Sri: SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha, Dear Bhaktas, On he most sacred day of Adi Uttaradam, the Tirunakshatram of Swami Alavandar, adiyen wishes to share the following reflections from his life and works. Swami Alavandar has the distinction of extremely noble birth in the line of Nathamuni Acharya-who recovered the entire Dhivya Prabandham due to the Anugraham of Swami NammAzhwar upon continuous recitation of Kanninun siruthambu innumerable times. Swami Alavandar in addition to his noble birth distinguished himself on account of his extreme erudition, razor sharp intellect, strict conformance to shastraic prescriptions, and most importantly for handing us the dayaIka sindhu of Ramanujacharya through his final message while attaining Parama Padam. Swami Alavandar's composed the following works 1. Agamapramanya 2. Mahapurusha Nirnaya 3. Siddhitraya 4. Gitarthasanrgraha 5. Chatussloki 6. Stotra-Ratnam Agamapramanya. This is entirely devoted to vindicating the authoritativeness of Pancharatra Agamas. Mahapurusha Nirnaya. In this work, Sri Alavandar shows that the ultimate reality is the Supreme Purusha, Sriman Narayana. Atma Siddhi, Iswara Sidhhi and Samvit Siddhi. Collectively, these three works are known as Siddhitrayam. The three siddhis establish the Srivaishnava sampradayic concepts of soul, God, and knowledge. Gitarthasangraha. This is a marvellous work on Bhagavad gita, which later formed the basis of Sri Ramanujacharya's Gita Bhashya. Chatushloki-a 4 verse tribute to Mahalakshmi Thayar-encapsulating the essence of the Vedanta Sutras Stotra-Ratnam-a 65 verse tribute which expounds on the doctrine of SharaNagati as enshrined in the Dvaya Mantram. Several gems can be found by taking a dip in the cool waters of his Srisookthis. Swami Desikan, who is extremely careful in his choice of words glorifies Yamunacharya in the Yatiraja Sapthati as "vigAhE yAmunam tIrtham sAdhu brindavanE sthitham nirasta jihmaga sparshE yatra krishNa krithAdhara:" (We shall bathe in the holy waters of Yamuna, who severed all connections with mean passion and attachment, who stood steadfast in safeguarding the Sadhus in whom the things emphasized by Krishna are present perfectly). A couple of examples illustrating the genius of Swami Alavandar as a super compactor can be found in the Chatushloki salutations "VedAtma vihagEshvarO" and "sririthyE vachanAma thE BhagavatI brUma: katham thvAm vayam" Garuda is revered in the Vedam through the souparNika suKta mantram "suparNOsi garuthmAn trivrithEshirO gayathram Chakshu: sthOmam Athma sAmam thE thanUrvAmadevyam brhadraThantharE pakshoU yajnAyajniyam puccham chandhAngAmsyAngAni DhisNiyA: shaPhA yajUgamshi nAma suparNOsi garuthmAn dhivam gacCha suva: pathA" (You are the wide-winged bird Garuda! Your head is the trivruth sAman, while your lower body is vamadevya Saman. Your eyes are the Gayathri Saman! Your Atma is sthOman! Your wings are the brihath sAman and raThanthara Saman respectively! Your tail is the yajnAyajniyam Saman! Your limbs are the meters! Your hooves are masters of knowledge! Your name is verily the yajur vedam! Oh Garuda proceed on the Divine path to Suvar lokam (world of light)! Again the taittriya Upanishad salutes Garuda as "tasya yajurEva shira: rg dakshina paksha: sAmOtthara paksha: AdEsha Atma atharvAngirasa pucCham prathiShTA:" (The yajurveda is his head! The lower part of his body is the Rg Veda! The upper part of his body is the Sama Veda! His soul is the command! His tail denotes the aTharvaNa Veda!) Swami Alavandar brilliantly captures the import of these Vedic messages in a succinct manner through the vedAthmA vihagEshvarO salutation. Another salutation from the chatushloki worth noting is the glorification of Thayar as "sririthyE vachanAma thE BhagavatI brUma: katham thvAm vayam" (Oh mother! A whole lifetime is insufficient for me to fully comprehend the six meanings underlying your name-Sri. The six meanings of Sri are 1. shriyathE-One who is sought after by all 2. shrayathE-She grants refuge to all who seek her 3. shruNOthi-She hears the appeal of those who seek her [baddha jiavns appealing to her for help] 4. shrAvayathi-She conveys the appeal to her consort Lord Narayana 5. shrNAthi-She destroys the impediments (sin pile of baddha jivans) that preclude the attainment of Lord Narayana 6. shrINAthi-She confers lasting wealth Finally, adiyen wishes to conclude this piece with the stotra ratnam salutation "trivikramathvat charaNAmbhujadvayam madhiya mUrDhAnamalankarishyathi" (I cannot wait for the moment when the Lotus feet of Trvikrama adorn my head) Swami Alavandar TirvadigaLE sharaNam, Namo Narayana, SriMuralidhara Dasan ------------------------------------ Yahoo! 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