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Re: charama-shlOka

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • February 7, 1999 


Dear Sri Sudarshan :

The coincidence of receiving your mail soon after
listening this morning to the most insightful and 
blessed upanyAsam of Srimadh Azhagiya Singar 
some ten minutes ago can only be described as 
extraordinary .The great Jeeyar was blessing us 
from Thuvarimaan near Madhurai and was  reaching us 
all over the USA .  

In an hour long tele-bridge upanyAsam to
the AasthikAs of North America ,His Holiness 
the Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt chose the topic
of SaraNAgathi , Chaarama slOkam and 
GeethaAchAryan as Sarva Rakshakan and
Moksha DhAyakan .He pointed out the importance
of SaranAgathi with profound quotations
from purvAchAryAs and AzhwAr's Sri Sookthis .
It was one of the most blessed experiences 
of one's life time to listen to the anugraha 
bhAshaNam of H.H. The Jeeyar . I will try to
summarize the highlights later .

Since the Mahaan Mukkur LakshminrusimhAcchAr Swamy 
is a matam sishyar with the 42nd and 43rd Jeeyars as His
AchAryAs , it was another great coincidence . 

The next coincidence is that you are connected to both
Kaanchi and ThiruvEnkatam by birth . At Kaanchi , the Moolavar 
displays in His hastham " maa Sucha : " that you wrote about. 
At Oppiliappan Koil , ThiruviNNagarappan displays in 
His lower right hand the words of the same charama slOkam , 
" MaamEkam SaraNam vraja ". What a complimentary message from
both the ArchA Murthys ! At ThiruviNNagar, the Lord
accepted the SaraNAgathi of NammAzhwAr .Kaanchi
VaradarAjan sent as presents both AchArya RaamAnujA 
and Swami Desikan to Sri RanganAthan .

Today is a blessed day to stir all these 
thoughts arising from H.H.The Jeeyar's 
anugraha bhAshaNam  and it is only 
appropriate to thank Sri ParthasArathy 
Dileepan to identify the exactly right kind of
Tele-bridge connection to enjoy  the upadEsam of 
the great Jeeyar without any technical problems .

The MahA KaaruNikar , H.H. The Jeeyar rushed to 
bless us after participating in the DolOthsavam 
for KaNNan at His sanchAra aasthAnam at ThuvarimAn ,
where another great Ahobila Matam Jeeyar 
( H.H. The 40th pattam )has his BrindhAvanam
on the banks of Vaighai river .He ascended to
Parama Padham on a Thai KrishNa paksha TrayOdasi
day . This year , that memorable day 
falls on February 13 . This Jeeyar's( H.H. The 40th Jeeyar's)
archA mUrthy is so beautiful and reminds one
of Swami Desikan's archai at ThiruvahIndhrapuram .
All of these anubhavams might have gone thru the mind
of the Prakrutham Parama Hamsa Jeeyar to choose the topic
of SaraNAgathi as parama hitham for today's
updEsam and quote profusely from Swami Desikan's
Sri Sookthis and Thirumazhisai AzhwAr's extraordinary
pasuram on SaraNAgathi .

AchAryan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Oppiliappan Koil VaradaachAri Sadagopan   



At 07:36 AM 2/7/99 PST, you wrote:
>Dear bhAgavatOttamA-s,
>
-- I can't help remembering an old story connected 
>with the subject.
>
>A good man once approached a Wise One for advice on the art of living.

>
>However he patiently advised, "My friend, if you want the Gita in a 
>nutshell go to the verse called the 'charama-shlOka" : "sarva dharmAm 
>parityajjaÂ….etc. You might find in it whatever you are looking for in 
>this world".
>
>
>Returning to the wise One he confessed, "Sir, the 32-syllabled 
>"charama-shlOka" eludes my mind."
>
>"So what do you want me to do about it?" asked the wise One with now 
>barely concealed exasperation.
>
>"Pray, direct me to a single phrase, expression or word in the verse 
>which may be said to epitomize the Gita.That way I can rest content that 
>I have ingested all of the substance of the Lord's message in a verbal 
>capsule."  
>   
>The Wise One thought for a while and replied:
>
>"Leave out "sarva dharmAm parittyajja"; leave out "mamEkam saranam 
>vraja"; leave out "aham tva sarva pApEBhyo moksha~ishyAmi"Â…..
>
>Then after a pause the Wise one said, "Hold steadfast to the last phrase 
>"ma shucha:". It means "Do not worry or grieve" Believe me it's verily 
>the essence of the Lord's GitaÂ… "DO NOT WORRY".It's the secret of 
>life.Hold on to that phrase all your life and never let go of it!"
>
>The good man went away absolutely delighted in the discovery of the 
>Bhaavath-gitaÂ… muttering "ma shucha:", "ma shucha:"Â…. 
>
>(story -- courtesy my "mAnaseega-AchAryan" Sriman Mukkur 
>Lakshminarasimhachariar)
>**********************************
>
>For those who harbour disquieting reservations about the first person 
>voice of the "charama-shlOka"... merely repeating "ma shucha:" may be an 
>equally effective alternative to chanting the whole.
>
>Think about it and let me know how you feel about it.
>
>adiyEn dAsAnu dAsan,
>sudarshan

>
>