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ThirunArAyaNapuram SatAri Kaimkaryam : Two Questions--> Part II

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Sadagopan • January 3, 2000 


Dear BhakthAs :

AdiyEn will address the significance of the name ,
SaThAri /Sri SaThakOpam (SatAri) in this posting.
The fund assembly for this Kaimkaryam will conclude 
at the end of sunset today as announced earlier .

Terminology of the Sacred SatAri in our SampradhAyam
****************************************************

At the outset , my thanks to the BhakthAs , who
helped me to gain a clearer understanding of 
the Sri SatAri sambhandhams . 

** The Lotus Thiruvadis of PerumAL mounted on
the ornamental cone pedestal are specially 
consecrated and worshipped as "Sri SaTakOpam "
and " Sri SatAri" in the Sri VaishNavite 
dhivya Desams only.

** "Sri SatakOpam " is in our temple worship
is an an "object -de-Sacre" or sacred entity 
in itself and is verily like the SaLagrAma-
SrimUrthy or the ArchAvathAra Moorthys at
Dhivya Desams. 

** There are two reasons for this special veneration
of Dhivya MaNi PaadhukAs as revealed to us by our
AchAryAs in general and Swamy Desikan in particular:

(1) Sri SatAri is the concretisaion ( realized ideal)
of our sacred Manthra Rathnam ( dhvayam ).
Sri SatAri is Swamy NammAzhwAr personified and
He is the one , who envisioned Manthra rathnam as 
Manthra DhrashtA in His Tamizh MaRai (Vedham) , when
He proclaimed at the feet of the Lord " akallillEn
iraiyum enru AlarmElmangaiuRai MaarbhA". In this
sacred paasuram ,SaTakOpar describes His svarUpam 
clearly ( adiyEn, aruvinayEn--) and then discusses His 
Seshathvam and Aakinchanyam as anga poorthi for 
His SaraNAgathi and performs His SaraNAgathi 
to the Lord of Seven Hills . In this celebrated
Paasuram , the entire meaning of Dhvayam is
captured . Swamy NammAzhwAr performs His SaraNAgathi
to the Lord through invocation of the PurushakAram 
of Periya PirAttiAr . The NithyAnupAyini and
Her divine consort ,the ApAra KaaruNya Souseelya 
Vaathsalya Nidhi , are approached for saraNAgathi 
with MahA VisvAsam by Swamy NammAzhwAr here .
At the end of this Patthu , Swamy NammAzhwAr
declares :" Ivai patthum piDitthAr piDitthAr
VeeRRirunthu PeriyavaanUL nilAvuvarE"
( Those who master this decad will be
ordained to perform without doubt ,divine 
kaimkaryam in Sri Vaikuntam to ThirunArAyaNan ;
adiyEn decalres that even those , who cling
to those , who cling to these BhagavathAs will 
secure this boon as reward ).That then is 
the Mahimai of Sri SatAri celebrated by
Swamy Desikan in His Sri PaadhukA Sahasram 
at Srirangam .

(2) Given the fact that Sri SatAri(Swamy
NammAzhwAr ) is the Thiruvadi of PerumAL 
Himself , we are tempted to ask who is
Swamy NammAzhwAr's Thiruvadi and who is
AchArya RaamAnujA's Thiruvadi in our 
SampradhAyam . It is in this context of
referring to any person or object or 
Sri Sookthi by its appropriate name ,
we have to serve , preserve and expound
on them with all reverence and humility .
For all of us , as followers of Bhagavath-
RaamAnuja Darsanam , the veneration of
One's AchAryA's sacred feet is the sine-qua-non
of our sampradhAyam . It is in this context ,
appropriate terminology has been arrived at 
for our practise :

**PerumAL's satAri:
********************
Swamy NammAzhwAr is the Paadhukai 
of SarvEswaran .Swamy Desikan salutes hence ,
the dhivya MaNi Paadhukai of the Lord as 
" Mukundha-PaadhAmbhuja-DhAriNi " ( the sacred
Paadhukai of the Moksham-granting Lord ).
In every dhivya Desam , the paadhukai is
Swamy NammAzhwAr . Some of them are ancient
like the one at ThirunArAyaNan's sannidhi
at MelkOte/Yathi sailam . Others are from recent 
times . For instance a Bhakthan from Melkote 
advised me that the 2 Kilo , 24 carat Golden
Satari at ThirunArAyaNan's sannidhi is 
a SamarpaNam by His Highness Sri Krishna 
Raaja WodayAr , the former MaharAjA of Mysore
some 200 years ago .  

Swamy NammAzhwAr's SatAri
************************** 
** AchArya RaamAnujA is seen at the holy
feet of Swamy NammAzhwAr in His Archaa-
Vigrahams. Sri Nathamuni and Madhurakavi
AzhwAr are seen on the sides of NammaazhwAr.
We fully recognize the great Madhura kavi 
AzhwAr as the principal sishyar of Swamy
NammazhwAr .Since AchArya RaamAnujA 
is found at the sacred feet of Swamy NammazhwAr  , 
it appears justified to call AchArya RaamAnujA 
as the PaadhukAs of Swamy NammAzhwAr .
The "Polika Polika " Paasuram of Swamy NammAzhwAr 
celebrating the vision of samruddhi ( the great revival 
and growth) of Sri VaishNava Dharmam is thus linked 
to " the Bhavishyath AchAryan" ( the future 
AchAryan after Swamy NammazhwAr's times),
EmperumAnAr. Hence , the Paadhukais at 
Swamy NammAzhwAr sannidhi at ThirukkuruhUr 
is revered as " IrAmAnusan ".

AchArya RaamAnujar's SatAri
****************************
** Who then is the Paadhukai of AchArya 
RaamAnujA ? Mudali-ANDAN (Daasarathy )
represents the sacred feet of AchArya 
RaamAnujan at His sannidhis such as in 
MelkOte, Sri PerumbhUdhUr and Srirangam .
Among those four special sishyAs consecrated 
in the archai of Sri RaamAnujA , Mudali-ANDAN
is pradhAnam in the sense that he is considered
as Sri RaamAnuja PaadhukA .He is also known as
Sri RaamAuja pavithram just as KuratthAzhwAn
is rcognized as Sri RaamAnujA's DaNDam (sacred 
staff ).For us then, the bejeweled SatAri under 
preparation with your generous support will
be Mudali-ANDAN, the Paadhukai of Sri RaamAnujA .

Sri Thirumanjanam Sundararajan of Srirangam is
visiting his family now in Virginia. By copy of this 
note , adiyEn requests him to post on the Vaibhavam
of Mudal-ANDAN and thnak him in advance .

Subhamasthu,
adiyEn, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan