Sri:
Sri RanganAtha ParabrahmaNE
Nama:
The Temple raffle for realizing the two living
quarters for
the Priests of the Temple is moving slowly . We
have sold
650 tickets sofar out of the 2,000 tickets that
need to be sold.
Meanwhile , two SalakshaNa
GhanapAtis ( Reciters of Vedam
in the Ghanam style) have
arrived as new priests
and
are carrying on their kaimakryams
to Lord Ranganatha
at the temple with vigor and
intense devotion .
Among the three priests that we
have , all are experts in Yajur
Vedam recitation and two of the
three are GhanapAtis . One of
the three is an expert in
reciting the Four thousand sacred
collect
( NaalAyira
Dhivya Prabhandham ).
We therefore have the truly
Ubhaya VedAntha tradition of
offering worship to Lord
RanganAtha as has been done for
thousands of years at Srirangam .
The Lord hears daily
the Sanskrit
Vedam
and AzhwArs' moving
Tamil Vedams .
The UBHAYA VEDANTHA
Tradition is thus
scrupulously
maintained at the Lord's house
at Pomona , NY
.
WHAT IS UBHAYA VEDANTHAM
?
************************
Professor Vasudha Narayanan
has written extensively about this topic in
her monograph on " Tamil Veda ( 4000 Sacred
Collect )" . It is " a theology
and a dual VedAntha tradition based on both
Sanskrit and Tamil VedAs " .
Sanskritized Tamil (ManipravALam ) was used by the
commentators of the 4000
sacred collect of the Azhwars . The SthOthrAs of VaishNavite
Ubhaya VedAntha AchAryAs
like Naatha Muni , AlavanthAr ,
RaamAnuja , KurEsar, Swamy Desikan and
others were
inspired by both the
Sanskrit VedAs and the Tamil VedAs
.
ANCIENT RG VEDAM REFERS TO THE 4000 SACRED COLLECT
*******************************************************************************
The 4000 sacred collect
( NaalAyira Dhivya Prabhandham ) is
certainly younger than the ancient VedAs and major
Upanishads.
It is fascinating however to find that the oldest
of the VedAs ,
Rg Veda , saluting the 4000 sacred collect of
Mahaa Jn~Anis (Yogis)
through four of its Mantraas . These
mantraas refers expressly to
" ChathvAri SahasrA " ( the Four Thousand Collect
) . The prescient
Rg Veda Manthrams point out that the Four Thousand
collect
blessed by great Jn~Anis ( AzhwArs) remove our
nescience
(Ajn~Anam) and grow our Jn~Anam and through that
process
banish our painful samsAric afflictions. Let us
now study each of
these four Rg Veda manthraas (V.30.12--15)
.
The First Rg Veda Manthram (
V.30.12)
************************************************
Bhadramidham rusmaa AgnE akrangavaam CHATHVAARI
dhadhatha: SAHASRAA
ruNamchayasya prayatA magAni pratyagrabheeshma
nruthamasya nruNAm
( General Meaning): Oh Resplendent ,
Self-luminous One ( Svayam JyOthi) !
The MahA Jn~Anis ( the AzhwArs steeped in Your guNa anubhavams
)
have blessed us with the 4000 Sacred Collect to
grow our knowledge of
the three tatthvAs
(Sentients , Insentients and Iswaran and
the integral
relation between these three tatthvAs) . This
knowledge has been
bequeathed to us as our family treasures (
Kula dhanam) by these Mahaa Yogis.
We welcome and recieve them with gratefulness and
recognize them as
the special gifts given to us through Your mystic
Saints (AzhwArs) in Your role
as the bamisher of our three debts and as our
indisputable Master (Sarva Swamy).
ChAndhOgya Upanishad ( 5.24.3) refers to the
growth of this Jn~Anam
from the clear understanding of
the instructions of Ubhaya VedAntham
and states that the beneficiaries have their Paapams and
PuNyams burnt
thoroughly just as the swift moving fire burns the dried grass
in the fields . ANdal refers to this in THiruppAvai ( Theeyinil
thoosAhum ).
The Second Rg Veda Manthram(
V.30.13)
*******************************************************
SupEsam maava srujantyastham gavaam sahasrai:
rusmAsO AgnE
theevrA indhramamandhu: suthAsOakthOrvyushtou
paritakmyAyA:
(General Meaning): Oh PurushOtthamaa! The great
Jn~Anis ( AzhwArs)
have given us as
gift this great palace made up of
the sacred collect of
Four Thousand . We are blessed. These sacred
collect of their Bhagavath
GuNa anubhavams gladdens the Lord , who
resides in the temple of
our
heart lotuses ( as antharyAmi Brahmam) and at the
same time drives away
the darkness of the night of SamsAram and brings
in the bright dawn of
Jn~Anam about the three cardinal
tatthvams.
The Third Rg Veda Manthram
(V.30.14)
**************************************************
Oucchathsaa rAthree paritakmyA yaagum ruNamchayE
rAjani rusmAnaam
athyO na vaajee raghurajyamAnO
BhabhruscchathvAryasanathsahasrA
( General Meaning): Oh Self-effulgent Lord ! When
You the deliverer from
all debts are invoked ( through the Sacred
collect of four thousand eulogies
of the 12 AzhwArs ) , the frightful night of
SamsAram transforms itself into
the bright dawn of Jn~Anam . As the Lord of
these MahA Yogis , You have
linked us to the sacred collect of the AzhwArs to
observe self-surrender
(SaraNAgathy) at Your divine feet and blessed
us with the support stick
of these sacred collects during our
journey via the path of
light to Your
Supreme Abode of Sri Vaikuntam. These sacred collect of the AzhwArs serve
not only as support rod during the journey
but also as the companion
during that special journey to Your Supreme
Abode.
The Fourth Rg Veda Manthram (
V.30.15)
******************************************************
Chathu: Sahasram gavyasya pasccha: pratyakbheeshma
rusamEvagnE
garmAscchitthataptha: pravrujE ya aaseedh
ayasmayastamvAdhAma viprA:
(General Meaning ): Oh Supreme Lord ! We have now
recieved the trasure
of Jn~Anam ( the sacred collect of four thousand)
from the MahA Yogis and
recognize them as the shining havis (sacrificial
offering ) in the homa kuntam of
their minds . Through a study of these sacred
collect , we engage in the enjoyment
of the auspicious attributes of the Lord (
Bhagavath GuNAnubhavam) and feel
comforted like one who gets relief from the
scorching heat of summer by
dipping in the cool waters of the mountain brook .
We develop the Jn~Anam
that the Chith-achith visishta Brahmam is the only
doctrine and spend this
life on earth as Ubhaya
VedAnthis.
NamO Veda PurushAya ,
Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan
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