Dear Sri VenkatEsa BhakthAs : I appreciate very much the gracious comments of Sri Anbil Swamy . In my earlier note and also in person and on the dais , I have thanked most sincerely every one , who contributed to the success of the recent Bhagavath Kaimkaryam at Pittsburgh . As all of you appreciate , I am just a coordinator of this program and the individual contributions of speakers from all parts of the country and the gracious support by Sriman Narender Reddy and the Temple Officials from start to finish are the CENTRAL elements in the success of this Yaj~nam . The devoted services of Sriman Rengarajan to help a disorganized individual like myself have been pivotal in chasing the myriad details of the two days . I have thanked him in person many times and I will go on record now and join with Sri Anbil Swamy in recognizing his special and much apprciated efforts as Kainkarya Thilakam . I have mentioned on the dais that our efforts are like creating a Nava rathna KIreetam for the Lord , where every particpant's valued contribution at every level is like the enmeshing of a rathnams to join the assembly. This is very much similar to the Navarathna kIreetam samarpaNam by King Thondaimaan of Yore . Sri VenkatEsA according to other legend accepted with more joy the mud flowers offered by a potter than the pushpams by a king . Our devotional samarpaNam at His lotus feet belongs in the category of the bhakthi-laden offering . Every one of you through your partcipation , presentation , services contributed equally to bring this ratha yathrA to a successful conclusion . THANK YOU ONE AND ALL MOST SINCERELY . I will conclude this posting with the prayer of Adi Sankara the VishNu bhakthA in his First SlOkam of ShatpadhI sthOthram . avinayam apanaya VishNO dhamaya mana: samaya vishaya rasa thrushNam I bhUthadhayAm visthAraya tAraya samsAra Saagaratha : II Here The great AchAryA prays for five boons from MahA VishNu . The first prayer is for removing AhankAram ( Avinayam apanaya ).This is the primary cause for all unhappiness for the humans that plague us all at one time or other . Human beings are incapable of fully banishing it .That raises its head often . Only the Lord can remove this aha and puRa iruL ( inner and outter darkness referred to by Sri RengarAjan in his discourse on the Mudal AzhwArs ). Through the sambhOdhanam ( invocation ) VishNu , who is sarvAntharyAmi and is pervasively present in the heart cavity , AchAryA suggests that He alone as the enveloper of the space of mind and heart can successfully remove Avinayam . The second prayer is : damaya Mana: ( Control your mind ). Why ? ManO nigraham is the ankusam for ahankAra nivrutthi ( banishing of ego ). The third prayer is for the destruction of desire for material things ( vishaya rasa thrushNA ). ManO nigraham can only come about , when the burning desire for the material pleasures and possessions is quelled(quenched ) . In the first half of this slOkam , the venerated Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha BhakthA , who composed the Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha KarAvalampana sthOthram and VishNu bhujangam prayed to the Supreme One to remove ahankAram and Aasura sampath and the granting of Dhaiva Sampath leading to Moksham . In the second half of this sthOthram , Adi SankarA prays for the boon of bhUtha dayA . Compassion for sarva Janthus , the bipeds and the quadrapeds and all living entities as the creations of the Lord . He asks the Lord to expand ( visthAraya ) the bhUtha dayA .This is the fourth prayer . The final prayer is "taaraya samsAra sAgaratha : " . Please get me across this fierce ocean of SamsAram is the heart of the prayer .This is the culmination of ahankara nivrutthi, manO nigraham , vishaya rasa vairAgyam and bhUtha dayA leading to mukthi or mOksham . By using the word , Saagara : (ocean ) , the venerable AchAryA visualizes our state to a log or splinter that is ceaselessly tossed about with the low and high tides experiencing our puNyams and paapams and being tossed about in different births and going thru appropriate sukhams and dukkhams . He wants rest from all these ceaseless tossing about at the holy feet of the Lord in His parama padham . Isvara KrupA is essential for the travel across samsAra sAgaram . Even scholars get dragged by their five strong senses towards the vishaya ruchi and the consequent lapse of manO nigraham ( balavAn indriya grAma: vidvAmsaapi karshathi ) . It has ben pointed out that it is easier to drink all the waters of the Ocean ,to pull Meru mountain out of its roots and to eat fire than controlling the mind from its ahankAra-mamakArams . Only the Bhagavath and Bhaagavatha kaimkaryams and the Lord's dayA/ anukampA /krupA of the kind saluted by our dear Sri Vijaya Raaghavan in his talk at Pittsburgh and the experiencing of NirvEdam discussed by Sri Anbil Swamy could help us to overcome this obstacle of Vishama: chittha nigraham . In this context , it is my personal conviction that Bhagaavth Kaimkaryam and Bhagavatha Kaimkaryam means more to me than titles , which are manifestations of spontaneous burst of affection that fellow bhakthAs have for any effort I make in the joyous journey to understand the beauty of our Kula dhanams . That is all !This is not a statement arising out of false modesty , while I thank Sri Nadadur Maadhavan for his spontaneous sentiment . What we did in unison at Pittsburgh is Govindha naama sankeerthanam revealed to us by our AchAryAs: rgvEdam maa yajusthAtha maa Saama pata kinchana GovindhEthi HarErnAma gaayasva nithyasa : Meaning: There is no need to recite Rg, Yajur or Saama Vedam . But You must sing the Govindha naamam of the Lord always . This was covered by Sriman Raaghavan"s presentation on ANDAL Paasurams at Pittsburgh . The intensity of desire to be anything on the Lord's saptha giris covered by Sri Murali Rangaswami is another manifestation of the desire to be part of this yajnam of Govinda Naama sankeerthanam practised by Sri Madhurai Sundar . The deep nirvEdam and NaiichAnusanthAnam experienced by Thirumangai AzhwAr was brought before our our mind's eye beautifully by Sriman Varadhan and the need for MahA Viswasam in the Lord was saluted by Srimaan Venkat culminating in the profound SaraNAgathi as aakinchanyan by NammAzhwAr elaborated so lovingly by Sri NadAdur Madhavan will happen surely .You can approach and experience the Lord as a Mother ( YasOdhA ) as pictured by Sriman SrikrishNan in his presentation on the tender paasurams of PeriyAzhwAr or as a supplicant for His mercy as Sri Vijaya Raghavan did in covering DayA sathakam of the kavithArkika Simham or through rigorous logic developed by AchArya RaamAnujA in his Sri BhAshyam and VedArtha Sangraham in the spirit of Sri Krishna Kalale's dizzyingly delightful presentation .The easier route for most of us is thru enjoying the spirit of AdhyAthma sankerthanam of AnnAmAchArya as demonstrated by Srimathi Mythili Krishnan and the tanmayathvam of Purandara dAsA and Kanaka DasA's daasyam and SaraNAgathi to Govindhan as described to us with feeling by Sri M.G.Prasad . This Govindha Naama Sankeerthanam and the power of it is revealed to us by another slOkam : Achyutha kalpavrukshasccha anantha: kaamadhugh bhavEth chinthAmaNisthu GovindhO naamatrayam udhAhrutham ( Meaning ) : The name Achyutha stands for the boon-giving Kapa Vruksham ; Anantha , the limitless stands for KaamadhEnu; Govindha stands for ChinthAmaNi rathnam . This is the significance of these three naamAs . That is why Sage VyAsA says : AchyuthAnantha Govindha --. That is why in this kali yugam , we go to the hills of Pittsburgh and Saptha Giri following the foot steps of our AchAryAs and offer our kaimkaryam to kaliyuga Varadhan , Sri VenkataramaNa Govindhan : kalim sabhAjanthyAryA : guNaj~nA SAARADARSINA: yathra sankeerthanEnaiva sarvasvArtthO hi labhyathE ( Meaing ) : Those great ones , who truly understand the purport of kali salute the Kali Purushan specially . It is because of their correct understanding that in Kali yugam , all the sowbhAgyams come to us just from the mere sankeerthanam of Govindha naamam . Another AchAryA asserts that there are no other rites neeeded by the Janthus : RaamEthi varNa dvayamAdharENa sadhA smaran mukthim upaithi Janthu: kalou yugE kalmasha maanasAnAm anyathra dharmE kalu naadhikAra: (Meaning ) : The Janthu that endearingly recites the taaraka naamam containing the two aksharams , Raa and ma attains mukthi surely . In this fierce Kali , for those full of blemishes in their hearts , there is no other prescription to attain Moksham , other than Govindha nAma Sankeerthanam . I conclude this posting with the final slOkam of the shatpathI sthOthram of Adi SankarA , where Adi Sankara performs his saraNAgathi at Sriman NaarAyaNA's lotus feet : NaarAyaNa KaruNAmaya SaraNam karavANi taavakou CharaNou Ithi ShatpathI madhIyE vadhana sarOjE sadhA vasathu Here , the AchAryA prays to the KaruNAmaya NaarAyaNan and performs his saraNAgathi at his sacred feet . The Lord described by the six tAhtparya Linghams such as Upakramam , UpasamhAram et al and His paramAthma SvarUpam is understood as Shatpadh or the One with six legs like the honey bee . AchArya prays for that Shatpadh to reside forever on the lotus of his face ( Vadhana sarOjE vasathu )(i-e)., He prays for this sthOthram to reside forever on his lips to grant him the five boons ( Removal of avinayam, Mana damanam , vishaya rasa vairAgyam, bhUtha dayA and safe journey across the ocean of SamsAram on the safe boat of the Lord ). May we seek these five boons and rededicate our Kaimkaryam at the Lotus feet of the Lord of Sapthagiri , Sri PadmAvathi samEtha Sri VenaktEsan . asmath gurubhyO nama : Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan
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