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Fifth Day of the trip: Following AchArya RaamAnujA's sacred steps : Trips to SriperumbhUdhUr and Kanchipuram, Feb 9 ,2000: Part II

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • Thu Mar 02 2000 - 18:32:19 PST 


Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha ParabrahmaNE Nama:

Dear BhakthAs : 
We reached Kaanchipuram before UcchikkAlam on
this fifth day of the NavAham .During the previous
visit to Lord VaradarAjA's sannidhi (October , 1998),
adiyEn had the bhAgyam of visiting just before ardha Jaamam ;
adiyEn had the soubhAgyam of ThiruvAlavatta kaimkaryam then
to Lord VaradharAjan and aravaNai prasAdham from MahA Devi
ThAyAr and Her divine consort , Lord VaradharAjan . adiyEn's
prayer at that time ( patterned after the sAhithyam
of  the " VaradhA Varam Thaa " Krithi of my sister)
was , " seegramEva punar dharsana prApthirasthu ". 
The boon came true after fifteen months during 
February 9 , 2000 . adiyEn was blessed again with
ThiruvAlavatta Kaimkaryam to Lord VaradharAjan 
and had the SevA BhAgyam at Guhai Narasimhan ,
PerumdEvi ThAyAr , ChakkaaratthAzhwAn and AchArya
RaamAnujA sannidhis . adiyEn will attempt to summarize 
the aanandhAnubhavams relating to this visit and 
the memory waves this visit stirred .

The greatness of Hasthigiri
****************************
As one enters the sacred city of Kaanchi,
what happened here over Centuries of recorded
history flashes through one's  mind . 

Our SarvalOka saraNyan stands here on top of 
the elephant hill (Hasthigiri) as KaaruNyarAsi 
and the supreme boon giver . This MahOpakAran
gave the boons of AchArya RaamAnujA and Swamy 
Desikan to Lord RanganAthA so that they can move
to Srirangam and engage in SiddhAntha rakshanam .
Such is His greatness as a boon giver !

Blessings to AlavandhAr 
***********************
AlavandhAr stood on this Hasthigiri and blessed 
AchArya RaamAnujA from a distance and begged for 
the boon of KarumANikka PerumAl (ShyAmaLAnga Varadhar)
to bless RaamAnujA to become the future nirvAhakar
for the VisishtAdhvaitha SiddhAntham .Alavandhar's
well known prayer housing SaraNAgathi at the feet of 
Lord of Hasthigiri is:

yasya prasAdha kalayA Bhadira; sruNOthi 
panghu: pradhAvathi javanEcha vakthi mooka: I
andha: prapasyathi sutham labhathE cha 
vandhyA thamm dEvamEva Varadham saraNam gathOsmi II

(meaning ): By whose slightest grace ,the deaf one hears,
the lame one runs , the dumb one speaks , the blind person
sees perfectly , the infertile lady gives birth to a son ,
adiyEn seeks that VaradarAjan of Hasthigiri as 
my sole  refuge .

That boon was granted to AlavandhAr by the  Lord ,
thanks to which we have our great SampradhAyam 
flourishing today . 

Blessings to AchArya RaamAnujA
*******************************
Here stands the great Lord , who rescued RaamAnujA
from the evil plans of Yaadhava PrakAsan , who wanted
to do away with his brilliant sishyan , RaamAnujA .
The Lord rescued RaamAnujA in the middle of VindhyA 
forest during his journey towards VaraNAsi and brought
RaamAnujA back to Kanchipuram . Lord varadhan appeared as 
a hunter of the forest with His divine consort and 
saved RaamAnujA from the evil intentions of his 
jealous "guru". He became the "Vazhi Kaatum varadhan " 
for RaamAnujA and all the others following that 
sampradhAyam .The most compassionate Lord blessed
the repentant YaadhavaprakAsA (the former Guru) 
to be saved through the act of becoming AchArya 
RaamAnujA's sishyan at Kanchi .YadhavaprakAsar 
went around (pradakshiNam ) AchArya RaamAnujA once
and gained the puNyam of BhU pradakshiNam and 
was given the name of Govindha Jeeyar . Here  
at Kaanchi , Govindha Jeeyar obeyed the command of 
his AchAryan and compiled the grantham describing
the duties of a SanyAsi ( Yathi dharma samucchayam ).

Blessings to other AchArya PurushAs 
************************************
Here , the Lord of Hasthigiri spoke to Thirukkacchi 
Nambi and passed on His "six words " to RaamAnujA 
to remove latter's doubts . 

Here, AchArya RaamAnujA entered SanyAsAsramam in front
of Lord VaradarAjan .

Here, KurEsan, Mudali AaNDAn sought refuge at
the sacred feet of AchArya RaamAnujA . 

Here came Thiruvaranga PerumAL arayar from Srirangam
and begged for the boon of taking AchArya RaamAnujA
with him to Srirangam . Lord VaradarAjan was seated then
at  KacchivAytthAN maNtapam .He was moved by the deva ghAnam 
of the arayar and granted him the request and gave 
permission for AchArya RaamAnujA to settle down 
at Srirangam to grow the Sri SampradhAyam further . 
There at Srirangam , AchArya RaamAnujA received 
Lord RanganAthA's blessings and became "Udayavar " 
of both the VibhUthis of the Lord.

NadhAdhUr AzhwAn
*****************
Here , NadhAdhUr AzhwAn of Srivathsa kulam 
was born as the nephew of AchArya RaamAnujA
and became the sishyan of his revered uncle
and helped him immnesely during the preparation of 
his Achaaryan's magnum opus , Sri BhAshyam .

NadhAdhUr ammAL
****************

Here, NadadhUr AzhwAn's grandson , VaradhachAr was 
born by the grace of Lord VaradarAjan . He became
the AchAryan for ApuLLar , the uncle of Swamy Desikan ,
Sudarsana Soori ( the author of Srutha prakAsikai ) ,
vadakku Thiruveedhip PiLLai of Srirangam . He conducted
his KaalakshEpams near the western prAkAram of Lord
VaradarAjan's garbha graham , which is near the 
KacchivAiytthAn mantapam , where the six words 
were spoken by the Lord on behalf of RaamAnujA .
Sri VaradAchAr swamy acquired the name of "NadAdhUr
ammAl " because of the Lord recognizing his solicitude
in serving milk at the right temperature . Lord recognized
Swamy VaradAchAr as His own "Mother" for the concern
shown .

Blessings to Swamy Desikan
***************************
Here , in his old age , NadadhUr ammAl met the five 
year old VenakatanAthan , the nephew of Sri AppuLLAr
and recognized form the Brahma tEjas in the face of
the child and blessed it with the famous asservAdham :

prathishtApitha Vedaantha: Prathikshiptha Bahirmatha:
bhooyA: thraividhyamAnya: thvam bhurikalyANa bhAjanam 

(Meaning ): Thou shall establish and protect true 
Vedaantham ( Vaidhika Matham based on true understanding
of the sublime doctrines enshrined in the Upanishads
and the Vedams ) and become blessed with many 
auspicious happenings . 

Here, at Kaanchi , Swamy Desikan blessed us with many
Sri Sookthis in Tamil and Sanskrit ( Artha panchakam ,
adaikkala patthu , Panniru naamam , Sri VaishNava
dinasari , Thirucchinna Maalai , atthigiri maanmiyam , 
nyAsa dasakam , VairAgya panchakam , SampradhAya 
Parisuddhi et al )relating to Kanchi and the Lord of
Kaanchi , his AaarAdhana dhaivam , Sri VaradarAjan .

One of the most important Sri sookthi of Swamy Desikan
that we will focus on is Sri VaradarAja PanchAsath .
adiyEn will cover the anubhavam of sevai of Lord
VaradarAjan largely from that Sri Sookthi .

Blessings to Adhi VaNN SatakOpa Jeeyar 
***************************************
Here , NadAdhUr ammAL's grandson , GaDikA satham ammAl
took on one SrinivAsAchAr from ThirunArAyaNapuram 
as his sishyan for teaching adhyAthma Saasthrams .
That SrinivAsaachAr was summoned by the Lord of 
AhObilam at  the tender age of twenty to establish 
the Sri Matam . This happened some Six hundred
years ago. Lord Lakshmi Nrusimhan  initiated 
SrinivAsAcchAr into yathi kulam and gave Him
the name of SatakOpa Jeeyar . Further , MalOlan
joined SatakOpa Jeeyar in His sanchArams to bless
people with Sri VaishNava sampath. The 45th Jeeyar 
of this illustrious paramparai is adiyEn's achAryan
and a special depth of gratitude overttakes me as 
adiyEn sees the 100 pillar MaNtapam built by 
Sri Adhi VaNN SatakOpa Jeeyar on the banks of 
the sacred anantha saras .

AdiyEn will conclude with one more posting 
the rich anubhavams of Sevai at VishNu Kaanchi,
where the sacred dust of the AchArya PurushAL's 
feet are mingled from time immemorial .  
    

Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan 
 
 



    

   


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