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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00122 Oct 2005

 
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Swami Sri Manaval Mamunikal?s YATHIRAJA VIMSATI
Vyakhyanam in English: Sri U.Ve. S.Satyamurthi Iyengar Swami
 
Introduction
 
Saint Vara Vara Muni, the last of the ?poorvacharyas?, that grand galaxy of 
preceptors, was known as azhakiya maNavALa nAyanAr, before he took the holy 
order of Sanyasa.  One day, his immediate preceptor (Acharya) 
thiru-vaimozhip-pillai (Sri sailEsar), while meditating on the great qualities 
of saint Ramanuja, pondered over those stanzas of Thiruvarangath-amudanar 
(Amudanar of Arangam) depicting Ramanuja as a staunch devotee of Saint 
Nammazhvar (Maaran), proclaiming to the inhabitants of this wide world, end to 
end, the great glory of the Azhvar?s hymns and running riotous with the joy 
spouting from those hymns like unto the intoxication of an elephant in rut.  
This, in turn, led Srisailesar to think in terms of raising a fitting memorial 
for Sri Ramanuja, right in the birthplace of Nammazhvar (Azhvar Thirunagari).  
This took concrete shape soon thereafter.  A temple was built and the image of 
Ramanuja installed therein, duly consecrated.  The surrounding streets, named 
as ?Sri Ramanuja Chaturvedi Mangalam?, were permanently inhabited, exclusively 
by the ardent worshippers of Ramanuja.
 
The zealous disciple, Azhakiya Manavala Nayanar, was called upon by Srisailesar 
to stay in this new colony and look after the daily routine of the temple.  
Nayanar?s extra-ordinary devotion to this great cause earned the unstinting 
approbation of Srisailesar, who started calling him a ?Yateendra Pravanar?, 
signifying the enormous love and devotion borne by him for Saint Ramanuja, the 
Prince of ascetics- a name which soon gained currency and became widespread.  
Srisailesar did not stop at that.  At his behest, Nayanar composed twenty 
Sanskrit slokas in adoration of Ramanuja, known as ?yatiraja vimSati?.  In the 
penultimate sloka, ?Sreeman Yateendra! tava divya padaabja sevaam?, the author 
has gratefully acknowledged the grace galore of his loving Master 
(Srisailanatha), which alone enabled the former to worship the lotus feet of 
Sri Ramanuja unremittingly.  The author?s profession of love and depth of 
devotion for Saint Ramanuja are very much in evidence in the fourth sloka, 
which keeps the hymnographer riveted to the Great Acharya by word, deed and 
thought.
 
Nayanar?s co-disciples composed a verse to commemorate the birth of these 
twenty slokas, eulogizing the hymnographer and his hymns, which could sustain 
the vast multitude of devotees and make them flourish.  As regards the grace 
and sweetness of these slokas, the reader will, apart from his or her own 
enjoyment, do well to refer to Sri Prativadi Bhayankaram Anna?s Varavaramuni 
Satakam wherein he has paid glowing tributes to the grandeur of these laudatory 
hymns.  Some might, however, question the propriety of Nayanar, himself an 
incarnation of Ramanuja, extolling Ramanuja and reducing himself to abject 
humility c.f. slokas 6 to 15.  The  answer to this is that this is quite in 
keeping with the tenor of any Avatar c.f. Sri Rama, an incarnation of Bhagavan 
Narayana, worshipping the idols of Narayana (i.e.,) Lord Ranganatha ? 
?Sahapatnya Visalakshi Narayanamupagamat?.  It is noteworthy that the author 
desires to move from one extreme to the other, that is, from the utter 
distraction of sensual pleasures to utter devotion unto the one who stands last 
in the chain of Sri Ramanuja's devotees, vide sloka 16.  The author?s implicit 
faith in Saint Ramanuja, as the sole Support and the great Redeemer, is fully 
reflected in the last three slokas,
 
                                Here then is a string of stanzas twenty,
                                Hymns bespeaking the sweet bounty
                                Of Sri Ramanuja, the ascetic Prince,
                                Deep from the heart that doesn?t mince,
                                Of Manavala Mamuni, the votary par excellence.

=============================================================================================================================Retyped
 from the book by Sri Kesavan Srinivasan of Chicago
(The Grandson of Sri U.Ve. Satyamurthi Swami.)
=============================================================================================================================


"Come and celebrate Azhvar and Acharya Thirunakshatrams"
       "in Washington DC. November 05th and 06th 2005"
             "Register at http://www.vedics.net/utsavam";

Azhvar Emberumanar Jeeyar ThiruvadigalE Saranam

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan 
Mukundan Vangipuram Pattangi  





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