SrI:
Acharya
Vandhanams
Lakshminaatha
samaarambhaam
naathayaamuna
madhyamaam
Asmadaachaarya
paryanthaam
vandhE
guruparamparaam
(meaning) : To the
Aacharya lineage starting with Sriman Naaraayana , with Naathamuni in the middle
and down to Sri Raamaanuja , adiyEn prostrates .
yO nithyamacchuta
padaambhuja yugmarukhma
Vyaamohitha
sthadithaaraani thrinaayamEnE
Asmadgurorbhagavatasya
dayaikasindhO
Raamaanujasya
charaNou SaraNam PrapadhyE
(Meaning) : That one
who considered every thing as a mere straw opposite the invaluable trasure viz.,
the lotus feet of Achyutha , I surrender to that holy guru , Sri
Raamaanujaachaarya , the veritable ocean of compassion
.
Raaja Gopuram construction
at Satyagalam & Bangalore Sriman K.R.KrishNaswamy
At the outset , let me
introduce Sriman Krishnaswamy , a Vedantic scholar who is deeply
steeped in Swamy Desikan's and AchArya RaamAnuja's SrI Sooktis . He is
currently assisting HH the Jeeyar of ParakAla Matam and HH
Sri Rangapriya Swamy of AshtAnga Mandir to complete the construction of the Raaja
Gopuram of Satyagalam Sri PerundEvi ThAyAr SamEta Sri VaradarAjar .
Satyagalam on the bank of
the sacred river in Karnataka is where Swamy Desikan spent a few years with
His family and sishyAs , while the invasion of Srirangam by the marauding mobs
of Delhi Siltanate plundered Srirangam.Swamy Desikan escaped the calamities at
Srirangam with the Sruta PrakAsika SrI Sookti of Sudarsana Battar entrusted to
him for safe carriage and brought along the two young sons of Battar with Him to
the safety of Satyagalam .Abheethi Stavam was completed here by Swamy
Desikan .The
Satyagalam temple has thus paid a key role as a tranquil abode for Swamy Desikan
and the thriving of Sri VaishNava SampradhAyam.
The svathai work and
samprOkshaNam have to be completed . Sriman KrishNaswamy has been instrumental
in raising most of the funds needed for the Raaja Gopuram construction at the
behest of the two AchAryAs and needs some additional funds to
complete the rest of the
work and have the samprOkshaNam . May adiyEn request all BhakthAs of Swamy
Desika to support this Kaimkaryam ? adiyEn will be happy to assist you in the
transmission of your support funds to Sriman KrishNaswamy
.
Thank you for joining in
this Kaimkaryam !
Sriman KrishNaswamy and
adiyEn will coauthor an ebook on SrI VaikunTha Gadhyam now that Sri
VaikunTha EkAdasi is fast approaching ( Jan 07,2009)
.
May Lord Ranganatha bless
this Kaimakryam !
AdiyEn , Oppiliappan Koil
Varadachari Sadagopan
Introduction
to the
three Gadhyams
Sri Raamaanuja has
blessed us with nine Sri Sookthis and Gadhya Trayaa , the Triple
Prose, belongs the category of his latter day compositions. It is believed
that his earlier works , Viz., SrI Bhaashya , Gitaa BhAshya , Vedantha Saara and
Vedantha Sangraha and others served as preparation for the blossoming of his
concept of SaraNAgathy resulting in the triple prose-poem , viz.,
SaraNAgathy Gadhya , Sriranga Gadhyaa and Sri VaikunTha Gadhyaa. SaraNAgathy
Gadhyaa is an extremely rare kind of work as it embodies the dialog between
JaeevAthman and ParamAthman , or the soul and the Oversoul; as some one put
it: " the fervour of the human soul throbbing with deep love and surrender to
its Master has rarely found such an _expression_ " and " there is a sense of
certainity and an atmosphere of serenity ". SaraNAgathy gadhyam is
therefore considered Sri RaamAnujaa's swan song. This gadhyam , scholars
believe, lends itself to three divisions , each representing a rahsyaa , viz.,
dhvaya mantra , Moola mantra and Charama slOkam form Gitaa.
SaraNAgathy
gahdyam also highlights the SrivaishNava faith , viz., the principle of
mediation or intercession by SrI Mahaa Lakshmi , who pleads with Her Lord
for forgivance of aparAdhams of the contrite soul (
JeevAthma).
Sri Raamaanuja Himself
after decades of service to Lord Sriranganaatha performs SraNaagathy
at the sacred feet of the Lord at Srirangam in Sriranga
Gadhyam . Once having done SaraNAgathy what does one achieve, or how he
approaches the Lord or the scene where he ends up for eternity are all answered
by Sri RaamAnujaa
in his Sri Vaikuntha
gadhyam .
In short, the theme of the
Gadhya traya is SaraNAgathy in all its aspects. Unlike the Bhakti yOga
, it is a simple , viable route accessible to every one , weak or strong ,
learned or unlettered , noble or fallen. The process is complete end in itself
culminating in Kaimkaryam to the Lord at the Paramapadha and enjoyment of the
opulence of divine service .
Key
Common concepts in Gadhya Trayams
1. The Lord's Mercy: With a view to show the
right path to the multitude of erring chEtanaas , the Lord , Sriman NaaraayaNa ,
overpowered by His quality of mercy has planned " coming to this world "(
avataaram), at various times through the medium of Achaaryaas such as Naathamuni
, Yaamnuamuni and Sri RaamAnuja. Through them He engineers "ujjevana"
( Upliftment ) of erring devotees.
2. Poorvaachaarya's concern: Gadhya Traya is
an excellent example of the concern felt by the Poorvaachaaryas of the calibre
of Sri RaamAnuja for the
common
lot , who are caught in the quagmire of SamsAric life and are not able to
extricate themselves being incapable of following rigorous practises of various
yogAs like Bhakti yOga . Gadhya traya shows the way for attaining the lotus feet
of the Lord at VaikunTham and the route is available to all without distinction
of caste or sex. This triple prose ( which indeed are prose-poems) are often
compared to StOtraratnam of Swamy AlavanthAr ( who also had similar
concerns for the common lot) , which is also an _expression_ of "the nature and
value" of Prapatti .
3.Beatific Vision : We owe it to that
important day of the Hindu calendar, viz., the Thirunakshatram festival of Sri
Mahaa Lakshmi ( Panguni uttiram) . Every year on that day , the divya
dampathies, (i.e)., Sri Ranganaathar's Sri Mahaa Lakshmi's divya mangaLa idols
are placed together for all devotees to pray and recieve their blessings. On one
such occasion , Sri RaamAnuja , was found to have been lost in trance in
front of the divya dampathis. When he opened his eyes , what came out of his
holy mouth were the details of his beatific vision of the Lord and His consort ,
Lord's response to Sri Raamaanuja's concern , a vision of the scene at
VaikunTha , a comforting assurance and a confirnmation of the path , accessible
to everyone , which enables crossing the cycle of birth and death -in short ,
the Gadhya Traya, a rare product of divine interaction with our Aachaarya
!
4. The routes and the
resort:Sriman NaarayaNa is the resort for the
resortless with innumerable auspicious qualities and is
totally free from evil, hatred etc. He is of the nature of knowledge and bliss
and is a treasure chest of effulgence , beauty , fragrance , softness, grace and
everlasting youth .
He lives in VaikunTha , our final destination. The holy land ,
described in VaikunTha gadhya , is a vast paradise , which even Brahma or others
have not been able to fathom .The Master of that land is Sriman narayaNan , who
is "inscrutable" even to the highest of
Yogins.
In order to achieve liberation from the endless cycle and to get
over the sins from beginingless time, the routes as described in Bhagavad Gitaa
are Karma Yoga, Bhakti yoga an Jn~Ana Yoga ; infact a combination of more
than one yoga. The Lord Himself has talked about the difficulties to practise
these yogaas ,and the much simpler Prapatti yoga is the only practical route to
attain the lotus feet of the
Lord.
5. Scriptures advocate SaraNAgathy
: Rig Veda talks about Prapatti , which means
that the doctrine of SaraNAgathy is as old as the oldest Veda.
Taitthireeya Upanishad calls it as "Nyaasa" and " prescribes the manner in which
it should be performed" --and declares it to be the best route for Moksham .
Other Upanishads like
Svetaasvatara,ChandhOgya also talk about Praptti
.
RaamAyaNaa is considered a
SaraNAgathy Veda --Sri Raama'a "abhaya pradhAna" to VibheeshaNa is a very
significant episode in RaamAyaNa , which is extolled as a shrine of
Self-surrender. Gita ( 7-14 , 16-61/62) , SrI VishNu PurANa (
1.9.73),
PaancharAtra Agama ,
Lakshmitantra and AzhwArs'Sri sookthis advocate SaraNAgati as the most
efficacious means to gain the Parama PurushArtham of Moksham .
6. Post-Liberation ( Moksha): The liberation
consists in JeevAtma acquiring the flavor and fragrance of Brahman ( the
VedAntic term for the Lord) ; it gains Brahma roopa , Brahma rasa and Brahma
gandha . It is freed from the fetters of Prakrithi , limitations of space and
time . It lives in nitya vibhUti, the abode of Brahman , which has no history ,
no seasons but can all at once " bear leaves , blossoms and fruits" ( ref:
ShAnti parva of MahA Bhaaratam) . Thus the jeevan attains " its infinite
consciousness and regains eternal values.."It is indeed a state of
Self-transcendence.
PaancharAtra
calls Sri VaikunTham as " Jn~Ananda lOka" - that is , the world of
Paramapadham is a shining example of the spiritual world; bliss personified ,
apraakrutha , aanandalOka ; it is the realm of Suddha Sattva, a kind of matter
which is immutable and is made up of unalloyed sattva dhravyam .The five
elements ( Pancha bhUtams) , which comprise us in the prAkruthic world will
not touch us there .
7. Rahasya Traya : Gadhya Traya embodies the
concepts of the three sacred mantrAs , known as rahasya traya , which reflect
the VisishtAdhvaita concepts of Tatva, Hita and PurushArtha . They are moola
mantra , dhvaya mantra and Geetha Charama slOka . It is generally stated that
SaraNAgathy gadhya is a commentary on the dhvaya Mantra.
8. Commentaries on the Three Gadhyams:All
the Sri Sookthis of AchArya RaamAnuja have attracted great scholars to
write commentaries known as Bhaashyams. SaraNAgathy Gadhya has commentaries by
such stalwarts as Sudarsana Soori , Periya AacchAn PiLLai nad VedAntha Desika.
The Rahasya Raksha of Swamy Sri Desikan includes Gadhya Traya BhAshya besides
stOtra Ratna and chatusslOki BhAshyam .
NadAthUr AmmALs' "Prapanna
PaarijAtam" talks about the greatness of SaraNAgathy Gadhya ; latter has
given inspiration to the creation of other SrI Sooktis: Swamy SrI Desikan's
SaraNAgathy Dheepika , NyAsa dasakam , NyAsa Vimsathy and NyAsa Tilakam ,
Saantha ParAnkusa Yathi's " Prapatti yOga", Taatha
Desikan's "NyAsa VidhyA PrakAsa " and VedAntha RaamAnuja Muni's " NyAsa
Vidhya DarpaNa and many more.
9. Coverage of SaraNAgathy doctrine in
the Three ebook series: Among
the three ebook series ( Sundarasimham , Ahobilavalli and
Sri Hayagrivan series) , we have covered a number of Sri KoSams dealing with the
important aspects of SaranAgathy and the three rahsyAs behind this vital
doctrine . The readers are welcomed to refer to them for additional details
on the SaraNAgathy Tattvam . Here are the references
:
Sundarasimham Series: http://www.sundarasimham.org
SarNAgathy Dheepika #
57
SaraNAgathy Doctrines (
Tamil) # 71
Srimad Rahasya Traya
Saaram # 91
StoOtra Ratnam of Swamy
AlavanthAr# 49
Adaikkala Patthu #
31
Thirumantira Churukku #
24
Dhvaya Churukku
#13
Charama SlOka Churukku#
20
PradhAna Satakam
#27
Arutta Panchakam
#12
Rahasya Navaneetam
#68
Rahasya Padhavee
#69
Ahobilavalli Series: http://www.ahobilavalli.org
NyAsa Dasakam #
12
NyAsa Tilakam
#13
NyAsa Dasakam
#14
JitantE StOtram
# 58-61
Abahya PradhAna
Saaram # 69
Prapanna PaarijAtham #
74
NikshEpa Rakshai #
75
Srimad Rahasya Thraya
Saara Saaram # 91-93
Sri Hayagrivan Series : http://www.srihayagrivan.org
Rahasya SandEsam #
2
Rahasya SandEsa VivaraNam
#3
Rahasya Maatrukai #
10
Rahasya RatnaavaLi #
18
Rahasya Traya ChuLakam #
24
Tattva RatnAvaLi #
4
Tatva RatnAvaLi
PradhipAdhya Sangraham # 5
Tattva SandEsam #
9
Tattva Maatrukai #
11
Sriranga Gadhyam #
28
We will now commence the
study of Sri VaikunTha Gadhyam .
( To Be continued)
Na Dhaivam DesikAth Param
,
Please support the
Satyagalam Raaja Gopura Kaimkaryam ,
DhAsan , Oppiliappan Koil
Varadachari Sadagopan
Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan http://www.sadagopan.org
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