swAmi deSikan - founder of SrI parakAla maTham

[Guest guest]

SrI laXmIhayagrIva parabraHmaNe namaH

SrI braHmatantra swatantra guru paramparAyai namaH

 

Dear bhaktas:

 

On thursday, July 19 (Adi thiruvAdhirai) - the eve of

the 118th. thirunakshatram of the 33rd AchAryan Srimad

Abhinava RanganAtha brahmatantra parakAladeSikan, my

parents alongwith my wife and I spent several hours at

Sri Parakala matham in Mysore, Karnataka.

 

AdiyOngaL had the paramabhAgyam of witnessing ahnihkam

and sARRumurai for Sri laxmihayagriva archai within Sri

parakalamatham's uLsannidhi, where the swarna vigraham

that udayavar received from SAradAdevi, and which passed

down through AchAryaparamparai from swAmideSikan all the

way to prakritam parakalaswami - shone resplendent with

pushpa alankAram and invaluable AbharaNams....

 

Interspersed between sARRumurai and desikamangaLASAsanam

were sonorous chants of mummaNikkOvai and navamaNimAlai,

two of swAmideSikan's masterpieces in Tamil. SrIkAryam

swAmi SrI vEnkatanAthan (who is the grandson of the 33rd

Srimad Abhinava RanganAtha parakAlaswami from pUrvASrama)

arrived during this time, and playfully punched one of

the senior adhyApakars in the ghoSTi...

 

Interestingly, adiyEn observed a young disciple of kAnchi

SrI vAdakEsari jeeyar among the ghoSTi; this bhAgavata

hails from mElkOte, and is dutifully performing kainkaryam

and undergoing sampradayic studies at the Mysore matham -

in keeping with his mother's wishes. It is certainly a

tribute to the true spirit of SrIvaishNavam prevalent in

parakAlamatham, that a bhAgavata from thenn sampradAyam

leads the ghoSTi at times (such as during the recitation

of thiruvAymozhi translated into Sanskrit!!), and also

participates in deSikar sARRumurai + mangaLASAsanam.

 

Srimad abhinava vAgIsha parakAladeSikan then personally

gave teertham, thulasi and pushpam to all present (it was

a small gathering). ParakAlaswAmi very kindly enquired

of my father as to who adiyEn was... Upon being told that

adiyEn was on short vacation, AchAryan asked me to stay

the next day and join the 118th thirunakshatram celebration

for Srimad Abhinava RanganAtha brahmatantra swatantra

parakAladeSikan - a command which adiyEn was sadly, unable

to comply with due to lack of time (I was flying out of

Bangalore in the next 48 hours).

 

The highlight of our visit to the Mysore Sri parakAlamatham

was (next only to witnessing Anhikam to the laxmihayagreeva

archamoorthi), was an hour-long conversation with prakrtam

parakAlaswami in one of the antechambers of the palatial

complex (a gift to parakAlamatham by previous generations

of the Mysore Wodeyar rulers, also recently renovated with

the help of TVS Inc.)

 

SrI parakAlaswami sat atop a cane chair that had a " maan

thOl " on it, with legs crossed. The rest of us, including

SrIkAryam swAmi SrI vEnkatanAthan, sat on the stone floor.

Overlooking all of us (a few feet away, inside a transparent

wooden cupboard) was a giant, full-color, framed portrait

of about 6 ft[W] x 12 ft[H] in dimension. This canvas, Sri

parakAlaswami told us, is several generations old, and was

recovered by the 33rd. parakAlaswami during his 42-year long

reign and restored to that location within the Mysore matham.

 

So what about this portrait?? It represents the ORIGINS of

the parakAla matham guruparamparA. swAmideSikan, kumAra

varadAchArya, and SrI brahmatantra swatantra jeeyar are all

prominently displayed in the centre, with bhagavAn SrI

laxmihayagrIva at the very top, followed by the trayamunis -

SrI ranganAthamuni, SrI yAmunamuni, and Sri bhAShyakArar.

At the bottom is an image of drAvidaveda bhAshyaka - SrI

perIya parakAlaswami (21st pattam).

 

adiyEn was able to get many questions answered, chief among

which had been the lingering doubt as to whether swAmideSikan

was indeed, the founder of SrI parakAlamatham. Prakrtam

parakAlaswami answered in the affirmative. It IS parakAla

maTha-guruparamparA, HH said - that officially places swAmi

deSikan as the founder of this institution. Among all the

AchAryapeethams of SrI rAmanuja sampradAyam, it is only SrI

parakAlamatham, whose samAsrayaNa, kalakshepa AND sanyAsa

paramparA passes directly through swAmi deSikan.

 

But wait a minute. swAmi deSikan was a gruhasta. How could

he have performed sanyAsa-mantrOpadeSam to SrI brahmatantra

swatantrar? The answer, prakrtam parakAlaswami explained,

is that the sanyAsamantrOpadeSam has multiple parts to it

(four, as I remember hearing) - so AchAryas may perform the

upadeSam of each part separately, i.e. the same AchAryan

does not give mantropadeSam of all the portions together -

if he did, then that AchAryan can no longer live as gruhasta

and must begin bhikshai immediately! swAmideSikan would have

only performed *part* of the sanyAsamantropadeSam to SrI

brahmatantra swatantrar, prakrtam parakAlaswami said.

 

adiyEn was still not finished, though. With all the impudence

one could gather, I said " aanaal niraiyapEr indha vishayatthai

namba maattaargaL... nejamaagavE swAmidEsikan thaanaa parakAla

mathatthai aarambicchadhu?? "

 

To this, parakAlaswami replied - " This is the *authentic*

guruparamparA, as observed by our matham. This guruparamparA

establishes swAmideSikan as founder of this institution, and

it is the same guruparamparA that all peethAdipatis of SrI

parakAlamatham have taught and learnt, starting with brahma-

-tantra swatantra, and which is part of our nityAnusandhAna

kramam. If someone were to call this 'false', then they might

as well say that the whole of parakAlamatham is also false.

That is all we have to say in this matter.. "

 

Will write about other discussions with parakAlaswami in a

later posting.

 

adiyEn SrIrangapriya mahAdeSikan thiruvadi,

-Srinath C.

[Guest guest]

Sri:

Sri Brahmatantra Swatantra Parakala Guru Paramparaayai Nama:

Srimad Abhinava Ranganatha Brahmatantra Swatantra Parakala Maha

Desikaaya Nama:

Srimad Abhinava Vageesha Brahmatantra Swatantra Parakala Maha

Desikaaya Nama:

 

Many Many thanks to Sri Srinath, for the beautiful

description of his visit to Sri Parakala Matham. While the sishyas

of the Matham never had/ve any doubt regarding the direct

connection of the Matham to Swamy Desikan, it is nice to

know that there exists an authentic Acharya Parampara chart

at the Matham that stands as proof for the doubtful. I also

have read in the Matham literature that Swamy Desikan Himself established

the Matham and made Sri Brahmatantra Swatantra Jeeyar,

the Mathadhipati later. (the 260+ year old chart at the

Matham stops at Periya Parakala Brahmatantra Swatantra Maha Desikan,

who is also known as Chatus Sahasra Divya Prabhanda Vyaakhyaatha)

 

I humbly encourage every one of us, to include Sri Parakala

Matham in our travel plans to India, and drown in the ocean

of anugraham that is showered by our AchAryas and the

ananta kalyaana vigraham of Lord Laxmi Hayagrivar. HH is

very easy going and has IMMENSE vaatsalyam towards all his

children and will take time to shower His Blessings on all of

us!

 

srii laxmii hayagriiva divya paaduka sEvaka

sriimad abhinava vaageesha brahmatantra swatantra

parakala mahaa desikaaya nama:

 

-rajeev

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[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImatE nigamAnta mahAdESikAya namaH

 

namO nArAyaNa!

 

Dear SrI SrInath,

 

Its very nice to hear from you after your excellent

trip to India - Your SamASrayaNam and Prapatti through

SrI Ra~ngapriya MahAdESikan, blessings of ParakAla

Muth JIyar etc

 

aDiyEn had the fortune of getting the blessings of the

current JIyar of SrI ParakAla Muth few years back (for the

first time), during the dOlOtsavam at our house, as a part

of JIyar's trip at Chennai. It is certainly unforgettable.

Lord Lakshmi HayagrIva's divine presence {with esp

recitation of HayagrIva Stotram by a goshTi including myself}

and JIyar's PonnaDi SAtthal is still remembered. A small

upanyAsam also took place and JIyar wanted the then

present SrI KaruNAkaram SwAmi also to perform a short

upanyAsam - Still fresh in memory.

 

aDiyEn atfirst got the blessings of SrI Ra~ngapriya SwAmi

during the Centenary celebrations of SrI UtthamUr SwAmi,1997.

SwAmi's upanyAsam was on " ISAvAsyOpanishad " and

with great joy highlighted certain insightful contributions of

SrI UtthamUr SwAmi for this upanishad.

---------------

 

aDiyEn would like to add on to the topic on

the establishment of SrI ParakAla Muth by

SwAmi DESikan. It does not matter much - whether

it was established either by SwAmi DESikan Or

SrI Bramhatantra-svatantra JIyar. Even if it was established

by the latter, both SwAmi DESikan and the JIyar are not going to

be unhappy that the credits of that establishment has been

given to SwAmi DESikan.

 

The following is to only share certain informations as

held by many other AchAryas of SrI DESika SampradAya, through

their reasonings.

 

1. The foremost record on our Guruparampara {from AzhwArs

downwards to NAthamunigaL....ALavandAr..BhAshyakArar....

SwAmi DESikan...KumAra VaradAchArya..Bramhatantrasvatantra

JIyar ...} by a VaDakalai AchArya is the 12000 paDi by the

Second HH JIyar of SrI ParakAla Muth. No idea as to whether

it is in print Or even in manuscript stage at present

{One may check up with SrI ParakAla Muth}.

 

It was soon followed up by 3000 PaDi Guruparampara PrabhAvam

by 3rd HH JIyar of SrI ParakAla Muth. It has been published by

LIFCO,1968. In 3000 PaDi, certain texts of 12000 PaDi is

quoted and hence the former work is inferred to have been

present. 3000 PaDi concludes with the brief presentation

on the vaibhavam of SrI AthivaN SaThakOpa JIyar.

 

In 3000 PaDi, it is not mentioned that SwAmi DESikan established

any Muth. It is reported that SwAmi DESikan handed over

his personal thiruvArAdhana PerumAL named " PEraruLALan " ,

" thiru-vAzhi " and " thiru-sa~nku " given by AppuLLAr, to his

son SrI NayinArAchArya. Lord HayagrIva and a set of

thiru-vAzhi and thiru-sa~nku was handed over to

SrI Bramhatantra Svatantra JIyar.

 

2. According to 3000 PaDi:

 

After SwAmi DESikan's ascent to SrI VaikuNTham,

NayinArAchArya and Bramhatantra-Svatantra JIyar performed

dik-vijayam and propagated our philosophy through their

discourses at various places, apart from performing other

kai~nkaryams like the vigraha-pratishTha of SwAmi DESikan at

various Divya Desams etc.Once when this JIyar was at Thirumalai,

the then " Thirumalai JIyar " ascended to Parama-Padam.

Lord SrInivAsa ordered the temple authorities as well as

Bramhatantra-Svatantra JIyar, in their dreams, to arrange for

handing over the SrI-KAryam ka~inkaryam to the latter.

Hence, JIyar stayed back after PerumAL's divine will and

intimated this to NayinArAchAriar.

 

During his stay at Thirumalai, JIyar established a Muth,

also performing aarAdhana to SwAmi DESikan archA-mUrti.

 

Original Text : " Bramhatantra Svatantra JIyar-um

thiruvE~nkaTamuDayAn n^iyaman^appaDikkuth thirumalaiyil

oru **maDam** kaTTuvitthu adil dESikanai thirupratishTai

seiduvaitthu aarAditthukkoNDu ....... " . <3000 PaDi>

 

This is the time wherein establishment of a Muth has been

mentioned in 3000 PaDi. It was known as

" Bramhatantra Svatantra JIyar Muth " Or

" Bramhatantra Svatantra SwAmi Muth " . This JIyar became the

founder AchArya of this Muth.

 

3. Successors of this JIyar added " Bramhatantra Svatantra "

as their title/name/guruparampara for signifying this. It is to

be recalled that SwAmi DESikan awarded the title " Bramhatantra

Svatantra " to his disciple SrI PEraruLALan JIyar, after his

victory over a great scholar of advaita. Hence he was

addressed by all as " Bramhatantra Svatantra JIyar " itself.

This Muth was not named as " SwAmi DESikan Muth " or sth of that

sort.

 

4. The name " ParakAla Muth " got attached with this Muth only

at a later stage of its history. The 21st HH JIyar is the

reverred Peria-ParakAla SwAmi who has written commentaries for

4000 Divya Prabandham {Many are not available}. He was very

popular in his times and all the JIyars after Peria-ParakAla

JIyar added " ParakAla " to their name. Para-kAla means

" Yama to other Philosophies " . Hence, this guruparampara

has been known as " Bramhatantra-Svatantra ParakAla Muth " .

 

5. The Muth Headquarters shifted to Mysore from Thirumalai during

17th JIyar's time or so.

 

6. According to SrI Ahobila Muth AchAryas, during the time of

26th HH JIyar of Ahobila Muth (1811-1828 C.E.), there was a gap

in the successorship of ParakAla Muth, as none was appointed

when the then JIyar ascended to Paramapadam. When the

Ahobila Muth JIyar camped at Mysore, the King of Mysore

requested the JIyar to take care of the aarAdhana of

Lord HayagrIva and stay there permanently; That King was

very devouted and even donated lot for Ahobila Muth.

But, JIyar refused it as per his own commitments as Ahobila

Muth AchArya {to perform sanchAram as per the orders of

Malolan} etc. Instead, JIyar taking personal concern, appointed

a capable successor for the ParakAla Muth to continue its

tradition of aarAdhana to Lord HayagrIva. This gives more

closer link/bond between these two paramparas. GhaTikASatam

AmmAL, the kAlakshEpa AchArya of SrI AthivaN SaThakOpa JIyar

underwent kAlakshEpam under Bramhatantra-Svatantra JIyar.

This is the original bondage between these two Guruparamparas.

 

ParakAla Muth has its great legacy and all of its sishyas

are to be proud of its connection to SwAmi DESikan in a

unique way.

 

aDiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

anantapadmanAbhan.

[Guest guest]

Sri Anand:

 

namO nArAyaNa. The " academic " approach here seems

to imply that anything which is not in writing, or

not found in any of the older hagiographic records,

is questionable - perhaps even untrue.

 

By this reasoning, almost every other tradition in

Hinduism, and Sri rAmAnuja sampradAyam in particular,

would be thrown out of the door. Most of orthodox

Hinduism is very poorly documented, from a historical

(western) standpoint. Looking at things from a

rigidly historical perspective at times, and then

from the kAlakshepam perspective at other times is -

playing with two different sets of cards.

 

Where swAmideSikan's sthApanai of parakAlamatham is

concerned, we are playing the historian's card, and

questioning a direct statement by an AchAryan of the

oldest maTham in SrIsampradAyam. Could we possibly

prove, that every statement by Srimad AzhagiyaSingar,

Srimad Poundareekapuram Andavan, Srimad PeriyAndavan,

etc. has written documentation to back it up?? If

not, are we going to question the same? Do we not

instead, accept their vaakku as final and binding?

 

The final word on the origins of institutions such

as parakAlamaTham, ahobilamaTham, etc. rests solely

with their own maThAdipatis, not other academicians.

If we find this premise unacceptable, then we must

also be prepared to question numerous other things

that we now consider sacrosanct.

 

If prakritam parakAlaswAmi's statements about the

origins of Sri parakAlamaTham are not acceptable to

some vidwAns, adiyEn would rather follow parakAla

swAmi's teachings unquestioningly, with due respect

to those scholars.

 

Apologies for any undesired offences,

-adiyEn

Srinath C.

 

>

> Anand K Karalapakkam [kgk]

> Wednesday, August 01, 2001 3:26 AM

> Malolan Net

> Re: swAmi deSikan - founder of SrI parakAla maTham

>

> aDiyEn would like to add on to the topic on

> the establishment of SrI ParakAla Muth by

> SwAmi DESikan. It does not matter much - whether

> it was established either by SwAmi DESikan Or

> SrI Bramhatantra-svatantra JIyar. Even if it was established

> by the latter, both SwAmi DESikan and the JIyar are not going to

> be unhappy that the credits of that establishment has been

> given to SwAmi DESikan.

>

> The following is to only share certain informations as

> held by many other AchAryas of SrI DESika SampradAya, through

> their reasonings.

[Guest guest]

At 01:55 PM 8/1/2001 +0530, Anand K Karalapakkam wrote:

>SrI:

>SrImatE nigamAnta mahAdESikAya namaH

 

 

[..]

 

> During his stay at Thirumalai, JIyar established a Muth,

> also performing aarAdhana to SwAmi DESikan archA-mUrti.

>

> Original Text : " Bramhatantra Svatantra JIyar-um

> thiruvE~nkaTamuDayAn n^iyaman^appaDikkuth thirumalaiyil

> oru **maDam** kaTTuvitthu adil dESikanai thirupratishTai

> seiduvaitthu aarAditthukkoNDu ....... " . <3000 PaDi>

 

 

It seems the original text does not clearly show that

Sri Parakala Muth as an institution came into existence

only at Thirumalai. The term used in the original text

is " kattuviththu " . This simply means the Jeeyar had a

Mutam built, i.e. a physical building for the Matam was

built at Thirumalai. This is like Sri Ahobla Matam building

a Matam at various Dhivya Desams all over India. Even

though all these buildings are always referred to as

Matam, e.g. Chembur Ahobila Matam, Vaduvur Ahobla Matam,

etc., the actual Sri Ahobila Matam is not any of these

buildings. The actual Matam is not a physical entity

but it is a non-physical institution of Sri Malolan and

Srimad Azhagiya Singar.

 

The text further states that Sri Desikan's thiruvuruvam

was installed in that building. Thus, the Muth as an

institution could have existed for long at that time.

Further, the cited text does not say whether this was

the first building built by the Jeeyar. Many other

buildings may also have been built elsewhere, earlier.

It seems to me that all we can infer from the text cited

is that a building for the Muth was built at that time at

Thirumalai.

 

Since 3000 padi is not available to me adiyEn is not

sure whether there are any other statements that favor

or contradict the titled hypothesis. adiyEn's submission

is just that the cited text does not preclude the validity

of the stated hypothesis.

 

-- adiyEn