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Re: Desika, nyaasa tilakam

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Sadagopan • June 21, 1998 


Dear Sri Mani Varadarajan :

1 . To the best of my judgement , "OM " here does 
not represent PraNavam per se , but what it
stands for in the deeper ananlysis. 

It is here " the supreme expression of 
acceptance " , the  symbolic notation for 
the Divya Dampathi's acceptance
of the BharanyAsam request of Swami Desikan .

**********************************************

2 . I will attempt to answer the other question that
you had asked about the utterance of AshtAkshara 
manthram with PraNavam by one and all or only for a
group , which had been initiated by AchAryAs .

It will be wonderful to get additional input from
Professor AzhwAr thru his contacts in India .

As background , Paancha Raathra is considered 
a milky ocean and there are three kinds of nectars
(KarmAs) that arose out of it . First is Vaidhika 
KarmA  , Second is Taantrika KarmA and the third 
is Vaidhika Taantrika KarmA. All are eligible according 
to Naaradheeya Kalpam  for the observance of Taantrika 
KarmAs . Brahmins are alloted Vaidhika KarmAs and 
the KshathriyAs are  restricted to Vaidhika -Taantrika 
KarmAs .The rest of the two VarNAsramAs have been
assigned the practise of Taantrika KarmAs for their 
salvation .

Ashtakshara , DhvadasAkshara  and Shadakshara manthrAs
are VishNu manthrAs with unlimited tEjas . When they 
unite with PraNavam , they become Vaidhika ManthrAs .
When they are not united with PraNavam , they remain
as Taantrhika ManthrAs ( NamO NaarAyaNAya ) and are 
accessible to every one . That is why the mentioning
of AshtAksharam without PraNavam , Svaram and AnganyAsam
are recommended for EVERYONE . That is why Thirumangai ,
who should know something about this AshtAksharam 
says : Nadantha nampi naamam sollil Namo NaarAyanamE .
In mudal ThiruvandhAthi , Poygai AzhwAr declares therefore ,
" nayam ninRa nanmAlai kondu NamO NaaraNAvennum
soll maalai kaRREn thozhudhu " .

NaaradhIya kalpam has the convincing argument :

namo NaarAyaNAyethi manthra: sarvArtha saadhaka : 

No one is thus excluded from doing japam of AshtAksharam
without PraNavam , Svaram and NyASams .Thru ThAnthrika
karmAnushtAnam , all the fruits of worshipping Lord 
thru utterance of His powerful name are acheived 
in as much as some one , who recites in the Vaidhika
manthrA fashion thru AchArya UpadEsam .

Namo NaarAyaNAya 

AdiyEn Sadagopan 

At 05:26 PM 6/19/98 -0000, you wrote:
>
>Dear Sri Sadagopan,
>
>You wrote:
>> 2. Their granting of the above request 
>> and acceptance of his saraNAgathi 
>> ( Om ithi abhyupagamya ) with the 
>> statement : Let that become so !
>> Swami requests the divya dampathis
>> to say , let it be so ! Please say that 
  " We are accepting >> your BharanyAsam . 
   It is OUR DUTY to >> protect you " .
>
A wonderful sloka, and a very lucid explanation.
Thank you for it! To further clarify, does "Om" here
refer to the praNava?  In other words, is the praNava
the supreme expression of acceptance, or saying "Yes"?

>Thanking you,
>daasan
>Mani