Sri:
SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,
Dear Bhaktas,
On he most sacred day of Adi Uttaradam, the Tirunakshatram of Swami
Alavandar, adiyen wishes to share the following reflections from his
life and works. Swami Alavandar has the distinction of extremely
noble birth in the line of Nathamuni Acharya-who recovered the
entire Dhivya Prabandham due to the Anugraham of Swami NammAzhwar
upon continuous recitation of Kanninun siruthambu innumerable times.
Swami Alavandar in addition to his noble birth distinguished himself
on account of his extreme erudition, razor sharp intellect, strict
conformance to shastraic prescriptions, and most importantly for
handing us the dayaIka sindhu of Ramanujacharya through his final
message while attaining Parama Padam.
Swami Alavandar's composed the following works
1. Agamapramanya
2. Mahapurusha Nirnaya
3. Siddhitraya
4. Gitarthasanrgraha
5. Chatussloki
6. Stotra-Ratnam
Agamapramanya. This is entirely devoted to vindicating the
authoritativeness of Pancharatra Agamas.
Mahapurusha Nirnaya. In this work, Sri Alavandar shows that the
ultimate reality is the Supreme Purusha, Sriman Narayana.
Atma Siddhi, Iswara Sidhhi and Samvit Siddhi. Collectively, these
three works are known as Siddhitrayam. The three siddhis establish
the Srivaishnava sampradayic concepts of soul, God, and knowledge.
Gitarthasangraha. This is a marvellous work on Bhagavad gita, which
later formed the basis of Sri Ramanujacharya's Gita Bhashya.
Chatushloki-a 4 verse tribute to Mahalakshmi Thayar-encapsulating
the essence of the Vedanta Sutras
Stotra-Ratnam-a 65 verse tribute which expounds on the doctrine of
SharaNagati as enshrined in the Dvaya Mantram.
Several gems can be found by taking a dip in the cool waters of his
Srisookthis. Swami Desikan, who is extremely careful in his choice
of words glorifies Yamunacharya in the Yatiraja Sapthati as "vigAhE
yAmunam tIrtham sAdhu brindavanE sthitham nirasta jihmaga sparshE
yatra krishNa krithAdhara:"
(We shall bathe in the holy waters of Yamuna, who severed all
connections with mean passion and attachment, who stood steadfast in
safeguarding the Sadhus in whom the things emphasized by Krishna are
present perfectly).
A couple of examples illustrating the genius of Swami Alavandar as a
super compactor can be found in the Chatushloki salutations "VedAtma
vihagEshvarO" and "sririthyE vachanAma thE BhagavatI brUma: katham
thvAm vayam"
Garuda is revered in the Vedam through the souparNika suKta
mantram "suparNOsi garuthmAn trivrithEshirO gayathram Chakshu:
sthOmam Athma sAmam thE thanUrvAmadevyam brhadraThantharE pakshoU
yajnAyajniyam puccham chandhAngAmsyAngAni DhisNiyA: shaPhA
yajUgamshi nAma suparNOsi garuthmAn dhivam gacCha suva: pathA"
(You are the wide-winged bird Garuda! Your head is the trivruth
sAman, while your lower body is vamadevya Saman. Your eyes are the
Gayathri Saman! Your Atma is sthOman! Your wings are the brihath
sAman and raThanthara Saman respectively! Your tail is the
yajnAyajniyam Saman! Your limbs are the meters! Your hooves are
masters of knowledge! Your name is verily the yajur vedam! Oh Garuda
proceed on the Divine path to Suvar lokam (world of light)!
Again the taittriya Upanishad salutes Garuda as "tasya yajurEva
shira: rg dakshina paksha: sAmOtthara paksha: AdEsha Atma
atharvAngirasa pucCham prathiShTA:"
(The yajurveda is his head! The lower part of his body is the Rg
Veda! The upper part of his body is the Sama Veda! His soul is the
command! His tail denotes the aTharvaNa Veda!)
Swami Alavandar brilliantly captures the import of these Vedic
messages in a succinct manner through the vedAthmA vihagEshvarO
salutation.
Another salutation from the chatushloki worth noting is the
glorification of Thayar as
"sririthyE vachanAma thE BhagavatI brUma: katham thvAm vayam"
(Oh mother! A whole lifetime is insufficient for me to fully
comprehend the six meanings underlying your name-Sri. The six
meanings of Sri are
1. shriyathE-One who is sought after by all
2. shrayathE-She grants refuge to all who seek her
3. shruNOthi-She hears the appeal of those who seek her [baddha
jiavns appealing to her for help]
4. shrAvayathi-She conveys the appeal to her consort Lord
Narayana
5. shrNAthi-She destroys the impediments (sin pile of baddha
jivans) that preclude the attainment of Lord Narayana
6. shrINAthi-She confers lasting wealth
Finally, adiyen wishes to conclude this piece with the stotra ratnam
salutation "trivikramathvat charaNAmbhujadvayam madhiya
mUrDhAnamalankarishyathi"
(I cannot wait for the moment when the Lotus feet of Trvikrama adorn
my head)
Swami Alavandar TirvadigaLE sharaNam,
Namo Narayana,
SriMuralidhara Dasan
------------------------------------
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