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Sri VaishNavam-2

From the Bhakti List Archives

Madhavakkannan V • April 1, 1998 


SRI:

SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAH:

SRIMATHE NIGAMANTHA MAHADESIKAYA NAMAH:

SRIMATHE GOPALA DESIKA MAHA DESIKAYA NAMAH:

SRIMATHE RANGANAYIKA SAMETHA SRI RANGANATHA PARABHRAHMANE NAMAH:

Dearest Sisters and Brothers, the bhakthAs of Sriman NarayaNA! 

Ennuyir thandhu aLitthavaraich charNampukki/ yaanadaivE avargurukkaL 
niRai vaNanghi/
	PinnaruLaal perumpudhUr vandha vaLLal/ periya nambi Alavandhaar 
maNakkal nambi/
NanneRiyai avarkku uRaittha uyyakkoNdaar/ nathamuni sadagOpan sEnai 
nAthan/
	Innamudhath ThirumagaLenRu ivarai munnittu/ Emperumaan ThiruvadigaLai 
adaiginREnE!


The True SiddhAntham

Our VaishNava SiddhAntham is the Most truthful SiddhAntham for its right 
interpretation of VedAs and the srutis. In previous yugAs, Paraasarar, 
VyAsar, Sukhar, BhOdhAyanar have all propagated and campaigned for this 
VaishNava SiddhAntham. Paraasarar established this tradition of 
Visishtaadvaitam firmly in his VishNu PuraaNam. His son, VyAsar wrote 
Vedanta sUthram, wherein he ascertained the supremacy of Sriman Narayna 
in his sUtram, and raised his hands above his head three times and 
proclaimed that Sriman Narayna is the Parathvam. (sathyam sathyam punas 
sathyam ....vedAs saastrA param naasthi..na deivam kEsavaath param). 
This sUtram was detailed and commented to a great extent by BhOdhAyanar 
in his Brahma sUthram. After BrahmasUthram, Brahmanandhi (dunkar, 
Dhramidar, GuhadEvar) had also written purports for Brahma sUthram but 
are lost somewhere and are not available for us unfortunately.  (Brahma 
sUthram was later unearthed and studied by Sri RamanujA and understood 
for his establishing the VishishtAdvaitaic traditions.) It was Our 
dearest AchAryA,  YatirAjA, Sri RamanujachAryA, who re-established and 
organised the Sri VaishNava SiddhAntham and explained the conflicts and 
wrong interpretations in other SiddhAnthams and in other religions. He 
was extremely compassionate towards all, irrespective of case, colour, 
sex, etc. Calling Him the Greatest is very much an understatement. His 
Golden colour, Towering figure, 12 ThirumaN, Smiling face, long arms, 
broad shoulders- It must have been a great sight to even see him walking 
like a lion- Understanding his philosophy is the next step.  Firstly, he 
must have half-won over his enemies ("other" philosophers) with his 
simple towering personality. He appointed 74 disciples to propagate the 
VishishtAdavtic SiddhAntham all over India.  Sri Pillai Lokacharya and 
Sri Vedantha Desikar, the other Greatest AchAryAs , who were 
contemporaries and descendants of Sri RamanujA, due to differences in 
schools of thought and interpretations, gave rise to Thenkalai and 
Vadagalai Sampradayams respectively. It is more appropriate to call as 
Sri Ramanuja SiddhAntham. Our reverence to all achAryAs, the giants of 
Sri Vaishnavam including Sri RamanujAchArya down to Sri Vedanta Desikan, 
ManavaaLa MamunigaL upto our present (respective) AchAryas is all the 
same and profound.   

Tatva trayam

TatvAs are said to be of three forms; chEtanA, achEtanA and Iswaran. 

ChEtanA- It is also called as atmA, jIvAtmA, chit. This jIvAtmA is in 
every body of very being. It is only inside the body, but is different 
from the body, mind and the intellect. It is smaller than the smallest 
that one can imagine and is smaller than the atomic particle. In every 
being, be it human, animal, plant, tree, bird, insect, ant, amoeba 
(unicellular organism), or whatever- be it any being, the jIvAtmA is in 
its body. It stays in it. Hence, it is NOT possible to count jIvAtmAs in 
the world or the universe.  But, whatever may be the size of the body of 
the being, the jIvAtmA is of the same smallest atomic size. Even though 
the bodies of beings (like elephant, ant, human, tree, etc.,) differ, 
there is NO DIFFERENCE between the jIvAtmAs; But they are mutually 
exclusively (independent of each other) jIvAtmAs. They are all alike in 
its size, nature. They are all eternal- no end for jIvAtmAs; they exist 
since time immemorial; When the body perishes (or dies), the jIvAtmA 
does NOT end; If "it" had surrendered to Emperumaan, it goes to 
Srivaikuntam and gets the eternal salvation (mOksham). Else, "it" enters 
into some other body (in next birth) - it can be any "body"- need not be 
a human form- it can be a pig, a street dog, a dEvA, an ant, a tree, or 
a mosquito, a cockroach. It can be ANY BODY- depending on what all karmA 
you (as a jIvAtmA in your previous births) did and puNyAs or paapAs it 
had accumulated; 

Sri KrishNa tells this to arjunA that no good action goes waste; 
whatever attempt you make to reach Me- however failure the attempts are- 
depending on efforts of your attempts-the quality and severity of them- 
you (jIvAtmA) will be made to enter in a conducive environment (or body) 
that will facilitate you (jIvAtmA) to continue from where you (jIvAtmA) 
had left in the last birth without your knowledge at all; (Now do you 
understand why we are being dragged into these discussions in Bhakti 
Group and talk about Sriman NarayaNA- it is all due to His 
grace/mercy/dayA on us (jIvAtmAs) for our getting benefited and 
uplifting ourselves.)  

mOksham is SriVaikuntam. When we live in this world, in this human form- 
let us grab this opportunity to surrender to Emperumaan and prostrate at 
His Lotus Feet for His Grace on us; Let us approach our AchAryA and at 
His Feet, surrender to him and to the Feet of Sriman NarayaNA. That will 
ensure and ascertain our definite salvation and mOksham at the end of 
this life so that there at SriVaikuntam, we can eternally enjoy the 
Absloute Bliss of Sriman NarayNA, the Sriya: Pathi: and perform 
kaimaryam (render service) eternally to Divya Dampati forever and ever 
continuously. (Have NO DOUBTS ABOUT IT; It has been told and promised by 
SRI RAMA Himself; He is the Satya Vratan.-Parama kAruNyan- He was ready 
to forgive even rAvaNA, if he surrenders. Have we committed more paapam 
than rAvaNA? He will forgive us too- all that He wants is (y)our 
SURRENDER at His Lotus Feet) 

This jIvAtmA, by its very nature has been blessed with limitless 
knowledge (jnAnam) and is of aanandha swarUpam". It is jIvAtmAÂ’s nature 
to be of EmperumaanÂ’s servant and render eternal kaimkaryam to the Lord. 
But, when jIvAtmA is in physical bodies, it gets attached to matter and 
forgets its Divine nature and belongingness to the Lord. Due to karmAs 
and actions, paapams and puNyams, due to vibharItha jnAnam that the body 
is permanent, all bliss and unbounded jnAnam are blocked and forgotten 
by jIvAtmA. i.e jIvAtmA enjoys the Divine Bliss and gets jnAnam only to 
certain extent (limited extent); After mOksham, it gets back to its 
original position.  There is nothing new it gets; it gets back to where 
it belongs. It gets its natural paripoorNa aanandham, paripoorNa jnAnam. 

These jIvAtmAs are of three types: 

1.  Bhatthar- they are trapped in samsaaric ills and are in viscious 
cycle of births and deaths, experiencing sorrows and pleasures 
alternately. They are bound by karmAs. 
2.  Mukthar: In this life, the human being, who gets to his AchAryA and 
with his grace and kataaksham, surrenders to the Lotus Feet of Sriya: 
Pathih and reaches SriVaikuntam after the life, and attains mOksham- he 
gets into Mukthar category. Mukthar renders eternal service to Sriya: 
Pathih, enjoying the absolute bliss, pErAnandham.  
3.  Nityar- There is no bondage of karmAs for them and they always 
render eternal service to Sriman Narayanan. GarudA, VishvaksEnar, 
AdhsEshan are all Nityar categories. They are of suddha satvam. 

AchEtanA- There is no intelligence for achEtanA. Hence, it does not 
enjoy. It is always to be enjoyed by others. ChEtanAs enjoy the 
achEtanAs. AchEtanAs are classified into prakriti, kaalam and  
suddhasatvam. 
  
Prakriti- This is also addressed as Moola Prakriti, ThriguNam, 
Avyaktham, or Pradhaanam etc.. This has three guNAs, i.e satva, rajas 
and thamas. This prakriti always undergoes changes. When the three guNAs 
become EQUAL in quantum, there comes the Cosmic Cycle end- i.e PraLayam. 
When they differ in quantum, there comes "mahat" tatvam out of Prakriti. 
Out of mahat comes Ahankaaram. 

Kaalam- This expands and spans everywhere. This is constituted by Past 
Present and Future. But this does Not have satva, rajas, tamas. This is 
divided into various measures of time. 

Suddha satvam- This has got ONLy satva guNam. SriVaikuntam is FULL OF 
THIS SUDDHA SATVAM. In this world, all archAvbathAra ThirumEni of 
Emperumaan in the temples are also of Suddha Satvam. 

Iswaran: As described earlier, VedAs proclaim that Sriman NarayNan is 
the SarvEshwaran; Sarva Vallabhan, Sarvayagnan, Parathvam. He, by His 
unbounded, limitless, jnAnam, swarUpam, occupies everywhere in 
AnandhaswarUpam. He is the One who creates everything. He is the One who 
destroys everything; He is the Same one who protects everything; BrahmA 
only has been assigned by Sriman NarayaNA to do the creation work. So is 
Sivan for destruction. They are all at His command. Sriman Narayanan is 
the essence of everything and everyone at all times; Those who worship 
any other demigod or devathA or deities, get all their benefits through 
their devatAs from Sriman NarayaNan only. (It is His own statement in 
GITA-Let us have NO DOUBTS ABOUT it). 

Under all situations and in all avataars, He is always accompanied by 
Sri MahAlakshmi -Periya Piraatti. She stays in His chest. She is 
NiyAnapaayinee. She is also of same nature and powerful as Sriman 
NarayaNan and is also unbounded and limitless.  (Being a mother, She is 
more merciful at us, the paapAtmAs and forgives us immediately and 
recommends us to Him for redemption- There is no word to describe Her 
guNAs- "seerithyEvacha nAmathE bhagawathI bhrUmah kathas thwAm vayam)"  
Except for Piraati and Sriman NarayaNan all others are jIvAtmAs. BrahmA 
and Sivan are also described as positions or posts/designations like 
IndrA, which the Greatest puNya jIvAtmAs occupy and get these glorified 
posts to render service to Sriya: pathih. (I have even heard that 
AnjanEyA is going to be the next BrahmA). 

ISwaranÂ’s Divine body (ThirumEni) is of five types., viz., Param, 
VyUham, Vibhavam, Antharyaami and Arcchai. 

1.  Param: The Lord who is at Sri Vaikuntam.
2.  VyUham: The Four Moorthys addressed as VasudEvan, SankarshaNan, 
Pradhyumanan and Aniruddhan. (Explanation of  these mUrthys is beyond 
the scope of this article.)
3.  Vibhavam- Raman, KrishNan- such avataars - there are many avataars 
taken by the Lord; Out of them, the important ten are the DasAvathAram;- 
other are like., Hayagreevan, PadmanAbhan, Hamsam, et al. 
4.  Antharyaami- the sUkshma status of the Lord Who exists inside the 
cave of every beingÂ’s heart. (Hrudaya kamalam).  
5.  Arcchai: In all Divya dEsams and in other temples- The Lord- Sriya: 
Pathih is the ArchAvataara ThirumEni. 

In the next post, it is intended to cover sarIra Athma bhAvam, Hitham, a 
brief reference to Pancha samskarams, mAnasIka ArAdhanam, etc. 

AchAryAL ThiruvadigaLE saraNam


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