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 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more. http://mobile.yahoo.com/go?refer=1GNXIC Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/join (Yahoo! 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