Description of Sri maTham AchArya TN celebrations 2001 - II

[Guest guest]

Dear bhaktas:

 

It is the practice in our sampradAyam, to honor our

ancestors (at least those whose lives we respectfully

recall) by garlanding their picture, lighting a thiru

viLakku, etc. on the occasion of their nakshatrams.

When it comes to our own piRandha naaL, or that of our

living kin, we perhaps like to eat a special kind of

sweetmeat, wear new clothes, think of perumAL, pay a

visit to kovil, etc. etc. (not to mention the numerous

other non-sampradAyic options such as " wild " partying,

merry making etc.)

 

Then what about our wonderful pandigais? The thiru-

nakshatrams of beloved vibhava avatAras like raamar,

krishNar, nrusimhar, hayagreevar; and thirunakshatrams

of archaperumALs such as thiruvenkatam udayan, kanchi

varadar, and so on? Many of us commemorate these too,

as far as possible with the most popular ones being

SriRamanavami and SriJayanthi. All of these activities

are COMMON among many denominations of sanAtana dharma.

Most Hindus try and observe their ancestors' birth

anniversaries, their relatives and their own birthdays

(of course), and if religiously inclined, the nakshatras

corresponding to various avataarams/festivals.

 

But the thirunakshatrams of our beloved AzhwArs and

AchAryas are commemorated by - well, we SRIVAISHNAVAS

alone. And if *we* DO NOT, nobody else will!! I was

reminded of this simple but oft forgotten fact by an

elderly SriVaishnava couple from Chennai about two

years ago. One of the characteristics of a practicing

SriVaishnavan, is to observe the thirunakshatrams of

our AzhwArs and AchAryas WITHOUT FAIL. Because during

kalandhu-koNdAduvadhu of other pandigais, we are joined

by non-SrIvaishnavas alike - with we (many of us, at

least) try to ensure that our own practices are not

diluted in the melting pot.

 

We know who our twelve AzhwArs are; we also commonly

recognize *most* of our poorvAchAryas until the third

century post-rAmAnujar, when different maThams and

AchArya paramparais began to branch off each other. In

this context, the current AchArya paramparai for every

SriVaishnava is very special - not only are we linked

closely with AchAryan through samASrayaNam and prapatti,

we also recite their thaniyans, follow nityAnusandhAnam

according to their teachings, and above all - regard our

guru as EVERYTHING - our kin, our lord, our wisdom and

our wealth. It is with this very bhaavam, that several

Ahobila maTham sishyas desired to commemorate the thiru

nakshatrams of four of their recent maThAdipathigaL,

alongwith the founder AchAryan of Sri maTham and the

gurunAthan, AchArya sArvabhouman, SriVishNu ghaNtAvatara,

swAmi vEdAnta deSikan.

 

For, if Sri maTham shishyas don't celebrate the thiru

nakshatrams of Ahobila maThAdipatis, then who else will?

Every SriVaishnava must celebrate not only thirunakshatrams

of AzhwArs and poorvAchAryas, but their very own AchAryas,

who have initiated them through panchasamskara, and those

that were the immediate gurus of such AchAryas as well!!

The present Azhagiya Singar received samASrayaNam through

Srimad InjimEttu AzhagiyaSingar (42nd pattam), bharanyAsam

through Srimad devanarvilagam AzhagiyaSingar (43rd pattam),

and sanyAsa mantropadeSam from Srimad mukkoor Azhagiya

Singar (44th pattam). In addition to these close links,

the fact that all the thirunakshatrams were within a range

of 1-4 months of September this year, made it possible to

honor the following mahAchAryas in a two-day celebration

from September 01 through September 02, 2001:

 

Swami vedAnta Desikan - PurattAsi thiruvONam (Sep 28)

AdhivaN Satakopa Jeeyar - PurattAsi kettai (Sep 23)

InjimEttu AzhagiyaSingar - Thai uttharAdam (Jan 29)

Devanarvilagam AzhagiyaSingar - Karthigai purAdam (Nov 19)

Mukkoor AzhagiyaSingar - AavaNi hastam (Aug 22)

Prakrtam AzhagiyaSingar - KArthikai utthirattAdhi (Nov 26)

 

In addition, parakAla maTha abhimaanis were greatly pleased

that the thirunakshatram of 35th pattam Srimad Abhinava

rAmanuja brahmatantra swatantra parakAlaswAmi was also

commemorated through mariyaadhais for the lakshmihayagriva

archai, and the 33rd, 35th and 36th (present) parakaala

swAmigaL padams + a speech about the avatAra vaibhavam of

35th parakAlaswAmi. The janma nakshatram of this AchAryan

occurred exactly on the *eve* of these celebrations, i.e.

 

Abhinava rAmanuja parakAladeSikan - AvaNi thiruvONam (Aug 31)

 

adiyEn will complete the description of this unique two-day

event in the next couple of posts. Thanks in advance to all

bhaktas for their patience, and apologies for any errors.

 

To be continued...

 

rAmAnuja dayA pAtram gnyAna vairAgya bhUshaNam

SrImad vEnkata nAthAryam vande vedAnta deSikam

thooppul thiruvEnkatam udayAn thiruvadigaLe SaraNam

Sri Brahmatantra swatantra parakAla swAminE namaH

Srimad Azhagiya Singar thiruvadigaLe SaraNam

 

Truly

-Srinath C.