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
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
ramanuja-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |