Kaimkarya Thilakam Award - For Sri Srinivasa Gopalan (Uppili Swamin) of Sri Vanamamalai Mutt. - 2006

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Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

Srimath Varavara Munaye Nama:

Dear SriVaishnava Bhagavathas,

Kindly accept adiyen's humble pranam. Adiyen is delighted to learn that Sri.Uppili Swamin is presented with the Kaimkarya Thilakam Award by Sri Ramanuja Mission. Adiyen met Uppili swami only once during the Mamunikal TN Celebrations in WDC 2005. It is his simplicity inspite of his profound knowledge that attracted me more.

Adiyen would like to narrate a small incident at this time. This happened sometime in Oct.2005 before even adiyen met Uppili swami. We were chanting Ramanuja Nootrandhadhi in tele-bridge and Uppili swami was also a member of that goshti. Adiyen was not good in the right metering and was putting wrong stress on the words (In Tamil "nedil" and "kuril" requires slightly different phonetic extensions). The phone quality was so bad and none of us was able to hear the rest of the goshti clearly. However, at the end of the chanting Uppili swami correctly said that someone is putting wrong emphasis on "nedil" and "kuril" and adiyen was the culprit and was stunned by his observance. This is an indication of Uppili swamin's exemplary talent.

Adiyen pray to the Divya Thambathis to bless Uppili swami with kaimkaryam eternally.

Samastha Parivaraya, Sarvamangala Vigrahaya Srimathe Narayanaya Nama:

Adiyen

Ramanuja Dasan

Azhvar Emberumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadikale Saranam

Jeeyar Thiruvadikale Saranam

 

Pattangi <danp (AT) uic (DOT) edu> wrote: Sri:

 

Humble pranam to all devotees of the LORD:

 

Sub: Kaimkarya Thilakam Awarded by Sri Ramanuja Mission, Inc.,

with blessings from HH Sri Rangaramanuja Mahadesikan

for Sri Srinivasa Gopalan (Uppili Swamin) of Sri Vanamamalai Mutt. - 2006

==========================================================

Lord blesses all individuals with some skill or the other,

but some people go beyond others to serve without expecting any

name, fame or benefit.

 

Sri Uppili Swamin (Sri Srinivasa Gopalan) is one such rare devotee

who is not known to many of the readers in this list.

Adiyen is taking it upon myself to write a little about this rare devotee.

 

He is truly a blessing for all those who seek to learn to chant the Arulicheyal

(the 4000 verses), Stotra Padam, or the Yajur Vedam.

 

At a very young age he had by-hearted the 4000, Stotra Padam and Yajur Vedam.

He was looked upon by many elders as one of the budding talents for our

sampradayam at a very young age.

 

=> His services: Poliga Poliga Poliga!

* Being the only person, or one of the few (maybe vegas Sri Kazhiyur Narayanan etc) that i know of in the US

who is teaching after learning fully in the traditional style both the samskritha and dravida vedam.

* Teaching others to chant correctly, with the correct pronunciations and intonation.

day after day, week after week, without expecting anything in return. (for the past 7+ years)

* The sincerity and quality of his teaching as evidenced by his students.

eg: Adiyen was the recipient of his teaching for a few portions. For ThiruVai sessions, because he did

not have any day time, he volunteered his time at 6 am to do Thiruvai and polish my chanting (one on one)

of UpadesaRatthina malai and Kovil Thiruvaimozhi.

Six am for a Gruhastha with Kids and regular job in the US.

That is the sincerity and dedication that all his students are blessed with Sri Uppili Swami as the teacher.

He continued to teach this class for a few weeks till he was satisfied of the end result.

Unfortunately i am so far away from him (Wdc) in Chicago to make use of this god given opportunity.

But there are many blessed students in the DC area and other over the telebridge

who benefit from his teaching for the past seven years.

 

=> His Humility:

Though adiyen had heard of sri Uppili Swamin in 1996, the stalwart from Sri.Vanamamalai Mutt,

Adiyen was fortunate to meet sri Uppili Swamin only in 1998 when we took part in Dhivyaprabhandotsavam in WDC

conducted by Sri Venkatesan Iyyengar over a thanksgiving weekend.

Apart from Sri Venkatesan Iyyengar the only other person without any book in the Goshti was

sri Uppili Swamin. Adiyen introduced him to other devotee friends as sri U.Ve Uppili Swamin,

and he stopped me from using U.Ve, saying even though i heave learnt all this, i am just a tape-recorder

who can reproduce everything i have learnt, please do NOT prefix me with me U.Ve etc. Such is his humility.

 

=> His Chanting: Even though he was a student of Dr. U.Ve. M.A.Venkatakrishnan Swami, whose rendition of the

4000 is the most popular version which i love and own a copy . For those of us who have heard Sri Uppili chant, we can say for sure this

rendition of Arulicheyal is at par to his master. Every time we hear him chant at the temple,

the mukhollasam on the Lord's face is so beautiful to witness.

Adiyen does not have a handy version with his chanting, but here is a sample of him leading the thiruvaimozhi

goshti at W-DC Mamunikal TN in 2005.

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2001485717307322064&q=vedics

 

Sri Uppili Swamin is the one leading the goshti (on the right hand side of the Lord) with his little son by his side.

he is seen 20 seconds into the video. (Please notice the lord and Acharyas smile)

 

All the services he is blessed to perform for the community i.e teaching arulicheyal and stotra padam,

in person and over the tele-bridge, would not be possible without the support of his wife, Amina.

With her support and sacrifices week after week, Sri Uppili Swamin is able to serve all the interested devotees.

 

The award being conferred on him is the most apt, as he is truly dedicated to serving the community.

This recognition of his Kaimkaryam to our community by Ramanuja Mission of

HH Srimath Periyandavavan of Srirangam is a fitting and apt award.

 

Azhvar Emberumanar Jeeyar ThiruvadigalE sharanam

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan

Mukundan Vangkipuram Pattangi

 

http://www.radioramanuja.com http://www.vedics.net

 

Azhvar EmberumAnAr JeeyAr ThiruvadigalE Saranam

http://www.vedics.net

 

 

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