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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00089 Nov 2002

 
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Sri Parthasarathi thunai
Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha
Sri Vara Vara MunayE Namaha
Sri VanAchala mahA munayE Namaha

SrisailEsa dayA pAthram deebhakthyAdhi gunArnavam
Yateendra pravanam vandhE ramya jAmataram munim

Dear Bhagavats,

This month is an excellent month. We have celebrated deepavali, and then the 
thirunakshatram of various alwars and acharyas (Senai mudaliyar/vishvaksEnar, 
poigai Alwar, bhoodhaththAzhvar, pEyAzhvar, thirumangai Alwar, thiruppAnAzhvar, 
Pillai lOkAcharyar and Swamy manavala mAmunigal) and then kArthigai deepam is 
yet to come. The most important Ekadasi for Srivaishnavas, the kaisika ekAsasi 
is also right round the corner. Great! A month filled with celebrations, 
enjoyment and important occasions. 

In this month this week is an excellent week. In his upadesa ratnamAlai, 
mAmunigal says, ?Iypasiyil Onam, avittam sadhayam evai oppilavA nAtkal 
ulagaththeer eppuviyum pEsu pugazh poigaiyAr bhoodhaththAr pEyAzhvAr thOndru 
sirappAl?. On Monday we celebrated the divine thirunakshatram, iyapasiyilOnam 
of Sri Poigai Alwar. Actually our poorvAcharyas classify the important stars in 
three ways. 

1. Those stars which have been blessed due to the birth of Perumal/Alwars 
alone. 
2. Those stars which have been blessed due to the birth of Acharyas alone.
3. Those stars which have been blessed due to the birth of bhagavan, alwarsand 
acharyas. These stars are named as ?mupuriootiya nakshatrangal?

Among the mupuriootiya nakshatrangal blessed with the divinity due to the birth 
of perumal, alwars and acharyas first stands the thirunakshatram, ThiruvOnam. 
As everyone knows this is the thirunakshatram of Thiruvikraman, this is the 
thirunakshatram of thiruvEngadamudaiyan and also venkata Krishnan. ThiruvOnam 
is the birth star of Poigai Alwar (the first alwar even amongthe mudal alwars, 
whose avataram is considered the auspicious start for the other alwars to 
follow). And ofcourse the star thiruvOnam has given us two great Acharyas, 
considered as the stalwarts in our sampradayam. The twoacharyas were, pillai 
ulagAriyan and vEdAntAchAriyar. Both of them lived in the same period of time 
and one was an acharya to the world and other the acharya to vedantha.

The thirunakshatram of Pillai lOkAcharya, the eldest son of Vadakku thiruveedhi 
pillai and the elder brother of Azhagiya manavala perumal nAyanar is celebrated 
on Iyapasi thiruvOnam. We all enjoy the divine beauty of ranganatha and his 
utsavams today. Without Pillai lOkAcharya we would have lost ranganatha forever 
and Srirangam would have lost all his glory and would have remained a barren 
land today. During the muslim invasion, not considering his old age Sri 
PillailOkAcharya carried the divine vigraham of Lord Ranganatha, namperumal and 
ran to protect the lord. Many Srivaishnavas, without the thought of family and 
wealth ran behind pillai lokacharya, with the sole aim of protecting namperumal 
from the clutches of the muslim invaders. Due to the strain of running for 
rescue and his age pillai lokacharya attained paramapadam on the way and 
instructed his shisyas to save perumal withthe help of thiruvAimozhi pillai. 
This great acharya truly followed the ramanuja siddhAntham and never considered 
any difference in birth between his shisyas. His prime disciple was 
villanchOlai pillai who was a nonbrahminby birth. Sri Pillai lokacharya clearly 
states in his works that the birth of a bhagavathan never matters to share 
bhagavat vishayam with him and heput the same in practice.

Even if we are not fully able to act according to the words of that great 
acharya it is a duty of each and every srivaishnava to atleast go through his 
divine works and pay our due respects to the divine acharya on his 
thirunakshatram and always. Sri Manavala mAmunigal says, ?Ar seer 
vachanabhoodanaththin Azhporul ellAm arivAr Aradhu nEril anushtippAr Or oruvar 
vundAgilaththanai kAn ullamE ellArkkum andAdha thandrO adhu? (Who will know the 
indepth of Srivachanabhooshanam in full and even if one knows that who is there 
is practice it even if you find one then think that is it since it cannot be 
attained by all.) Then why should we learn it at all? ?dEsikarpAl kEtta 
sezhumporulai sindhaithannil mAsaravE yundra mananam seidhu Asarikka vallArgal 
thAm vasanabhoodhanaththin vAn porulai kallAdhadhennO kavarindhu?? (How can one 
who listens to the divine meanings given by his acharyaand tries to act 
accordingly not be attracted by the divine sutras of the Srivachana bhooshanam 
and learn the divine meanings?).

Though a little late, adiyen couldn?t stop without writing about the great 
acharya. This is just a little drop from the ocean about the revered acharya 
and his work, written to just make adiyen purified on thinking about the great 
genius. Will continue about the other heros of this week, the mudal azhvars in 
the next posting.

Alwar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharanam
Adiyen Ramanuja DAsee,
Sumithra Varadarajan




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