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H.H. The Poundarikapuram Andavan's UpanyAsam : Part 1

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Sadagopan • January 3, 1999 


Dear BhakthAs ;

Yesterday , the revered AchAryA of Poundarikapuram 
Asramam blessed us with his Svasthi Vachanams and 
anugraha bhAshaNam . He plans to conclude this series 
of two upanyAsams on January 9 at 10.30 AM via 
the telephone bridge .The distinguished disciples of IdhAnim 
Poundarikapuram Andavan have asked me to summarize the upanyAsam
of this revered AchArya , whose AchAram , anushtAnam ,
VairAgyam and Scholarship are rspected by his fellow
yathisvarAs . Hailing from Poundarikapuram/Oppiliappan Koil
background , I consider it as a MahA BhAgyam to perform
this Kaimkaryam . Our hearty thanks are to the revered 
Andavan's sishyAs , Sri U.Ve .V.N. Venakatanathan 
of Oppiliappan Sannadhi ,Sri Murali Rangaswami , 
Sri Anbil Ramaswamy and the office bearers of Ahobila Mutt , 
who helped with the set up of the International telephone bridge .

The upanyAsam can be split into Four constituent parts :

1. Svasthi Vachanam , Sautations to pUrvAchAryAs    
   and Srirangam Divya Dampathis and recognition of 
   the Kaimkaryams of USA based BhakthAs to advance 
   the cause of our ancient sampradhAyam and a plea 
   to work together .

2. UpakAra Sangraham / BhagavAn's limitless help to us :
   Elaboration of the First verse of UpakAra Sangraham of 
   Swami Sri Desikan .

3. The Supermacy of ArchAvathAram over Para , VyUha ,
   Vibhava and AntharyAmi forms of the Pancha Roopi ,
   Sriman NaarAyaNA : Three facets of our conviction
   that Archai is the most important for us , as residents 
   of His LeelA vibhuthi , while we strive to attain Moksha
   Siddhi through SadAchArya Sambhandham and BhagavAn's 
   acceptance of our Prapatthi performed  by our sadhAchAryAs 
   on our behalf . 

4. The significance of ThAyAr's ( SitA PirAtti"s )
   auspicious katAksham on four occasions in Srimadh
   RaamAyaNam in the context of the use of the ThAyAr's
   kalyaaNa nAmam as " VisAlAkshi"  by Her prANa nAthan,
   Sri Raamachandra MahA Prabhu .

With pramAnams from AzhwAr's divya prabhandham , 
purvAchAryA's Sri Sookthis ,IthihAsams ,Quotations 
from KrishNa KarNAmrutham , the revered AchAryA 
drove home the twin messages of his upanyAsam :

(1) Sriman NaarAyaNA's limitless upakArams to us 
(2) the uniqueness of NamperumAL and the worship of 
Him in ArchAvathAram at Srirangam over and above 
the worship of Him by all of us through any one of 
His other four forms ( Param ,Vyuham , Vibhavam 
and AntharyAmi ).

1.Svasthi Vachanam and recoginition of Kaimkaryams
***************************************************
1.1: Introductiory Remarks by U.Ve.V.N.VenkatanAthan
*****************************************************
The great AchAryA was introduced by Sri Venakatanathan
first with great affection and reverence .He stressed 
on the importance of AchArya avalampanam and AchAryA's
mahOpakAram through his prayAsai and the need for anushtAnam 
after initiation through samAsrayaNam and the performance 
of Prapatthi . He mentioned that there is no substitute to 
show our gratefulness to the AchArya except to fall at 
his sacred  feet again and again ( puna: puna : PraNamya ).
He reminded us of our duties as SishyAs to our AchAryAs
with thoughts reminiscent of Sishya krithyAdhikAram ( Swami
Sri Desikan's AdhikAra sangraham : Paasuram 38 ):

yERRi manathezhin jn~Ana viLakkai yirulanaitthu
 mARRina varkkoru KAIMMAARU MAYANUM KAANAHILLAAN
pORRI yuhappathum punthiiR koLvathum ponghu puhazh
 sARRi valarpathum saRRalavO munnnam peRRathaaRkkE 
 
Sri Venkatanaathan concluded with an extension of 
his New year greetings to us all. 

1.2. Svasthi Vachanams by the Revered AchAryA
**********************************************

He commenced the upanyAsam with AchArya paramparai
anusandhAnam bequeathed to us by Swami Sri Desikan
in AdhikAra Sangraham ( Third Paasuram ) :

yennyuirtan taLittavarais Saranam pukki
  yAnadaivE yavarkurukka Nivarai vaNangi
pinnaruLARp PerumpUthUr vantha vaLLal
  Periyanampi yALavanthAr maNakka nampi
nanneRiyai yavarkkuraittha vyuuak koNdAr
  Naathamuni SatakOpan Senai naatha
ninnamudhat ThirumahaLen Rivarai munnitt-
  temperumAn RiruvadikaLadaihinREnE 

{ Meaning ): I take refuge at the sacred  feet 
of the ParamAcharyan, Sriman NaarAyaNan through
my Acharyan and their AchAryans in the order of 
Sri BhaashyakAra , Periya Nambi , AaLavanthAr ,
MaNakkAl Nambi , UyyakkoNdAr , Naathamuni ,
NammAzhwAr , VishvaksEnar , and Periya PirAtti . 

Next , Sri Andavan recited the AdhikAra Sangraham's
42nd paasuram of Swami Sri Desikan extolling the greatness
of Sri RanagarAjan's periya Koil at Srirangam in anticipation of
his focus on NamperumAL as the most important ArchA mUrthy , 
a theme that he was going to develop later:

aarAtha aruL amudham pothintha Koil 
 ambuyatthOn Ayoddhi mannaRkku aLittha Koil
tOlAtha tani Veeran thozhutha Koil
 sErAtha payan yellam sErkkum Koil
sezhu maRayin mudahl yezhutthu sErntha Koil
 theerAtha vinai anaitthum theerkkum Koil
Thiruvarangam yenat thihazhum Koil taanE

(meaning ) : Thiruvarangam is the divya dEsam , 
which is an insatiable nectar for our enjoyment ,
since it is the residence of Sri RanganAtha ,
the embodiment of Compassion for us. This Koil
was deeded to Emperor IshvAku of Surya Kulam 
by BrahmA ; it has the glory of being worshipped 
by Sri Ramachandra , a scion of that Surya Kulam ;
it is the succor to VibhishaNan , who seved as 
companion and help to Sri Ramachandran ; it is the Koil ,
which confrs us all the blessings that are not 
attainable from other Koils ; it is the Koil with 
its VimAnam in the form of PraNavam; it is the Koil that 
destroys all of our sins ; this indeed is the Koil
that is head and shoulder over all the other Koils .

1.3: Recognition of Thondars and Kaimkaryams
**********************************************

At the outset , Sri Andavan said that today , the resident
Sri VaishNava community of USA is distinuished by its
zeal (1) to perform  nithya karmAs sanctioned by SaasthrAs 
(2) organizing conferences on Sri VaishNavism to propagate
and disseminate our AchArya 's Sri Sookthis  
(3)the creation of new organizations such as Swami 
Desika Darsana Sathsangham and (4) the creation of
a new electronic journal like SaraNAgathi to
cover the most important doctrine of our sampradhAyam .
(5) suppot for many kaimkaryams initiated by 
SadAchAryAs in India . He noted especially 
the unique services of his distinguished sishyar , 
Sri Anbil Ramaswamy ,since his relocation to USA 
after his retirement from his high office in India .
His exact words are " nErE ThondarAhi vittAr ".

He instructed us to work together in  a spirit of unity 
and to channel our undivided energies to spread 
the glorious message of our revered sampradhAyam .
He appealed to us to fight divisive proclivities 
and unite together in our efforts to perform kaimkaryams
to our revered traditions. He identified an important 
Kaimkaryam , (viz)., saving many rare granthams of our
AchAryAs from extinction (luptham ) by getting them into 
print before it is too late . He pointed out that it is 
our prime duty to perform this Kaimkaryam. { thanks to 
Sri Andavan's earlier initative supported by BhakthAs 
from here (viz)., the third volume of ChillaRai Rahasyams 
was reprinted and made available to us for our deep
studies }.

Sri Andavan expressed his sense of joy over the news 
that a temple for Sri RanganaathA is rising in America
with the untiring efforts of Sri Venakt KanumAlA and BhakthAs .
Sri Andavan recommended that all Sri VaishNavAs of
North America should visit this " BhulOka Vaikuntam 
in America " and prayed for the growth of Sriranga Sri
at this new temple for Sri RanganAthan .

2. BHAGAVAAN'S LIMITLESS HELP TO US 
*************************************

(To be Continued )

AzhwAr , AchAryan , EmperumAn ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam 
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan