka

SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya

Nama:

-dasan,sadagopan.

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha Parabrahmane namaha !!!

Swamy Deshikan Thiruvadigale Sharanam !!!

 

Dear Sriman Sadagopan Iyengar,

Thanks for your note. Your tribute to Srimand Azhagiya Singar was very

beautiful. adiyEn has noticed this too. It so happened that during his visit

to Bangalore recently, on one of the days he was feeling very tired and ill,

but still chose to decorate Sri Malolan with choicest flowers and

abharanams. His love for Malolan is unmatched and often mentions saying

"ivan enakku kuzhandaippOle" (He is like a child to me)

Let us sincerely pray at the feet of Thayar, Malolan and our poorvacharyas

to grant this champion of Deshika sampradayam a life of 100 years with good

health.

May he continue to light minds with his knowledge.

 

vAzhi vyAkhyAmuddirak kai !!!

[Guest guest]

srImathE rAmAnujAya namaha

srImadh varavara munayE namaha

 

 

wrote :

 

=====================Quote=================================

Like other nitya suris, Ananta is also sent by

Emperuman to this world, as a part of His untiring

efforts to wean away mankind from evil and make them

toe the right path. The following sloka proves this-

"anata:prathamam roopam, Lakshamana: tu tata:param

Balabhadra : triteeyAstu kalou Ramanuja :smrita : »

For being of service to the Lord whenever He takes an

avatara, and to spread the light of knowledge, Sesha

in born in this world first as Lakshmana, next as

Balarama, and finally, in this Kali Yuga, as Sri

Ramanuja. Sri Vatuka Nambi, one of the Bhashyakara's

closest disciples, describes Sri Ramanuja as an

incarnation of Sesha- "Sesha roopa pradarsaka:" in Sri

Ramanuja Ashtotthara sata nAma stotram. And the

Divya Soori Stotram authored by Sri Brahmatantra Jeer,

immediate disciple of Swami Desikan,affirms

this-"Sesha moortim Ramanujam bhajE".

===================Unquote===============================

 

Dear Sri Sadagopan,

 

Thanks for the vivid and lucid presentation on Sri AdisEshan, the first and

the foremost of the nitya sUris who is endless as attributed to his title

"anantha".

All the treatises were really wonderful and left me admiring the whole

article and the style with which you wrote.

 

However, one point that you missed out, probably, is that, Sri Ananthan had

the greatest privilege of all, by being the AchAryan of Sriman nArAyaNan

Himself.

 

Sri rAmAnujA was NOT THE FINAL avatAra of Sri Ananthan. As is known to

everybody in the world, the final avatAra of Sri Ananthan is the

re-incarnation of Sri rAmAnujA himself as Sri maNavALa mAmunigaL. Recent

articles posted by Sri T.A. Varadhan, based on the yathIndra pravaNa

prabhAvam, of Sri piLLai lOkam jeeyar, the most authoritative biographies

of swAmy maNavALa mAmunigaL, confirms this world renowned fact.

 

Actually Sri rAmAnuja wanted to live in this world for 200 years. But as he

was able to live only for 120 years, he took punaravathAra as swAmy

maNavALa mAmunigaL and lived very close to the balance 80 years. It is the

reason swAmy maNavALa mAmunigaL is referred to as "yati punaravathAram",

yati here referring to Sri rAmAnuja.

 

It is also a well known fact that swAmy maNavALa mAmuni exhibited his true

form twice during his lifetime in this bhoolOkam. One is when, his AchArya,

Sri thiruvAimozhip piLLai, admiring his knowledge, asked him, "Oh! the

greatest of greatest!!, may you please let me know who you are in your true

form, for I am sure that you are not an ordinary being. You MUST be an

avatAra purusha". swAmy maNavALa mAmuni said immediately, "Oh my great

teacher!, I did not want to show my true form to any body in this world for

it is very fearsome. However, as you have commanded as my AchAryan, I am

obliged to do so. So please take a look at me without any fear". Saying

this, swAmy maNavALa mAmuni took his AchAryan to a secluded place and

exhibited his true form. Sri thiruvAimozhip piLLAi, thus had the great

bhAgyam of the true vision of his greatest sishyA who later became the

AchAryan of Sriman nArAyaNan Himself by virtue of his equalled/unparalleled

knowledge and deeds,through which he saved the AzhwAr's aruLicheyals which

was on decline due to some people not accepting it and on the whole Sri

VaishNavism. I do not remember the second incident and may request Sri T.A

Varadhan to bring out the same, as he is currently writing about swAmy

maNavALa mAmuni's vaibhavam in the list.

 

It is nothing but a beautiful fact that none other than the greatest snake

of all, Sri Ananthan, was the only qualified one, in his final avathAram as

swAmy maNavALa mAmuni, to have become the AchAryan of Sriman nArAyaNan

Himself, thereby completing the "AchArya ratna hAram", starting from Sriman

nArAyaNan. Nobody, including Sri Ananthan himself, even as the prodigious

swAmy emberumAnAr, could not get this distinction.

 

AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

Thirumalai Vinjamoor Venkatesh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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