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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00060 Mar 2003

 
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Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

Dear Sriman Soundararajan,
The first important thing is the "desire" to 
recite/chant the prabandhams(it's like the baby taking the first step 
while starting to learn "how to walk" and keep in mind that the baby 
falls down many a times during its initial walking process). If 
everybody knows the nitty gritty,the deep hidden philosophical 
meanings of prabandham there will be no "disciples" or students and 
everybody will become an "AcArya" or an expert and this state is 
a "highly" unstable state and it will break down by itself(does not 
require any external force/medium but due to its own internal 
structure). So,it doesn't matter if one makes pronounciation mistakes 
and all other errors initially. Just remember that practice makes a 
man perfect. By constant and regular recitation or listening to 
musical renderings of prabandham ghoshti,one slowly picks up the 
right way of chanting and also understands the hidden meanings by 
listening to upanyasams/discourses on bhagavad viShayam by learned 
AcAryAs(this process is a function of time and does not happen 
overnight). One should be fortunate to have an AcArya at close 
quarters to learn the hidden meanings. In this context[Cf SVB 73-79],
Sri KUraththAzhvAn,sent by Sri Ramanuja,had to wait at the doorstep 
of the AcArya Sri TirukkOShtiyUr nambi for six months to receive an 
authoritative understanding on "adiyEn uLLAn udal uLLAn" 
[NammAzhvAr's TVM 8.8.2] regarding which of the two, namely, 
j~nAthrthva(bliss of wisdom) and shEShathva(service to the Lord) is 
the essential attribute of the jIva. With respect to your 
question "am I a sinner",I would like to quote thAyAr/sIta's words
"na kashcin na aparADhyathi"(there is none above mistakes). According 
to Hanuman the rAkshasIs were sinners(pApAnAm) but according to 
thAyAr they were meritorious(shubhAnAm)[Cf SVB 5-22:puruShakAra of 
Sri Mahalakshmi].

A mother does not "wait" for the baby to pick up the 
language to begin the conversation. She just speaks and the baby 
listens and speaks/talks then learns to read and write. A 
mother "rightly" interprets the blabberings of her child and so is 
the Lord. HE(being the supreme psychologist,psychiatrist and 
psychoanalyst) will interpret it the right way as He knows our 
intentions. Attitude is more important than the act. Normally at the 
end of the recital,we ask the Lord for forgiveness for all 
apacArams/sins incurred during the recital(otherwise also). 
Recollecting Sri Ramanuja's sharaNAgathi gadhyam(R says Lord is his 
mother,father, relative,guru,knowledge,wealth etc and in short,his 
everything):

thvamEva mAthA ca thvamEva pithA thvamEva banDhushca gurusthvamEva |
thvamEva vidhyA dhraviNam thvamEva thvamEva sarvam mama dhEvadhEva ||

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr JIyar thiruvadigaLE sharaNam
NC Nappinnai 






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