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thiru nakshathram of aaLavandhar

From the Bhakti List Archives

Rangarajan S R • July 28, 1999 


Shree:
Shree Lakshmeenrusimha ParabrahmaNE namaha
Shree Lakshmeenrusimha dhivya pAdhukA sEvaka SrIvaN-
ShatakOpa SrI nArAyaNa yatheendra mahAdhEShikAya namaha

According to my limited knowledge it appears that 
today is the thiru nakshathram of aaLavandhar
Somewhat surprised that there were no posts in our mailing list yet 
or in the near past, to mark the occasion, 
adiyen ventured to compose a very small post.

I consider the magnitute of the task writing upon this mahaa aacharyaa
I consider the wisdom of the bhaagavathas of this list and 
I consider again my utterly limited faculties. 
And yet I venture on this task

taking solace from the following shloka:

padhmaamahee praBruthiBhihi pariBhukhthaBhoomnaha
kaahaanirathra mayiBhokthari thee Bhavithree
dhushyeeth kimanghri thatinee thava dheva sevyaa
dhurvaritharsha chapaleena shunaa avaleeDa

- vedhantha dhEshikan (shranagathi dheepika, shloka 42)

The greatness of dheepaprakaashan cannnot be affected 
by my humble shuthi just as the purity of the Ganga cannot 
get affected because a dog uses it to quench its thirst

-------------------------------------------------------------------
namo namo yaamunaaya yaamunaaya namo nama:

aashade choththraashaDaa samBhutham thathra vai pure
simhaasanaasham vikhyaatham shree yaamuna munim Bhaje

(brahmathanthra swathanthra swaami's dhivyasoori charitham)
(Shloka 45)

I pray to yaamuna muni (aaLavandhar) who was born in veeranaaraayaNapuram
in the month of aashada(aadi) under the star uththara aashada(uththaraadam)
and who was considered an avathaaram of naarayanaa's simhaasanam(?)

Let us remember with reverence this yaamunaacharya

- who was the son of Ishwaramuni and the grandson of naathamuni himself

- who's name was the result of his birth being near the banks of the 
  yamuna river during a pilgrimage(?)

- who was born in the 10th century(AD 953?) 
  and belonged to the paandya kingdom

- who studied as a child under Bhasyaraacharya
  and as a child defeated the learned scholar 'vidhvathjanakolaahala' 
  and obtained the title aaLavandhar as a consequence
  and half the kingdom

- who was lured away from princely duties by maNakkal nambi 
  and was lured into the kingdom of shreee ranganathaa by the same
  and as the kingdom found and lost a king
  our tradition lost and regained an emperor.

- who devoted the rest of his life to loving service of emperumaan
  and whose compositions include the sthothra rathna, chathushloki, 
  sidhdhithraya, aaganmapramayana and geetharthasangraha

- who conferred his blessings on the young raamaanuja
  to show for lesser mortals the right path to tread
  for which the people of the world are ever grateful to.

- who is saluted by vedhantha dhEshikan striking a parallel in the 
  8th shloka of yathiraaja sapthahi between the
  8th son of dheEvaki and our dear
  8th aacharya of our incomparable guru paramparaa 

namo namo yaamunaaya yaamunaaya namo nama:
------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, my apologies for this interlude and the inherent mistakes.

dhaasan
rangarajan

PS: For more authentic and absorbing postings on aaLavandhar,
and his works members can refer to the bhakthi archives
Particularly last year's posting on this day by Shreeman Sadagopan swami
http://www2.be.com/~mani/bhakti/archives/aug98/0047.html