Andavan Ashramam Acharya Guru Parampara - 13

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Srimathe Ranga Ramanuja Maha Desikaya NamahaSri Ranganatha Divya Mani Padhukabhyam Namaha

Acharya parampara of Srimath Andavan Ashramam continues in this posting with the second part of Life History of Srimath Srimushnam Andavan - Sri Ranga Ramanuja Mahadesikan.

Srirangam Srimath Andavan Ashramam has been the center for spreading ”The philosophy of VisistAdvaitA “ which is a very ancient one having come down to us through ages as an unbroken tradition. It has the authority of eternal vEdas, Upanishads, in Sanskrit and Divya Prabhandams in Tamil, as well as the Lord’s own words “PancharAthra”. It is the true Philosophy of religion unassailable , dear to Divya dampathis , dear to seers , dear to Alwars and Acharyas.

 

His holiness initiated efforts to spread this message of Srivaishnavism and Prapathi margam founded and propagated by Sri Bhagavath Ramanuja and nurtured by Sri Nigamantha Mahadesika several centuries ago and performed samasrayanam and saranagathi to thousands of sishyas. His Holiness Offered Mangalasasanams to the Divya Dampathis of most of the 108 Divya Desams, imparted Grantha Chathustya Kalakshepams and Anugraha Bhashanams to countless audiences.

 

In Bhagavath Geetha ,

Chapter7-16 Lord Krishna says to ArjunA

“ChathurvidhA bhajanthE mAm janA: sukruthinOrjunA

ArthO jignAsurarthArthi GnAni cha bharatharshabha;”

 

(Four types of devotees of noble deeds worship me

 

1. The seeker after worldly possession,

2. afflicted,

3. the seeker of knowledge, and

4.man of wisdom, Gnani, oh, best of Bharathas)

 

Chap 7-17

ThEsham Gnani nithyayuktha Eka bhakthir vishishyathE

PriyO hi GnaninOthyartham aham cha mama priya:

 

(Of these, the best is man of wisdom (Gnani) ever established in identity with me and possessed exclusive devotion for me , I am extremely dear to Gnani, and gnani is extremely dear to me)

 

Acharyas are Gnanis , who are dearer to God. Acharyas dispel the darkness of mind and enlighten with knowledge for which even God himself cannot find substitute as repayment,for the matchless upakaram the Acharya has done, as quoted by Swamt Desikan in “Yetri manathezhil” in 38th pasuram of Adhikara Sangraham.Praising Acharya’s glory retaining Acharyas teachings in mind, and spreading AcharyAs greatness etc. are only very very small and insignificant, when compared to the greatest help, the Acharya has done to the sishya earlier.

 

It is our purva janma punyam that we have our Acharya to guide us in the righteous path to spread the fragrance of Arulicheyals and Divya sukthis of Alwars and purvacharyas and philosophy of Visihtadvaita, tarvelling far and wide throughout the country.Sishyas and Abhimanis living abroad in USA UK, Middle east, Singapore and Australia are blessed by His Tele –Upanyaasams every month for the last 6 years. His holiness is a Charismatic mentor, and his soulabyam, souselyam and His impartiality etc. won the appreciation of several thousands of his sishyas.

 

The following are some of the many Hymns authored by His Holiness Srimushnam Andavan which were composed more than 30 years ago in His purvasramam.

 

1. VeerAchala Sri RAmachandra SuprabhAtham (This work is sung in praise of Sri Ramar At Veerachalam. Veerachalam is a place in present day Andhra pradesh where Srimath Andavan Swamy served as a Sanskrit professor for many years.)

 

2. Prapanna Navaneetham (In this sthothram, the first letter of each slokam is highlighted. All the highlighted letters if read in a sequence gives a very special meaning pertaining to the sthothram)

 

3. PanchAnana PanchAmrutham

 

4. Krishna ThArakam (In this sthothram, the first letter of each slokam is highlighted. All the highlighted letters if read in a sequence gives a very special meaning, “Pranava kAra” in this case.)

 

5. VAkyAnvayAdhikarana vishayaha

 

6. PAdukavihAra sabhA prabhAvaha (This was composed by our Swamy on the greatness of PadukA vihAra sabhaconducted regularly. It was the 29th sabha on which he wrote this work and some mathematics in the slokams enshrined in this sthothram yield the number 29. In the last slokam, Swamy uses a special variant of rhythm known as "PadachaturUrdhvAbhidam vruttam".)

 

His Holiness is not only continuing what had commenced during the time of Poorvacharyas but also adding to the same and expanding the activities which are mentioned below.

 

His Holiness took up the project of building Brindavanams for HH Srimath Thirukkudanthai Andavan and HH srimath Mysore Andavan and renovated Brindavanams of other poorvacharyas for which samprokshanam took place in 1990.

 

H.H. also built Ashramams at aurangabad, Azhvar Thirunagari, KR koil st (west Mambalam Chennai), Secunderabad , Oppiliappan Koil, Royampettai, srimishnam, Sripuram, (Bangalore)Thirumalai, Thiruchanur, Thiruvahindrapuram, Thiruppullani, Vaduvoor, (1 & 2). HH named the the vaduvoor Ashramam as “Sri sakshath swamy Mandapam” which accommodates Veda patasala for 30 students as of now. Renovation of Ashram Structures at CHENNAI, Jayanagar, Kanchipuram, Kumbakonam, Melkote, Rishikesh, and Secondrabad, (maarappalli) were also done by HH Srimath srimushnam Andavan.

 

Construction of Sannidhi for Gopalarya Maha Desikan,(1700-1783)-Munitraya Siddhantha Sthapanacharyar, on his 301st birthday at his birth place Royampettai. Construction of Kalyana Mandapamat Ashramam premises in Kanchipuram for the convenience of devotees.

 

Constructions /Renovation of of temples, at

Dombiville, Jayanagar, Kadal-mangalam,Kurugaikavalappan koil, New Delhi, Perumpetrapuliur, Sripuram, Thirukkandiyur, Uthiramerrur also took place during the past 15 years.

 

Starting of Veda Patasalas, at Vaduvoor, Kanchipuram, Thiruchanur, thiruvahindapuram and SriMushnam. Starting of Aghama sAstra training, for the students at Srirangam patasala , nominating Koothapakkam Kannamachariar to train and award dheekshas, to deserving students.

 

 

 

Srimad Andavan arts and science college: H.H. being a learned scholar and a teacher by profession before adorning the peetam, has a strong faith that Education, should reach the downtrodden irrespective of cast ,creed or sex, paved way for funding this temple of education,declared open by The President of India Dr. Sankar Dayal sarma on 26th Oct 1996 which has 1250 students and 80 faculty members now that will upgrade as Deemed to be University with in 8 years.

 

Kalyanapuram R. Aravamudhachariar, Asthana Vidvan,Srimad Andavan Ashram under the advice of HH set up Harikatha training for students as optional in 2002 and 21 students were undergoing training.

 

HH has offered a Vajra kavacham for Perumal at sripuram temple in Bangalore

 

HH under His direct supervision made the utsava moorthies of sri Bhashyakarar and sri Rukmani sathyabhama sametha sri Venugopalan and sent them to USA for performing Thirumanjanam and Dolothsavam respectively for the grahams of Sevarthees.

 

A silver lined wooden simhasanam costing 3.5 lakhs, was offered by His Holiness to Thooppul Desikan during Purattasi Thiruvonam in 2001.

 

Installation of new utsava Moorthy costing about 1 lakh at Vaikundanathji Mandir in New Delhi.

 

Starting of a fund for offering Nithya Thatheeyaradhanam to the devotees visiting the Andavan Ashram at Thirumalai and Kanjipuram during Brahmothsavam and so on.

 

Starting of a corpus fund for the maintenance of Ashram establishment that includes emoluments for the kainkarya paras, Life Insurance for them and their family etc.

 

As perazhvar syas “Pallandu Pallandu” to perumal , let us pray to the Divya Dampathis for blessing our Acharya, Srimadh Srimushnam Andavan –Sri Ranga Ramanuja Maha Desikan for longevity with good health to guide us all in years to come.

In the next posting adiyen will continue with notes on our purvacharyas' sri bhashya, rahasya and bhagavath vishaya parampara

Srimath Andavan Thiruvadi

P. Sreenivasan (of Besant Nagar)

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