adiyEn's KshEthrADanam : Third Day : Part IV at Thirumala ( SaRRumuRai GhOsti)

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear Sri VenkatEsa BhakthAs :

 

That climactic moment of being in the proximity of Lord Venkatesa

as a part of the Peddha Jeeyar SaaRRumuRai GhOshti finally arrived .

 

adiyEn had the Parama bhAgyam of being placed in the front of

Lord VenkatEsa by the KaimkaryaparALs . Our Lord had a most beautiful

smile and radiated power from His AasthAnam . One could feel His Saanidhyam

(Divine Presence) unmistakably .

 

Before adiyEn goes in to the description of SaaRRumuiRai anubhavam ,

let me describe briefly the term SaaRRumuRai .

 

WHAT IS SAARRUMURAI ?

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SaaRRu MuRai stands for SaaRRum ( pORRum ) MuRai , the time honored

and traditional way ( muRai/kramam/sequence ) of standing before

the SarvEswaran to express our aakinchanyam , ananyagathithvam and

eulogize Him as the Lord of the Universe and seek Kaimkarya PrApthi

as ANDAL showed us the way in Her " SiRRam SiRukAlE vanthunnai sEvitthu "

Paasuram . She says there " UnakkE Naam Aat cheyvOm , MaRRai namm

KaamngaL mARRElO YempAvAi " . She reminds the Lord of the Uravu

to Him and wiht that urimai asks for Kaimkarya BhAgyam . The SaaRRumuRai

ends with the Phala Sruthi ThiruppAvai Paasuram : " Vangak-Kadal Kadaintha "

..

This is the time honored SaaRRum ( pORRum ) MuRai .

 

We seek from Him the blessings of uninterrupted Kaimkarya PrApthi

to Him during this dEha Yaathrai and remind Him that we will not

serve anyone but Him at any time . SaaRRum means SaaRRuvathu or

stating some thing in a formal and time honored manner established by

AzhwArs and AchAryAs .

 

These SaaRRumuRais can be short or long . When it is a long SaaRRumuRai ,

it contains excerpts from Vedam , PurANam and Dhivya Prabhandham and

concludes with the Vaazhi ThirunAmams particular to a specific AchArya

Paramparai . HH ThirumAlai Peddha Jeeyar is in charge of the SaaRRumuRai

at ThiruvEngadamudayAn's sannidhi and we follow the Kramam that

the Peddha Jeeyar and His poorvAchAryALs have been following . HH the Peddha

Jeeyar and His EkAngis check whether the VaishNavAs who wish to particpate

in the SaaRRumuRai have Svaroopam before approving them to join .In the old

days , there were 10 to 20 Sri VaishNavAs at the SaaRRumuRai GhOshti .

Nowadays , it can be as much as 120 plus Sri VaishNavAs . Because of this

large size , there is a stampede for getting to the front row and awful lot

of craning of necks to get a good darsanam of ThiruvEngadamudayAn .

 

Due to Poorva Janma Sukrutham adiyEn was placed in the front row

right in front of the dazzling Lord of Saptha Giri . adiyEn understood

that bhAgyam as an acknowledgement perhaps by the Lord of the recently

concluded release of the CD ROM on the Sri VenkatEsa AshtOttharam

and commentaries on that sacred naamAs in English in collobaration with

my name sake , Sriman Sadagopan IyengAr of Coimbatore . AdiyEn also extended

this guess work on my part to include the ongoing kaimkaryam to write the

commentary for the Sri VenkatEsa Sahasra Naamams in English . Both these

AshtOttharams and Sahasra Naamams are recited every day in front of

the Lord AT THE FIRST AND SECOND BELLS before the ArchanAnthara Sevai .

You can access the content of this multimedia CD ROM on the Sri VenkatEsa

AshtOttharam , which is available to you online 24 hours at :

 

http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/oppiliappan/sva/bv.html

 

The inner Meaning of SaaRRumuRai/SevA Kaalam

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It is all about Tatthva-Hitha-PurushArTam as revealed by

the Rahasya Thrayams .

 

We believe that Sriman NaarAyaNa is Para Tatthvam (Supreme Tatthvam).

 

We believe that holding on to His sacred feet as rakshaNam is

Parama Hitham .

 

We believe that the performance of Prapatthi at His Sacred feet and travel

at the end of the earthly life via archirAdhi mArgam to Sri Vaikuntam and

joining with the GhOshtio of Nithya Sooris /MukthAs and AchAryAs to perform

blemishless Kaimkaryam to the Dhivya Dampathis and enjoying BrahmAnandham

THERE on a par with the Lord as PARAMA PURUSHARTAM .

 

The Three MahA Manthrams (AshtAksharam , Dhvayam and Charama slOkam )

reveal to us succinctly the triad of Tatthva-Hitha-PurushArTams.

 

The VedAs , Upanishads , IthihAsams , PurANAs , Geethai , Brahma

Soothrams and Dhivya Prabhandhams elaborate on the condensed

meanings of the above Rahasya Thrayams .

 

In one sampradhAyam , Sri BhAshyam , GeethA BhAshyam , Srimath

Rahasya Thraya Saaram and Bhagavath Vishayam are considered as

the Grantha Chathushtayam to be learnt at the sacred feet of SadAchAryAs

thru UpadEsa/KaalakshEpa maargam .

 

Of this MuRai , HH Srimath PoundarIkapuram Andavan comments :

" Thus our AchAryAs bless us with Tatthva-Hitha-PurushArTa Jn~Anam ,

perform UpAya anushtAnam and make us Nirbharars ( free from the burden of

protecting ourselves) and bless us to reach Sri Vaikuntam at the end

of our dEha Yaathrai to serve the Dhivya Dampathis seated at their

ThirumAmaNi Mantapam there and enjoiy BrahmAnandham on a par with

the Lord . It is not surprising therefore that we are utterly grateful to

our AchArya Paramparai for all these blessings (adhrushtams) .

 

In that spirit of gratitude for the MahOpakAram done by our AchAryAs and

for refreshing the Jn~Anam that has been bequeathed to us , we recite

the Sri Kosams of Veda Mantra DhrushtAs ( Maha Rishis) , AzhwArs and

AchAryAs .

 

We recite the passages from the beginning and the end of the above Sri

Kosams in front of the PraTama AchAryan ( The Aadhya Guru of the Guru

Paramparai) , Sriman Narayanan and become dhanyAs .This practise is

known as SaaRRumuRai or SevA Kaalam ".

 

The order of happenings at the SrivAri Sannidhi in the Morning

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SuprabhAtham , Suddhi and NirmAlya Sodhanaa , Koluvu and

PanchAngam reading and the first bell follow sequentailly .

Now , the first naivEdhyam ( Curd Mixed Rice) is offered to

the Lord to the accompaniment of the sounding of the two big bells

in front of the BangAru Vaasal .

 

SAARRUMURAI FOLLOWS THE FIRST BELL . HH the Jeeyar SwamigaL

or His representative start the SaaRRumuRai and the GhOshti Joins .

Intense devotional outpourings and consequent bliss are experienced

by the participants .They get transported as it were to Sri Vaikuntam for

those few minutes . At the end of the SaaRRumuRai , the ghOshti

takes reluctant leave of the Lord and reassembles at AchArya

RaamAnuja sannidhi to recieve theertha PrasAdham and SaThAri .

 

The Second Bell is rung now and the 108 names of the Lord are recited

behind the curtain by the archakAs in YekAntham . Cherupulu and

PaNiyAram are offered as NaivEdhyam now.

 

After the second bell , Sarva Darsanam starts and the thousands and

thousands of devotees waiting patiently for hours have finally

the darsanam of the Lord .

 

SPECIAL COMMAND OF THIRUVENGADAMUDAYAN ON THAT MORNING

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After the Theertham and SaThAri , adiyEn was informed by the key

KaimkaryaparAl that the Lord has assigned to adiyEn the Kaimkaryam of

presenting a Kempu gem Kireetam for Him and His Ubhaya NaacchiyArs .

 

A plan to present three sets of Kireetams made up of (1) deep red

rubies ( Kempu gems used in old Pathakkams ) , (2) Emerald and

(3)Sapphire has been willed by the Lord and adiyEn was told

as a grand surprise that adiyEn should undertake the Kempu

Crown Kaimkaryam for Malayappa Swamy and His Ubhaya

NaacchiyArs . adiyEn had to hold on to the stone pillar on

hearing this niyamanam .

 

The name of the famous jewelery maker for ThiruvEngadamudayAn

at KumbakONam was also given to adiyEn . adiyEn was told that

all the AabharaNams of the Lord of Seven hills are made of 22 Carat

gold and plating of silver base with gold was taboo . adiyEn could not

comprehend the mystery behind the niyamanam of the Lord thru

" archaka mukham ". The Lord who has every thing wishes to use

adiyEn as His instrument to fulfil His sankalpam . adiyEn is fully aware of

my unfitness and said to myself that He will show the way

and unite His devotees over the next few months to progress

with the Kaimkaryam .

 

At KumbakOnam , adiyEn met with the talented Gold Smith

serving the Lord of Seven Hills and got an estimate for

the three Kempu Kireetams . The expenses break up in to

Four categories:

 

1. One and Half Kilogram of Gold ( 600 Rs per Gram of Gold) =9 Laks of Rs.

2. Umisu or SethAram : 10% or 150 grams=90,000 Rs.

3. 850 Kempu Stones : 80,000 Rs

4. Labor : 38,000 Rs.

 

The Total Estimate is : 11 Laks of Rupees or $ 25,182 at

the rate of 44 Rs to a US Dollar .

 

It took 2 years thru Yaachakam to assemble the 35 Laks Rs. worth of

RathnAngi for Lord DevanAthan of Thiruvaheendhra Puram last year

around this time . Swamy Desikan's Sri Sookthis were instrumental

then to assemble the funds from the VaishNava GhOshti to complete

that Kaimkaryam .

 

Unless some of you join in this Kaimkaryam , adiyEn is at a loss to make

progress on this Kaimkaryam . adiyEn thinks that He will show the way

over time . Please contact me if number of you wish to join in this

kaimkaryam for the Lord of Thirumala to get ready for use before

the next BrahmOthsavam .

 

If the temple authorities can agree to donate the gold for these crowns

from the vast amount of gold that pours in to the Hundies of the Lord

every day , the Kaimkaryam can be speedily completed . Our task then

would just be to cover the expenses for the semi-precious stones and

the labor ( ~1.18 Lkas for each set of crowns and a total of 3.54 Laks of

Rupees or $8,045 ). Mysterious indeed are the Lord's ways !

 

Please let your friends know of this opportunity to serve the Lord . All of

the samarpaNams are Tax deductible .

 

NamO Sri VenkatEsAya ,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NamO VenkatEsAya ,

Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

P.S: Please do not forget to lend your support to the uthsavam of

the 79th birthday celebrations of MalOla PadhukA Sevakar ,

HH Sri NaarAyaNa YathIndhra MahA Desikan . Please contact adiyEn .

Thanks .