Sri Vishnuchitta kulanandana kalpavalli (Part-42)

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Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

Srimad Vara Vara MunayE namaha

Sri Vanachala mahA munayE namaha

 

Andal says, “anaiya palkalanum yAm anivOm” What are the favourite jewels of a Srivaishnavite? “soodagamE” that which is adorned by the hands of a srivaishnavite- Anjali, when we go in front of the divine couples or an acharya or a bhagavata the first thing our hands does is anjali (“anjalim parama mudra”). This little act of folding our hands in front of emperuman or piratti is capable of getting anything to us, says Sri Parasara bhattar. “Ishvaryam akshara gathim paramam padham vA kasmaichit anjali bharam vahathE viheerya asmai na kinchit vuchitam kruthamityatAmba! Tvam lajjasE kadaya kOya mudArabhAva:” Even if a person goes in front of Sriranga nAchiyar and without his knowledge does an anjali then piratti blesses him with all the wealth, kaivalyam and even moksham and not getting satisfied piratti feels shy for not being able to equalize the strain taken by him to do the anjali. What a great quality? Admires Sri Parasara bhattar in his gunaratnakOsam. Such is the greatness of ‘anjali’ the precious jewel that is adorned by a srivaishnavite.

 

Next, “thOl valaiyE” that which is festooned in a srivaishnavite’s shoulder. That is nothing but the ‘sanghu chakra dAranam’ gifted to us by our acharyas during samAsrayanam. One acharya, Thirumalai nallAn chakravarthi once went to take a divine dip in the gangus. He found a body on the shore. Seeing the impression of the conch and the discus on the shoulders he came to know that the person was a Srivaishnavite and hence he did all the necessary rituals to the dead person so that his soul will rest in peace and reach the divine abode of emperuman. Coming to know of this, other Srivaishnavites banished him from the society and forbid him from entering the temple. But emperuman who was very pleased with the act of that acharya asked why he hasn’t come. When others told about his act of doing samskaram to an unknown body emperuman said, “voorukku pollAn namakku nallan” (his act may be bad for your eyes but he is good to me) It was only from that day, the acharya and his heirs were referred to as “nallan”. So the true jewel of any srivaishnavite is the sangu chakra lAnchanam on the shoulders.

 

What is the jewel to be worn on the ears? “tOdE sevi poovE” The acharya blesses the shisya with the rahasya trayam during the panchasamskaram. That is the jewel to be adorned by the ears. Not stopping with just hearing the mantras viz., thirumanthram, dwayam and charama slokam it is a prime duty of a srivaishnavite to listen to the rahasya traya kalashepam and learn the meaning of them. That was the order of namperumal, “dwayam arthAnusandhAnEna saha” So not stopping with just reciting the manthra it is essential for us to learn the meaning and meditate on the same. So hearing the rahasya traya kalasepam is the jewel to our ears.

 

Finally that jewel that adorns our legs, “pAdagamE” is the divya dEsa yathra. What ever we may hear and learn, the ultimate kainkaryam can be done only to the archavatara emperumans. For that it is essential that we regularly visit the archavatara emperumans. So frequently visiting the emperumans in various divya desams and doing kainkaryams is the jewel that will decorate our legs.

 

These are the jewels that every Srivaishnavite should aspire for. Will these lead us to the divine feet of emperuman? Don’t we have to do something to reach his divine feet? What did andal do to reach him? Andal explains the same in the next paasuram.

 

(To be continued)

 

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam

Adiyen ramanuja dAsee

Sumithra Varadarajan