Re: Questions
From the Bhakti List Archives
• August 21, 1998
>From: Mani Varadarajan>Subject: Re: Questions >Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1998 10:41:49 -0700 Dear Sri Mani Varadarajan : > >Sri Sadagopan wrote: >> I recall a similar occasion with H.H. The DevanArvilAgam >> Jeeyar ( 43rd Jeeyar ). His mother , brother and wife >> were totally opposed to Sri Lakshmi NarasimhAcchAr >> swamy ( purvAsrama Name of the Jeeyar ) accepting the sanyAsa >> aasramam at the behest of H.H. the InjimEttu Jeeyar (42nd Jeeyar). >> They would not hear of it , but were helpless >> in stopping him . > >How is this possible? From what I recall about the >process of taking sannyAsa, one must request and have >the permission of one's parents (if one is unmarried, >i.e., a brahmacAri) or one's wife (if one is married, >i.e., a gRhastha) before one can enter sannyAsa ASrama.> >If the 43rd jIyar's wife did not want him to enter >the fourth ASrama when he was a gRhastha, should he >not have refused? My response to your query will touch on number of historical incidents to describe the pakkuvam ( perfection ) that one reaches to enter into the fourth aasramam . This asramam is surely not for every one .When the krupA of the Lord falls on any one , then deha , kaala , dEsA visEshams do not play any role . Example of Aadhi SankarA ************************ It is the general practise to seek the permission of one's parents to enter into SanyAsa Aasramam . Adhi Sankara did so at the tender age of seven or eight . His widowed Mother naturally refused permission . She changed her mind only when there was a larger danger to her son's life at the riverside at Kaladi . The pleased Adhi Sankara promised to be at her side during her last moments ( Composition of Sri VishNu bhujangam to place her jeevan in the hands of VishNu kinkarAs ) and did some thing special like cremating her dead body even if the SanyAsis are not allowed to do so . He rememberd his earlier pledge to his mother . His moving appeals in Bhaja Govindham are also relevant here in the context of " staying in " or"leaving the world " : kasthvam kOham kutha aayatha: kaa mE jananI kO mE taatha: ithi paribhaavaya sarvamasAram visvam tyakthvA---------------- (Meaning ) :Reflecting thus as to who I am , Who you are ,whence did I originate , who is my mother , who is my father and recognizing from such inquiries about the insubstantial aspect of samsAram and persuaded by that truth , one "leaves" the world . He also commented on the power and pull of the desires of life even for a SanyAsi and warned to keep the mind blissful over ceaseless smaraNam of Sriman NaarAyaNA . The two verses relevant to this line of thought are the one's dealing with the power of aasA paasam and the one about dhruva smruthi (ceaseless rememberance ) of the Supreme in whatever aasramaa one is in . agrE vahni: prushtE bhAnu: raathrou chupuka samarpitha jaanu : kara tala bhikshastarutala vaasa: tadhApi na munchathyAsApAsa : (Meaning):The sanyaasi has the fire in front of him ( Most of the sanyAsis do not have agni rituals) and the sun beating with its hot rays behind him . At night , he sleeps with his chin resting on his knee to ward off the cold . He has the begging bowl on his hands and makes his residence under the trees(homeless) and yet , his aasA paasam ( attachment to the world and desires ) do not leave him . yOgarathO vaa bhOgarathO vaa sangarathO vaa sangavihIna : yasya BrahmaNi ramathE chittham nandhathi nandhathi nandhathyEva (Meaning ) :He can be engaged in performance of Yogam ; he can be engaged in enjoying sensual pleasures . He can be bonded to kith and kin or he can be without attachments like a sanyAsi . As long as one's mind is sporting in the thoughts over the Supreme one , then , that one has true bliss . In these two slOkams of Bhaja Govindham , Adhi Sankara points out the futility of taking sanyAsa Vesahm ( KaashAyAmbhara bahu krutha Vesha : , Udhara nimmittham bahau krutha Vesha :) , if one can not conquer the temptations of worldly life and concludes : sakrudhapi yEna MurAri samarchA kriyathE tasya yamEna na charchA (Meaning) :When one performs well AarAdhanam for MurAri even once , he has no arguments with Dharma RaajA . He wins the arguments against narakam . The pre-disposed ones dread the repeated cycles of births and deaths and long for release from the samsAram thru mOksham : punarapi jananam Punarapi maraNam punarapi jananI jatirE sayanam iha samsArE bahu dusthArE krupayAaparE paahi MurArE The prayer here is to MurAri to come to his rescue and save him from the terrors of samsAraam and the repeating cycles of births , deaths and garbah vaasam . Sri VaishNavite AzhwArs and AchAryAs ************************************ Our AzhwAr's and AchAryA's pleas are in a similar vein . aanDai unaik kaaNpathOr aruLenakkaruLithiyEl vEnDEn manai VaazhkayayaiViNNagar mEyavanE -- Thirumangai on ThiruviNNagarappan no body was more ardent than Thirumangai Mannan in seeking the hands of his dear love , Kumudhavalli ; when he got blessed with upadEsam from the Brahmma Guru , He turned away from that wedded life. Kumudhavalli's avathAra kaaryam was also completed by that time . The pakkuvam comes at different stages of one's life or over many births . He or She becomes a MahAthmA in the spirit of GeethAchAryan's utterance : Vaasudeva: sarvamithi sa mahAthma sudhurlabha: Some times , the TuriyAasramamam is blessed directly by the Lord ( the First Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt ) , some times during grave dangers confronted by one as in the case of Aadhi SankarA or NaarayaNa TheerthA . Some times out of aarthi as in the case of MaNavALa Maamuni or due to asahyApachAram by the ones dear to them as in the case of AchArya RaamAnujA . As a result , one can say that age is no guideline to elect entrance into sanyAsAsramam . Physical age and " mental age " also do not always coincide for human beings . The case of NaarAyaNa TheerthA ******************************* NaarayaNa theertha , a haapily married man was rushing for reunion with his wife at her father's home . During that travel , he had to swim across a swollen river to reach the other side to get to his destination .Half way thru the swim , he was about to drown and did not want anymore future births and decided instantly to take Aapath SanyAsam . He plucked one hair from his tuft and uttered the PrEksha manthram . Few seconds later, he managed to find his strength and swam ashore safely . He reached his father-in-law's home and joined his wife's side . When his wife saluted him , she saw another person in him , who was far nobler and more pious in appearnace (a mahA purushA ) than the husband that she knew until then . She was unsure of maintaining the conjugal relationship with such a mahA purushA . She was perplexed and asked her parents for help in resolving this mysterious change . Her father learned from the son-in-law as to what had happened in the middle of the river and understood that a transformation indeed had happened by divine intervention . The wife fell at the feet of her husband , who was blessed to enter into the new aasramam by Providence and bade farewell to him with a heavy heart . NarayaNa TheerthA left " home" and made the world his home thereafter .He went on to compose Sri KrishNa LeelA TarangiNi and had ankeekAram of his compositions from the Lord of VarahUr temple , who thru the ringing of the ankle bells ( kaal Silampoli ) indicated his acceptance. When he did not hear the feedback , NaarAyaNa theerthA did not include the unapproved songs . The situation is very similar to that of Sri NaarayaNa Bhattadhiri , who got approval from Sri GuruvAyUrappan for his Sri NaarayaNIyam slOkams. The 43rd Jeeyar( 1901-1957) & his sanyAsam ******************************************* H.H the 43rd Jeeyar was born in the year 1901 . He accepted sanyAsramam Feb 9, 1951 . He was FIFTY then . He did not need permission from his mother or wife in a saastraic sense . He had sveekaaram ( adoption ) of his brother's son as his son , since he did not have santhathi (progeny of his own ) . He was coronated as the PeetAdhipathi on March 13, 1953 at the age of 52 .He reached Azhagiya Singar's lotus feet on 24th November ,1957 at NaimisAraNyam , where the ancient sages assembled many a time to perform great Yaj~nams and to hear Sukha Brahmam expound Srimadh Bhaagavatham . H.H. The Jeeyar was born in the family of great servants of Sri Oppiliappan at DhEvanAr ViLAgam , which is one mile away from Oppiliappan Sannadhi . His mother was born in PoundarIkapuram . He was given the naamam of " Sri LakshmI Narasimhan " at the command of Azhagiya Singar . At that time of his birth ( 1901) , There was no reigning peetAdhipathi at Ahobila Matam .The Matam was in "receivership" and was administered by an agent and Sri Sannadhi ParichArakar . Latter arrived at the home of the parents of the Jeeyar-to-be and told the would-be father ( Sri ThiruvenaktAcchAr Swamy ) that a male child will be born the next day and he should be named after MaalOlan . That is how , our Jeeyar got his name. >From a temder age , his mind was rooted in Bhagavadh AarAdhanam and Sri Oppiliappan's Kaimkaryam .His anushtAnam and AchArya Bhakthi were legendary .He has presided over many MaalOla Sadas . He has recited daily Thirumangai's mangaLAsAsanam : " vEndEn manai vaazhkayai ViNNavar mEyavanE " and with the blessings of Sri Bhumi Devi SamEtha Oppiliappan entered SanyAsAsramam . He gained nithya Kaimkarya BhAgyam at Sri Vaikuntam at NaimisArANyam with the prayrs of Thirumangai in his lips : " NaaDi naan vanthun ThiruvaDi adainthEn NaimisAraNyatthuthuLenthAi " . He had observed earlier ChAthurmAsyam at HrishikEsh and worshipped at BadarikAsramam prior to arrival at NaimisAraNyam . You might recall in this context that Thirumangai started his blessed Thirumozhi with salutations to Badari NaarAyaNan , SaaLigrAmamam and NaimisAraNYatthu EmperumAns . Our revered 43rd Jeeyar is verily an avathAram of Thirumangai AzhwAr and followed his foot steps in more ways than one . AzhwAr , AchAryAL ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan
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