Enclyopedia of Sri Vaishnavam

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WHO IS RAMANUJA?

Sri Ramanuja is the renowned 11th Century philosopher, devotee, and humanitarian who serves as the paradigmatic leader and central figure in a vast lineage of scholars and mystics belonging to the spiritual path of Sri Vaishnavism, a monotheistic religious tradition of India that has been described by both Eastern and Western scholars alike as being the most complete in its understanding of the Vedas, the Eternal Truths. His contributions to this spiritual path were so vast, that Sri Vaishnavism itself has come to be known as Ramanuja Darshanam, Ramanuja’s Vision.

Sri Ramanuja’s nine great philosophical and devotional works validated and united the his lucid understanding of ritual and philosophical ideals of the Vedas with the devotional outpourings of the Azhvars, the twelve mystical saints that form the basis of the Sri Vaishnava experience. Such a synthesis of scholarly understanding and heartfelt devotionalism lies at the center of Sri Ramanuja’s philosophy, which has come to be known as Visistadvaita, qualified monism.

Visistadvaita suggests the idea of a Personal Supreme Being, known in Sanskrit as Sriman Narayana (the refuge for all souls), Who is at once the Great Lord and Master of the Universe, and also the Divinely Merciful and Loving Protector, Who is ever striving to redeem souls from the bondage resulting from ignorance and false ego. The unifying factor between the Supreme Being and the individual souls is Divine Love,which is expressed by the Lord in His constant desire to protect and save, and is expressed by the devotee through adoration, surrender, and selfless service. The goal of human life in the Sri Vaishnava path is to awaken this Love for God in our hearts to a level that brings peace, strength, and higher purpose to this life, and eventually, salvation through a natural and heartfelt submission to the Lord's Boundless Grace.

In addition to being a prodigious thinker and esteemed religious leader,

Sri Ramanuja was also revered for his magnanimity and humanitarianism. His instructions to his disciples were that the message

of the Sri Vaishnava path should be shared with all, irrespective of race,

caste, creed or gender. Such an open and inclusionary attitude allowed

the Sri Vaishnava message of love and service to God and His Creation

to break through the rigidities of caste and communal segregation and

reach every corner of India. Such a peaceful revitalization of Vedic

thought would directly and indirectly elevate the spiritual ideals of India

for centuries, influencing such great souls as Ramananda, Tulsidas,

Kamban, Pothana, Guru Nanak, Kabir Das, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,

Mirabai, Swaminarayan, and most recently, Mahatma Gandhi.

During his time on earth, Sri Ramanuja appointed 74 of his closest

disciples to serve as keepers and propogators of this proper

understanding of the Eternal Truths. These 74 disciples and their

continuous lineage of successors up to the present day have come to

form the Acharya Paramparai, the lineage of Spiritual Teachers. It is this

lineage that each and every person is given the opportunity to link to in

their formal initiation into the Sri Vaishnava faith.

This link is likened to a beautiful necklace, which is depicted in the illustration on page 6. Sri Ramanuja serves as its main jewel, and the lineage of teachers that preceded him and follow him are precious gems that come to completion at the clasp, the Lord Sriman Narayana Himself. A Sri Vaishnava's daily spiritual practice includes meditation on this lineage. Along with one's own immediate Acharyas, the meditation proceeds through the necklace, which lists the Acharyas in reverse chronological order as follows:

• Sri Manavala Mamunigal

• Sri ThiruvaiymozhiPillai

• Sri PillaiLokacharya

• Sri VadakkuThiruvidhiPillai

• Sri Nampillai

• Sri NanJeeyar

• Sri ParasaraBhattar

• Sri Embar

• Sri Ramanuja

• Sri Parankusa

• Sri Yamunacharya

• Sri RamaMisra

• Sri Pundarikaksha

• Sri Nathamuni

• Sri Sattakopaya

• Sri Vishvaksena

• Sri (Maha Lakshmi, the Divine Mother)

• Sridhara (SrimanNarayana)

The chain is garlanding the rahasyatrAyam, the three Great Secret Mantras, that every Sri Vaishnava mediatates upon daily to understand his/her true nature, the nature of God, and the relationship of Divine Love that binds us to Him Eternally.

The first of these mantras is known as the Moola mantram, which was revealed by Sriman Narayana Himself to His Disciple Nara in his Nara-

Narayana avathara. The second mantra is the dvayam, which the Lord revealed to Sri, the Divine Mother. The last of these mantras, and most well-known is the charama sloka, which was revealed to Arjuna by the Lord in His avathara as Sri Krishna in Sri Bhagavad Gita.

While they may continue to be known as "secrets", it is solely through

the Compassion of Sri Ramanuja that these mantras were made available

to anyone and everyone. Indeed, in a paradigmatic example of his

resolve, Sri Ramanuja proclaimed the greatness of one of these mantras

from the top of a temple tower immediately after his Acharya had

revealed it to him under the condition that he reveal it to no one else.

When confronted by the teacher for what was an act of blasphemy, Sri

Ramanuja replied that he would risk eternal condemnation if it meant

that just one soul could achieve the Lord's Highest Abode. It is at this

point that the Acharya, Thirukoshtiyur Nambi, in awe of his kindness,

would proclaim him to be EmperumAnAr, our Lord of Lords. And it is

for this Kindness, this Magnanimity to the point of self-sacrifice that can

only be on par with God's Own Love, that Sri Ramanuja forever remains

in our hearts and lives as not only the Greatest among our Spiritual

Teachers, but also as our savior.

Om Namo Narayanaya

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FOLLOWERS OF RAMANUJA & LORD NARAYANA

One of the fundamental qualities of a follower of Ramanuja Sampradayam is, although one must be completely tolerant of other beliefs, on a personal level the devotee maintains exclusive monotheistic devotion to the Supreme Lord, Sriman Narayana, as one's sole Refuge and Protection. The reason for this is not just dogma or blind faith, but is the result of a logical understanding of the purpose of spirituality as it is taught in the Vedas and as it is revealed to us by our Acharyas.

For every human being, faith is very essential towards leading a purposeful and productive life. That faith should be based on sound principles and should be derived from a proper understanding of the venerated practices and teachers of the past. Faith such be of such a nature that it frees one from worrying about the past, the present or the future, encouraging a person to focus instead on living a productive and good life, such that not only the individual but all those around that individual are benefited. To gain such an attitude that leads to the Good,

one must be safe in the knowledge that he/she is being guided and cared for by the Divine.

To have such a faith, one must follow a path that is lucid and straightforward, free of contradictions and discrepancies.Consequently, it must be directed towards One Being, One Supreme Good, One Absolute Truth. That One Being should be all powerful such that we know that He can easily save us from what would otherwise be an unending web of accumulated sins that bind us to our false egos and our material desires. At the same time, that Being should be very compassionate, forgiving, and accessible, so that we can be rest assured that we can turn to Him in spite of our sinful nature. He must also be impartial to everyone such that He readily accepts anyone and everyone who turns to Him, irrespective of their caste, race, gender or station in life. He must also possess many charming and wondrous qualities such that we are easily drawn to Him. And, He must be one who loves us unconditionally, and who is willing to accept our unconditional love in return. Such a being would easily be accepted into our hearts and lives.

Given our human foibles, however, even if such a being were to stand

before us at this moment, telling us that He is the One that we are

seeking, our nature would be to doubt Him. So, In addition to all the

Divine Qualities, He must be one whose supremacy has been proven by

what others have taught, and is time-honored and proven. Over the

ages, great people should have consistently worshipped Him, and that

worship should be consistent with the books/revelations that tell us of such a Person.

Our Acharyas teach us that the Vedas, which form the basis of any Indian spiritual system, emphatically declare that such a Lord is none other than Sriman Narayana, the Supreme Being Vishnu, the consort of the Goddess Sri, the refuge of all souls. Great saints and mystics have worshipped Him through the ages, and have passed on their legacy to others. Ramanuja adopted this legacy from them, and has shared this great treasure with all of us through his lineage of Teachers. It is for this reason, that followers of Ramanuja put their complete trust in Sriman Narayana as the Way and the Goal of Life.

 

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This section will provide information about great saints and teachers. In this section we provide information about two great saints - (1) thondar-adi-p-podi-azhvaar, (2) thiru-mazhisai-azhvaar. Azhwars are mystic saints who are blessed with divine knowledge by the Lord, and whose outpourings known as the divya-prabhandam (divine verses) are venerated as the highest source of devotional/philosophical knowledge.

 

 

thondar-adi-p-podi-azhvar :

Literally translated, the meaning of the Azhvar's name is the Azhvar who is "dust of the feet of the devotees of the Lord". This is a tamil name. The equivalent in sanskrit is "Bhaktangrirennu".His original name was Vipra-Narayana.Vipra-narayana was born near Sri Rangam, and was brought up by his parents to be a devotee of the Lord. After his childhood, he moved to Sri Rangam, and started performing service laced with deep devotion to the Lord of SriRangam - Lord Ranganatha. His primary means of service was collecting flowers and basil leaves, making garlands out of them and offering it for adoring the Lord everyday. While living such a devout life, a dancer with some deceit and considerable effort, attracted him and made him fall in love with her. After Vipranarayana fell in love with her, she moved to a village near Sri

Rangam. Vipranarayana, in his illusion and demented state, forgot all about the Lord, and went to her house. She refused to let him in, and he stayed outside the house day and night praying for her to let him in. Seeing his state, the Lord and Lakshmi decided to change him. They enacted a few incidents, and Vipranarayana realized his wandering away from the truth and his true state of serving the Lord. He came back

to srIrangam, and to atone for all his sins, he took the name of thoNdar-adi-p-podi, and started performing service to ALL devotees, irrespective of where they came from. The Lord blessed him with diving knowledge; he gave us two works - thiru-p-paLLi-ezhuchchi and thiru-mAlai.

Thiru-p-paLLi-ezhuchchi literally translates to “the waking up of the diving”. It is sung everyday in most temples when the early morning rituals start. Thiru-mAlai translates into “divine garland”. It is an emotional outpouring on the Lord of Sri Rangam, and contains many verses where the Azhvaar thanks the Lord who blessed him with grace inspite of his many shortcomings.

 

thiru-mazhisai-AzhvAr :

This AzhvAr’s name is derived from the holy place where he lived - it is

called thiru-mazhisai, and is currently a suburb of the city of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City><st1:place>Chennai</st1:place></st1:City> in

<st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>. His original name was Bhakti-sAra (the essence of devotion). This

AzhvAr practiced many different religions in his quest for the truth. He

got disillusioned with every one of them, and was fortunately, through

the divine will, taught by one of the earliest Azhvaars known as pEy-

AzhvAr. Bhakti-sAra found the truth in Vaishnavism, and became a great

devotee of Lord Sriman Narayana. His affection and concern for the

Lord, and his relationship with Him is legendary. The Lord of thiru-vehaa

(a place in current day kanchipuram), yathOkthakAri or sonna vaNNam

seydha perumAL (the Lord who did as instructed!) is said to have adhered

to this Azhvaar’s commands and have left the town for a day, and on the

Azhvaar’s commands, come back. Similarly, the Lord of thiru-k-kudandhai

(present day Kumbakonam, in Tamilnadu), Araavamudhan is said to have

listened to the Azhvaar’s pleas to stop getting up to welcome his

devotee, the Azhvaar who came there to worship Him. To this day, we

can see the Lord there in a posture that is between completely lying

down, and sitting. This AzhvAr gave us a composition called thiru-ch-

chanda-viruttam (chanda-viruttam is the name of a form of Tamil poetry;

thiru is added as it is holy poetry).

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Divine Places - SriRangam

 

Presiding Deity :

 

Sri Ranganatha (The Lord of SriRangam), also known as Periya Perumal (the foremost lord) - reclining on Adisesha (the foremost devotee or servant of the Lord, present in form of a serpent, coiled up serving as a bed to the Lord) in a posture known as bujanga Sayanam (reclining with the hand supporting the face), facing south. The procession deity is called Azhagiya manavalan (the handsome bridegroom), or namperumal (Our Lord).

 

Divine Consort :

 

Sri Ranga nachiyar (The queen/goddess of SriRangam), also known as Sri Ranga Nayaki Thayar (The consort of Sri Rangantha).

 

Temple Legend :

 

Eons ago, Lord Ranganatha (in the exact same form as He is present in SriRangam Today), was worshipped by Brahma in a place knows as Satyaloka (one of the seven worlds according to Vedic literature). During a period, known as trethayuga (one of the four ages per Vedic Tradition), He was Worshipped on earth by a king knows as Ishvaku, the son of Manu (the author of code of conduct known as Manu Smrithi). This deity passed on through the generations to Lord Rama, who presented it to Vibheeshana, the king of Lanka after the ramayana war. On the way to Lanka from Ayodhya, the Lord was attracted by srirangam and wanted to rest there permanently. He promised Vibheeshana that he will grace him and Lanka by facing south (SriLanka is directly south of SriRangam).

 

Salient Aspects of the temple :

 

Vimanam (the name of the tower above the presiding deity's sanctum):

sri ranga vimanam, also known as pranavakruthi vimanam.

 

theertham (the name of the holy tank whose water is used for various purposes in this temple): chandra theertham (the most prominent one, currently present).

 

This temple has a unique arrangement. It is believed to be designed by satya varma (the divine architect) himself. There are seven gopuras(towers), named after the seven worlds, present in each of seven prAkArAs (passages around the temple). There are several sanctums for various incarnations/forms of Lord VishNu in these seven prAkArAs. There are also numerous sanctums for great teachers and saints of the religion in these prAkArAs.

Diving Outpourings on the Lord:

Srirangam is the only holy place that has been sung by 11 AzhvArs with a total of 247 verses. One of them, srI thoNdar-adi-p-podi AzhvAr sung exclusively about Lord ranganAthA. srI parAsara bhattar composed magnificent Sanskrit stOtrAs (praise verses) on the Lord, the key among which is known as srI rangarAja sthavam. Sri vEdAnta dEsika composed a

magnificent stOtra called srI pAduka sahasram (1000 verses on the Lord’s holy feet) here.

Great Teachers and Saints:

Srirangam has been, and is the seat of the Sri VaishNava religion. Given that, all the great teachers and saints have lived in Srirangam, and have propagated the religion from there. The following is a partial list of important sanctums present -

(i) All the AzhvArs (12)

(ii) srIman nAthamuni

(iii) srI yAmunAchArya (ALavandAr)

(iv) srI rAmAnuja

(v) srI kUrattAzhvAn

(vi) srI parAsar bhattar

(vii) srI nampiLLai

(viii) srI piLLai lOkAchAriAr

(ix) srI vEdAnta dEsika

(x) srI maNavALa mAmunigaL

Other important facts:

(i) Ramanuja established Srirangam as the seat of learning

(following the footsteps of yAmunAchArya and srIman

nAthamuni), established all the temple procedures and

services and established families to render specific services

to the Lord. He was followed by great teachers like srI

parAsara bhattar, srI nampiLLai and srI piLLai

lOkAchAriar. During the life of srI piLLAi lOkAchAriAr,

srIrangam was invaded by the North Indian rulers, and the

temple procedures were lost. Two generations later, svAmi maNavALa mAmuni reestablished the temple procedures,rejuvenated the rAmAnuja sampradAya, and made Srirangam the seat of learning again.

(ii) A method of propagating the concepts of SriVaishNavism

using song and dance, called araiyar sEvai, was established

by srIman nAthmuni. Following in that tradition, there are

several occasions a year when learned scholars belonging to

the araiyar family enact verses from the divine outpourings

of the AzhvArs.

How to get there:

Srirangam is located near Trichy (Thiru-chi-ra-palli) - about 10

kilometers from there. There is a railway station at Srirangam, and most of the express trains stop there. It is about 300 kilometers from Chennai. It takes about 6 hours by road from Chennai.

 

PROCESSION DEITY OF LORD RANGANATHA

 

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Q & A: NEED FOR SPIRITUALITY AND ACHARYAS

Question 1: What is Spiritual Knowledge, and what is the need for it? Who is a bonafide Acharya (spiritual teacher)? (With so many available)

Any developed, civilized society seeks to find out the purpose of life, Why am I here, Who am I, Who created this universe, these questions will lead us to seek out the Truth.

There has to be a greater purpose than eating, sleeping and reproducing. This leads us to think further and more questions come, am I more than this flesh and blood, am I "jeevatma"? (Spiritual Being)

The very important question of "who am I and what is my purpose", makes us seek "True Knowledge" (Spiritual Knowledge).This spiritual knowledge is gained through the study of spiritual science.

This deals with

1. Chit - Jivathmas (Soul) :- has Knowledge

2. Achit - Time, Matter etc.

3. Ishwara - Paramathma (Supreme soul) :- God, Sriman Narayana

In order to gain a proper understanding of this knowledge such that it can be to our benefit, as well as of benefit to the world, we need to seek an Acharya who has this type of knowledge, and is willing to share it readily with those who sincerely desire to learn it.

Question 2: How do we know the Acharya is true? How do we find THE Acharya?

God out of his Kripa (mercy), reveals the true knowledge to us, via a Acharya parampara (lineage of Spiritual Teachers).

Lord, Sriman Narayana (a.k.a, Vishnu, Sri Hari) is the first Acharya. He revealed this true knowledge to: "Sri" (Maha Lakshmi, the Divine Mother). The Divine Mother revealed the true knowledge to Vishvaksena (Commander in Chief in Vaikhunta), who in turn taught it to Satakopa Muni (Nammazhwar). The lineage of teachers continued on through Nathamuni, Pundarikaksha, Ramamisra, Yamunucharya, Goshti Purna, to Sri Ramanuja, the foremost and most magnanimous of all of the Spiritual Teachers (Time on Earth: 1017 to 1137 AD).

Due to his unparalleled wisdom and compassion, Sri Ramanuja is regarded to be the foremost example of what it means to be a Spiritual Teacher. Thus all other teachers after him, have had their teachings validated because of their connection to Sri Ramanuja.

Consequently, All Acharyas following in this lineage of Acharyas after his time are named with suffixes/prefixes of Ramanuja, they represent Ramanuja and his teachings as they are.

All these Acharyas passed down the knowledge as it is, without any

adulteration to the original as given by Lord Narayana to MahaLakshmi.

You may approach any of the Acharyas in this lineage.

Question 3: Is this Acharya Lineage based on Birth. Are there any caste restrictions on who can be in this lineage?

No this lineage is not based on birth. We have Acharyas from all walks

of life and all castes. SwamiSatagopan (Nammazhwar) the first Acharya

in Earth was born in 4<SUP>th</SUP> Caste. He is the most important acharya who

brought the teachings to all the Sri Vaishnavas. There is a lot of

misconceptions regarding Caste System, let us discuss that in another

session.

Question 4: Is the Spiritual knowledge we get today is same as was given by LORD?

In Sri Vaishnavite Sampradaya, this knowledge is being handed down from Teacher to Student (who then takes over the role of teacher for the next generation)

Such a lineage can be regarded to be like” a clean pipe”, with all the Acharyas being regarded as smaller clean pipes connecting through a main “junction box”, Bhagavad Sri Ramanuja.

Since the water coming in is pure, and all the pipes are clean and untainted by false ego or false knowledge, the water coming at the end of the pipe is exactly the same as it at was at its source (Sriman Naryana). Spiritual Knowledge revealed by the Lord, is given to us by our Acharya, as taught through the Lineage of Acharyas. This knowledge is thus flawless and true spiritual Knowledge.

 

 

So any one interested in learning the True knowledge will approach an

Acharya of this lineage (RamanujaAcharyas, some call them as

Sadacharyas) as they are all representing Acharya Ramanuja (and will pass the message AS IS to their devotees)

Question 5: How to approach Acharya?

Due to, Lord SrimanNarayana's grace and benevolence we get accepted by our Acharya, the Acharya accepts us (it is never the other way). One should be extremely grateful and fortunate to be accepted by a qualified RamanujaAcharya of this lineage.

Question 6: What do we need to get accepted by such an Acharya?

Genuine Interest is all that you need to have. If you are a true devotee seeking the Truth and are willing to understand and follow it respectfully, Ramanujacharyas will never turn you down.

It is our great fortune that Acharyas accept us and impart the True knowledge to us in appropriate doses based on our individual capacity. In Sastras, Acharya is Described as Equivalent to GOD, If needed we can explain reasons later.

So all the true devotees treat their Acharya as GOD himself.

Question 7: Like GOD, is that not stroking some Ego? Is this needed?

True devotees treat their Acharya as GOD himself, But the True Acharya NEVER says "I am God" never behaves with EGO or Anger,

Never entertains any caste, community, regional or language barriers.

Question 8: How to know the True Acharyas from Fake Sadhus?

There are so many others claiming to be the Perfect Acharya and that they are GOD. If you see such people go ask them if they are the SUPREME GOD (The Creator of this universe). Nobody is greater than or equal to the SUPREME GOD.

Ask such people if they can even create a grain of rice without the help of Lord, Sriman Narayana. Ask if anyone can create or bring life to an otherwise life-less object. No-one can create anything, only GOD can. Still we find fake ones claiming to be GOD etc.

True Acharya NEVER says "I am God"

 

You can be assured that an Acharya representing Bhagavad Ramanuja

and his message is passing on the message as revealed by LORD and is a Bonafide True Acharya, capable of delivering us to GOD.

In some sense it depends on what you are seeking, if you are seeking true spiritual knowledge, GOD will allow you to come under the guidance of an Acharya of the Lineage Started by HIM, with the LORD as the First Acharya.

HIS grace is always upon you; let us pray for all of us, to fall in love with HIM more and more and not to resist/block his Grace with our false ego.

 

 

Gopuram at Srirangam. Lord Ranganatha (main deity), The three great teachers

- NammAzhvAr, Ramanuja and MaNavALa mAmuni

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MUMUKSHUPPADI

An Introduction

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Sri Pillai Lokacharya, who is the son of Sri Vadakku Thiruveethi Pillai and the elder brother of Sri Azhagiya Manavala Perumal Nayanar, has written eighteen important rahasya granthas which are together known as the Ashtadasa Rahasyas. These contain such phenomenal works as Mumukshuppadi, Srivacana Bhushanam, etc., which are of great importance to Sri Vaishnavas.

 

Mumukshuppadi is an important work to Mumukshus - those who wish to attain Moksha (liberation), the lotus feet of Lord Sriman Narayana. It explains in three parts (prakaraNams) the sweet and immeasurable meanings of the three mantras together known as the Rahasyatraya. The Rahasyatraya are the Thirumantra, Dwaya mantra and Carama shloka. To every soul that seeks liberation from this samasaric and karmic (suffering due to ego and the complex effects of karma) existence, understanding of these three mantras is essential.

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The three mantras contain in them the five great meanings known as Arthapanchakam. These five meanings are: 1. Knowledge of the Supreme, 2. Knowledge of the Jiva, 3. Knowledge of the means, 4. Knowledge of the goal, and 5. Knowledge of the obstacles to that goal. All three great mantras were revealed by none other than Sriman Narayana Himself. Thirumantra which is known as Mantra Rajam, was revealed in Badri and was advised to Nara by Narayana (both were forms of the Lord).

Dwayam which is known as Mantra Ratnam, was revealed to Sri Mahalakshmi by the Lord in Sri Vishnu Loka. Carama shloka was revealed to Arjuna by Lord Sri Krishna in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. As all three mantras were given by Him, He stands as the first amongst acharyas. It is therefore that Sri Kuratthazhvan started his guru parampara thaniyan with "Lakshminatha" - Sriman Narayana.

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Our acharyas have delighted in the great and deep meanings of these mantras for a long time. Prior to Sri Ramanuja, these rahasyas and their meanings were told only to a selective few by our acharyas. As foreseen by Sri Nathamuni, Sri Ramanuja was born in this world to break such rules and show the path of salvation to everyone. And so, Sri Ramanuja made these rahasyas available to everyone. Sri Pillai Lokacharya then

brought these meanings to us in written form through the work Mumukshuppadi. Swami Manavala Mamunigal, out of his greatcompassion to us, decided to make these meanings understandable even to us and wrote an extensive vyakhyanam for Mumukshuppadi. <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->

It is therefore very important for all those who seek salvation to try to gain a greater understanding of these three mantras by learning the Mumukshuppadi. Even after gaining Mamunigal's vyakhyanam, the explicit and hidden meanings of this work are hard to grasp. It is therefore essential to seek learned acharyas and learn this work from them.

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LIFE HISTORY OF OUR TEACHERS

 

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

The personal relationship between the Lord and the individual is the same for everyone, but how much one understands this varies from person to person. The great saints, called AzhvArs, were the most blessed people as the felt the Lord every moment. One of them Sri periyAzhvAr goes to the extent of treating Lord Krishna as a child, and

singing about the everyday activities for the child - bathing, getting dressed up, adorning flowers, playing with children etc. One other AzhvAr, thirumangai AzhvAr goes to the extent of fighting with the Lord when He hesitates to show Himself to the AzhvAr. Where are these saints? Where are we? Why don’t we feel the same way they did? Think about it.

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MORAL STORY

 

Nails in the Fence

Once, there lived a little boy who had a terrible temper. Even the slightest event that did not go his way made him throw a tantrum. Soon, his friends at school stopped talking to him, his teachers sent him home every night with notes about his bad attitude; Even his sisters and brothers refused to speak to him.

One day, the little boy's father took him out to the backyard and gave him a box of nails and a hammer. He told the little boy that rather than throwing a tantrum, every day he should come home and drive a nail for each time that he got angry that day. The little boy did not quite understand why his father wanted him to do this, but remembering how fun it is to play with hammers and nails, he told his father that he would give it a try.

The first day, the little boy came home and drove 37 nails into the fence. It took him lot longer than he thought it would and made him feel very tired.

The next day the number of nails were slightly fewer than the first; the third he drove less nails than the second. Soon, the number of nails became hardly any at all, because the little boy realized that it was a lot easier to just not be angry than to have to come home to drive all those nails into the fence.

One day, he found that he didn't need to drive any nails at all, because he hadn't been angry all day. Overjoyed, the little boy raced to his father to tell him the good news.

"That's fine, Son," his father said, "But your job isn't over, yet. You are now going to have to start pulling those nails out of the fence. Take your time, though, and let me know when you are done." Since he was really hoping that his father would be proud of him, the little boy took only a few days to remove the nails from the fence. Soon, he raced back to his father, again, and told him that the job was done.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, My Son, but just look at all those holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. This is what happened every time you got angry. It left a scar a scar just like the holes in this fence. It doesn't matter whether you hit someone or yell at someone. Because physically or verbally, anger leaves a wound that can never really heal.

All good people, especially fellow devotees of God, are very rare jewels. They are genuine, make you smile and encourage you to succeed in your goals. They lend an ear, they share words of praise and they always want to open their hearts to you.

The next time that you meet with one, let he/she know that you are glad to be their bandhu (godbrother or godsister). And share this story with them, and seek their forgiveness for any "nails that you may have driven into their fence".

 

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THE BEAUTY OF SURRENDER - (Anjali Vaibhavam)

Aam Jalayathi ithi Anjalihi

Aam refers to The Supreme Lord, Sriman Narayana. Jalayathi means to liquify, to melt. Anjali means folding of hands; Vaibhavam depicts the greatness of folding of hands towards Lotus feet of Lord. The Anjali that we perform towards Emperuman (our Lord) melts him and thus for such a Anjali, He showers his Full Grace on us.

ANJALI VAIBAVAM is a detailed exposition of the 28^th sloka of the Stotraratnam, The Hymn Jewel, of Swami Alavandar. Before moving on to the topic, let me brief about the great Acaryan Sri Alavandar.

A Brief note on Swami Alavandar

Swami Alavandar‘s birth place is Kattumannar Koyil, or Veeranarayanapuram, as it is known in Sanskrit. (South Arcot District-

Tamilnadu), His original name is Yamunacharyar, and he is the grandson of our foremost Acaryar Sriman Nathamunigal.

Yamunacharyar was spending his childhood days at

Veeranarayanapuram. During that period there was a egoistic pundit in

the Chola kingdom called Kolahalan, who under the royal patronage of

Chola king, collected taxes from all other Scholars in realm as an

acknowledgement of his own scholarly superiority. At this time, young

Yamanucharya was taking care of the Gurukulam (The School), since his

teacher was away attending to some pressing matters. One of the

messengers of the Egoistic Pandit “Kolahalan” came to the school and

delivered a tax notice to Yamunacharya to give to his teacher. Yamunacharya tore it into pieces and declared that he himself, a mere student, could easily defeat the egoistic Scholar in Sastric disputation. Although he knew that Yamunacharya was far from ready to do so, Kolahalan accepted the challenge and had him brought to the Chola king's court. With the Lord's Grace, Yamunacharya proved his words to be true by defeating Kolahalan in a difficult scholarly debate. The queen of the Chola Kingdom was so pleased by the arguments of the young prodigy she dubbed him as Alavandaro - which in Tamil means the one who came to conquer. Then on, this title became his name, and he was recognized by everyone as Alavandar.

Works of Swami Alavandar: Swami Alavandar wrote several works in Sanskrit. Some of his works include Siddhitraya, Geethartha Sangraha Agama Pramanya, Mahapurusha Nirnayam. Sriman Alavandar has also composed two hymns in Sanskrit -one in praise of Piratti, Sri, known as Chathusloki, and the other in praise of Emperuman, which is popularly known as Sthothraratnam, the Hymn-Jewel.

The later Acharyas took the works of Alavandar as the base for their literary works on Sri Visishtadvaita philosophy.

About Stotra Ratnam

Swaadyanniha sarveshaam Tryanththaartham Sudugraham

Sthotrayaamasa Yogindrastham vandE Yamunaahvayam

I bow to the king of yogis - Sri Yamunacharyar who through his Stotraratnam has conveyed fully the meaning of Vedas in a lucid manner, such that there wisdom could be understood easily.

Swami Desikar, who is also called Sri Vedanthacharyar, has made a detailed commentary on some of works of Sri Alavandar. His commentary on Stotraratnam and Chathusloki is called as Rahasya Raksha.

Vedanthacharyar has made a detailed commentary on the 28^th sloka of Stotraratnam which depicts the greatness of Anjali- Symbol of Prapathi. This Anjali Vaibavam is in continuation to the 27^th Sloka of Stotraratnam, wherein Sri Alavandar expresses that he who has resorted to the eternal nectar filled lotus feet of Lord, shall never think of anyone else.

It is worth here to quote the verses from Sri Guna Ratna Kosam of Sri

Parasara Battar, where in he has also sung the greatness of Anjali.

The sloka reads: (58^th Slokam)

Aishwaryam Aksharagathim Paramam Padam Va

Kasmai chidanjali baram vahathe vitheerya

Asmai na kinchid uchitam krutumithyathaamba

Tvam Lajjase kathay koyamudar bavaha

In this sloka Battar conveys that ThAyar, the Divine Mother, feels touched with even a single folding of hands is offered towards Her, so much so that whatever she has to offer us in return in terms of Aishwaryam (Wealth), Kaivalyam (self-realization) and even

Paramapadam (the Highest Abode) - all these are not commensurate as befitting the burden of folding of hands from her devotees.

Thus, the Compassion of the Lord and His Consort is clear and Prapaththi (Surrender) as expressed as Anjali can alone help us in seeking his grace.

Sri Vedanthacharyar has divided the 28^th sloka into ten phrases and has quoted Sanskrit verses in authority of his explanation /interpretation.

I would like to briefly bring about the essence of his commentary on the 28^th Sloka of Stotraratnam-Anjali Vaibavam.

Hitaya Sarvajagatham vyaktham yonjalivaibavam

Prachikashat tam vandeham vedantha yugadeshikam.

I bow to the Vedantha Desikar, who for the good of everyone has clearly and in concrete manner explained the greatness of Anjali.

Anjali is the symbol of Prapathi and it is the first step to Prapathi.

The 28^th sloka of Stotraratnam conveys the greatness of Anjali. The sloka reads:

Tvadangrim uddishya kadaapi kenachit yataa tathaa vaapi sakruth krithonjalihi

Tadaiva mushnaathi ashubaani aseshatah shubaani pushnaathi na jaathu hIyathE.

Swami Alavandar by this sloka has conveyed the greatness of Anjali

made unto the lotus feet of Lord Narayana. The meaning of this sloka is as follows

“He who has folded his hands towards your pair of feet, whosoever he may be and whatever be the time, whatever in the form that very instant the act of folding hands dispels at once all his misfortunes and fosters him an eternal bliss.

“Tvad-Angrim uddisya ’’ - the greatness of Lotus feet of Lord is emphasized. - which alone shall lead us to salvation, i.e. moksha.

In Bhagavad Gita, Emperuman has conveyed that He alone can grant moksha (salvation), and all the other deities are under His control. It is worth here to quote the verses from the 23^rd verse of chapter 7 of the Gita, where Lord declares, “the fruits gained by worshiping other deities is perishable and the worshippers of these gods and demigods attain them, while my devotees howsoever they worship me, eventually come to me and me alone.

“Kadapi kenachit”

By this word Swami Alavandar conveys that this Anjali towards the pair of feet of Lord can be done at anytime and by any person. It is the simplest way to attain Him and is not dependent on time or place.

Anjali is a symbol of prapaththi (surrender), which is the only way to attain His Lotus Feet. It is so simple and there is no need for any other human initiative. It is the best pathway for the aspirant, as it is not limited to a specific caste or creed.

-Tad ekopayatha Yancha prapaththi-hi Saranagathi-hi

“Yathaa tathaa vaapi”

Anjali does not require any subsidiaries, and thus it can be performed in any manner.

This means that Emperuman does not expect anything from us, merely folding of hands pleases him. However, the other deities created and controlled by Emperuman expect more offerings and sacrifices from us. And no matter how much we do, the fruits of our penances are limited. Whereas the Compassionate Lord, out of his Vaatsalya (Parental Love) accepts our prayer, although it may be just folding of hands in whatever manner.

Nammalvar in his Thiruvaimozhi has conveyed that the best offering

that will please Emperuman and kindle His grace is Anjali, and he says to Lord that “the words coming out of my heart in praise of you is the sandal paste that I offer to you, my pasurams (songs) are the garland and silk cloth for you, the best ornament that I can offer you is my Anjali.” This Anjali, I perform unto the supreme Lord, who maintains this entire universe, even during the Great Deluge.

“Sakruth kritah Anjali”

This folding of palms towards His Holy Feet, even if performed only once, bestows us with auspicious things. Even the ten Ashvametha Yaga (the Ten Great Sacrifices) shall not yield you Moksham, but singing Lord's glory with our hands folded in prayer shall relieve one from the bondage in the endless cycle of reincarnation.

“Dasha Ashwamedhi Punarethi Janma, Krishna pranami na punar bavaya”

“Tad-Eva -Mushnaathi Ashubaani AsEshathaha”

That very moment, the folding of hands steals away all our misfortunes and miseries without leaving any remainder.

The verb Mushnaathi indicates how the Lord stealthily removes our inauspicious qualities without even allowing us to realize it. “The Anjali made unto His feet, draws us unto Him and removes all the obstacles that prevents us from knowing Him.

“Shubaani Pushnaathi na jaathu hIyate”

The folding of hands bestows us with auspicious qualities and provides

us with eternal bliss. Swami Desikar in his Varadaraja Pancasath says “If

Thou art going to discharge Your powerful arrow of Punishment on us,

who have committed innumerable sins from beginningless time, we

have got a counter shaft (Viz. Anjali) which shall overcome Thy arrow

in spite of Your being omnipotent - “Prathyastram Anjalirasow tava

nigraha-astre”

Thus, the eternal grace we receive for single effort made by us shows the greatness of Anjali.

Conclusion:

“Bagavantham samuddisya tad Eka sharanaha naraha kadaachit na cha hIyanthe kamyakarmaartha api”

The above sloka means “one who seeks Him by way of His Lotus Feet never fails to attain Him.”

Swami Desikar in his commentary on the 28^th sloka of stotraratnam has dealt in detail as how this Prapaththi- Anjali kindles the grace of The Supreme Lord Narayana. The several aspects that may be pointed out are

1. How a seeker shall not strive for anything else other than

seeking the Lord alone.

2. How there is no restriction on time, place, caste or of

subsidiaries.

3. Prapatthi, Surrender, is the only easy way to attain the Lord.

4. How that Anjali dispels all inauspicious qualities and pours

eternal bliss forever.

5. How it bestows eternal fruit at all times on all devotees devoid

of all other attachments and also to a person who is attached to

worldly pleasures.

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FALL IN LOVE WITH GOD

Pray with sincerity humility and gratitude for atleast 15 minutes a day.

RESTRICT FOOD CONSUMPTION

Eat anything only after offering it to God.

MEDITATION

Meditate on the beauty of God, atleast thrice a day,

atleast a minimum of 3 minutes each time. Chant Sri Vishnu

Sahasranamam (the 1000 Holy Names of Lord Vishnu) once a day.

RESPECT FOR ALL THAT IS HIS

Strive to lead a life in which you will never hurt

a fellow living being for any reason.

MONEY

Earn to live, educate, support and serve and not for

the sake of pursuing materialistic desires.

CHARITY

Donate however little it may be to noble causes.

Feeding the needy is the highest form of charity.

CONTENTMENT

Be happy and content that you are His. Thank your preceptors at least

once a day for blessing you with this awareness.

ABSOLUTE FAITH

Place complete trust in the supreme LORD. Do not go against His way.

SELF - CONTROL

Strive to live a life free from selfish desire and anger.

Always adorn a peaceful smile; it will work on others and on you too

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RAMANUJA’S DOCTRINE OF SERVICE

Among thinkers and scholars, particularly those here in West, Sri

Ramanuja has been recognized for his monumental philosophical ideals,

which completely and accurately summarize the essence of the Vedas

and Upanishads into an integrated message on the nature of God, the

nature of the souls, and the nature of this world. To his followers, the Sri

Vaishnavas, Sri Ramanuja is seen as a beacon light in a long lineage of

teachers, who irrefutably proved how the Eternal Truths of these

mystical revelations are the very same truths that were revealed to us in

the lucid and heartfelt devotional renderings of the Azhvars. But, there is

one other great message that would be beneficial for all of us to learn,

and this can be drawn from Sri Ramanuja’s remarkable life of service

and humanitarianism, which can lead us only further into understanding

what this Great Soul had in mind for all his disciples and devotees.

What I am about to share is the message that I was inspired to try and learn from my mentors and teachers. As always, I am indebted to HH Sri Tridandi Sriman Narayana Ramanuja Jeeyar Svami for his inspiration, and seek his forgiveness, as well as the forgiveness of all other devotees, for any errors or misinterpretations in this article.

Each one of us is born at a certain place, at a certain time; to certain

people that we call our parents, and share life with those we call our

siblings, our friends, our spouses, and or co-workers. For those of us

who hail from Vedic heritage, we are born into a particular family

belonging to a particular caste, and each one of us has obligations and

limitations associated with this. Each one of us has followed a specific

path leading to a specific career, and is earning suitable salaries based on

this path. Each one of us has hopes and dreams, interests, hobbies, and

talents. And all of these things, which can only be gifts from God, make

us unique as individuals. But, if we are concerned only with these, the

things that make us unique also keep us separated from one another.

Going one step deeper though, we find that as human beings, we all share similar emotions. We all need to love and receive love in return. We all need friendship and support. We all have times when we need to cry, to sing, to rejoice, to be in our own thoughts. We all need to know that we make a difference in this world and in each other's lives. These human values are universal in nature and take us to a place where we can begin to connect with each other.

But, for those of us who have been blessed to have connection to Sri

Ramanuja through an Acharya, this level of human connection goes one step deeper into an awareness of our connection to Sriman Narayana. For we come to learn that each and every soul, from the one that occupies the body of the smallest ant to the one that is now known as Chathurmukha Brahma (The four-headed god who is responsible for creating the Universe) is in its essential nature, its svarUpam as it is known in Sanskrit, a simple receptacle to the Lord's Grace, and a humble instrument to His Good. This nature of sEshatvam, servitude, is not only

limited to the soul, but is indeed the nature of matter, as well. Consequently, the Lord is likened to the Soul of the Universe, with all the myriad of souls, the bodies in which they reside, and the matter that are their material possessions, being likened to His Body, dependent wholly upon Him and serving as Instruments to His Good. It only stands to reason then that when we seek to love and serve God, we must be willing and able to serve what is His, namely His Body, this Universe.

When we go beyond the things that separate us, when we know that each and every one of us exists solely because of the Grace of Sriman Narayana, and when we know that all living beings are in their True Nature ThirumAl adimai, servants to Sriman Narayana, we can begin to operate from this mood of serving the world as a means of expressing love and servitude to Him, nurturing and caring for each other such that we can serve Him better. This ideal of individual beings working together in a mood of serving a Higher Good, is expressed in Sanskrit as

samAnAdhikAranya (the concept of dynamic dependents), and is revealed in sAstra to be the mechanism behind how this Universe works.

If one can operate from such a place, from a spirit of appreciation for our interdependence centered on Sriman Narayana's Love and Grace, our life, indeed, our very existence, begins to take on a more refined purpose, as it becomes centered on improving ourselves and providing others with the opportunity to improve themselves, such that we can serve Him together. Our relationships with the people in our lives, the obligations of our job, our dreams, ambitions, and talents when seen outside of their

usual mundane significance, become gifts to be appreciated and nurtured, as they have been provided to us by Him solely out of His Unconditional Love. And each and every gift, each and every moment in our life, is provided such that it serves as an opportunity to serve Him and All That is His.

For those of us seeking to live a Vedic life, this dedication to service will

make us see caste as not being a state of high or low, but rather a post in

life that Sriman Narayana has placed us such that we can best serve His

Good.

In time, service itself become its own reward, as it becomes a means of ever-constant way of expressing gratitude to Sriman Narayana for all that He has blessed us with.

While all of this seems to be an ideal that is yet to be achieved by all of

us, we should be aware of the fact that Bhagavad Sri Ramanuja, being

one who understood the truths of the Vedas, was the very embodiment of

these principles. Recognizing that he was to be the greatest example of

what he wished to share, Ramanuja broke free of the traditional bonds of

sanyAsa Ashram, which up until that time had required aloofness and

detachment, to a life of being the "Supreme Servant". Long before the

conditions of society allowed, and centuries before even such great souls

like Mahatma Gandhi had even envisioned the idea, Ramanuja brought

people from all castes and backgrounds, even those from the lowest

strata of society, under the message that has been so well-summed up by

HH Sri Chinna Jeeyar Svami as, "Serve All Living Beings as Service to

God". Sri Ramanuja ensured that each person and each community that

sought to live the Sri Vaishnava way was provided with the opportunity

to serve the Lord in His Temples, in their homes, and in the festivals and

rituals that were geared towards expressing our love for Him. Despite

his erudition and the austerities required of him by his caste and position

as leader of a faith, Sri Ramanuja freely moved about with all of his

people, caring for their welfare, making sure that each was treated fairly

and was provided with the opportunity to utilize his/her talents for the

good of the Sri Vaishnava community.

Sri Ramanuja made certain that all of the 74 disciples that he had selected to promote His Vision, the simhAsanadhipathis or Acharya purushas, had this message of universal servitude and fellowship imbibed in their hearts. And, it is because of this that we are blessed to know it to this day. All that it requires for us to begin on this path is to aspire to live in way that reveres that Very Great Soul, Bhagavad Sri Ramanuja, who brought this message to all of us.

DO YOU KNOW?

That Thiru Narayanapuram (Melkote) has a renowned Sanskrit Research Institute? This institute (called Academy of Sanskrit Research) has in its possession numerous priceless palm leaf manuscripts in Sanskrit pertaining to every field of philosophy.

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PRAYER

We Can Pray; We Should Pray; Will We Pray?

Sri nidhim nidhim apAram arthinAm arthithArtha paridAna dIkshitam

sarva bhUta suhrdam dayAnidhim dEvarAjam adhirAjam AsrayE

(Let my salutations be to Lord DevarAja - King of the gods, Sriman

Narayana - whose unparalleled wealth is PerundEvi thayar - the Supreme

Goddess and Mother, who Himself is the wealth of all the wanting souls,

who has resolved to grant all the needs of His bhaktas, who is the well

wisher of one and all and who is a Treasure of Mercy).

Svami KurattazhvAn’s invocatory verse of Sri Varadaraja stavam (the Hymn

to the Lord Who is the Bestower of Boons) has a lot to convey to us. It is

all the more important in these days of unrest. We need to pray together

and individually for the safety and well being of all our fellow citizens

on Mother Earth. Sri Vaishnavism and all the vedas accept that the whole

universe is the divine body of Sriman Narayana. All the residents of this

earth, cutting across countries, language, sex, community, caste, religion

and above all whether they are humans or flora or fauna, belong to one

group - Servants to the Supreme Lord. One attribute that is common to

all of us is sEshatva - absolute unconditional servitude to our Lord. This

jIvatma's (soul) first and foremost identification is this sEshatva (quality of

servitude). Svami Ramanuja defines sEshatvam as paragata atisaya AdAna

iccha (a servant who always wants to add glory to his Master. So let us

try to add glory to the Lord).

But, alas! Adding glory to Him would be impossible; how can we bring

Glory to the One Who is the Ultimate Glory? He is proclaimed as

"avikArAya suddhAya nityAya paRamatmanE, sadaika rUpa rUpaya vishnavE

sarva jishnavE" (one whose inherent nature, attributes and divine body is

unchanged). Consequently, we fail in our attempt to add any glory to

Him as He is already full with it.

This leads to a paradoxical problem. While He is Perfect, no service can

ever add to His Glory. However, if we do not seek to serve him and

glorify Him, it would be against our True Nature to be His sEsha.

Our preceptors have showed us the way to wriggle out of this problem

and retain our sEshatvam. Because, He is the very soul of all the sentient

and non-sentient beings in this Universe. Since these beings are not

perfect in their nature, we can add to their glory by selflessly serving

them. Therefore, Service to our fellow beings becomes a means to

serving and glorifying God, and would be in accordance with our True

Nature as His sEsha.

There is a popularly held misconception that service should be limited to

other devotees, other Sri Vaishnavas. But, as the Lord is the Inner Spirit

and Master of all living beings, we cannot and should not limit ourselves

only to them. Let us pack up these ideas and focus on serving everyone

who is in need. Let us seek to serve the world as a whole.

Now, this leads to the question of the best way to serve. We can

monetarily or physically help those in times of need. However, we can

often encounter so many road blocks while implementing this. Each of

us has access to only a few people that we whom we can help in times of

need. Go ahead and do your might. But how do we serve all living

beings at large? Seek the help of someone who is close to all of them.

That unique personality is none other than Sriman Narayana. Whether

others agree to His Lordship or not, we agree to their servanthood. So let

us look upon Sriman Narayana to help everyone. He is the one who can

and who should give a helping hand.

This is why Svami Koorathazhvan calls upon us to collectively pray to

Him as He is the "sarva bhUta suhrt" (common well wisher). Prayer is

nothing but a call, a representation, and a plea - not only for me but for

Him, for His well being. His well being would mean the well being of

this Universe. So bhaktas, let us resolve from today to pray together for

the well being of our Lord and humanity. This fetches many fruits in one

throw. I retain my sEshatva; I have prayed for Him, I have prayed for

everyone. And this prayer itself becomes a form of "dyAnam"

(concentration and meditation).

Svami Ramanuja says that the first step to salvation is jIvAtma paRamatma

jnAnam (knowledge about self and the Lord). But mere knowledge

would make one grope in the darkness of samsAra, drowning one in

often times painful and seemingly unanswerable questions. We need to

focus this jnAnam on PaRamatma which transforms to dyAnam -

meditation.

Meditation is often seen to be only in the form of mantra japa (repetitive

chanting of mantras), vigraha pUja (offering prayer to the Deity) etc.

However, this kind of codified approach to meditation often makes one

rigid and egotistical. One needs to refine mediation with love and

affection (snEham). Sri Ramanuja says "dyAna arcana pranAmadibhi:

atyartha priya: tat prApti phala:" (the Lord is pleased with meditation, pUja

and surrender; His pleasure is the means to salvation). He also defines

bhakti as "snEha pUrvam anu dyAnam bhakti:" (meditation with love is

known as bhakti).

Svami Nammazhwar says "eNNilum varum.”(first centum tenth decade of

ThiruvAymozhi). The Lord is waiting in the aisle to come to our rescue,

expecting us to simply to think about Him. A humble thought has the

power to invoke Him.

I am sure you would all now appreciate the importance of dyAnam. Is it

not just closing our eyes and thinking about our Lord. We need to do

more. We must enjoy His Qualities, recollect His Divine actions during

incarnations for our well being, plead for His Well Being (mangalasanam /

pallandu pallandu un sevadi sevvi tirukkappu - May good tidings come to

you, Oh, Lord/Forever and ever may your Sacred Feet be Blessed) and

in turn ensure the well being of everyone. PeriyAzhvar pleaded for the

safety of His lotus feet, which serves as the very soul of all devotees.

So make it a daily practice to establish an undisturbed stream of focused

thoughts on Sriman Narayana. Pray to Him. Do not plead for any mean

fruit. Request for the well being of everyone. All the other wealth would

automatically be granted. Once in a while, make this jointly in a satsang,

then the energy gets multiplied and you start feeling the synergy.

We can pray. We should pray. Will we pray?

SarvE janA: sukhinO bhavantu. Samasta san mangalAni santu.

(May good come to all living beings. May good tidings come to the

whole Universe)

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

“Why do we not feel about the

Lord the same way as the Azhvars did?” The reason for that is their total

love for the Lord, which came about as a result of the Lord’s uninitiated

grace towards them. The Lord blessed them with blemish less

knowledge. That is why they are who they are, and are known as

“mayarvu aRa madhinalam aruLa-p-perRRavargaL” (those who were blessed

with blemishless, unforgettable knowledge). Svami Nammazhvar starts the

thiruvaymozhi with the statement “Oh mind! Go worship and surrender

to the One who granted the blemishless knowledge”.

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<CENTER>Acharya Vamsa Vruksham

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Acharya means Guru or Teacher. Vamsa means Lineage Vriksham means tree. What is the relation between these 3 words. Are we telling that Acharya is a tree? No

Imagine a tree… say Banyan tree… A huge tree… is it not? What are the parts of a tree? Let us start from the root. The tree has root, stem, branches, leaves, and fruits etc.

Our Lineage of spiritual teachers is compared with a tree. Like the root has the connection to stem, stem to branches, branch to leaves and fruits. Our Acharya parampara has connection from the first acharya to our present Acharya.

By the way who is your present acharya? Ask your parents. We call them as Jeeyar or Andavan.Do you know who is your first Acharya? It is Sriman Narayana

So our Acharya Vamsa Vriksham starts from Sriman narayan and ends with our present acharya. Do you remember a Thaniyan,we recite before starting recitation of Pallandu?

Lakshmi naatha samaarambhaam, natha yaamuna madhyamaam.

asmadh aacharya paryanthaam vandhE guru paramparaam

Meaning:

I salute the line of acharyas starting with Lakshminathan i.e.: Sriman Narayana, the others like Nathamuni, Yamuna muni coming in between, and up to my present Acharya

Now let’s us learn briefly about our acharya parampara. First let us see a chart of our acharya lineage (See next page)

In this write up, let us learn about our Acharyas up to Swami Desika. In fact the acharya lineage after Ramanuja branches out in multifold and we have hundreds and hundreds of acharyas upto present day acharya.

 

<CENTER>Sriman Narayana

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Sri Lakshmi

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Sri Vishwaksenar

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Sri Nammazhvar

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Sri Nathamuni

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Sri Uyyakondar

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Sri Manakkalnambi

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Sri Yamuna Muni

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Sri Perianambi

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Sri Ramanuja

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Sri Desika

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Present Day Acharyas</CENTER>

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IN FOCUS - THIRUNARAYANAPURAM

Svami Ramanuja’s favorite Place

Presiding Deity:

Sri Yoga Narasimha (hill top), Sri ThiruNarayana (Moolavar), Sri

Yadugiri Naachiyaar (Divine Consort), Chelva Pillai (Sampath KuMAran) (Processional Deity) and Yatiraja (Sri Ramanujacharya -Tamar uganda Tirumeni (The image that is dear to the devotees).

Salient Aspects of the Place and Temple:

ThiruNarayanapuram is also called Yadavadri, Yadushaila, and Melukote. It is located in the present Mysore/Karnataka district. This small town’s hub of activity is its temple. This Sri Vaishnava abhimAna sthalam was the place where Ramanuja resided after he and his disciples were exiled from Srirangam by the local fanatical chieftains. Of all of the places where he resided, ThiruNarayanapuram was particularly dear to his heart; so much so, that he stated that he would place his very spirit in the processional image that bears an exact likeness to him, and instructed all of his disciples to make an effort to reside here.

ThiruNarayanapuram is a place where people glorify Sri Ramanuja as the

King of Ascetics, the King of Philosophers, the King the Vedas awaited,

and the Father of the divine child Sampath KumAran (Chelva Pillai-the

dear darling child). Despite its appearance as a sleepy little town, the

temple and town is home for many learned Acharya Purushas and Vedic

Pandits.

Sri Vaishnava tradition with Sri Ramanuja as its central focus and most

important acharya, explains the important relationship of this Great Soul

with his beloved child, Sri Chelva Pillai. It is understood that Sriman

Narayana is the Only Being in this Universe that is Truly Independent,

i.e., His Actions and His Will is not limited by the bounds of karma, as it

is with every other soul. But, since His Very Nature is Love and

Compassion, He is under the sway of those who love him, and to Great

Souls like Sri Ramanuja, He becomes like their own child, much in the

same way in which He allowed Himself to become Nandagopa's and

Yashoda's Beloved Son, Krishna. Sri Ramanuja is the father to Chelva

Pillai, caring for Him, nurturing Him, as well as instructing Him on the

merciful attitude He should maintain when He is approached by all

souls.

Establishment of the Temple:

 

The auspicious Thai Punarvasu (the Makara month) when Sri Ramanuja

found His TiruNarayana from the Hills in Yadavadri is celebrated with

much enthusiasm. All the temple festivities to this date are carried out

by the local Mahans in the same manner as Sri Ramanuja established

more than 900 years ago. In 1098-99 Sri Ramanuja reached this town at

the age of 82 and uncovered TiruNarayana who was hidden, buried in

the Yadavadri Hills. A temple was built and the Lord worshipped by the

pAncharAtra tradition. As Sri Ramanuja was in search for a processional

deity for the temple festivities, He was instructed by the Lord to go north

(Delhi) and bring Him back from the Delhi Sultan’s daughter Bibi. Sri

Ramanuja resided in Melkote for 12 years, establishing and

administering temple.

People:

Many scholars and people from different faiths surrendered to Sri Ramanuja under the Hoysala reign of King Vishnuvardhana. The Mandyam, HebbAr, Hemmige, and MelnAttar communities are some of the many Sri Vaishnava groups that have originated from here.

Although their spoken language is the Sanskrit based Kannada, more importance is given to the Dravida Vedas, the 4000 Divine outpourings of the Azhvars, than to the Sanskrit Vedas.

Tradition and Festivals:

In accordance with the Sri Vaishnava tradition where the Acharya is given equal or more importance than the Lord, the bhagavathas of this special divine place give extraordinary importance to Sri Ramanuja and His Darling Child. The daily worship is done first at the shrine of Sri Ramanuja and subsequently to the main presiding deities.

 

Although there are no azhvar pasurams sung in direct reference to

 

Thirunarayanapuram, Sri Ramanuja dedicated the 4.1.1 verse of Sri

Nammazhvar’s Thiruvaimozhi to ThiruNarayana.

The two main festivals held at this sacred place are the famous Vairamudi festival (The Festival of the Diamond Crown) and Sri Ramanuja Tirunakshattiram (Sri Ramanuja’s Appearance Day) festival. The former is held in the Tamil/Solar month Panguni on the star Pushyam where Chelva Pillai also called Yatiraja Sampath KuMAran majestically adorns the sparkling, resplendent diamond-studded crown. The latter is held during the month of Chittirai, during the TiruvAdirai star. Both these are 10-day-long festivals where the town sees tens of thousands of devotees to enjoy the Divine Form of the Lord ThiruNarayana and His Father, Yatiraja Sri Ramanuja.