Uttara Poorva Dinacharya by Sri. Srinidhi Swamin - 3 rd Day Upanyasam.

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Srimathe Ramanujaya Namah

 

10/30/04

Uttara Poorva Dinacharya by Sri T.A. Srinidhi - Kanchipuram -Upanyasam #3

 

Note: Based on Swamy’s humble request, as we hear these kaalakshepams we should

be ready to enjoy the rasaanubhavam and not resort to application of logic. For

example, our AchAryAs have given so many vyaakyaanams using Tiruppavai

paashurams pertaining to Emberumanar vaibhavam, poorvacharya vaibhvams, alwar

vaibhavams, etc. If one begins to question that Andal’s time span different

from the time span of the other great AlwArs/AchAryAs, and tries to apply

chronological logic and question them, then one would miss out on the

rasaanubhavam which is a key factor of our sampradAyam.

 

Introduction:

 

Srimad Bhagavad gIta was basically meant for us souls, with the pretext of

Arjuna, who are caught in the cycle of birth and death. “Sarvopanishad gaavo-“

- - - Kannan was the gopala who milked the Upanishad (the cow) and Arjuna was

the calf.

 

 

 

Emberuman is samooham sarva bhooteshu - - - - -samaanam to all. Anybody and

everybody can approach Him. He has no barriers (example, Gajendra alwan,

Vibeeshan alwan, Prahlad alwan, Guha Peruman, etc). It is impossible to explain

the greatness of this quality. Even the Vedas struggle to do so. But our

beloved AchAryAs with their kripa tell us about his ananta kalyAna gunas.

 

 

 

He says if anyone wants to take refuge in Him He will always be accessible

whether they are good or bad. As for those who desire only Him as their goal,

He will mix with them considering them as greater than Himself . That is His

souwsheelya guNA.

 

In SrirangarAja stava , Parashara Bhattar says, those who do Karma and Jnana

yoga to get rid of the papas that prevent them for doing bhakthi yoga and

through this they attain Him.

 

 

 

Alwar’s nilai is explained beautifully like the naayaki craving for her naayaka.

She goes through these different stages as she craves. The ten nilais in order

of occurance are 1) aasai 2) cintana 3) ?? 4) guna keertanam 5) udyOga 6)

pralaapa 7)paittyam 8) vyaadi 9)jaTa 10) maraNam

 

 

 

Another similar example: When Swamy Alavandaar and Swamy Emberumanar did not

meet in person, Piratti questions Emberuman for the reason. His reply to Her is

that since Emberumanar was longing to see Alavandar so much, that he would have

lost his life, if he met the Acharya. This would have been a big loss for our

sampradAyam. Hence Emberuman made sure they did not meet. Similarly Andal

talks about her wedding, not today, not at a later date, (today would be too

soon as she would collapse with happiness; later date would be too late and she

would collapse with sadness). Hence she says that she would getting married

next day (nAlai vaduve…).

 

 

 

Bhattar says this neermai of Emberuman cannot be seen anywhere or in anyone.

 

 

 

An Example for this neermai: Mamunigal is called upon by Nammperumal to do Eedu

kalakshepam for one year giving up His utsavamas for the whole year and enjoy

the vyaakyaanam of Swamy Nambillai’s Eedu. At the end of which, as a token and

guru dakshina he gives the special and evergreen tanian to Mamunigal “Sri

Sailesha Daya Paatram - - - - - -“

 

 

 

In Sri Geeta Bashyam Swamy Emberumanar says that to remove the Bhoo BHaaram

(maNNin bhaaram - - - - -pashuram) great ones are sent by Bhagawan. Here is

the reason He sends acharyas like Mamunigal who take us to mokshaanandam.

 

 

 

Just as Madhurakavi AlwAr wrote kaNNinun Sirutamabu on Swamy Nammalwar, Sri

Kovil Annan also has authored a Kanninun Shirutambu in praise of Mamunigal. He

says since he has been graced with this beautiful kaar megham (Mamunigal),

moksham is guaranteed.

 

 

 

ArulAlaPerumALEmebrumAnAr says one should not think of the AchArya as being just

an ordinary human being and if one does, it is as sinful as enquiring the

material with which the archa moorthy is made.

 

 

 

Now we proceed to enjoy the description of Mamunigal’s tirumeni as graced by

Swamy Erubiappa.

 

 

 

Mamniugal in his URM clearly states that once we do not have bhakti for the

acharaya’s tiruvadi, then Emberuman may not give moksham. Swamy PBA explains

this pashuram with rasaanubhavam (tan guruvai - - - - -) keeping Nampperumal as

the subject (tan). Hence this would mean that IF one does not have bhakti for

Emberuman’s acharya (i.e. Mamunigal) then Emberuman would not be happy. To

please Bhagawan we need to surrender to the tiruvadi of Mamunigal. What a

beautiful explanation….

 

 

 

Sloka # 6

 

 

 

Here Mamunigal’s tirumaarbu and poonal are glorified. Other matam sanyasis

remove their shikas and yagnoopavitams. But sampradayam sannyasis keep them.

This is a tirumeni lakshanam. Mamunigal’s poonal is compared to the white

strands of the lotus creeper. The sastra vaakyam that the yagnoopavitam should

be only till ones naabhi is clearly stated here. (Just like in the Dhaati

Panchakam (trayaa maangalya sutram - - - - -) if we personify the Vedas as a

woman, then Swamy Emberumanar’s poonal becomes the mangala sutram for the Veda

maata. The moment Emberumanar graced this earth, kali purusha started to

tremble. Yama began to worry about his job). All our bad thoughts will go away

when we see Mamunigal’s poonal.

 

 

 

Incident: Once a srivaishnava’s (Rajendra chOlan) son took off his poonal and

shika and joined the boudha matam. His father was so worried. One fine day he

returned with his alankara vesham (shika and poonal again). The father was so

happy to see this and asked him only one question “my dear son, did you do danda

pranaam to Kooratalwan?” The son was surprised and wondered how the father knew

about this. The father knew that this would be possible only with Kooratalwan’s

grace. Such is Kooratwalan’s greatness.

 

 

 

Sloka # 7

 

Mamunigal adorns a lotus mani maalai, the dwadasha (12) urdva pundrams. His

beautiful forehead with the tiruman kaappu is so divine. With his fair

tirumeni, it looks like that his urdva pundrams are swayam prakasha (naturally

coming from his divine tirumeni). Here the importance of the exterior

soundaryam of srivaishnavas is explained (tulasi, lotus mani maalai,

shanka-chakra laanchanam, urdva pundra dhaaranam). Once should have satvika

ahankaram that Emberuman has chosen this atma and showered it with His grace.

Ponnachhiyaar (Dhanur Dasa’s wife once when hearing about a srivaishnava’s

qualities questioned the narrater if he was a srivaishnava just from the outside

(vesham) or also from the inside. Mourning with the sad and celebrating with

the happy should be a quality of a prapanna. They should posses both inside and

outside sri vaishnava lakshanams. This is just like Chakravarthi tirumagan who

was so happy to make Vibheehsna’s rAjyAbhishEka

 

 

 

 

 

Sloka #8

 

Mamunigal adorns the beautiful uttariyam (upper cloth) that is pure saffron

(kesari-kumkuma poo) in color. His fair tirumeni and the saffron color offer a

great contrast and a treat to the eyes. Sannyasis in Divya Deshams can have

uttariyams as they celebrate the utsavams. Usually sannyasis are supposed to

keep moving as ordained by the sAstras. But Swamy Emberumanar made it clear

that if they established a matam and performed abivriddhi to the Divya Desham

(Sri Vishnu tiru varadhana) and to the dwellers of that place, then they could

settle there itself (example: Jeeyars of Tirumalai, Srirangam,

Tirunarayanapuram, Sriperumbudur, Vanamamalai etc). It is important to note

that Mamunigal did not have a desire for sannyasam. His goal was only Bhagawat

kainkaryam. When he realized that due to the large family ties, that birth and

death situations in the household prevented him from entering the

temple/kainkarayam, he decided to take up the saffron robes. On the other hand,

Swamy

Emberumanar took up sannyasam as his bhaarya was not anukulam to bhAgawata

kainkaryam.

 

 

 

In a town/city the kovil is the beauty. In a kovil the goshti is the beauty.

In a goshti the veshti is a beauty. So much importance is given to the

lakshanam of a sri vaishnava.

 

 

 

During Swamy Emberumanar’s time, as a result of breaking Tirukottiyur Nambi’s

promise (giving the meaning of the rahasya mantra to all interested) Swamy

Emberumanar himself doubted about his moksam (THIS IS RASAANUBHAVAM – we need to

remember that Swamy came here from Paramapadam itself. This is a message to us

to tell us the glory of Kooratalwan). Once Swamy heard that Nampperumal had

promised Kooratalwan and his sambandis moksham, Swamy Emberumanar jumped like a

little boy in his matam and threw his uttariyam in joy. This was the greatness

of Kooratalwan.

 

Here we also note that Kooratalwan wanted to leave for Paramapadam before

Emberumanar, so he could welcome him in Sri Vaikunta. Kooratalwan did not want

Swamy Emberumanar to welcome him by washing the former’s tiruvadi (vandavar

yedir koLLa - - - -_)

 

 

 

All acharyas and sishyas get mokham with either Emberumanar’s tirumudi or

tiruvadi sambandham. Swamy PBA when discsussing Tiruppavai pashuram says “pOvaan

pOhinnraanai pOhaamal kaattu - - - -that all the acharays waited for Emberumanar

to return back to the abode Paramapadam so they could go with Him. What a

fantastic anubhavam!

 

 

 

Sloka #9

 

Mamunigal never spoke ill of anyone. They never got angry on anyone. Swamy

Emberumanar himself is said to have got angry a few times (when he tore the

first Ramanuja Nootrandaadi of Amudanar). But Mamunigal is the shaanta avataram

of Emberumanar, He never got angry. He never condemned anyone. Being known as

vishadavAkshikhamani he would dipliomatically bring out the greatness of our

sampradaya without hurting the others.

 

 

 

Mamunigal’s lips always pulsated uttering the dwaya maha mantra (the mantra

ratna) Sampradayam teaches us that the Sri Vishnu puran is Purana ratnam, Sri

Alavandar Stotram is Stotra Ratnam, and the dwayam is the mantra ratnam.

Nammperumal tells Emberumanar to chant the dwayam experiencing the meaning and

live happily in Srirangam till the body drops off.

 

 

 

Swamy Vedantachariar in the Rahasya Traya Saaram glorifies the dwaya mantram as

there is no sastram greater than vedanata, no tatvam greater than Emberuman,

nothing as special as bhagawatAs for purification, no sAdhana greater than

AchArya kripai for attaining mOksha , no guNa greater than satva guNa, no

sukham equal to moksham and no kshEmam equal to dwayam.

 

 

 

Swamy Lokachariar begins the dwayam prakaraNam in MMPadi with the qualities of

Sri vaishnava and explains how the mantram glorifies Periya Piratti Sri

Mahalakshmi taayaar.

 

 

 

Here the slokas of Varaha puranam, and Kulashekara perumal’s (praaNa prayaaNa

samayee - - - ) and Perialwar’s (appodakku ippOdee sholli vetthee - - - -) are

remembered. Let us all chant dwayam now and always.

 

 

 

Swamy Vedantachariar in the play Sankalpa SuryOdaya explains the scene of

vivekan and sumati perfoming a yaagam. The controlled indriyas are the ritwiks,

the atma is the havis. Similarly Emberuman does a yaagam with his dharma patni

(note: the word dharma patni is used only when doing a yaagam. In general the

term bhaarya is used). Here the gunas are ritwiks and the phalan is atma

samrakshaNam for the jeevans.

 

 

 

In the dwayam Piratti’s greatness is explained. Kakasura survived as she was

present, Ravana died as she was absent. Vali says that Emberuman did not know

what he was doing as his wife was not with him.

 

 

 

Here is a beautiful tatwaartham of dwayam:

 

Sriman narayana charanow sharanam prapadye.

 

The charanau which are the tiruvadi of Emberuman is Swamy Nammalwar

 

The sharanam now becomes Swamy Nammalwar’s sharan who is Swamy Emberumanar

 

So the whole dwayam now has a deeper meaning for us.

 

 

 

Sri Shatari is kept on everybody’s head so they can get alwar sambandham. In

paduka Sahasram Swamy Vedantachariar questions about the welfare of the people

who are unable to chant the Dravida Vedas (Divya Prabandam). What would happen

to their moksham? Hence Sri Shatari comes and graces their heads so they can

all get alwar sambandham

 

 

 

Note:

 

In Emberuman sannidhi the padukas are Sri Shatari

 

In Nammalwar sannidhi the padukas are Sri Ramanuja

 

In Sri Ramanuja (Emberumanar) sannidhi the padukas are Mudalaiaandaan

 

In Mamunigal sannidhi the padukas are ponn adi

 

 

 

As srivaishnavas we should never make a mistake in requesting the respective

tiurvadis to grace our heads.

 

 

 

Sloka # 10

 

Mamunigal’s divine face (mukaaravindam) is glorified here - always with a divine

smile. We should note that when we do kainkaryam we should not directly feel

happy. We should see the smile on Emberuman’s tiru mukam and then feel happy

that He is enjoying the kainkaryam. Then we can be happy. Hence Mamunigal

always had this smile as Emberuman was always smiling with his kainkaryam.

One’s inner happiness always comes out on the face. When ever Mamunigal spoke

it was sweet and anandam (like Siriya Tiruvadi in Sri Ramayanam). Once in

Tirumala when PBA Swamy was listening to the greatness of mAmnugaL’s kalaksEpa

goshTI , he forgot to add thIrtha parimaLam to the theertham. Annan was scared

when he went to PerumAl . But to his surprise he was asked how the theertham was

so fragrant! It was mAmunigaL’s vaibhavam had made the water fragrant.

 

 

 

 

 

Sloka # 11

 

Just as Siriya Tiruvadi (Hanuman) was the acharya to bring the jeevan (Sita

piratti) and the paramatma (Sri Rama) together, for us, Mamunigal descended on

this earth.

 

The tatwa in the maaricha, subaahu and taataka episodes is explained very well.

Why did He kill taataka, then kill subahau and spare Maricha? The sins

committed by us, which is due to avidya are first destroyed, like tATaka/subahu

vadhe and those sins done by us later, due to ajnAna, are sent away just

like He chased mArIcha.

 

 

 

In his upanyAsam mamunigaL used to quote both from bhagavad vishayam and shrI

Bhashyam simultaneously. Once when Annan fell at mAmunigaL’s feet , mAmunigaL

asked how he being a “bhayankara” could fall into the feet of a sadhu. Annan

replied that he was a bhayankara (fear-inducing) only to those who condemn our

sampradayam and not for shrIvaishnavAs! In sri vaishnava goshti he was a dAsan.

It is for this reason that the shishyAs of P.B.Annan swamy address themselves as

Shrivaishnava dAsan even today just like Anandanpillai sishyas address

themselves as madhurakavi dasan.

 

 

 

To be continued…

 

 

 

rAmAnuja adiyArgaL