SRI RANGA SRI ELECTRONIC JOURNAL _ VOL.10 / ISSUE # 08 dated 9th June 2009

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SrI:

SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha //

SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha //

SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya/

SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya//

KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava: /

SrI RanganAthO jayathu Sri Ranga Sri cha VardhathAm//

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SRI RANGA SRI VOL.10 / ISSUE # 08 dated 9th June 2009

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IN THIS ISSUE:

 

1. AZHWAARS and SWAMY DESIKAN (2.1- BhoothatthazhwAr and Swamy Desikan)

2. Srivaishnavam – Part 1

 

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ISSUES RELEASED

With this issue, about 295 Regular issues of SRS have been released

so far, apart from numerous " Special Issues " as indicated below:

27 Issues of Vol. 1

15 Issues of Vol. 2

42 Issues of Vol. 3

35 Issues of Vol. 4

28 Issues of Vol. 5

30 Issues of Vol. 6

50 Issues of Vol. 7

36 Issues of Vol. 8

27 Issues of Vol. 9 and

08 Issues of Vol. 10

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1. AzhwArs and Swamy Desikan

2.1- Bhoothatthazhwar and Swami Desikan

[ by Sri U Ve Kotthimangalam Gopalachakravartthi Swami]

 

Swamy Desikan in prabandha saaram says:

 

You are like the protecting deity (kaaval deivam) of Thirudan mallai divya

desam! BhoothatthAzhwarE! You appeared in the star of avittam in the month of

aippasi, and shared the corridor on the divya desam of Thirukkoviloor along with

Poikai and Pey azhwArs in the midnight darkness and to your delight, the Lord

appeared in your midst. You had composed 100 verses beginning with anbE

thagaLiyA in anthAthi style. Please bless me with those 100 verses for me to

understand their intricacies.

 

In the end of Prabandha saram, Swami says every azhwar's name and the respective

verses of theirs are the tools that would save us from the samsaaric

afflictions. They are our life saviours.

 

Srimad Rahayasyathraya saram beginning – in Guruparamparasaram, Swamy Desikan

mentions that:

 

poorvOthpathrEshu bhoothEshu thEshu thEshu kalow Prabhu:

anupraviSya kuruthE yathsamihitham achuytha: ||

 

Through the roopams of Parankusa, Parakala (Nammazhwar and Thirumangai azhwar et

al) the Lord dwelled in them by entering into them (anupravEsam) took ten

avathArams (abhinava dasAvathAram of ten azhwArs) in order to save the world,

and to make sakala veda artthamas easily available aand understandable in Tamil

language for everyone (including women- who are not qualified to study Vedas).

 

Thus from Poikai, Bhoothattazhwar, the ten azhwars are the avathArams of

Bhagawan Himself.

 

In Srimad Rahasyathrayasaram., in Guruparamparasara verse,

 

poykaimunipoothatthaar pEyaazhvaar thaN

porun^alvarunkurukEsan vittusiththan

thuyyakulasEkaran nampaaNan^aathan

thoNdaradippodimazhisaivantha sOthi

vaiyamellaam maRaiviLanka vaaLvElEnthum

mankaiyarkOnenRivar_kaL makizhnthu paadum

seyya thamizh maalaikaL naam theLiya vOthith

theLiyaatha maRai nilankaL theLikinROmE.

 

TheLiyAdha maRainilangaL theLiginROmE- says Swami,. The otherwise difficult and

terse vedic statements get crystal clear thorugh the great divine works of

azhwars who have crystal clear jnAnam as bequeathed to them by the Lord.

(mayarvaRa mathinalam aruLappetravargaL)

 

Srimad Rahasyathraya saram- SwanishtAbhignAna adhikAram while explaining the

Purushaartha kaashtai, Swami in addition to referring to Mahabharatha Shanthi

Parvam, refers to Bhoothatthazhwar Sreeesukthi

 

BhUtatthAzhwAr says: (IraNdaam Thiruvanthaathi- 45 th pAsuram)

 

uLandhu enRu iRumaavaar uNdillai enRu

thaLardhanalathanarugum saaraar- aLvariya

vEdatthAn vEmkatatthAn viNNOr mudi thOyum

paadhatthAn pAdham paNinndhu

 

Yet another instruction to us! Let us not jump to the skies, if we (are blessed

to) get some thing (like getting a pay hike; or some bonus; a promotion,

whatever-); nor shall we feel depressed and feel remorse and cry should we miss

any thing. We should always think that everything is Bhagavath sankalpam. When

does one get sucha manObhAvam (such balanced bent of mind)? azhwAr says: It will

come to only those who have surrenederd to the Lotus Feet of the Lord Sriya:

Pathi Sriman Narayanan- The Lord of Vedas- ThiruvEmakatatthaan- Srinivasan (at

whose Feet one can see the crowns of Nithyasooris).

 

Thus, those who are devotees of Thirumalai Sreenivasan, and have surrendered to

His Lotus Feet, would not get overjoyed when getting wealth; nor would they

despair when it goes off. They would be in perfect balanced state of mind as

everything is Bhagavath sankalpam.

 

More on this – in next issue.

 

AzhwAr EmperumAnAr Desikan ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo narayana

Narayana dAsan madhavakkannan

 

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2. SRIVAISHNAVAM – Part 1

 

It is my humble attempt to jot down all that I have heard and read about Sri

VaishNavam. Though it is nothing new for our group, all of these topics have

been covered sometime or the other, it is still my sincere intent to reach the

beginners and novices like me who are just in Kinder gardens of Sri VaishNavam;

I have attempted to translate from Oppiliappan Koil Navaneetham Swami Sri UVe VN

Gopaladesikan Swami's booklet on Srivaishnavam with my free translation; It is

most likely to have errors; Please forgive me; It is all mine; any positive and

good points in them- the credit goes to Swami's write up and our rich

traditions/scriptures. (It is requested that we should stick and abide by what

our scriptures and AchAryALs say to the greatest possible

extent). I have added some additional comments.

 

Introduction

 

There are lots and lots of lives on this earth. Human beings, Animals, birds,

insects, trees, plants, creepers, etc., etc., - there are so many varieties of

lives living in this world. Every day- every minute, there are so many births of

such lives and so are deaths.

 

After taking so many lives (they say about 8,400,000 lives), we have

come to this human life. Avvayaar, The Tamil poet, says : " aridhu aridhu

maanidaraayp piRatthal aridhu " - It is extremely rare and precious to be born of

human being. It is quite true that it is our fortune to be born a human being

with the capacity of sixth sense. Let us make use of it for our upliftment

further. What is good and bad- what to do and what not to do- only human beings

are blessed with such discriminating capabilities- We have been given that

capacity by Emperumaan. Shall we not make full use of it?

 

Bhagyam:

 

Even out of human beings, it is our pUrva janma puNyam and that of our ancestors

for our being SrivaishNavAs. There are so many religions in the world; Even in

Hindu religion, there are many sects; and there are hindus who worship many

dEvatAs as their Gods. But it is not a polythiestic religion- if one studies

carefully.

 

For us SrivaishNavAs, Sriman NarayaNan along with His consort Sri

MahAlakshmi alone is the God (Deivam). He is the Primordial Chief. He is the

Chief of all dEvAs, including Sivan and BrahmA. Vedas proclaim that Sriman

NarayaNan is the ParamAthmA, PeramporuL and ParanjOthi. VedAs also say that

except Him all including dEvas, Sivan, BrahmA and Indran are all jIvans. Being

born a SrivaishNavA and/or a bhakthA of Sriman NarayaNA, we need not worship

other devatAs. We are related to the Great King Himself; why to go and beg the

army chief, minister or the Gate keeper? No doubt, all dEvAs are also His great

bhaktAs sometime or the other; but they are NOT God. Sriman Narayanan is the

God.

 

VedAs and SaastrAs say that even to think of Sivan and BrahmA and other dEvas as

equal to God is a great sin (mahApaapam). For that matter,

Sivan and BrahmA themselves are great bhaktAs of Sriman NarayaNA. I am sure They

themselves DO NOT RELISH being considered anywhere near the Adhimoolam- The

Primordial Chief. When GajEndrA shouted for help

" AdhimoolamE! " it is NOT any name of God-please note! It is just calling the

Primordial Chief, the first one- the Parathvam! Nobody dared come claiming for

" Adhimoolam " post, it is our Sweet Lord Sriya: Pathi Sriman Naraynan who

appeared IMMDEIATELY on GarudA and saved the elephant. You may tell that it is

only the name and rose by any name

will smell as sweet. But it is vEdAs (which are eternal and

apaurushEyam) that proclaim that Sriman Naraynana is the Supreme

Godhead. It is not just a name. It is kaaraNa peyar; name with a meaning in it;

naaram + ayaNam is Narayanan. Hence, we should worship only Sriman Narayanan.

Even uttering His name alone will yield tremendous benefits both in this world

and in the next. (the Parama BhakthA of Sriman NarayaNA, Sivan, when he himself

tells Parvathi to utter Rama naamam, which is equal to the Thousand names of

VishNu.)

 

For us, only vEdAs are the moola pramaaNam. (The proof). VedAs were not created

by anybody. They are apaurushEyam. Vedas proclaim the Glories of Emperumaan

Sriman NarayaNan.

 

Regards

 

Namo narayana

dAsan

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