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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00121 Oct 2002

 
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Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

Dear devotees,
Salutations to all. This post highlights the greatness 
of "arca",one and the most important of the five forms of the 
manifestation of God. 

Arca is the incarnation of the infinite into the finite,
a reservoir of the redemptive mercy of the Lord/Ishwara,enters into
a formless form of His own without being affected by the changes of 
Prakrti and PuruSha. Arca is a VaiShNava concept/idea and its worship
is as old as the vEdAs. In Arca concept Brahman is made to enter the
Idol by invoking certain mantras and definite rituals. As long as 
these Idols are not neglected and preserved from the pollution of
destruction and worshiped regularly and continuously, the spiritual 
energy of the Brahman is believed to reside in them. 

When Sri Ramanuja lovingly called "vArAy en selva 
piLLai",the Idol or the Utsava mUrthy(Ramapriyar/Selva PiLLai/
SampathkumAr) jumped from the couch and rushed towards Sri Ramanuja 
as if He(Idol) could no longer endure the separation from Sri 
Ramanuja. TiruNArAyaNapuram temple/MElkOte is SriRamanuja's ugandha 
sThalam.

AzhvArs have extolled the Arca worship in their Divya Prabandham 
hymns/pAsurams.

Arca form/worship is easily accessible/saulabhya to all at 
all times and in all places. Refer to PoikaiAzhvAr's Mudhal 
TiruvandhAdhi 44(or NDP 2125):"thamar ugandhadhu evvuruvam 
avvuruvam...AzhiyAnAm". Sri Ramanuja refers to Arca worship in his 
Gita BhASya 4.11. Also Sri PiLLai LOkAchArya's Mumukshuppadi ChUrNai 
139: "ingu sonna saulabhyaththukku ellai nilam arcAvathAram". Sri 
PiLLai LOkAchArya explains the five forms of manifestations of God 
through an analogy.

The five forms are:Para,vyUha,vibhava,antharyAmi and arca

"AntharyAmi" can not be realized without the arduous eight 
fold yOga practice. It is similar to the underground water which can 
not be obtained without the hard labor of digging the ground. 
"Para" form is like deluge water surrounding the cosmic space and it 
is beyond speech and mind even for yOgins. "VyUha" form,is analogous 
to the milky ocean and though within the cosmic realm,is still beyond
our senses and reach. "Vibhava" avathAra is like seasonal flood water
which only benefits people who live during that particular period and 
place and is of no use to future generations. "Arca" form is like the 
river water which is available to all at all times and in all places
(does not apply to states like TamilNadu!). Arca form is the best and 
the easiest of all five forms for worship and salvation.

Arca idol is easily accessible to all irrespective of whether 
one is morally perfect or not. Arca idol purifies the mind of the 
person by elevating him/her from the materialistic plane to a higher 
spiritual plane. Arca Idol is called shubhAshraya. Subha means 
auspicious and Ashraya means support. He supports/protects people 
through His auspicious qualities. He is also called AshrithavAtsalya 
because He is the embodiment of tolerance towards the souls. He 
accepts wholly and dearly whatever the devotee lovingly offers(a 
leaf,or water,flower...) Him. Refer to Bhagavad Gita 9:26

As per SriVaiShNava sampradAyam,there are totally 108 Divya 
Deshams out of which two(TiruppARkadal and Paramapadam/SriVaikuNTam) 
are not in this world/bhUlOka and the Lord manifested in these 
divya deshams falls under one of the categories swayamvyaktha,
daiva,caida and mAnusha. The Lord's posture/kOlam is in one of the 
three forms kidandha(reclining),ninRa(standing) and irundha(sitting).
There is one more "rare" and beautiful posture that was witnessed by 
Tirumazhisai AzhvAr(as he was not satisfied with the three postures 
of the Lord).

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam
nappinnai







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