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Re: Sampath Rengarajan's visit to Divya Desams

From the Bhakti List Archives

Krishna Kalale • June 20, 1997 


Dear Sri Sampath Rengarajan,

I cant tell you how happy I am for you and family for the unique experience
you have had in India and particularly prapatti in srirangam.  NO wonder
that you did prove that you hail from such a wonderful lineage of our
acharyas.   My heart felt blessings for you (and family).  I am no elder or
a knowledgeable person to bless you.  I dont know why I felt like this.  

I wish I knew so much tamil as you do so that I could experience the
alwar's divya suktis while having sevai of appropriate archa murthys. I
pray to God that such wonderful sevas and meetings with acharyas occur to
all of us and others in this universe.  I would like to call you one of
these days.  Please email me your telephone number.

I had been to India on business for a couple of weeks. I had some luck in
meeting couple of my gurus.  I could not meet jeeyars this time.

I will write about couple of my experiences and instructions I obtained by
my gurus in the next mail.

Regards 

Krishna





At , you wrote:
>
>--------------------------( Forwarded letter 1 follows )---------------------
>Date: Thursday, 19 June 1997  5:43pm
>From: jramalin@ford.com (Jai Ramalin)
>Date: Thu, 19 Jun 1997 17:42:24 -0400
>X-Mailer: Z-Mail (3.2.1 15feb95)
>To: Jaganath.Bharadwaj@nrecatao.nreca.org
>Subject: My visit to Divya Desams
>Cc: srengara@ford.com
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>Reply-To: jramalin@ford.com
>
>
>Hi, Can you please post this article by Sampath Rengarajan in
>    Bakhti group?
>Thanks.
>Jai
>
>
>
>Dear bAgawathALs,
>
>  I am just back from a trip to India. My trip was
>sudden and less planned for, as I had to come back in time for starting
>a new project.  There were two captivating notes earlier in this forum
>from respected bAgawathALs (Srimans KalAlE and Jagan about their
>discussion and stay with achAryAL). Continuing in the same tradition I
>will try to present some useful notes about my trip for those who are
>looking forward to hear from me after my trip. I had some meaningful
>discussion with our achAryAL about the needs of ahObila muth in India.
>I also had lengthy discussions both in shAsthram and on the needs of
>other institutions with the swamis like Ponudrikapuram Srimad aNdavan,
>Sri thAthtAtchAr of thiruppathi periyasramam, Sri Sudarsanam Iyengar
>Puththur Krishnaswamy, Srirangam Ramanuja ratham organizer Sri
>KrishnaswamigaL, Sri Anantha NarasimhAchAr and Sri VN GopalaDesikan and
>many Battars of various temples I visited. Most of my discussions were
>questions from me to clear my doubts and their answers on the
>followings.
>1. Some pAsurams (on the inner meanings that I conceived)
>2. Some important aspects of some kshEthrams
>3. Vaibavams of our Azhwaars
>4. Some important history in our gurupArampariyam especially
>about our three past Jeers from their poorvAsramam family members and
>muth followers.
>
>I also spent a lot of time seeking information on the
>two ANdavan muths (periyasramam and poundrikapuram) and their heirarchy.
>These discussions triggered me with more interest in our sampradAyam.
>They blessed me to do more kaimkaryams and also encouraged me to
>complete my intended one pAsuram per kshEthram project with perumAl's
>aruL.
>
>My Visit to divya dEsams:
>
> I began my visits to divya dEsams by dashing to
>Srirangam straight from  Madras Airport (after a brief stop
>at my in-laws place at Trichy) and worshipping Lord Arangan by chanting
>amalan aathi piraan and Sri RanganAtha prapaththi slogam from Sri
>pAthugA sahasram.  By coincidence, Kauveri water was brought to me for
>my consumption when I arrived. The thirumuga maNdalam of Arangan was
>glorious, quite brilliant and my experience was unique this time
>as I had the darshan after realising the complete inner meanings
>of amalan aathi pirAn. I was presented with the prasAdams (selvarappam)
>and the "vasthram" from periya perumAl. Then I visited udayavar sannithi
>and to my pleasant surprise that day was also the udayavar
>thirunakshaththiram day.
>
>  I had the special darshan of udayavar's thirumEni
>ITself (for being the ubayakkArAL of periya perumal) seated as
>the moolavar of that sannithi. Lord Namperumal Ranganathar
>(ie. ursavar of Ranganathar) visits this sannithi
>this day to be with udayavar and when HE returns to the abode
>it is said that they do prOkshNam on the Lord HIMslef as HE visited the
>sannithi where the thirumENi of udayavar is kept. I didn't see
>this event as this account is narrated to me by of one of the Battars.
>On paNguni uththiram day udayavar's ursavar visits Arangan's  moolavar
>sannithi in return).
>
> Next I visited the brindAvan of Thiru Mazhisai AzhwAr (HIS
>"jeeva" samAthi) at thiruk kudanthai and prayed for all of us who had
>recently discussed about HIS Vaibavam at length in this forum.  I then
>proceeded to visit Sri Komalavalli samEtha Sri ArAvamuthan of Thiruk
>kudanthai, and HIS twin Sri ChakrapANi perumAL. I also visited
>Oppiliappan koil several times and sought the blessings from Lord Oppiliappan
>(because of whom I was born on thai sravaNam) for the success of the
>intended kaimkaryam for BoomAdevi thAyar on behalf of Sri Sadagopan.
>He had requested me to do so when I left. The darshan of thirumuga
>maNdalam  of than oPPArillppan was also quite unique this time
>after realising the inner meanings "vAmanan adiyiNai maruvuvarE". I
>visited the first temple of srisampradAyam "thiruk kaNNa mangai". There
>was so much for me to learn from there this time. I will attempt to write
>the thalapurANam later when I complete the current tasks. I then visited
>Thiruch ChErai and had special blessings from the thAyAr SAranAyaki through
>"archagar vAkku" !  I visited thiru NaRaiyoor and had the darshan of
>all the 108 Divya Desams there itself by worshipping the 108 Divya
>MangaLa Vigrahams that our Lord Nambi HIMself had offered to an ailing
>bakththAL who could not go to all the kshEthrams. (See my thaala purANam
>for thiru NaRaiyoor). I had the aNyOnya darsaNam of periya thiruvadi,
>Kal Garudan Sri Pakshi RAjan and prayed for all those who joined me last
>year to donate for the kaimkaryams of the ursavams in NAchchiyAr kOil.
>I also prayed for those who discussed about HIS Vaibavam in this
>forum recently. The thirumuga maNdala darsanam of this Lord was also
>unique in realising certain inner meanings and chanting from the
>"madal" of thiru mangai.
>
>
>My BaranyAsam or Prapatti:
>
> I had my baranyAsm (prapatti) at the holy feet of 45th Jeer at
>DasAvathAra Sannithi in Srirangam. Though the place of undertaking
>prapatti does not matter philosophically speaking,  I had always wanted
>to do my CharaNagathi in Srirangam. To do so, I had to wait for my
>AchAryAL's visit to this particular place during his busy schedule on
>his way to Thiruppathi for the inauguration of ahObila muth complex
>there. As per the plan Jeer arrived on 24th evening and stayed until
>25th afternoon providing me a window of opportunity to have my
>BaranyAsam. On that day, Reporters (Media persons) from HINDU, Express,
>and Tamil Journals Kumudam and Dinamani etc. were there for an hour
>interviewing Jeer about the complex inauguration by the President of
>India. As per shAstram a Jivan has to wait several years in a birth to
>realise the need for undertaking prapatti and actually undertaking it
>as well by God's grace. However, for me the waiting time for
>confirmation of Jeer's itinerary and hence my intention of underetaking
>BaraNyAsam *seemed* to have taken 1 week only.
>
> I felt I was in SrivaikuNdam itself when I got into the hall
>of DasAvathAram sannithi after bathing in thiruk Kauveri.
>There were 150 (one hundred fifty) Srivaishnvas packed in the
>sannithi loudly chanting thirup pallAndu and sAththu muRai. Subsequently,
>I had the unique opportunity of having my SamAsrayEnam followed by
BaranyAsam.
>Perhaps it was Arangan's blessings that Srimad ANdavan of Poundrika Puram
>had also paid a visit then and worshipped Sri MAlOlan. This was a very
special
>moment as I had the blessings from both the swamis at the same time after
>my prapatti. The personal discussions I had with Jeer  cleared many of
>my annYAnams. As he was rendering his upadEsam he looked at me eye to eye
>all the time and that experience was exhilarating. It was indeed then
>I realised many meanings of prapatti and
>that bakthi mArgam is the only way (upAyam) to attain mOksham.
>However since it is so difficult for tainted souls like many of us to follow
>this mArgam strictly, we undertake to surrender at the feet of Lord
>through our achAryAL. We request the Lord HIMself to be the upAyam by
>replacing bakthi mArgam and offer us the ultimate status for the soul.
>This is done by realising that even our soul belongs to HIM and that
>the souls have no control over anything at anytime. The souls are only
waiting
>with mahAviswAsam from then on for HIS deliverance at the end of this birth.
>The most important realisation for us at this juncture is that
>even our soul belongs to HIM and that from now on we are not to
>undertake anymore intellectual play especially for obtaining mOksham.
>There were disussions in this forum earlier on, "are we to ask for mOksham ?"
>and that such discussions brought many views.
>The Vadakalai SampradAyam and their observations derived from
>Srimad Bagwath Geetha were explained to me by Jeer prior to going deeper
>into prapatti. Such explanations were answering some of these questions.
>
>  Another important aspect of undertaking prapatti is such that
>MOksham has to be sought ONLY ONCE and not anymore after the assurances
>delivered in this moment (while undertaking prapatti) by the Lord
>through achAryAL. We have to even leave the feeling that we did
>prapatti and that we are assured of moKsham. ie. We also have to leave
>"this feeling" at the feet of the Lord.  This may seem trivial but only
>a mind with "pakkuvam" (a rough translation for "pakkuvam" here is
>"spiritual maturity") can right away understand and realise this
>concept at this moment.  And this is the very reason why many elders
>belonging to the early part of the century (in vadakalai sampradAyam)
>waited in their life for undertaking prapatti.
>
>Some Misconceptions in the Current Society:
>
> On contrary to what was discussed above, there seems to be some
>thoughts in our vadakalai community that tends one to shy away
>and delay their undertaking of BaranyAsam.  The main reason quoted is the
>difficulty in observing AhAra niyamanam in their lowkeeka routines.
>It is misconceived that this difficulty can be overcome by
>undertaking BaraNyAsam at an older age. It is said that this misconception
>arises due to karmic influence and the anAynam one has in their mind. However
>there are only two strict observations that are mandatory after BaraNyAsam.
>They are avoiding aNya dEvatha aRadana and bAgawatha apachAram. Thus, not
>undertaking baraNyAsam in the early age due to the difficulties in strictly
>observing ahAra niyamanam may not be right.
>
> BaranyAsam can also be done for sisu in the womb, animals,
>birds, fishes, plants, tress and stones (mountains). There is no limit
>for this.  The only prerequisite I can think of is to have the "nYanam"
>or knowledge  to do prapatti. This nyAnam itself is due to the grace of Lord
>and one has to realise that.
>
> It is often said that the requirement of anthimasruthi is waived
>once baraNyAsam is done and it is no more mandatory as per Srimad bagwath
>geetha'a charma slOkam.  In baraNyAsam there is a slOkam by which we
>request the Lord to come to our side during the anthima nEram and
>take us through the archirArtha mArgam whether we are able and can think of
>HIM or not. It is debatable whether the anthima nyAnam is required or not.
>However, as per Swami DEsikan, anthima nyAnam will prevail only for those
>who are living their life observing the required anushtAnam.
>As per poorvAchchAryAL, if one commits bAgawatha apachAram
>and doesnot repent, then for such souls anthima nyAnam will never
>prevail. As per Sri SAranAtha perumaL,those who simply put their feet
>on the sAru or sands of thirch chErai, are forgiven for their sins and are
>blessed with the anthima nyAnam irrespective of their caste and deeds.
>
> What transpired between me and achAryAL during this moment of
>prapatti is personal and confidential and hence I cannot go much deeper
>into that.
>
>My Visit to Thirumalai:
>
>I visited thiruk KOviloor and chanted the first pAsuram of 4000 "vaiyamE
>thagaLiyA" in thiru UlagaLanthaan sannithi. I visited Thiruch ChAnoor
>PadmAsanith ThAyAr and Sri GOvindarajan. Then my wife and I climbed the
>seven hills by bare foot, chanting the slOkam of swami dEsikan, from
>amirtha Ranjani "kaNNan adiyinai emakkuk kaattidum veRppu,...vEngada
>veRpana viLangum vEda veRpE!" (veRpu - means malai or mountain in tamil).
>I worshipped "kulasEkarap padi" and had nEtra darshan of ThiruvEngada
>mudaiyAn of thirumalai.
>
>Prior to leaving for US, I once again had the darshan of Lord Arangan
>and Para VAsudEvan in Srirangam. This time I was allowed to stay in
>the sannithi for a longer time as I did arachana through archagar
>and as well by my mAnaseeka arAdanai for Moolavar SriRanganathar.
>
>While visiting these temples I chanted the corresponding pAsurams
>of the Lord. My Grand Father used to tell us that the best sEvai
>of divya dampathis is the "OOnchal sEvai" in any divya dEsam.
>Luckily in 4 of the divya dEsams I had the opportunity to see the
>"oonchal sEvai".
>
>Overall, I had good darshan of divya dampathis. One of the elder
>achAryAL commented to me that it is due to the realisation of the
>true meanings of some of the corresponding pAsurams of the Lord that
>one will be able to have an unique experience while having the darshan of
>thirmuga maNdalam.
>
>adiyEn
>Sampath Rengarajan
>
>
>
>