A Suggestion- Today - Alavandhar Thorunakshathram- Life history

[Guest guest]

SrI:

Dear Sri Chaithanya,

You want some stories from our sampradayam for youngsters

Today Adi UtthirAdam- Sri Yamunacharya Thirunakshathram. Let us read (as per

your wish) his life history:) from Sri Anbil mAmA's write up and Sri

Satakopan mAmA's available in archives.

Regards

Namo Narayana

aDiyEn

=========

YAMUNA MUNI (ALAVANDAR) & HIS TIMES (by Sri Anbil Ramaswamy)

He was the grandson of Nathamuni and son of Iswara Bhattalwan and

Ranganayaki He is considered the Amsam of Simhavahana, one of the Nityasuris

in Paramapada.

His date of birth is 917 AD at Kuppankuzhi (2 Kms from Kaattu mannaar koil-

Veeranarayanpuram). His term of life is 125 years which means he should have

lived till 1042 AD. He was named Yamunai thuraivan- Yamuna , for short. The

boy grew apace, a marvel of loveliness and intelligence. He learned all

branches of knowledge, both secular and spiritual.

Once a haughty royal chaplain by name Akkiyalvan was challenging and

humiliating learned men. Yamuna accepted the challenge and went to the court

to argue with him. The queen was so impressed with the boy that she

prevailed upon the king to give him half the kingdom if he won in the debate

offering herself to be thrown to wild dogs, if the boy failed.

Akkiyalvan asked the boy to state three propositions positive or negative

which he offered to counter. And, if he could not , the boy would be

declared the winner. Yamuna posed:

( i ) Your mother is not a barren woman ( ii ) The king is a righteous and

powerful ruler and ( iii ) The queen is a model of chastity.

By no stretch of imagination could Akkiyalvan affirm that his mother was

barren, by no assumption of courage could he call the king wicked and

powerless and no way could he allege that the queen was unchaste. He hung

his head in shame. The King now asked Yamuna to disprove his own statements.

Yamuna clarified by observing the following:-

( i ) The sacred laws say that an only son is no son at all. So,

Akkiyalvan's mother was as good as barren in the eyes of the law.

( ii ) The king cannot be called righteous when he entertained such an

arrogant person to be his chaplain and his not dismissing the chaplain

showed that the king was indeed powerless.

( iii ) According to the Sruti texts, every woman is wedded first to Soma,

then Gandharva and then Agni before marrying her earthly partner. The queen

was no exception and therefore cannot be deemed a model of chastity.

The King fired Akkiyalvan and gave Yamuna half his kingdom as promised to

the queen . The queen hailed the boy as 'Alavandar'-' one who came to save

me' . Thus, Alavandar entered his royal career in right earnest. This

demanded all his attention so much that he could not attend even to the

religious duties properly.

Meanwhile, Rama Misra was trying to carry out his promise to his Guru to

install Alavandar as the spiritual successor to Nathamuni.. But, he could

not get an audience with Alavandar - the king, to discuss the matter. He hit

upon a curious plan. He made friends with the servants in the royal kitchen

and through them learned that Alavandar relished a special variety of

spinach called "Toodu Valai Keerai". He started supplying the spinach daily.

After a period of about six months he suddenly stopped deliveries. Alavandar

enquired why the spinach was not being served. The servants replied that an

old man who used to supply had suddenly not turned up. He ordered that the

old man be brought before him when he visited the next time. The very next

day Rama Misra appeared and was duly taken to the king.

During this session, Rama Misra explained the purpose of his mission and

requested Alavandar to take over the reins of spiritual leadership

bequeathed to him by his illustrious grandfather, Nathamuni. Alavandar took

to Sannyas and was thenceforward known as YAMUNA MUNI.

He is the one who composed the earliest Stotras of Srivaishnava Sampradaya.

Alavandar wrote several works that are as lofty in content and simple in

style.

 

Swami Desika in Sloka 7 of his Yathiraja Saptadhi pays homage to Yamuna

thus:

Vighaahe Yaamunam Theertham Saadhu Brindaavane Stitham |

NirasthaJih Magha Sparse Yatra Krishnah Kritaa Dharah ||

 

(meaning) Alavandar who learned Vedanta Arthas at the feet of Manakkaal

Nambi was not only the one residing on the banks of Yamuna (Yamunai

Thuraivan) by name but was also like the clear flowing waters of the river

Yamuna. Lord Krishna got rid of the cruel Kaalinga from the river and made

its water pure and clear for all to drink. He was most delighted when he

played with the Gopis of Brindavanam in the Yamuna waters. Likewise,

Alavandar vanquished those who misinterpreted the Vedas and established

Vedanta Siddhanta. Just as one can derive supreme pleasure by bathing in the

holy waters of Yamuna, one can enjoy supreme Bhagavad Gunanubhava by

immersing in the lucid granthas of Yaamuna

 

The greatness of ALavandhAr and his works (by Sri Satakopan Swamy)

************************************************

 

ALavandhAr ( 916-1041 A.D ) was the grandson of

Nathamuni (C 824-924 A.D ) , who recovered for posterity

the Naalaaiyra Divya Prabhandham as a result of

NammaazhwAr's anugraham . ALavandhAr is also known

as Yaamunaa or Yaamunaaccharya .

 

YAmunA is the grand -preceptor ( PrAchAryA ) of RaamAnujA.

YAmunA established the principles of VisishtAdhvaitam

as an expansion of the doctrines housed in his grandfather's

treatises : NyAya TattvA and Yoga RahasyA .He elaborated

on those doctrines with authoratative scriptures such as

Sruthis, Bhagavadh Gita , AzhwAr's paasurams and

Selected SaatvikaPurAnAs .

 

AaLavandhAr's philosophical works are :Siddhitraya , Aagama

PrAmANya , MahA purusha nirNya and Githaartha Sangraha.

Last year , I had the good fortune of posting a few articles on

YaamunA's GithArtha Sangraha , which inspired both

RamAnujA and Swami Desikan to base their commentaries

along the lines of YaamunA.

 

AalavandhAr is also the author of two lyrical master pieces

(stotra GranthAs ) revered as Chathusloki and Stotra Ratnam

Latter is the forerunner of almost every stotram composed

by Acharyas such as of RamaanujA , Kuresa, Parasara Bhattar,

Swami Desikan , MaNavALa Maamuni and others. Swami

Desikan has written c ommentaries for both Chathussloki

and Stotra Ratnam because of their importance to Sri VaishNava

siddhAntham .

 

In Chathussloki ( poem of four verses ) , YaamunA focussed

on the theme of Purushakaara Prapatthi and Eka Seshithvam

principles . He based this work of his on the doctrines outlined

by Lakshmi Tantram . Eka Seshitvam refers to the practise

of considering both Sri Devi and BhagavAn together as the

means and the goal (upAyam and Upeyam ) . In this context ,

they are inseparable and hence She is known as VishNu Patnee

and He is known as Sriman NArAyaNan . Dr. S.M.S. Chari in his

excellent book , "Vaishnavism " describes in detail the relationship

between Sri Devi and her consort .

 

AaLavandhAr based the four slokAs of Chathussloki on the four

chapters of Brahma Sutram . His purpose was to demonstrate

that the attributes of BhagavAn saluted by the four chapters

are shared equally by His consort , Sri Devi.

 

The first chapter of Brahma Sutra establishes unequivocally

that Lord is the seshi of the Universe and he is the creator

of all . The second chapter dwells on His undiminishing

glories and that those kalyANa guNAs can not be negated or

explained away as nonexistent. The third chapter states that

he blesses us with all fruits of our endeavours. The final chapter

dealing with mukthi states that he is our Praapyam

or our ultimate goal .

 

AaLavandhAr in the first verse of Chatussloki , establishes

the equal status of Sri Devi with Her consort. As Isvari of

Sarva BhutAs , she enjoys an equal status and rules the

physical and the transcendental universe. She possesses

like Her Lord,Svarupam , Rupam, GuNam and Vibhavam .

 

She shares in equal measure the six auspicious GuNAs of

Her consort (BhagavAn ):: JnAnam , Bhalam , Sakthi , Iswaryam ,

Veeryam and Tejas . That is why She is known as Bhagavathi or

ShAtgunya SampoorNai . She is inseparable from Her

Lord at all times and states( AnapAyini ).

 

This Nitya Sri surpasses in some regards Her Lord a s a result of

Her motherly qualities such as DayA , KshamA (forgivenness ) ,

Vaatsalya (tender, endearing affection ) just as a mother has for

her children . Through Her innate UdhAra SvabhAva ( magnanimity ),

She showers us with Her blessings (anugrahams ) an dgrants us

Aiswaryam , Kaivalyam and Moksham , when we use our

Anjali mudra to seek these anugrahams. She has in addition

a unique role through Her PurushakAratvam . She intercedes

with Her Lord on behalf of the sinners and recommends that

the sinners be forgiven by Her Lord to become the object of His grace.

In the second slkam of Chathussloki , YaamunA states that

the Lord Himself is unable to describe completely His

consort's KalyANa guNAs. Periya VaacchAn PiLLai has

commented with great insight on this and other slokAs

of YaamunA 's Chathussloki .

 

In the third slokam, YaamunA dwells on Sri Devi's power to

bless one with the Purushaarthams of Aiswaryam , Kaivalyam

and Moksham .The glories of Lakshmi Kataksham are saluted

here. YamunA hints that the Lord has no existence outside Her.

 

In the majestic fourth slokam starting with the majestic

assembly of well-chosen words ripe with profound meanings--

"SaanthaanandaMahaa Vibhuthi Paramam Yadh

Brahma Rupam Hare: --" and ends dramatically

with the words " Aahu: svairanurupa rupa vibhavai:

Gaadhopa gutaanidhE ".

 

YaamunA asserts here that Sri Devi's Rupams and GuNAs

are tightly bonded together with that of Her Lord in an

insepaerable manner. Whenever He assumes Vyuha -Vibhava

- Haartha-Archaa rupaas , She takes the appropriate rupams

and is tightly united with Him as AnapAyini .Thus they demonstrate

Eka Seshitvam and become UpAyam and Upeyam to us all .

 

After completing the Chathussloki on the mahAthmyam

of Sri Devi , AaLavandhAr proceeded to compose his

tribute to Sriman NarayaNan.There are 65 slokas in

this sthothram . The number 65 is the sum of the letters

contained in the three rahasyams( AshtAkshari+Dwayam+

Sarama Slokam ) . Therefore, Sthothra Ratnam is considered

the essence of Rahasya Trayam or it is the Rahasya Trya Saaram.

 

It has been said that there is no Kavyam that moves one's heart

as Srimadh RaamayaNam ; Similarly , Sthothra Ratnam has been

considered by Purvacharyas as the sthothram that is matchless

in moving one 's heart . It has profound philosophical principles

and yet it is a moving appeal to the Lord and cries out for His

grace. This sthothram is a great lesson in the stages that one

has to go through to perform SaraNAgathi and to become free of

fear about SamsaarA .

 

The sthothram starts and ends in the traditional way of salutations to

one's AchArya . Swami Desikan states that this gem of a sthothram

is placed in the beautiful box of Acharya sthuthi . YaamunA starts with

the salutation to his Acharya and then moves on to praise BhagavAn.

He becomes diffident about his qualifications for the task and yet

wants to eulogize Him in the manner of VedAs and Upanishads .

His resolution gets diluted and he laments over his lack of

qualifications and inadequacies and performs akinchana SaraNAgathi

at the lotus feet of the Lord . He then comforts himself by reflecting

that even a small upAyam such as SaraNAgathi can yield major

auspicious results and that his goal in performing SaraNAgathi is

to do Nithya Kaimkaryam in Sri Vaikuntam . He recognizes that

the great sins that he has accumulated obstruct progress in

the attainment of his desired goal . He states that he is however

not discouraged as a result of his awareness of the Lord' s

DayA . He appeals movingly to the Lord to strengthen his

SaraNAgathi efforts and to protect him from the obstacles that

stand in his way towards the realization of his goal. He goes on

to the next step of prayer, where he begs the Lord to grow his Bhakthi

towards Him and to bless him to live with BhagavathAs and to

live in a state of KaarpaNyam devoid of egotistic thoughts.

He pleads with the Lord for Acharya Sambhandham to realize the

fruits of the glorious Prapatthi and declares his MahA viswAsam

in the Lord's KshamA and anukampA to bless him with the fruits

of Prapatthi .

 

The meaning of Dwayam is deftly interlaced in the body of this

gem among sthothrams composed by AaLavandhAr . In the previous work,

Chathussloki , our Acharya made Purushakaara Prapatthi to

Sri Devi . Thereafter, as he starts to perform BharanyAsam

at the holy feet of the Lord, he completes guru paramparAnusanthAnam

as the first step as a prerequisite. He elaborates next on the meaning of

NaarAyaNa sabdham and follows the arc of Dwayam and completes

the SaraNAgathi at the sacred feet of Sriman NaarAyaNA . The second

paadham of Dwaya manthram comes into focus now. Our Acharya now

explains the meaning of "SrimathE nArAyaNAya " section by stating

that this portion stands for the obtainment of the fruit of nitya

Kaimkaryam

to Sri VaikunTa naathan in Parama Padham . He adds next the slokams

that cover the "Nama: " section--the concluding word of Dwayam -- for

seeking the Lord's anugraham to eliminate any left over obstacles in

his efforts to get the full benefits of SaraNAgathi (i-e) Nitya Kaimkarya

PurNAnubhavam . Thus , the slokams of Sthothra Ratnam can be

considered to cover the full meaning of the sacred Dwaya Manthram .

 

The Two Invocatory verses (Taniyans ) for Sthothra Ratnam

***************************************************************

 

Taniyan 1 :

 

svAdhayan iha sarveshAm thryyanthaartham sudurgraham I

sthothrayaamasa yogeendra: tam vandE YaamunAhvayam II

 

I salute Yaamuna Muni ( Yamunai Thuraivar ) , the preeminent

among the Yogis for blessing us with the gem among sthothrams.

He gave us this eulogy so that we can all enjoy the delectable

taste of the meaning of the VedanthA , which is very difficult to

realize on our own .

 

Taniyan 2 :

 

namO namO YaamunAya YaamunAya namO nama: I

namO namO YaamunAya YaamunAya namO nama: II

 

There are many nama: sabdhaas in this Taniyan. Each of the

nama: sabdhaas have their own meanings. The five meanings

of the nama: sabdham are : My Maanasa , Vaachika and Kaayika

( mind, Speech and Body ) NamaskArams to Yaamuna Muni;

In addition to these three Upaaya namaskArams , I salute

Yaamuna Muni in Parama Padham for making it possible to

reap the benefits of my Prapatthi . May the fruits of these namaskaarams

not belong to me , but only to him as the Seshi .

 

Before focusing on the individual slokas of this

magnificient and pioneering sthothram by AaLavandhAr,

it may be interesting to study Swami Desikan's analysis

of the architectonics of this sthothram . Swami starts off by

stating that YaamunA Muni composed Sthothra Ratnam

to house the rich meanings of Dwaya manthram.

 

His analysis of the different sections that form natural

grouping of thoughts is as follows :

 

1. YaamunA salutes the Acharyas , who opened his

spiritual eye (slokams 1-5) and particularly his

grandfather , RangaNATHA MUNI .

 

2. Beginning of the sthothram in slokam 6

 

3. The awesome parathvam of the Lord is hinted and the

insuficiency and diffidence of the poet to tackle that

profound subject of the Parathvam is indicated ( slokam 7)

 

4. The sowlabhyam of the Lord is invoked to overcome

the fear of tackling such a profound topic( Slokams 8-9 )

 

5. Elaboration of the NaarAyana Sabdhaartham ( Slokams 10-21 )

 

6. Observance of Prapatthi ( slokam 22 )

 

7. declaration of his appropriateness

(Svayogyaa Kathanam /adhikaaram) by

YaamunA for the performance of his Prapatthi

( sloakms 23-27)

 

8. Statement of the fact that the simple-to-perform Prapatthi

has a disproportionately large dividends ( slokams 28-29 )

 

9. Revelation of the meaning of the uttara KanTam of

Dwayam as that which deals with the fruit of the Prapatthi

(slokams 30-46)

 

10. expression of his regret over hitherto wasted days

due to his lack of intensity to pursue the fruits of Prapatthi

thru the observance of the appropriate Upaayam (slokam 47).

Nirvedam over his missed opportunities.

 

11. Mahaaviswasam on the fruits to be gianed by Prapatthi

( slokams 48-51)

 

12. Examination of the principles of Bara SamarpaNam

( slokams 52-53)

 

13. prayer to give strength to observe strictly the conduct

of post-prapanna life and sathsangam ,

while being on this earth ( slokams 54-57)

 

14. statement on the Lord's kaaruNyam, sambhandham

(bhandhutvam ) as the hope for his Prapatthi ( slokam 58-63 )

 

15. Reminding the Lord of his saraNAgatha RakshaNa

vratham of the Lord and prayer to include him in that

vratham ( slokam 64)

 

16. statement on the glories of the anugraham& sambhandham

of the Acharya for successful Prapatthi and inclusion of his

fearlessness(nirbhayam ) as a result of performing prapatthi ,

even if he does not have the qualifications of his own

(naicchiyaanusandhaanam )--slokam 65 (final slokam ).

 

 

Sri AlavandhAr and Thiruvanthapuratthu EmperumAN

*************************************************

 

The Lord of Thiruvananthapuram was very dear to

AlavandAr , the grand son of Naatha Muni . AlavandhAr

was only 8 years old , when his grandfather reached

Parama Padham . The grand father , who gave us back

the lost Thiruvaimozhi with the anugraham of NammAzhwaar

had also received Yoga Rahasyam (secrets of Yogic

method ) from NammAzhwAr .That enabled Naatha Muni

to have intimate communion with Lord KrishNA ,

the kula dhaivam of Sottaik kulam , the kulam of

Naatha Muni.

 

Sri Kurukaik kaavalappan was the dear disciple of

Naatha Muni and was blessed to receive Yoga Rahasyam

from his AchAryan .None of the other sishyAs or

sishya Paramparais of Naatha Muni had the privelege

of initiation into the splendours of Yoga Rahasyam .

 

Sri Raama MisrA , sishyA of the sishyA

of Naatha Muni ( Uyyak KondAr) became the AchAryan of

AlavandhAr at the request of his AchAryan .

When Sri Raama Misra knew that his end was nearing ,

he asked AlavandhAr to approach Thirukkurukai Kaavalappan

at Veera NaarAyaNapuram and get initiated into

the family treasure of Yoga Rahasyam .

AlavandhAr approached Kaavalappan and

prostrated before him and begged to be

initated into Yoga Rahasyam . Kavalappan

asked AlavandhAr to come back to him before

the next Thai month Pushya Nakshthram , when

he was planning to join the Lotus feet of

Sri Vaikunta Naathan .

 

During this time of wait , AlavandhAr came across

the Thiruvanantha Pura paasurams of NammAzhwAr

instructing all of us to rush to that divya desam

and offer our kaimkaryam to Sri Anantha PadmanAbhan

to cut asunder our shackles of SamsAram . AlavandhAr

was so excited that he took off right away to

this MalayALa divya desam and got himself absorbed

in service to the Lord there .One day , as he was

looking at the beautiful face of the reclining Lord

of this divya desam , he saw suddenly the face

of Thirukkurukai Kavalappan there . It flashed to him

then that it was Thai Pushyam and Abhijin muhUrtahm

and his would-be AchAryan to initiate him into

the family jewel of Yoga Rahasyam had just ascended

to Parama Padham . AlavandhAr was grief stricken

over his loss and from that day onwards , we have

lost Yoga Rahasyam given to Naatha Muni by NammAzhwAr

and passed onto his sishya has been lost to posterity .

The beauty of Lord of Thiruvananthapuram bewitched AlavandhAr and

made him forget his return to Kaavalappan

in time to be initiated into the mysteries of

Yoga Rahasyam . After that loss , AlavandhAr

returned to Srirangam for Darsana pravachanam

and blessed us with 8 granthams as a result of

the anugraham of " YezhilaNi Ananthapuram

padamudai aravil PaLLI payinRavan " saluted

by NammAzhwAr . These 8 granthams are :

 

(1) Aagama PrAmANyam

(2) Purusha nirNayam

(3) Aathama Siddhi

(4) Samvidh Siddhi

(5) Isvara Siddhi

(6) GIthArtha sangraham

(7) Chathus SlOki

(8) SthOthra Rathnam

 

He also blessed AchArya RaamAnujA to become

the grand sire of our SampradhAyam .

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Madhavakkannan:

 

Thanks for this wonderful story on this special day. People interested in

reading many stories from Ramayana can visit the following link below .

http://www.chennaionline.com/festivalsnreligion/religion/index.asp

The author's lucid and exemplary style in English will make everyone enjoy the

kalyaana gunaas of Sri Rama. His presentation is very practical. Please read it

to experience the joy.

 

Ramanuja Dasan,

Chaithanya

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE Ramanujaya namah:

Dear Sri Chaithanya,

 

Thanks for the URL. The narration is brilliant.

I had uploaded in files section of bhakti list, stories written by our list

member Smt Sandhya. Please read them at leisure.

bhakti-list

and open Sandhya stories on Rama.

Very interesting and expressive.

 

Also you may like to read adiyEn's rambling on lives of AzhwArs.

http://members.tripod.com/~sriramanujar and click on AzhwArs.

Regards

Namo Narayana

aDiyEn

 

 

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