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Sri VaishNavam-4

From the Bhakti List Archives

Madhavakkannan V • April 5, 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 
sEnainAthan/
	Innamudhath ThirumagaLenRu ivarai munnittu/ Emperumaan ThiruvadigaLai 
adaiginREnE!

ManthrAs: 

1.  AshtAksharam: With complete purity, (with no "theetu"), this shall 
be carried out daily, (even in the evening also, if one can take bath 
and recite this japam with a pure heart and mind/body, it is still 
fine.)
2.  Dwayam: one can recite this any number of times, anywhere wherever 
possible;
3.  saramaslOkam- sarva dharmaan...maa su cha:- this Bhagawadh gItA 
slokam (from 18 th chapter) is called sarama slOkam which gives leverage 
to us for performing prapatti (saranAgathy). 

The Meanings of these three ManthrAs: ( only the meanings are going to 
be detailed; not the manthrAs)

1.  AshtAksharam: Sriman NarAyaNan has got the limitless, unbounded, 
most auspicious (kalYANa guNAs). He is always with Periya Pairaatti Sri 
MahAlakshmi. He protects all. He is the essence of everything. He is the 
AthmA of chEthanAs and achEthnAs. For chEthanAs, He himself is the 
upaayam (means) and upEyam (end). He Himself is the Fruit for chEthanAs. 
JIvAthmA is the atom. He s also a jnAnaswarUpi. He is always the 
servant, by his nature, of Sriya: Pathi Sriman NarayaNan and Sri 
MahAlakshmi. Such a jIvAthmA, the servant, I(adiyEn), will always render 
service to PerumAL and Pratti for ever and ever. 

2.  Dwayam: I am surrendering at the Feet of Sriman NarayaNan, who is 
always with Periya Piraatti, Sri MahAlakshmi. This jIvAthmA is not mine; 
It is Sriman NarayaNanÂ’s property. Its benefits that the jIvAthmA reaps 
also belong to Him. Always, I will keep rendering service to Emperumaan 
Sriman NarayaNan. For rendering that kaimkaryam- whatever bad thoughts, 
ill desires, hurdles or anything that precludes me to perform such 
kaimkaryam for Emperumaan will also get alleviated and destroyed by His 
grace. 

3.  Sarama slOkam: Lord KrishNA Himself says to ArjunA in Bhagavadh gItA 
: "Due to your inability to follow other yOgAs for attaining mOksham, 
you have abandoned the other means to attain mOksham and considered only 
prapatti (surrendering to me). Do not worry. Surrender unto Me once with 
complete faith. I will gladly bless you and destroy all your sins and 
karmAs; Even if you try to remove these karmAs and sins accumulated over 
the ages, you just can not succeed in removing them completely. I will 
save you from all that. JUST SURRENDER UNTO "ME ALONE" COMPLTELY. I will 
grant you mOksham and Parama bhAghyam of rendering eternal service to Me 
at Srivaikuntam along with eternal absolute enjoyment. Do Not lament at 
all for any thing hereafter." 

(Note that God's assurances to humanity, particularly that given to His 
ardent devotees, which are interspersed in sacred literature, will never 
go in vain. Many are His declarations but one among them brings cheer 
and hope to those who may at times get demoralised on account of 
continuous suffering. 

``Listen to My oath. The heavens may fall from their height. The snowy 
peaks of the Himalayas may slip and come down. The seas may dry up. The 
earth may shiver into a million pieces. But the statements of Krishna 
will never be empty words.'' This promise was extended directly by Lord 
Krishna.) 

The exact explanations and commentaries (as well as the upadEsams of 
these manthrAs) will have to be learnt at the Feet of AchAryA by doing 
kaalakshEpam. Everyday, one should recite these three manthrAs (as far 
as possible).

Recap: AshtAksharam: only after a bath-with pure body/mind and clothing. 
Dwayam: anywhere, anytime, any place- this can be recited. Always think 
and recite the sarama slOkam in order to remind ourselves the truthful, 
correct statement of the Lord. Always think of these meanings while 
reciting in order to enable you to more mind onto reciting them. (Even 
if you donÂ’t know the meaning, Lord will still be pleased!- since they 
are rahasya manthrams, they are not published here; however, should some 
one be interested to know, read and recite and are in a position away 
from their AchAryAs, please let me know so that I can send them the 
private e-mail- In fact when I asked Srimad Poundareekpuram Andavan 
Swami, whether it is proper to send swamiÂ’s upadEsam on these meanings 
in English to Bhakti Group, Swami smiled and said they should not be 
sent to wrong persons. If some vaishNavites are interested to know, you 
can always send them- How compassionate and merciful Swami is! ).

GranthAs:

After Pancha samskaaram, SrivaishNavan is to do kaalakshEpam at the 
sannidhi of AchAryA at least one of the following granthAs: 

1.  Sri BhAshyam - Sri RamanujAÂ’s vyAkhyaanam (purport) of bhramha 
sUthram of BhOdhaayanar (refer to first post).
2.  Bhagavadh gItA BhAshyam of Sri RamanujA
3.  Thiruvaaimozhi vyAkhyaanam of Thirukkurugaippiraan PiLLaan (Sri 
RamanujAÂ’s sishya)
4.  Sri Vedanta DesikarÂ’s Srimadh Rahsyatraya saaram (RTS) (thraya- 
means three- these rahasya manthrAs have been explained in these RTS. 
Just learning this will enable us to know about our traditions) .  

AchArya Mahimai (Greatness of AchAryA)

The AchArya who showed such a Grand route for us to attain mOksham and 
the eternal Bliss is to be greatly revered and respected. He is to be 
considered by us equal to the Lord or rather more than the Lord. We 
should always pay respects to him and always think of him (at least 
while praying to The Lord in the morning). If we are able to donate for 
his duties as AchAryA or render any sort of kaimkaryam to AchAryA, we 
SHOULD NEVER THINK THAT we are doing some help for him; or we have done 
our duty paying back for what he has done to us. What he has done to us 
can never be repaid. (even if we give the three worlds to him, it will 
not equal an iota of grace and mercy he has showered on us by his 
upadEsam and kataaksham- Maathru dEvO bhavA! Pithru dEvO bhavA! AchArya 
dEvO bhavA! Athithi dEvO bhavA! - Even our own parents are considered 
equal to AchAryA and God as well. Hence, SrivaishNavan should EQUALLY 
pay respects to the Parents and take care of them in their old age as 
much as we take care of our children.  Any other prayer to Lord will not 
please Him if we forget the parents or AchAryA) We should have the same 
Bhakti with the AchAryA as we have on Bhagawaan (and none less on our 
parents, too). 

One should always talk in praise of him; think of his mercy and 
qualities. Always at the back of our minds, we should think that there 
is no possibility of repaying him back for all that he has done to us. 
It is a fact, too. One should celebrate his birthday (thirunakshthram) 
in a grand manner and thank him for this spiritual life. 

One should perform prapatti at AchAryAÂ’s Feet after doing kaalakshEpams 
(as explained earlier). The prapatti ceremony is NOT GRANTING us 
mOksham. It is the enjoyment that Lord gets by getting pleased with our 
act of surrender unto His Feet through His bhAgawathA, our AchAryA, is 
what that enables us attain mOksham. Hence, the cause for mOskahm is NOT 
prapatti, but the Lord who gets pleased! It is our preethi for 
Emperumaan that pleases Him; By performing Prapatti, He is definitely 
greatly pleased! So, He is SiddhOpaayam. Whereas the Prapatti is called 
saadhyOpaayam. 

Naama sangheerthanam:

Only Bhakti yOgham or Prapatti (surrender) can enable or facilitate us 
to attain mOksham- as vouched by saastrAs to a great extent.  But, same 
saastrAs, at some places say that just by uttering the LordÂ’s name will 
enable us attain mOksham or by taking bath in GangA or CauvEri or any 
other puNya sthalam will also facilitate to attain mOksham. Bhagawan 
Naama sangeerthanam is just adequate for attaining mOksham is also 
another school of thought. Staying at places like Srirangam is all that 
is required as told by few others. All that implies from the above is: 
Bhagawan Naama sangheerthanam, Punya nadhIs, puNya kshEthra vaasam- will 
all lead one a clearer mind, a purer atmosphere and will enable one to 
approach the AchArya for getting to know more; It will facilitate him to 
do good deeds, and do all that a sri vaishNava is required to do (as 
described above) and will perform sharaNAgathy. In the end, he attains 
mOksham. Thus, these DO YIELD mOksham; (like now we can add- one gets 
mOksham by joining in Bhakti Group- the saastrAs can be amended- because 
that facilitates us to now approach AchAryA- IT DEFINITELY DID 
FACILITATE ME! all posts of Bhakti group alone made me go on the faster 
track to my AchAryA. (uNmai- uNmai!) 

Two Important DonÂ’ts of SrivaishNavA:

1.  BhAgawatha apachaaram. BhAgawathAs- are EmperumaanÂ’s devotees, 
bhakthAs- we should never commit any apachaaram to them in any fashion. 
Whatever may be their caste, colour, creed, sex, or form, whether they 
are beautiful or ugly,  tall or short, learned or illiterate, we should 
pay respects to all bhakthAs of Lord Sriman Narayanan. Emperumaan will 
be totally pissed off displeased with the apacharams done to them; He 
can even forgive apachaarams to Him; but will never forgive our 
apachaarams to His bhakthAs. If we serve the bhakthAs full heartedly and 
help them in any fashion, that DEFINITELY pleases Emperumaan. It is the 
kaimkaryam done to Him actually. He accepts as the antharyaami in their 
hearts. 
2.  We should never consider other deities equal to Him. (here please 
remember the first donÂ’t- if you consider the other deity as the 
bhAgawathA of Sriman NarayaNA- please go right ahead and prostrate at 
the deityÂ’s feet; means we accept Sriman NarayNa is the Supreme head; 
this deity is His bhAgawathA and in this deity (or bhakthA of Narayana) 
stays Lord Sriman Narayanan as the antharyaami. BUT PLEASE DONÂ’T EQUATE 
ANY OTHER jIvAthmA to SRIMAN NARAYANA)

kaimkaryam- three types: Bhagawadh kaimkaryam, BhAgawatha kaimkaryam and 
AchArya kaimkaryam. AchArya kaimkaryam is the Greatest and foremost 
among them. We should try to do all these three kaimkaryams to please 
the Lord. (Posting to bhakti group any subject on Sriman Narayanan like 
Sri SadagopanÂ’s  is bhAgawatha kaimkaryam; Posting a request for 
Sillarai rahasyangal project (by Srimad  Pondareekapuram  Andavan 
Ashramam) is AchArya kaimkaryam done by Sri Ramesh. Posting a request 
for MaNickka koNdai for bhUmi piraati is bhagawadh kaimkaryam; by 
contributing to all these, we also render the respective kaimkaryams; SO 
IT IS CERTAIN THAT WE ARE GOING TO MEET AT THE LORDÂ’S FEET!- Perhaps it 
will be He who will introduce each one of us to others of our Group- 
because we have not seen each other! But He is in all of us!)

BhagawathAs- three types: 
1.  Those who do not worship other demi-gods as equal to Lord; but pray 
to Sriman NarayNan for material benefits and other desires. - they are 
called Ekaanthis. 
2.  Those who do not pray to Lord Sriman Naraynan for any material 
pursuits except mOksham are called Paramaikaanthis. 
3.  Those Paramaikaanthis, who after performing prapatti, do not even 
ask for mOkshaanubhavam; all that they ask for is for rendering eternal 
kaimkaryam to Divya Dampati and do such kaimkaryams (to other bhakthAs, 
AchAryA and to archAvathArams and antharyaami with ArAdhanams) are the 
Greatest BhAgawathAs. 

Some BhAgawathAs may have to earn money by working in the office and 
live in lowkika life/ environment to carry out their family welfare and 
to make both ends meet;  We should not look down at such bhAgawathAs; 
they may even have vices; they may even have some wrong or bad habits; 
we should not hurt their feelings by looking down at us and commit 
apachaarams to them- (if they are His bhakthAs- even EkAnthis!) Since 
they are His bhakthAs, they will come on the right track soonest - not 
to worry. 

SrivaishNavan- How he should be! 

Yes. We have done Panch samskaaram- we have surrendered to the Lord 
through our AchAryA. We have become His bhakthAs. Now what & how we 
should be? (BhAgawatha apachaaram- idhara dEvathA- we have already 
talked about)- The other doÂ’s and donÂ’ts - we will see in the next post 
along with greatness of Prapatti. 


Ram Ram

With Best Regards

NarayaNa dAsan madhavakkannan


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