SrI: SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha // SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha // SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya/ SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya// KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava: / SrI RanganAthO jayathu Sri Ranga Sri cha VardhathAm// ========================================================= SRI RANGA SRI VOL.08 / ISSUE # 06 dated 10th November 2006 ========================================================== EDITORIAL Dear Bhagavatas: As Sri Anbil Ramaswamy Swami is in Cleveland, I am sending this on his behalf.. Swami is available at: 25807 Iris Court, Westlake, OH-44145 Phone # (440) 716- 0771 Cell # (770) 876- 9188 You may contact him. Regards Namo narayana dAsan Madhava Kannan ========================================================== INTHIS ISSUE: 1."THE MIGHTY AND THE ALMIGHTY ? A CLASH OF WILLS?? Part-4" BY ANBIL RAMASWAMY (This is from his talk at Sri Hayagrivar Temple , Pondicherry on 31st May 2006) 2."DRAMIDOPANISHAD TATPARYA RATNAVALI" ? PART- 6": BY SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO 3."MAAL UGANDHA AASIRIYAR ? LIFE AND WORKS OF AZHWARS Part ?3- VAIBHAVAM OF MUDHAL AAZHWAARS BY SRI MADHAVA KANNAN SWAMI, SINGAPORE CO-MODERATOR OF "SRI RANGA SRI" ========================================================= ISSUES RELEASED With this issue, about 233 Regular issues of SRS have been released so far, apart from numerous "Special Issues" as indicated below: 27 Issues of Vol. 1 15 Issues of Vol. 2 42 Issues of Vol. 3 35 Issues of Vol. 4 28 Issues of Vol. 5 30 Issues of Vol. 6 50 Issues of Vol. 7 and 06 Issues of Vol. 8 --------------------------------------------------------------------- - These issues have been archived for public view at - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/srirangasri By Sri Diwakar Kannan (diwakark@xxxx) You may also view the archives at http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia maintainedBy Sri Srinivasan Sriram (ajiva_rts@xxxx) We strongly urge you to kindly peruse the "Regular Issues" archived in the Files Section and view the Contents at srsindex.html (Not the individual postings allowed for encouraging "Reader participation"). We are sure that you will be convinced of the quality of the contents. IF you are satisfied with the quality and contents of "Sri Ranga Sri" - Tell your friends to join by sending an email to Srirangasri-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx IF NOT: Tell us, as to how we may improve. Ever at your service Moderator "Sri Ranga Sri" ========================================================== xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx ========================================================== 1. "THE MIGHTY AND THE ALMIGHTY- A CLASH OF WILLS? ? PART 4- GOD'S WILL AND MAN'S FREE WILL BY ANBIL RAMASWAMY (This is from his talk at Sri Hayagrivar Temple , Pondicherry on 31st May 2006) --------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- (Excerpts from Chapter 11of"Hinduism Rediscovered") --------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- The interrelationship of "Gods will" and "man's free will" may be summed up as follows: ?I may do what I like; but whether I can do at all depends on God's will. ?I may live as I choose; but whether I live at all depends on God's will. ?I may breath any air pure or polluted; but whether I breath at all is decided by God's will ?I may see hear, smell, feel or taste as I like (of course, subject to mundane limitations and societal restrictions); but whether I am enabled to see, hear, smell, feel or taste is beyond my control. It is in God's control. ?The 'may' is within my power and free will 'whether I can at all' is in the power and will of God. God is no doubt responsible for creation of man but not for the differences that exist between them. For a plant to grow land, water, air and sunshine are quite necessary. If any one of them is absent plants cannot grow. But, what accounts for the growth of different kinds of plants say Mango or Neem or Jack-fruit? Neither the land nor the water nor the air nor the sunshine is responsible for the sprouting of the different plants. But, it is the seed of the particular plant sown that is responsible for the sprouting of the particular plant. God is responsible for creation much in the same way as land, water, air and sunshine but the differences in the creatures are due to their past actions precisely as the seeds in the case of plants. Our actions depend on our 'Vasanas' inherited over countless lives and God dispenses the seeds precisely as per our Karma. God is indifferent to the fruits of Karma while we are concerned and affected. According to St. Bernard " Grace is necessary for salvation; Freewill equally so. But grace in order to give salvation; freewill in order to receive it. Therefore, we should not attribute part of the good work to grace and part to freewill; it is performed in its entirety by the common and inseparable action of both; entirely by grace, entirely by freewill but springing from the first in the second" Some scholars think that the idea of a future life depended on previous behavior must have developed from a long period of keenly observing plants, trees and fields. Hinduism believes that land gives 'birth' repeatedly if healthy seeds are sown and tended. They saw that plants do not really die; the death of a plant is a process by which it renews itself in the spring. In a sense, each life of a plant ends in a death in order to be reborn. A plant's re-growth is determined by the healthy or unhealthy conditions of former births. Scholars believe that Hinduism felt the same to be true of all living beings. Suppose, you give a goldsmith some amount of gold for making a chain. Someone else gives some gold for making a ring. The goldsmith cannot be blamed of partiality when he delivers the chain to you and the ring to the other person. He delivers to the respective customers whatever they had desired. Though God has powers to do anything he likes, He does dispense the end products exactly as desired by the individual creatures as expressed through their 'Karma'. If one realizes this truth, one would not curse God as being partial or without eyes or without mercy. Lord Krishna says "Works do not cling to me. In me there is no desire for fruits whoever understands me as such; he is not bound by Karma" BG 4 / 14 Na mam karmani limpanthi na me karma phale spruhah Iti maam yO bhajanthi karmabhir na sa badhyate" In the mundane world itself, we are subject to so many restrictions, forces and curbs on our actions. Let us see why a person does not normally go astray. Quite a few are intrinsically averse to it due to their Vasanas. But, a large majority of us do not indulge in immoral activities firstly, because of the innate fear generated by our conscience; secondly, the feeling of shame should we be caught red handed by a disapproving peer group where we would like to maintain our prestige;, thirdly, the fear of punishment on detection by the police, courts or other law enforcing authorities and last but not the least due to the fear of contracting diseases say for example - in the case of AIDS. Even people given to beastly habits in the matter of food and sex are now returning to the mainstream of disciplined life and are inclined to "preserving family values" not because of any real change of heart but because of the irony that it needed such a dreadful scourge as AIDS to correct them. To Continue ============================================================== xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx ============================================================ 2."DRAMIDOPANISHAD TATPARYA RATNAVALI" ? PART- 5": BY SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO --------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- SrI: SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH. tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Solkam 3 - Part 5 of avatArikA. Slokam 3: pA'ncAlI gAtra SobhA-hRta hRdaya vadhUvarga pum bhhAvanItyA pAyau padmA sahAye praNayini bhajatah preyasI pAratantRyam | bhaktih SR'ngAra vRttyA pariNamati muneh bhAva bandha prathimnA yogAt prAg uttarAvasthitir-iha viraho deSikAs-tatra dUtAh || One of the very first things that svAmi deSikan emphasizes is the nAyikA bhAvam that is assumed by nammAzhvAr in finding _expression to his intense devotion and love towards emperumAn. His inability to bear the separation from bhagavAn leads to his outpourings through SR'ngAra bhAvam. In the case of nammAzhvAr, he assumes the role of parA'nkuSa nAyaki, and expresses the agony of separation from emperumAn through many of his pASuram-s. This is the topic of this Slokam by svAmi deSikan. The natural question can arise in people's minds as to how nammAzhvAr, who is the personification of bhakti nishThA, can be distracted by thoughts such as assuming the role of a female deeply in love with bhagavAn, feeling the pangs of separation, and indulging in activities such as sending the birds etc. as messengers. To understand these, one has to have a feel for how a bhakti yogi's mind acts, what the bhakti yogi goes through as part of his/her meditation, and what the bhakti yogi's sole goal in life is. This is what svAmi deSikan explains to us in this Slokam, and thus explains AzhvAr's nAyikA bhAvam etc. draupadi was not an ordinary mortal. She was born out of the homa kuNDam. As such, she excelled in beauty that made her female friends feel intensely attracted to her beauty, to the point that they wished they could assume the forms of males so that they could enjoy her beauty. svAmi deSikan gives this analogy to describe the assumption of nAyikA bhAvam by the AzhvAr-s ? they feel intensely attracted to emperumAn to the point that they want to enjoy Him by assuming the role of His nAyikA-s or consorts. BhagavAn's tirumEni is so beautiful that the AzhvAr-s are overwhelmed by it, to the point of their feeling like embracing Him tightly. One upanyAsaka praises this unique aspect of the devotional outpourings in the SrI vaishNava sampradAyam, where the nAyikA bhAvam gives the intimacy to AzhvAr-s where they can take liberty with Him to embrace Him, to chide Him, to quarrel with Him, etc., and thus enjoy Him in many different ways. Let us look at a more detailed meaning of the Sloka. - pA'ncAlI gAtra SobhA-hRta hRdaya vadhU varga pum- bhAvanItyA ? Just as the close friends of pA'cAlI who saw her beauty as they were taking bath together, were attracted to her so much that they started assuming the role of males in their minds - patyA, praNayini padmA-sahAye preyasI pAratantRyam bhajatah muneh ? SrI parA'nkuSa muni, whose devotion and dedication to emperumAn who is the Lord of all and the loving Consort of padmA (mahAlakshmi) developed into the level where he prayed for complete subservience to bhagavAn - bhAva bandha prathimnA ? and since his attachment to bhagavAn grew to such an extent that - bhaktih SR'ngAra vRttyA pariNamati ? his natural love to emperumAn in the form of his natural devotion (bhakti) started manifesting itself in the form of love towards him that resembled the love that His Consort would have towards Him (SR'ngAra bhAvam ? intense attraction). - The yogAt prAg uttarAvasthitir-iha viraho deSikAs-tatra dUtAh - In AzhvAr's pASuram-s, we see that sometimes he feels close to emperumAn, and feels happy, and at other times, he feels the intense separation from Him, and starts sending messengers in different forms to bhagavAn, to inform Him of his longing for union with Him. What does all this mean? In the fourth line of this Slokam, svAmi deSikan explains that for one in bhakti yoga, the times when the bhakta is immersed in deep and concentrated meditation of Him, this is the time of association with Him (samSlesham), and the intervening states when this concentration is broken, it is a feeling of intense separation from Him (viSlesham). They undergo the experience of intimate and full enjoyment of Him during their periods of intense meditation, and when they are not in meditation, they long for that same union with Him physically, and since that does not materialize, it manifests itself in the form of their intense feeling of separation, which turns into expressing themselves in their nAyikA bhAvam. Since the AcArya-s show the path that will result in the continued state of meditation on Him for prolonged intervals without interruption, they are called `messengers' or dUta-s in our tradition. This is what svAmi deSikan points out in the fourth line ? yogAt prAg uttara avasthih iha virahah; deSikAs-tatra dutAh. Thus, in a nutshell, svAmi deSikan explains the concept of nAyikA bhAvam that is so common and widely prevalent in our AzhvArs' compositions, the cause of samSleshham (union with Him) and viSlesham (separation from Him) that AzhvArs exhibit repeatedly, and the role of the AcArya-s in our tradition, all in the four short lines of this Slokam. -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan --------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- To Contimue ============================================================ xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx =========================================================== 3."MAAL UGANDHA AASIRIYAR ? LIFE AND WORKS OF AZHWARS Part ? 2- BY SRI MADHAVA KANNAN SWAMI, SINGAPORE CO-MODERATOR OF "SRI RANGA SRI" --------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------ SrI: SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama: Alwars (in pure Tamil "AzhwAr") means "One who immerses himself". They really, deeply immersed themselves in their devotion and bhakti towards the Lord Sriya: Pathi Sriman Narayanan. The AzhwArs are reported to be incarnations of NithasUris of Sri Vaikuntam, namely, the weapons, the Vanamaali, the GarudA, et al. They lived like human beings and burst out bhakti laden great works for the sake of humanity. The works of Alwars stood mysteriously a replica of the Vedas themselves and therefore came to be known as Dravida Veda. In fact, there is a view that even the great Rishis are no match to the greatness of the Alwars because these Rishis got their 'jnAnam' ( wisdom) as a result of their own actions of 'spiritual merit' ( Punyam) whereas the wisdom of the Alwars was the direct result of the Lord's divine grace and therefore called ' Divyam'. It is because of this that the works of Alwars is called ' Divya Prabandham' are 4000 poems (pAsurams). These works of AzhwArs are non-paralleled in every sense- be it in sentiment, style or syntax. They take even a casual reader on a guided tour into the esoteric exegesis of the Vedas without offending the provisions of exclusions and prohibitions enjoined in the study of the Vedas in original. (by Sri Anbil Ramaswamy, USA) AzhwAr's paasurams (poems) called naalaayira dhivyap prabhandam composed by twelve AzhwArs. The paasurams were collected and brought out by one of the much revered Sri vaishnava AchAryAs called Sriman Naathamuni. By the time of sriman Naathamuni (9th century A.D.) the AzhwAr paasurams were not lost or unknown. It was by divine grace of Sriman Narayanan that Sriman Naathamuni came to know of the Tamil poems praising Lord Vishnu. It is believed that Sriman Naathamuni heard some devotees visiting his home town of VeeranaaraayaNapuram (present day kaattu mannaarkudi near Mayilaadurthurai or Mayavaram) singing a few (11) Tamil songs starting with "aaraa amudhE adiyEn udalam" and ending with "... kurugoor sadagOpan kuzhalil maliyach sonna Or aayiratthuL ippatthum, mazhalai theera vallaar kaamar maanEy nOkkiyarkE." (NammAzhwAr's Thiruvaaymozhi 5.8.1 - 5.8.11) Sriman Naathamuni was greatly excited and enchanted with the exquisite beauty of the poems. He approached the devotees and enquired about its origin. The ending of the 11 poems, "aayiratthuL ippatthu,"(means this ten of the thousand) suggested that there are many more such poems (may be thousand?). This possibility intrigued Sriman Naathamuni. Unfortunately, the devotees were unaware of any other poems besides the eleven they had just finished reciting. However, they suggested to Sriman Naathamuni that he may try enquiring in the town of thiruk kurugoor, present day AzhwAr thiru nagari near thirunelvEli. So he set out to travel from kaattumannarkudi to thiruk kurugoor, a long journey indeed in his time. There he found one paraangusa daasar. From him, Sriman Naathamuni learnt 11 more paasurams called kaNNinuN sirutthaambu. These were composed by Madhurakavi AzhwAr and all 11 paasurams are in praise of kurugoor SadagOpan (NammAzhwAr). Sriman Naathamuni was excited to have doubled his collection. But this only whetted his desire to seek out the more than 1,000, promised in the first set of paasurams he fell in love with at his home town. Paraangusa daasar suggested that he repeatedly recite this great kaNNinuN sirutthaambu (sung in praise of Sri Sadagopan- NammAzhwAr) in the hope of pleasing the Lord. Sriman Naathamuni took his advice sincerely and recited it about 12,000 times! It is said that NammAzhwAr was impressed with Sriman Naathamuni's persistence and appeared before him. NammAzhwAr was so impressed that he revealed to Sriman Naathamuni not just the 1102 paasurams of his own "thiruvaay mozhi", but also all the rest of the paasurams composed by the other eleven AzhwArs. From this, we may deduce that it is Sriman Naathamuni, who gathered the Tamil treatise (these 4000 peoms) praising Lord Vishnu composed by the twelve AzhwArs. Sriman naathamuni called this collection of paasurams or prabhandams naalaayira dhivya prabhandam or draavida vEdham. (Courtesy: from Sri Vaishnava Home page of Sri Mani Varadarajan,USA) Due perhaps to historical reasons, much of these treasures had been lost to humanity for a while. Thus It was given to the great Naathamuni to retrieve and revivify them in their pristine glory for the benefit of posterity. The long line of the lineage of preceptors who followed him kept the torch burning and handed them over to successive generations . We can justifiably be proud of the rich heritage. It is our duty, therefore, to familiarize ourselves with the lives and works of these preceptors, the least we can do as a token of our gratitude for the invaluable treasures bequeathed to us. We do not have authentic and full information about the lives of AzhwArs other than what is narrated in the Guru parampara. However, on the basis of their verses and the verses written by acharyas as thaniyans [invocatory verses on the respective azhwArs and paying obeisance to them], we can give an indication of their lives, period and their greatness. Mudhal AzhwArs: [first three among the 12 AzhwArs] These three AzhwArs namely Poigai AzhwAr, bhoothatthAzhwAr and PaeyAzhwAr are the earliest among the 12 AzhwArs and are called mudhal AzhwAr. According to the traditions, they were born in the same year of SiddArti, same month of Aippasi and on three consecutive days respectively. The stars were: ThiruvONam, avittam and Sadhaym. They were not born like us; they appeared and hence they were ayOnijas. Their period was estimated as 7th century A.D. (Though we are not attaching any significant importance to it, it is better to have a datum) Poigai AzhwAr, an incarnation of MahAvishNu's paanchjanyam (Divine conch, sanghu in Tamil) is also called Adhi kavi. poigaiAr appeared on the ThAmarai mottu (lotus bud) in a pond in tiruve:ka near kancheepuram in the proximity of Yathothkaari temple. He is so named because of his birth in Poigai [tank]. He is also knows as Saroyogi, indicating his birth in a saras. [Remember bhootham saras cha mahadhaahvya bhatta nAtha? sloka]. BhoothatthAzhwAr the second AzhwAr was born at Kadanmallai [Mahabhalipuram] near Chennai. He was found near the Kurukkatthi flower and hence also called as poo thatthAzhwAr. Another view is: He is named so because of the possession of divine jnAnam out of God's grace [Sri SMS Chari writes in his book on AzhwArs: bhootha ? Sanskrit equivalent of Pootha means- etymologically one who has gained sattaa or sustenance by spiritual knowledge [bhoo sattaayaam vaachi]. He is also known as bhootha muni, hence. He is an incarnation of Divine mace (called kaumOdaki) of our Lord mahAvishNu. The Third AzhwAr- paey AzhwAr was born at Mylapore in Chennai. The term paey means one who is possessed. And this AzhwAr was possessed and intoxicated with the intense love and bhakti for the Lord Sriman Narayanan and hence he was called paey AzhwAr. He is also called Mahadhaahyvar, signifying his greatness as one who had experienced God. He is an incarnation of the sword of mahAvishNu (called nandaki), appeared in sevvalli (Red alli-lily) flower in a well of AdhikEsava perumAL koil at mylapore (in madras). NammazhwAr, (our azhwAr), the greatest azwAr about whom we will see later, has addressed these three azhwArs as "innkavi pAdum parama kavigaL" meaning the greatest poets who sang the loveliest songs or the sweetest songs; All three azhwArs were blessed with tamizh jnAnam (knowledge) and bhakti uLLam; All of them, though were not known to each other, were singing the glories of sriman nArAyaNan, and were going from place to place visiting the PerumAL temples to get blessed with Lord's Darshan. They had no other thoughts but for nArAyanan and lived like sanyAsis (recluses); The Lord perhaps wanted them to get together and liked to listen to their discussion about Him and His kalyANa guNAs. So, they had come to Thirukkovilur and each of them had a separate Darshan of Trivikraman (the Lord who appeared as vAmanan, a small brahmachari boy, took the huge tall form as Trivikraman and measured the entire universe in one step in vAmanAvatAram) called "UlagaLandha perumAL. Let us enjoy this wonderful scene from sri Sdagopan Iyengar Swami's article]<quote>It was a dark and stormy night at Tirukkovalur, with rain coming down in torrents, the threatening roar of thunder shaking all souls and with flashes of lightning serving as the only illumination. It was a night when none would venture out and everyone had shut himself up tight in his home. Yet, it was a night on which three Yogis, who had the Lord entrenched in their hearts, chose to be out and about. When they reached Tirukkovalur separately by different routes, they found all houses shut, all choultries locked up, with the inmates unlikely to open up. The first to reach was Poigayazhwar, who found a narrow passage in the front portion of an ashramam belonging to Mrigandu Maharshi and lay down, prepared to spend the night among the inhospitable and confined environs. Sometime later, Bhootattaazhwar too discovered the same place and finding someone already occupying the space, enquired whether there would be room for one more person. The first occupant welcomed the stranger, saying that if there was space enough for one person to lie down, two could sit there. An hour or so passed and there came knocking another worthy, wet and drenched to the skin and seeking shelter in the passage. He too was welcomed by the other two, who thought that three could at least stand comfortably in the small space, which could seat two and provide a bed for one. The three Azhwars were thus standing in the pitch dark, sharing with one another their experiences of the Lord and His auspicious attributes. All of a sudden, they felt rather tight pressed. Where they were standing comfortably earlier, they now felt that the available space had diminished, as if a fourth person, unknown to the other three, had entered the narrow passage and was crowding them. Apparently, someone had sneaked into the already constricted space without announcement and was standing as one with them. As it was pitch dark and they had no way of producing light, Poygaiazhwar hit upon the idea of lighting a novel lamp. Using the elements of nature as ingredients, considering the whole earth as a lamp, the waters of the salty seas as oil and with the shining Sun as the wick, he lit a glorious lamp that would shine forever and show up with clarity even the tiniest speck of dust. For his part, Bhootattaazhwar lit another lamp, using entirely home-made ingredients, all available within oneself and yet the hardest to find in any human being: he fashioned a lamp out of his unfathomable love for Emperuman. Oil for the lamp was his uncontrollable urge to see the Lord and the wick was his intellect, made sweet and melting by constant contemplation of the Lord's auspicious attributes. Such was the extraordinary illumination provided by the two lamps lit by these two Yogis, that the third, Sri Peyazhwar, was able to see clearly the fourth person who had been squeezing them tight. First and foremost, Azhwar's eyes alighted on the glorious form of Sri Mahalakshmi adorning the broad chest of the intruder-"Thiru kanden" sang out Sri Peyazhwar, exulting in the wonderful spectacle that greeted his eye. Having realized, from the presence of the Divine Consort, that it was none other than the Paramatma Sriman Narayana who had entered the passage and was squeezing the trio, Azhwar's sight fell next on the glorious golden tirumeni of the Paramapurusha-"Ponmeni kanden". The brilliant and blazing complexion of the stranger imprinted itself upon Azhwar's eyes, prompting him to comment ecstatically on the same-"Tigazhum arukkan ani niramum kanden". The Lord's Divine Discus and the Cosmic Conch adorning His upper hands presented a spectacular sight to the thirsty eyes of Azhwar-"Serukkilarum Ponnaazhi kanden, puri Shankham kai kanden". The three Azhwars, inspired by the grand spectacle of Emperuman's glorious form in their midst, poured out their devotion in a hundred beautiful verses each, brimming over with Bhakti. These are the paasurams which served as forerunners of the four thousand nectarine verses that were to be composed by the other Azhwars. Though there is no direct internal evidence in the Divya Prabandas of one Azhwar eulogizing another (except in the case of Sri Madhurakavi and Sri Andal), Sri Nammazhwar refers to these three "pioneer" Azhwars as "Paaley Tamizhar, Isaikaarar, patthar", paying generous tribute to their devotion and the beauty of their compositions. <unquote> Each of these 100 verses (pasurams) flowing from their mouths as if they are clear stream of water; in andhadhi style. These three works which constitute the earliest poetical compositions contributed by the Vaishnava saints of South India contain philosophical and theological ideas of Srivaishnavam. Sriya: Pathi listened to them to the utmost pleasure and satisfaction all their pasurams and after blessing them, disappeared. >From then on, they always went together to other temples, and On their way, the three azhwArs also were blessed with 1. a darshan of sitapiratti, lakshmana, bharatha, sathrukna, hanumathsametha Sri Ramachandra at Ayodhdhi, 2. a darshan of Lord ThiruvEnkadamudaiyAn down the hill (not at tirumala, but at tirupathi), when they hesitated to step on the Hill and turned back; such a place is called "AzhwAr theertham" even today. 3. Offering a charkAyudhA to Vishnuvarthanan, a king at kanchipuram for winning a battle. and 4. later, joining with another azhwAr, by name Thirumazhisai azhwAr (on their way) A Glance at their marvelous compositions: 1. poigaiAzhwAr composed the first 100 pAsurams "mudhal thiruvandhAdhi" (andhAdhi means the first word of one verse will be last word of the previous verse )starting with the first one: vaiyam thagaliyA, vArkadlE neyyAga/ veyyakkadirOn viLakkAga/ sudarAzhiyAn adikkE soottinEn son mAlai/ Idar neenghugavE enRu/ Meaning:Lord nArAyaNa, who holds the Divine chakrAyudha, is the cause of this wonderful universe and the seas. I am singing these mAlai(Garland) of verses(pAsurams) and dedicating to Him, whose vision I had is the light of the lamp of the earth, and oil being the seas, the sun being the source of the light; 2. BhoodaththAzhwAr composed the second 100 pAsurams "irandAm thiruvandhAdhi" starting with the first one: anbE thagaliyA, ArvamE neyyAga/ inburugu sindhai idu thiriyA/ naNpurugi GnAna chudar viLakku EtrinEn/Gnana thamizh purindha nAn/ meaning: Here, it is the love as the lamp and involvement as the oil and azhwAr says" I dedicate myself to the service of the lord, by singing this song that blesses wisdom(GnAna), with love as the lamp, endearing involvement as the oil(Ghee), and knowledge as the wick of the torch". 3. PEyAzhwAr composed the third 100s called "moonRAm thiruvandhAdhi", with the first one as follows: thirukkaNdEn, ponmEni kaNdEn- thigazhum/arukkan Ani niRamum kaNdEn-seruk kiLaRum/ ponAzhi kaNdEn puri sangham kai kaNdEn/ en Azhi vaNNan pAl inRu/ What a song! AzhwAr just says:" I now beheld the Goddess by the side of my Lord who has the luster of blue ocean; I saw the lustrous divine body of golden colour [of Mahalakshmi]; I perceived the radiant sun-like form; I saw the most beautiful chakra that glows fiery in the battle field and the lovely conch shell [sankhu] in the most beautiful hands of the Lord. AzhwAr EmperumAnAr Desikan ThiruvaDigaLE saraNam Regards Namo narayana dAsan ------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- To Continue ============================================================ xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx ============================================================ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/join (Yahoo! 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