Acharya vaibhavam - 42- Prathama [First] Acharyan - Sriya: PthaiSriman Narayanan.... Peethaka Adai Piraanaar pirama guruvaagi vandhu

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dearest all,

 

According to Srivaishnavam, The Supreme Paramathman is

thus declared as Paramacharyan who taught the Supreme

Truth out of compassion to Hiranyagarbha, by whom it

was taught to others. Whenever this Supreme wisdom got

lost or was less illuminated, He incarnated Himself on

this earth and taught those truths that were somewhat

forgotten and established the same Truth to be shined

out more brilliantly. It is only by the grace of the

Lord that the unbroken tradition of the Spiritual

wisdom is established through great Sages like Narada,

Parasara, Vyasa, Shuka, Sounaka, and others. The

dismal darkness of ignorance that engulfed the

Universe was thus removed by the Lord and the

aDhyAthma sampradyA was promulgated without any

cessation in the world. The Lord is therefore the

Supreme Guru on account of the SaathrA, Pravartthana,

directly and indirectly.

 

SAkshAth NarayanO dEva: kritva martyamayeem tanoom

magnAn uddharatE lOkAn kAruNyAt shAstra pANinA.

 

The Supreme Lord who is characterized with all

auspicious qualities, who is an Acharyan, Guru,

Father, and everything, Sriman Narayana is verily the

Guru. Oh Lord! You are the Preceptor of the Universe.

You are the Very Goal.

 

Thameem sarva sampannam aacharyam pitharam guroom |

mamApyaKhilajanthoonAm guru: nArAyaNO hari:

 

Gururasi gathisChAsi jagathAm |

 

The Lord Sriman Narayanan engages Himself creating,

sustaining and destroying things as a leelA [sport].

He is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. He is

our foremost preceptor in the lineage. After the great

deluge (maha pralayam), He created all the worlds and

entities (tatvams). He also created the four-faced

Brahma from His lotus womb and ordained him to give us

the physical body along with its

characteristic attributes. Brahma, who was imprudent

was then initiated into the four Vedas by the Lord

Himself. When Madhu and Kaitabha thinking of

themselves to be the learned ones and the paramounts,

plundered with the four Vedas, the Lord having

killed them, restored the Vedas back to their pristine

glory. He enlightened everyone by incarnating Himself

as Lord Hayagriva (The Lord of all knowledge and

learning). Swamy Deshikan begins

to glorify this Lord, who stood as the aadhi guru or

prathamaacharya (foremost spiritual preceptor).

 

Thus Sriman Narayana is the first acharya.

Srivaishnava tradition claims a long lineage of

acharyas commencing from Sriman Narayanan right upto

our acharya [the individual’s acharyan].

 

A Srivaishanava seeking jnAnam should pay homage to

the long Acharya Paramparai first starting from his

own right upto Paramathman. This is not a mere

convention but is prescribed in saasthrAs as well.

[Rahasyaamnaaya Brahmana states: sa cha aacharya vamsa

jnAnEya aachaaryaanan asau asau iti Abhagawatta:

 

Swami Desikan in his YathirAja Sapthathi says:

 

kamapi adyam gurum vandhE kamala gruhamEdhinam |

pravakta chandhasam vakta paancharaathrasya yah swayam

||

 

I pay obeisance to the First and foremost AchArya, the

Consort of MahAlakshmi. He is the Head of the Family,

which the whole Universe Constitutes. He is a singular

AchAryA, who is Himself, the first reciter of Vedas,

and also the author of Paancharaathra.

 

The Lord remains a witness to our deeds and is the

object of or contemplation and realization. “I bow to

that great Lord, that great spiritual preceptor who

not only bestowed upon us the four Vedas, but also

gave us the means to attain Him through spiritual

practices and gave us the Aradhana kramams through the

Pancharatra Agama, the karma, jnana, bhakti and

prapatti yoga through the Bhagavad Geetha in His own

sweet utterances”.

 

Let me adore the unequalled and unparalleled,

unexcelled Lord Sriman Narayana who has revealed all

the Vedas (to Chathur mukha BrahmA and others) who has

promulgated the Paancharaathra saasthrAs, who is the

first Preceptor, and who has for His unexcelled

Consort, the Supreme Goddess Mahalakshmi.

 

All the scriptural lore has to be reckoned as the

pristine master-piece of Lord VishNu. Swamy Desikan

refers to Lord Sri MahavishNu as One whose greatness

is incomprehensible. Compare Thiruvaaymozhi 8.4.6-

 

Thanakkum than thanmai aRivariyaan; and

 

Thirumangai AzhwAr Periya Thirumadal [65] – thannaip

piRar aRiyaat thatthuvatthai

 

Like PeriyAzhwAr mentions: peethakavaadai Piraanaar

Piramaguruvaagi vandhu [Periyazhwar Thirumozhi 5.2.8].

 

 

Adhyam Gurum vandhE- I bow down to the first and

foremost Guru.

 

Lord VishNu is KamalagruhamEdhinam. The whole cosmos

[innumerable galaxies of stellar, lunar and solar

regions] forms part of the single family household of

Goddess Mahalakshmi and Lord MahavishNu.

 

The Vedas have been handed down to us through the sole

Progenitor of the world, Lord VishNu who took the form

of Mathsya, Hayagreeva and Hamsa.

 

annamadhanaanE acchO acchO.. arumaRai thandhaanE acchO

acchO [PeriyAzhwAr Thirumozhi 1.9.10].

munnivvEzhulagum … pannukalai naalvEdha poruLai

yellaam parimukhamaay aruLiya em paraman kaaNmin…

[Periya Thirumozhi 7.8.2]

 

Though the Vedas have been bequeathed to us through

the benign Grace of Lord Sriman Narayanan, (i.e. He

revealed them as they were) the Paancharaathra Agama

is reckoned to be the words of Sriman Narayanan

Himself. All Paancharaathra Agamas [about 108] are

said to be proclamations of the Supreme Being

[EmperumAn]

 

gurubhya: tat gurubhya: cha namovaakam adhiimahe |

vrNiimahe cha tatraadyau dampathi jagadaampathi ||

 

All Srivaishnava acharyas’ wonderful works are all the

fruits of learning from the earlier Acharyas’ teaching

and works. All those things that are learnt from these

works have come from Sriman Narayana till our current

acharya through upadesha paramparai (initiation

lineage) uninterruptedly.

 

Regards

Namo Narayana

dasan