Volume III - Thaniyan 2 - Iraamaanusa Nootrandhaadhi Upanyaasam Translation

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Iraamaanusa Nootrandhaadhi - Volume III

 

Volume Title :- "The qualities of a True Devotee" (Contd.. from

previous posting)

 

 

Thaniyan

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Iraamaanusa Nootrandhaadhi Thaniyan - 2

 

 

2."Nayantharu perinbamellaam pazhudhanri nannninarpaal

Sayantharu keerthi iraamaanusamuni thaalinaimel

Uyarndha gunathu thiruvarangathamudhongum anbaal iyambum

Kalithurai andhaadhi odha isai nenjame"

 

The above second thaniyan was given to us by Embaar.

 

Meaning :-

 

Oh !! my mind..!!, always sing the verses or paasurams :-

 

- That were composed in the Andhaadhi style of composition,

- Also composed in a Kalithurai Yaappu (A Gramatical Style of

composing tamil paasurams),

- On the divine feet of Emperumaanaar Sri Raamaanujar, whose

lotus feet to which when we surrender, can destory all the

materialistic comforts that we experience in our life

namely Kaamaa, Krodha, Lobha, Madha, Maathsarya, which are

the five powerful enemies of a jeevaathmaa that prevents

from understanding or realizing the supreme being,

- Which was composed for those who have surrendered to the

lotus feet of emperumaanaar, leaving the materialistic

comforts

- Which was composed out of immense love and bhakthi on

Emperumaanaar by the greatest of the greatest Daasan,

Thiruvarangathamudanaar

 

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Note :- Pl. write to the Vedics Raamaanuja Team if anyone would like

to know what "Kalithurai" and "Andhaadi" means, as it is out of

context for the topic under discussion.

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Nenjame - Oh my mind

Odha isai - Always wish to recite

Iyambum Kalithurai Andhaadhi - The verses that were composed in

the andhaadhi style, Also

composed in a Kalithurai Yaappu (A

Gramatical Style of

composing tamil paasurams)

Sayantharu Keerthi Thaalinaimel - On/For the feet of emperumaanaar

that has the divinity and

Iraamaanusa Muni divine grace and those feet which

show us the way to realize

the supreme soul and to attain the

feet of emperumaan

Pazhudhanri Nanninarpaal - For those people who have

sacrificed and left the

Nayantharu Perinbamellaam - Materialistic comforts

Ongum Iyambum Anbaal - The verses that were Composed out

of immense love and bhakthi

Thrivarangathamudhu - By Thiruvarngathamudhanaar

Uyarndha Gunathu - Who has all the characteristics and

qualities of a true Daasan or

bhaagavthaa

 

 

We might want to know why the materialistic comforts has been

indicated by the word "Perinbam", whereas that word is usually used

only for the true happiness, which is eternal bliss. From

the materialistic person's point of view, it is considered as

the "Perinbam", but from the view of those who have left these

material comforts, it is not so.

 

The following explains the term "Nayantharu Perinbamellaam" in the

above thniyan :-

 

Now the question is, is it difficult to leave our materialistic

qualities ?

 

Those qualities are:-

 

Kaamaa - Desire (things that we desire to get)

Krodhaa - Anger (the anger that comes when we don't get the

desired things)

Loba - Jealousy

Madha - Ahankaaram (The feeling 'I' within one's self)

Maathsarya - One who doesn't like others happiness and success

 

The answer is "Yes"; it is difficult to destroy all these

materialitic qualities and comforts. Even Lord Krishna in Bhagavadh

Gita says that

 

"Hey Arjunaa..!! there is nothing that you can achieve in the world;

the least you can do is destroy the five qualities that are the

sources, which don't allow you to realize the supreme soul.

Always think that you should succeed and conquer these five enemies

with immense vairaagyam or stubbornness. These are considered to be

five enemies of a jeevaathmaa that prevents one from

performing bhagavath bhakthi and realize the supreme being."

 

The Vedaas also quote the same as follows, and gives us guidelines to

do bhagavadh bhakthi :-

 

Leave all the following :-

 

- Leave all the those things which are not permanent in this world,

which are nothing but the materialistic comforts.

- Leave all those that prevents you from doing bhagavath bhakthi

- Leave all those thoughts that tells you that you are doing the

karmaa (Ahankaaram). The feeling of "I" in one's mind.

 

Enjoy all the following :-

 

- Enjoy all those that shaatraas tell you to enjoy

- Enjoy those things that doesn't prevent you from doing bhagavath

bhakthi,

- Enjoy those things that relates just to the body but not apply to

the Aathmaa or soul

 

With these guide lines we can get answers for all questions such as :-

 

1. Can I marry or not

2. Can I earn money or not

 

Etc., and many more questions like this. To answer all these just

refer the questions with the guide lines give above by Vedaas. If the

karmaa you do is in anyway preventing you to do bhagavath bhakthi,

never do it; if it doesn't prevent you from doing so, then enjoy it.

If one doesn't follow these guidelines, then one can never become a

Sri Vaishnavaa or one can never realize the supreme being. As far as

anything that we enjoy is to enrich our thoughts that leads to

bhagavadh bhakthi, we can enjoy those things.

 

One can become a Sri Vaishanava not by knowledge or not by learning

vedaas or scriptures but only by leaving all these materialistic

comforts. Again leaving materialistic comforts doesn't mean that we

should leave them totally. It means that we should enjoy all these

thinking that it is only for the body and not for our aathmaa or

soul. We can enjoy anything in which we don't have the feeling "I"

did it, or "I" enjoyed it etc. One can become a True Sri Vaishnava

only by their Anushtaanam of these good qualities in their daily life

and not by anything else. Why are we always referring to "Raamaanuja

Thiruvadi" in order to destroy these materialistic qualities? What

does it mean by "Raamaanuja Sambandham", How do I get it ? Our elders

say that if we get the Samaashrayanam or Pancha Samskaaram from an

aachaaryan, then we get Raamaanuja Sambandham. Even then we hear many

of us raising the questions in our mind that if we get the Pancha

Samskaaram from one of the achaaryaa in the lineage of the

74 Simhaasanaadhipathis that emperumaanaar appointed to spread

vaishnavism, then we can consider that we can get Raamaanuja

Sambandham because, all the simhaasanaadhpathis were direct disciples

of emperumaanaar. But today if we go to any aachaaryaa and get Pancha

Samskaaram how can we say that we get Raamaanuja Sambandham ? What

are we going to get if we get Pancha Samskaaram done ? How can one

prove that the aachaaryan from whom we get Pancha Samskaaram, has

Raamaanuja Sambandham ? All these questions are those of many of us

who ask or think. What is the answer for these questions ?

 

The answer is, if we keep thinking like this, we will never get

Raamaanuja Sambandham. Moreover one cannot get Raamaanuja Sambandham

by just getting the Pancha Samskaaram done from an aachaaryan. The

Pancha Samkaaram where we get the Shankam and Chakram embossed on our

shoulders is a kramam that shows to the outside world that we are a

Sri Vaishnavaa, but this actually doesn't get us the Raamaanuja

Sambandham. So what should one do to get Raamaanuja Sambandham ? It

is just that one should stop thinking like this and asking such

questions and just believe that the Shaastraas have clearly told us

about Pancha Samskaaram and it has to be done through an aachaaryan

who has come in the lineage of Bhagavadh Raamaanujaa. How

do i know whether the aachaaryan has raamaanuja sambandham ? Again

one should believe and feel that our elders have showed the

aachaaryan who they believe and truly follow that the aachaaryan has

the Raamaanuja Sambandham.

 

We have never grown in this world by asking questions for everything.

We have beleived so many things for which we dont have proof. We have

believed so many things as it is. Hence one should stop asking

questions and believe our elder's words and what our Shaastraas say.

If we believe in what we do as a Pancha Samskaaram, then we get the

Raamaanuja Sambandham automatically due to our belief itself. Instead

if one keeps asking questions, then one will never get Raamaanuja

Sambandham at all. Now the answer for why should we have "Raamaanuja

Sambandham" is: in order to destroy all our materialistic comforts

and qualities and get the knowledge of the supreme being. Why should

one get it from "Raamaanua Sambandham" ? Because our emperumaanaar

was the only one who was a True Sri Vaishanavaa who had all these

materialistic qualities destroyed within himself and also followed in

his Anushtaanam or Practice. As we already quoted that a true Sri

Vaishnava is one who leaves all the materialtic comforts and follows

the same in his anushtaanam or practice. Hence our emperumaanar is

the only one who makes easily detach ourselves from these

materialistic comforts and shows us the way to attain the lotus feet

of our beloved emperumaan at Sri Vaikuntam. Hence one should

get "Raamaanuja Sambandham". Thats why Manavaala Maamunigal in

his "Yathiraaja Vimsathi" says :-

 

"Kaamaadhi Dosha Haramaathma padaasrithaanaam,

Raamaanujam Yatipathim pranamaami moordhnaa.."

 

"I pay respect at the lotus feet of Sri Raamaanujaa in order to

destroy all my materialistic qualities such as Kaama, Krodhaa etc.

and to attain the the bhagavath sannidhi."

 

Same way even Krishna Paramaathmaa who preached Arjuna to leave all

these materialistic qualities, himself came as Bhagavadh Raamaanujaa

as an lokaachaaryan to help all the Jeevaathmaas realize the supreme

soul; to get into the path of bhagavadh bhakthi because emperumaan

followed all those which was preached by Krishna Paramathmaa.

Emperumaan Himself thought that the jeevaathmaa can be corrected only

through an aachaaryan (another jeevaathmaa)and hence was born here as

emeprumaanaar. This is clearly illustrated in the"Iraamaanusa

Nootrandhaadhi" paasuram number 33 that begins as "Adaiyaar

kamalathalarmagal kelvan.." which was clearly explained in the

previous posting.

 

The quality "Kaamaa" is the reason for all the fights and wars that

we see today in this Kali. If we destroy the Kaamaa within each one

of us, then most of our day to day fights and problems that bothers

each one of us in this Kali will be solved. If "Kaamaa" increases, it

in turn increases Ahankaaram (The "I" feeling in one's self), and

other unwanted qulities described earlier. If this has to destroyed

one should have Satva Guna within one's self. When Satva Gunam

reduces within ourselves, then we will not listen to our elder's

advices, when we fail to listen to our elder's advices, then we will

tend not to follow our aachaaryaas, and when we don't follow our

aachaaryaas, then we wont have bhakthi on emperumaanaar and when

we dont have Raamanauja bhakthi, then again the materialistic

qualities will increase within us. Hence all these are connected in a

chain. Hence one should have Satva Guanm and to get Satva Gunam one

needs a sadaachaaryan who can guide and lead us to practice

Saathwikam in our day to day life in order to do bhagavadh bhakthi.

So one should approach an aachaaryan thinking and feeling that we

dont know anything and aachaaryan has to lead us to the right path.

When we approach our aachaaryan thinking in this manner, our

achaaryan never says no or fails to guide us until the end of our

life or until we get into bhagavadh bhakthi.

 

This is what the above thaniyan says about "Emperumaanaar's

thiruvadi" by indicating "Sayantharu Keerthi Iraamaanusa Muni

Thaalinai Mel". All the above explanation refers to the

word "Sayantharu Keerthi" of emperumaanaar.

 

Thus we can destroy all our Kaama, Krodha and other unwanted

qulaities by just following emperumaanaars life history and hearing

it. Once emperumaanaar went to Thirunaaraayana Puram along with swamy

Mudaliyaandaan, leaving Koorathaazhwaan behind in Sri Rangam. On the

way going to Thirunaaraayana Puram they stayed in a place

called "Mithilaapuri" where those people failed to accept what

empermaanaar advised about bhagavadh vishayam and aaraadhana kramam.

Hence emperumaanaar called Mudaliyaandaan swamy and told him to keep

his feet in the water, in a tank where those people use it for their

daily Anushtaanam. Swamy Mudaliyaandan also did what emperumaanaar

said. As usual those people came and completed their Anushtaanam in

the tank. The moment they finished their Anushtaanam, they

automatically came to emperumaanaar and surrendered to him. Thus when

the Thiruvadi of Adiyaar or Daasan to emperumaanaar can change

one's life drastically, then we should think the divinity of the

lotus feet of our beloved emperumaanaar. We should also be able to

visualize how great Mudaliyaandaan's Thiruvadi is as he surrendered

at the lotus feet of emperumaanaar.

 

Similarly once Mudaliyaandaan swamy said to the people of

Mithilaapuri that after the daily ghoshti emperumaanaar will get the

first perumaal theertham and then Mudaliyaandaan swamy

wanted to get the theertham after emperumaanaar. But the local people

objected for it, saying that "since emperumaanaar is a parama yati

and Sri Vaishnavaa, he gets the first theertham and then since they

are the local people they should get the next theertham." But

Mudaliyaandaan swamy wanted himself to get the next theertham after

emperumaanaar. Hence the local people complained about this to

emperumanaar. Immediately emperumaanaar went and stood as the last

person in the ghoshti. Searching for emperumaanaar and finding him at

the last in the ghoshti, and when asked why he did so, emperumaanaar

said that since in this town local people has the first authority to

get the theertham and since Mudaliyaandan swamy wanted to get the

second theertham after emperumaanaar, he allowed the the local people

to get the first theertham and then he wanted to get it so that even

mudaliyaandaan swamy is satisfied and the local people were also

satisfied. Such a parama bhaagavthaa was emperumaanaar, he lowered

himself amongst all the bhaagavathaas and showed his divine

qualities and also practiced it in his day to day life and showed us

the way to attain bhagavadh sannidhi.

 

So surrendering at the lotus feet of our emperumaanaar will give all

the success in our life towards anything that we would wish to

achieve. Hence let us surrender all our mind and body at the lotus

feet of our beloved and most lovable emperumaanar.

 

This posting, along with Volume II posting completes the Lecture 2 of

the Iraamaanusa Nootrandhaadhi. Lecture three will be posted soon.

 

 

RAAMMANUJASYA CHARANAU SHARANAM PRAPADYE, SRIMATHE RAAMAANUJAAYA NAMA:

 

(Thodarum - To be continued)

 

The Vedics Iraamaanusa Nootrandhaadhi Team

http://www.radioramanuja.com

 

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