SrI:
For the benefit of those , who might have missed Parts I & II.
These postings will appear in Oppiliappan , Malolan and
Saranagathy e-lists . These are individual postings that will
be assembled as an e-book in the Ahobilavalli series :
http://www.ahobilavalli.org
Daasan , V.Sadagopan
****************************************************
srI:
Dear bhAgavatha-s adiyEn herewith submits the third Part of SrI UpakAra
Sangraham:-
SrI upakAra sangraham - 3
---
adikAram - 1
poorva upakAra paramparai
(The Foremost Series of Favours)
--
{Note:- Before going into the main text of this grantha, it is but
necessary that we must recall the un-paralleled kainkaryam rendered by the
ubhayavedAntha scholar, the late SrI VangIpuram SrIrAmadesikAchAryar SwAmi
of SrI Oppiliyappan Sannidhi. It was he who brought to the modern world
SwAmi Desikan's SrImad Rahasyatraya-sAram and other Rahasya-granthas. His
contribution was the enormous notes in simple Tamil explaining the
expressions of Swami Desikan, and the detailed appendix-s.
SrIrAmadesikAchAryar imbibed his sAstric knowledge from his illustrious
father, SrI KrishnamAchArya SwAmi, popularly known as "Navaneetam SwAmi".
SrI SrIrAmadesikAchAryar was a Siromani in Sanskrit and a VidvAn in Tamil
of the Madras University, "but these distinctions give but a poor
indication
his great natural talent, or of the depth and intensity of his wide
learning
in the classical and religious literature, in Sanskrit and Tamil, preserved
to us through the centuries. ..He has written his commentary in simple,
easy, flowing Tamil which any one can comprehend without extrinsic aid. He
has labpoured hard to make the meaning of the text as plain as possible,
indeed to make I speak to us in our own language." (from the Foreword by
the
Hon'ble Justice K.S.Krishnaswami Iyengar, to "Sri Desika Prapandam", First
Edition - 1944)
SrI SrIrAmadesikAchAyar, a recipient of the President's Award for
Scholars, brought out two volumes of Chillarai Rahasyams, but ascended to
Paramapadam before he could publish the third one to which this UpakAra
Sangraham belongs. With the elaborate notes left by him, the third volume
was published by Sri PoundarIkapuram srImadAndavan Asramam, Srirangam in
1995.
It is only but fitting to pay our respects and pranAmams to this swAmi.}
---
swami desikan begins this Chillarai Rahasyam, "SrI UpakAra
sangraham" with a Tamil pAsuram saying "we surrender at the feet of
ThirumAl
by the grace of Sri nammAzhwAr. Now, the pAsuram:
(The Tamil text is withdrawn as many members may not have the relevant
Tamil font)
anthamilA pErinbam aruntha ERkum
adiyOmai aRivudanE endRum kAtthu
munthai-vinai niraivazhiyil ozhugAthemmai
munnilaiyAm dEsikar-tham munnE cErtthu
manthiramum manthiratthin vzhiyum kAtti
vazhippadutthi vAn EtRi adimaikoLLa
thanthaiyena nindRa thanith thirumAl thALil
thalai vaitthOm satkOpan aruLinAlE.
Meaning:- We pay our praNAmams at the feet of SrIman nArAyanan, who has
no parallel for the various favours He did to all of us, considering us as
His own children, step-by-step to enable us to ascend to His abode, that
is,
Paramapadam. In this effort, we have been gracefully helped by Sri
NammAzhwAr, who is known as " SatakOpan".
Detailed explanation:-
anthamilA pErinbam - The greatest bliss is being with the Lord in
SrIvaikuntam. It is immeasurable by way of quantity, quality and duration
of
time.
aruntha ERkum adiyOmai - we, the dAsa-s, are fully entitled to enjoy that
kind of bliss of Moksham. Here, aruntha means 'drink', but its deep
significance is 'enjoying' or 'experiencing'. ERkum - - accepting. Hence,
it
excludes those who are not prepared to accept the bliss. Such souls are
many, indulging in material benefits in this world and also those who want
to enjoy better benefits supposedly available in heaven, the world of the
devAs. Both these are limited in terms of quantity, quality and duration,
in
contrast to the bliss in Paramapadam.
adiyOmai -- The Lord can help only those who are prepared to seek the
ultimate without falling into the trap of worldly pleasures. Such people
are called 'seshas', devoted to serve only the Lord, and His devotees alone
(bhAgavatha-s) without an iota of selfishness.
aRivudanE endRum kAtthu - This expression of SwAmi Desikan indicates the
nature of the jIva-s. a jIvan - a soul - has two aspects : a) his
svaroopam,
i.e. nature and b) his quality or attribute. Both are 'gnAnam' i.e.,
knowledge. A soul or AtmA's nature is gnAnam - consciousness or knowledge.
He is knowledge itself. But he also has the capacity to know, i.e.,
attributive knowledge. The first one is known by the Sanskrit term as
"dharmik gnAnam". It simply means that the soul is gnAnam itself.
The second - that is his quality or attributive knowledge, is called as
"dharma bhootha gnAnam".
Dharma means the capacity or the quality of knowing outside, besides
knowing himself. Normally we say, "I" (nAn in Tamil), that is,
self-awareness for which we do not require any outside assistance. This
self-knowledge is within ourselves. In addition, we have the capacity to
know about the outside world around ourselves. It is in technical term,
"dharmabootha gnAnam".
The two aspects are gifted to us by the Lord out of His mercy on a
permanent basis, though He has the power to remove them, but does not as it
is His sankalpam. Not only is He providing us these two, but also
protecting
us from losing these aspects.
munthai-vinai niraivazhiyil ozhugAthemmai --- emmai - us.
munthai nirai vazhiyil ozhugAthu -- not continuing the older path which
has been there from time immemorial. All of us are generally following or
treading the same path in this world as we have been. Since when? It
cannot be known as it is a very long journey through countless thousands of
repeated births in this world. For reason known only to Him, the Lord
extends the helping hand purely out of causeless mercy to make us
discontinue the earlier path. Because, the path hither-to we have been
following is like floating in a river without able to reach the shore, but
with the risk of drowning too. The Lord's helping hand prevents it and
diverts us to wards the shore.
munnilaiyAm dEsikar-tham munnE cErtthu -- The Lord brings us to the
AchAryas who have come forward and are in readiness to help us.
manthiramum manthiratthin vzhiyum kAtti -- Here, "manthiram" is
thirumanthiram which is taught by the AchAryAs to their disciples in an
exclusive manner uttering it in our ears in secrecy. {This is done during
"upanayanam" or during "pancha samskAram" or "samAsryanam" conducted by the
AchAryas. Without stopping at merely uttering the manthram, they teach us
the significance of the manthram and the means of bhakti or surrender
(prapatthi) as well.
vazhippadutthi -- the Lord make the AchAryas also to guide us how to
practice the means for our spiritual uplift.
vAn Etri -- Here by "vAn", SwAmi Desikan means Srivaikuntam, i,e,
Paramapadham. "Etri" means, uplifting to His world, the Paramapadam.
adimaikoLLa - to accept the service from us.
thanthaiyena nindra -- He stands like our Father by doing all these
favours to us, (unlike our worldly fathers).
thanith thirumAl thALil -- "thirumAl" - the Lord SrIman nArAyaNan with
whom always remains Sri Lakshmi pirattiyAr.
"thALil" - - at His feet
thalai vaitthOm satkOpan aruLinAlE. - with the grace of Sri namAzhvAr, who
is also known as Satakopan, we laid our head by prostrating at the feet of
the Lord.
SwAmi Desikan mentions the name of the AzhwAr, as he is going to
give a commentary of the First pAsuram of the AzhwAr's first srIsookthi,
"thiruvruttham".
(to continue)
dAsan Anbil SrInivAsan.
-----
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:SriRangaSri-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
mailto:SriRangaSri-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
SriRangaSri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |