Part XVIII: AzhwAr ascends to parama padham via archirAdhi maargam

[Guest guest]

Friday , January 4, 2001

 

Dear RasikAs of Swamy NammAzhwAr's Dhivya Prabhandhams:

 

Swamy NammAzhwAr MokshOthsavam has been linked to

the 10th paasuram of ThirumAlai , where ThoNDardippodi

Azhwar declars : " KaattinAn Thiruvarangam Uybhavarrku uyyum

VaNNam " ( Lord RanganAthan showed Thiruvarangam as

the means for Moksham for the benefit of those , who longed

for the supreme goal of release form the cycles of

births and deaths. ThoNdardippodi is referring to

the samarpaNam of one's aathma at the Thiruvadi of

Lord RanganAthan for Moksha anugraham . In view of this ,

the Maarghazhi Uthsavam at Srirangam is named MokshOthsavam.

We just celebrated that MokshOthsavam at Lord RanganAthA's

temple at Pomona, NY.

 

Thirumangai, who lived after or during the time of

ThoNdardippodi took to heart the message of Thondaradippodi

AzhwAr and appealed to Lord RanganAthan in this moving way :

 

" aNiyAr Pozhil Aranga-naharappA ! thuNiyEn ini

ninn aruL allAthu , MaNi MaaNikkamE ! MadhusoodhA !

paNiyAi yennakku uyyum vahai ParamjyOthi ! "

 

(Oh Lord of the dhivya dEsam of Sri Rangam with its

beautiful groves ! Oh most cherished gem ! MadhusoodhanA !

adiyEn can not carry on anymore without Your anugraham

and grace. Oh Lord of Supreme Listre ! Please instruct me

on the way for my upliftment to Moksham).

 

The Sannidhi Archakar , Utthama Nampi according to

the command of Sri RanganAthan through a trance

speech revealed then the way and Thirumangai was very

happy with the blessings of the Lord thru His archakar

( archakasthu Hari: SaakshAth)and became tranquil.

This was just before Maarghazhi. The Month was Kaarthikai,

the month of avathAram of Thirumangai Mannan . Lord

RanganAthan enjoyed the ThirukkArthikai DheepOthsavam

and revealed further the " JyOthi Tatthvam " of His

that stands tall spanning and illuminating the world

and protecting the jeeva-raasis with its unique warmth .

Lord RanganAthan revealed to Thirumangai AzhwAr that this

" uyara ninRathOr JyOthi " Tatthvam is the Tatthvam that

He had revealed earlier to NammazhwAr as MokshOpAyam .

 

Thirumangai was raptourous over the revelation of

Lord RanganAthan and rushed to AzhwAr Thirunagari,

the birth place of Swamy NammAzhwAr and brought

Him with all maryAdhais to Srirangam to conduct an

uthsavam to celebrate the ParamjyOthi /SvayamjyOthi

tatthvam of the Lord and to reveal this supreme tatthvam

of the Lord to the world . Thirumangai had another motivation

in conducting this Thiruadhyayana Uthsavam at Srirangam

for the first time . He had requested Lord RanganAthan's

permission for the recognition of ThiruvAimozhi's

equivalence to the Sanskrit VedAs . Lord RanganAtha acceded to

Thirumangai's request and invited Swamy NammazhwAr to come

to Srirangam . This invitation of the Lord of Srirangam

was taken by Thirumangai to AzhwAr Thirunahari and

Swamy NammAzhwAr travelled with Thirumangai in pallAkku

to His Lord's side. Thiruvaaimozhi Uthsavam took place then

in the month of Maarghazhi .

 

Swamy Naathamuni continued this uthsavam after he was

blessed to receive the NaalAyira Dhivya prabhandham

through the special grace of Swamy NammazhwAr after

they were lost for many years. Swamy Naathamuni was in

charge of the Srirangam temple administration at that time

and he had set dhivya prabhandham to music and TaaLam and had

taught his two nephews this art of singing the Paasurams .

They created the Arayar sEvai after being given that

title by the Lord and the present of Arayar kullAi (cap)

by the Lord Himself. The cymbals used in Arayar Sevai

are called Naathamuni to pay tribute to him for

blessing us with the Dhivya prabhandham through his

tapas and for setting the dhivya prabhandham to music.

The Arayar kulam starts from the two nephews of Swamy

Naathamuni. The grand son of Swamy Naathamuni was

Swamy AlavandhAr , who had a son , who was a famous

Arayar besides being one of the five AchAryAs of

RaamAnujA . When RaamAnujA became Udayavar ,he inherited

the rights of Srirangam Temple administration and

continued the tradition of Arayar Sevai amd expanded

the arayar sevai for additional paasurams . The various

traditions enacted during the Pahal patthu and Iraa Patthu

were established . Mohini Sevai , the assignment of

Utthama Nampi for conductance of the festival ,

the formal recognition for MaNiyakkArar, KanthAdai

RaamAnuja Iyengaar and their vamsam , The Thiruvaranga

KoottatthAr and aruLappAdu for them , Brahma Ratham for

Bhattar and Arayar were established and that tradition

continues even today . At Pomona Temple for Lord

RanganAthA , number of these traditions have been followed .

next year, we hope to add additional features of Srirangam

Thiruadhyayana Uthsavam at Pomona , NY. We had our own

maniyakkArar , SthAnikar and Utthama Nampi and Thiruvaranga

KoottatthAr at Pomona temple , who successfuly conducted

the First Thiruadhyayana Uthsavam .

 

In the subsequent postings , adiyEn will cover

the significance of Mohini alankAram for PerumAl

during this Uthsavam ,the various paasurams chosen by

the Arayars for the specific days of the Thiruadhyayana

Uthsavam , the special importance given to VarAha,

Vaamana and Thrivikrama avathArams in Arayar Sevai

and special SaaRumuRais.

 

During February 1997, a great Bhakthai by the name of

Srimathi RanganAyaki KaLLapirAn asked me to write a forward

for her book entitled " AchArya PrabhAvam " . It was a great

privelege to be joining Srimath paramahamsa Sri Kaliyan

VaanamAmalai Sri RaamAnuja Jeeyar Swamy in contributing

a foreword for this informative monograph . adiyEn learnt

a lot from Srimathi RanganAyaki KaLLappirAn on the Srirangam

Uthsavams and Arayar Sevai. adiyen has elaborated on

the many fine points referrd to by Srimathi Ranganaayaki

KaLLappirAn in this and other articles .adiyEn wishes to

acknowledge this Bhakthai's upakAram.

 

SRI RANGANATHA PARABRAHMANE NAMA:

Swamy NammAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam,

LokA: SamasthA: SukhinO Bhavanthu,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SaThakOpan