Sri Parthasarathi thunai
Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha
Sri Vara Vara MunayE Namaha
Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE namaha
Dear bhagavatas,
On this auspicious day, mAsi dwAdasi, "The thiruvadhyayana dhinam" of our dear
acharya, Sri Vara Vara muni let us all remember that great soul and revered
acharya and show our obeisance to that great mahAn by meditating on his
greatness and divine athma gunas. Erumbiappa, one of the astadiggajas of Periya
Jeeyer, swamy manavAla mAmunikal sang 100 slokas adorning the divine qualities
of Jeeyer. In our sampradayam, when we say Azhvar it indicates to only
nammAzhvar, the term swamy refers only to emperumAnAr and Jeeyer is a special
term indicating Periya Jeeyer, Sri Vara Vara Muni. The slokas of erumbiappa are
called as "Vara Vara Muni sathakam". In the very same name one another
ashtadiggaja Sri prathivAdi bayankaram anna swamy has also done 100 slokas on
the divine qualities of Sri Vara Vara Muni. Each one of these slokas is no
exaggeration and exactly portrays the greatness of our dear acharya, mAmunikal.
Jeeyer's greatness cannot be fully told with just these slokas. Even the
greatness of emperuman can be enjoyed to an extent but the greatness of our
dear acharya is totally beyond words. But still to show their bhakthi towards
the great acharya the prime disciples of Swamy sang the slokas adorning swamy.
Moreover these are great gifts given to mandhabhuddis (dull-headed people) like
us by the great disciples so as to make us cherish the divine qualities of
Jeeyer that are totally beyond our level of perseverance.
To just enjoy a drop from the ocean of divinity (dheebhakthyAdhi gunArnavam)
here is one such sloka. This sloka is from erumbiappa's vara vara muni
sathakam. In those days, if a child cries in the midnight and if the reason
behind the same is unpredictable then the mother used to recite this sloka that
immediately gave relief to the child and the child will sleep in peace the rest
of the night.
"Srimad rangam jayatu paramam dhAma tEjOnidhAnam bhoomA
tasmin bhavatu kushalee kOpibhoomA sahAya I
divyam tasmai dhishatu vibhavam dEsikO dEsikAnAm kAlE kAlE
vara vara muni: kalpayan mangalAni II"
Srimad - What is the Sri (wealth) for Srivaishnavas? The kainkarya Sri. Valmiki
did not call Lakshmana Sriman when he was in ayodhya as the prince but he
called him "Sriman" when he started with Sri rama piran to the forest. While he
is been sent out of the kingdom wearing a saffron cloth (maravuri) without
anything in hand why is valmiki calling him like that? Is he teasing lakshmana?
No. Lakshmana got the actual Sri, Rama kainkaryam only while he went with
chakravarthi thirumagan to the forest. He says, "aham sarvam karishyAmi
jAgrudha svapadaschathE" (I will do all sorts of kainkaryams to you while you
are awake or asleep). So only that kainkarya Sri is the actual Vaishnava Sri.
Similarly valmiki calls vibheeshana as Sriman when he left all the treasures in
lanka rAjyam and came with folded hands to join in the ghosti of rama piran. So
only the bhagavat/bhAgavata kainkaryam is our wealth (Sri). Swamy mAmunikal in
his Arthi prabhandam says, "nAttrAdhai som pudhalvar thammadhanrO dhAyamurai
thAn" Here he refers to the wealth of his jnana pithA, father who granted him
knowledge (swamy emperumAnAr). What is the wealth emperumAnAr has left to him?
Sriranga Kainkaryam. "mad" indicates "nithya yOgE mathupu" that is 'mad' is
used to show the permanent nature. That is the kainkaryam is not just for
sometime but it is forever ("ozhivil kAlamellAm vudanAi manni vazhivilA
adimai").
rangam jayatu - the stage/place where the lord resides with happiness. Due to
his ultimate wish to stay amidst all of us emperuman descended from the divine
abode and stays in-between the ubhaya kaveri in Srirangam to uplift each one of
us. This is the place where all our poorvAcharyas cherished doing kainkaryam.
Only to grant us all the opportunity to enjoy the divine kainkaryam of
emperuman in this very leela vibhoothi, emperuman descended down ignoring even
the great pleasures in the nithya soori mandalam. According to Swamy parasara
bhattar, emperuman in paramapadam didn't descend to Srirangam but only the
emperuman in Srirangam stays in paramapadam. Such was the regard our acharyas
had towards this divine abode (Srirangam) of emperuman. Each day in whichever
place/divya desam we are, all of us pray for the welfare of Srirangam.
"adiyArgal vAzha aranganagar vAzha". Since Srirangam is the head quarters of
our divine ramanuja sampradayam if it lives then it is sure for all our divya
desams to live with prosperity. The Srirangam soil has its special divinity as
it talks the greatness of each one of our acharyas whose divine feet has
touched that holy soil. So first of all swamy erumbiappa, does mangalasasanams
to that divine soil on which the great acharya lived long and spread the
fragrance of emperumAnAr darisanam throughout the world. Even when he was sick
and unable to write swamy continued his kainkaryam by doing the vyakhyanam to
acharya hrudhayam. He used to ask his shisyas to write down whatever he said.
While asked why swamy took such pain he replied, "This is the wealth that I am
preserving for the generations to come. If I see my pain today then all these
divine words of Swamy azhagiya manavala perumal nayanar will go without being
understood by the next generations and hence they will all loose the divine
treasures and remain as paupers born in a rich family". Such was the karunai
(grace) of Sri Vara Vara muni on all of us. Surely if there was no mAmunikal's
commentary then even a single word in acharya hrudhayam will not be understood
by us. That absolute treasure would have been lost forever.
What can we do in return to the great help swamy has bestowed on us? Nothing
other than saying "saTakOpan tan thamizh nool vAzha manavAla mAmuniyE ennum oru
nootrAndu erum" How much ever time we repeat these words it is not enough. Let
the glory of that great acharya glitter in our minds always.
Let us enjoy the rest of the sloka in the next posting.
Alwar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam
Adiyen ramanuja dAsee
Sumithra Varadarajan
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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