Podhu thaniyans

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SrI:

SrImathE rAmAnujAya namah:

 

Dearest Srivaishnavas,

Let us first enjoy the podhu thaniyans.

 

rAmAnuja dhayApAthram jnAna vairAgya bhooshaNam |

srImath vEnkatanAthAyam vandhE vEdhAntha dhESikam ||

 

I worship Vedanta Desikan (Acharya or preceptor uniquely praised as such due

to his great contribution and strict adherence to Vedanthic tradition),

named Venkata nAthan, endowed with auspiciousness and glories, who was a

receptacle of the mercy (dayA) of his AchArya Sri Ramanuja, and who was

adorned with the jewels of wisdom (jnAnam) and detachment (VairAgyam).

 

Ramanuja here refers to Swamy Vedantha Desikan's Acharya Sri AthrEya

Ramanujacharya (also called AppuLLAr), his maternal uncle. We can also

relate this to Sri Ramanujacharya (Bhashyakarar) as well. Sure, Sri

Bhashyakarar would have blessed Sri Vedantha Desikan with his grace without

which he would not have been able to write 100 plus works all glorifying Sri

Ramanujacharya siddhAntham in an unambiguous manner. Sri UttamUr Swamy

further elaborates this padham to even Sri NammAzhwAr- as Sri NammAzhwAr is

Sri SaTakOpar (pAdhukAs of the Lord) and Sri Ramanuja is the avatar of Adhi

sEshan. It is Adhi Seshan who takes various forms to perform eternal

kaimkaryam to the Lord.. (senRaal kudaiyaam; irundhaal singaasanamaam;

ninRaal THIRUVADIYAAM- When He walks, Adhi sEshan takes the form of

umbrella; While sitting, he becomes the throne (for the Lord to sit on); and

while He stands, Adhi sEshan transforms himself into the PAdhukAs. So,

Ramanuja dayA pAthram means: SatakOpa dayA pAthram too: )

 

Vedantha Desikan is also the recipient of Ramanuja's grace (Rama + anuja-

Rama's younger brother- KaNNan- Balarama's brother) for it is he who

composed the marvelous Yadhavaabhudhayam and the great divine Gopala

vimsathy.

 

Another lateral thought: Rama- meaning Lakshmi. One who is after Lakshmi is

AndAL (BhUmi PiraaTTi) or all AzhwArs including VishvaksEnar too. Thus,

Raamaanuja dayA pAthram refers to Their blessings as well.

 

There is also another thaniyan which is recited :(by the sishyas of

thennAcharya sampradayam):

 

Sri SailEsa dayA pAthram dhI bhakthyAdhi guNArNavam |

yathIndhra pravaNam vandhE ramya jAmAthram munim ||

 

I salute Sri ManavaaLa MaamunigaL, who has the blessings of Thiruvaaimozhip

Pillai (ManavaaLa Maamuni¡¦s Aachaarya- Sri SailEsar) and who is an ocean of

jnAnam (knowledge) and Bhakthi (devotion).

 

It is known to one and all that the above thaniyan was submitted to the feet

of Sri Manavala mamunigal by none other than Lord Sri Ranganatha. Namperumal

wanted to hear tiruvoimozhi kalakshepam from Sri Manavala mamunigal. He

conducted kaalakshepam of Thiruvaaym6ozhi starting on the paritaapi year

31st day of avani sukla chaturdasi friday. It continued for 1 year and the

sARRumuRai was on aani moolam. For this one year all the utsavams of

namperumal were stopped. During the sARRumuRai, namperumal appeared as a 5

year old archaka boy and recited this sloka in praise of Sri Manavala

mamunigal.

 

LakshmI nAtha samArambhAm nAtha yAmuna madhyamAm |

asmadhAchArya paryanthAm vandhE guruparam parAm ||

 

I worship the entire guruparamparaa that starts with Emperumaan, Sriya:

Pathi Sriman Narayanan; which has SrI NAthamuni (in between) upto my AchArya

(Sri Ramanuja).

 

This thaniyan is composed by Sri KooratthAzhwAn (Sri Ramanujacharya¡¦s most

ardent disciple); This Thaniyan describes the paramapara of our Acharyas

which starts with Sriman Narayanan. Sri AzhwAn pays his obeisance to the

paramapara upto his Acharya. He does not mention the name of his Acharya

(calling ¡§upto my Acharya¡¨ -

asmadhAchArya paryanthAm .. It fits in so well for every one of us when we

recite this ¡§upto my Acharyan, I pay my obeisance to the Gurupamarapara: -)

AzhwAn is known for his intellect and scholarship.

 

For the novices: (let me list the Guruparamapa upto Sri Ramanuja.. Please

read adiyEn posts on ¡§asmadhAchArya paryanthAm vandhE GuruparamparAm

¡§series for the various Acharya branches of the Big Banyan tree of Sri

Ramanauja..)

 

Sriman Narayanan

Sri Mahalakshmi

Sri Vishvaksenar

Sri NammAzhwAr

Sri NAthamuni

Sri UyyakkoNdaar (Sri PundareekAkshar)

Sri MaNakkaal nambhi (Sri Ramamisrar)

Sri Alavandhar (Sri Yamunacharya)

Sri Periya Nambhi (Sri MahapoorNar)

Sri RAMANUJACHARYA

 

Please visit the site: http://members.tripod.com/~sriramanujar and click on

Acharya vamsa vruksham for more reading on Guru parampara.

 

yO nithya-machyutha-padaam-buja-yugma-rugma

vyaamOhadas dadhi-tha-raaNi thru-Naaya mEnE

asmath-gurOr bhagavathOsya dhayaika-sindhO:

raamaanujasya saraNau saraNam prapadhyE.

 

[After the entire parampara upto Sri Ramanuja, AzhwAn composes a special

slOka for Sri Ramanujacharya alone.]

 

I take refuge at the feet of our guru Bhagavaan Ramanuja, that ocean of

mercy who, infatuated with the gold-like, lotus feet of the Lord, considered

all else as mere blades of grass.

 

¡§ParamAthmani yOrakthO virakthO(S)paramAthmani¡¨- Due to His jnAna,

Bhakthi, VairAgyam, Sri Ramanujacharya considered only the lotus feet of the

Lord Sriman Narayanan as the means and the Goal- for that matter-

everything. Nothing else mattered to him. He is not interested in others and

considers others (material, sensual pursuits) as thruNam (blade of grass).

 

maatha pithaa yuvathayas thanayaa vibhuthi:

sarvam yadhEva niyamEna mathanva-yaanaam,

aathyasya na: kulabhthEr vagu-Laabhi-raamam

sreemath thathanGgari-yugalam praNa-maami moortha-naa.

(composed by Yamunacharya- Alavandhar)

 

For my vasmam, the feet which always are the Mother, Father, the spouses,

the children; the wealth, the bhOgyam (pleasure); those feet of our Kula

pathi Sri NammAzhwAr, wearing magizha maalai (garland of magizha flowers)..

I prostrate to those lotus feet.

 

Mother takes care of us sacrificing all her pleasures.. moonRu bhuvanatthu

porul muRRUm kodutthu yEnRa vazhipaadhu iyaRRidinum en thaay oru naaL

vaLartthathaRkku iyaiayAvE... says one poet .. Even if one pays back the

three worlds at the feet of one¡¦s mother, it does not equate to one day of

her taking care of usļ so great are they.

Father takes us in his arms, teaches us, disciplines us..

During youth and later, the spouse takes care of us like the mother and

father and is loving, caring .. (ļ may be those days.)

At old age and even after death, the children pave the way for alleviating

pains (with pithru tharpaNam..) Again, those days: -)

 

Sri NammAzhwAr stood in all these places as bandhus and bhOgam as well for

my lineage (meaning right from nathamuni- janma vamsam and vidhyA vamsam).

He is Kula pathi (Srivaishnava kula pathi) for having initiated and blessed

my grand father Sri Nathamuni with jnAnam and with 4000. He is the prapanna

jana santhAna kUTashthar.

 

bhootham sarascha mahaa-dhaahvaya-patta-naadha-

sree-bhakthi-saara-kulasEkhara-yOgi-vaahaan,

bhakthaangirirENu parakaala-yathindra mishRaan,

sreemath paraankusa munim prana-thOsmi nithyam

(composed by Bhattar)

 

I prostrate PoothathAzhwaar, Pey Azhwaar (mahadaahvaya), Poigai Azhwaar

(saras), PeriyAzhwaar (Bhatta nAtha), Thirumazhisai Azhwaar (Bhakthisaara),

KulasEkaraAzhwaar, ThirupaaN Azhwaar (YOgivaahaan), Thondaradippodi AzhwAr

(BhakthAngrirEnu), Thirumangai AzhwAr (parakAla), Emperumaanaar (Yathindra-

Raamaanuja) KooratthAzhwAn (misrA) and NammAzhwAr (parAnkusamuni) every day-

always (nithyam).

 

Let us enjoy the thaniyans on ThiruppallANdu in the next post.

AzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo Narayana

aDiyEn dAsan

 

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