Search:
Bhakti List Archives

Description of Sri maTham AchArya TN celebrations 2001 - II

From the Bhakti List Archives

Srinath Chakravarty • September 6, 2001 


Dear bhaktas:

It is the practice in our sampradAyam, to honor our
ancestors (at least those whose lives we respectfully
recall) by garlanding their picture, lighting a thiru
viLakku, etc. on the occasion of their nakshatrams.
When it comes to our own piRandha naaL, or that of our
living kin, we perhaps like to eat a special kind of
sweetmeat, wear new clothes, think of perumAL, pay a
visit to kovil, etc. etc. (not to mention the numerous
other non-sampradAyic options such as "wild" partying,
merry making etc.)

Then what about our wonderful pandigais?  The thiru-
nakshatrams of beloved vibhava avatAras like raamar,
krishNar, nrusimhar, hayagreevar; and thirunakshatrams
of archaperumALs such as thiruvenkatam udayan, kanchi
varadar, and so on?  Many of us commemorate these too,
as far as possible with the most popular ones being
SriRamanavami and SriJayanthi.  All of these activities
are COMMON among many denominations of sanAtana dharma.
Most Hindus try and observe their ancestors' birth
anniversaries, their relatives and their own birthdays
(of course), and if religiously inclined, the nakshatras
corresponding to various avataarams/festivals.

But the thirunakshatrams of our beloved AzhwArs and
AchAryas are commemorated by - well, we SRIVAISHNAVAS
alone.  And if *we* DO NOT, nobody else will!!  I was
reminded of this simple but oft forgotten fact by an
elderly SriVaishnava couple from Chennai about two
years ago.  One of the characteristics of a practicing
SriVaishnavan, is to observe the thirunakshatrams of
our AzhwArs and AchAryas WITHOUT FAIL.  Because during
kalandhu-koNdAduvadhu of other pandigais, we are joined
by non-SrIvaishnavas alike - with we (many of us, at
least) try to ensure that our own practices are not
diluted in the melting pot.

We know who our twelve AzhwArs are; we also commonly
recognize *most* of our poorvAchAryas until the third
century post-rAmAnujar, when different maThams and
AchArya paramparais began to branch off each other.  In
this context, the current AchArya paramparai for every
SriVaishnava is very special - not only are we linked
closely with AchAryan through samASrayaNam and prapatti,
we also recite their thaniyans, follow nityAnusandhAnam
according to their teachings, and above all - regard our
guru as EVERYTHING - our kin, our lord, our wisdom and
our wealth.  It is with this very bhaavam, that several
Ahobila maTham sishyas desired to commemorate the thiru
nakshatrams of four of their recent maThAdipathigaL,
alongwith the founder AchAryan of Sri maTham and the
gurunAthan, AchArya sArvabhouman, SriVishNu ghaNtAvatara,
swAmi vEdAnta deSikan.

For, if Sri maTham shishyas don't celebrate the thiru
nakshatrams of Ahobila maThAdipatis, then who else will?
Every SriVaishnava must celebrate not only thirunakshatrams
of AzhwArs and poorvAchAryas, but their very own AchAryas, 
who have initiated them through panchasamskara, and those
that were the immediate gurus of such AchAryas as well!!
The present Azhagiya Singar received samASrayaNam through
Srimad InjimEttu AzhagiyaSingar (42nd pattam), bharanyAsam
through Srimad devanarvilagam AzhagiyaSingar (43rd pattam),
and sanyAsa mantropadeSam from Srimad mukkoor Azhagiya
Singar (44th pattam).  In addition to these close links,
the fact that all the thirunakshatrams were within a range
of 1-4 months of September this year, made it possible to
honor the following mahAchAryas in a two-day celebration
from September 01 through September 02, 2001:

Swami vedAnta Desikan     - PurattAsi thiruvONam    (Sep 28)
AdhivaN Satakopa Jeeyar   - PurattAsi kettai        (Sep 23)
InjimEttu AzhagiyaSingar  - Thai uttharAdam         (Jan 29)
Devanarvilagam AzhagiyaSingar - Karthigai purAdam   (Nov 19) 
Mukkoor AzhagiyaSingar        - AavaNi hastam       (Aug 22)
Prakrtam AzhagiyaSingar   - KArthikai utthirattAdhi (Nov 26)

In addition, parakAla maTha abhimaanis were greatly pleased
that the thirunakshatram of 35th pattam Srimad Abhinava
rAmanuja brahmatantra swatantra parakAlaswAmi was also
commemorated through mariyaadhais for the lakshmihayagriva
archai, and the 33rd, 35th and 36th (present) parakaala
swAmigaL padams + a speech about the avatAra vaibhavam of
35th parakAlaswAmi.  The janma nakshatram of this AchAryan
occurred exactly on the *eve* of these celebrations, i.e.

Abhinava rAmanuja parakAladeSikan - AvaNi thiruvONam (Aug 31)

adiyEn will complete the description of this unique two-day
event in the next couple of posts.  Thanks in advance to all
bhaktas for their patience, and apologies for any errors.

To be continued...

rAmAnuja dayA pAtram gnyAna vairAgya bhUshaNam
SrImad vEnkata nAthAryam vande vedAnta deSikam
thooppul thiruvEnkatam udayAn thiruvadigaLe SaraNam
Sri Brahmatantra swatantra parakAla swAminE namaH
Srimad Azhagiya Singar thiruvadigaLe SaraNam

Truly
-Srinath C.

--------------------------------------------------------------
           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
To Post a message, send it to:   bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com
Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/
 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/