recitation of dhivya prabhandham etc.

[Guest guest]

dear bhAgavathAs,

 

maNi wrote ----

---

> by devotion, but where the devotees simply mechanically read

difficult

> texts such as Ramanuja Nurrandadi without any prior practice or

preparation.

----

 

It is very sad to see the texts being recited/read with no

attention paid to the meaning of the texts. Just one

example here -

 

all of us know this pAsuram from rAmAnuja noorrandhAdhi -

 

poomannu maadhu porundhiya mArban

pugazh malindha pAmannu maaranadi paNiNdu uindhavan

palkalaiyOr thAm mannavandha irAmAnusan - saraNAravindham

nAm manni vAzha - nenchE solluvOm avan nAmaNgaLE.

 

here, let us take how the first two lines are generally

recited -

 

"poomannu maadhu porundhiya maarbanpugazh malinda

paa mannu maaranadi paNiNdu uindhavan"..

 

if it is taken that way, then the meaning would

approximately read "the one who prospered by surrendering

to the One who has lakshmi on his chest, and to the

pAsuram-singing very famous mAran" or even worse

"the one to whom mAran ,who sung songs laced with

praise for the One with Lakshmi on His chest, surrendered

and prospered"

 

The actual meaning of the verse is

"rAmAnuja, who prospered by surrendering to mARan, who

sang pAsurams that are laced with praise for the One

who has lakshmi on His chest"

 

So, if one were to take into account the meaning, the

recitation that will be more in tune with the meaning

would be

 

"poo mannu maadhu porundhiya maRbanpugazh malindha

paa mannu maaRanadi paNinNdu uindhavan"

 

or

 

"poo mannu maadhu porundhiya mArbanpugazh malindha

paa mannu maaranadipaNiNdhu uindhavan" etc..

 

i.e. no separation between mARan and adi; and a very small

separation between mArban and pugazh; after all it is

mArbanin pugazh malindha maaRanadi paNiNdha irAmAnusan.

 

But, due to whatever reason, in most places, it is almost

a cause for heresy if one suggests a slight changing

in the way things are recited. The usual stand will

be "that is the custom!".

 

In some cases, even the meaning of the whole pAsuram

is changed significantly due to such breaking between

the words. In any case, it might be irrelevant though,

as the custom of divya prabhandham listening has disappeared.

The original purpose of divya prabhandham chanting,

and the setting up of iyal-pa and isai-p-pa, which seems

to have been to propagate the ideas and thoughts that

were revealed by the AzhvArs, seems to have been lost.

It just is like any other ritual nowadays in most temples,

with scant attention being paid to how it listens to

someone outside the gOshti.

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

varadhan

[Guest guest]

On Sat, 27 Apr 2002, tavaradhan wrote:

 

 

> In some cases, even the meaning of the whole pAsuram

> is changed significantly due to such breaking between

> the words. In any case, it might be irrelevant though,

> as the custom of divya prabhandham listening has disappeared.

> The original purpose of divya prabhandham chanting,

> and the setting up of iyal-pa and isai-p-pa, which seems

> to have been to propagate the ideas and thoughts that

> were revealed by the AzhvArs, seems to have been lost.

> It just is like any other ritual nowadays in most temples,

> with scant attention being paid to how it listens to

> someone outside the gOshti.

>

> adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

> varadhan

>

 

SrI

SrImatyaI GodayaI Nama:

 

Just wanted to add some thoughts related to this regarding the

Araiyar Sevai in the earlier times.

 

In the earlier days during Svami Emperumanaar's time and sometime

thereafter it is said that,during those times a very distinguished

gathering of Vidwans and Sastra Pandithars used to assemble for

the ghosti during Araiyar Sevai.The Araiyar Swamigal himself was

very learned knowing all the 4000 pasurams,and also the vyakyanam and

abinayam for all the 4000 pasurams.During those days the Vazhakkam

was that Araiyar Swamigal used to recite the pasurams and anytime one

Pandithar would intervene and request the Araiyar Swamigal to perform

Abhinayam or Vyakyam for the particular pasuram which Svami would

have just finished singing.Immediatly Svami would perform the Vyakyanam

or Abinayam as requested by the Ghosti Bhagavatha.The Bhagavatha

Ghosti Vidwans would be closely following and enjoying the performance of

the Araiyar Swamigal. While performing abinayam Araiyar Svamigal would

sometimes glance at some learned Vidwans for their facial

expression/reaction .Sometimes they(Ghosti Vidwans) would nod their

heads in approval or sometimes they used to give suggestions regarding

their views on an alternate expression for a particular word/sentence

of a pasurams.In this way it is said that the Araiyar Swamigal

incorporated suggestions from learned members like Svami Embaar during

those times.

 

Maybe over the period of time there has been a

progressive lack of intrest and patronage to the Araiyar Sevai and

probably seems more drastic in the last few decades.I have heard from

my father and relatives about the large gatherings during Araiyar

Sevai during their childhood days and the gambhiryam and grace with which

they used to perform the Arayar sevai with Bhagavathas spell bound during

the entire performance.Nowadays very few people come to witness the

Araiyar sevai ,on most of occasions.This way sometimes one gets

opportunity to observe Svami doing abinayam from a close distance and

(correct one's mistakes in recitation -seperating the words in the pasuram

lines- for those like me) and understand the import of the pasuram easily

as i was fortunate on one recent occasion.

 

adiyen Ramanuja dasan,

venkat

 

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