Part II: ThiruppAvai Commentary Release Functionat Swamy Desika Bhavanam , Mylapore, Madras , October 11,2000--Part II

[Guest guest]

The Highlights of the Thiruppavai Monograph

release function & addresses of the Sri VaishNavite

Scholars on this occasion have been summarized

brilliantly by Sri Anand (Sri KomandUr AnanthapadmanAbhan).

of Chennai.

 

I am grateful to him for his kaimakryam to help us

become " eye witnesses " at this function .

 

One of the Nonbus that you would like to perform

during this Margahazhi Maasam is to purchase a copy

of this informative and scholarly monograph to enjoy

the greatness of ThiruppAvai of Andal. Swamy plans

to complete a companion monograph in Tamil on

" NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi " in future. It is our prayer

that Sriman NaarAayNan blesses Sri PerukkAraNai Swamy

with health and strength to carry on these magnificent

tasks as Kaimkaryams to the Sri VaishNavA Community

for years to come.

 

The summary of the procedings of the ThiruppAvai

release function by Sri AnanthapadmanAbhan follows

right after these introductory remarks. Please

enjoy this lovely summary by him.

 

AdiyEN , V.SatakOpan

 

 

>1. The function started with " GOdA vandanam " by

> Smt Padma VeerarAghavan and group comprising

> around 30 ladies. They sung the first and last two

> verses from SwAmi DESikan's GOdAstuthi, with taniyans

> on SwAmi DESikan, in a melodious tune composed by

> Smt Padma.

>

>2. VaravERpurai by SrI DEvanArviLAgam PadmanAbhan swAmi :

> < Dr.S.PadmanAbhan, Sanskrit Dept., University of Madras> :

>

> Greatness of " SrI DESika Bhavanam " : Constant pravachanam

> takes place from its inception through a permanent resident

vidvAn in its premises. Now, carried out by SrI P.Chakravarthi

> swAmi (SPCS) in an excellent way on grantha chatusThayams

> and other sampradAya granthams daily and regularly.

>

> Dr.PadmanAbhan Requested the swAmis SrI PuriSai KrishNamAchArya

swAmi (technically the chief Presider), SrI SEvA SrInivAsarAghavAchArya

> swAmi and SrI M.A.VEnkatakrishNan swAmi to preside over the

> function and other vidvAns to give brief upanyAsam.

>

>3. Sri PuriSai swAmi: This is a Golden day ....SwAmi has published

> this monograph with great efforts ...avatArikai itself is excellent ...

> Will be Very useful for those performing upanyAsams and also

> for rasikAs and learners. Grantha NirmAnam - Very great

> kainkaryam as an AchArya ; Distinction between " SrI " and

> " SrImatE " to AchAryas who have blessed us with granthas and

> those who haven't. Glories of InjimEttu Azhagiyasingar :

> VidvAns who have learnt under Jeeyar's sacred feet have all

> written granthas : SrI Villivalam NArAyanAchArya - Very

> scholarly VyAkyAnam for ParaMatha Bhangam; MElpAkkam

> swAmi - Many granthas including on DharmaSAstras; ThirukkaLLam

> SwAmi : Bhagavad GIta Tamil Commentary; PuRisai SwAmi :

> SrI BhAshyam in Tamil; Current Azhagiyasingar : Ahnikam

> commentary; SPCS : Many granthas ...latest ThiruppAvai vyAkyAnam.

> " SAra-SAranj~ar " Title conferred upon SPCS by SrI InjimEttu

> Azhagiyasingar. Great upanyAsakar => That style is evident in

> his writing also to capture the heart of rasikAs.

>

>4. SrI SEvA SwAmi : " Earlier I was there for SrI BhAshyam release

> also ....There is a connection between EmperumAnAr and AndAL :

> Since 'PerumpUdUr mAmunikku pinnAnAL vAzhiyE !!' ; ThiruppAvai

> Jeeyar ; AndAL SAkshAtkAram. padArtham for SwApadESam is there

> in the vyAkyAnam....Excellent grantham. This swAmi shines as

> a " Chakravarthi " in writing lengthy commentaries as well.

> For apoorva, adbhuta grantha, an aaschiryamAna vyAkyAnam. SwAmi

> has many a titles ...

>

> Info on AndAL thiruk-kalyANam is presented in the book ....

> SwAmi DESikan has performed one beautiful,crisp and wonderful

> kalyANam for AndAL in the very first verse of GOdAstuthi -

> First line : On AndAL as a girl ; Second line : As consort.

> Importance of word 'druSyAm' : Ladies referred only after their

> marriage ...With this kalyANam by SwAmi DESikan, I finish up

> my speech " .

>

>5. SrI M.A.VEnkatakrishNan swAmi <Editor of " GeethAchAryan "

> Magazine; Dept of VaishNavism, University of Madras > :

>

> This is an excellent work ...But, for the likes of me, its

> only a " dis-service " (apahAram, not upahAram) in one way.

> << The tone very jovial, yet pertinent >>.

> Because, those who buy and read this book will get to know

> so much information that they will not attend the upanyAsams

> by the likes of myself. Even if they attend, they will say

> with dissappointment " Nothing new in this upanyAsam...Already

> everything is there in swAmi's book " . In another way, its

> very much useful for the likes of me - because - Excellent

> presentation of all the salient features from various

> vyAkyAnams in a simple tamil with additional insights of

> swAmi - PadArtham for SwApadEsam etc - Makes the job of an

> upanyAsakar very easy - The material is readymade.

>

> SwAmi is well-versed in tough and terse VEdAnta and performs

> constant pravachanam of the granthas like SrI-BhAshyam. aDiyEn

> hasn't set my foot into that tough area ..well, " lack of

> time " is one thing ...but its only an excuse ...actually

> not everyone can enter and master vEdAnta SAstra .....

> We know that ThiruppAvai is " VEdam anitthukkum vitthu " ...

> But, swAmi has really shown through his mastery of VEdAnta

> as to how it is so, in each and every pAsuram ....Even for

> " adivaravu " which is merely used for recollecting the order

> of pAsurams, swAmi has rendered a vyAkyAnam as imparting

> some knowledge in vEdAnta. Our PUrvAchAryas have said that

> ThiruppAvai as a seed contains everything in the gigantic

> tree of vEdAs ( vEdam is anAdi => From the big tree of

> VEdAs, this seed of thiruppAvai has come, with all its

> essentials packed in a very small space/pAsurams " ...The

> vyAkyAnams blow-up this seed and show as to how it delievers

> the message of the tree of vEdAs ....Thats what done by

> swAmi here " .

>

> 6. Release of the first copy by SrI PuriSai swAmi ...

> SrI SAranAthan, retd General Manager, Madras Telephones

> gets the first copy.

>

> 7. SrI PerukkAraNai swAmi : <Ref. pg 3 of the book : swAmi said

> as in " SrI-bhAshyam mikka siRappudayadu ........{till next

> para end}...iduvE parama bhAgyam " >.

>

> I have only followed pUrvAchAryas ...Only the first

> vyAkyAnam will be the most difficult one ....When there

> are many commentaries, one will get some more new insights

> simply by going through them .....and added some insights ...

>

> Originally, the written manuscript was given to some printer

> who swindled away thousands of ruppees and as well as the

> manuscript (by absconding) .......<Ref. Page 1 of viNNappam

> .....from 'iraNDANDugaLukku munbu' ........till oru mAdatthil

> idu mudinthu vittadu ..of page two first line >.

>

> Then, refer two para's later : " SrImati Latha KrishNan

> sampradAya vishayattil yeedu pattavaL yenpadudan ....till

> next paragraph ippeNmaNigaL moolamAgavE veLivarugiradu " .

> SwAmi added the " GOdA PriyA " group of your sister and your

> sister in particulr in telling " ippeNmaNigaL " .

 

>

> I am highly grateful to SrI SaThakOpan,USA and his sister

> Smt Padma VeerarAghavan for their deep interest in

> publishing this book ...<SwAmi then told about the kAlakshEpam

> by Sri SaThakOpan's father and how Sri SatakOpan has remembered it

well and has taken up this kainkaryam ...>. I am also grateful to all

> others who have donated for realizing this publication.

>

>

> << At this juncture, SwAmi asked me to perform the upanyAsam.

> aDiyEn hesitated and replied that am being the youngest

> would speak in the end ....SrI MAV swAmi then requested

> SrI SudararAjan swAmi to perform the upanyAsam >>

>

> 8. SrI SundararAjan swAmi < Thenkalai vidvAn, SrI BhAshyam

> kAlakshEpam under SrI PuriSai swAmi ; Learnt some

> vEdAnta grantas under SrI PerukkAranai swAmi; VyAkaranam

> under SrI SrIvatsAnkAchArya swAmi> :

>

> ThiruppAvai sAram : Realization of our sEshatvam to SrIman

> nArAyaNa <Ref: " ....pArArthyam svam... " in taniyan >.

>

> Bhagavad RAmAnuja's definition for " sEsha " and " sEshi " in

> vEdArtha Sangraha : " paragata atiSaya <ie.utkarsha> aadhAna

> icchayA upAdEyatvamEva yasya swaroopam sa sEshaH | paraH sEshi. "

>

> ie. sEshatvam = paragata atiSaya aadhAyakatvam

> sEshitvam = aahita atiSaya bhAvatvam

>

> There are four types of sEshatvam in general based upon

> the " iccha " of sEsha and sEshi :

>

> a. sEshaghaTita icchA prayukta sEshatvam

> <Only sEsha desires to produce " mEnmai " for sEshi>

> eg: In a yaj~na, Ritviks are sEshAs and the yAgam is sEshi,

> as per mImAmsa SAstra <note : yaj~na is non-sentient>.

>

> b. sEshighaTita icchA prayukta sEshatvam

> <sEshi attains mEmmai by only his desire in using sEsha>

>

> eg: Sandal <Perfume> etc is sEsha ; BhOkta is sEshi.

>

> c. sEsha-sEshi ubhaya ghaTita icchA prayukta sEshatvam

> <desire in both sEsha and sEshi>

>

> eg: Master-Servant relationship, wherein Servant willingly

> works for the " mEnmai " of his master who also likes such

> works of his servant.

>

> d. sEsha-sEshi ubhaya bhinna ghaTita icchA prayukta sEshatvam

> <desire is neither with sEsha nor with sEshi>

>

> eg: The color of the paint is sEsha to the House for which

> that color is painted. < Desire for giving that paint

> color for the house is with someperson like the owner

> of the house>.

>

> In thiruppAvai, the third type of sEshatvam is being addressed

> where SrIman nArAyaNa is the sEshi and the jIvAtmas are the

> sEshas. Realization of this is extremly important for one

> to attain kainkarya sAmrAjyam.

>

> SwAmi has well explained many esoteric concepts in this

> good commentary, very handy for even upanyAsakAs.

>

>

> 9. SrI NAttEri RAjagOpAlan SwAmi <Editor, SrI RanganAtha PAdukA,

> SrIrangam SrImad Andavan Ashramam> :

>

> aDiyEn has come to SrI DESika Bhavanam fortunately, when swAmi

> was performing gruha-pravEsam ...got the first tAmbUlam that

> day -> a bhAgyam on that day ....Another time, when aDiyEn

> came to this bhavanam, swAmi was lecturing on " ungaL

> puzhakkadai " pAsuram in a wonderful way ...swAmi has been

> performing constant pravachanam in Ubhaya-VEdAntam and has

> also blessed us with written works ...

>

> Publication is a difficult job and it takes lot of time,

> patience and energy...apart from writing with good quality

> on the chosen topic for the appropriate audience.

>

> Commentary completly in lucid tamizh => Very helpful for this

> generation ...has well condensed all the previous commentaries

> and has also added additional insights with more analytical

> analysis ...We <ie.through his father SrI NAttEri KidAmbi

> VeerarAghavAchArya> have already published ThiruppAvai

> vyAkyAnams by AchAryas of SrI DESika sampradAyam ..More and

> more vyAkyAnams will be befitting ThiruppAvai -> since such

> is that moola grantham - vEdam anaitthukkum vitthu.

>

> PerumAL very much likes the divine words of AndAL/BhUmi pirAtti

> < Ref: " ..maNinoopura sinchitAnAm ... " in GOdAstuthi ;

> Bhattar -> PerumAL will be very moved and bless the person

> reciting thiruppAvai, irrespective of his qualification, as

> how a mother cow will automatically with vAtsalyam gives milk

> to even a tOl-kanRu ie. fake-calf>. The last two pAsurams are

> in SAtRumarai ....very high importance in our sampradAyam ...

> ThiruppAvai : Most popular work of SrI VaishNavam, well

> known to so many people of other religious faith also.

>

> Everyone should obtain a copy and be benifited by reading

> and understanding the very important sampradAya vishayams

> presented in a very lucid way -> This will only please

> SPCS. It will be very helpful for this generation and

> other generations to come. Every SrI VaishNava should perform

> kainkaryams according their capacity ....When SPCS is doing

> such outstanding kainkaryams, we all should support swAmi

> in many a ways ....SwAmi is planning to publish some more

> books too and we should lend our support for making this

> swAmi bless us with those granthams. >

>

>10. SrI PulikkunRam Sthalasayanam SwAmi <Disciple of SrI UttamUr

> SwAmi> :

>

> ThiruppAvai's mEnmai is well understood by the way SwAmi

> DESikan prays to GOdA DEvi like " nEyamudan thiruppAvai " ,

> " aDiyEnukku anbudanE aruL sei " etc. Release of this

> commentary liked by SwAmi DESikan (S.D.), at SrI DESika

> Bhavanam is very appropriate.

>

> " nEyam " used by S.D. to state that SaraNAgathi has been

> explained by AndAL in ThiruppAvai. Since AndAL has said

> " ingu ipparisuraippAr " at the end, this Divya Prabandham

> will hold many vyAkyAnams for certain. Many

> pUrvAchAryas have blessed us with wonderful commentaries.

> SrI " abhinava dESika " UttamUr T VeerarAghavAchArya swAmi

> has blessed us with an excellent commentary, through which

> a wonderful pathway is shown for writing commentaries,

> without deviating from the thiru-uLLam of AndAL. PerukkAranai

> SwAmi's work is on those lines and is valuable for both

> PaNDitas and pAmarAs.

>

> All SrI VaishNavas should come forward to obtain a copy

> of this book and perform aaswAdam of this GOdA SUkti sudai,

> and everyone inclusive of swAmi, seN~kaN thirumugattu selvat

> thirumAlAl yengum thiru aruL petRu inburavEndum.

>

>11. SrI MalayAngulam Narasimhan swAmi <SrI Ahobila Mutt sishya;

> Son-in-law of SrI UttamUr SwAmi; kAlakshEpam under SrI

> PayyampAdi VEnkatavaradAchArya swAmi, the successor of SrI

> UttamUr SwAmi for that AchArya lineage> :

>

> Rishis gave upabrahmanas to understand VEdAs and Upanishads.

> Bhagavad GIta, a part of MahAbhArata uttered by Lord KrishNa

> as GeethAchAryan, is on the essential teachings of Upanishads.

> Similarly, AndAL also took the role of an AchArya and

> instructed us through ThiruppAvai - the Bhagavathi GIta, on

> the tattva,hita,purushArtams enshrined in Upanishads.

> Comparitive analysis of these two GItas are nicely brought

> out by SwAmi in the Introduction itself. This commentary

> is a very valuable addition for this generation to understand

> the esoteric teachings of AndAL as elaborated by our

> PUrvAchAryas. Apt to the title, swAmi has delivered the butter

> << lucid - as easy as butter + SAtvikam content because of

> whiteness + very tasty -> swAdu >> from the milk of

> thiruppAvai.

>

>

>12. SrI T.V.RAjagOpAlan SwAmi <Son of SrI UttamUr SwAmi> :

>

> ThiruppAvai : 'Thiru' means " mEnmai porundiya " and 'pAvai'

> means " nOnbu " . Lets see some mEnmai porundiya nonbus/vrattams

> ie. ThiruppAvais'.

>

> PerumAL has taken a " nonbu " to be SaraNAgatha Rakshakan/

> Vatsalan ....

> < Ref: SrI RAma charama SlOkam - " SakrudEva .....vratam

> mama " >.

>

> PirAtti also has taken a " nonbu " to be alongwith PerumAL

> for the SaraNAgatha rakshanatvam .....Ref: < " sahadharma

> ....... " - YatirAja Saptati >.

>

> AndAL has taken the " pAvai " nOnbu to teach esoteric things

> from VEdAs.

>

> SrI PerukkAraNai swAmi also has taken a " nonbu " to perform

> grantha nirmANam as an AchArya imparting knowledge to others

> <through excellent commentaries to SrI BhAshyam, ThiruppAvai,

> Esoteric teachings in SrImad RAmAyanam etc >.

>

> We should also take the " nOnbu " of certainly making ourselves

> avail these excellent granthas and benifit a lot through

> reading and understanding them.

>

>13. KOmAndUr Elayavilli (BAladhanvi) KaralapAkkam

> AnantapadmanAbhan :

>

> SPCS got well trained in NyAya SAstra from his uncle

> SrI UttamUr SwAmi and was an avid reader of SrI UttamUr

> SwAmi's books and got clarified on various issues in VEdAnta

> through UttamUr SwAmi. Even in SPCS's taniyan, it occurs

> " SrI VeerarAghava-Krupa-Apta-samasta-bOdham " <<One who

> has attained all knowledge through the mercy/blessings

> of SrI " abhinava dESika " UttamUr VeerarAghavAchArya swAmi >>.

> aDiyEn being the dowhitran of his AchArya SrI UttamUr

> SwAmi, SPCS has a special vAtsalyam towards aDiyEn.

>

> In SrImad RTS, SwAmi DESikan strictly warns the

> attitude of Prapannas who do not want to learn from AchAryas

> (Uttara Krutya adhikAram ie. On Life after Prapatti):

>

> " tan nishThaikku anuroopamAgat theLiyavENdum arthangaLil

> tanakkut theLiyAda nilangaLai, nAn Krutakrutyan yenRu

> anAdarittirAdE anubhavapoorti-uNdAmpOdu teLivum,prEmamum

> vENdugaiyAlum ...... "

>

> ie. A Prapanna, thinking that he/she is a krita-krityan

> (ie.as a person haing performed whatever needs to be done

> to attain mokham) *should not* discard learning things

> unknown to him/her regarding one's nishThai <swaroopa,

> upAya and phala nishThai>, since in the complete (ie.perfect)

> anubhava of BhagavAn, both Refined Knowledge (teLivu) and Love

> (PrEmam) are essential.

>

> SwAmi DESIkan, then proceeds to instruct the way a Prapanna

> should learn at the feet of a SadAchArya and also be in the company

> of ParamaikAntins to learn from them through discourses and

> observation, apart from observing one's own VarNAshrama Dharmam

> properly etc.

>

> TeLivu (ie. refined knowledge) refers to the understanding of

> various aspects of Brahman and its SarIra <ie.all other

> padArthas> in an unambiguous manner as enshrined in VEdas and

> allied pramAnas. Hence, teLivu can be obtained only after

> understanding VEdAnta through the invaluable works like

> SrI BhAshyam of Bhagavad RAmAnuja and allied commentaries +

> various works in VEdAnta; Or in other words, one who has sound

> knowledge of VEdAnta will certainly posses great amount of

> " teLivu " . A unique Characteristic of SwAmi DESikan's divine

> works in general and Stotras in particular is that, they are

> an excellent blend of this " teLivu " and " prEmam " culminating

> in perfect and pure bhagavad anubhava.

>

> Only those who posses such teLivu can write befitting

> commentaries to the divine works (divya prabandhams) of

> AzhwArs, and explain/elaborate the thiru-uLLam of AzhwArs

> in a manner relished by AzhwArs themselves, by being consistent

> with the VEdAnta as explained in Upanishads and allied

> authoritative texts. SPCS's mastery of VEdAnta is well known and

> recently released swAmi's commentary to SrI-BhAshyam is being

> praised by all vidvAns as a very valuable, excellent addition for

> the understanding of intricacies of SrI-BhAshyam. Its pretty

> obvious that swAmi's vyAkyAnam to ThiruppAvai will be very

> excellent because of swAmi's profound teLivu and prEmam <for

> SrIman nArAyaNa>. Those who read this commentary will also

> attain much " teLivu " and " PrEmam " for perfect bhagavad anubhavam.

> Hence, aDiyEn requests everyone to kindly come forward to get a

> copy of this very valuable book and read, understand, enjoy and

> obtain the blessings of Divya Dampati, AzhwArs,AndAL and AchAryas

> including SPCS.

>

>

>14. SrI DEvanArviLAgam PadmanAbhan SwAmi <Conclusion> :

>

> Many years ago <in aDiyEn's childhood>, there would be only

> two or max three places where ThiruppAvai upanyAsam will

> take place during mArgazhi month. After the advent of

> vyAkyAnams like that of SrI UttamUr SwAmi and with vidvAns

> coming more to chennai, thiruppAvai upanyAsam got arranged

> in various places in the city ....Now, there are numerous

> upanyAsams during mArgazhi covering each area of the city

> .....Now, after this commentary, I feel that there will be

> thiruppAvai upanyAsam even for each street ...<a laughter>

> {ie. so easy to understand and deliver the contents even

> by an average learned person in the sampradAyam}.

>

>

> Thanks to all the swamis who have performed the upanyAsam.

> Thanks to the audience <devotees> .....etc.

>

>15. PonnAdai pOtthudal :

>

> SrI PadmanAbhan swAmi's asked aDiyEn to adorn SPCS with

> a " ponnAdai " . The function effectively concluded that time ...

 

 

 

> aDiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

> anantapadmanAbhan.

> krishNArpaNam.

>

>