Vikrama samvathsara Nrusimha Jayanthi

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs: As per Sriman Murlai Rangaswamy's

request , I am forwarding his posting celebrating

Sri Lakshmi Nrusimhan's vaibhavam on this Vikrama

Nrusimha Jayanthi day.This is also a timely tribute to

a great Nrusimha BhakthA , Parama padha Vaasi , Sri U.Ve

Mukkur Lakshmi NrusimhAchAr Swamy,who attained his

AchAryan's ( Sri Aadhi Vann SatakOpa Sri MalOla PaadhukA

Sevaka Sri NaarAyaNa yathIndhra MahA Desikan , the Prakrutham

Azhagiya Singar at whose sacred feet Mukkur/Mattapalli Swamy

performed Bhara NyAsam during October (?) 2000 CE.

 

adiyEn is releasing this tribute by Sri Rangaswamy one day earlier

to help celebrate Nrusimha Jayanthi (May 6) over this entire weekend.

 

Daasan,

V.SatakOpan

 

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

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

 

Dear Bhaktas,

 

For the most sacred occasion of Nrusimha Jayanthi, adiyen is posting a

summary f the verses from Sri Matapalli MangalAshtakam composed by U.Ve. Sri

Mukkur Lakshminarasimhachariar Swamin- popularly known as Mukkur Swamin. Sri

Mukku Swamin is a pre-eminent expert on the nuances and prayogam of the most

powrful NrusimhAnushtup Mantram. Although Swamin’s upanyasams on all

subjects are utstanding the jewel in the crown is his description of

Bhagavan Nrusimha,who incarnated to uphold the words of his dear

Bhagavata-Prahlada. The Kshetra of Matapalli is located in Nalgonda District

of Andhra Pradesh (near Vijaywad). Sri Rajya Lakshmi Sametha Sri Lakshmi

Narasimha Swamy, who adorns this Kshetra, is the upasana murthy of Sri

Mukkur Swamin.

 

Sri Mukkur Swamin establishes in his monograph “Matapalli Mahatmyam” that

the Mantrarajapada Stotram of Ahirbudhnyan was composed at this Kshetram .

With this background , let us enjoy the delectable verses of Sri Mukkur

Swamin’s stuthi.

) MatapallinivAsAya maDhurAnandarUpiNE

MahAyajnasvarUpAya srinrusimhAya Mangalam

 

Free translation: Auspiciousness to Lord Nrusimha, forever associated with

Sri, ho resides in the Kshetram of Matapalli, whose joy-filled form is sweet

to ehold and who is the embodiment mahAyajna.

 

Additional Observations: Sri Mukku Swamin beautifully conveys a number of

Vedic truths and Upanishadic statements i the opening verse of this stuthi.

Lord Narayana is described in the Upanisads as “jnAna Ananda maya”. This

form is not only joy-filled but also provides jy to the eyes of the

beholder. At the outset Mukkur Swamin provides reference tothe Narayana

Upanishad salutation “BrahmaNyO devakIputrO BrahmaNyO MadhusUdhanOmthrough

his masterful usage of Madhurananda rUpiNE. Madhu (honey), is one of th

Dhivya dravyas used in performance of Tirumanjanam for Lord Narayana. Madu

has the characteristic of destroying venom. The presiding deity over Madhu

is MadhusUdhana, who is glorified in the above referenced Narayana Upanishad

salutation, which extols the supremacy of Lord Narayana. Significantly this

salutation is of Sama Vedic origin. The uniqueness of Sama Vedam lies in

that it extols Lord Narayana to the exclusion of all other deities. Further

testimony to the loftiness of Sama Vedam can be gleaned from the fact that

the Rg vedam contains 18 references to Sama Vedam, while the Yajur Vedam

celebrates the greatness of Sama Vedam 27 times. Lord KrishNa attests to the

mahima of the Sama Vedam in the Bhagavad-gita declaration “vedAnAm sAma

vEdOsmi”. Furthermore, the purusha sooktam of Sama Vedam is the glorifes

Bhagavan Nrusimha explicitly in the Rk “sa bhUmim sarvathO vruthvA” which

bears eloquent testimony to the sarvathOmukham (one who has faces in all

directions) aspect of Bhagavan Nrusimha, whereas the purusha sooktam in the

other two Vedams employs the salutation “vishvathO” instead of “sarvathO”.

 

Madhu is glorifed in the Mahanarayana Upanishad salutation “madhuvAta

rutAyatE madhaksharanthi sindhava: mAdhvIrNasanthoUshadi

madhunakthamuthOshasi madhuna: pArthivam vraja: madhudhyOrasthunaphitA

madhumAnnO vanaspati: majIrGhAvO Bhavanthuna:” The term mahAjajna deserves

further examination. All aspects of YajnA are embodied by Lord Narayana as

can be seen from salutations 971-982 of the Vishnu sahasranamam (YajnO

yajnapatIr yajvA….). Furthermore, the VishNu Ghanam glorifies the yajna

aspects of Lord Narayana as “etA asadann sukrutasya lokE thA VishNO pahi

pahi yajnam pahi yajna patim pahimAm yajna niyam”. The mahayajnam in this

context refers to the yajna of granting refuge to those who perform

sharaNagati at His lotus feet. " :The act of granting refuge to a Prapanna is

a yajna performed by Lord Narayana. The term Patni is reserved exclusively

for use in the context of yajna. Thayar’s elevated role and active

participation in this mahayajna are glorified in the NeeLaa Sooktam Rk

“PruthivyA asyEshAna jagatO vishNu Patni”, the Bhu Sooktam Rk “shrungE

shrungE yajnE yajnE vibhIshaNI”, and the Sri Sooktam Rk “thAm padminimIm

sharaNamaham prapadhyE AlakshmIrmEnashyathAm thvAm vruNE”. Furthermore, the

blessing of SharaNagati is granted jointly by the Divine Couple. These

references deepen one’s understanding of the salutation Sri Nrusimha

(Bhagavan Nrusimha, never separated from Sri).

 

The form of Bhagavan Nrusimha is described in the Srimad Bhagavatam as

“atyadhbhuta rUpam”. This aspect is eloquently discussed by H.H. Prakrutam

Jeeyar Swami of Ahobila Matham as follows:

 

The avataram of Lord Krishna was beautiful no doubt for a number of reasons.

Therefore, this avataram begets the description adhbhutam. However the

adhbhutam of Bhagavan Nrusimha exceeds even that of Lord Krishna. Why?

 

(1)HiraNyan was extremely clever in stipulating the conditions for the boon

sought from Brahma. However, Bhagavan Nrusimha outwitted HiraNyan by

satisfying every condition of that boon.

 

(2) All avatarams prior to Bhagavan Nrusimha had animal forms and all

succeeding avatarams had human forms. Bhagavan Nrusimha is the only one who

combined the attributes of both forms.

 

(3) The hands of Bhagavan Nrusimha were in competition with each other for

the acts of gracing Prahlada and destroying HiraNyan

 

(4) Bhagavan Nrusimha had manifested himself in every atom surrounding the

Sabha of HiraNyan, in his anxiety to uphold the word of His Parama

Bhagavatan-Prahlada

 

(5) Most Bhaktas undertake great pains to travel to Temples and seek the

blessings of Lord Narayana. However such is the compassion of Malolan that

He goes from home to home to grace his Bhaktas

 

(6) Bhagavan Nrusimha is the only incarnation of Lord Narayana, who is

constantly seen wearing his Padhukas. This act is indicative of the fact

that He is ever anxious to rush to the succour of his Bhaktas-especially

those who seeking SharaNagati at His Lotus Feet.

 

(7) The eyes of Bhagavan Nrusimha simultaneously radiated compassion and

fury for Prahlada and HiraNyan, respectively. Can there be a better

reconciliation of these opposites?

 

(8) The sublimal sight of Bhagavan Nrusimha embracing Mahalakshmi Thayar on

his left hand side is verily a treat for Bhaktas. Due to this embrace with

Thayar, He begets the name Malola(beloved of the Mother).

(To be continued)

Namo Narayana,

 

SriMuralidhara Dasan

[Guest guest]

>> the Prakrutham Azhagiya Singar at whose sacred feet Mukkur/

>> Mattapalli Swamy performed Bhara NyAsam during October (?) 2000

 

What a memorable Day It was!!! It was September 19th 2000. Prakrutham

Azhagiya Singar in His upanyAsam on that day said that MalOlan is

very happy on that day because a jIva rathnam has performed Bhara

NyAsam. HH The Jeeyar went on to crown Sri Mukkur Swamy Mattapalli

Chakravarthy. What a befitting title!!!. Just a month before this

when Sri DesikachAr of Sri Ahobila Mutt came over to Sri Mattapalli

there were discussions on where Acharyan would stay during His visit.

Sri Swamy promised that steps would be taken to accommodate the

Acharyan as close as possible to Sri MalOlan. He fulfilled that by

constructing a pucca 900 sq ft. well equiped permanent building on a

pre-existing foundation. Considering the remoteness of Sri Mattapalli

and the prevailing floods at that time only a Chakravarthy could have

managed to meet the promise.

 

Its very hard to digest to note that The Vadoola Thilakam has left

us. He is survived by a LARGE family - his own family members who have

the same gunAs that made Swamy a MahAn and the much larger and

equally affectionate Yagna kudumbam. His presence worked wonders on

each of them and ,with all due respects, HE would be hardpressed to

explain HIS rationale.

 

Over and above the erudition and devotion of Swamy about which many

people have talked about there are certain qualities he possessed -

the qualities innate in very few men of his stature.

 

- AchArya Bhakti: There was hardly a upanyAsam in which He forgot to

mention about the greatness of His Acharyan and His matam. No words

can describe the aparimidha magizhchi He got when HH Acharyan agreed

to visit Sri Mattapalli. Whereever He went and whenever He got a

chance He mentioned about this great event and invited everybody to

partake in the festive occassion. The result was thousands of

Nrusimha bhaktAs who had the rarest ONE-STOP darshan of PANCHA

SIMHAMS (Sri Mattapalli Nadhan, Sri MalOlan, Sri Yagna Murthy, HH

Acharyan and Sri Swamy).

 

The mangalAsAsanam of AchAryan was preceeded by the last Maha Yagnam

that Sri Swamy performed in Sri Mattapalli. AdiyOngal had the bhAgyam

of partaking in that once-in-a-piravi event. Looking at the

photographs of the event He resembles none other than the SIMHAM.

Such was His dedication and concentration on each and every aspect of

the Yagnam. The Maha Yagnam concluded on Sep 17th. In the photos

taken during the AchAryan's varugai He very much resembles His

innocent 1.5 year old grandson. Such was His AchArya Bhakti.

 

- Availability: Anybody could talk to Him anytime. His family members

were MORE THAN HELPFUL in helping anybody who wants to meet Him.

AdiyOngal literally disturbed Him frequently whether He was in

Kakinada, Matappali, Madras or Bombay. There were times when He was

mounam and even then would patiently listen to what we had to say.

He would then write down His reply and His family members would read

out over the phone. If theres only a telephone line to Thiru

Paramapadam.... He was extremely kind to people like me who is

alarmingly blunt and could never use paribHashai. He accepted me for

what I am and Not What I should be.

 

- Non-discrimination: He practised what He preached. His followers

included people of all class, colour, creed and race. His treatment

of the Haves and Havenots (monetary and mental) was the same. He

never questioned anybody of his income though He was particular that

the source of one's income should be a right one. He did not have to

bend ANY of his anushtAnams to accommodate these things. If there is

one thing We have to learn from Him it should be His Humility and EO

(equal opportunity). Let us Not defend our Kalai and our Leaders by

denigrating others. Let us not worry about the blandness of our

emails and spew Hatred.

 

adiyOngal's heartfelt condolonces to All in the Yagna Kudumbam. Our

thoughts are with All including Sri Swamy's family, Srimans

Sridharachar, Aravamudhan, Muralidharan, Rajagopal, Govindachar,

Lakshmanachar, Seshadri, Jagannathan, E.R.Narasimhan, Dharma Rao,

Rangaswamy, Chennuri, Sudhakar Rao, Kaanthaiyah, Anjayah, Balakrishna

Dass, Krishnaswamy, Chakravarthi, Saranathan, Bashyam, Sundar,

Rangarajan, Bhadrinarayanan, Vayasya, the animate and inanimate of

Sri Mattapalli and others who have cherished the shade of this great

MahAn.

 

- Mala Srinivasan

and

Rajagopalan Srinivasan