Sri UpakAra Sangraham Part - 3

December 8, 2007

srI: Dear bhAgavatha-s adiyEn herewith sbmits the third Part of SrI UpakAra Sangraham:- srI: SrI upakAra sangraham – 3 --- adikAram – 1 poorva upakAra paramparai (The Foremost Series of Favours) -- {Note:- Before going into the main text of this grantha, it is but necessary that we must recall the un-paralleled kainkaryam rendered by the ubhayavedAntha scholar, the late SrI VangIpuram SrIrAmadesikAchAryar SwAmi of SrI Oppiliyappan Sannidhi. It was he who brought to

the modern world SwAmi Desikan’s SrImad Rahasyatraya-sAram and other Rahasya-granthas. His contribution was the enormous notes in simple Tamil explaining the expressions of Swami Desikan, and the detailed appendix-s. SrIrAmadesikAchAryar imbibed his sAstric knowledge from his illustrious father, SrI KrishnamAchArya SwAmi, popularly known as “Navaneetam SwAmi”. SrI SrIrAmadesikAchAryar was a Siromani in Sanskrit and a VidvAn in Tamil of the Madras University, “but these distinctions give but a poor indication his great natural talent, or of the depth and intensity of his wide learning in the classical and religious literature, in Sanskrit and Tamil, preserved to us through the centuries. ….He has written his commentary in simple, easy, flowing Tamil

which any one can comprehend without extrinsic aid. He has labpoured hard to make the meaning of the text as plain as possible, indeed to make I speak to us in our own language.” (from the Foreword by the Hon’ble Justice K.S.Krishnaswami Iyengar, to “Sri Desika Prapandam”, First Edition – 1944) SrI SrIrAmadesikAchAyar, a recipient of the President’s Award for Scholars, brought out two volumes of Chillarai Rahasyams, but ascended to Paramapadam before he could publish the third one to which this UpakAra Sangraham belongs. With the elaborate notes left by him, the third volume was published by Sri PoundarIkapuram srImadAndavan Asramam, Srirangam in 1995. It is only but fitting to pay our respects and

pranAmams to this swAmi.} --- swami desikan begins this Chillarai Rahasyam, “SrI UpakAra sangraham” with a Tamil pAsuram saying “we surrender at the feet of ThirumAl by the grace of Sri nammAzhwAr. Now, the pAsuram: (The Tamil text is withdrawn as many members may not have the relevant Tamil font) anthamilA pErinbam aruntha ERkum adiyOmai aRivudanE endRum kAtthu munthai-vinai niraivazhiyil ozhugAthemmai munnilaiyAm dEsikar-tham munnE cErtthu manthiramum manthiratthin vzhiyum kAtti vazhippadutthi vAn EtRi adimaikoLLa thanthaiyena

nindRa thanith thirumAl thALil thalai vaitthOm satkOpan aruLinAlE. Meaning:- We pay our praNAmams at the feet of SrIman nArAyanan, who has no parallel for the various favours He did to all of us, considering us as His own children, step-by-step to enable us to ascend to His abode, that is, Paramapadam. In this effort, we have been gracefully helped by Sri NammAzhwAr, who is known as “

SatakOpan”. Detailed explanation:- anthamilA pErinbam – The greatest bliss is being with the Lord in SrIvaikuntam. It is immeasurable by way of quantity, quality and duration of time. aruntha ERkum adiyOmai

– we, the dAsa-s, are fully entitled to enjoy that kind of bliss of Moksham. Here, aruntha means ‘drink’, but its deep significance is ‘enjoying’ or ‘experiencing’. ERkum - - accepting. Hence, it excludes those who are not prepared to accept the bliss. Such souls are many, indulging in material benefits in this world and also those who want to enjoy better benefits supposedly available in heaven, the world of the devAs. Both these are limited in terms of quantity, quality and duration, in contrast to the bliss in Paramapadam. adiyOmai -- The Lord can help only those who are prepared to seek the ultimate without falling into the

trap of worldly pleasures. Such people are called ‘seshas’, devoted to serve only the Lord, and His devotees alone (bhAgavatha-s) without an iota of selfishness. aRivudanE endRum kAtthu – This expression of SwAmi Desikan indicates the nature of the jIva-s. a jIvan – a soul – has two aspects : a) his svaroopam, i.e. nature and b) his quality or attribute. Both are ‘gnAnam’ i.e., knowledge. A soul or AtmA’s nature is gnAnam – consciousness or knowledge. He is knowledge itself. But he also has the capacity to know, i.e., attributive knowledge. The first one is known by the Sanskrit term as “dharmik gnAnam”. It simply means that

the soul is gnAnam itself. The second – that is his quality or attributive knowledge, is called as “dharma bhootha gnAnam”. Dharma means the capacity or the quality of knowing outside, besides knowing himself. Normally we say, “I” (nAn in Tamil), that is, self-awareness for which we do not require any outside assistance. This self-knowledge is within ourselves. In addition, we have the capacity to know about the outside world around ourselves. It is in technical term, “dharmabootha gnAnam”. The two aspects are gifted to us by the Lord out of His mercy on a permanent basis, though He has the power to remove them, but does not as it is His sankalpam. Not only is He providing us these two, but also protecting us from losing these aspects. munthai-vinai niraivazhiyil ozhugAthemmai --- emmai – us. munthai nirai vazhiyil

ozhugAthu -- not continuing the older path which has been there from time immemorial. All of us are generally following or treading the same path in this world as we have been. Since when? It cannot be known as it is a very long journey through countless thousands of repeated births in this world. For reason known only to Him, the Lord extends the helping hand purely out of causeless mercy to make us discontinue the earlier path. Because, the path hither-to we have been following is like floating in a river without able to reach the shore, but with the risk of drowning too. The Lord’s helping hand prevents it and diverts us to wards the shore. munnilaiyAm dEsikar-tham munnE cErtthu -- The Lord brings us to the AchAryas who have come forward and are in readiness to help us. manthiramum manthiratthin vzhiyum kAtti -- Here, “manthiram” is thirumanthiram which is taught by the AchAryAs to their disciples in an exclusive manner uttering it in our ears in secrecy. {This is done during “upanayanam” or during “pancha samskAram” or “samAsryanam” conducted by the AchAryas. Without stopping at merely uttering the manthram, they teach us the significance of the manthram and the means of bhakti or surrender (prapatthi) as well. vazhippadutthi -- the Lord make the AchAryas also to guide us how to practice the means for our spiritual uplift. vAn Etri -- Here by “vAn”, SwAmi Desikan means Srivaikuntam, i,e, Paramapadham. “Etri” means, uplifting to His world, the Paramapadam. adimaikoLLa – to accept the

service from us. thanthaiyena nindra -- He stands like our Father by doing all these favours to us, (unlike our worldly fathers). thanith thirumAl thALil -- “thirumAl” – the Lord SrIman nArAyaNan with whom always remains Sri Lakshmi pirattiyAr. “thALil” - - at His feet thalai vaitthOm satkOpan aruLinAlE. — with the grace of Sri namAzhvAr, who is also known as Satakopan, we laid our head by prostrating at the feet of the Lord. SwAmi Desikan mentions the name of the AzhwAr, as he is going to give a commentary of the First pAsuram of the AzhwAr’s first srIsookthi, “thiruvruttham”. (to continue) dAsan Anbil SrInivAsan. -----

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December 8, 2007

SrI:

For the benefit of those , who might have missed Parts I & II.

These postings will appear in Oppiliappan , Malolan and

Saranagathy e-lists .

Daasan , V.Sadagopan

****************************************************

srI:

Dear bhAgavatha-s adiyEn herewith submits the third Part of SrI UpakAra

Sangraham:-

SrI upakAra sangraham - 3

---

adikAram - 1

poorva upakAra paramparai

(The Foremost Series of Favours)

--

{Note:- Before going into the main text of this grantha, it is but

necessary that we must recall the un-paralleled kainkaryam rendered by the

ubhayavedAntha scholar, the late SrI VangIpuram SrIrAmadesikAchAryar SwAmi

of SrI Oppiliyappan Sannidhi. It was he who brought to the modern world

SwAmi Desikan's SrImad Rahasyatraya-sAram and other Rahasya-granthas. His

contribution was the enormous notes in simple Tamil explaining the

expressions of Swami Desikan, and the detailed appendix-s.

SrIrAmadesikAchAryar imbibed his sAstric knowledge from his illustrious

father, SrI KrishnamAchArya SwAmi, popularly known as " Navaneetam SwAmi " .

SrI SrIrAmadesikAchAryar was a Siromani in Sanskrit and a VidvAn in Tamil

of the Madras University, " but these distinctions give but a poor indication

his great natural talent, or of the depth and intensity of his wide learning

in the classical and religious literature, in Sanskrit and Tamil, preserved

to us through the centuries. ..He has written his commentary in simple,

easy, flowing Tamil which any one can comprehend without extrinsic aid. He

has labpoured hard to make the meaning of the text as plain as possible,

indeed to make I speak to us in our own language. " (from the Foreword by the

Hon'ble Justice K.S.Krishnaswami Iyengar, to " Sri Desika Prapandam " , First

Edition - 1944)

SrI SrIrAmadesikAchAyar, a recipient of the President's Award for

Scholars, brought out two volumes of Chillarai Rahasyams, but ascended to

Paramapadam before he could publish the third one to which this UpakAra

Sangraham belongs. With the elaborate notes left by him, the third volume

was published by Sri PoundarIkapuram srImadAndavan Asramam, Srirangam in

1995.

It is only but fitting to pay our respects and pranAmams to this swAmi.}

---

swami desikan begins this Chillarai Rahasyam, " SrI UpakAra

sangraham " with a Tamil pAsuram saying " we surrender at the feet of ThirumAl

by the grace of Sri nammAzhwAr. Now, the pAsuram:

(The Tamil text is withdrawn as many members may not have the relevant

Tamil font)

anthamilA pErinbam aruntha ERkum

adiyOmai aRivudanE endRum kAtthu

munthai-vinai niraivazhiyil ozhugAthemmai

munnilaiyAm dEsikar-tham munnE cErtthu

manthiramum manthiratthin vzhiyum kAtti

vazhippadutthi vAn EtRi adimaikoLLa

thanthaiyena nindRa thanith thirumAl thALil

thalai vaitthOm satkOpan aruLinAlE.

Meaning:- We pay our praNAmams at the feet of SrIman nArAyanan, who has

no parallel for the various favours He did to all of us, considering us as

His own children, step-by-step to enable us to ascend to His abode, that is,

Paramapadam. In this effort, we have been gracefully helped by Sri

NammAzhwAr, who is known as " SatakOpan " .

Detailed explanation:-

anthamilA pErinbam - The greatest bliss is being with the Lord in

SrIvaikuntam. It is immeasurable by way of quantity, quality and duration of

time.

aruntha ERkum adiyOmai - we, the dAsa-s, are fully entitled to enjoy that

kind of bliss of Moksham. Here, aruntha means 'drink', but its deep

significance is 'enjoying' or 'experiencing'. ERkum - - accepting. Hence, it

excludes those who are not prepared to accept the bliss. Such souls are

many, indulging in material benefits in this world and also those who want

to enjoy better benefits supposedly available in heaven, the world of the

devAs. Both these are limited in terms of quantity, quality and duration, in

contrast to the bliss in Paramapadam.

adiyOmai -- The Lord can help only those who are prepared to seek the

ultimate without falling into the trap of worldly pleasures. Such people

are called 'seshas', devoted to serve only the Lord, and His devotees alone

(bhAgavatha-s) without an iota of selfishness.

aRivudanE endRum kAtthu - This expression of SwAmi Desikan indicates the

nature of the jIva-s. a jIvan - a soul - has two aspects : a) his svaroopam,

i.e. nature and b) his quality or attribute. Both are 'gnAnam' i.e.,

knowledge. A soul or AtmA's nature is gnAnam - consciousness or knowledge.

He is knowledge itself. But he also has the capacity to know, i.e.,

attributive knowledge. The first one is known by the Sanskrit term as

" dharmik gnAnam " . It simply means that the soul is gnAnam itself.

The second - that is his quality or attributive knowledge, is called as

" dharma bhootha gnAnam " .

Dharma means the capacity or the quality of knowing outside, besides

knowing himself. Normally we say, " I " (nAn in Tamil), that is,

self-awareness for which we do not require any outside assistance. This

self-knowledge is within ourselves. In addition, we have the capacity to

know about the outside world around ourselves. It is in technical term,

" dharmabootha gnAnam " .

The two aspects are gifted to us by the Lord out of His mercy on a

permanent basis, though He has the power to remove them, but does not as it

is His sankalpam. Not only is He providing us these two, but also protecting

us from losing these aspects.

munthai-vinai niraivazhiyil ozhugAthemmai --- emmai - us.

munthai nirai vazhiyil ozhugAthu -- not continuing the older path which

has been there from time immemorial. All of us are generally following or

treading the same path in this world as we have been. Since when? It

cannot be known as it is a very long journey through countless thousands of

repeated births in this world. For reason known only to Him, the Lord

extends the helping hand purely out of causeless mercy to make us

discontinue the earlier path. Because, the path hither-to we have been

following is like floating in a river without able to reach the shore, but

with the risk of drowning too. The Lord's helping hand prevents it and

diverts us to wards the shore.

munnilaiyAm dEsikar-tham munnE cErtthu -- The Lord brings us to the

AchAryas who have come forward and are in readiness to help us.

manthiramum manthiratthin vzhiyum kAtti -- Here, " manthiram " is

thirumanthiram which is taught by the AchAryAs to their disciples in an

exclusive manner uttering it in our ears in secrecy. {This is done during

" upanayanam " or during " pancha samskAram " or " samAsryanam " conducted by the

AchAryas. Without stopping at merely uttering the manthram, they teach us

the significance of the manthram and the means of bhakti or surrender

(prapatthi) as well.

vazhippadutthi -- the Lord make the AchAryas also to guide us how to

practice the means for our spiritual uplift.

vAn Etri -- Here by " vAn " , SwAmi Desikan means Srivaikuntam, i,e,

Paramapadham. " Etri " means, uplifting to His world, the Paramapadam.

adimaikoLLa - to accept the service from us.

thanthaiyena nindra -- He stands like our Father by doing all these

favours to us, (unlike our worldly fathers).

thanith thirumAl thALil -- " thirumAl " - the Lord SrIman nArAyaNan with

whom always remains Sri Lakshmi pirattiyAr.

" thALil " - - at His feet

thalai vaitthOm satkOpan aruLinAlE. - with the grace of Sri namAzhvAr, who

is also known as Satakopan, we laid our head by prostrating at the feet of

the Lord.

SwAmi Desikan mentions the name of the AzhwAr, as he is going to

give a commentary of the First pAsuram of the AzhwAr's first srIsookthi,

" thiruvruttham " .

(to continue)

dAsan Anbil SrInivAsan.

-----

December 8, 2007

SrI:

For the benefit of those , who might have missed Parts I & II.

These postings will appear in Oppiliappan , Malolan and

Saranagathy e-lists . These are individual postings that will

be assembled as an e-book in the Ahobilavalli series :

http://www.ahobilavalli.org

Daasan , V.Sadagopan

****************************************************

srI:

Dear bhAgavatha-s adiyEn herewith submits the third Part of SrI UpakAra

Sangraham:-

SrI upakAra sangraham - 3

---

adikAram - 1

poorva upakAra paramparai

(The Foremost Series of Favours)

--

{Note:- Before going into the main text of this grantha, it is but

necessary that we must recall the un-paralleled kainkaryam rendered by the

ubhayavedAntha scholar, the late SrI VangIpuram SrIrAmadesikAchAryar SwAmi

of SrI Oppiliyappan Sannidhi. It was he who brought to the modern world

SwAmi Desikan's SrImad Rahasyatraya-sAram and other Rahasya-granthas. His

contribution was the enormous notes in simple Tamil explaining the

expressions of Swami Desikan, and the detailed appendix-s.

SrIrAmadesikAchAryar imbibed his sAstric knowledge from his illustrious

father, SrI KrishnamAchArya SwAmi, popularly known as " Navaneetam SwAmi " .

SrI SrIrAmadesikAchAryar was a Siromani in Sanskrit and a VidvAn in Tamil

of the Madras University, " but these distinctions give but a poor

indication

his great natural talent, or of the depth and intensity of his wide

learning

in the classical and religious literature, in Sanskrit and Tamil, preserved

to us through the centuries. ..He has written his commentary in simple,

easy, flowing Tamil which any one can comprehend without extrinsic aid. He

has labpoured hard to make the meaning of the text as plain as possible,

indeed to make I speak to us in our own language. " (from the Foreword by

the

Hon'ble Justice K.S.Krishnaswami Iyengar, to " Sri Desika Prapandam " , First

Edition - 1944)

SrI SrIrAmadesikAchAyar, a recipient of the President's Award for

Scholars, brought out two volumes of Chillarai Rahasyams, but ascended to

Paramapadam before he could publish the third one to which this UpakAra

Sangraham belongs. With the elaborate notes left by him, the third volume

was published by Sri PoundarIkapuram srImadAndavan Asramam, Srirangam in

1995.

It is only but fitting to pay our respects and pranAmams to this swAmi.}

---

swami desikan begins this Chillarai Rahasyam, " SrI UpakAra

sangraham " with a Tamil pAsuram saying " we surrender at the feet of

ThirumAl

by the grace of Sri nammAzhwAr. Now, the pAsuram:

(The Tamil text is withdrawn as many members may not have the relevant

Tamil font)

anthamilA pErinbam aruntha ERkum

adiyOmai aRivudanE endRum kAtthu

munthai-vinai niraivazhiyil ozhugAthemmai

munnilaiyAm dEsikar-tham munnE cErtthu

manthiramum manthiratthin vzhiyum kAtti

vazhippadutthi vAn EtRi adimaikoLLa

thanthaiyena nindRa thanith thirumAl thALil

thalai vaitthOm satkOpan aruLinAlE.

Meaning:- We pay our praNAmams at the feet of SrIman nArAyanan, who has

no parallel for the various favours He did to all of us, considering us as

His own children, step-by-step to enable us to ascend to His abode, that

is,

Paramapadam. In this effort, we have been gracefully helped by Sri

NammAzhwAr, who is known as " SatakOpan " .

Detailed explanation:-

anthamilA pErinbam - The greatest bliss is being with the Lord in

SrIvaikuntam. It is immeasurable by way of quantity, quality and duration

of

time.

aruntha ERkum adiyOmai - we, the dAsa-s, are fully entitled to enjoy that

kind of bliss of Moksham. Here, aruntha means 'drink', but its deep

significance is 'enjoying' or 'experiencing'. ERkum - - accepting. Hence,

it

excludes those who are not prepared to accept the bliss. Such souls are

many, indulging in material benefits in this world and also those who want

to enjoy better benefits supposedly available in heaven, the world of the

devAs. Both these are limited in terms of quantity, quality and duration,

in

contrast to the bliss in Paramapadam.

adiyOmai -- The Lord can help only those who are prepared to seek the

ultimate without falling into the trap of worldly pleasures. Such people

are called 'seshas', devoted to serve only the Lord, and His devotees alone

(bhAgavatha-s) without an iota of selfishness.

aRivudanE endRum kAtthu - This expression of SwAmi Desikan indicates the

nature of the jIva-s. a jIvan - a soul - has two aspects : a) his

svaroopam,

i.e. nature and b) his quality or attribute. Both are 'gnAnam' i.e.,

knowledge. A soul or AtmA's nature is gnAnam - consciousness or knowledge.

He is knowledge itself. But he also has the capacity to know, i.e.,

attributive knowledge. The first one is known by the Sanskrit term as

" dharmik gnAnam " . It simply means that the soul is gnAnam itself.

The second - that is his quality or attributive knowledge, is called as

" dharma bhootha gnAnam " .

Dharma means the capacity or the quality of knowing outside, besides

knowing himself. Normally we say, " I " (nAn in Tamil), that is,

self-awareness for which we do not require any outside assistance. This

self-knowledge is within ourselves. In addition, we have the capacity to

know about the outside world around ourselves. It is in technical term,

" dharmabootha gnAnam " .

The two aspects are gifted to us by the Lord out of His mercy on a

permanent basis, though He has the power to remove them, but does not as it

is His sankalpam. Not only is He providing us these two, but also

protecting