Bhagavad Ramanuja Vaibhavam- 1.36- Alavandhar's praise of Sriman nAthamuni (his grand father)

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika Mahadesikaya namah:

 

Dearest srivaishnavas,

 

Alavandhar starts off stotra rathnam vesres

by meditating and praising with three verses

on Sriman nAThamuni – the Acharya who removed the

weeds of other religions and established the

Paramaarrtham- Srivaishnava doctrine in philosophical

aspects as well as religious aspects. Can one pay his

obeisance to Acharya’s Acharya [prAchArya] without

starting off first on Acharyan namely maNakkaal nambhi

himself.. ? The saasthrAs say that when both of them

are together, first the prAchArya needs to be

prostrated to. In this case that does not arise. When

Acharyan himself is not in the front, one can surely

start off with prAchArya. But the fact is Alavandhar

never mentioned about maNakkaal nambhi at all in this

sthOthra. Sri UttamUr Swamy writes: Is there any

compulsion for that? No. When there are 10 AzhwArs,

Alavandhar mentioned only NammAzhwAr [5] and with so

many sages, he praised only Sage Parasarar [4]. He

touches upon only key ones probably. Similarly here

too. Further, in order to get Acharya sambandham, the

sishya remember that the grace of prAchArya (Acharya’s

Acharya]on Acharya is essential and thus prAchArya

sambandham is more important. Especially for

Alavandhar, PrAchArya sambandham (nAthamuni) is first

and foremost as he was the grand father of Sri

Alavandhar. Sri Ramamisrar (Manakkaal Nambhi) only

followed the instructions and niyamanam of Acharya

Sriman Nathamuni through UyyakkoNdaar that Alavandhar

needs to be brought back to the light of our

Sampradayam from his royal life. This is similar to

Alavandhar instructing Periya Nambhi to bring back

Ramanuja to the Sampradayam. Also it may be possible

that Sri Manakkaal Nambhi himself would have

instructed Alavandhar not to mention his (Manakaal

nambhi’s) in future in any works, with an apprehension

that such a mention would amount to equalting him with

Sriman nAThamuni and nowhere should his name be

mentioned, though Guru paramapara anusandhaanam should

be recited every time. It is the utter humility of our

Poorvacharyas.

 

Also it is appropriate to mention few of Acharyas

alone in Guru parampara anusandhanam and one need not

enlist everyone in Acharya lineage as is generally the

practice and hence there is absolutely nothing wrong

in that- says Sri Uttamur Swamy. Thus it is natural

for Alavandhar to praise Sriman Naathamuni-

establishes Sri Uttamur Swamy beautifully quoting

Swamy Desikan’s bhAshyam on Sthothra rathnam.

 

Three slokas on Sriman Nathamuni also may refer to his

three Acharyas in the lineage order-namely, Sriman

Nathamuni, Sri PundareekAkshar [sri Uyyakkondaar] and

Sri Ramamisrar[ Sri Manakkaal nambhI]. Since birth,

Sriman Nathamuni had been the cause hence the first

sloka; Being a praachaarya is the second sloka; and

his merciful benevolent act for the lOkOpakAram (for

the sake of the world) is the third sloka.

 

First verse- Sriman Nathamuni is the repository of

jnAna, VairAgya and Bhakti- says Alavandhar.

 

namO(S)cinthya adhbhutha akliShta j~nAna vairAgya rAshayE |

nAThAya munayE agADha bhagavadh bhakthi sinDhavE ||

 

acinthya - beyond understanding;

adhbhutha – Ascharya [mysterious, marvellous, wonderful;

akliShta – effortlessly acquired by God's grace;

j~nAna, vairagya, rAsayE- personification of knowledge, detachment together

agADha bhagavadh bhakthi sindhavE– deep ocean of greatest devotion on Sriman

Narayanan;

nAthAya munayE- to Sage, Saint nAThamuni

nama: - my offering prostrations, paying obeisance.

 

How did he ever get this jnAnam? How much jnAnam does

he have? – however many times or ways one analyses, no

answer. Not understood. Thus such extent of jnAnam,

the manner in which the jNAnam was acquired, is beyind

understanding, it is athi Ascharyam- most wonderful,

marvellous, and excellent never heard or seen in the

world. It is rarest and hence apoorvam; athi

Ascharyam. Hence is addressed as aklishtam. Also it is

not acequired with hard work or penance; it is

effortless due to the grace of the Lord, like Sanaka,

Sanathkumaras. It is the acquisition of jnAnam with

complete accordance with saasthrAs, running no where

haywire towards other religions, looking for the

correct philosophy. Not a single word is understood by

Sriman nAtha muni is wrong manner; everything in

tandem with saasthrAs and thus effortless, so

naturally acquired. Thus, there is no decaying or

change in his jnAnam and always consistent and

coherent- not contradicting any other word in

saaathrAs, when one word or statement is understood.

And such a characteristic is also due to his greatest

vairAgyam [detachment and renunciation] as well; Due

to such rarest Para, avara tattva jnAnam, he is able

to take his mind away from worldly pleasures,

materialistic pursuits and hence jnAna, vairAgyam are

both essential and are found in Sriman nATHamuni as

the embodiment of both of them in one lot.

 

Thus on lower tattvams, he has vairAgyam, and on Para

tattvam, love and focus with paripoorna jnAnam and

hence bhakti is flooded in his heart for Sriman

Narayanan. Thus he becomes the repository of deep

ocean of great bhakti towards Sriman Narayanan and to

such greatest sage, Saint Sriman nAThamuni- I pay my

namaskarams says Sri Alavandhar. He is called RanganAthan;

shortly called as nAThan; nAThan- as he is nAThan [master]

for all of us. How blessed am I to be born in his family!-

Enjoys Sri Alavandhar on his birth as Sri NAthamuni’s grand son.

 

More of Alavandhar's on Nathamuni- in next posts

 

Sri NathamunigaL ThiruvadigaLE saraNam

 

Regards

namo narayana

dAsan