In the previous notes we saw the five points listed as 'Artha
Panchakam'.
In order to educate us on this issues several works have been presented
to us by the Lord. The chief among them are:
a. Vedas.
b. Ithihasas like Ramayanam and Maha Bharatham.
c. Puranas like Vishnu Puramam.
d. Dhivya Prabandam by Azhvars including Andal and Amudhanar.
All these have come to existence to elaborate the five points
listed in Artha Panchakam.
======End of Previous Post on Introduction====
There is another way of learning about ?Artha Panchakam?
through the famous Rahasya Trayam, viz,
Thirumanthram, Dwayam and Charama Slokam.
These three mantras teach us the complete knowledge needed for us.
This path of learning is ranked higher by our
Acharyas.
One will be surprised to note that all the three mantras
were given to us by the all merciful and benevolent Lord Himself.
Therefore in our Acharya lineage the Lord?s name is
taken first.
Note the thanian given by Koorath Alwan,
?Lakshminatha samarambam?.
These three mantras though small in size having only few words,
contain all the essential deep meanings explained in the vast
literature of all the sastras put together. Therefore, our
earlier Acharyas (Purvacharyas) understood the importance
of these three mantras and were teaching their meanings to their
disciples.
The number of learners was very much limited. The teachings were
conducted in privacy and to a chosen few who stood the test for
imparting the knowledge. But with the advent of Swami Emperumanar
and by his order, the Acharyas (74 Simhasanathipathigal) broke the
tradition of teaching to only chosen few. This was
established by
Swami Emperumanar by his order to his disciples and also by his
own conduct. He could do so because of his large heartedness and
his deep concern for all of us. This fact has been acknowledged
by Swami Manavala Mamunigal in his work Upadesa Ratna Malai
The only criteria prescribed and
followed for imparting
knowledge about the rahasya trayam is ?deep interest in learning?
(aasai udaiyoork-ku-ellam)
Though the teaching was liberalized by Swami Emperumanar,
there was no known written work on the subject.
None came forward to create a work which will be useful for the
posterity. There is a reference in the later work by Swami Vedantha
Desikan to a work of Koorath Alwan, but that work is not
available.
The first and foremost work on rahasya
trayam that we have today
is by the son of KoorathAlwan, named Parasara Bhattar.
Swami Parasara Bhattar had the privilege of being
appointed
by Swami Ramanuja as his successor of the religious head at
Srirangam.
He accomplished the work entrusted to him and also gave his us his
successor Acharyan, Nanjeeyar.
This work contains only eight verses and is therefore named as ?Ashta
Sloki?.
The first four verses are devoted to explaining the meanings of the
first rahasyam, ?Thirumantram?. This mantram
was revealed by Sriman Narayana
at Badri Ashramam to Nara, another form taken by Lord.
The next two verses explain the second rahasya manthram,
?Dwayam?
The ?Dwayam? was delivered by the Lord to Sri Mahalakshmi and is
also
contained in the Vedas (Ghata Valli).
The last two verses explains the ?Charama
Slokam?, the essence of Bhagwat Geetha,
this was uttered by Lord Krishna to Arjuna.
In these small verses in AshtaSloki the
deeper meanings of all the rahasyas are
beautifully and briefly explained. The explanations given in this
write up are closely related to the commentary on ?Ashta Sloki?
by Kanchi Maha Vidwan, Sri.U.Ve.Prithivadhi
Bhayankaram Annangaracharyar Swami.
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Azhvar Emberumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale Saranam
Ramanuja Dasan
VP Srinivasa Varadan
For clarification on these posts, i can be contacted
in USA till 14 June : 312 850 1169
in India afterwords: 011 91 11 7561954