You are here: SriPedia - Oppiliappan - Archives - Sep 1999

Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00212 Sep 1999

Sep 1999 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


Dear BhaagavathAs :

What a wondeful two days of sathsangam it has been 
this past weekend ! Srirangam came alive here and
the majestic sound of AchArya Sookthis in general 
and those of Swami VedAntha Desikan in particular 
reverberated in the air and were echoed back by 
the ancient mountains of the Taconic and Palisade
ranges .BhakthAs from Many states ( New York, New Jersey ,
Connecticut , Michigan, Massachusetts, Ohio, Texas ,
Vermont , Maryland , Virginia , Pennsylvania et al )
were assembled . Many subha Sakunams (auspicious signs)
were witnessed indicating the Sarvesvaran's sanklapam 
(that of the Supreme Lord resting at Srirangam )
to see to that His Temple will come into being in time 
for the 21st century as a special gift to us for the new
millenium . AdiyEn is sure that the many BhakthAs who
participated in this MahOthsavam have individual experiences
to relate to about this Bhakthi-filled event of two days.
AdiyEn requests them to share their experiences and post
them for the benefit of other BhagavathAs , who could not be 
with us .

The Dozen highlights of the meeting are: 

(1) On this sacred PurattAsi Sanik Kizhamai 
(PurattAsi Saturday dear to ThiruvenkatamudayAN),
a magnificient and saampradhAyic (traditional)Thirumanjanam 
for Swami Desikan( an avathAram of the GhantA of 
Sri Venkatanaathan) , AchArya RaamAnujA , Sri RanganAthA , 
Sri RaamachandrA , Sri VeNu GopAlan, Sri Sudarsana-Narasimhan 
and Lord SrinivAsan was conducted to the acompaniment of
Veda paarAyaNam and Divya prabhandham . The uthsava moorthys 
glowed with a special effulgence after their sacred bath .Sriman
Poondi Vijaya Raaghavan , the President of RaamaanujA Mission 
blessed the ghOshti with a majestic voice leading the divya 
Prabhandham recital. The Veda paarAyanam was led by 
Sri Venkat Kanumalla , the Aaradhakar of the Sri RanganAthA Temple . 

(2) The release of the AchArya RaamAnujA CD ROM was released 
in front of Swami Desikan by AdiyEn and the first copy of 
the offically released CD ROM was presented to Sri Venakt
Kanumallla for his untiring efforts to keep the Sri VaishNavA
flame alive at Sri RanganAthA's Temple for all of the BhagavathAs
representing many sampradhAyams .The development costs for 
this pioneering CD ROM project on AchAryA RaamAnujA as 
an educational project for the benefit of the GLOBAL 
Sri VaishNavA Community has been fully funded by 
Sri Ahobila Matam of North America . A vast amount of the life
and works of Bhagaavth RaamAnujA and his SiddhAntham is covered 
here . Planned release of second volume will cover additonal 
material from His glorious life especially for the benefit of 
young Sri VaishNavAs including Questions and answers for 
the Younger generation . Approximately 200 BhakthAs have extended
so far their valued support for this project thru financial support 
and they will all receive their copies once the reproduction is
completed soon .Other BhakthAs interested in acquiring their own
copies are requested to contact me (914-762-6690) or tru e-mail
at the above address . 

(3) The third agenda item was the ofifcial release of the Volumes 4-6
of the Audio CD ROM of the SthOthrams of Swami Desikan by Sri
Poondi Vijaya Raaghavan ,President of the RaamAnujA Mission 
of Virginia . The disciples of Srimath Andavan of PeriyAsramam 
have funded this project . The first three volumes were released 
in April,99 during Sri RaamAnuja Jayanthi at the Sri Balaji Temple 
at Bridgewater, NJ . Sriman Shyam Sunder Srinivasan and Sri
VenakatanAthan SrinivAsan , two disciples of PeriyANDavan have 
recorded these 28 sthOthrams of Swami Desikan with their clear ,
mellifluent voices with great attention to correct Sanskritic
pronunciations and stops . The whole project has been supervised
brilliantly and executed effectively by Sriman Nadadur Madhavan 
of Sri Ramanuja Mission . The cover graphics designed by him 
are a treat to one's eyes ( Pictures of Divya desa EmperumAns 
and Swami Desikan).Please contact Sri Madhavan (Nadadur@xxxx )
or adiyen on details about acquisition of these invaluable CD ROMs 
to learn and recite the most auspicous sthOthrams of Swami Desikan 
starting from Sri HayagrIva SthOthram and concluding with
Sri YathirAja sapthathi .The First copy of the Volumes 4-6 
have been presented by Sri Poondi Vijaya Raghabvan to
Sri Venkat Kanumalla in recognition of his many services
to Sri vaishNavA Community .

(4) The crowning event of the morning was the Special 
tele-upanyAsam by His Holiness, te 45th Jeeyar , 
Sri VaNN SatakOPa Sri NaarAyaNa Yathindhra MahA Desikan 
of Sri Ahobila Matam . H.H is staying now at
ThiruvahIndhrapuram for his ChAthurmAsyam and 
his auspicious voice came over as amrutha mazhai 
(nourishing nectarine rain ) over the air waves
few feet away from the ThirumALigai of Swami Desikan at 
ThiruvahIdhrapuram , where the great NigamAntha Desikan ,
the VedAnthAchAryan, the Sarva Tanthra Svathanthrar had 
spent 40 years of His 100 year old life on and off . 
Lord DevanAthan and Sri Hembjavalli of this divya desam 
and Swami Desikan in his ArchA form created by him 
and consecrated by his son , Sri Kumara VaradAchAr 
were hearing this upanyAsam (tribute to Swami Desikan's 
Vaibhavam ) as their own BhakthAs were hearing at Singapore 
and all over USA assembled at Pomona , NY and from Massachusetts 
to Hawaii. This special Tele-upanyAsam was heard on tnhe banks of
both the Atlantic Oceaan and the Pacific Ocean .AdiyEn 
welcomes some one , who heard this UpanyAsam to summarize
it for the benefit of others , who missed it .

(5) After a lunch break, the afternoon sessions started with
the welcome and introduction to the sessions by adiyEn 
covering the 5 tainyans for Swami Desikan .At the end of 
the recitaiton and explanation of the first Taniyan ,
it was wonderful to note that the Temple KainkaryaparALs
carried the ArchA vigraham of Swami Desikan to the conference
site. Freshly garlanded and with noothana vasthram , Swami Desikan
radiated His divya Tejas and took His position as SabhA Naayakar
to listen to the tributes paid to Him .

(6) Sri MuraLi Kadambi of Lucent Corportaion was the first speaker 
in the afternoon . He brought forth the fine points about
NyAsa Dasakam . This grantham is very important for us in so far
as we recite it in our daily aarAdhanam .Additional information
on NyAsa dasakam and saraNAgathi related sthOthrams of Swami
Desikan ( NyAsa Vimsathi , Adaikkala Patthu , NyAsa Tilakam,
SaraNAgathi Deepikai ) are archived in the Bhakthi and SaraNAgathi
archives of 96-98 .AdiyEn has also created a special domain 
home page (http://desikan.homepage.com) for housing Swami Desikan's
and other AchAryAs' works under one heading .That special domain
will be populated on Swami Desikan's birthday that falls 
on PurattAsi Sravanam day ( September 21, Tuesday ) , which
also happens to be an EkAdasi day and Vaamana Jayanthi day.
AdiyEn will include postings pertinent to Swami Desikan including
the prolific writings of Swami Desika Bhaktha Rathnam ,
Sri SrinivAsa RaghavAcchAr Swamy of Chennai .AdiyEn will 
also construct with the help of data base experts an index
of postings available on the net regarding Swami Desikan's
Sri Sookthis on the Bhakthi and saraNAgathi Archives .It will
be wonderful to have the real audio of Srimath Azhagiya Singhar's
UpanyAsam on Swami Desikan there coutesy of Sri Ahobila Matam .

(7) Sriman Anbil Ramaswamy , the President of Swami Desika Darsana
Sathsangham and the Publisher of SaraNAgathi Journal folowed next 
and addressed the audience on "Swami Desikan's NaicchAnusandhAnam
and Saathvika AhankAram .With elaborate quotations from the many
Sri Sookthis of Swami Desikan , Anbil Swamy demonstrated the dayA
of Swami in pleading with the Divya dampathis on our behalf. Both
Sri Shyaam Srinivasan and Sri Venkatanathan Srinivasan recited the
appropriate slOkams cited by Anbil Swamin , one of the well known
disciples of PoudarIkapuram Andavan Aasramam .He had so much
outstanding material that had to be compressed unfortunately due to
pressure of time .

(8) Sri Sampath Rengarajan of Ford Motor Company , Michigan gave 
next a scintillating presentation on Swami Desikan's Tamil
Prabhandhams and focused on one KuraL VeNNpaa of Desika 
Prabhandham from Rahasya padhavi/Amrutha Ranjani:

moonRiloru moonRu mooviraNdu munnAnkum
thOnRat tholayum Thuyar 

The essence of this KuRaLLVeNNpAa is : When One understands
the meanings of the three rahasyams ( AshtAksharam,Dhvayam
and Charama SlOkam ) and perform prapatthi ,SamsAra dukkham
will be banished without fail .

Sri Rengarajan , the Co-Chair of this conference expounded 
the subtle meanings of this powerful prabhandham .

(9) Sri MuraLi Rangaswamy , an expert in antenna theory and
dedicated sishyar of PoundarIkapuram Andavan homed in on
the many beautiful messages enshrined in Swami Desikan's
master piece , "DayA Sathakam ". With a careful choice of 
the many pertinent slOkams , Sri Rangaswamy celebrated 
the Sri Sookthi extolling the DayA Devi of ThiruvEnakta-
mudayAn on His PurattAsi Saturday .

(10)The final presentation for the day's sessions were by 
a devout Desika Bhakthar from Massachusetts , who focused
on the mastery of the SaamAnya and VisEsha saasthrams by
Swami Desikan before the age of 20 and the many celebrated
incidents in Swami's life during his stays at Srirangam ,
Kaanchi and ThiruvahIndhrapuram . It was a fitting finale.

(11) The days events were concluded with a recitation of 
the special sthOthram on Lord Achyutha DevanAthan
of ThiruvahIndhrapuram by Swami Desikan in rare Prakruthis
language. Not more than a handful in the world can 
recite this sthOthram in its entirety in PrAkrutham .
Srimans ShyAm Srinivasan and VenkatanAthan SrinivAsan
are among the select few .In this lalitha sambhAshaNam ,
Swami Sesikan takes on the role of Sri Venakata Naayaki
and follows the path of ParAnkusa Naayaki and ParakAla Naayaki 
to reveal Her longing for the union with Her Lord Achyuthan .
That was a beautiful recitation in front of Swami Desikan's
ArchA Vigraham .

(12) At the conclusion of the above sessions , many particpants 
travelled to the Sri RanganAthA temple site under construction
and under the golden rays of the clear summer evening had
the darsana SoubhAgyam of the majestic Archa Vigraham 
of Moolavar , periya perumAl reclining on His serpent bed
on the Banks of Hudson River and in the middle of fertile
forests and tall mountains . All of us climbed up the ladder
next to have the darsanam of Para VaasudEvan and 
the authentically constructed PraNAvAkAra VimAnam 
by expert silpis from TamilnAdu headed by Sri Baapu .
The glorious sight of Para VaasudEvan with PrayOga
chakram and the most merciful glances is an image
that will forever reside in one's mind .The PraNavAkAra 
VimAnam is surrounded by the dasavathAram statues 
exquisitely sculpted by Sri Bapu a la the dasAvathAram
archais in the DasAvathAram temple constructed by
Thirumangai AzhwAr at Srirangam .

With Sri RanganAthan's grace ,adiyEn has no doubt 
that the Temple for Sri RanganAthA to grow further 
the spirtual aspirations of ALL SRI VAISHNAVAAS 
in USA will be realized in the year 2000 .

I will cover the second day's events in a companion post .
Let us not extend the discussions on " the Billion Dollar 
Questions " any further and rededicate ourself to live in
harmony celebrating the Kuladhanams bequeathed to us by
our AzhwArs and AchAryAs .

AdiyEn will conclude this posting with two meaningful 
prayers reflecting the mood of Swami Desikan in this context :

naasthi pithrArjitham kimchith na mayA kimchithArjitham
asthi mE hasthisailAgrE Vasthu PaithAmaham Dhaanam 
--Sri VairAgya panchakam :slOkam 5

(meaning): My father did not leave behind any accumulated
wealth. Neither did adiyEn accumulate any wealth.But , adiyEn
has in my possession a great wealth accumulated and left behind 
by my grand sire, Lord BrahmA that stands on top of Hasthi Giri
known as Sri VaradarAjan .

maam madhIyam cha nikilam chethAchEthanAthmakam 
savkaimkaryOpakaraNam Varadha SvIkuru svayam 
--Sri NyAsa dasakam : SlOkam 7

(meaning): Oh Lord VaradhA!Please make adiyEn the instrument
of Your Kaimkaryams and have those Kaimkaryams performed by
adiyEn. Further , please use adiyEn's children , wife , other relatives
as well as my house , gardens and other property for Your Kaimkaryam
and accept them as instruments through Your own sankalpam .

That is the essence of the sessions of the First day .
Those who have taken the second mortages on their houses 
to support this temple constrcution and the Bhakthan ,
who travels every weekend 1000 miles round trip to 
perform the AarAdhanam and then supervise the Temple 
construction and the scores of BhagavathAs that contribute
to accelerate the progress of the Sri RanganAthA Temple 
construction are the most laudable sevants of the Lord.
AdiyEn prays for the dust from their feet to rest on 
my head !

Daasan , Oppilaippan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan
Convener , Swami Desikan Thirunakshathrma Celebrations , 1999 . 












[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
oppiliappan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list