Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Sri Vedanta Desikan Swami Attains Parama Padam

Link:    http://srivedantadesikan.blogspot.in/2007/02/swami-attains-parama-padam.html
Sri Vedanta Desikan  Swami Attains Parama Padam

[From the Life and works of Sri Nigamantha Mahadesikan- by Prof Sri A
Srinivasaraghavan]

Lord Devanatha is taken during festivals to several places in the outskirts
of Thiruvaheendrapuram for the worship of people living there. Sri Vedanta
Desika used to go occasionally to such places sanctified by the Lord as
though on pilgrimage. Once it so happened that he used to stay in one of
those places at night. As usual he worshipped his ArAdhana deity Lord
Hayagriva whom he always used to yELLa pannufy [carry] with him. The worship
was conducted at night and by chance there was nothing with him that he
could offer as NivEdana. With a sad heart he went to take rest.

At mid night, he was awakened by the farmer of the village and reported that
a milk white horse, which was new to their village- never seen before- was
grazing the green corps of the field and it must belong to the new comer-
i.e. Swamy Desikan. Swamy Desikan smiled and congratulated the farmer that
he has been blessed by Lord Hayagriva by setting foot on his fields. The
next morning the farmer was glad to see that the corps were fresh and green.
He fell at the feet of Swamy for having brought the Lord?s blessing to him
so unexpectedly.

Sri Vedantha Desika is popularly known as the author of treatise on house
building, silpa saasthra. But such a manuscript is not available now. At the
same tradition records that there is a well constructed by Swamy at
Thiruvaheendrapuram which exists even today and Lord Devanathan is taken
every year on a particular day to that place.

The well was constructed by Swamy Desikan in all perfection even though the
materials used were not up to the mark. The bricks were ill formed and clay
mixed with some kind of salt was the joining material since there was no
cement those days. A pilgrim to Thiruvaheendrapuram always goes to that
well and uses a handful of water with greatest respect. It seems he built
this well- when challenged by a builder as to his title on Sarvathanthra
swathanthrar and he was asked to prove by building a well with such ill
formed bricks and clay mixture. Swamy as usual won the challenge. There is
also a dhivya mangaLa vigraham of Swamy?s which was sculpted by Swamy
himself when challenged by someone else on a different occasion.

It is said that once Sri Vedantha Desika left Thiruvaheendrapuram to go to
Srirangam and other centres. After traveling for a day, he took rest in a
place for the night when Lord Devanatha appeared in his dream and asked him
to return. Swamy went back being blessed by the Lord with love and devotion.
Then he wrote several literary works there praising the Lord:
achuyhtasathakam, Devanatha panchaasath mummaNikkOvai, navamanimalai and
others . The Lord is his lover and he- His heroine. Lord is his saviour,
hero, deity for worship and the giver of all desirable things in this world
and in the Paramapadham as well.

The goal of life for Sri Desika was devotion and worship of the Supreme
Lord. He did not want to serve anyone to earn his livelihood. To lead his
daily life, he would go round the streets of the city singing hymns of
Alwars and sthOthras composed by acharyas and by him. He never asked anybody
to give him any material, but accepted raw rice offered with respect by
residents of the city. He prepared food from that rice and offered the food
to the Lord and then took as prasAddham.

When Swamy was at Kanchi, one day a bachelor came to him and requested him
to give some material in order to conduct his wedding. Swamy was moved by
his request and advised him to worship Goddess Sri PerundhEvi Thaayaar. Then
he led the Brahmachaari Boy to Her sannidhi and taught him the sthOthra Sri
Sthuthi. He went around the sannidhi reciting that sthOthra with the lotus
feet of divine consort in his mind. There was huge roar of shower of gold
coins. In fact wherever her glances fall, there is flood of desirable
wealth- says Swamy Desika. Such was Swamy?s power to amass wealth. But never
chose to earn that way? [as against our running amuck after wealth and only
that as the main objective? rest all is not all a priority.. Especially
Bhagavdh vishayam ? not now.. Only after retirement.. . vetkam? vetkam?
ashamed of even calling myself a Desika bhakthan..]

yasyaam yasyaam disi viharathE Devi dhrushta tvadheeya
tasyaam tashyaam AHAM AHAM ikaam thanvathE samadhOgaa:

Oh Goddess! In whichever directions Your glances fall, in all those places
leaps of wealth flow competing themselves to be the first to bless the
recipient of your mercy.

thEshaam bhoomeh dhanapathi grhaat ambaraat ambudhEr vaa
dhaaraa niryanti adhikam adhikam vanchithaanaam vasonaam

To those persons, who begin to meditate unpolluted in their minds there will
be flow of all desirable wealth before them immediately either from the
earth, or the place of Kubera or from the vast sky or from deep ocean

Such is the result of the worship of Periya PiraaTTi Sri Mahalakshmi.

The skill of Sri Vedanta Desika in the composition of literary works in
prose and poetry, epic and drama is equally miraculous. All this is done
without a desire for praise or for remuneration.

If Kalidasa had written Khandakava, Megha Sandhesa, Swamy Desika has
composed the Hamsa sandhEsa sent by Sri Rama to Sri Sita in Ashokavana in
Lanka.

Again, Yadhavaabhyudhaya in twenty four chapters written by Swamy Desika is
equal if not better in merit to Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa.

When PrabhOdha ChandrOdhaya was shown to Swamy Desika, he was inspired to
write Sankalpa suryodhaya, an allegorical drama. Viveka ? discretion- is the
hero; Sumathi- correct wisdom is the heroine. All the qualities, good and
bad, are the various characters in the drama. Viveka and Vishnu bhakthi come
together. A comparative study of this drama and abhignana Sakunthala of
Kalidasa will be really interesting and show the skill of Swamy Desika as a
dramatist.

Padhuka sahasra is yet another miracle performed by Swamy- one thousand
verses on Sandals of the Lord ? is said to have been composed by Swamy
Desika in the course of one night [that too for three hours] as against
padha kamalasahasra which was composed ? about 300 verses completed.. in one
night by the person who had challenged Swamy.

Then in the year Sowmya when the sun had reached the Vricchika month, on the
day of Kritthiga asterism, the best of Acharyas, Acharya Saarvabhouman Swamy
Nigamantha Mahadesikan gave up his body and attained Acharyan ThiruvaDi- the
eternal abode.

sreedhee yOgyE SakE ShuklE udhabhUth vEnkatEswara: |
labdhaprAyE SakE prAyAth sowmyE sa param padham ||

Acharya Sri Venkatesa appeared in this world in the year Sukla. After having
lived for hundred years, he attained the permanent abode- Sri Paramapadham-
in year Sowmya. It may be noted Swamy Desikan appeared in the star of
ThiruvONam- same as that of the first Azhwar- when Poigai AzhwAr appeared
and attained Acharya ThiruvaDi in the star of Kritthigai- the star when the
last AzhwAr Thirumangai AzhwAr appeared. Thus he is verify the
personification of 12 AzhwArs themselves- one may say.

Much more has to be written about Swamy Desikan the literary Giant, but we
stop here since we cannot complete the list of his works in one life time.
Let us enjoy his 28 sthOthras and then his other granthas in summary form
in subsequent days.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

கோவிந்த கோவிந்த கோவிந்தா

கோவிந்த கோவிந்த கோவிந்தா

லிங்க்:    http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/2182732/995358657/name/006-Why+Tirumalaiappan+is+called+Govinda.doc.pdf

ThirumaN (Oordhva puNdram)

Thanks to the link:  http://sriramanujar.tripod.com/thiruman.html
______________________________________

ThirumaN (Oordhva puNdram)

(by Sri Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan, USA)

This is an article about the Vaishanavite wearing ThirumaN, Ramunuja's role in it, The differences in the shape of the ThirumaN worn by the Thenkalai and Vadakalai sects , Why ThirumaN is seen on the forehead of Archa Murthys in recent notes of Prapatti Group members.
I will share my views on this : First of All , there is a lot of history to it. Vangipuram Nambi , one of the 74 Simhasanaathipatis summarized Ramanuja's views on Sadaachaaaras regarding this practise and Swami Desilkan later elaborated on this in his Saccharitra Raksha and linked the sources of his views to Paarameshtya Samhita,Brahmaraatra Samhita et al. Other granthas like Sacchaaritra Sudha Nidhi and the 800 page Monograph approved by the 44Th Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt known as "Sri Vaishanava Sadaachara Nirnayam" by Vidwan Villivalam Krishna Dasa (Krishnamacharya) have detailed references to the mantras that go with this daily observance , the right way to apply the ThirumaN and other daily observances by Vaishanavites..
The Vaishnavite Paribhasha(colloquial) for wearing ThirumaN (Auspicious Clay) is ThirumaN Kappu Saatal. The key word here seems to be Kaapu or Protection. That protection is achieved thru the Lord"s weapons celebrated in Panchaayudha Sthotram. Like Dig Bhandhanam before Mantra recitation, the request for protection of the limbs of one body and protection from above, behind, sides etc is a well known practise in Ahnikaas (Performance of Daily rituals prescribed).Hence , ThirumaN Kappu can be viewed as a Kavacham , that confers protection on the Vaishanavaas wearing that by invoking the weapons and the power of the Lord. The freedom from fear of the ThirumaN kappu wearing Vaishnavas referred to in Eswar's note relates to the Mahaviswasam of the Vishnu Bhaktas in Lord's protection from the three kinds of afflictions of life.
The 12 names associated with 12 Urdhva Pundarams have been elaborated upon by Swami Desikan in his work known as "Panniru Thirunaamam" dedicated to the celebration of the holy feet of Kanchi Perumaal.
Examples of that are: Forehead, Presiding lord is Kesavan. His color is invoked as Golden. His weapons are 4 Chakrams. The direction assigned to him is East.` Centre Portion of Stomach, the next site to wear Urdhva Pundram has Sriman Narayana as the presiding deity. His Color is visualized as Blue.His Weapons are 4 Conches .The direction of protection offered by him is West.Thus it goes on for the rest of the 10 Urdhva Pundram.
Incidentally, Urdhva Pundram is associate with Urdhva Rethas celebrated in the Vedic Passage "Urdhva Retham virupaksham Viswaroopaya Nama:" Urdhva Pundaram is also symbolic of Sattvika Guna by Lord Krishna In Bhagavat Gita ( Urdhvam Gacchanti Satttwasthaa:).Reference to this is from Naaradheeyam.In this context, this souce says that the Vishnu Bhaktaas should not wear Tiryak Pundram(cross , horizontal wearing of the Pundram) even as a playful matter. Vishnu Dharmottaram establishes guidelines as to which finger to use in applying ThirumaN. Pavitram wearing finger and the middle finger are taboo. One should apply ThirumaN , while sitting. The Thirucchornam used must be sanctified. Any vermilion paste wont do. The people , who have had Bharanyaasam should wear the Yellow choornam and others the Vermilion version. The thirumaN wearing has to have the White two lines and the Red line at the centre, housing the Divine couple, who are never separated. The two white lines are like temple for them. Lord Himself says that he and His consort love to reside in the temple created by the two broad white lines of ThirumaN. Narrow crowding of the two lines are not desirable to him, In my other note, I will speculate on the Neuroanatomical significance of the shape of the thirumaN and suggest a reconciliation between the Tenkalai and Vadakalai versions of wearing the ThirumaN.
On the Sampradhayam(tradion) side, there are number of mantras to create the paste of clay with water in one"s palm.Nrsimha Beejam is to be drawn at the center after completing the preparation of the paste.The Veda Mantras used in the preparatory rituals are 7 in number.Panchopanishad Mantra, Ashtaaksharam,Vishnu Shadakshara Mantram, Dwaadasaaksharam, Dwayam(Mantra ratnam), Vishnu Gayatri are to be included in the appropriate phases of the Pundram wearing ceremony. In between the 12 Names of the Lord to be recited at the time of the decoration of the individual parts of the body, the 12 names of Sri Devi are to be added. They are: Sriyayai nama:., Amrutothbhavaayayai Nama:, Kamalaayayai Nama:,Chandra Sodharyayai nama:, Vishnupatnyayai nama:, Vaishnavyayai nama:, Varaarohayayai nama:,Harivallabhyayai Nama: , Saarnginyayai nama:, Devadevikaayayai nama:, Surasundaryayai nama:. Maha Lakshmyayai Nama:, Sarvaabhishtapalapradhaayayai nama:. Guru vandanaams are also involved. I have seen my grandfather take a minimum of 30 minutes to perform this ThirumaN ceremony sitting at the abnk of Cauvery river after his morning bath. Even today, we can see in the Toopul House Remains of Swami Desikan , the section, where he sat and applied ThirumaN prior to his Abhigamana Araadhanas( Act of Going near the Lord and His consort with Humility and reverence) prescribed by Ramanuja in one of his nine works.

Neuroanatomical speculation on ThirumaN


This is fairly fanciful, but please view it a light hearted manner after the heavy traditional intrepretation fro "co(s)mic relief:. Our Central nervous system and its "gray" matter is packed in 3 coverings (dura, Pia etc). for protection against accidents of Life.Theree are a dense arterial and veinous circulation of the fluid of life thru them in a intricate fashion reaching out to all nooks and corners of the brain and its centres , which control every motor , thought processes as long as we live.
he brain has two hemispheres connected by the collosoal fibre bundle known as corpus collosum, which cross connects the left and the right brain, each odf which have special functions revealed from the Caltech Scientist et al. The cutitng of the Corpus Collosum and its consequences in terms of the calamities in the coordinated functioning of the Brain has also been detailed by the Caltech pioneer. We can view the two lines of the Thiruman connected by the U shaped line as the two lobes of the brain connected by the Corpus collosum.
The frontal lobes and the feeling states and the emotional aspects they symbolize come closest at the forehead in the area of the Ajna Chakram.That region is covered by the U shaped or the Y shaped portion of the ThirumaN. The Central nervous System (CNS) really extends as we know down to the tip of the spinal chord and the Dura matter covers it as a Sac all the way down to Mooladharqa Chakram. The Vada kalai version might be an abstracted version of the all powerful version of the CNS to remember and retain Bhagavan and the Tenkalai Version the full representation of the CNS . The Cranial Nerves control thru the Sensory and Motor branches the functioning of the limbs in our daily activities. The presence of ThirumaN on the upper limbs can in this model be associated with the Control thru the Cranial Nerves.
This allegory is mostly for semi-serious Consumption.
Questions: 1. Why Lord Wears ThirumaN / Why Ramunuja or others applied ThirumaN to The Lord of Thiruvenkatam? He surely does not need it.
2. Why Ramanuja was not welcome at Siva temples ?
Ramanuja Related Questions:
It is said that Ramanuja requested ThiruVekatamudayan to wear the Sanka and Chakra after entering His Sanctum as a Serpent(Adi Sesha) thru the water hole . The hagiographic account refers to the Archa at Thirupati being that of Sankara or Subramnaya . In this context, One of the Azhwar refers to the blending of the Body of Siva and Vishnu in one at Thirumalai( Third Thiruvanthadhi: Verse 63). Peyazhwar is the One great Azhwar, who saw the form of Divine couple and cried out in Thirukkovalur " Thirukkanden, ponmeni Kanden--". Even today, Bilvarchana at Thirupathi and the nonremoval of the Golden Kavacham for the two weapon-bearing hands of Thiruvekatamudayan even during Thirumanjanam and Adi sankara"s establishment of Dhanaakarshana Yantra at Thirupathi are mysteries. Regarding Ramanuja, There is no reason for him to be unwelcome at Siva Temples, except that he had no reason to go there.
Why the Lord Wears ThirumaN?
Ramanuja is also known as Godhagraja or the elder to Andaal based on an incident that happpened at Thirumaaliruncholai ( Offering of the 1000 vessels of Akkaravadisal on behalf of Aandal). Ramanuja is also known as Thiuppavai Jeeyar, because of the joy that he experienced in reciting Thiruppavai Verses and the reverence he had for the Philosophy of Aandal. She , unlike other Azhwars reminded Her Lord of his duties and awakened from his slumber (Yoga nidra). She reminded her Lord about his sworn duties to rescue the tormented Jeevans and interceded on their behalf. Ramanuja in the spirit of Andaal might have put the ThirumaN on the Lord to remind Him of His duties to use his weapons to come to the rescue of the Jeevans. I think however the practise of wearing ThirumaN goes to a time much before Ramanuja.
In conclusion, it can be said that Lord wears Thiruman not as His Lotus feet on His forehead , but as an indication of the power of his weapons and His presence in every one of the directions to protect His devotees. When the Vaishnavas wear the Pundrams , they consider their body as being protected by His weapons and as a temple for the Divine Couple. Thus , there are two separate reasons for the ThirmaN wearing by the Lord and His devotees.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Purana ratnam: Vishnu Puranam


_________________
Subject: [SriRangaSri] Purana ratnam: Vishnu Puranam; Commentary by HH 45th Jeer in His purvasramam

 
Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha
Adiyen received an email from malolakrupa@yahoo.com referring us to this site:
http://anudinam.org/2012/03/02/purana-ratnam-vishnu-puranam-1/
Swamin may like to visit the above. This webpage mentions:
"This Series will be posted with text commentary extracted from Sri U.Ve. Vidwan villivalam Krishnamacharyaswami along with the video upanyasam of Setlur Paiyambadi Sri U.Ve. Srivatsangachar Swami".
Desika sampradayasthars may easily identify that Sri U.Ve. Vidwan villivalam Krishnamacharyaswami referred above is the purvasrama namam of prakrutham 45th Jeer (Peria Azhagiya Singar) of Ahobila Matam.
Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan
Santhanam Iyengar
=================
Re: [SriRangaSri] Purana ratnam: Vishnu Puranam; Commentary by HH 45
Posted by: "Pramanam Net" pramanamnet@yahoo.com   pramanamnet
Sun Mar 4, 2012 2:41 am (PST)

Pranamams,
Thanks for the link Swami.
Here is the second part link: http://anudinam.org/2012/03/04/purana-ratnam-%E2%80%93-vishnu-puranam-%E2%80%93-part-2-with-upanyasam/
The editor has missed to mention that its Prakrutham 45th Azaghiyasingar in his Porvasramam and its being updated in the link now.
dAsan