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Swamy Desikan-10- Thaapa samskaram, UrdhvapuNdram- ThUppul maNdapam appeal

From the Bhakti List Archives

Madhavakkannan V • August 31, 2001 


SrI:
SrImathe Ramanujaya namah:
SrImathe Nigamantha mahadesikaya namah:
SrImAn venkatanAthAryaH kavitArkika kesarI |
vedAntAcArya-varyome sannidhattAm sadA hRdi ||

May the glorious Venkatanatha, the greatest of teachers of Vedanta, and the 
lion among poets and debaters, reside forever in my heart.

Dearest Srivaishnavas,

I am continuing on my appeal and posts on Swamy Desikan and appeal for 
Thuppul maNdapam kaimkaryam. URL: 
http://www.geocities.com/lsriniva/thoopulappeal.html
It is my humble request to please contribute your mite towards this 
kaimkaryam, as remembering Acharyan, and talking alone will not suffice.

Let us continue to enjoy SwamyÂ’s GREAT works.

Last week, we saw Saccharitharaksha, which is divided into three parts with 
the titles:

SudharsanapaanchajanyadhAranavidhi
UrdhvapuNdra dhAraNa vidhi
BhagavannivEdhithOpAyOga vidhi

Swamy Desikan starts the Sacharitharaksha which establishes the absolute and 
prime need of Pancha samskaram:

(meaning of 1st sloka): Let us carry the people on our head who bear the 
mark of Sudharsana and Paanchajanya; who wear the UrdhvapuNdra (ThirumaN 
kaappu); who consume only the food offered to the Lord and by virtue of the 
above who are saluted even by NithyasUris.

SruthyA smruthyA purANEna sEthihAsEna jabyathE |
PancharAThrENa viprANAm thapthachakrAdhiDhAraNam ||

Sruthis, Smruthis PurAnAs Ithihasas, ordain that Brahmins should bear 
Sudharsana and Panchajanya marks..

Swamy establishes the thaapa samskara quoting from Brahma samhitha, 
MahOpanidhad of Atharva vEda.

Bear chakra on right shoulder; and shankhu on the left.

dhakshiNe thu bhujE vipra vibhuyAdDhai sudharsanam |
savyE thu sankham vibruyAdhithi brahmavidhO vidhu: ||

An objection on the basis of cruelty can not stand since Utsarga apavada 
rule is valid (for every rule, there is an exception). In mImAmsa, the 
general rule is “na himsyAth sarvAbhUthAni- has an exception which is 
“agnishOmiyam paSumAlabEtha | Sandilya smruthi says: Cow, Son, and other 
household articles should be stamped with Shanka and Chakra and named with 
Srivaishanava names.

Vasishta smruthi : The chakra chinha (stamp with chakra) has to be done by a 
person to his son (or disciple) at the time of jaata karma or Chowla (after 
third or fourth year to make the child wear shikhA) or at the time of 
upanayanam or sending to the Gurukulam to learn Vedas.

In the conversation among Yama, Arjuna and Lord Krishna, contained in Matsya 
purANA, Krishna says:

“It is rare to come across a person who is devoted and who bears the mark of 
my chakrA. This person does not get into the clutches of Yama (mrithyu) 
which means he does not go to hell.”

Let us talk more about the FAMOUS UrdhvapuNdradhAraNa vidhi (ThirumaN- 
SriChoorNam)
All of us have these doubts as to where the saasthRAs says that one should 
wear Thiruman kappu. Swamy Desikan has beautifully explained it in this 
work.

Vedic authority of Urdhva puNdram dhAraNam is:

GruthOdhvapuNdra: paramESithAram nArAyaNam saankhya yOgAdhi gagyam | jnAthvA 
vimuchyEtha nara: samasthai: samsaara paaSairiha chaiva vishNu: ||

MahOpanishad statement above sys: One who wear Urdhva puNdra and meditates 
on lord Sriman Narayanan and realizes Him through his mid gets liberated 
from the bondage of samsaara.

In Paancharaathra samhitha it is said:

yagnO dhAnam thapou hOma: bhOjanam pithru tharpaNam
sarvE bhavanthi viphalaa: Urdhva puNdram vinAkruthA:

Yaga, charity, penance, daily sacrifice, taking food, offering libations of 
water to manes (argyam?)  etc., is all null and viod if one does without 
wearing Urdhva pUndram. Libations means pouring of water in honour of God. 
Manes means spirit of the dead (deceased Father, Mother. Grand father, Grand 
mother, Great grand father, Great grand mother et al).
pithru tharpaNam means offering water with sesame seeds to those twelve 
Pithru dEvathAs. Hence, wearing Urdhva pUndram is essential. The shape of 
Urdhva pUndra should be in the shape of HaripAdakruthi (in the shape of the 
Lotus Feet of Sriman Narayanan). In Varaaha pUrAna Lord says:

yEkAnthina: mahAbhAgA: math swarUpa vidha: amalA:
sAntharAlAn prakurvIran puNdrAn *mama padhaa kruthin*

As per Brahmaanandha purAna, in the middle of every Urdhva puNdra, which is 
wide and good looking, Lord Sriman Narayanan stays with His Consort Goddess 
Mahalakshmi. The symbol of Mahalakshmi is Sri choorNam which may be either 
in red or yellow colour.

Bhagawan NivedithOpayOga vidhi (the third work listed above) which means 
every Srivaishnavan has to eat only the food offered to Lord Sriman 
Narayananin His archA form which may be His aatthu perumAL duly consecrated 
according to the prescribed procedure mentioned in Paancharaartha Saasthra 
and worshipped daily, or Saaligraamam at home. In Saaligraama, the Lord is 
ever present and no AvAhanam (consecration) is necessary;

The opening verse in the chapter is

aTha: chakshupmathAm saasthrai: chathuvargAbilAshiNAm |
vishNO: nivEdhE thasyaiva bhOjyEthvam prathipAdhyathE ||

(Meaning) For those who see things through saasthrAs (scriptures) only; ( in 
other words) for those whose conduct, actions and daily routine are strictly 
according to the saasthrAs and for those who are desirous of attaining four 
goals which are dharma, artha, kaama mOksha- the food to eat is that offered 
to Lord Vishnu only.

After dealing with the objections to the above mentioned, Swamy Desikan over 
rules the objectsions and refutes the opponentsÂ’ arguments, quoting 
elaborately from Vedas, Pancharathra Samhithas, Ithihasas, and Saatvika 
PurANas, establishes the above three works which can never be revoked by 
anybody. “na bhUtho; na bhavishyathi:”

Thus, Swamy Desikan in the three chapters, establishes by his beautiful and 
inimitable style and power of arguments based strictly on scriptures, the 
three important customs and rituals of Srivaishnavas which are Pancha 
samskaram, UrdhvapuNdradhAraNam and partaking of the food offered to the 
Lord Sriman Narayanan in archa form.

There is no Srivaishnava sampradayam without these three customs. In this 
connection, a fervent appeal is made to every Srivaishnava to strictly 
adhere to the above customs and eschew any contact or worship of any deities 
other than Lord VishNu.
(The above article is based on write up of Sri U Ve Anantha 
Naarasihmachariar Swamin of Srirangam)

Please donate according to your shakthi. The money can be sent to "Thuppul 
Trust" and the address is:

Thuppul Trust
Old No.20, New No.24, Thiruvengadam Street
West Mambalam, Chennai-600033, India
Phone No: 91-44-4741559 / 91-44-3715771

Please contact Sri. V.K. Sudharshan at vksudarsh@vsnl.com or Sri Lakshmi N 
Srinivasa  lsriniva@hotmail.com (He can collect and send it as single amount 
in USA).

The address:

Lakshminarasimhan Srinivasa
3 Old Towne Road, #212
Ayer, MA-01432

For those in the South East Asia, please contact me at 
srivaishnavan@hotmail.com . Please pass on this kaimkaryam to as many people 
as possible in order to complete the same.

kavi-tArkika-simhAya kalyANa-guNa-SAline |
Srimate venkateSAya vedAntagurave namaH ||

Salutations to Sri Venkatesa, in whom all perfection resides, who is the 
teacher of Vedanta and the lion among poets and debaters!

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards
Narayana Narayana
NarayaNa dAsan madhavakkannan

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