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SrI:
SrImathE Gopaladesika Mahadesikaya namah:

Dearest srivaishnavas,

Today is Sriman nAthamuni Thirunakshantham (Aani
anusham).

The Acharya paramparai of Srivaihsnavm is:
Sriya: Pathi Sriman Narayanan
Sri Mahalakshmi
Sri Vishvaksenar (Senai mudali)
Sri SaTakOpar (Sri NammAzhwAr)
Sri Nathamuni
Sri Pundarikakshar (Sri UyyakkoNdaar)
Sri Ramamisrar (maNakkaal nambhi)
Sri Yamuncharyar (Alavandhar)
Sri MahapoorNar (Periya Nambhi)
Sri Ramanujar

LakshmI nAtha samArambhaam nAtha yAmuna madhyamAm..

Swamy Vedantha Desikan pays his obeisance to Sriman
Nathamuni thus:

nAthEna muninA thEna bhavEyam nathavan aham |
yasya naigamikam tatvam hastAmalakatam gatam ||

Sriman Nathamuni is the most benign master (Acharya )
for me. Sriman Nathamuni indeed availed the good
opportunity to perceive the true and purport of Vedas,
like a tiny amla fruit on one?s palm (uLLankai
nellikani). Let me pay my humble obeisance to Sri
Nathamuni by the folding of my palms.

Srivaishnavam is shining and flourishing even today
(across the globe) due to the most merciful, "vaLLal'
Sri Nathamuni.. It is Emperumaan's upakaram that He
has bestowed His grace on us by giving Sri Nathamuni
to uplift us.

kaaLam valampuriyanna naRkaathaladiyavarkkuth
thaaLam vazhankith thamizhmaRai innisai thantha vaLLal
mooLunthavan^eRi mootiya naathamunikazhalE
naaLunthozhuthozhuvOm namakkaarn^ikarn^aanilaththE.

What a grand and truthful statement from Swamy
Desikan! (the benevolent one who gave the Tamil Vedas
set to taaLam (music). Let us sEvicchufy (offer our
saashtanga praNAmams at) his feet again and again
everyday.. Who can be equal to us on this earth?
(None- as we only are blessed with such "vaLLal"
Nathamuni..)

Let us enjoy Swami Alavandhaar slokams on this
acharya. 

The first three slokas of Sthothra Rathnam on Sriman
Nathamuni also may refer to his
three Acharyas in the lineage order-namely, Sriman
Nathamuni, Sri PundareekAkshar [Sri Uyyakkondaar] and
Sri Ramamisrar[ Sri Manakkaal nambhI]. Since birth,
Sriman Nathamuni had been the cause hence the first
sloka; Being a praachaarya is the second sloka; and
his merciful benevolent act for the lOkOpakAram (for
the sake of the world) is the third sloka.

First verse- Sriman Nathamuni is the repository of
jnAna, VairAgya and Bhakti- says Alavandhar.

namO(S)cinthya adhbhutha akliShta j~nAna vairAgya
rAshayE |
nAThAya munayE agADha bhagavadh bhakthi sinDhavE ||

acinthya - beyond understanding;
adhbhutha ? Ascharya [mysterious, marvellous,
wonderful;
akliShta ? effortlessly acquired by God's grace;
j~nAna, vairagya, rAsayE- personification of
knowledge, detachment together
agADha bhagavadh bhakthi sindhavE? deep ocean of
greatest devotion on Sriman Narayanan;
nAthAya munayE- to Sage, Saint nAThamuni
nama: - my offering prostrations, paying obeisance.

How did he ever get this jnAnam? How much jnAnam does
he have? ? however many times or ways one analyses, no
answer. Not understood. Thus such extent of jnAnam,
the manner in which the jNAnam was acquired, is beyind
understanding, it is athi Ascharyam- most wonderful,
marvellous, and excellent never heard or seen in the
world. It is rarest and hence apoorvam; athi
Ascharyam. Hence is addressed as aklishtam. Also it is
not acequired with hard work or penance; it is
effortless due to the grace of the Lord, like Sanaka,
Sanathkumaras. It is the acquisition of jnAnam with
complete accordance with saasthrAs, running no where
haywire towards other religions, looking for the
correct philosophy. Not a single word is understood by
Sriman nAtha muni is wrong manner; everything in
tandem with saasthrAs and thus effortless, so
naturally acquired. Thus, there is no decaying or
change in his jnAnam and always consistent and
coherent- not contradicting any other word in
saaathrAs, when one word or statement is understood.
And such a characteristic is also due to his greatest
vairAgyam [detachment and renunciation] as well; Due
to such rarest Para, avara tattva jnAnam, he is able
to take his mind away from worldly pleasures,
materialistic pursuits and hence jnAna, vairAgyam are
both essential and are found in Sriman nATHamuni as
the embodiment of both of them in one lot.

Thus on lower tattvams, he has vairAgyam, and on Para
tattvam, love and focus with paripoorna jnAnam and
hence bhakti is flooded in his heart for Sriman
Narayanan. Thus he becomes the repository of deep
ocean of great bhakti towards Sriman Narayanan and to
such greatest sage, Saint Sriman nAThamuni- I pay my
namaskarams says Sri Alavandhar wonderfully. He is
called RanganAthan; shortly called as nAThan; nAThan-
as he is nAThan [master] for all of us. How blessed am
I to be born in his family! Enjoys Sri Alavandhar on
his birth as Sri NAthamuni?s grand son.

Earlier, jnAnam (knowledge) on all matters, devotion
(bhakti) on the Lord alone were described on Sriman
NAthamuni. Bhakti is contemplation or meditation mixed
with love. Here, AzhwAr touches upon a bit about the
life of Sriman nAThamuni through which he describes
the limitless jnAnam and bhakti of Acharya and thus
explains he is part of the Guru parampara for him
(Alavandhar) and others in Srivaishnava sampradaya in
this second sloka.

thasmai namO maDhujidh anghri sarOja thathva
j~nAna anurAga mahima athishayantha sImnE |
nAThAya nATha munayE athra parathra cApi
nithyam yadhIya caraNau sharaNam madhIyam || - SR 2

thasmai- Such [as described earlier the one who is the
embodiment of jnAna, vairAgya, bhakti]
madhujith- of Bhagawaan who conquered Madhu asurA
angrisarOja- the lotus feet
tattva- true nature?s
jnAna anurAga- knowledge and intense love
mahimAdhisaya- glorious [peerless] greatness
antha seemnE- the zenith [of above- namely, jnAna,
anurAga, mahimAdhisaya]
nAThAya nAtha munayE- to The Master [nAThan] of
Srivaishnavas- Sriman nAthamuni
nama: my obeisance;
yadhIya charaNou- whose [Sriman nAThamuni] Feet;
athra pathra api cha- in this world [leelA vibhUthi]
and in this SrI vaikuNta [paramapadham where there is
no need for the upAyam- means]
madhIyam charaNam- my refuge- upAyam [the way] and
upEyam [the Goal]. [thasmai- such?]

For Sriman NAthamuni, the jnAna vairAgya, bhakti were
inherently in him in wonderful, marveloous manner
[athyAscharyam]- such greatest Acharya is now
described as the ultimate pinnacle of its height of
jnAna, vairAgya, bhakti in him in this verse. How? It
implies: Sriman Narayanan alone is Supreme entity
[Iswara] and thereby the Parathatthvam; the other
philosophies like Advaita are incorrect and do not
explain the overall scheme of things per Vedas and
saasthrAs ? Thus Sriman nAThamuni blessed us with such
unparalleled crystal clear concepts with his
nyAyatattva grantha [work]- says Swamy Desikan. Thus
compatible with such great qualities, he had complete
detachment [vairAgya] towards the worldly pleasure and
materialistic pursuits and thus he was resplendent
with greatest amount of bhakti [intense love and
devotion] for the Lord Sriman Narayanan. Being blessed
with the power of meditation, yoga, he focused on the
Lord with the intense love and devotion i.e. bhakti.
Through Karma, jnAna yoga, he could visualise and
realise the jeevathma?s glories and swaroopam and
knowing and realising that only through the divine
thirumEni- dhivya mangaLa vigrham of Sriman Narayanan
alone, he was able to attempt to have saakshAthkAram
[could enjoy the Lord literally within] and thereby
the bhakti grew exponentially day and by day.

That?s the time our blessed Acharya was blessed by the
Lord through few Srivaishnavas in KattumannarkOil
where they recited ArA amudhE ? eleven pAsurams from
NammAzhwAr Thirumaynozhi [5.8]?

ArA amudhE.. He immersed in the Lord?s insatiable
beauty when he heard these verses; Aaraa anudhE!
AdiyEn udalam ninpaal anbaayE" - Aaaraa amudhE! Oh
insatiable nectar! EmperumaanE! What a Divinely
Beautiful form is Your body! However many times I
enjoy that naver satisfies me, Lord! You are giving me
immense satisfaction that is limitless and unbounded.
Due to my love for You, my physical body also has been
melting along with my heart longing to see You. Oh
ThirumaalE! You have been literally killing me with
Your azhagu; I have been blessed to enjoy here at
Thirukkudanthai by seeing Your Most Beautiful form;

en naan seygEn? yaarE kaLaigaN? Ennai en seyginRaay?
Unnal allAl yaavaraalum onRum kuRai vENdEn.. To hold
Your Lotus Feet, there is
nothing that I can do; what is the link between the
action and me? Who is the support for me except You?

dhariyEn iniun chaaraNam thandhu en sanmam
kaLaiyaayE..
when he had heard all these sweetest great pAsurams,
his heart was melting with devotion and anubhavam and
he longed for the rest of the pAsurams as he heard
them saying at the end that these ten out of 1000?
[AyiratthuL ivai patthum], he realised that he will be
immensely benefited if he gets them all.

Thus he could reach the Ultimate zenith of devotion?
kaNNinunchiRutthambu was made available to him. He
uttered the 11 pAsurams of KanninuchiRutthambu of Sri
MadhurakaviAzhwAr [who had sung in praise of his
acharya NammAzhwAr] 12000 times without interruption;
Sriman nAryanan decided to save the world through this
Acharya and instructed NammAzhwAr to be the Acharya
for Sriman nAThamuni and thus Sriman nAThamuni was
blessed to receive, enjoy the grace of Sri SaTakOpar-
NammAzhwAr- and receive not just his 1000; but all
4000 of all AzhwArs in addition to initiating him with
manthra, tattvArthams. Though he [Sriman nAThamuni]
had the capacity to perform bhakti yoga, SrI
nammAzhwAr instructed him to perform prapatti
[Saranagati] with five angas uttering the greatest
esoteric Dwaya mantra as such a perfroamnce in
accordance with saasthrAs would yield mOkshaanubhavam
at the end of the same life unlike bhakti yoga [where
one may have to take few more births].

Thus his anurAgam [intense love] has reached the
ultimate point. The Lord has greatest love for his
devotees - priyO hi jnAninOthyarttham aham sa cha mama
priya: and blessed them with the best arrangement to
make their devotion increase exponentially. Who else
would have been blessed by the Lord like Sriman
nAThamuni? Probably none at all. Thus he was blessed
with Parathatthva jnAnam, Parama hitham (Prapatti);
and Parama purushaartham. Thus he became the pinnacle
of jnAnam too. It was indeed to help us, the suffering
jeevans, that Nathamuni performed this thapas and had
the darsanam of NammAzzhwAr , who blessed Natha Muni
with the nAlAyira Divya Prabhandham and the sakala
SaasthrAs as well as the knowledge along with the
performance of Prapatti and also about the life
history of the other AzhwArs (AzhwAr paramparai).

That jnAnam is complete and reaches its crescendo only
when one realises that the best way is Prapatti at the
Lotus feet through utterace of Dwaya mantra and that
is mentioned with the word angri sarOja tattva- [The
Lotus Feet]- writes SrI UttamUr Swamy very clearly and
beautifully. prApyam and prApakam are both Lotus Feet
thus.

Thus granting such jnAnam reminds [one of the First
and Prime Acharya] Sri Hayagrivan- Madhusudhanan- the
One who conquered and killed Madhu asurA and hence
refer Him as madhujith.. Now I have realised that it
is SwEthASwatharOpanishad which states: mumukshurvai
SaraNamaham prapadyE.. and thiNkalzhal sErE.. and
thuyaraRu sudar adi.. all mention His Lotus Feet. Thus
Sriman nAThamuni was blessed to be shining with the
jnAna anurAgam [knowledge and intense love].

With the relevant jnAnam and the way to reach Him
through Prapatti with no further births made him great
sadAcharya for others who became his sishya and thus
he became nAThan for all.

when upAyam was not clear, only athra (here in this
world); and after getting upadesam from Manakkaal
nambhI through the instruction (niyamanam) of Sriman
nAThamuni ? Sri Uyyakkondaar- now, it is paratha cha
api.. in Paramapadham as well.

Also yadheeya charaNou- may be interpreted as :
yadheeya- may infer UyyakkoNdaar and charaNou- his
sishya- namely maNakkaal nambhi.. thus mentioning his
acharya [implied] in this verse- enjoys SrI UttamUr
Swamy.

Alavandhar now enjoys his grandfather; acharyan for
others- Sriman Nathamuni blessing us with his
wonderful granthas and also getting to us with
AzhwAr?s verses and declares that he was yogisrEshtar,
offering his praNAmams again and again.

bhUyO namO(s)parimithAchyutha bhakti tattva
jnAnAmrtAbdhi parivaaha sibhair vachObi:
lOkEvatheerNa paramaarttha samagra bhakthi yOgAya
NAthamunayE yaminaam varaaya

Unbounded, limitless Lord?s subject matter namely,
Bhakti and jnAnam; such bhakti jnAnam have over
flooded and poured out in the form of most auspicious
Sri sookthis [of Sriman nAThamuni]; and through
blessing us in this world with the wondefrful divine
granthas (prabandhams) of AzhwArs filled with bhakti;
and through these works, AzhwAr pasurams, came down
and established the unparalled supremacy of Sriman
Narayanan and the truthful, correct nature of His
roopa, swaroopa, vibhUthis and about Him, [our
Nathamuni] had limitless, uninterrupted bhakti yoga.
To that king among Yogis, let me pay my obeisance
again and again.

My humble Obeisance to Sriman Nathamuni again and
again? the best among those who have subdued the
senses; by whose works, granthas; which are the
overflow of unlimited love and jnAnam of the Lord
Achutha; due to which ? the true bhakti yoga appears
to have landed onto the earth.

Achyutha bhakti, tattva jnAna- cane be interpreted to
be the jnAnam based on his own works as well as on the
works of AzhwArs, Sage vyAsa, Parasara et al; He
blessed us with nyAya tattva and Yoga rahasya
granthas. Also he propagated the AzhwAr?s verses; He
performed bhakti yoga as mere pleasing to the Lord
even after he performed Prapatti and thus it is swayam
prayOjanam. That is also kind of dhyAnam and hence it
is also termed yoga as well. The dhyAna yogam came
down to his sishya Thirukurugaikkavalappan and could
not be reached to Sri Yamunacharya. The Yoga rahasya
though was not passed on later, it could probably be
there during Alavandhar's time and hence lOkEvatheerNa
word is indeed apt. Thus having even performed
Prapatti and been blessed with the same, Sriman
nAThamuni did not leave his dhyAnam and enjoying of
the Lord in uninterrupted meditation i.e. yogam and
hence he was king among Yogins.

Alavandhaar adds in his 65th verse:

Being immersed in samsaaric ocean performing thousands
and thousands of sins for millions of births, now,
being blessed with tattva (entities), hitha (way) and
purushaarttham (goal), the vivEkam (discrimination),
vairAgya (detachment) and been blessed to perform
Prapatti [Saranagathi] at the Lord?s Lotus feet- the
reason for all this blessing is due to being born as
the grandson of Sriman nAThamuni shrEshtar and also he
being the praachArya of Alavandhaar. Alavandhaar thus
pays his gratitude and prays to the Lord referring to
his association with such Acharya saarvabhouman.

akruthrimatvaccharaNAravindha prEmaprakarshAvathim
Athmavandham
pithAmaham nAthamunim vilOkya praseetha math vruttham
achinthayithvaa [65]

Sriman nAThamuni- my Grandfather, my Acharya?s
Acharya- the one who has the AtmA, with the
personification and ultimate of Unalloyed natural
flawless devotion and without expecting any other
fruits other than enjoyment of Your Lotus Feet; Such
great yOga purushar;- Thinking of amy association with
him [as his grandson as well as his sishya?s sishya],
please do not look down upon me for my paapams and
bless me with Your grace.

Alavandhaar?s final Statement on the glories of the
anugraham& sambhandham of the Acharya for successful
Prapatthi and inclusion of his fearlessness(nirbhayam
) as a result of performing prapatthi , even if he
does not have the qualifications of his own
(naicchiyaanusandhaanam).

For Sriman Nathamuni, the Lord?s love and dayA started
flowing right from his birth. With no explicit fruits;
but was flowing naturally for the mere enjoyment of
Bhagawaan. With that overflowing love of Yours on my
grand father, and that love flowed from him on me? and
hence I am blessed now with tattva jnAnam, hitham that
You are the means and the Purushaarttham that You
alone are the Goal ? I could perform Saranagathi at
Your Lotus Feet as vyAjam for obtaining your grace. I
have been blessed with sampradAya jnAnam due to
adiyEn?s association and blood relation with the muni
shrEshtar Sriman Nathamuni.

Though I had all limitless unbounded sins and
disqualifcatiosn as per my verse amaryaadha kshUdhra:
etc.., still, due to my association with grand father
ad Acharya, You need to bless me . There is no mandate
for You to punish me severely due to the bodily
relation with the devotee of Yours ? who is Your
favourite.

When Your could assure even VibheeshaNaas- who were
even from raakshasa vamsam, can You oh nAThA, leave me
(who has the greatest sambandham with Sriman
nAThamuni)? I have been blessed with Your jnAnam as
Acharya prasAdham..

Acharyan ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam
Regards
Namo narayana
dAsan



       
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