NAMO NARAYANA
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- sri:
- srimate ramanujaya
namah:
- sri padmavati
sametha sri srinivasa parabrahmane namah:
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- AchAryAL's Tributes
& Connections to Sri VenkatEsA
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-
-
 AchArya
RaamAnuja
This great AchAryA followed the foot steps of his predecessors
like
- Nathamuni, Aalavandhar
and climbed these holy hills and delivered at
- the sannidhi of Lord
SrinivAsan a discourse on VedAs and Upanishads
to establish the essence of VisishtAdvaitham . Lord VenkatEsA
was very
- pleased with this exposition
of Raamanuja and said " This indeed is the
- meaning of the Vedas
, My words". This divine discourse approved by the
- Lord of the Seven Hills
came to be known as the first of the nine Sri Sookthis (Blessed
compositions ) of Acharya Ramanauja and is revered today as
VedArtha Sangraham .
-
- The gigantic tree of
Sri BhAshyam ,the magnum opus of RaamAnujA grew
- out of this seedling
blessed by Lord SrinivAan Himself .The foundational
- principle of VisishtAdvaitham
, the Sarira-Sariri relation , was thus established
- by Bhagavath RaamAnujA
here at Thirumalai in front of the Lord, who was
- given the name of "SrinivAsan
" by AchArya Ramanujan himself.
-
- Earlier , AchArya RaamAnujA
established the true identity of the Lord of
seven hills as that of Sriman NaarAyaNan through the Lord's own
acceptance of Sankha-Chakrams as His divine weapons . Thirumalai
Nambi aka Srisaila PoorNar (973-1073 A.D) was very pleased with
his nephew RaamAnujA's
intercession with the Lord of Thirumalai to reveal His true form
. RaamAnujA stayed at his uncle's house for a few months and
learnt about the intricate meanings of important passages in
RaamAyaNA and PurANAs from him . A host of other AchAryas followed
the foot steps of Bhagaavth RaamAnujA like Swamy Desikan , Swamy
MaNavALa Maamunigal down to present day AchAryAs . One of the
principal disciples of Swamy MaNavALa
MaamunigaL blessed us with the Sri VenkatEsa SuprabhAdham , SthOthram
, Prapatthi and MangaLam, which is recited every day in front
of the Lord
at Thirumalai.
-
- NadAthUr
AmmAL 's links to Thirumalai
NadathUr ammaaL was the nephew of AchArya RaamAnujA . He is the
one , who blessed the five year old VenkatanAthan (Swami Desikan)
to succeed in paramatha kaNDanam , the strengthening of the fortress
of VisishtAdvaitha VedAntham and growing Bhagavath RaamAnuja
SiddhAntham further.
- At one time , NadAthUr
ammAl went on a pilgrimage to Thirumalai. He was
- near ThirucchAnUr and
the hot rays of the noon sun was bearing down on
him. AmmAL rested on the pial of a house and was hungry . At
that time ,
- a Sri VaishNavar appeared
and presented dhadhyannam in a golden vessel
and mentioned that it was SrinivAsa's Niyamanam .Once AmmAL and
his sishyAls partook the prasAdham , the Sri VaishNavar and the
golden vessel disappeared . Sri NadathUr ammaaL recognized it
was the Lord of the seven hills that gave him and his sishyALs
His PrasAdham .Meanwhile , the sannadhi servants noticed the
missing golden vessel and were wondering as to what had happened.
The Lord explained to them that He personally took it to serve
AmmAL and had showed where that vessel was.The Lord also commanded
His sannadhi parichArakAs to bring AmmAL with all honors (maryAdhais)
from ThriucchAnUr to His presence . NadaathUr ammAl arrived in
front of the Lord and performed MangaLAsAsanam to bhis heart's
content and returned thereafter to his native Kaanchi . Such
is the relationship of Lord SrinivAsan to His AchAryALs.
-
- Swamy
NigamAntha MahA Desikan
Swamy Desikan was an incarnation of the divine bell of ThiruvenkatamudayAn
. His magnum opus among sthOthrams is dayA sathakam , where he
eulogizes the most important KalyANa guNam of Lord VenkatEsA
, DayA , as one of His Five Devis . Swami Desikan's contribution
for the growth of VisishtAdvaitham as the amsam of the Lord of
seven hills is legendary . His genius in intrepreting Bhagavath
RaamAnuja darsanam led to the creation of many Sri Sookthis .
He saved for us the master work of Sudarsana Suri , Srutha prakAsikai
, the commentary on Sri Bhaashyam of AchArya RaamAnujA by NadAthUr
ammAl .
- The master mind of Swamy
Desikan summarized for us the gist of the teachings of the 16
paadhAs of the four AdhyAyAs of Brahma Soothram as intrepreted
by AchArya RaamAnuja in verse number 19 in the SaasthrAvathArA
, AdhikaraNasArAvaLi this way (translation of the original sanskrit
SlOkam by Sri K. Bhaashyam) :
-
- Here the Lord (Srinivasa
NaarAyaNan) is seen in the following 16 ways :
-
- (1)
He is the Creator
(2) He is the possessor of the World as His Body
(3) He is self-supporter ( does not seek other support )
(4) He is shining splendid with measureless glories
(5) He can not be denied
(6) He is the reliable friend for those , who resort to Him (Achyuthan)
(7) He is the author of the birth of AkAsA et al and the Jeevans
(8) He is the author of the senses and PrANA
(9) He is the controller of the movement of SamsArA
(10) He is the most beautiful, blemishless and is full of anantha
KalyANa GuNams
(11) He is the object of various devotions
(12) He is pleased by the performance of one's appointed duty
(13) He is the destroyer of all sins (Venkatam)
(14) He leads the Muktha Jeevans through Brahma Naadi
(15) He leads the muktha jeevan through the ArchirAdi maargam
- thereafter
with His AadhivAhAs
(16) He is the one who grants the boon of Saayujyam for the Muktha
Jeevan .
Such is the synthetic and analytical genius of this AchAryan
, who is an important
- amsam
of Lord SrinivAsan of Thirumalai .
-
- Adhi
VaNN SatakOpa Jeeyar , the Founder of
AhObila Matam
-
- Another great AchArya
, Adhi VaNN SatakOpa Jeeyarwas the founding Jeeyar of Ahobila Matam . He had received sanyAsam directly
from the hands
- of BhagavAn NarasimhA
at AhObilam . When this Jeeyar visited Thiruppathi , Lord SrinivAsA
appeared in his dream and commanded the Jeeyar to build steps
for pilgrims to climb Thiruppathi hills to reach His sannidhi
without difficulty . Adhi VaNN SatakOpa Jeeyar obeyed the Lord's
command and built the steps for easy climbing and also mantapams
in between for the pilgrims to rest during their climb up the
hill .These steps are present even today and devotees of Lord
SrinivAsan climb them to reach the Lord's sannidhi. The ties
between Lord SrinivAsan and the AchArya paramparais are deep
and profound .
-
- Brahma
Tantra Svathantra Swamy and Thirumalai
One of the principal sishyars of Swamy Desikan was brahma tanthra
Svathantrar, the First Jeeyar of Parakala Matam of Mysore . He
was very close to Svamy NainAraachaar , the blessed son of Swamy
Desikan. Both of them grew the sampradhAyam together. Brahma
Tanthra Swamy's principal Sishyar is KatikAsatham AmmAl of Kaanchipuram
, the grandson of the famous
NadAthUr AmmAL. KatikAsatham AmmAL's principal sishyar was Adhi
VaNN SatakOpa Jeeyar , the founder of Ahobila Matam . When Both
Brahma Tanthra Svathantra Swamy and Swamy NainArAcchAr were visiting
Thirumalai, Lord SrinivAsan appeared in the dream of Brahma Tanthra
Svathatrar and
told him :" Thirumalai Jeeyar , who was serving us as SrikAryam
Swamy has ascended parama padham . I would like you therefore
to accept our SrikAryam Kaimkaryam and stay here engaged in siddhAntha
Pravachanam ".
At thre same time , ThiruvEnkatamudayAN appeared in the dreams
of His Koil adhikArIs and told them:
" We have commanded Brahma Tanthra Swamy visiting Thirumalai
as My SrikAryam Swamy. From here on follow his direction as My
command and give him the keys and the seal for My sannidhi ".
-
- At the break of dawn
, Brahma Tanthra Swamy (Jeeyar) shared this dream with Swamy
NainirAchAryAr , while the Koil adhikAris were knocking on his
door to tell him about the Lord's command to them . With the
blessings of Swamy NainArAchAr , Jeeyar went to the Sannidhi
of the Lord after performing GuruparamparA praNAmams at the Bhali
peetam.He accepted the SrikAryam Kaimkaryam through archaka mukham
and conducted the daily duties
of the Sannidhi with alacrity and efficiency . The Jeeyar built
a matam at Thirumalai and had prathishtai of the Vigraham of
Swamy Desikan there.
-
- PrathivAdhi
Bhayankaram ANNA and Thirumalai
At the request of his revered Acharyan, Swamy MaNavALa Maamuni
, Sri ANNA composed the four Sri Sookthis ( SuprabhAtham , SthOthram,
Prapatthi and MangaLam ) for ThiruvEnakatamudayAn. Swamy MaNavALa
Maamuni , who was very much involved with Kaimkaryam for Lord
SrinivAsan established the daily recitation of these moving Sri
Sookthis in front of ThriuvEnkatamudayAn. It is intersting to
know how Sri ANNA got the title of PrathivAthi Bhayankaram as
a prefix to his name. Sri ANNA was a sishyar of NainirAchAryAr
for some time . At Kaanchi, once an arrogant sanyAsi challenged
Swamy NainArAchArya for a debate and laid the condition that
latter can not do any siddhAntha pravachanam unless he ( the
sanyAsi) was defeated in the debate. Swamy NainArchAryAr called
his disciple , Sri ANNA and sprinkled his head with the water
sanctified through incorporation of HayagrIva manthram and asked
ANNA to represent him in the debate with the sanyAsi.
Sri ANNA decisively defeated the SanyAsi in the ensuing debate
and returned to Swamy NainirAchAryA's sannidhi. Swamy was so
pleased with his sishyan's performance and he hailed him "
PrahtivAdhi Bhayankaram ANNAnE!
please come near " .From then on Sri ANNA , one of the eight
principal disciples of Swamy MaNavALa MaamunigaL was called PrathivAdhi
Bhayankaram ANNA. One of the slOkas associated with PrathivAdhi
Bhayankaram ANNA recognizes his sambhandham with Swamy Desikan's
paramparai as well through these lines:
-
- "
VedAntha Desika KatAksha Vibrudhi Bodham,
bhakthyA bhajAmi ParavAdhi Bhayankaram ".
-
- During his visits to
Thirumalai , PrathivAdhi Bhayankaram ANNA used to admire the
intensity of the devotion of Sri AnanthAzhwAn and his Nandavana
(Pushpa) Kaimkaryam and other kaimkaryams for the Lord .Our AchArya
Paramparai's involvement with ThriuvEnkatamudayAn's kaimkaryams
defy summary through this brief description .
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