Alavandar Tirunakshatram

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Sri:

 

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

 

Dear Bhaktas,

 

On he most sacred day of Adi Uttaradam, the Tirunakshatram of Swami

Alavandar, adiyen wishes to share the following reflections from his

life and works. Swami Alavandar has the distinction of extremely

noble birth in the line of Nathamuni Acharya-who recovered the

entire Dhivya Prabandham due to the Anugraham of Swami NammAzhwar

upon continuous recitation of Kanninun siruthambu innumerable times.

Swami Alavandar in addition to his noble birth distinguished himself

on account of his extreme erudition, razor sharp intellect, strict

conformance to shastraic prescriptions, and most importantly for

handing us the dayaIka sindhu of Ramanujacharya through his final

message while attaining Parama Padam.

 

Swami Alavandar's composed the following works

1. Agamapramanya

2. Mahapurusha Nirnaya

3. Siddhitraya

4. Gitarthasanrgraha

5. Chatussloki

6. Stotra-Ratnam

Agamapramanya. This is entirely devoted to vindicating the

authoritativeness of Pancharatra Agamas.

 

Mahapurusha Nirnaya. In this work, Sri Alavandar shows that the

ultimate reality is the Supreme Purusha, Sriman Narayana.

 

Atma Siddhi, Iswara Sidhhi and Samvit Siddhi. Collectively, these

three works are known as Siddhitrayam. The three siddhis establish

the Srivaishnava sampradayic concepts of soul, God, and knowledge.

 

Gitarthasangraha. This is a marvellous work on Bhagavad gita, which

later formed the basis of Sri Ramanujacharya's Gita Bhashya.

Chatushloki-a 4 verse tribute to Mahalakshmi Thayar-encapsulating

the essence of the Vedanta Sutras

Stotra-Ratnam-a 65 verse tribute which expounds on the doctrine of

SharaNagati as enshrined in the Dvaya Mantram.

Several gems can be found by taking a dip in the cool waters of his

Srisookthis. Swami Desikan, who is extremely careful in his choice

of words glorifies Yamunacharya in the Yatiraja Sapthati as " vigAhE

yAmunam tIrtham sAdhu brindavanE sthitham nirasta jihmaga sparshE

yatra krishNa krithAdhara: "

(We shall bathe in the holy waters of Yamuna, who severed all

connections with mean passion and attachment, who stood steadfast in

safeguarding the Sadhus in whom the things emphasized by Krishna are

present perfectly).

A couple of examples illustrating the genius of Swami Alavandar as a

super compactor can be found in the Chatushloki salutations " VedAtma

vihagEshvarO " and " sririthyE vachanAma thE BhagavatI brUma: katham

thvAm vayam "

Garuda is revered in the Vedam through the souparNika suKta

mantram " suparNOsi garuthmAn trivrithEshirO gayathram Chakshu:

sthOmam Athma sAmam thE thanUrvAmadevyam brhadraThantharE pakshoU

yajnAyajniyam puccham chandhAngAmsyAngAni DhisNiyA: shaPhA

yajUgamshi nAma suparNOsi garuthmAn dhivam gacCha suva: pathA "

(You are the wide-winged bird Garuda! Your head is the trivruth

sAman, while your lower body is vamadevya Saman. Your eyes are the

Gayathri Saman! Your Atma is sthOman! Your wings are the brihath

sAman and raThanthara Saman respectively! Your tail is the

yajnAyajniyam Saman! Your limbs are the meters! Your hooves are

masters of knowledge! Your name is verily the yajur vedam! Oh Garuda

proceed on the Divine path to Suvar lokam (world of light)!

Again the taittriya Upanishad salutes Garuda as " tasya yajurEva

shira: rg dakshina paksha: sAmOtthara paksha: AdEsha Atma

atharvAngirasa pucCham prathiShTA: "

(The yajurveda is his head! The lower part of his body is the Rg

Veda! The upper part of his body is the Sama Veda! His soul is the

command! His tail denotes the aTharvaNa Veda!)

Swami Alavandar brilliantly captures the import of these Vedic

messages in a succinct manner through the vedAthmA vihagEshvarO

salutation.

Another salutation from the chatushloki worth noting is the

glorification of Thayar as

" sririthyE vachanAma thE BhagavatI brUma: katham thvAm vayam "

(Oh mother! A whole lifetime is insufficient for me to fully

comprehend the six meanings underlying your name-Sri. The six

meanings of Sri are

1. shriyathE-One who is sought after by all

2. shrayathE-She grants refuge to all who seek her

3. shruNOthi-She hears the appeal of those who seek her [baddha

jiavns appealing to her for help]

4. shrAvayathi-She conveys the appeal to her consort Lord

Narayana

5. shrNAthi-She destroys the impediments (sin pile of baddha

jivans) that preclude the attainment of Lord Narayana

6. shrINAthi-She confers lasting wealth

Finally, adiyen wishes to conclude this piece with the stotra ratnam

salutation " trivikramathvat charaNAmbhujadvayam madhiya

mUrDhAnamalankarishyathi "

(I cannot wait for the moment when the Lotus feet of Trvikrama adorn

my head)

Swami Alavandar TirvadigaLE sharaNam,

 

Namo Narayana,

 

SriMuralidhara Dasan