Fwd: [tiruvengadam] Madras Diary - Dec 14'01- Jan 3'02

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--- sampath kumar <sampathkumar_2000 wrote:

> tiruvengadam

> sampath kumar <sampathkumar_2000

> Mon, 7 Jan 2002 07:33:34 -0800 (PST)

> [tiruvengadam] Madras Diary - Dec 14'01- Jan 3'02

> Reply-to: tiruvengadam

>

> Dear friends and members,

>

> Adiyane returned to Kuwait y/day after a very pleasant and eventful

> fortnight in Chennai. I share below some impressions of the trip

> that

> may be of some interest to all of you.

>

> At the outset I wish all of you and your respective family-members

> a

> very HAPPY NEW YEAR and offer prayers to our Lord of Tiruvenkatam

> to

> continue to shower his Grace and Blessings on all of us!

>

> I thank Sri IVK Chary for filling in as group-moderator during my

> absence. Also it gives me great joy to see that SriChary has begun

> teaching 'gOdA-stuthi' to the students of the 'vedadhyAyana' class.

> We all look forward to listening to the group recite 'goda-stuthi'

> at

> the culmination of the 'mArgazhi' month on 15th January which also

> happens to fall on the auspicious asterism of 'sravANam'.

>

> ********* ********** ***********

>

> I arrived in Madras on the 14th Dec. On the 17th the city and its

> vicinity began to experience very heavy rainfall which continued to

> pour the following 3 days. The residents of the city were

> overjoyed.

> The reservoirs swelled; the wells filled up; the parched trees

> greened and urchins danced with glee in the dirty puddles of

> rain-water on the streets... The lurking fear, that had gripped the

> city's people for months recently, of yet another year of acute

> water

> scarcity vanished in the space of just 3 days of copious rain!

>

> Suddenly, and quite refreshingly, the immortal words of the

> "tiruppAvai" -- "teenginri nAdellAm tingaL mummAri-peyydu" -- began

> to ring true, loud and so mercifully over the entire city of

> Chennai!

>

>

> *********** ********** ***********

>

> Rains in Madras during the month of 'mArgazhi' (15Dec-14th Jan) are

> considered not only unseasonal but also extremely rare. So the

> citizens all kept asking themselves what lay behind the munificence

> of the rain-god Varunan who had deigned at last to visit their

> parched city after so many months of anxious waiting.

>

> One ready explanation given by some people was the controversial

> removal of the statue of the famous Tamil mythological character,

> Kannagi that had been erected on the beach-side roadway along the

> Marina way back in 1967. This statue had stood for well over 3

> decades, in all its ragingly magnificent splendour, overlooking the

> cramped city-quarters of Triplicane. All these years the

> dishevelled

> and furious figure of Kannagi, the celebrated heroine of

> "manimegalai", had come to be regarded as a truly soul-stirring

> symbol of Tamil culture.

>

> All of a sudden some quarters in the present ruling regime in

> T.Nadu

> felt convinced that the Kannagi statue, casting its dark and fiery

> sight upon on the Madras sky-line, was exerting a wholly malefic

> influence on the city. The pose, the positioning and the power of

> the

> statue was, from the viewpoint of the ancient 'vaastu-sAstrA',

> wholly

> inauspicious and fateful. The city's perennial problems with the

> rain-gods, they explained, were really the handiwork of Kannagi's

> malevolent ghost haunting her statue on the Marina.

>

> It was hence no surprise that once the statue was removed, the

> rains

> began to pour from the skies over Madras!

>

> ****** ******** *********

>

> After listening to this curious theory of rain-making, adiyane

> became

> almost convinced the best way to ensure good rainfall for Madras in

> the years to come is probably to identify many more statues in and

> around the city and earmark them for permanent removal in the

> interest of the larger good of its citizenry. And if every such

> effort were to meet with the same success as the Kannagi statue has

> blessed us with, imagine what we might then be able to announce to

> the whole world! "Major new discovery in the science of modern

> rain-making: Remove all offending statues in your neighbourhood"!

>

> ******* ******** ********

>

> On a much more serious and respectful mien, adiyane soon reflected

> deeply upon the matter and came up with another personal

> explanation

> for the copious rains in Madras. It is an explanation borne of

> personal faith and I venture to share it here amongst you only

> because I believe you are all like-minded friends.

>

> In 1932 the great pontiff of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, late Sri

> Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, "peri-periyavAl" to millions of his

> followers to this day, established a small but by no means

> insignificant institution in one of the many narrow and crooked

> by-lanes of Mylapore called Pitchu-Koil Street, a stone's throw

> away

> from the famous Kapaleeswarar Temple. It is to this day known as

> MYLAPORE VEDADHYAYANA SABHA (MVS).

>

> MVS is being run by a very small band of Kanchi Mutt sishyA-s. Its

> primary purpose is to conduct 'adhyAyana' classes for all classes

> of

> students. The 'adhyApakA-s' are all supported by the Kanchi Mutt

> and

> they are doing wonderful work in teaching the Vedas to all students

> who come forward to learn. Many indeed, I learn, are the students

> who

> come here from all parts of T.Nadu.

>

> This MVS for some years had been holding annual 'Krishna-yajur-veda

> sampoorna ghana-pArAyanam". It was a very solemn event when around

> 18-25 very learned 'ghanapAtin-s' jointly recite the

> 'sapta-kAndA-s'

> (7 chapters) of the entire 'krishna-yajur-veda' daily for about 8

> hours over a period of 24 days.

>

> Due to many reasons and difficulties, adiyane learnt, such an event

> could not be held in the past many years. This year however,

> between

> 13th Dec'01 until 10th Jan'02, the MVS was able to conduct the

> event

> successfully thanks to the initiative and support of a few local

> residents of Madras and other 'vaideeka'-minded 'asthikA-s'.

>

> A local friend in Mylapore thus invited me to witness the 'vedic'

> recitation at the MVS this year.

>

> Adiyane attended the 'pArAyaNam' for 3 full days and had the

> supreme

> privilege of listening to 18 venerable 'ghanapAtin-s' chant about

> 403

> 'prashnA-s' from the 5th 'kAndA' of the 'yajur-veda'. It was one of

> the most thrilling and unforgettable experiences in my life. The

> chanting by the 18 'ghanapAtin-s' lifted one to sublime heights of

> feeling. The recitation was pure clockwork; the 'swarA-s'

> rock-steady; the intonation deep and resonant... like a timeless

> hymn

> travelling through God's endless heavens.

 

> It was no surprise to me therefore that in Madras where such

auspicious 'veda-gOsha' now reverberates, the rain-gods are beginning

to be kind to its > citizens once more.

 

> It is very rare to witness a religious event these days whose main

> purpose is Vedic chanting. Usually, Vedic chanting in such

> occasions

> as marriages, 'upanayanam-s' etc. are restricted to the usual

> 'udhagashANti' recitations. Even in religious institutions like

> 'achAryA' ashramas or muttams Vedic chanting is occasioned only

> when

> some other main event like, say, 'achArya-tirunakshatram'

> celebrations or some 'utsavam-s' are held. Rarely, if ever at all,

> does Vedic chanting by itself figure as the chief event on any

> occasion. The MVS initiative adiyane witnessed was thus a welcome

> departure from the usual practice of relegating Vedic chanting to a

> sub-event or subsidiary event. People came to the MVS to do nothing

> but to quietly and solemnly listen to hours and hours of Vedic

> chanting. The concentration was undiluted by other 'loukeeka' or

> other lowly distractions.

>

> The chanting of 'ghanam' is the most difficult amongst the various

> other methods of chanting the Vedas like 'pada-pAtam',

> "samhitA-pAtam", "jata", "mALA" etc. It requires years and years of

> apprenticeship at the feet of a master-adhyAyin. The masters I

> witnessed at MVS were consummate adhyAyin-s. The discipline, the

> sheer professionalism and the 'asAdya bhakti-shradda' they showed

> in

> displaying their Vedic 'pAndityam' was of the highest and most

> exemplar order. I could not help feeling a deep awe and respect for

> them. It was my privelege to have been able to offer them all my

> humble 'sambhAvanai'. By honouring them I felt honoured myself.

>

> The SriVaishnava 'sampradAya' of Ramanuja-darsanam is called

> 'ubhaya-vedAnta-darsanam'... the "twin-fold approach to God"

> through

> the simultaneous pathways of both the Veda and the Tamil-veda.

> Today

> it is unfortunate that amongst SriVaishnavas the numbers of true

> 'ubhaya-vedAntin-s' are dwindling rapidly. There are far more

> "divya-prabhandham" masters amongst us than "vedadhyAyin-s", and it

> is for these reasons that we are often forced to invite

> smArta-vedaviths to chant the Vedas at our most famous temples even

> like Tirumalai. It is not that 'smArta' vedaviths are not welcome

> amongst us; of course they are; but what is sad is that there are

> not

> as many 'vedaviths' amongst we SriVaishnavas as amongst the

> 'smArtA-s'. If the present trend of neglecting Vedic study

> continues

> amongst us, the adherents of 'ramanuja-darsanam' may no longer then

> be able to proudly call themselves true 'ubhaya-vedAntins'.

>

> ********* *********** ***********

>

> Adiyane came across a wonderful book, written by one AchArya

> Narasimha (Minerva Press (India) Ltd. 2001 Price Rs.395), being a

> faithful English translation of Parashara Bhattar's famous

> commentary

> on the Vishnu-sahasranAmam titled "bhagavadh-guna-darpaNam".

>

> For all those who cannot read Bhattar's commentary in the original,

> this ENglish translation will be of immense use. It is curious to

> note that no information is carried about the author himself except

> to say that he is a follower of SriRamanujachArya tradition.

> Adiyane

> would like to know more about this author who has performed such a

> fine 'parOpakAram'.

>

> Adiyane also came across a very old LIFCO publication on the

> SahasranAmam which is a veritable treasure-house of information on

> the sacred text.

>

> Adiyane will post some very interesting excerpts from the above 2

> books later on.

>

> ******** ******** ********

>

> Adiyane and family travelled to Tirumala and had wonderful

> 'darshan'

> of our 'tiruvengadamudaiyAn' after offering prayers to 'thAyyAr' at

> TiruchAnur. As always a visit to Tirumalai is memorable no matter

> how

> often it is undertaken.

>

> ******* ********* **********

>

> Adiyane had the good fortune that on my visit to Madras this time,

> Srimadh Azhagiyasingar Sri NarAyana yatindrar was camping at

> Selaiyur

> near Tambaram, Madras. I hastened to present my 'dandasamarpaNam'

> to

> his holiness.

>

> Azhagiyasingar looked a little more wan than when I met him last in

> 1998. He told me that due to his frail physique these days he is

> unable to go on continuous 'sanchAram' as he used to before. The

> 'achAryA' who in 1998 performed adiyane's 'samAsrayanam' was so

> kind

> to shower me with 'kuchala-prashnam'. He was curious to know about

> all the activities of the Tiruvengadam Group in Kuwait and had many

> encouraging words to say. This great 'achAryA' is so full of

> 'saulabhyam' that even a rank ignoramus like me felt at ease in his

> august presence.

>

> Azhagiyasingar then presented me with an autographed copy of his

> excellent treatise on "SriVaishnava dinAchAra nirnAya Ahneeka

> grantha" which he wrote way back about 20 years ago in his

> 'purvAshramam'. It is a splendid book on the

> 'nitya-anushtAnachArA-s'

> that a SriVaishnava must observe in daily life. He asked me to

> study

> it carefully and absorb its message. Adiyane took it as his

> 'upadesam' or "deeksha" to me on the occasion and for which I shall

> be eternally grateful to His Holiness.

>

> The 'achAryan' then presented my 'saha-dharmAcharini' with a golden

> medal of 'mAlOla-murthy' and a lavish "ponnAdai" for me.

>

> I took leave of the beloved 'AchAryan' with a supremely heady

> feeling

> of being knighted. Actually, I am still glowing under the benign

> influence of the 'achArya's' "anugraham" showered upon me on that

> day.

>

> Later on I had the 'bAgyam' of worshipping Lord MalOlan, the

> "dolOtsava-murthy", the merciful Deity who travels ceaselessly for

> the sake of all of us.

>

> ********* ********** **********

>

> Adiyane had one moment of intense sadness while in Madras. The

> usual

> trip to the 'tiru-mAligai' of Sri.Mukkur Lakshminarasimhachariar

> could not be made since the 'mahAn' left us all in May last.

> Adiyane

> could only wallow in the nostalgic recollection of the wonderful

> times spent in the company of that great departed soul.

>

> The next best thing to meeting Mukkur Swamy himself was to be able

> to

> receive copies of the CDs on "Mukkur Nruhari-hrdayam" from SrimAn

> Sunder Rangachari, a friend of our Sri.Srinivasan Rajagopalan, the

> architect and 'kartA' of the Mukkur CD project. Thanks to these two

> gentlemen the memory of Mukkur Swamy lives on through the CD, which

> is a wonderful tribute to the 'mahAn'.

>

> Adiyane collected the CD copies for distribution to other friends

> in

> Kuwait who had contributed to the Mukkur Trust. (If any more of you

> are interested in the CD please let me know as I can easily arrange

> for it through our good friend Sri.Sunder at Madras).

>

> ********* ******** **********

>

> Finally, adiyane was exremely happy to be present in Madras on the

> occasion of the RR Sabha, Mylapore conferring the title of "KALA

> RATNA" on my beloved 'thAyyAr' Sangita Kalnidhi Srimathi.Mani

> Krishnaswami. I realized that her music is an inspiration to so

> many

> rasikAs who turned up on the grand occasion.

> ******** ********* *************

>

>

> And now another new year begins.... another chapter, another

> milestone to cross... May God be with us all!

>

> Thanks and regards,

> dAsan,

> Sudarshan

 

 

 

 

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