Guest guest Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 " na deivam deSikAt param, na param deSikArcanAt " [There is no god greater, and none more worthy of worship - than deSika] Dear bhaktas: adiyEn wishes to narrate to you his personal experience of (albeit for very short period) having been a sevArthi at the divya kshetrams of Kanchi, Thooppul and SriPerumbuthoor. In doing so, I hope that those among us who have the desire to support the nitya kainkaryam to AchArya sArvabhouman swami deSikan at his avatAra sthalam of thooppul, will experience the same devotion and dedication that adiyEn felt in the presence of a noble son of Kanchi, Sri Satagopa tAthAchAryar. A lamp which revealed the existence of another - " viLakkukkE oru viLakku " ... such was swAmi deSikan to Sri marakathavalli sametha Sri viLakkoLi deepaprakASa perumAL - that lord whose moola archai itself manifests with ubhaya nAcchiyArs, as if in honor of the avartAra vaibhavam of swAmi deSikan. And for a confused fledgling like me, Sri Satakopa tAthAchAryar [13th generation descendant of kotikanyAdAnam Sri tAthadeSikan and grandson of Sri sudarSana tAthAchAryar, a great scion of that vamSam more commonly known as " ChuChu " swami]... became a " viLakku " that showed the way to the birthplace of swAmi deSikan himself, and while doing so, enlightened everyone on the many wonders of swami deSikan's life. adiyEn's vacation to India in Dec 2003 materialized rather suddenly, and with my parents' help I planned to travel to the four important kshetrams of " kodai, vadai, nadai, and mudi " . Hours before leaving USA on Dec 07, I sent an email to Sri Sadagopa tAthAchAryar (SST) hoping that he might be in kanchi that week. By deivAnugraham, SST swami was already there, he too on vacation from his present job in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala! Thus my wife, motherinlaw, parents and myself all traveled to kanchipuram 12 Dec 2003. We reached the entrance of the great VaradarAjar kovil around 8 pm, where SST swami was awaiting us. From this very first moment, SST swami's sheer tejas and vidwat became evident to us. His humble demeanor only complemented those qualities! Once inside the prAkAram, SST swami began to explain how this granite temple complex dated back to the pallava dynasty. So we walked past the amazing nooru-kaal mandapam on our left, and swami desikan sannidhi on our right (which was now closed at this hour), and past the majestic dhvajasthambam and up 2 flights of stairs towards the sannidhi of perundevi nAcchiyAr. This is perundevi thAyAr, adiyEn reflected... the one who inspired swAmi kooratth Alvan to turn away from his ancestral wealth and towards uncha vrtthi. Having paid our obeisance to thAyAr, we proceeded towards of course, deva perumAL himself. En route were the corridors to " kacchivAytthAn mandapam " , where the scene of thirukacchi nambi's deference of rAmAnuja's doubts to deva perumAL has been immortalized in metal carvings plating the mandapam. SST swAmi continued his captivating explanations of all these aspects of the kovil, and the combined effect of listening to his discourse and being in front of kacchivAytthAn mandapam, was a completely surreal experience for us. " pratiSThApita vedAntaH... " recalled SST swami with pride, quoting nadAdhUr ammAL's benediction to the child venkatanAtha, after it prompted the great scholar at the point where he had halted his SrIbhAshya kAlakshepam... all of which occurred right here, in these hallowed halls leading to the kacchivAythAn mandapam - and painted in frescos along the ceiling. As many of us know, the wall paintings in this great kovil are sadly, unmaintained and in continuous deterioration. As we walked up the steep steps leading to the moolavar SrI deva perumAL sannidhi, a " nityotsavar " puRappAdu was seen outside. This, SST swAmi explained, was like an utsavar of the utsavar(!), having daily puRappAdu. We reached the sanctum of varadarAja perumAL himself, adiyEn's very first darSanam of kanchi varadar in this life; and immediately awe-struck by his grandeur - especially the captivating smile which was all-knowing, welcoming, and teasing at the same time! It was this captivating smile of SrI deva perumAL, that would not let me pay attention to much else - except perhaps, his abhaya hastam that displayed a bejewelled " mA SucaH " in tamil letters. His AbharaNams glowed resplendent in the dark night, with flame from the oil lamps revealing hues of gold, silver, and diamond, all complementing his enchanting smile. Walking down from the uLsannidhi, SST swAmi pointed out - that *ONLY* swAmi deSikan puRappAdu had the privilege of entering this sannidhi past the dvArapAlakars... a fitting recognition for this great AchAryan who had held SrI deva perumAL in his mind and heart, every moment of his bhoololkam life. Suddenly my wife asked, " why does deva perumAL smile so much " ? to which SST swAmi replied - " BECAUSE HE IS DEVAADIRAAJAN..., THE LORD OF ALL GODS, ONE TO WHOM EVEN THE VEDIC DEVATAS PAY THEIR RESPECTS... " And with great abhimAnam for deva perumAL, SST swAmi continued - " WHOEVER SAID, ALVAR DID NOT SING ABOUT OUR DEVAADIRAAJAN?? NAMMALVAR HIMSELF HAS SAID, 'ayar vaRum amarargaL athipathi yavan avan'... THAT IS, WHO IS THE ONE LEADING THE THOUSANDS OF DEVATAIS? IT IS OUR DEVA PERUMAL ALONE. THAT IS WHY HE SMILES, BEING IN THE POSITION THAT HE IS, AND LOOKING COMPASSIONATELY AT ALL JEEVANS " . - To be continued - SrIrangapriya daasan, -Srinath C. 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Guest guest Posted January 8, 2004 Report Share Posted January 8, 2004 Dear BhakthAs : For your Information . This series of three articles of SrIman SrInath Chakravarthy would be of interst to all bhakthAs of Swamy Desikan. Hence , I am forwarding it to you . V.Sadagopan - " Srinath Chakravarty " <nallaan Wednesday, January 07, 2004 5:08 PM na deivam deSikAt param - I > " na deivam deSikAt param, na param deSikArcanAt " > > [There is no god greater, and none more worthy > of worship - than deSika] > > Dear bhaktas: > > adiyEn wishes to narrate to you his personal > experience of (albeit for very short period) > having been a sevArthi at the divya kshetrams > of Kanchi, Thooppul and SriPerumbuthoor. > > In doing so, I hope that those among us who > have the desire to support the nitya kainkaryam > to AchArya sArvabhouman swami deSikan at his > avatAra sthalam of thooppul, will experience > the same devotion and dedication that adiyEn > felt in the presence of a noble son of Kanchi, > Sri Satagopa tAthAchAryar. > > A lamp which revealed the existence of another > - " viLakkukkE oru viLakku " ... such was swAmi > deSikan to Sri marakathavalli sametha Sri > viLakkoLi deepaprakASa perumAL - that lord > whose moola archai itself manifests with ubhaya > nAcchiyArs, as if in honor of the avartAra > vaibhavam of swAmi deSikan. > > And for a confused fledgling like me, Sri > Satakopa tAthAchAryar [13th generation > descendant of kotikanyAdAnam Sri tAthadeSikan > and grandson of Sri sudarSana tAthAchAryar, a > great scion of that vamSam more commonly known > as " ChuChu " swami]... > became a " viLakku " that showed the way to the > birthplace of swAmi deSikan himself, and while > doing so, enlightened everyone on the many > wonders of swami deSikan's life. > > adiyEn's vacation to India in Dec 2003 > materialized rather suddenly, and with my > parents' help I planned to travel to the four > important kshetrams of " kodai, vadai, nadai, > and mudi " . Hours before leaving USA on Dec 07, > I sent an email to Sri Sadagopa tAthAchAryar > (SST) hoping that he might be in kanchi that > week. By deivAnugraham, SST swami was already > there, he too on vacation from his present job > in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala! > > Thus my wife, motherinlaw, parents and myself > all traveled to kanchipuram 12 Dec 2003. We > reached the entrance of the great VaradarAjar > kovil around 8 pm, where SST swami was awaiting > us. From this very first moment, SST swami's > sheer tejas and vidwat became evident to us. > His humble demeanor only complemented those > qualities! Once inside the prAkAram, SST swami > began to explain how this granite temple complex > dated back to the pallava dynasty. > > So we walked past the amazing nooru-kaal mandapam > on our left, and swami desikan sannidhi on our > right (which was now closed at this hour), and > past the majestic dhvajasthambam and up 2 flights > of stairs towards the sannidhi of perundevi > nAcchiyAr. This is perundevi thAyAr, adiyEn > reflected... the one who inspired swAmi kooratth > Alvan to turn away from his ancestral wealth and > towards uncha vrtthi. > > Having paid our obeisance to thAyAr, we proceeded > towards of course, deva perumAL himself. En route > were the corridors to " kacchivAytthAn mandapam " , > where the scene of thirukacchi nambi's deference > of rAmAnuja's doubts to SrI deva perumAL has been > immortalized in metal carvings plating the mandapam. > SST swAmi continued his captivating explanations of > all these aspects of the kovil, and the combined > effect of listening to his discourse and being in > front of kacchivAytthAn mandapam, was a completely > surreal experience for us. > > " pratiSThApita vedAntaH... " recalled SST swami > with pride, quoting nadAdhUr ammAL's benediction > to the child venkatanAtha, after it prompted the > great scholar at the point where he had halted his > SrIbhAshya kAlakshepam... all of which occurred > right here, in these hallowed halls leading to > the kacchivAythAn mandapam - and painted in frescos > along the ceiling. As many of us know, the wall > paintings in this great kovil are sadly, > unmaintained and in continuous deterioration. > > As we walked up the steep steps leading to the > moolavar SrI deva perumAL sannidhi, a " nityotsavar " > puRappAdu was seen outside. This, SST swAmi > explained, was like an utsavar of the utsavar(!), > having daily puRappAdu. We reached the sanctum > of varadarAja perumAL himself, adiyEn's very first > darSanam of kanchi varadar in this life; and > immediately awe-struck by his grandeur - especially > the captivating smile which was all-knowing, > welcoming, and teasing at the same time! > > It was this captivating smile of SrI deva perumAL, > that would not let me pay attention to much else > - except perhaps, his abhaya hastam that displayed > a bejewelled " mA SucaH " in tamil letters. His > AbharaNams glowed resplendent in the dark night, > with flame from the oil lamps revealing hues of > gold, silver, and diamond, all complementing his > enchanting smile. Walking down from the uLsannidhi, > SST swAmi pointed out - that *ONLY* swAmi deSikan > puRappAdu had the privilege of entering this > sannidhi past the dvArapAlakars... a fitting > recognition for this great AchAryan who had held > SrI deva perumAL in his mind and heart, every > moment of his bhoololkam life. > > Suddenly my wife asked, " why does deva perumAL > smile so much " ? to which SST swAmi replied > - " BECAUSE HE IS DEVAADIRAAJAN..., THE LORD OF > ALL GODS, ONE TO WHOM EVEN THE VEDIC DEVATAS > PAY THEIR RESPECTS... " And with great abhimAnam > for deva perumAL, SST swAmi continued - " WHOEVER > SAID, ALVAR DID NOT SING ABOUT OUR DEVAADIRAAJAN?? > NAMMALVAR HIMSELF HAS SAID, 'ayar vaRum amarargaL > athipathi yavan avan'... THAT IS, WHO IS THE ONE > LEADING THE THOUSANDS OF DEVATAIS? IT IS OUR > DEVA PERUMAL ALONE. THAT IS WHY HE SMILES, > BEING IN THE POSITION THAT HE IS, AND LOOKING > COMPASSIONATELY AT ALL JEEVANS " . > > - To be continued - > > SrIrangapriya daasan, > -Srinath C. > > > Srimate Sri Laksminrisimha Divya Paduka Sevaka > Srivan Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama: > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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