Sri Parthasarathi thunai Srimathe ramanujaya
Namaha Sri Vara Vara MunayE
Namaha Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE
namaha Dear
bhagavatas, On this auspicious day, mAsi dwAdasi, ?The thiruvadhyayana dhinam? of our dear acharya, Sri Vara Vara muni let us all remember that great soul and revered acharya and show our obeisance to that great mahAn by meditating on his greatness and divine athma gunas. Erumbiappa, one of the astadiggajas of Periya Jeeyer, swamy manavAla mAmunikal sang 100 slokas adorning the divine qualities of Jeeyer. In our sampradayam, when we say Azhvar it indicates to only nammAzhvar, the term swamy refers only to emperumAnAr and Jeeyer is a special term indicating Periya Jeeyer, Sri Vara Vara Muni. The slokas of erumbiappa are called as ?Vara Vara Muni sathakam?. In the very same name one another ashtadiggaja Sri prathivAdi bayankaram anna swamy has also done 100 slokas on the divine qualities of Sri Vara Vara Muni. Each one of these slokas is no exaggeration and exactly portrays the greatness of our dear acharya, mAmunikal. Jeeyer?s greatness cannot be fully told with just these slokas. Even the greatness of emperuman can be enjoyed to an extent but the greatness of our dear acharya is totally beyond words. But still to show their bhakthi towards the great acharya the prime disciples of Swamy sang the slokas adorning swamy. Moreover these are great gifts given to mandhabhuddis (dull-headed people) like us by the great disciples so as to make us cherish the divine qualities of Jeeyer that are totally beyond our level of perseverance. To just enjoy a drop from the ocean of divinity (dheebhakthyAdhi gunArnavam) here is one such sloka. This sloka is from erumbiappa?s vara vara muni sathakam. In those days, if a child cries in the midnight and if the reason behind the same is unpredictable then the mother used to recite this sloka that immediately gave relief to the child and the child will sleep in peace the rest of the night. ?Srimad rangam jayatu paramam dhAma
tEjOnidhAnam bhoomA tasmin bhavatu kushalee kOpibhoomA
sahAya I divyam tasmai dhishatu vibhavam dEsikO
dEsikAnAm kAlE kAlE vara vara muni: kalpayan mangalAni
II? Srimad - What is the Sri (wealth) for
Srivaishnavas? The kainkarya Sri.
Valmiki did not call Lakshmana Sriman when he was in ayodhya as the
prince but he called him ?Sriman? when he started with Sri rama piran to the
forest. While he is been sent out
of the kingdom wearing a saffron cloth (maravuri) without anything in hand why
is valmiki calling him like that? Is he teasing lakshmana? No. Lakshmana got the actual Sri, Rama
kainkaryam only while he went with chakravarthi thirumagan to the forest. He says, ?aham sarvam karishyAmi
jAgrudha svapadaschathE? (I will do all sorts of kainkaryams to you while you
are awake or asleep). So only that
kainkarya Sri is the actual Vaishnava Sri.
Similarly valmiki calls vibheeshana as Sriman when he left all the
treasures in lanka rAjyam and came with folded hands to join in the ghosti of
rama piran. So only the
bhagavat/bhAgavata kainkaryam is our wealth (Sri). Swamy mAmunikal in his Arthi prabhandam
says, ?nAttrAdhai som pudhalvar thammadhanrO dhAyamurai thAn? Here he refers to
the wealth of his jnana pithA, father who granted him knowledge (swamy
emperumAnAr). What is the wealth emperumAnAr has left to him? Sriranga
Kainkaryam. ?mad? indicates ?nithya
yOgE mathupu? that is ?mad? is used to show the permanent nature. That is the kainkaryam is not just for
sometime but it is forever (?ozhivil kAlamellAm vudanAi manni vazhivilA
adimai?). rangam jayatu ? the stage/place where
the lord resides with happiness.
Due to his ultimate wish to stay amidst all of us emperuman descended
from the divine abode and stays in-between the ubhaya kaveri in Srirangam to
uplift each one of us. This is the
place where all our poorvAcharyas cherished doing kainkaryam. Only to grant us all the opportunity to
enjoy the divine kainkaryam of emperuman in this very leela vibhoothi, emperuman
descended down ignoring even the great pleasures in the nithya soori
mandalam. According to Swamy
parasara bhattar, emperuman in paramapadam didn?t descend to Srirangam but only
the emperuman in Srirangam stays in paramapadam. Such was the regard our acharyas had
towards this divine abode (Srirangam) of emperuman. Each day in whichever place/divya desam
we are, all of us pray for the welfare of Srirangam. ?adiyArgal vAzha aranganagar
vAzha?. Since Srirangam is the head
quarters of our divine ramanuja sampradayam if it lives then it is sure for all
our divya desams to live with prosperity.
The Srirangam soil has its special divinity as it talks the greatness of
each one of our acharyas whose divine feet has touched that holy soil. So first of all swamy erumbiappa,
does mangalasasanams to that divine soil on which the great acharya lived long
and spread the fragrance of emperumAnAr darisanam throughout the world. Even when he was sick and unable to
write swamy continued his kainkaryam by doing the vyakhyanam to acharya
hrudhayam. He used to ask his
shisyas to write down whatever he said.
While asked why swamy took such pain he replied, ?This is the wealth that
I am preserving for the generations to come. If I see my pain today then all these
divine words of Swamy azhagiya manavala perumal nayanar will go without being
understood by the next generations and hence they will all loose the divine
treasures and remain as paupers born in a rich family?. Such was the karunai (grace) of Sri Vara
Vara muni on all of us. Surely if
there was no mAmunikal?s commentary then even a single word in acharya hrudhayam
will not be understood by us. That
absolute treasure would have been lost forever. What can we do in return to the great
help swamy has bestowed on us? Nothing other than saying ?saTakOpan tan thamizh
nool vAzha manavAla mAmuniyE ennum oru nootrAndu erum? How much ever time we
repeat these words it is not enough.
Let the glory of that great acharya glitter in our minds
always. Let us enjoy the rest of the sloka in
the next posting. Alwar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE
sharaNam Adiyen ramanuja
dAsee Sumithra
Varadarajan
Yahoo! Groups Links
|
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
oppiliappan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |