Margazhi 08
Margazhi 08
Margazhi 08
taic[mf
The avaratam of Godha stuti is very interesting. Swami Desikan was observing
mounam (silence) befititng the occasion of the PradhOsham evening. He was planning to go
to ANDAL Sannidhi later for MangaLAsAsanam. When he heard the sounds of Koil
vaadhyams, he stepped out from the inside of the house, where he was staying to find out
as to what was happening. To his greatest surprise and joy, he saw the archA moorthy of
ANDAL being carried by temple kainkaryathars approaching him.
ANDAL's normal processional route did not include the street, where Swami Desikan
was staying. On this special day, there was some theettu on the main street and the temple
priests had rerouted the procession to include the street where Swamy Desikan was staying
as an alternate route. Swami Desikan's astonishment at this unexpected bhAgyam and his
parama bhakthi for ANDAL poured out in the form of 29 slOkams in two beautiful Sanskrit
poetic metres known as Vasantha Tilakam and Maalini.
Adeyen dasan
Nanganallur venkatesan
Name of the month : MARGAZHI (SARVADARI) 2008-09
klyaanagauNaBaUYaaya kaimataqa-p`daiyanao .
kmanaIyaXarIraya kivaisaMhaya ma=\g aLma\ ..
klfya]K]gfk^qEy ~pr]makpf p>]f dvRkfK,
t[f^[ Esvipf pvafkqi[f viRpf pgfk ^q
p>aftftiecyfpvRkfK, mik `zkiy SaIrtfAt
uAdyvRkfK, kvikqi[f simfhmf Epa[fb
~caafySfErxfdRkfK mgfkqmf.
Mangalam to Swami Desikan who is lion among the poets,
who has attractive swaroopam, who fulfills the desires of his devotees and
whose orneaments are good qualities.
- This sloka is composed by Dottacharya of Solingar.
There are 21 days of Thiru AdhyayaNOthsavam ( First Day for
ThirunedumthANDakam 10 days of Pahal patthu and 10 more days of Iraa Patthu ).
Thirumangai Azhwar saluted the Lord's sacred feet as resting on his head in Thiru
NedumThANDakam ( yenthai TaLir Purayum Thiruvadi
Yenn TalaimElEyE )as a result of the Darsana SoubhAgyam
that he was blessed with. Therefore ,Thiru Nedum
ThANDaka Uthsavam serves as a preface to the pahal and
Iraa Patthu celebrations following it. ―MinnuruvAi‖
Paasuram from Thiru Nedum ThANDakam is recited on the
first day and the arayars perform Abhinayam for it on the
first of the 21 days Uthsavam.
The days after Sri Vaikunta EkAdasi
*****************************
During this period Second day of Iraa patthu to
the sixth day of Iraa patthu, NamperumAl leaves the
AasthAnam at 12.00 Noon and stays at The Thousand
Pillar mantapam until 9.30 P.M. and returns to AasthAnam
with VeeNai Accompaniment at 10.45 P.M.
Seventh day of the Uthsavam is known as
ThirukkaitthaLa Sevai and takes place between 3.00 P.M.
and 12.45 P.M. NamperumAL leaves His aasthAnam at
3.00 P.M and returns there at 12.45 P.M. HiraNyaVadham
arayar sEvai takes place on this day.
On the eighth day of IrAA patthu, Thirumangai
Mannan vEdu PaRi uthsavam is inserted. NamperumAL leaves on Horse Vaahanam from
Santhanu mantapam at 4.45 P.M.and has VyAALi from 5.30-6.30 P.M. He reaches the
ThirumAmaNI mantapam at the 1000 pillared hall at 8.00 P.M. From there, He returns to
AasthAnam at 1.15A.M.
On the Tenth day), TheerthavAri at Chandra PushkaraNi takes place at 9.45 A.M.
and our Lord reaches the1000 Pillar Hall at 12.00 Noon.
Sri Bhattar SwamigaL's Brahma ratha Maryadai takes place first and is followed by
Thirumanjanam (6.30 P.M to 9.30 P.M ). Curtain comes down for NaivEdhyam at 9 P.M and
holds until 11 P.M.
At 11.00 P.M.Aayar sevai and ThiruppAvadai GhOshti start and goes on until 3.00
A.M. Curtain comes down again from 3-4 A.M for VeLLI champA amudhu naivEdhyam.The
elated PerumAL gives his subhAsraya daranam to the assembled Bhaktha kOtis from 4-6
A.M.
Next follows the climactic event of NammAzhwAr's Moksham. AzhwAr is clothed in
white, wears dwAdasa puNDrams and TulasI maalai and is brought on Kaitthalam to
PeriumAL's presence with chathra (umbrella) Saamara (Fans) maryAdhai.
During his travel to NamperumAl's side, "Soozh Veesum Pani Muhil "
paasuram ( Thiruvaimozhi 10.9.1) is recited. AzhwAr is placed at the
holy feet of NamperumAL and is covered with Tulasi leaves
completely .
During that time, Arayar recites the paasuram,
"MuniyE NaanmuhanE MukkaNNappA (TVM 10.10.1)".
The coverage by TuLasi leaves refers to the paasura
Vaakhyam "nEsam seythu unnODu yennai uyir vERanRi
onRAhavE koNDAi" and denotes the granting of
Saayujya MOksham for NammAzhwAr by Sri
Ranganaathan in front of every one. This is the
significance of Meykalatthal ( uLL kalatthal ) doctrine.
After AzhwAr's Thiruvadi Thozhal, NamperumAL
presents the AzhwAr with His ThirumaNN, Garlands and
kasthUri. This ceremony signifies the Lord's honoring of
the Mumkshu, who has become a resident of His
Paramapadham. AzhwAr is then placed on Tirukkaitthalam
and returned to his honored place with sakala MaryAdhais.
NamperumAl moves on to the thousand pillared
mantapam and performs maryAdhai to all the other AzhwArs.
Archakar then utters the word "PaDippu".
At that time, the story of Lord RanganAthA arriving at Srirangam from the Milky
Ocean is read for the benefit of the assembled BhakthAs. SthAnikar then says with reverence
"naayinthE RaghunAthA " and prays for the Lord's blessings for Uthsava sampUrNam.
NamperumAl blesses the SthAnikar with SevA and Theertham and orders him to conduct the
ThirukkalyANa uthsavam well. Bhattar, Arayar Brahma Rathams take place after the Lord
leaves for AsthAnam. During the Iraa patthu uthsavam, Moolavar adorns Mutthangi and
offers Mutthangi sEvai to Bhaktha Kotis. At aasthAnam, IyaRppA recitation is commenced .It
continues at Santhanu MaNtapam next day .
During the early morning after AarAdhanam takes place between 2-4 A.M. , IyaRppA
SaathumuRai is completed at mUla sthAnam between 4 -5 A.M. ThriutThuzhAi and Theertha
PrasAdhams are presented between 5-6 A.M. and another Thiru AdhyayaNOthsavam comes
to completion .
Courtesy—Sri Sadagopan Swamy ,USA
DayAnignam Yatheendrasya Desikam Poornam AasrayE
Yena Viswasrujo VishnOr apooryatha Manorathah |
Sri Periya Nambi, also known as Mahapurna, is well known for his contribution
towards the development of Sri Vaishnavam. He was one of the prominent disciples of Sri
Alavandar. He was born in year 997 in the
month of Maargazhi .His birth star was
Kettai as that of ThondarAdi Podi. He lived
for a total of 105 years. He was also know
as Parankusa Daasar. He is one of the
Prime Sishya of Alavandar and Peria
Nambi is the Acharya of Sri Ramanuja. He
wrote a Grantha titteld‖thiru Pathithak
Kovai‖. Sri Peria Nambi is an important
Acharya since he taught Bhagavad
Ramanuja, based on what he learnt from
Sri Alavandar. Periya Nambi mastered
several branches of learning at a very
Periya Nambigal and Bhashyakarar, Madurantakam
young age and became a disciple of
Alavandar. Under the guidance of Sri Alavandar, Sri Periya Nambi mastered the texts of
Vedanta and Divya Prabandam, a result of which he came to be known as Mahapurna. He
became the primary Acharya for Sri Ramanuja
During the same period, Sri Alavandar's greatness was well known to other Sri
Vaishnavas such as Thiruk kottiyur nambi, Thirukkacchi nambikal, Thirumaalai Andaan,
Periya Thirumalai Nambikal. Sri Alavandar, after receiving the blessing of Sri Ranganathar,
paid a visit to Kanchi. When he entered Sri AruLaaLap perumaaL shrine, Thirukkacchi
NambikaL, brought Ramanuja to his attention, saying "He is the one who naturally
understands that The Lord Vishnu, who has the eyes that resemble a lotus, is the true
meaning of Vedanta". Sri Alavandar was very much impressed with Sri Ramanuja.Sri Periya
Nambi was with Alavandar all this while.
After returning to Sri Rangam, Sri Alavandar was restless to meet Sri Ramanuja. As
his health started to fail, Alavandar requested Periya Nambi to bring Sri Ramanuja to
Srirangam. Sri Periya Nambi reached Kanchi and extended Alavandar's invitation to Sri
Ramanuja Sri Periya Nambi, who became the Acharya after Sri Alavandar, could not wait to
meet Sri Ramanuja. So he decided to meet him at Kanchi. Meanwhile, Sri Ramanuja, was
equally anxious to meet Sri Periya Nambi, and decided to get to Sri Rangam. They both met
at MadhurAnthakam. Sri Peria Nambi performed the Tapa Samskaram on Sri Ramanuja, The
shanku and chakram which was used on Sri Ramanuja’s Thirumeni is still kept safely in
Madhuranthakam koil.Another interesting fact is Sri Ramanuja will wear white aadai(white
Vastram) only instead of ochre as in other places- denoting that he had still not taken the
ascetic order.
When one of SriAlavandar's disciples, Sri MaranEri Nambi passed away, Sri Periya
Nambi performed the last rites, inspite of the fact that MaranEri nambi was from a lower
caste. Sri Ramanuja knew that
Peria Nambi would not do
anything against the dharma
sastras but to satisfy the
mudhalis who were up against
Sri Peria Nambi, Sri Ramanuja
questioned him of his action, Sri
Nambi recalled that Sri Rama
performed the last rites of
Jataayu, and added he was
neither bigger that Sri Rama nor
was Maraneri nambi lower than
Jataayu. Though Sri Ramanuja
was satisfied with his answer,
the rest of vaishnavas in
Srirangam were not. They
decided to isolate Sri periya
nambi. Once when Sri
Ranganathar was taking a
Pancha S amskara mandapam, Madurantakam
procession, the temple car came
to a complete halt at the entrance of Periya nambi's house and refused to move. Only after
Periya nambi was given the theertham and the aaraadhana, the car allowed itself to
proceed. It took Sri Ranganathar to demonstrate the greatness of Sri Periya nambi.
When the Chola King (Kulothungan) wanted to do harm to Ramanujar, Sri Periya
nambi and Sri Koorathazhvan went to the king in place of Sri Ramanuja. They both sacrificed
their eye sight to save the Sri Vaishnava sampradhayam and Sri Ramanuja. On their return
to Srirangam, due to his failing health, Sri Periya Nmabi could not complete the journey and
attained Vaikundam. It is believed that, though Periya nambi wanted to reach Srirangam and
attain Vaikundam while being there, he decided to do otherwise fearing that it would
generate a false impression and other Sri Vaishnavas would worry about passing away at
places other than Sri Rangam, in order to attain moksham.
The life of Sri Peria Nambi who was parama saathivakar is a beacon light for all Sri
vaishnavas.By knowing about the glory of such a paramaikaanthi we can be proud that such
Manikkam gems adorn Our Divya Dampathis.As Swamy Desikan salutes the greatness of this
mahaan in Yatiraaja Saptati.
Vaazhi Varadarajan
Vaazhi Desika Mahapoorna
Vaazhi Yatiraajan
Vaazhi Thoopul Desikan
Shri Sreeram has set us all a target of Rs 1 lac. I have no doubt Swami Desikan
knows how to get this project completed: there is nothing He does not know. Let us
all join in the efforts of Sreeram. Contributions can be given to Sreeram
Nanganallur Venkatesan
AzhwArs and Thiru AdyayanOthsvam (Moksha EkAdasi)
**************************************************
In Tamilnaadu, AzhwArs used Divya Prabhnadham ( Tamil Vedam/MaRai ) to
worship Sriman NaarAyaNA and attained Moksha Siddhi. The First AzhwAr in our tradition
that served as Maarga
darsi or the shower of
the way , was " Vedam
Tamizh seytha MaaRan
"Swami Sri
NammAzhwAr. In the last
centum of his
Thiruvaimozhi , he takes
leave of many archA
mUrthys with a heavy
heart and describes his
Azhwar Tiruvadi tozhal utsavam, Muscat
joyous plans to leave this
earth at the end of his
avathAra mission to reach the abode of his Lord, Sri Vaikuntam.
Like ANDAL, who described in grat detail Her impending marriage to Her Lord
through a dream scene(VaraNamyiramPaasurams), NammAzhwAr similarly used Veda
PramANams to describe his journey to Parama padham as revealed to us in Brahma
sUthrams and Upanishads .
Few hundred years later, the last of the AzhwArs , Thirumangai Azhwar , was
standing in front of Sri RanganaathA at Srirangam enjoying His divine beauty and was
reflecting on the tenth ThirumAlai Paasuram of ThondaradipoDi :
"KaatinAn Thiruvarangam Uyvhavarkku uyyum vaNNam –"
AzhwAr wondered about his own moksham. He broke out in a thought sequence, which took
the form of the following paasuram passage :
"aNiyAr pozhil Aranga naharappA ! tuNiyEn
ini ninnaraulallAthu , naNiyE , MaNi MaaNikkamE ,
MadhusoodhA ! paNiyAi yenakku uyyum vahai ParamjyOthi".
Our most merciful Lord of Srirangam responded through Uttama nambi, His priest
and showed the way for his salvation.
AzhwAr was thrilled with that revelation and organized the ThirukkArthigai
Uthsavam to celebrate the
immeasurable, tall Jyothi (anthar
jyOthi:kimapi yaminAm anjanam Yoga
dhrushtE:, as revealed later by Swami
Sri Desikan) as Sriman NaarayaNa
Tattvam reclining on the bed of Adhi
sEshan at Srirangam. Thirumangai
Azhwar understood now that was the
same "tall" jyOthi tattvam revealed by
Sri RanganaathA to NammAzhwAr
earlier. Recognizing this as divine indication , Thirumangai Azhwar brought Swami Sri
NammAzhwAr's archA vigraham from AzhwAr Thirunagari with pomp and maryAdhai to
Srirangam and placed NammAzhwAr's vigraham in front of Sri RanganAthan . He begged
Lord Ranganatha and requested Him to instruct he world about the Veda Saamyam of
Thiruvaimozhi through the conductance of an uthsavam to highlight the extraordinary
relevance and greatness of ThiruvAimozhi as Tamil MaRai . Our Lord of Srirangam agreed
and gave the orders for the initiation of Adhyayana Uthsavam ,which is
also known today as MokshOthsavam as a result of Thirumangai Mannan's initative and the
continuation of that Kaimkaryam by our PurvAchAryas from AchArya Naatha Muni's time.