Mumukshuppadi

[Guest guest]

Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

 

Mumukshuppadi - a Rahasya Grantha by Sri Pillai Lokacharya

 

Mumukshuppadi Sarartha Deepikai by Sri PB Annangaracharya

Swami based on the vyakhyanam by Sri Manavala Mamuni

 

Translated by madhurakavi dAsan TCA Venkatesan

 

 

lOkAchArya gurave krishna pAdasya soonavE

samsAra bhOgi sandaShta jeeva jeevAtavE nama:

 

 

Foreword:

All beings who are born repeatedly in this world and

suffer in the samsaric cycle have to understand many

things in order to obtain Moksha (liberation). Of these

many things, one of the most important is the

understanding of Artha Pancakam. The understanding of

1. Nature of the Supreme, 2. Nature of the Jiva, 3. The

means to attaining liberation, 4. The nature of the goal

to be attained, and 5. The obstacles in attaining the

goal seeked, are known as Artha Pancakam.

 

The knowledge of these five is given clearly by the three

rahasyas, Thirumanthra, Dvayam and Carama Sloka and as

such the understanding of the rahasyathraya is very

important for Mumukshus.

 

The origin of the rahasyathraya is as follows. The

Thirumanthra, also known as Periya Thirumanthra and Moola

Manthra, originated in Badri. It was taught to Nara by

Narayana. Dvayam which is also known as Manthra Rathnam,

was revealed to Sri Mahalakshmi in Vishnu Loka by Sriman

Narayana. Carama Sloka is part of the Bhagavad Gita and

as such was taught to Sri Arjuna by Sri Krishna. Thus the

originator of all three rahasyas is Lord Sriman Narayana.

Therefore, He is the first acharya in the Guru parampara.

It is thus that Sri Kooraththazhvan said "Lakshminatha

samarambam ... vande guruparamparam".

 

Therefore this rahasyathraya even though short in words

has very many great, rare and majestic meanings and as

such our acharyas have studied it extensively and taught

their meanings carefully to their disciples.

 

Prior to Swamy Ramanuja the acharyas guarded the rahasya-

thraya and their meanings and taught them exclusively to

select disciples only. Bhagavad Ramanuja in his broad

mind and large sympathy for those caught in the samsaric

cycle, exceeded the norms of the day and by himself and

through his disciples taught the rahasyathraya and their

meanings to all who were interested. This is also talked

about in Upadesa Raththinamalai by Sri Manavala Mamuni.

 

>From the time of Sri Ramanuja the meanings of these

rahasyas were taught but there is no evidence that during

his time their special meanings were recorded in written

form by acharyas. There is a possibility that a rahasya-

thraya vyakhyanam was made into a grantha by Sri

Koorathazhvan. Sri Vedantha Desika in his

Rahasyathrayasaram, in the Carama Sloka section, talks

about the Carama Sloka vyakhyanam of Azhvan. However, if

there was such a grantha, it is not available now.

 

Sri Bhattar who is the son of Sri Koorathazhvan wrote the

composition Ashtasloki as the essence of the rahasya-

thraya. Even though this composition is short, Bhattar

has included in it tremendous meanings of these manthras.

 

Sri Pillai Lokacharya who is the son of Sri Vadakku

Thiruveethi Pillai and who is considered the avathara

of Sri Varadaraja, has composed the Ashtadasa Rahasyam

which is a phenomenal collection of the meanings of

rahasya granthas. Later Sri Achan Pillai also wrote

rahasya arthas through works such as Parantha Rahasyam.

 

Amongst the Ashtadasa Rahasyas, Yathruccikappadi,

Paranthapadi and Sriyapathippadi contain the meanings

of the rahasyathraya vyakhyanams but it is Mumukshuppadi

that has gained fame in many ways. The other granthas

suffer from drawbacks such as being extensive or being

very short or that they contain a mixture of Sanskrit

and Tamil words. Mumukshuppadi does not have any of

these drawbacks. Also, this work contains special and

rare meanings that are not present in the other granthas.

Thus, this work occupies a special place in the

purvacharya works and in the minds of Srivaishnavas.

 

 

I seek refuge at the lotus feet of Sri Pillai Lokacharya

I seek refuge at the lotus feet of Nammazhvar, Ramanuja

and Manavala Mamuni

______

lOkAchArya gurave krishna pAdasya soonavE

samsAra bhOgi sandaShta jeeva jeevAtavE nama:

______