Sri RanganAtha BrahmOtsavam / RathOtsavam day at Pomona , NY: July 25 , 2009 ( PART 1)

August 3, 2009

SrI:

Dear Sri Ranganatha BhakthAs :

It is my bhaagyam to share with you some reflections on the

recently concluded RathOtsavam/BrahmOtsavam at

Sri RanganAtha Temple .

Just as we say Hari First thing in the Morning on awakening ,

We utter Kesava Naamam , when we leave our houses on

errands/loukeekam . Our Lord goes ahead of us in His ratham

as " Rathastan" and protects us as His bhakthAs .

Selected pictures associated with the ThEr utsavam (RathOtsavam)

are included in the attached PDF with the help of Srimathy

Jayashree DesikachAri , a devout sishyai of SrI Matam .

Please enjoy them and the first of the 4 part essay on

the RathOtsavam at Lord RanganAthA's temple at

Pomona , NY .

Our sincere prayer to the dhivya dampatis of Srirangam and

Pomona is to bless all the Volunteers and the temple administration

as well as the priests/ MadapaLLi kaimakraya Parar with good health

and ever increasing devotion to Them in the days ahead .

It is also adiyEn's prayer as one the Arangan MuRRatthu adiyaarhaL-s

that a Rajagopuram matching or surpassing the height of the Ratham

arises during the next few months after the roof repair is completed .

Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Namo Sri RanganAyaki SamEta Sri RanganAthAya nama:

Tava DhAsOham , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagoapn

Third BrahmOtsavam at Sri Ranganatha Temple , Pomona

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adiyEn had the bhAgyam of attending the third BrahmOtsavam at the Pomona Temple resplendent with Sri VaishNava Sri . Since adiyEn covered the First BrahmOtsavam , the dhivya vibhUtis ( divine Iswaryams) of the Lord at the Pomona temple has grown thru Sri RanganAyaki's KaDAksha VeekshaNyam ( Power of Sri RanganAyaki's glances ). Dhana samruddhi ( abundance of wealth) , dhAnya Samrudhdi ( TadhiyArAdhanam/ anna dhAnam ) ,Vaidheeka Sri have grown abundantly also from Srimath Azhagiya Singar's KaruNaa KadAksham and the Saanidhyam generated by the sampradhAyic and Competent AarAdhanam by PaancharAtra Aagama nipuNALs( experts) .

July 25 also was the avatAra dinam ( Aadi Pooram) of SrivilliputthUr ANDAL . It was a delightful coincidence to have the RathOtsavam at SrivilliputthUr and

Pomona ,NY happen on the same day .

Jayashree : Can you please insert the picture of Ratham at Srivilliputthur , Gopuram and the dhivya dampathis here ? Thanks.

A rich list of images from the first day of this year's BrahmOtsavam to the last day of this MahOtsavam have been assembled in the temple web site:

http://www.Rangantha.org

Jayashree : Can you please insert one picture of Ratham at Pomona here from the above web site : ThirutthEr day ? Thanks .

Please refer to the following ebooks for background on the Vaibhavam of Lord RanganAtha, the First BrahmOtsavam and PaancharAtra Aagamam:

1. Sri Ranganatha Mahimai , http://www.ahobilavalli.org ( e-books 20 to 23)

2. First BrahmOtsavam at Sriranganatha Temple, http://www.ahobilavalli.org (e-book #40)

3. PaancharAtra Aagamam , http://www.srihayagrivan.org (e-book # 25 and 26) .

In this posting, adiyEn will focus on the RathOtsavam , which was unique in this

year's utsavam and explain its links to (1)Lord AarAvamudhan of Thirukkudanthai (2) Garudan (3) Thirumangai AzhwAr and (4)ThiruvEzhukURRirukkai Prabhandham .

The significance of RathOtsavam

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The unique phalan from the darsana soubhAgyam of worshipping the Lord seated in His Ratham has been referred to by the age old saying:

Rathastam KeSavam dhrushtvaa , punarjanma na vidhati

Let us study the rich meanings behind this pronouncement word by word :

1) Ratastham KeSavam refers to the One seated on the ThEr (ratham) or the Chariot . Ratham also means the wheel or chakrAyudham on the upper hand of BhagavAn . Hence He is saluted as RathAngapANi ( One who has SudarSanam) in His hand .

One can ask : " Who is this Rathastan ? ". He is none other than Lord KeSavan ( Rathastam KeSavam) , who is seated on the Ratham . The name of KeSavan

has many meanings associated with it . KeSavan is the one who killed the asuran keSi as Baala KrishNan . Kesavan also means the One who has dark bluish-black, shining keSa bhAram ( tresses). The esoteric meaning of the Name KeSavan is provided however by Sri VishNu Sahasra nAmam:

" Naarasimha Vapu: SrImAn KeSava: PurushOtthama:"

In a temple following SrI Matam sampradhAyam , it is very appealing to regonize the KeSavan seated on the Ratham as Lord Narasimhan ( Naarasimha Vapu:). The VishNu SahasranAma slOkam further identifies Him as PurushOtthaman revered in the PurushOtthama yOgam chapter of GeethOpanishad.

KeSavan is also the guardian Lord of the Urdhva PuNDra sthAnam on our foreheads: " Chathuscchakram NamasyAmi KeSavam Kanakaprabham" . He is the One with the golden hue facing east with four chakrams ( tEsudai Aazhi nAnku) in His hands according to Swamy Desikan's Panniru Naamam. He is accompnied by AmrutOtbhavai , the nectar who arose from the Milky ocean . Desika Prabhandham of Panniru Naamam,18th ebook in the Sundara Simham series,

http://www.sundarasimham.org salutes this KeSavan along with the other 11

Upa-VyUha Moorthys at the other PuNDra SthAnams.

AmrutOthbhavayaa Devyaa samASlishtam athOdharE

chathuscchakram namasyAmi KeSavam PurushOtthamam

Thus we recognize and bow before the Kesavan seated on His Chariot as Sri Devi BhUdEvi samEtha PrahlAdha Varadha Narasimha RanganAthan .

2) ( Rathastam KeSavam) dhrushtvaa : We have the darSana soubhAgyam of this

Kesava-Narasimhan . This is indicated by the verb "Dhrushtva" , which means after seeing this Rathasta-Kesavan . This word "dhrushtvaa" is linked to the Srimath RaamAyaNa slOkam " Tamm dhrushtvaa ChatruhantAram ---" , where

the response of Sitaa PirAtti is described , when She sees Her victorious Lord returning to Her side safely after destroying the huge army of Karan and DhUshaNan single handedly . Our Mother was so moved by the unmatched valour of Her Lord that She embraced Him tightly to express Her happiness.She rewarded Him with Her embrace . "Dhrushtvaa" here means after seeing Him seated on His Ratham . The natural question is : "what happens to us after this MangaLa darsanam of the Lord in His ratham ? " . The answer is given through the next three words .

3 . Punarjanma na vindhati : For those , who had the bhAgyam ( poorva janma sukrutam) of Lord Kesavan's darSanam on His ThiruttEr day , there will be no rebirth (Punarjanmam) in this samsaaric world . They would be saved from the sorrows of SamsAric life .

These three words with their exhilirating message is linked to the first and last

Sutrams of Uttara MeemAmsam/Brahma Sutrams . The first Sutram of BaadharAyaNa is : " athAtO Brahma Jign~Asaa" . This is an invitation to the inquiry into the real nature of Brahman after studying the Karma kaaNDam of Poorva MeemAmsa (viz)., Uttara MeemAmsaa or Saareeraka Saastram . After 554 sutrAs dealing with such a rigorous study , the sutrakAra reveals the phalan of such an inquiry into the intrinsic nature of the Supreme Being , " who is antagonistic to all evil and is the origination of all auspiciousness , who is the cause of origination of the world , who is entirely different from all other things , who is omniscinet , who , by His true will accomplishes every thing , who is the Ocean of Mercy for all those who take refuge in Him , who has none equal or superior to Him" and whose name is KeSava PurushOtthaman . The last Brahma Sutram reveals the phalan of such an inquiry , which we can equate to the Phalan of "Dhrushtvaa":

" anAvrutti SaBdhAth , anAvrutthi SaBdhAth"

(Meaning) : There is no return (for those released selves/mukta jeevans) ,

because the scriptures say so ; there is no return , because the scriptures say so . The Supreme One blesses one with the unsurpassed bliss of experiencing Him in His own true nature and He does not cause the Mukta jeevan to return into the SamsAric world .

The references here are to Sruti-Smruti passages from ChAndhOgya Upanishad and Srimad Bhagavath Gitaa :

a. " He, indeed , lives thus throughout his length of life , reaches the world of Para Brahman and does not return again ( ChAndhOgya Upanishad: VIII.xv.1)

b. " Having attained Me , these great souls are never again subject to rebirth,

to this abode of sorrow and transience, for they have found the highest perfection . All the worlds , and even the realm of Chathurmukha Brahma , are subject to return , O Arjuna, but on reaching Me , there is no rebirth"(Srimad Bhagavth Geethaa: VIII.15-16).

MaamupEtya Punarjanma du:khAlayam-aSASvatam

nApnuvanti MahAtmAna: samsiddhim ParamAm gataa:

AaBrahma-bhuvanAllOkA: PunarAvartinOarjuna

MaamupEtya tu KountEya Punarjanma na vidhyatE

According to AchArya RaamAnujA's SrI Bhaashyam , " every thing stands now relevant , consistent and explained".

In the Second Part of this series on the just-concluded RathOtsavam at Sri RanganAtha Temple at Pomona , NY and the forthcoming RathOtsavam on AchArya Thirunakshatram day at Cary , NC on September 6 , 2009 we will cover the Veda Moorthy Garudan , who serves as the Lord's ratham .

In the third part of this series , adiyEn will cover the special significance of Ratham (Chittirai ThEr at Tirukkudanthai to Thirumangai AzhwAr , the Vaidhika VimAnam at this dhivya dEsam and the links of this VimAnam to the PraNavAkara VimAnam of Lord RanganAtha at Srirangam/Pomona , NY .

In the final and concluding part of this series ,adiyEn will cover a brief summary of Thirumangai's enjoyment arising from His MangaLAsAsanam of Lord AarAvamudhan of Thirukkudanathi seated on the Chitthirai ThEr . That blissful enjoyment of Thirumangai AzhwAr took the form of Chitra Prabhandham of

ThiruvEzhu KURRirukkai ( e books # 98 and 105 in the Sundara Simham series : http://www.sundarasimham.org

Jayashree : It is NakshatrEsan again !

can you please insert the cover of the ebook 98 here please ?

( To Be Continued).