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Introduction / Notes from Sri Bhuvarahacharyar's Upanyasam

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Mani Varadarajan • July 12, 2001 


[ Posted on behalf of Sri Sudarshan Agaram, Chicago  ]

I have been an active reader of the above lists for sometime now
and would like to post a little about myself and also an
announcement. I am from Bangalore and have been in the
continental US since 1994. I am shishya of Sri Anantha 
Narasimhachar. [ resides @ 160 south chitra street in
Srirangam, Trichy.]=20

I will be hosting a few teleconference calls in the near future
[along with Sri Mukundan Pattangi's help]. We are
having upanyasams on Ashtasloki from Sri E.S. Bhuvarahar Swami,
Bangalore [in tamil]. I would request you all to participate
in the forthcoming teleconferences. Sri Bhuvarahar has been giving
Upanyasams for a long time now and we are honored to have his
Upanyasam the 3rd Saturday of every month. Also, he was my
sanskrit tutor at St.Joseph's College, Bangalore.

During the day, I work in the computer consulting arm of an
Accounting firm= .. My wife Veena and I live in Chicago, IL
and can be reached at 773-755-7565. 

Dasan Sudarshan

****************
Notes from Bhuvarahar Swami's Upanyasam on 6/16/01 

 The following compilation is our interpretations of the
 Ashtasloki. For further clarifications and to get to know
 more about this excellent slokam, please join us for the
 teleconferencecall on the 3rd Saturday of every month=
 =20

What is ashta sloki? It is a slokam of eight poems that gives the
meanings o= f Thirumantram,Dwayam and Sarama slokam. It was
written by great Parasara Bhattar [the son
ofSri.Koorathalwan]

Who compiled it? It was written by great Parasara Bhattar [the
son of  Sri.Koorathalwan]

When can a srivaishnava recite it? How many times do we need to
recite it? How would one get started reciting theashtasloki? 
This can be recited at any=  time and by anybody, and any
number of times. Before chanting the ashtasloki= , there is a
small tanian for parasara Bahattar,which is as follows:

sri parasara bhattarya, sri rangesa Purohitaha
srivathsankitha sutha= sriman shreyase mesthu bhuyase

In addition, Ashta slOki is composed of 8 terse verses on the
three Rahasyams of Sri VaishNavAs . Using long metres,Bhattar
hinted at the depth of the subject matter . The metres used by
Bhattarare SikhariNi , Saardhula Vikridhitham and
Sragdharaa. 

In the first four verses, Bhattar gives the meaning on the
Thirumantra.The next two verses i.e 5th and 6th, Dwaya mantram
is explained. The last two verses viz. 7th and 8th gives us
the meaning of the sarama shlokam.  Going further into the
meaning of each verse, the 1st verse gives the meaning of the
word. Om. The 2nd verse gives us the meaning
of the= 2 lettered word  Nama:. The last
five letters Narayanaya of the thirumantram
is explained in the 3rd verse. And finally, the 4th verse
tells us how the above 8 letters of the thirumantra take
form in life. In the ashtaslOki , the verses 6, 7 and 8 deal
with Prapatthi . Sixth verse is about the Prapatthi to Sri
Devi as the means to the end of resorting to the Lord. In the
7th slokam, the great scholar explains the meaning of sarama
SlOkam. In the 8th verse, he declares his prapatthi, "where
he expresses his inability to implement the Karma,Jnaana and
Bhakthi yogAs as means of salvation. Even regarding Prapatthi,
he is unable to follo= w it because of his utter helplessness
and lack of firm conviction of its implementation. Still the
hope of being saved by the Lord, He being the fina= l means,
sustains him =E2=80=9C. 

Foot note1: Om is 1 letter and Namo consists of 2 letters. Foot
note2: In Kurkshetra, Krishna teaches Sarama slokam to
Arjuna. Foot note3: Swami Desika in Rahasa traya sara. says the 8
slokas of the above 3 mantras is a wonder of wonders. Foot note4:
When a person seeks the blessings of his/her elders they bless
the person with happiness, prosperity, Good health,
children=E2=80=A6etc. but earlier our acharyas would bless the
person by saying =E2=80=9CThirumanthirathille pirundu, Dwayathile
valundu [Thethirumantram, dvayam and charmaslokam is similar to
the way one is born, bred and prosper phases of life.]

Our next teleconference call is on July 21st 2001. at 11 am EST
[United States]. Please watch out for more dial in information
that will be distributed a few days prior to the call.




































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