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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00172 Jan 2007

 
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SrI:
SrImathE Gopaladesika Mahadesikaya nama:
Dearest all,

Thus the Acharya Paramparai after Vedantha Desikan is:

18. SRI VEDANTA DESIKAN
19. NaiyinAchAryar [Bhagavad Vishaya paramparai] 
20. Sri Brahmathanthra swathanthrar
21. GatikAsatham ammAL
25. VaradavishNvAchAryar
26. MahAdayAdheesar
27. Vaathsya AhobilAchAryar
29. Vaathsya VaradAchAryar
30. Shashta parAnkusa SwAmy
31. Sri Panchamatha bhanchanam thAtha Desikan
34. Vaathsya AnanthAchAryar
[35. Ranga Ramanujamuni- UPANISHAD BHASHYAKAR comes in
Sri Bhashya Paramparai]
36. RamanujAchAryar
[37.Ranganatha Swami in SriBhashya Paramparai]
38. VenkatAchAryar
40. VeerarAghavAchAryar
42. Sri Rangapathi Desikar
43. Ranganatha Swamy
44. Sri Saakshaath Swamy
45. Sri Padukasevaka Ramanujamuni [Bhagavad Vishaya
paramparai] 
46. TIRUKKUDANTHAI DESIKAN Sri Gopaladesika
Mahadesikan

His sishyas were Sri Srinivasa muni; Sri Seeyalam
Ranganathamuni and 
47. SRI VEDANTHA RAMANUJA MAHADESIKAN [Vazhutthoor
Andavan Swami]

Sri Vedantha Ramanuja Mahadesikan had sishyas:

Sri Annayaarya Mahadesikan ???????.. Sri ValayapEttai
Swami Paramparai
Sri ANdikkaattu Swami Sri Vangipuram Swami??..
KethaaNdapatti Swami Paramparai [Sri Rangaramanuja
Mahadesikan 
48. SRIMAD ANDAVAN SRINIVASA RAMANUJA MAHA DESIKAN 
( of TIRUTTURAIP PUNDI) (Aippasi - Uthiradam) 

Sri Srinivasachariar referred above assumed the name
of Sri Srinivasa Ramanuja Maha Desikan when he became
Acharya but he was familiarly known as _Tirutturaip
Pundi Andavan_ owing to his long association with that
place where he had been giving instructions in all
Sastras. He was an obvious successor to his Acharya on
account of his pre-eminence among the disciples of
Vazhuthur Andavan. 

His ancestors hailed from the fertile village of
Vilaakkudi in East Thanjavur District, a few miles
from Rajamannar gudi. He belonged to the illustrious
Eyunni family of Bharadwaja Gotram. His forefathers
had served Sri Ramanuja with devotion and distinction.
He was born in the sacred month of Tula (Aippasi) when
the star Uttradam was ascendant. In his poorvasrama,
he sought the feet of Vazhuthur Andavan and became an
erudite scholar. He won acclaim as an authentic
exponent of our Darsana and continued the Vaishnava
Sampradaya in a worthy manner. 

His Tanian reads as follows: 
Srimad Gopaala Sureh Niravathi Karunaa Vaapta
Satsampradaayam 
Srimad Vedaanta Ramanuja Yathi Nripathih Sarvatah
Sthaapayitvaa / 
Yasmin Sat Sampradaayam Sakalam Upadisan Amsato
Anupravishtan 
Srimad Srivaasa Ramanuja Munim Anagham Tham Bhaje
Desikendram // 


(meaning) _ I salute the blemishless Srimad Srinivasa
Ramanuja Muni, who was the recipient of the limitless
mercy of Srimad Gopaala Suri, who was nominated by the
King among Yathis Sri Vedaanta Ramanuja Muni who
taught him all that one should know about our
Satsampradayam, and who appeared to have reincarnated
in him_. 

49. SRIMAD PERIYA ANDAVAN Sri Srinivasa
Mahadesikana.k.a VATHAL SWAMI
(Masi- Pushyam) (1801 - 1886 CE) 

Periya Andavan, as he has come to be familiarly known
is the real architect of the Andavan Paramparai, for
he laid it on firm foundation. He lived during the
19th Century CE- a most disturbed period in the
history of Vaishnavism, when the Southern part of the
Tamil country became a hotbed of internecine wars.
Carnatic Wars (1743-1767 CE) broke out between the
English and the French and both the temple and the
town of Srirangam suffered much. The pilgrim town and
the center of Vaishnavism became an occupied
territory. The Nawa?s army took shelter in the
Srirangam temple. The military fortunes of the
contending parties were fluctuating until the English
won the war and seized Tirucchirappalli and the
surrounding regions. 

In his Poorvasrama, Periya Andavan was called Sri
Srinivasa Raghavachariar. The son of one
Krishnamacharya Swami, he belonged to the village,
Pillaiyaranai near Kanchi. He was born in the Kali
year Roudri in the month of Maasi when the star
Pushyam was in the ascendant and this corresponds to
25-2-1801. He came from a distinguished Dipa- Pradipa
family who were entitled to some special honors at the
Kanchi Perarulaalan temple. After Brahmopadesa at the
age of 8, his father himself instructed him in the
Vedas and Divya Prabhandam. He also administered the
Sudarsana Maha Mantram. He received his Pancha
Samskaram from one Sama Periyappan Swami, a descendent
of Tata Desika. In the course of a pilgrimage, Sri
Krishnamachariar and his family worshipped at the
Aravamudan Sannidhi at Kumbakonam, where he met one
Navalpakkam Raghavachariar Swami, an erudite scholar
and previous acquaintance. 

At the latter_s request, Sri Krishnamachariar and his
family stayed with him for some years as his guest. At
his departure, he left his son to be instructed in
Kavyas and Tamil lore at the feet of Navalpakkam
Swami. Later, Srinivasa Raghavachariar studied
Vyakarana and Mimamsa Sastras at the feet of his
paternal uncle. Goaded by an intense urge to seek the
feet of Sri Vedanta Ramanuja Maha Desikan, he arrived
at Srirangam and prostrated himself before the
Acharya. From him he sought and received Bharanyasam
at the Sannidhi of Lord Ranganatha. Discovering in the
Prapanna, the potential Acharya, Srimad Andavan
directed him to get instructed in all Rahasya Granthas
by Tirutturaip Pundi Andavan. 

Soon, he became a scholar in all Vedaanta Sastras and
won the appreciation of the two Acharyas and their
disciples. He visited the Navalpakkam village six
months after his marriage and on that occasion, his
father-in-law presented him a gold ring. Srinivasa
Raghavachariar is said to have made golden image of
Swami Desika out of the ring and installed it in the
local temple. With an intense longing to become a
Sannyasi, he came back to Srirangam but both his
mother and wife pleaded with him not to take to holy
orders. Sensing the domestic compulsions, the Acharya
advised him to remain a householder till such time as
he is blessed with a child. With the birth of a
daughter, a few years later, Sri Srinivasa
Raghavachariar decided to take the Sannyasa Asrama. 

But, still his mother would not allow him to do so.
Assuring his mother that he would not become an
ascetic unless he saw auspicious signs, he proceeded
to Srirangam. On the way, he encountered an astrologer
who predicted that he would turn either a great king
or a saint destined to blaze a new trail. Just about
the same time two Garudas were seen hovering in the
sky. The green signal for the new course of life was
given and his mother reconciled herself to the
inevitable and blessed her son. Taking leave of Lord
Devaraja, Sri Srinivasa Raghavachariar reached
Srirangam and received the ochre robes from Tirutturap
Pundi Andavan. Assuming the name of Srinivasa Maha
Desikan, he entered the holy order of ascetics at the
age of 30 in the year 1831 CE. 

Srimad Srinivasa Maha Desikan led a simple, austere
life on the banks of Kollidam. Every day he would go
round the streets of Srirangam and accept alms from
the houses of only those who lived a pure life,
reciting and teaching Vedas. It is said that after
receiving the cooked rice, he would go to the river
and wash it so as to rid it of all fat and oil
content. The meager food he took lacked the vital fat
content rendering him frail and he was, therefore,
called _Vathal Swami_. He was a self-denying saint, a
Jithendriya who bent his Thirumeni to the service of
his soul. He taught rather by his practice than by
precept. He wielded such influence on his disciples
that they hailed him _Periya Andavan_. When
Tirutturaip Pundi Andavan attained his Acharya_s feet,
Periya Andavan became the Acharya in due course. 

On hearing about his succession,, learned scholars of
the day came to see him and obtain his grace. A
brilliant galaxy of distinguished scholars flocked to
his feet and the Goshti consisted of such eminent
persons as Vedaanta Tatachariar Swami of Sankarapuram
(who later became Veliyanallur Andavan of this
Asramam), Sri Tirupput Kuzhi Tatachar Swami, Gopala
Samudram Vidwan Sri Narayanachar Swami, Mannargudi
Vyaakarana Narasimhachar Swami ( who late became the
39th Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt), Agnihotram Srinivasa
Tatachar Swami, Vidwan Paravastu Venkatachar of
Srivilli puttur, Tiruvaheendrapuram Ashtaavadhaanam
Anantachar Swami ( who later became Tiruk Kudanthai
Andavan) etc. etc. Periya Andavan was a logician of
great repute and many of his disciples also excelled
in this art. 

One Govardhanam Rangachariar, a reputed logician of
the North arrived in Srirangam and challenged the
scholars of the day to a dialectical debate.
Mannargudi Rajagopalachariar, nominated by Srimad
Periya Andavan to accept the challenge defeated the
visiting scholar after several days of debate. The
vanquished gracefully accepted defeat and requested
Periya Andavan to spare Raj agopalachariar Swami for a
brief period , so that he could get further
instructions from him in Vedanta. At the end of the
period, he honored Mannargudi Rajagoplachariar and
conveyed his gratitude to Periya Andavan for putting
him in the right path of knowledge. 

He set up the Asrama on the lands donated by a patron
and continued his Kalakshepam classes there
uninterrupted in the sylvan environment. He conducted
classes in Sri Gita Bhashya, Sri Bhashya, Rahasya
Traya Sara and Bhagavad Vishaya more than 30 times to
hundreds of disciples. His Sishyas listened entranced
wondering that so much Vedantic wisdom emanated from
so frail a body. He framed a code of conduct to be
strictly adhered to by his disciples. He undertook a
pilgrimage which took him to Tiruk Kudanthai,
Mannargudi, Vaduvur and other places. Whatever he
touched he enriched and he left behind a tradition of
excellence, a spiritual touch for his worthy
successors to cherish and carry forward. 

Such indeed is the glory of Periya Andavan. He
observed 55 Chaturmasya austerities (58 according to
SRP) during the span of 85 years. He attained the
lotus feet of his Acharya in the year 1886 that is the
Krishna Trayodasi in the month of Makara. 

His Tanian reads as follows:- 
Sri Rangesa Pathe Samarpitha Bharam Srutyanta
Raamaanuja 
Sri Yogeendra Guroothamena Yaminah Srutyanta
Vidyaatmanah / 
Praaptha Srutya vathamsa Yugma Hridayam Sri Vaasa
Raamaanujaath 
Sri Srivaasa Muneendra Desika Manim Sreyonidhim
Samaasraye // 

(meaning) _ I resort to Srivasa Munindra Desika who is
the gem of Sreyas, who did his Bharasamarpanam at the
feet of Rangesa, who had learnt all about Ramanuja
darsanam from his Guru, to whose heart resort all the
Srutis_ 

Acharyan ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam
Regards
Namo Narayana
dAsan



 
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