SrIman U.Ve. Neduntheru Kannan Swamy's mighty UpakAram ( MahOpakAram)

[Guest guest]

SrI :

 

SrImathE RaamAnujAya Nama:

 

Dear BhakthAs :

 

I would like to invite your attention to a brilliant

monograph entitled : "Divine Soverignity and

Our Freedom " . It has been adiyEn's bhAgyam to

study it and enjoy it .

 

Let me provide some background on the distinguished Scholar/Author

of this Monograph , SrI U.Ve .Neduntheru KaNNan Swamy .He has

learnt SrI BhAshyam through the traditional KaalkshEpam route

by absorbing the subtle meanings of difficult pasages by sitting

at the sacred feet of a veritable assembly of lions among

the current day Sri VaishNavite AchAryaas .

 

Many of us participate in such KaalakshEpams but only

a blessed few (microscopic minority ) are full beneficiaries to

grasp the subtle and true meanings that our AchAryAs have stored

for us out of their infinite compassion for us . Even among

those select few , who truly benefit from such KaalakshEpams ,

only a small (rare) subset of them could articulate what they

learnt ardently from their AchAryAs and share with us these

nuggets of Jn~Anam in a clear way to others.

 

SrIman KaNNan Swamy is one of these few sishyAs of

whom the AchAryAs are proud of and wish to treasure.

 

SrIman Kannan Swamy's sookshma buddhi , vast diction

in English language and skills in handling Sanskrit language

at the conversational level have proven to be unique assets in

preparing himself to create this monograph appreciated by

the AchAryAs and VaishNavite Scholars alike thru their

anugraha BhAshaNams ( forewords in the monographs).

 

SrIman Kannan Swamy is a very modest and retiring

scholar , who prefers to place his gratefulness rightfully

to the many AchAryAs , who have opened his spiritual

eyes regarding Grantha Chaathushtayam and other

SrI Sookthis .

 

A partial list of the AchAryAs and scholars , who have

commended and blessed the monograph are:

 

(1) HH SrImath Azhagiya Singar , the 45th Pontiff of

SrI Ahobila Mutt

 

2)HH SrIamth PoundarIkapuram Andavan

 

3) Goshtipuram MahA VidhvAn , Vaikunta Vaasi ,

SrI U.Ve. S. RaamAnujAcchAr Swamy

 

(2) MahaamahOpAdhyAya PerukkaaraNai ChakravarthyAchArya

Swamy

 

(3) MahAmahOpAdhyAya SrI U.Ve . V. SrIvatsAngAcchAr Swamy

( Sanskrit Foreword: The Examination of the Karthruthvam of Jeevan/

Jeeva Kartruthva sOdhanam) .This by itself is a brilliant analysis

of the issues of Karthruthvam .

 

4) U.Ve. Villur NadaathUr VidhvAan , Sri V.S. KaruNAkarAcchAr Swamy

 

5) MannArgudi VidvAn SrI U.Ve. S.RajagOpAlAcchAr Swamy

 

6) Professor Dr. V.K.S.N. Raghavan , Head of the Department of

VaishNavam , University of Madras .

 

These forewords amply comment on the distinguishing features of

this monograph in ENGLISH and its value to us .The forewords themselves

are brilliant study materials in so far as identifying some of the key issues

of SrI BhAshyam covered by SrIman KaNNan Swamy .

 

SrIman Kannan Swamy has kindly sent two dozen copies of

His scholarly monograph to me for distribution to those , who might be

interested to benefit from it . I can not say enough about the richness of

the SampradhAya Jn~Anam gained by SrIman Kannan Swamy from his

KaalakshEpams with great VaishNavite AchAryAs after his retirement

from a long and distinguished service with the Central Government of India.

 

The content of the Monograph:

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

Some of the difficult sections of SrI BhAshyam as referred to by Prakrutham

HH PouNdarIkapuram Andavan are : " SarIrasarIri bhAvam , Jeeva Paaratantryam ,

KarmAdheena kaaryams , Sva-SwAmi BhAvam ,UpEkshakathvam ,

anumanthruthvam ,and PrErakthvam " . SrImath Andavan has pointed out

that SrIman Kannan Swamy has used his sharp intellect to absorb , analyse and

share with us in clear language all that he has learnt from his AchAryAs .

 

The dialog between Lord RanganAtha and an arrogant jeevan etched

in the Thirumanjana Kattiyam of Swamy ParAsara Bhattar is a good

context for the monograph . In that dialog , the jeevan is convinced that

it is Svatantran and questions the Lord's sovereignity .The Jevan thinks

that it is Svatantra KarthA and Master of its own destiny.

 

There has been a long debate about who has Karthruthvam

( Independence in performing karmAs ): Jeevan or GuNams or

Iswaran or all of them in their own roles or one among them

in a unique role .Is Jeevan a Svatanthran or a Paaratantryan is

a tantalizing question over which Para mathams have floundered .

 

AchArya RaamAnujA has settled this important question for our benefit

in His SrI BhAshyam in an undisputable manner without inconsistencies

between the different Sruthi-based pramANams ( parAyatthaadhikaraNam) .

These positions of AchArya RaamAnujA have been elaborated by

Swamy Desikan in AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi and Taathparya Chandrika

further .

 

SrIman Kannan Swamy's powerful monograph captures the issues

related to " the Divine Sovereignity and Jeevan's Freedom " and

sums up our AchAryA's conclusions for guiding us . During his

case building effort , SrIman Kannan Swamy helps us to understand

difficult concepts such as " the First volitional effort / Pratama Pravrutthi "

by the Jeevan in the context of anAdhi KarmAs . Our AchAryA's

UpadEsam is : " KarmA does not paralyze the human effort but

truly it is a guide". The author focuses on establishing the correctness

of this view in the light of Bhagavath RaamAnuja Darsanam.

 

During the course of development of his thesis , SrIman Kannan Swamy

raises some questions , which plagues us all at different times and

provides answers for them based on Saasthrams as expounded by

our AchAryAs .One such question is : " How does ParamAthmA , whom

the Upanishads delienate as a perpetual resident inside the heart lotus of

a jeevan and acts as an inner controller of every chEthanam ,

permit that chEthanam to make mistakes, committ and inflict wrongs

and let the chEthanam court its own disaster ? ".The central question that

is tackled is the difficult one of " Do we have free will --the freedom

to choose whether to do or not and what is the role of the SarvEswaran

as an anatharyAmi ( indweller watching over all of our actions)? How free

are we ?Is our freedom real ? What is the relationship between ChEthanam ,

achEthanam and Iswaran in the context of Doership by the Jeevans?

Does ParamAthma abdicate ever His role and leaves the jeevan to

its own recourse ? How long does the jeevan need to suffer ? What are

the means to get freedom from the samsAric sufferings of the Jeevan ? ".

 

The monograph concludes with the magnificence of SaraNAgathy/

Bhara SamarpaNam/Aathma NivEdhanam as the easy to practise

means to overcome our SamsAric sufferings and gain Moksha Sidhdi .

 

This brilliant monograph concludes with the moving salutations to SarvEswaran ,

MahA VishNu , by the MahA Kavi KaaLidAsa in his Raghuvamsam .

 

I encourage all to acquire a copy of this brilliant monograph to develop

additional familiarity with the greatness of AchArya RaamAnujA's

SrI BhAshyam and its commentaries by His successors .

 

It is my fondest hope that SrIman Kannan Swamy

will help us with addiitonal monographs focusing on

the intricate aspects of our SiddhAntham .

 

NamO veda PurushAya ,

SrImath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan