Month: March 2017

Swamy Parasara Bhattar the great successor of Jagath Acharyar Swami Ramanuja was a prolific writer of great distinction.

Acharyar’s works in Sanskrit and tamil bear amazing scholarship and command . Swamy’s works in Sanskrit include Ashtasloki, BhagavadgunaDarpanam , SriGunaRatnakosam, SriRanganathaStotram, Sri Ranganatha Stavam.

Swamy Parasara bhattar was officiating as the chief-priest in SriRangam temple, and hence was known as Purohita of Lord Ranganatha, SriRangesa Purohitah.

Swamy’s transcendental life was full of divine incidents and anecdotes, which are cherished by all .

The below mentioned incident happened a few hundred years ago at Srirangam the capital of Srivaishnavas .

The Sastras proclaim that whenever there is a transit of a planet from one sign to another sign of the zodiac , it is necessary to perform holy bath ( Abhishek ) to the Lordships .

Accordingly all arrangements were being made inside the temple .

A vedantin who had several doubts on srivaishnava mode of worship happened to enter the temple to offer respects to the Lordships to have darshan of Lord Ranganatha .

Inside the temple , Swamy Parasara bhattar was in ecstatic mood .

While having darshan he noticed the revered Acharyar Swamy Parasara bhattar was reciting a verse which kept all the devotees spellbound . The verse was new to his disciples . They were very eager to learn about the meaning of the divine verse .

The curtains were drawn . The Lordships were being dressed with royal garments amidst divine fragrance. The disciples approached Acharyar and submitted .

Acharya …

The sloka which was recited was very new to us .

Kindly explain us the content for us to recite .The vedantin also was keen to hear the commentary .

Acharyar replied ,

My dear children ……..

that was an emotional outpour having darshan of our LORD .

Tvamme , ahamme kutastat tadapikutah….

yetachanaadi siddaaanubhava vibhavaat tarhi saakrosha yeva

kvaakrosah kasya gitaadishu mama viditah kotrasaakshi sudheeh syat hanta

tvat pakshapaateesah iti nrukalahe mrigyamadhyastavattam…….

The divine verse interpretation attracted the vedantin closer .

He had several doubts to be cleared and by the discourse he could understand the esoteric truths from the legend himself.

Acharyar words were crystal clear .

Swamy began …………

My children ..

There is always a tussle going on time to time immemorial between the Jiva and Paramatma .

Though the absolute truth is “LORD is independent ” and ” we jivas are beholden in him and dependent” , ,……..

this jiva ……………….is infatuated with material pursuits which makes him ignore the subtle truth .

Due to sheer ignorance and blinded by the three gunas he oversees the truth .

And, due to his arrogance, boasts about his independence , thus suffers succession of sorrows.

The all compassionate Lord feels sad for him ( jiva ) and says

Tvamme..

YOU ARE MINE … and YOU ARE MY FAVORITE…

If you recognise this truth …I WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU …

The arrogant Jiva replies …

How can I be yours ?

I cannot be yours and

I cannot be dependent on you and……………………….

at NO TIME ..I can be your servant ..

I AM TOTALLY INDEPENDENT ……………………

Lord out of abundant love smiles and asks ………. Kutastat ?

How is that ?

and ...how did you arrive at that conclusion ?

The Jiva due to his unlimited arrogance replies ..

OK…………………….. Fine ..then ……

Now how would you answer the same question if it was from me ?

that you are my Lord and I am yours ..???

The Ocean of Mercy LORD smiles and replies

...Yes ………..My child …

For my statement the vedas are the authority ..

pathim visvasyaa…daasa bhootah svaiah sarve…

The Jiva argues again  without understanding the subtle truth …

From Time immemorial I lived as an INDEPENDENT PERSON …

and I continue to live and thus quoting vedas written in old palm leaves manuscripts are no longer valid for me to be convinced ….

Tarhi saakroshayeva …

Once again LORD out of abundant compassion replies …….

My dear child …..

Are you advancing with false arguments , though you do not have proper knowledge ?

I have always taken care of you ….

I have always been there ……..and objected independence for your own good …..

my dear ……

kvaa krosah kasya ..

The jiva with no remorse once again out of pride replies

NO ONE HAS RAISED ANY OBJECTION AT ANY PLACE ABOUT MY FREE WILL AND INDEPENDENCE

..(including the court) ..

Gitaadishu mama viditah ..

Lord smiles at the ignorant jiva and …replies patiently ..

My dear child ..

In this world there are two kinds of sentient beings ..

Atma quality-less and attribute-less gets combined with this prakruti, and forms different senses (both subtle and gross) and thus gets different material natures.

This combination of atma and qualities arising from prakruti is you the jivatma…..

apareyam itas tv anyāṁ prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām
jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat BG – 7.5

mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati BG – 15.7
and all the living entities in this conditioned world are my eternal fragmentation parts.

Due to conditioned life, the struggle is felt .

Besides the (insentient matter), O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.

Unperturbed , with a casual approach the jiva demands proof and objects the statements of LORD ….

The jiva seeks for witness to claim his argument ..

Sudheeh syaat …

Paramatma once again replies stating everyone who read Srimad Bhagavad Gita are his witness

Hasta tvatpakshapaate sah ….

The Jiva replies that

It cannot accept the witness as the so called readers of Srimad Bhagavad Gita ,would just go around seeking livelihood by mentioning your name only ?

The argument goes to no end due to the jiva’s arrogance and false illusion …

The all compassionate LORD thinks that there can be only one alternative left for him …

Generally in this material world .. when arguments and counter arguments go on between two persons , one of the person to prove his statements , indicates he would wear a wet cloth and stand before a tree and take an oath stating that he was speaking ONLY truth

Lord thought that as there was no other alternative to convince his children …

.takes the ultimate step to be in wet clothes ….

Mrugyamadyasthharat tvam ….

Acharyars in his deep musings with tears looking at LORD in wet clothes submits ..

Oh ! Supreme Lord !! Not able to convince obstinate people with your explanations …

My LORD ..Are you adoring yourself with wet clothes to convince this fallen jiva ….

Mruya madhyastha ……..

and thus Acharyar shares his emotional musings …..

which enlighten their opinion ..

The vedantin approaches the Acharyar and humbly submits ….

Swamin ..Just give me a gist of the summary ….

Acharyar replies ……

Swamin ….It is not really essential for a person to take a dip in the Holy rivers like ganges and visiting pilgrim centers .. …

 

It is enough if one doesn’t doubt the LORD who is the in dweller in the heart and functions in a manner of being beholden to him ..

When knowledge of self arises in one , like the rising sun , the arguments which one advances due to ignorance would abrade..

The innumerable references to the interpretations Swamy Parasara Bhattar to azhwar’s hymns and his wonderful repartee to his disciple Nanjiyar’s questions are source of immense delight to all devotees ……

Another divine musings about his pangs of separation with LORD is appended in the below mentioned url post …where he mentions …

He was explaining the three stages of love to LORD …

Recollection , Trance and Rallying …

Recollection is recollection of all the past ravishments of soul ..vouchsafed by LORD

Trance or Fainting is consequent on desolation at this recollection not yielding to the present enjoyment

Rallying is the sudden lucidity whilst in this state of trance which is considered as a extreme advanced state in devotion which our Azhwar’s possessed..

https://kazhiyurvaradanblog.in/2016/08/30/day-and-night-she-doesnt-sleep-in-floods-of-tears-her-eyes-swim/

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pics : Credits Google images

Adapted from a discourse from an advanced devotee

Swami Ramanuja indicated to MudaliAndaan about the auspicious happening and told him he would be blessed with a progeny soon. In due course , a son was born to Andaan. Thus, Andaan vamsam (family) were called Kandadayar family. It is said that a whole street [north mADa street] in Srivilliputthur bears the name ‘kandadaiyar vithi’, to signify the importance of the illustrious family.

Swami Thiru-kachchi Nambi occupies a very unique position, both as an Acharyar, and as an advanced devotee in srivaishnava guru parampara .
Swamy Nambi is one of the very few devotees with whom the Lord Himself conversed regularly.

Swami Thirukkachchi nambi appeared in a place called poo irunda valli (currently called poonamallee, near Chennai ) which falls on 1-03-2023 Maasi Mrigasira Nakshatra this year .
Swamy moved to kAnchIpuram, and started performing devotional service to LORD Varadaraja at Kancheepuram temple.
His unique service was to fan the Lord of Kanchi, Swami Varadaraja, everyday in the late morning-early afternoon, and in the night before Lord takes rest .
While doing the fanning service (called thiru-Ala-vatta Kainkaryam in tamil), Lord Varadaraja used to converse with Swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi about the happenings around the world.
The topics used to be anything from how the temple was being run, to the happenings in the city of Kanchipuram and esoteric topics about philosophy.
The Lord considered swami thiru-k- kachchi nambi as His closest friend, and talked to him just like any friend would.

All this was due to the great qualities of swami thiru-k- kachchi nambi – his supreme devotion to Lord Varadaraja, his being devoid of any ego, and his being a true servant of the Lord, wanting no other thing but service to the Lord.
One incident in his life is used to show how much Lord cared for him.

One morning, after the morning holy rituals were completed in the temple, everyone left as usual. Lord Varadaraja and Swami thiru-k- kachchi nambi were discussing , with Swami thiru-k-kachhci nambi performing the usual Kainkaryam of fanning the Lord. They were immersed on some interesting topic, and time passed without both of them noticing. Suddenly , It began to rain very heavily.
The time for thiru-k- kachchi nambi to go home for his afternoon prasadam arrived, and Lord seemed to be resting.
So, swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi took leave from Lord, and went outside the covered Mantapam.
It was raining very heavily, and hence he could not move out . He was getting concerned that if he is delayed now, then he will be delayed coming back to the temple for evening services.

Suddenly, an aged Sri Vaishnava person appeared with an umbrella, and told swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi that Lord Varadaraja had instructed him to accompany swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi to his home with the umbrella, and bring him back.

Swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi was very moved with this kindness, and thanked the Sri Vaishnava and the Lord for the great help …
Evening came, and swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi was delayed a little bit in starting for the temple.

The Sri Vaishnava who accompanied him to his house was still there, waiting for him, so that he could accompany him back to the temple.
Meanwhile, in the temple, the priests arrived to start performing the evening rituals.
When they entered the sanctum sanctum, they were shocked and taken aback.
The Lord was not there in the temple!
They looked everywhere, and the Lord was not there!
They were much worried, and were waiting for swami thiru-k- kachchi nambi to come back so that they can ask him if he knew where the Lord went, or if the Lord was upset with some mistake that might have happened.
After sometime, Swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi came along with the SriVaishnava.

The priests immediately went to him, and explained the situation, and asked him with great concern if he knew anything. Swamithiru-k-kachchi nambi told them he had no idea about what might have happened, and immediately started shedding tears .
After all, Lord Varadaraja was not just the Supreme Being to him…
He was also his closest friend.

Swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi was anxious about the sudden happenings .
Offering prayers silently he attempted to check all the places he was familiar inside the temple ,like how a father would search for his lovable child so as to get any clues from there.
He went to the usual place of the Lord, and lo and behold, the Lord was there,smiling and with a very satisfied look on His lotus face!

Immediately, swami thiru-k-kachci nambi rushed to the priests and conveyed the happy news about the great Lord arrving …

Everyone wanted to celebrate, and looked for the Sri Vaishnava who had accompanied swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi so that they could invite him to join the celebrations too.

They could not find him.
He had vanished.
When the priests went near the Lord to start performing the services ,they saw water droplets on Him!
Everyone now realized what had happened.
The Lord Himself, unable to bear the thought of swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi getting wet by the rain, had accompanied him to his home.
Not only that, He waited there so that He could accompany swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi back to the temple!
Such was the greatness of the revered Acharyar Swami thiru-k-kachchi nambi…

Later during his last days , once Swamy Thirukachi nambhigal while continuing his fanning service to Lord Sri Varadaraja Perumal his aalavattam (fan) slipped and fell down….
Very disturbed he realized his body was not supporting his most blessed kainkaryam ….
Thirukachi Nambh was sad ..
He realized that the time for him to leave this materialistic world had come as the body was not serving its purpose of serving the Supreme Lord

Nambhi offers obeisances and submits to LORD and requests Perumal to grant him liberation as he is not able to be of any use to Lord with his physical body .

Lord Varadaraja Perumal smiles and replies
My dear Nambee !!…
granting Moksham needs
“Bhaagavatha Sambhandham”.
Your fanning made me speak to you ..
“Neer Veesiner, Naan Pessinen”.

Thirukachi Nambhigal understands that devotees association is paramount in the process of Moksha.
He decides to “earn” some Bhaagavatha Abhimaanam by serving the pure devotees .

He takes permission from Lord Varadaraja and proceeds to the home of the great Acharya Thirukostiyur Nambhi at Thirukoshtiyur a place near to Madurai
He realises that Thirukostiyur Nambhi (Swami Ramanuja’s acharya) would not accept as a domestic help someone whom Lord Varadaraja himself had conversed with.

So Thirukachi Nambhigal under the guise of a common peasant meets some of his disciples and introduces himself as Gajendra Dasan (his Birth name) and requests for some small work at their ashram …

Unaware that he was the great devotee , Thirukostiyur Nambhigal asks his disciples to engage him to take care of his cows and bullocks in the Goshala .
Always in the mood of serving Lord Varadaraja he takes up the new service of go seva

Thirukachi Nambhigal was relieved and happy that he has had got an opportunity to serve a great Acharya.
Days pass …

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The routine service in the Goshala , grazing the cows , fetching fodder , milking the cows , farming with bullock by the disciples was supervised by Nambhigal ..
One rainy day the Goshala boys report to Thirukostiyur Nambhigal about few cows missing from the cow shed due to thunder and unexpected rain .
Acharyar asks for Thirukachinambi as he doesn’t want the boys to get drenched in the heavy rains and blowing winds.
Thirukostiyur Nambhi decides to look for the cows by himself .
Thirukachi Nambhigal very eager to serve Acharyar , instantly replies ..
“Adiyen”…
your servant is awaiting for your instructions ….
Thirukostiyur Nambhi is surprised as the voice is unique …and looks in the direction of the voice.

To his wonder, Thirukachi Nambhigal had already brought the cows home and covered them with his own clothes .
Thirukoshtiyur Nambhi is instantly pleased at Thirukachi nambhigal’s devotion . He calls his wife and advises her to honor the disciple with prasad….

Since his Master had called him as his own disciple he is overjoyed that signifies a relationship ….and hence Bhagavatha Sambandham Nambhi is overjoyed ….

Thirukoshtiyur Nambi is shocked to see Nambigal real identity .
He honours him and discuss esoteric truths.
He reveals his identity and narrates the sequence of incidents that led him to coming as Gajandra dasan to Thirukostiyur Nambhigal.
Thanking his Acharyar for the association he takes leave to Kancheepuram.

Lord Varadaraja is happy to see his dear devotee friend .
Like an eager mother expecting her child back, Lord Varadaraja with open arms welcomes Nambhigal right at the steps and praises Thirukachi Nambhigal’s steadfast devotion and affection.
The emotional outpour “Devaraja Ashtakam”, glorifying the Lord’s boundless love for His Bakthas is revealed ……and the pains of this materialistic world!

Swamy Nambhigal attains moksham to serve Sriman Narayana in Sri Vaikuntam permanently .
1-3-23 is
Swamy Thirukachi Nambi 1014 th appearance day ( Thirunakshatram) ….
lets pray for steadfast devotion from our revered Acharyar …
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Pics : Courtesy Google images and several advanced devotees
Videos : Sri Devanathan & Sri Padmanabhan..

The great disciple of Nammazhwar Swami Madhurakavi Azhwar approached his Guru who was ( the divine boy who was meditating deeply with his legs crossed and hands in chin mudrai pose. )

Madhurakavi thought that the boy could be deaf and dumb.

To draw his attention ,he took a small stone and threw it in the lotus pond nearby.If a small one is born into a dead thing, what will it do ? and where will it be”? The inner meaning mentions that when a soul enters a body, the body gets life and the soul forgets its true nature , thus thinks that the body is everything The soul enjoys and suffers everything through the body.

It eats and lives on whatever the body earns as sin and virtues . Once the body is dead, the soul departs. Till the time the soul is present, it has to suffer and enjoy all the feelings of the body.

The reply was “It will eat that and stay there”.

Nothing could be understood if not for our great achaaryas who had provided us with the inner meaning of this important quote