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Re: A Suggestion- Today - Alavandhar Thorunakshathram- Life history

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Madhavakkannan V • July 24, 2002 


SrI:
Dear Sri Chaithanya,
You want some stories from our sampradayam for youngsters
Today Adi UtthirAdam- Sri Yamunacharya Thirunakshathram. Let us read (as per 
your wish) his life history:) from Sri Anbil mAmA's write up and Sri 
Satakopan mAmA's available in archives.
Regards
Namo Narayana
aDiyEn
=========
YAMUNA MUNI (ALAVANDAR) & HIS TIMES (by Sri Anbil Ramaswamy)
He was the grandson of Nathamuni and son of Iswara Bhattalwan and 
Ranganayaki He is considered the Amsam of Simhavahana, one of the Nityasuris 
in Paramapada.
His date of birth is 917 AD at Kuppankuzhi (2 Kms from Kaattu mannaar koil- 
Veeranarayanpuram). His term of life is 125 years which means he should have 
lived till 1042 AD. He was named Yamunai thuraivan- Yamuna , for short. The 
boy grew apace, a marvel of loveliness and intelligence. He learned all 
branches of knowledge, both secular and spiritual.
Once a haughty royal chaplain by name Akkiyalvan was challenging and 
humiliating learned men. Yamuna accepted the challenge and went to the court 
to argue with him. The queen was so impressed with the boy that she 
prevailed upon the king to give him half the kingdom if he won in the debate 
offering herself to be thrown to wild dogs, if the boy failed.
Akkiyalvan asked the boy to state three propositions positive or negative 
which he offered to counter. And, if he could not , the boy would be 
declared the winner. Yamuna posed:
( i ) Your mother is not a barren woman ( ii ) The king is a righteous and 
powerful ruler and ( iii ) The queen is a model of chastity.
By no stretch of imagination could Akkiyalvan affirm that his mother was 
barren, by no assumption of courage could he call the king wicked and 
powerless and no way could he allege that the queen was unchaste. He hung 
his head in shame. The King now asked Yamuna to disprove his own statements.
Yamuna clarified by observing the following:-
( i ) The sacred laws say that an only son is no son at all. So, 
Akkiyalvan's mother was as good as barren in the eyes of the law.
( ii ) The king cannot be called righteous when he entertained such an 
arrogant person to be his chaplain and his not dismissing the chaplain 
showed that the king was indeed powerless.
( iii ) According to the Sruti texts, every woman is wedded first to Soma, 
then Gandharva and then Agni before marrying her earthly partner. The queen 
was no exception and therefore cannot be deemed a model of chastity.
The King fired Akkiyalvan and gave Yamuna half his kingdom as promised to 
the queen . The queen hailed the boy as 'Alavandar'-' one who came to save 
me' . Thus, Alavandar entered his royal career in right earnest. This 
demanded all his attention so much that he could not attend even to the 
religious duties properly.
Meanwhile, Rama Misra was trying to carry out his promise to his Guru to 
install Alavandar as the spiritual successor to Nathamuni.. But, he could 
not get an audience with Alavandar - the king, to discuss the matter. He hit 
upon a curious plan. He made friends with the servants in the royal kitchen 
and through them learned that Alavandar relished a special variety of 
spinach called "Toodu Valai Keerai". He started supplying the spinach daily. 
After a period of about six months he suddenly stopped deliveries. Alavandar 
enquired why the spinach was not being served. The servants replied that an 
old man who used to supply had suddenly not turned up. He ordered that the 
old man be brought before him when he visited the next time. The very next 
day Rama Misra appeared and was duly taken to the king.
During this session, Rama Misra explained the purpose of his mission and 
requested Alavandar to take over the reins of spiritual leadership 
bequeathed to him by his illustrious grandfather, Nathamuni. Alavandar took 
to Sannyas and was thenceforward known as YAMUNA MUNI.
He is the one who composed the earliest Stotras of Srivaishnava Sampradaya. 
Alavandar wrote several works that are as lofty in content and simple in 
style.

Swami Desika in Sloka 7 of his Yathiraja Saptadhi pays homage to Yamuna 
thus:
Vighaahe Yaamunam Theertham Saadhu Brindaavane Stitham |
NirasthaJih Magha Sparse Yatra Krishnah Kritaa Dharah ||

(meaning) Alavandar who learned Vedanta Arthas at the feet of Manakkaal 
Nambi was not only the one residing on the banks of Yamuna (Yamunai 
Thuraivan) by name but was also like the clear flowing waters of the river 
Yamuna. Lord Krishna got rid of the cruel Kaalinga from the river and made 
its water pure and clear for all to drink. He was most delighted when he 
played with the Gopis of Brindavanam in the Yamuna waters. Likewise, 
Alavandar vanquished those who misinterpreted the Vedas and established 
Vedanta Siddhanta. Just as one can derive supreme pleasure by bathing in the 
holy waters of Yamuna, one can enjoy supreme Bhagavad Gunanubhava by 
immersing in the lucid granthas of Yaamuna

The greatness of ALavandhAr  and his works (by Sri Satakopan Swamy)
************************************************

ALavandhAr ( 916-1041 A.D ) was the grandson of
Nathamuni (C 824-924 A.D ) , who recovered for posterity
the Naalaaiyra Divya Prabhandham as a result of
NammaazhwAr's anugraham . ALavandhAr is also known
as Yaamunaa or Yaamunaaccharya .

YAmunA is the grand -preceptor ( PrAchAryA ) of RaamAnujA.
YAmunA established the principles of VisishtAdhvaitam
as an expansion of the doctrines housed in his grandfather's
treatises : NyAya TattvA and Yoga RahasyA .He elaborated
on those doctrines with authoratative scriptures such as
Sruthis, Bhagavadh Gita , AzhwAr's paasurams and
Selected SaatvikaPurAnAs .

AaLavandhAr's philosophical works are :Siddhitraya , Aagama
PrAmANya , MahA purusha nirNya and Githaartha Sangraha.
Last year , I had the good fortune of posting a few articles on
YaamunA's GithArtha Sangraha , which inspired both
RamAnujA and Swami Desikan to base their commentaries
along the lines of YaamunA.

AalavandhAr is also the author of two lyrical master pieces
(stotra GranthAs ) revered  as Chathusloki and Stotra Ratnam
Latter is the forerunner of almost every  stotram composed
by Acharyas such as  of RamaanujA , Kuresa, Parasara Bhattar,
Swami Desikan , MaNavALa Maamuni and others. Swami
Desikan has written c ommentaries for both Chathussloki
and Stotra Ratnam because of their importance to Sri VaishNava
siddhAntham .

In Chathussloki ( poem of four verses ) , YaamunA focussed
on the theme of Purushakaara Prapatthi and Eka Seshithvam
principles . He based this work of his on the doctrines outlined
by Lakshmi Tantram . Eka Seshitvam refers to the practise
of considering both Sri Devi and BhagavAn together as the
means and the goal (upAyam and Upeyam ) . In this context ,
they are inseparable and hence She is known as VishNu Patnee
and He is known as Sriman NArAyaNan . Dr. S.M.S. Chari in his
excellent book , "Vaishnavism " describes in detail the relationship
between Sri Devi and her consort .

AaLavandhAr based the four slokAs of Chathussloki on the four
chapters of Brahma Sutram . His purpose was to demonstrate
that the attributes of BhagavAn saluted by the four chapters
are shared equally by His consort , Sri Devi.

The first chapter of Brahma Sutra establishes unequivocally
that Lord is the seshi of the Universe and he is the creator
of all . The second chapter dwells on His undiminishing
glories and that those kalyANa guNAs can not be negated or
explained away as nonexistent. The third chapter states that
he blesses us with all fruits of our endeavours. The final chapter
dealing with mukthi states that he is our Praapyam
or our  ultimate goal .

AaLavandhAr in the first verse of Chatussloki , establishes
the equal status of Sri Devi with Her consort. As Isvari of
Sarva BhutAs , she enjoys an equal status and rules the
physical and the transcendental universe.  She possesses
like Her Lord,Svarupam , Rupam, GuNam and Vibhavam .

She shares in equal measure the six auspicious GuNAs of
Her consort (BhagavAn ):: JnAnam , Bhalam , Sakthi , Iswaryam ,
Veeryam and Tejas . That is why She is known as Bhagavathi or
ShAtgunya SampoorNai . She is inseparable from Her
Lord at  all times and states( AnapAyini ).

This Nitya Sri surpasses in some regards Her Lord a s a result of
Her motherly qualities such as DayA , KshamA (forgivenness ) ,
Vaatsalya (tender, endearing affection ) just as  a mother has for
her children . Through Her innate UdhAra SvabhAva ( magnanimity ),
She showers us with Her blessings (anugrahams ) an dgrants us
Aiswaryam , Kaivalyam and Moksham , when we use our
Anjali mudra to seek these anugrahams. She has in addition
a unique role through Her PurushakAratvam . She intercedes
with Her Lord on behalf of the sinners and recommends that
the sinners be forgiven by Her Lord to become the object of His grace.
In the second slkam of Chathussloki , YaamunA states that
the Lord Himself is unable to describe completely His
consort's KalyANa guNAs. Periya VaacchAn PiLLai has
commented with great insight on this and other slokAs
of YaamunA 's Chathussloki .

In the third slokam, YaamunA dwells on Sri Devi's power to
bless one  with the Purushaarthams of Aiswaryam , Kaivalyam
and Moksham .The glories of Lakshmi Kataksham are saluted
here. YamunA hints that the Lord has no existence outside Her.

In the majestic fourth slokam starting with the majestic
assembly of well-chosen words ripe with profound meanings--
"SaanthaanandaMahaa Vibhuthi Paramam Yadh
Brahma Rupam Hare: --"  and ends dramatically
with the words " Aahu: svairanurupa rupa vibhavai:
Gaadhopa gutaanidhE ".

YaamunA asserts here that Sri Devi's Rupams and GuNAs
are tightly bonded together with that of Her Lord in an
insepaerable manner. Whenever He assumes Vyuha -Vibhava
- Haartha-Archaa rupaas , She takes the appropriate rupams
and is tightly united with Him as AnapAyini .Thus they demonstrate
Eka Seshitvam and become UpAyam and Upeyam to us all .

After completing the Chathussloki on the mahAthmyam
of Sri Devi , AaLavandhAr proceeded to compose his
tribute to Sriman NarayaNan.There are 65 slokas in
this sthothram . The number 65 is  the sum of the letters
contained in the three rahasyams( AshtAkshari+Dwayam+
Sarama Slokam ) . Therefore, Sthothra Ratnam is considered
the essence of Rahasya Trayam or it is the Rahasya Trya Saaram.

It has  been said that there is no Kavyam that moves one's heart
as Srimadh RaamayaNam ; Similarly , Sthothra Ratnam has been
considered by Purvacharyas as the sthothram that is matchless
in moving one 's heart . It has profound philosophical principles
and yet it is a moving appeal to the Lord and cries out for His
grace. This sthothram is a great lesson in the stages that one
has to go through to perform SaraNAgathi and to become free of
fear about SamsaarA .

The sthothram starts and ends  in the traditional way of salutations to
one's AchArya . Swami Desikan states that  this gem of a sthothram
is placed in the beautiful box of Acharya sthuthi . YaamunA starts with
the salutation to his Acharya and then moves on to praise BhagavAn.
He becomes diffident about his qualifications for the task and yet
wants to eulogize Him in the manner of VedAs and Upanishads .
His resolution gets diluted and he laments over his lack of
qualifications and inadequacies and performs akinchana SaraNAgathi
at the lotus feet of the Lord . He then comforts himself by reflecting
that even a small upAyam such as SaraNAgathi can yield major
auspicious results and that his goal in performing SaraNAgathi is
to do Nithya Kaimkaryam in Sri Vaikuntam . He recognizes that
the great sins that he has  accumulated obstruct  progress in
the attainment of his desired goal . He states that he is however
not discouraged as  a result of his awareness of the Lord' s
DayA . He appeals movingly to the Lord to strengthen his
SaraNAgathi efforts and to protect him from the obstacles that
stand in his way towards the realization of his goal. He goes on
to the next step of prayer, where he begs the Lord to grow his Bhakthi
towards Him and to bless him to live with BhagavathAs and to
live in  a state of KaarpaNyam devoid of egotistic thoughts.
He pleads with the Lord for Acharya Sambhandham to realize the
fruits of the glorious Prapatthi and declares his MahA viswAsam
in the Lord's KshamA and anukampA to bless him with the fruits
of Prapatthi .

The meaning of Dwayam is deftly interlaced  in the body of this
gem among sthothrams composed by AaLavandhAr . In the previous work,
Chathussloki , our Acharya made Purushakaara Prapatthi to
Sri Devi . Thereafter, as he starts to perform BharanyAsam
at the holy feet of the Lord, he completes guru paramparAnusanthAnam
as the first step as a prerequisite. He elaborates next on the meaning of
NaarAyaNa sabdham and follows the arc of Dwayam and completes
the SaraNAgathi at the sacred feet of Sriman NaarAyaNA . The second
paadham of Dwaya manthram comes into focus now. Our Acharya now
explains the meaning of "SrimathE nArAyaNAya " section by stating
that  this portion stands for the obtainment of the fruit of nitya 
Kaimkaryam
to Sri VaikunTa naathan in Parama Padham . He adds next the slokams
that cover the "Nama: " section--the concluding word of Dwayam -- for
seeking the Lord's anugraham to eliminate any left over obstacles in
his efforts to get  the full benefits of SaraNAgathi (i-e) Nitya Kaimkarya
PurNAnubhavam . Thus , the slokams of Sthothra Ratnam can be
considered to cover the full meaning of  the sacred Dwaya Manthram .

The Two Invocatory verses (Taniyans ) for Sthothra Ratnam
***************************************************************

Taniyan 1 :

svAdhayan iha sarveshAm thryyanthaartham sudurgraham I
sthothrayaamasa yogeendra: tam vandE YaamunAhvayam II

I salute Yaamuna Muni ( Yamunai Thuraivar ) , the preeminent
among the Yogis for blessing us with the gem among sthothrams.
He gave us this eulogy so that  we can all enjoy the delectable
taste of the meaning of the VedanthA , which is very difficult to
realize on our own .

Taniyan 2 :

namO namO YaamunAya YaamunAya namO nama: I
namO namO YaamunAya YaamunAya namO  nama: II

There are many nama: sabdhaas in this Taniyan. Each of the
nama: sabdhaas have their own meanings. The five meanings
of the nama: sabdham are : My Maanasa  , Vaachika and Kaayika
( mind, Speech and Body ) NamaskArams to Yaamuna Muni;
In addition to these three Upaaya namaskArams , I salute
Yaamuna Muni in Parama Padham for making it possible to
reap the benefits of my Prapatthi . May the fruits of these namaskaarams
not belong to me , but only to him as the Seshi .

Before focusing on the individual slokas of this
magnificient and pioneering sthothram by AaLavandhAr,
it may be interesting to study  Swami Desikan's analysis
of the architectonics of this sthothram . Swami starts off by
stating that  YaamunA Muni composed Sthothra Ratnam
to house the rich meanings of Dwaya manthram.

His analysis of the different sections that form natural
grouping of thoughts is as follows :

1. YaamunA salutes the Acharyas , who opened his
spiritual eye (slokams 1-5) and particularly his
grandfather , RangaNATHA MUNI .

2. Beginning of the sthothram in slokam 6

3. The awesome parathvam of the Lord is hinted and the
insuficiency and diffidence of the poet to tackle that
profound subject of the Parathvam is indicated ( slokam 7)

4. The sowlabhyam of the Lord is invoked to overcome
the fear of tackling such a profound topic( Slokams 8-9 )

5. Elaboration of the NaarAyana Sabdhaartham ( Slokams 10-21 )

6. Observance of Prapatthi ( slokam 22 )

7. declaration of his appropriateness
(Svayogyaa Kathanam /adhikaaram) by
YaamunA for the  performance of his  Prapatthi
( sloakms 23-27)

8. Statement of the fact that the simple-to-perform Prapatthi
has a disproportionately large dividends ( slokams 28-29 )

9. Revelation of the meaning of the uttara KanTam of
Dwayam as that which deals with the fruit of the Prapatthi
(slokams 30-46)

10. expression of his regret  over hitherto wasted days
due to his lack of intensity to pursue the fruits of Prapatthi
thru the observance of the appropriate Upaayam (slokam 47).
Nirvedam over his missed opportunities.

11. Mahaaviswasam on the fruits to be gianed by Prapatthi
( slokams 48-51)

12. Examination of the principles of Bara SamarpaNam
( slokams 52-53)

13. prayer to give strength to observe strictly the conduct
of post-prapanna life  and sathsangam ,
while being on this earth ( slokams 54-57)

14. statement on the Lord's kaaruNyam, sambhandham
(bhandhutvam ) as the hope for his  Prapatthi ( slokam 58-63 )

15. Reminding the Lord of  his saraNAgatha RakshaNa
vratham of the Lord and prayer to include him in that
vratham ( slokam 64)

16. statement on the glories of the anugraham& sambhandham
of the Acharya for successful Prapatthi and inclusion of his
fearlessness(nirbhayam ) as a result of performing prapatthi ,
even if he does not have the qualifications of his own
(naicchiyaanusandhaanam )--slokam 65  (final slokam ).


Sri AlavandhAr and Thiruvanthapuratthu EmperumAN
*************************************************

The Lord of Thiruvananthapuram was very dear to
AlavandAr , the grand son of Naatha Muni . AlavandhAr
was only 8 years old , when his grandfather reached
Parama Padham . The grand father , who gave us back
the lost Thiruvaimozhi with the anugraham of NammAzhwaar
had also received Yoga Rahasyam (secrets of Yogic
method ) from NammAzhwAr .That enabled Naatha Muni
to have intimate communion with Lord KrishNA ,
the kula dhaivam of Sottaik kulam , the kulam of
Naatha Muni.

Sri Kurukaik kaavalappan was the dear disciple of
Naatha Muni and was blessed to receive Yoga  Rahasyam
from his AchAryan .None of the other sishyAs or
sishya Paramparais of Naatha Muni had the privelege
of initiation into the splendours of Yoga Rahasyam .

Sri Raama MisrA , sishyA of the sishyA
of Naatha Muni ( Uyyak KondAr) became the AchAryan of
AlavandhAr at the request of his AchAryan .
When Sri Raama Misra knew that his end was nearing ,
he asked AlavandhAr to approach Thirukkurukai Kaavalappan
at Veera NaarAyaNapuram and get initiated into
the family treasure of Yoga Rahasyam .
AlavandhAr approached Kaavalappan and
prostrated before him and begged to be
initated into Yoga Rahasyam . Kavalappan
asked AlavandhAr to come back to him before
the next Thai month Pushya Nakshthram , when
he was planning to join the Lotus feet of
Sri Vaikunta Naathan .

During this time of wait , AlavandhAr came across
the Thiruvanantha Pura paasurams of NammAzhwAr
instructing all of us to rush to that divya desam
and offer our kaimkaryam to Sri Anantha PadmanAbhan
to cut asunder our shackles of SamsAram . AlavandhAr
was so excited that he took off right away to
this MalayALa divya desam and got himself absorbed
in service to the Lord there .One day , as he was
looking at the beautiful face of the reclining Lord
of this divya desam , he saw suddenly the face
of Thirukkurukai Kavalappan there . It flashed to him
then that it was Thai Pushyam and Abhijin muhUrtahm
and his would-be AchAryan to initiate him into
the family jewel of Yoga Rahasyam had just ascended
to Parama Padham . AlavandhAr was grief stricken
over his loss and from that day onwards , we have
lost Yoga Rahasyam given to Naatha Muni by NammAzhwAr
and passed onto his sishya has been lost to posterity .
The beauty of Lord of Thiruvananthapuram bewitched AlavandhAr and
made him forget his return to Kaavalappan
in time to be initiated into the mysteries of
Yoga Rahasyam . After that loss , AlavandhAr
returned to Srirangam for Darsana pravachanam
and blessed us with 8 granthams as a result of
the anugraham of " YezhilaNi Ananthapuram
padamudai aravil PaLLI payinRavan " saluted
by NammAzhwAr . These 8 granthams  are :

(1) Aagama PrAmANyam
(2) Purusha nirNayam
(3) Aathama Siddhi
(4) Samvidh Siddhi
(5) Isvara Siddhi
(6) GIthArtha sangraham
(7) Chathus SlOki
(8) SthOthra Rathnam

He also blessed AchArya RaamAnujA to become
the grand sire of our SampradhAyam .



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