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SalakshaNa GanapADi : Vaikunta Vaasi Sri MukkUr Lakshmi NarasimhAcchAr Swamy

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • October 26, 2001 


Dear BhakthAs : One of the outstanding features of 
Swamy's upanyAsam was the ghanam renditions of important
Vedic passages at the beginning of the upanyAsam. In between,
he will be inspired to recite additional ghanam renditions.

He was revered as SalakshaNa GhanapADi .What does 
that title mean ? 

It takes 8 full years for a student (BrahmachAri ) 
to complete his adhyayanam and gain possession of Vedic
wealth. After these 8 years, the same student has to study 
Kaavyam , Saasthram et al and become proficient in
Sanskrit Jn~Anam . At that time , he is qualified to
be named "SalakshaNa GhanapADi". LakshaNENa Sahitha
Ghana Paadam is practised by him . 

LakshaNam means mark, sign ,charactrestric, distinctive 
mark.It also means excellence. Laksha means to percieve , 
characterize, indicate , denote .Swamy was one , who
was a mark of excellence , distinction even among 
SalakshaNa GhanapAdis. He pestered his elder brother
to teach him Ghanam as a 5 year old boy already.There are 
two audio clips in the CD ROM " Sri MukkUr Nruhari 
Hrudhayam " that are proofs of this great SalakshaNa 
GhanapADi's mastery over Ghanam rendering.In one of
the audio clips, Swamy recites Vedic passages in
Ghanam rendition with his elder brother and Teacher.
One should dim the lights out in the room or have
a small oil lamp in PerumAL Sannidhi or Koil AzhwAr
and listen with closed eyes to his Ghanam rendering
to have full impact of the Saannidhyam of the Veda
Purushan.One will be engulfed with the waves of
bliss entering thru the ears and seeking its home
in one's HrudhyAkAsam .

Swamy used to pose a question and provide the answer:
Question from people: " We went to the Temple and
saw the Lord and His consort. But, How do we know 
if the Dhivya Dampahtis saw us ?"

The answer provided by Swamy Is this: "During 
the recitation of Ghanam , if a person walking by 
the road side  is completely attracted by the recitation,
comes in and waits for more , he is the blessed one 
on whom the Dhivya Dampathis have cast their eyes on .
Whereas  during the recitation of Ghanam , if a person
thinks of when the  recitation will be over, such
a person has not been fortunate to have been seen
by the divine couple.

Every one should purchase this CD ROM , listen to
the melody and feel the majesty of Swamy's 
full-throated rendering of Ghanam . 

After completing the VedAdhyananam and completing
the studies leading upto the title of SalakshaNa
GhanapADi , the study of Veda BhAshyam starts.
That study of the meaning of the Vedic passages
takes another 8 years. Our Swamy was a Master of
Veda BhAshyam . A student in the old times was 
about 20 years in age by the time he reached
this stage.Swamy Desikan was around this age,
when he completed all these studies and more.

VedAs are so powerful that even rote recitation
with proper svarams confers auspiciousness 
all around. Such people are  called by Kaanchi
PeriyavAL as Veda Sabdha RakshakAs.The one , who goes
beyond that and studies the meanings of the ManthrAs
is superior . All of our SamskArAs have Vedic roots.
The Sreyas that comes from understanding the meaning of
these Veda Manthrams  is unparalleled. Many
PurOhithars today are unfamiliar with the meanings 
since they never had any exposure to Veda BhAshyams. 
For the development of true Sraddhai in 
the performance of nithya and naimitthika KarmAs , 
the understanding of the meaning of these manthrAs 
is essential. Sri MukkUr Swamy's scholarship of 
Veda BhAshyams gave him the benefit of not only 
having Yaj~nAs conducted with power
and authenticity but it also helped him to reveal 
to us the inner meanings of many rare manthrams .
His insight in to the manthram (Thrayambhakam
YajAmahE--) normally considered as referrring to 
Rudran is explained by him as referring to 
Lakshmi Nrusimhan in the light of Nrusimha
TaapanIyOpanishad and other pramANams. 

His writings on mathra Raaja Padha SthOthram 
is replete with his rare insights gained from
His mastery over the commentraries on Veda
Manthrams by Sayana , Bhatta BhAskarar ,
MaadhvAcchAryar and MahIdharar.

Swamy did Veda RakshaNam through His mastery
of the Vedams as SalakshaNa GhanapADi and 
through His expertise over the various 
commentaries on Vedam . We will illustrate
the great works of Saayana on Veda BhAshyam 
in a sepaerate article.

Sri MukkUr Nruhari SwaminE nama:

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan  
   
 



 



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