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Podhu thaniyans

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Madhavakkannan V • April 1, 2002 


SrI:
SrImathE rAmAnujAya namah:

Dearest Srivaishnavas,
Let us first enjoy the podhu thaniyans.

rAmAnuja dhayApAthram jnAna vairAgya bhooshaNam |
srImath vEnkatanAthAyam vandhE vEdhAntha dhESikam ||

I worship Vedanta Desikan (Acharya or preceptor uniquely praised as such due 
to his great contribution and strict adherence to Vedanthic tradition), 
named Venkata nAthan, endowed with auspiciousness and glories, who was a 
receptacle of the mercy (dayA) of his AchArya Sri Ramanuja, and who was 
adorned with the jewels of wisdom (jnAnam) and detachment (VairAgyam).

Ramanuja here refers to Swamy Vedantha Desikan's Acharya Sri AthrEya 
Ramanujacharya (also called AppuLLAr), his maternal uncle. We can also 
relate this to Sri Ramanujacharya (Bhashyakarar) as well. Sure, Sri 
Bhashyakarar would have blessed Sri Vedantha Desikan with his grace without 
which he would not have been able to write 100 plus works all glorifying Sri 
Ramanujacharya siddhAntham in an unambiguous manner. Sri UttamUr Swamy 
further elaborates this padham to even Sri NammAzhwAr- as Sri NammAzhwAr is 
Sri SaTakOpar (pAdhukAs of the Lord) and Sri Ramanuja is the avatar of Adhi 
sEshan. It is Adhi Seshan who takes various forms to perform eternal 
kaimkaryam to the Lord.. (senRaal kudaiyaam; irundhaal singaasanamaam; 
ninRaal THIRUVADIYAAM- When He walks, Adhi sEshan takes the form of 
umbrella; While sitting, he becomes the throne (for the Lord to sit on); and 
while He stands, Adhi sEshan transforms himself into the PAdhukAs. So, 
Ramanuja dayA pAthram means: SatakOpa dayA pAthram too: )

Vedantha Desikan is also the recipient of Ramanuja's grace (Rama + anuja- 
Rama's younger brother- KaNNan- Balarama's brother) for it is he who 
composed the marvelous Yadhavaabhudhayam and the great divine Gopala 
vimsathy.

Another lateral thought: Rama- meaning Lakshmi. One who is after Lakshmi is 
AndAL (BhUmi PiraaTTi) or all AzhwArs including VishvaksEnar too. Thus, 
Raamaanuja dayA pAthram refers to Their blessings as well.

There is also another thaniyan which is recited :(by the sishyas of 
thennAcharya sampradayam):

Sri SailEsa dayA pAthram dhI bhakthyAdhi guNArNavam |
yathIndhra pravaNam vandhE ramya jAmAthram munim ||

I salute Sri ManavaaLa MaamunigaL, who has the blessings of Thiruvaaimozhip 
Pillai (ManavaaLa Maamuni¡¦s Aachaarya- Sri SailEsar) and who is an ocean of 
jnAnam (knowledge) and Bhakthi (devotion).

It is known to one and all that the above thaniyan was submitted to the feet 
of Sri Manavala mamunigal by none other than Lord Sri Ranganatha. Namperumal 
wanted to hear tiruvoimozhi kalakshepam from Sri Manavala mamunigal. He 
conducted kaalakshepam of Thiruvaaym6ozhi starting on the paritaapi year 
31st day of avani sukla chaturdasi friday. It continued for 1 year and the 
sARRumuRai was on aani moolam. For this one year all the utsavams of 
namperumal were stopped. During the sARRumuRai, namperumal appeared as a 5 
year old archaka boy and recited this sloka in praise of Sri Manavala 
mamunigal.

LakshmI nAtha samArambhAm nAtha yAmuna madhyamAm |
asmadhAchArya paryanthAm vandhE guruparam parAm ||

I worship the entire guruparamparaa that starts with Emperumaan, Sriya: 
Pathi Sriman Narayanan; which has SrI NAthamuni (in between) upto my AchArya 
(Sri Ramanuja).

This thaniyan is composed by Sri KooratthAzhwAn (Sri Ramanujacharya¡¦s most 
ardent disciple); This Thaniyan describes the paramapara of our Acharyas 
which starts with Sriman Narayanan. Sri AzhwAn pays his obeisance to the 
paramapara upto his Acharya. He does not mention the name of his Acharya 
(calling ¡§upto my Acharya¡¨ -
asmadhAchArya paryanthAm .. It fits in so well for every one of us when we 
recite this ¡§upto my Acharyan, I pay my obeisance to the Gurupamarapara: -) 
  AzhwAn is known for his intellect and scholarship.

For the novices: (let me list the Guruparamapa upto Sri Ramanuja.. Please 
read adiyEn posts on ¡§asmadhAchArya paryanthAm vandhE GuruparamparAm 
¡§series for the various Acharya branches of the Big Banyan tree of Sri 
Ramanauja..)

Sriman Narayanan
Sri Mahalakshmi
Sri Vishvaksenar
Sri NammAzhwAr
Sri NAthamuni
Sri UyyakkoNdaar (Sri PundareekAkshar)
Sri MaNakkaal nambhi (Sri Ramamisrar)
Sri Alavandhar (Sri Yamunacharya)
Sri Periya Nambhi (Sri MahapoorNar)
Sri RAMANUJACHARYA

Please visit the site: http://members.tripod.com/~sriramanujar and click on 
Acharya vamsa vruksham for more reading on Guru parampara.

yO nithya-machyutha-padaam-buja-yugma-rugma
vyaamOhadas dadhi-tha-raaNi thru-Naaya mEnE
asmath-gurOr bhagavathOsya dhayaika-sindhO:
raamaanujasya saraNau saraNam prapadhyE.

[After the entire parampara upto Sri Ramanuja, AzhwAn composes a special 
slOka for Sri Ramanujacharya alone.]

I take refuge at the feet of our guru Bhagavaan Ramanuja, that ocean of 
mercy who, infatuated with the gold-like, lotus feet of the Lord, considered 
all else as mere blades of grass.

¡§ParamAthmani yOrakthO virakthO(S)paramAthmani¡¨- Due to His jnAna, 
Bhakthi, VairAgyam, Sri Ramanujacharya considered only the lotus feet of the 
Lord Sriman Narayanan as the means and the Goal- for that matter- 
everything. Nothing else mattered to him. He is not interested in others and 
considers others (material, sensual pursuits) as thruNam (blade of grass).

maatha pithaa yuvathayas thanayaa vibhuthi:
sarvam yadhEva niyamEna mathanva-yaanaam,
aathyasya na: kulabhthEr vagu-Laabhi-raamam
sreemath thathanGgari-yugalam praNa-maami moortha-naa.
(composed by Yamunacharya- Alavandhar)

For my vasmam, the feet which always are the Mother, Father, the spouses, 
the children; the wealth, the bhOgyam (pleasure); those feet of our Kula 
pathi Sri NammAzhwAr, wearing magizha maalai (garland of magizha flowers).. 
I prostrate to those lotus feet.

Mother takes care of us sacrificing all her pleasures.. moonRu bhuvanatthu 
porul muRRUm kodutthu yEnRa vazhipaadhu iyaRRidinum en thaay oru naaL 
vaLartthathaRkku iyaiayAvE... says one poet .. Even if one pays back the 
three worlds at the feet of one¡¦s mother, it does not equate to one day of 
her taking care of usļ so great are they.
Father takes us in his arms, teaches us, disciplines us..
During youth and later, the spouse takes care of us like the mother and 
father and is loving, caring .. (ļ may be those days.)
At old age and even after death, the children pave the way for alleviating 
pains (with pithru tharpaNam..) Again, those days: -)

Sri NammAzhwAr stood in all these places as bandhus and bhOgam as well for 
my lineage (meaning right from nathamuni- janma vamsam and vidhyA vamsam). 
He is Kula pathi (Srivaishnava kula pathi) for having initiated and blessed 
my grand father Sri Nathamuni with jnAnam and with 4000. He is the prapanna 
jana santhAna kUTashthar.

bhootham sarascha mahaa-dhaahvaya-patta-naadha-
sree-bhakthi-saara-kulasEkhara-yOgi-vaahaan,
bhakthaangirirENu parakaala-yathindra mishRaan,
sreemath paraankusa munim prana-thOsmi nithyam
(composed by Bhattar)

I prostrate PoothathAzhwaar, Pey Azhwaar (mahadaahvaya), Poigai Azhwaar 
(saras), PeriyAzhwaar (Bhatta nAtha), Thirumazhisai Azhwaar (Bhakthisaara), 
KulasEkaraAzhwaar, ThirupaaN Azhwaar (YOgivaahaan), Thondaradippodi AzhwAr 
(BhakthAngrirEnu), Thirumangai AzhwAr (parakAla), Emperumaanaar (Yathindra- 
Raamaanuja) KooratthAzhwAn (misrA) and NammAzhwAr (parAnkusamuni) every day- 
always (nithyam).

Let us enjoy the thaniyans on ThiruppallANdu in the next post.
AzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Regards
Namo Narayana
aDiyEn dAsan

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