Acharya vaibhavam - 34- Recite Acharya thanuyan everyday.... without fail...

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dearest all,

 

The term AchArya implies: one who acquires philosophic

knowledge (jnAnam) by the proper study of saashthrAs;

by imparting such jnAnam that He had acquired to His

disciples makes them adopt the religious life fully in

accordance with or as laid down by saashthrAs; and one

who follows the saasthrAs himself. Yaangnyavalkya

smruthi says:

 

AchinOthi cha saasthrArthAn AchArE sthApayathyapi;

Swayam AcharathE yasmAth thasmAth AchArya uchyathE

 

AchAryan should not only practice what he preaches; He

also makes sure that his sishyas too practice what he

teaches. Our AchArya lineage does not end

or begin some time or other in the past. It traces

back to Sriya: Pathi Sriman Narayanan. It is not a

thAnthOnRi (self styled) lineage. It does not

utter any statement an iota away from Vedic hymns. It

is the most accurate interpretation of Vedas, which

does not violate any Vedic statement. It is

the one firmly propounded by Bhagavath Ramanuja and

expounded by Swamy Desikan.

 

The greatness of our Srivaishnavam is that we not only

show respect and pay obeisance to our prakritam

(present) AchArya, also to the entire lineage of

AchAryas, right upto the Lord. The thaniyan

(dedicatory verse) of our AchArya and thaose of his

predecessors, are to be recited by every Srivaishnava.

It is not only in paying respect to the glory of these

AchAryAs, also to show our gratitude for what GREAT

service rendered by them to our srivaishnava

sampradAyam, by way of disseminating through granthas

and kAlakshEbams.

 

Swamy Desikan describes this very movingly:

 

yERRi manatthu yezhil jnAna viLakkai iruLanaitthum-

mARRinavarkku oru kaimmARu mAyanum kANagillAn

pORRiugappathum pundhiyiR koLvadhum, pongupugazh-

sARRivaLarppathum saRRallavOmunnam peRRadhaRkkE.

 

To the One who has lit the lamp of jnAnam (knowledge)

(in us) and dispelled the darkness from our minds,

there is nothing (no way ) even the Lord can do

to repay (for what the AChArya has done). Praising

such AchAryan and telling about his greatness to

others, spreading his name, glories, continuously

will be like an infinitesimal portion for what He has

done. (saRRu - iota) (since it is only so small, why

should I do? should not be our comment please).

 

Sri maNavALa mAmunigaL in his upadEsaratthinamAlai

says

" jnAnam anuttAnam ivai nanRAgavE udaiya

nAna, guruvai adaindhakkAl - mAnilatthIr!

thEnAr kamalatth thirumAmagaL kozhunan

thAnE vaikuntham tharum. "

 

When one takes refuge at an AchAryan (Guru), who is

the great personification of jnAnam and anshtAnam, oh

folks! the Lord Sriya: Pathi Sriman Narayanan will

grant mOksham [because of Acharya nishtai].

 

He also stresses that if one wishes to get saved,

place your mind (and yourself) at the feet of your

AchAryan. (uyyaninaivuNdAgil u~ngurukkaL

thampahatthE vaiyum.. anbuthannai..

 

Our Srivaishnava AchArya lineage- upto (our AchArya)

asmadhAchAryan, it is of the highest order;

blemishless; faultless; with absolutely no

interruption (avicchinnam); continuous. Folly,

mistake, falling in character, a black mark in their

qqualities, - no way! It is due to our

limitless puNyam, grace of Sriya: Pathi Sriman

Narayanan, we have been blessed to have such Greatest

AchArya paramparA. There can be no doubt at

all on this in any of our minds.

 

We should recite our AchAryan's thaniyan everyday and

also of PoorvAchAryAs. There can not be a better one

than the dedicatory verses of (y)our AchAryas

to grant you what you wish for. GuruparamparAdhyAnam,

GuruparamparAsmaraNam, anusanthAnam, - when one does,

there will be showering of sarva ma~ngaLam!

There can be fullest blessing of Divya Dampathi on

him.

 

Swamy Desikan has said AchAryAdhiha dEvathAm

samadhikAm anyAm na manyAmahE! Is there a God more

than AchArya? We will never ever consider so.- says

thUppul PiLLai. In every one of our Srivaishnava

AchAryAs, Sriya: Pathi Sriman Narayanan has entered

into and been blessing the Humanity.

 

GuruparamparA smaraNam is the most important and

essential one. It is the most necessary deed, which is

nithya karma; naimittika karma, as well as kAmyam too.

This can also be for prAyaschittham for one’s pApam.

It grants everything that we wish for.

 

Those who feel that they cannot recite Vedas, recite

Divya prabandham, etc., at least should recite

thaniyan, mediate on the Greatest AchArya paramparA.

 

(Below is an extract from Sri Periyavacchaan Pillai's

Manikka malai from Sri Venkatesh Elayavalli's web site

on (www.srivaishnava.org)

 

A Sishya should be grateful for the AchArya and

follow these principles:

 

1. The path of the AchArya

2. No discussion on the merits and demerits of

others

3. " Omniscience " about his own faults

4. Ignorance as to the defects of others

5. Absence of confusions like

a. being a servant (Sesha) for any other god

b. having independence (svAtantrya)

c. considering the body as the soul

d. praising himself

e. abusing others

6. Acknowledgment of the Lord's quality of

protection

7. No disrespect to the AchArya, the tirumantram, or

the Lord.

 

asmadhAchArya paryanthAm vandhE GuruparamparAm

Regards

Namo Narayana

dasan