You are here: SriPedia - Oppiliappan - Archives - Dec 2008

Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00303 Dec 2008

 
Dec 2008 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


SwAmin, The write up of SrImathi Jayashree Saranathan is really a gift to all of us. SrI Oppiliappan SwAmi's supplement too strengthens it. adiyEn recalls an advice by an elderly member of our family, which is that even those who do not know or have the chance knowing their kula deivam, can worship SrI ThiruvEnkadamudaiyAn as their kula deivam.
This Lord is THE Kula deivam for every one. He is present every where.
SrImathi Jayashree's explanation of planets position in one's birthchart is revealling a great secret.
Grateful.
dAsan
anbil SrInivAsan 

--- On Fri, 26/12/08, Dr.V.Sadagopan <yennappan@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Dr.V.Sadagopan <yennappan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Oppiliappan] Re: kula deivam
To: "Ponnappan" <Oppiliappan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Rajeev@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "divya desam" <divya_desam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, RamanujaandDesika@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Srikanth Veeraraghavan" <hindusrikanth@xxxxxxxxx>, "Sgt" <saranagathi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "SG" <Tiruvenkatam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "IRS" <ramanuja_society@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Swami" <malolan_net@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "DS" <desikasampradaya@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "RB" <Raamabhakthi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Friday, 26 December, 2008, 9:01 PM

SrI:
 
Dear Srimathy Jayashree Saranathan :
 
It is delightful to read your welcome reflections
on the Concept of Kula Dhaivam .
 
The Kulam that we all have in mind is
VaishNava Kulam in all its elaborate coverage
including every one ( anya DEvathAs as well ).  
 
AzhwAr has rightfully said " Kulam Tarum ,
Selvam tanatidum " about the power of
His mantram .
 
In my mind , our Oppiliappan and Lord VenkatEsan is
one and the same since our PerumAL is celebrated as
" JyEshta BrAtaa " of Thirumalai SrinivAsan .
The situation is like " Pazham Nazhuvi Paalil
VizhunthAr pOlE " for us . Therefore , Oppiliappan is
Yennappan , Ponnappan , MaNiyappan , Mutthappan and
ThiruviNNagar sErnta appan . " KaanminkaL ulaheer yenRu
KaNNmuhappE nimirntha " PerumAn  , YengaLappan .
 
For Saint ThyagarAja , Raamachandran is sakalam .
For LeelAsukhar , KrishNan is sakalam and He asked
Raamachandran to set aside His KOdhaNdam for
few minutes , take on VeNu in His hands and present Himself
for recieving his AarAdhanam . For Srimath Azhagiya Singars ,
Lord Narasimhan is sarvasvam . For Swamy Desikan
Lord VaradarAjan of Hasti SailAgram is
his " VAsthu Paithaamaham dhanam".
 
Let us enjoy the special Bhaandhavyam of
Saint ThyagarAja , who described His relationship
to Ramachandra succinctly : " NeevEraa Kula dhanamu ,
NeevEraa Jeevanamu ".
 
Let us reflect on some of the other declarations
by Saint ThyagarAjA in this context :
 
1. Yamunaa KalyANi Krithi: " NaarAyaNa Hari "
 
" Oh Raamachandra ! I am caught up in Your grip
( as my Kula dhaivam).Let my eyes be fixed upon
your refined beauty and my heart be transported
with Joy".
 
2. Kannada  Raagam : "idhE bhAgyamu "
 
" This alone is the real blessedness to be
coveted--to worship incessantly at Your
lotus feet with the whole heart ( as my Kula dhaivam
and Kula Dhanam) .
 
3. Raagam SupOshiNi: Kriti : RamainchuvArEvarura a?
 
" Oh RaghUttamaa! Who is there among the beings
in the whole universe , who can trasport one to
transcendental joy but You ( my KUla dhaivam ) ?
 
4. Raagam PantuvarALi : Kriti : SaaramEgAni
 
About he power of the Kula dhanam's name :
 
" saaramEgAni anyamArga vichAramEDikE ?"
Oh Mind! Raama naama alone is the precious
thing worthy to be coveted . Why bother with 
others 9 other thoughts) ?
 
5. The power of the Kula dhaivam's name :
 
" Raama ! Raghukula jalanidhi Soma !
lOkAbhirAma ! ---SaraNAgata jana rakshaka !
DhAnta! SeetA Kaanta ! KaruNA svAnta ! 
It is not possible for me to describe 
the joy one derives from the chanting of
Your name ( inta soukhyamani nE jeppajAla ) .
"smaraNE sukhamu Raama Naama ",    
" dhyAnamE varameina GangA snAnamu
( The dhyAnam of my Kula dhaivam's
name is itself the most efficacious
Bath in the holy GangA ) .
 
6. The uniqueness of his kula dhaivam
as his  AarAdhana Murthy :
 
" VaadEraa dhaivamu  manasaa !
( Oh My mind ! He alone is my God ).
 
" UndEdhi RaamudOkaduyUraka chEdipOku
manasaa " ( There is Raama , the One Lord !
Oh my mind ! do not get needlessly ruined by
seeking after others)
 
7. Balahamsa Raagam : Kriti: Raama yEva
dhaivatam " 
 
Raama alone is my God .
 
8.Raama ! nee samAnamevaru ? 
( Raama! Who is there equal to You ?).
 
KalyANi Raagam : 
 
9.Kaaru vlpulu neeku sarikaaru ?
 
 Oh Raama! No God of this universe 
can be equal to You .
 
10. In a Chaayaa tarangini raaga krithi ,
this Raama bhakthA asks : " Is happiness
possible of attainment thru other Gods ?
Oh Raama! to me, whose mind , without
harbouring  any prejudices against other faiths ,
is constantly and passionately in love with You !
 
10. AtaaNaa / KaDDu jEsinAvu ; Raama Bhandhu !
 
" You have cast the prohibitory spell of
"Raama Bhandhu " on me , preventing me from 
straying into numerous other faiths claiming 
allegiance to other gods . 
 
11. Bilahari : Naa JeevAdhAramu !
" Oh the prop of my Life ! Oh RaamA ! 
You are the fruit of my penance , the brilliance
of my eyes , the fragrance of my nose ,
the embodiment of the letters that I chant ,
You are the flower of my worship . 
 
12. Yadhukula KaambhOji: Nee dayachE Raama
nityAnandhadhaiti 
 
"Oh Raama !  By Your grace , I have attained
the everlasting bliss !
 
13. VaraaLi Raagam : Dharanu nee saridhaivamu 
gaanaraa Raghuvara !
 
" I have not found in this universe a God like You .
Oh RaghuveerA ! --Your blessed feet are the sole
object of my meditation and Your mercy is
my wealth and eternal bliss !
 
14. Hari KaambhOji : YentarAni
 
" Whatever may come to me or go away 
from me  , I will never allow myself to be
seperated from YOu .
 
15. NaagasvarAvaLi Raagam : " SrIpathE !"
 
" Oh Sripati ! Meditation on Your holy feet is
the very life and sustenance to the bright -hearted
ThyAgarAja !
 
16. In a most beautiful Raama Priyaa krithi ,
ThyagarAja asks : " Oh Raama ! Pray clear
my sandEham ! Are Your holy feet great or are
Your elegant sandals (Paadhukais) great ?
 
17. PunnaagavaraaLi Raagam : "Tava DaasOham
Daasarathy "
 
" Oh Son of Dasaratha! I am Your servant ....Convinced
that there is no other God like You in the world , I have
taken refuge in You ."
 
18. Vijaya Vasantaa Raagam: Nee chittamu naabhAgyamu !
 
"Oh Raamachandra! Your will is my fortune and I am
Yours . Realizing that it is ineffective to be brooding ,
I have once and for all taken refuge in You . Whenever
I see or think of other Gods , I only see You shining
in them .
 
Raajillu SrI ThyAgarAja vinutha
SrI Raama JayarAma SrungAra Raama !
daya sEyavayyaa sadhaya Raamachandra !
 
Raama! neepai tanaku prEma BhOdhu !
NeerajAksha ! Naa JeevAdhAra!
Raaga Rasika ! Raaga rahita !
ninnu vinA sukhamu gaana !
tapasu yOga phalamu neevE ! 
 
bhAnuvamsa Tilaka! Aadhi DEva !
PrANa Naatha ! SuguNaBrundha !
Saadhujana Jeevana!  Sanaatana !
Dayaraani ! Dayaraani !
Daasarathi RaamA!
 
ThiruviNNagrappan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan  
  
      
  ---- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, December 26, 2008 12:01 AM
Subject: [Oppiliappan] Re: kula deivam

I read with interest the discussion on Kula deivam.

There are some clear cut concepts given by Maharishis such as Parashara and Jaimini

on Kula deivam that guides a family for generations

and the Phalana deivam that guides an individual in a particular birth.

 


One must know the Kula deivam as one that has been worshipped for generations

or at least in the last 3 generations.

Apart from the Kula deivam, one will be guided by a Phalana deivam.

Some people are fortunate to have both kula deivam and Phalana deivam as the same.

It happens to them like this without any conscious thinking or efforts,

due to their past good karma.

In that case there is no confusion and the spiritual journey goes on smoothly.

 

 

But there are many who run into confusions at times.

And there have been instances where we see that the deity worshipped

in the last 3 generations was not the Kula deivam.

That will be reflected in the horoscopes of subsequent generations.

 

 

In the case of Srivaishnavites,

such a deviation is least likely to happen as they must have been praying some

from of Vishnu âgroup deities only.

The confusion comes when deities other than Vishnu's forms are worshiped

in the family.

A person grasping this deviation will anyway look for who his kula deivam is.

In such cases, we ask them to worship Venkatavan as Kula deivam,

as He is the Universal Kula deivam.

 

It is also possible to know one's phalana deivam, from the horoscope.

For this, one must identify the Athma karaka in the natal horoscope.

The planet that has traveled long degrees in a rasi is the Athma karaka.

The 12th house from that planet in the Navamsa is the Jeevan mukthamsa â

that shows the Lord that is guiding one towards Mukthi..

The lord of this house, or the occupant of this house of the planet aspecting this house

must be studied in that order for their strength.

The stronger of them will indicate the Guardian God in one's life.

 

According to Parashara,

If the planet is Sun, the Phalana deivam is Rama.

For moon, it is Krishna,

For Mars, it is Narasimha,

For Mercury, it is Vishnu,

For Jupiter, it is Vamana,

For Venus, it is Parashurama,

For Saturn, it is Kurma,

For Rahu, it is Vraha and

for Ketu it is meena

 

When we come across person of faith in Gods other than Vishnu,

we follow the Jaimini recommendation.

According to Jaimini,

If the planet is Sun, the Phalana deivam is Shiva.

For moon, it is Gowri,

For Mars, it is Skanda,

For Mercury, it is Vishnu,

For Jupiter, it is Shambashiva,

For Venus, it is Lakshmi,

For Saturn, it is Vishnu,

For Rahu, it is Durga and

for Ketu it is Ganesha.

Another school of Thought identifies Hanuman for Saturn.

 

A person may be following a God as told in Jaimini system.

But he will gradually move over to the Vishnu group of deities

as told by Parashara because Narayana is the Moksha saadhanam.

This shift may happen in one generation ,

may happen with a conscious effort or by experiences or

may happen over  a series of generations.

 

But this knowledge does give an awareness of mukthamsa..

 

For a Srivasihnavite, already fortunate to be born in a family of Narayana âworshipers,

the 'SennoyOngu' pasurams of Periaazhwar give an interesting food for thought.

 

 

These are about the 3 Gods besides 'kula deivam', spoken by the Periaazhwar

in 'SenniyOngu' 10, - the bhava of which is  a 'moksha-saadhanam'

according to Mumukshuppadi.

Though the aazhwar makes references to other names of Sriman Narayana,

he has specifically mentioned about

Thiru Venkatavan (Srinivasa of Thirumalai)

Kula deivam,

Rama and

Krishna.

 

The 1 st verse starts with a reference to Thiruvenkatavan .

The azhwar then proceeds to glorify Sri Rama in the 6th verse

and completes with worshiping Sri Krishna in the phala-pasuram in the 11th.

In between, he calls up 'Kula daivam' in the 3 rd verse.

"emmanai, en kula deivamE, ennudai nayaganE".



Who is this kula deivam that periyaazhwar is referring to?



It is obvious that it is some Vishnu- deity as he was born in a family of Vishnu-worshippers.

From 'Pallandu' pasuram (6th verse)

we understand that it must be that deity worshiped by his parents,

grand parents and all those in his previous generations.

(endai, thanthai, thantahi tham mootthappan. .Thirupplaandu -6)



Then who is this specific deity?

The clue to this question lies in the first verse.

Any act or worship must begin with the worship of kula deivam.

In the first verse, Azhwar begins with a salutation to Thiruvenkatavan

(Srinivasa of Thirumalai).

So the kula deivam he mentions must be Thiruvenkatavan only.

 

One information of importance is that Srinivasa of Thirumlai

is the kula deivam for many people or for all people.

This is known from Naanmugan Thiruvandhathi and

the vyakhyaanam (commentary) by Periyavaachaan pillai.



The 48 th pasuram 'venkatame vinnor' tells

how Thirumalai is the abode for everyone including nithya suris

and ordinary persons.

The Lord of this abode protects them all,

removes the physical ailments and karma afflictions as well and

enables them to live happily by suppressing the asura vargas. (Periya vachaan pillai).

He protects all for generations and is therefore the Kula daivam for all.

('sarvarkum Thirumalaiye praabhyam' - Appillai urai)

Periyazhwar recognises Thiruvenkatavan as Kula daivam in the 3rd pasuram

after concurring with the above notion (that He removes all Vinai) in the 2nd pasuram.

Kula daivam is the Lord who protects one for many births or

protects the kulam for many generations

from afflictions of the body and of karma-vinai

('vemkatangal mei mel vinai muttravum' - Nammazhwar).



Even the name "Venkadam" means churning out the heat (vemmaiyai âk- kadaithal)

The Lord in this abode churns out the heat of bad karma from us and frees us off them.



After praying to Kula deivam,

Periyaazhwar prays to Rama in the 6 th verse.

On reading this verse,

I used to wonder whether Rama was the phalana deivam

(Guardian God) of periyaazhwar.

 

 

It is because the description found in the 6th pasuram (Unnudaiya vikramam..)

wherein the azhwar prays to Lord Rama,

is more to do with how Rama giving rakshakam (protection) to the devotee.

The mention about valor and victory over Lanka (victory over evil),

if read with Periya vaachaan pillai urai (commentary) for the 47 th pasuram of

Nanmugan Thiruvandhathi gives the lead about

how one has to fashion one's life while living.



According to his urai (commentary) ,

Thirumalai is the place that protects one.

But it is Rama who protects one wherever  one is.

Wherever one lives, that place must be considered as Ayodhya

('ayodhya matavim viddhi').

(Interepreted as â if you worship Rama in your pooja room, that place is the Ayodhya)

 

Raman must be considered as one's father who leads, guides and protects.

('Ramam dhasaratham viddhi').

 

Sita must be considered as the mother, so tells Sumithra to Lakshmana.

(Maam viddhi janakaathmajaam' )

 

Periyavaachaan pilaai says that all these apply to the nithya suris who live in Thirumalai.

The inference is that Rama is in the image of Srinivasa at Thirumalai,

protecting everyone.



To explain this in today's parlance,

worship at Thirumala comes like a package.

Srinivasa ensures that your 'vinai' (karma) of body and mind of

previous birth and present birth are burnt off

and in addition, Rama's protection also is assured!

Rama is the 'kaakkum deivam'.

In other words, the 'Guardian God' for everyone!

 

The jiva thus protected has to aim for the final fruit..

Who else, but 'Ayar yeru' (11th pasuram) leads us all to make us 'anukkargal' .

This is corroborated in the 50th pasuram of Nanmugan Thiruvandhathi,

"kootramum saara.." that speaks about

'kannan kadal kidakkum maayan urai kidakkum'.

The Mayan urai is nothing but the Charama slokam of Mayan, the Gitacharyan.

(sarva dharmaan â.

The sloka asking us to renounce even the fruits of our action and surrender unto His feet)

When the jivas realize that it is only by taking refuge in His feet

by giving up all dharmas,

they can be said to be moving in the right direction.

 

 

Thus in my opinion, though Sriman Narayana had been the object of worship

for Periyazhwar in his pasuramas,

he has also indicated Srinivasa as his Kula deivam (rather the kula deivam for all)

and the glory of the two forms of Narayana, namely,

Rama as Protector (phalana deivam for all) and

Krishna as Liberator (Moksha sadhanam for all)



There is no mincing of words as to who his or everyone's Kula daivam is.

It is Thiruvenkatavan for all,

to protect one, for all generations to come and in all births to come.

His chief concern is protection of one in body (mei) and in karma (vinai)

 

There is no mincing of words as to who his or everyone's phalana deivam is

It is Rama who is to be worshipped as the protector in life.

Krishna is the upaya (means) for moksha.

In worship, Periyaazhwar sees Him as Jyothi in his heart

('sudaroliyai nenjinulle thondrumen Jyothi nambhi' -10th pasuram).



But if we attempt to find out who his 'Ishta devatha' (God he desired)

could have been,

we may think that it was Vatapatra saayi

to whom he did daily kainkaryam!

The Lord whom he and his daughter Andal saw every day and

paid personal adorations and worship was

Vatapatra saayi of Srivilliputtur.

 

I may perhaps be right in referring this Lord as his Ishta devatha.

 

In this was I am led to think that that Lord at Oppiliappan Koil is

our moderator Swami's

Kula deivam (worshiped for more than 3 generations) ,

Phalan deivam as he had grown under Him

and Ishta deivam as he had delighted in nithya kainkaryam to Him.


However, I may be permitted to say, that

Thiruvenkatamudaiya an is Kula Deivam for all of us

 'sarvarkum Thirumalaiye praabhyam'

as told by Sri Appillai and indicated by Aazhwars.

 


------------ --------- --------- -


--- In Oppiliappan@ yahoogroups. com, "Dr.V.Sadagopan" <yennappan@.. .> wrote:
>
> SrI:
>
> Dear SrI Lakshmi Narayanan :
>
> Gotram has nothing to do with Kula dhaivam .
> Kavi Venkataadhri of ArasaNippAlai
> belongs to Atreya Gotram and his kula
> dhaivam was Lord Venkatesar .
>
> One does not need to have a Kula dhaivam .
> Usually Lord of Thirumalai is Kula dhaivam
> for many . In my case , the EmperumAn of
> ThiruviNNagaram ( Oppiliappan Koil)
> is our Kula dhaivam . I was born under the shadow of
> this temple in Sannidhi Street and for many  generations ,
> our family has worshipped here . Therefore , we do not
> know of any other dhaivam to identify as  Kula
> Dhaivam .
>
> V.Sadagopan
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Lakshmi Narayanan
>   To: oppiliappan@ yahoogroups. com
>   Sent: Thursday, December 25, 2008 11:22 AM
>   Subject: [Oppiliappan] Fw: kula deivam
>
>
>
>
>         --- On Thu, 25/12/08, Lakshmi Narayanan <narayananlakshmi1@ ...> wrote:
>
>           From: Lakshmi Narayanan <narayananlakshmi1@ ...>
>           Subject: kula deivam
>           To: oppiliappan@ yahoogroups. com
>           Date: Thursday, 25 December, 2008, 4:19 PM
>
>
>                 Namaskarams to everyone.
>
>                 If we did not know who our kula deivam is how can we find out.  is it true if we belong to
>                 Athreya Gothram, is Arasanipalai temple is our gula Deivam. Does the gothram has something to do with kula deivam.
>
>                 please give your answers.
>
>                 Jai Sriman Narayana
>                 thank you all.
>
>
>



 



Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Invite them now. __._,_.___

Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan
http://www.sadagopan.org




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
oppiliappan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list