SrI UpakAra Sangraham Part -38

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srI:

SrI upakAra sangraham – 38

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adikAram – 1

poorva upakAra paramparai

(The Foremost Series of Favours)

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SECTION – 5 (6) [Continued]

(27 Favours of the Lord leading to the means for

MOKSHAM)

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How does the Lord make the AchAryas to safeguard the

truths enshrined in the Vedic scriptures? And why

should He do like that instead of doing it Himself?

Such questions could rise in our minds. It is

natural. But SwAmi Desikan is not an ordinary person

to leave them un-answered. He says BhagavAn Himself is

the first Acharya. So it becomes His duty to make

qualified persons as AchAryas to continue the

teachings for the good of the souls.

He also gives the authoritative quotes from the

scriptures to substantiate this truth:

 

" tamimam sarvasampannam AchAryam pitaram gurum "

(Mahabharata,Sabha,41-3)

 

(This is spoken by Sahadeva at the Assembly of elders

just before the Rajsooya Yaj~na, suggesting that the

first worship (agra pooja) should be done to SrI

Krishna, as He is possessed of all excellences, " He

is the AchArya, father and guru " )

 

In Vishnu PurAna also it is stated (5-1-14):

 

" mamApyakhila-lOkAnAm gururnArAyaNo guru: / "

 

(nArAyaNa Who is the guru of all the worlds, is also

my guru.)

 

Being an AchArya for all the worlds, the Lord ensured

the up-keep of the VEdAs and the Vedic tradition

through several ways:

1) The Lord Himself taught the VEdAs to Brahma first.

2) When they faced the danger of destruction, it was

He Who restored them to him.

3) Through Brahma, He spread the Vedic knowledge in

the world.

4) The Lord also made Brahma's sons, Sanatkumara and

others, to acquire on their own spiritual knowledge,

to adapt the path of renunciation and through them

revealed the means of attaining salvation.

5) It was the Lord who maintained intact the tradition

of spirituality through such great seers as NArada,

ParasarA, SukhA, Sounaka and others.

6) The Lord entered into such great men as Krishna

DvaipAyana and others and through them published great

works like MahAbhArata and Brahma Sootras.

7) He himself incarnated as Hamsa, Matsya, HayagrIva,

Nara-NArAyaNa and the GitAchArya (SrI Krishna) and

revealed the spiritual truths of tatva (principles)

and hita (good means).

8) He made SrI BhIshma and others to confirm His

valuable teachings.

9) When the PAncarAtra scriptures which were

originally taught by Him became extinct again in

DvApara age and the beginning of the kali yuga, He

revealed them through Sankarshana, so that all castes,

BrAhmins, kshatriyAs, vaisyAs and SoodrAs could

worship Him in a proper manner through the performance

of their assigned duties.

10) The Lord assumed a new series of ten incarnations

in the forms of AzhvArs, and through them gathered the

most significant parts of the VEdAs and revealed them

in Tamil so that they are accessible to every one.

11) When this spiritual line of life was threatened

with obstruction by heretics, openly and covertly, He

assumed again in the land of Agastiya the forms of

many AchAryas and imparted the teachings of the

VEdAs.

 

Among these AchAryas, Nathamuni, the son of Ishvara

Muni, brought out the works, " nyAya tatvam " and " Yoga

rahasyam " . nAthamuni received the sacred tradition

from a spiritual descendant of SrI MadhurakaviyAr, and

was blessed with spiritual wisdom through

" TiruvAimozhi " directly from nammAzhvAr in his yOgic

contemplation.

 

This tradition continued through the line of

distinguished AchAryas upto SrI ALavantAr. His chief

disciple, SrI Periyanambi, became the AchArya of SrI

rAmAnujA, who also studied under four other AchAryas

various scriptures including the rahasya scriptures,

TiruvAimozhi, Sri rAmAyaNa etc.

 

SrI ALavantAr brought out the following eight works:

Agama-prAmANyam, purusha-nirNayam, siddhitrayam,that

is, Atmasiddhi, Ishvara-siddhi and samvitsiddhi; SrI

geetArtha-sangraham, stotra-ratnam and catuslOki.

 

SrI rAmAnuja wrote nine works: ShrIbhAshyam, deepam,

sAram, vEdArtha-sangraham, SrI GeetAbhAshyam,

SrIranga-gadyam, sharaNAgati-gadyam, ShrIvsikuNta

-gadyam and Nityam.

 

From SrI rAmAnuja onwards, different traditions

emerged to propagate the SrIvaishnava tradition and

maintenance of the Lord's temples all over the

country.

 

(To continue)

dAsan

Anbil S.SrInivAsan

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