Jeeyar's shining brilliance - Aug 28th Upanyasam

[Guest guest]

Sri:

Sri Lakshmi nrisimha parabrahmaNE nama:

Sri Lakshmi nrisimha divya paduka sevaka

srivan satakopa sri narayana yatindra

mahadesikaya nama:

 

This weeks upanyasam started with a salute to

Srimad Azhagiya Singar by Sri V. Sadagopan. He

recited the Acharya Vandhana Krithi and Acharya

Vandhana Ashtakam he had composed in honor of

the Jeeyar. HH enjoyed the recitation.

 

Then Smt Vimala Rajaji summarized the previous

upanyasam. Jeeyar commented that the short

summary was even better than His own long

upanyasam, a testimony for HH's sowlabhyam.

This quality almost makes one think of Jeeyar as

just one among us, in the same way the youngsters

of Thiruvaayppaadi thought of Sri Krishna as just

one among them.

 

Today the Jeeyar covered the first two lines of the

third paasuram,

 

" thirithanthaakilum dEvapirAnudai

kariya kOla thiru uru kaaNban naan "

 

In the above Madurakavi says if he is distracted

from the enjoyment of Nammazhvar he will delve

into the enjoyment of the Lord of Nithyasoorees in

Sri Vaikunatm. There is so much subtle meaning

buried in these two lines only HH can bring them

out by giving simple but fitting examples.

 

For instance, in the second paasuram the Azhvaar

says, " dhEvu maRRaRiyEn " (I know of no other

Lord than Nammaazhvar). Then, how come he now

says he will enjoy the Lord? On the one hand the

Azhvar says he does not know of any other Lord

than Nammaazhvar, but right on its heels he also

says he will delight in Lord Sriman Narayana. Is

this not a contradiction?

 

Some answers.

 

[1] Dedication towards an individual always

extends to those who are his/her associates.

Similarly, Madurakavi's dedication towards

Nammaazhvar extends to the Lord who is

associated with Nammaazhvar. Thus, Madhurakavi

sees the Lord only as an associate of Nammaazhvar.

 

[2] But, more interesting is the fact that even this

passage is actually a praise for Nammaazhvaar. A

bhakta will fall into the pit of Samsaram if his

dedication to the Lord is interrupted. But, from the

above passage one can clearly see that dedication

towards Acharya, if interrupted, will result in

bhagavath anubhavam. Madurakavi says that he

will enjoy the dark, beautiful, divine body if his

bhakti for Nammaazhvar is interrupted. In other

words, bhagavath bhakti is flawed due to the danger

of falling into samsara if the bhakti suffers a break.

But Acharya Bhakti is free of this flaw. Even if a

break occurs it will only lead one into bhakti for the

Lord which will in turn return him/her back to

Acharya bhakti.

 

[3] Another possibility is that Madurakavi is only

reluctantly taking up the bhakti towards the Lord

just to please Nammaazhvar. However, this leads to

another question. If he is so reluctant, why is he

describing the Lord to be " devar pirAn (Lord of

Nithyasoorees), kariya kOla (beautiful and shining

black), thiru uru (divine body with Lakshmi in the

chest). What is the need for describing the Lord in

such glowing terms.

 

The answer lies in the fact that an honest person is

obligated to describe an object truthfully, even if

he/she is not attracted to it. Srimad Azhagiya Singar

gave several examples to explain this concept. Here

is just one. Someone may appreciate the beauty and

swiftness of a cobra, but a moment later he may go

ahead and kill it. Upon seeing Madurakavi the Lord

was so pleased that He was shining with extra ordinary

beauty, (kariya kOla thiru uru) and Madurakavi simply

described it in a truthful manner, nothing more!!

 

Well, this leads to yet another question. Why was

the Lord shining with extraordinary beauty upon

seeing Madurakavi? Does he not shine this way

always. HH explained that Madurakavi is like a

honored guest, a rare visitor to the Lord, that too

from someone who is very dear to the Lord, i.e.

Nammaazhvar. Mostly Madurkavi is immersed in

Acharya bhakti, very rarely he may venture out

towards bhakti for the Lord. For example, a chaste

wife may take certain liberties with her husband and

his associates, but when a rare and honored guest

comes home, that too from her side of the family,

she will go to extraordinary lengths to make his

visit perfect. Similarly, the Lord was keen on

pleasing Madurakavi and make a good impression.

Therefore the Lord was shining with extraordinary

brilliance.

 

Like the Lord taking efforts to please Madurakavi,

our Srimad Azhagiya Singar wishes to make us

happy by making the time from HH's busy schedule

to refer to a range of commentaries by

Poorvaacharyas and giving us the essence of them

all. Like the Lord's brilliance was not even for the

sake of the Nithyasoorees, and was meant only for

Madurakavi, Azhagiya Singar's brilliance is not for

the kainkaryaparars and others in India, but just for

us residents of America.

 

If you attended the Upanyasam then you know that

Srimad Azhagiya Singar wishes to have upanyasam

every week during the remaining days of

Chaturmasyam. After the Jeeyar resumes

sancharam we cannot be sure of when and how

often we can hear Srimad Azhagiya Singar.

Therefore, please do not mind the additional

expense for the next one moneth. We will be

arranging one upanyasam per week. Please

continue to support this unique project.

 

srimad azhagiya singar thiruvadigaLE saraNam

 

-- adiyEn ramanuja dasan

 

 

p.s. this is not a complete narrative of the

upanyasam on 8/28/99. This may serve at best as a

partial summary of the 90 minute upanyasam.