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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

Srivaishnavism's long line of saints

 

CHENNAI, DEC. 9. Saints who had been deputed by the Supreme Being

to deliver the message of faith and hope were manifestations of

several parts of His Divine personality. These messengers have,

in their outpourings and works, referred to God's several

qualities, the most important being His concern for humanity,

particularly His compassion to those who have strayed away from

the directives given in the scriptures. His anxiety was to make

them return to the path of disciplined life. The Azhwars and the

Acharyas (religious guides) have assured men how God will come to

their rescue and give protection when sought for.

 

Srivaishnavism prescribes a glorious way to reach God's kingdom

and has a long line of saintly guides starting from the Lord

Himself down to Sri Manavala Maamunigal. It was Nadamunigal who

made the world know that a treasure in the form of

``Divyaprabhandam'' existed, bringing out the contents of the

Vedas, in Tamil.

 

Tradition has it that the Lord in Vaikuntam caused Thiruvoimozhi

to be sung by Nammazhwar. This and his three other works spell

out in chaste Tamil the doctrines embedded in the four Vedas

while the Paasurams of other Azhwars are considered as the Tamil

version of the Vedangas and Upangas. Thirumangai Azhwar arranged

for the conduct of the Thiruvoimozhi festival in Srirangam

Ranganatha Temple. Nammazhwar is compared to Varaha (one of the

10 incarnations) as he saved the people from drowning in the

ocean of grief, even as God rescued Mother Earth from the

clutches of a powerful demon. Sri Vedanta Desika and other

Acharyas have declared that Vedas and other scriptural works

could be easily understood with the help of the 4000 psalms of

the 12 Azhwars. These Acharyas have also demonstrated how the

study of holy texts like Srivachanabhushanam, Tatva Thrayam and

Acharya Hridhayam, written by them, would surely enable devotees

cling to the feet of the Lord and receive His grace, whatever may

be their status or merits.

 

Several scholars, who spoke at a seminar to highlight the sublime

and sacred utterances of Srivaishnavism, Sri Vanamaamalai Jeeyar

Swami presiding, mentioned the contribution of Nadamunigal who

retrieved the hymns of the Azhwars and how Sri Manavala

Maamunigal saw to their recitation in Srirangam and other temples

as this practice had ceased during the period of alien

domination. He collected the commentaries of various Acharyas for

the 4000 verses of the Azhwars. ``Let us bathe in the spiritual

reservoir into which flowed all the wisdom of the ancients'', the

Jeeyar Swami concluded.

 

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