RAVI VARADACHARI SON OF POYAPAKKAM VARADACHARI
THE GURUPARAMPARA LINEAGE SRI U.VE.ABHINAVA DESIKA POYAPAKKAM VARADACHARYA MAHADESIKAN
We are all aware that after Sri Bhagavad Ramanuja our Guru parampara is branched out widely with numerous acharyas. This is further widened after Swami desika and we have the beginning of Sri Parakala mutt, Sri Ahobila mutt and Sri Vanamamalai mutt etc (to name a few). The swayamacharya parampara is also vast and we have lots and lots of great acharyas and from SriThirukkudanthai desikan swami the munitraya sampradayam is beginning. The guruparampara lineage of Sri Uttamoor swami the guru of Sri U.Ve.Abhinava Desika poyapakkam VARADACHARYA Mahadesikan is given below.
RAMANUJA'S PHILOSOPHICAL AND RELIGIOUS THOUGHT
The main religious inspirations are from the theistic tradition of the Alvar poet-saints and their commentators known as the Acaryas, who sought to combine knowledge with action (karma) as the right means to liberation. There is also, besides the Vedic tradition, the religious tradition of Agamas, particularly of the Pancaratra literature.
It is within this old tradition that Ramanuja's philosophical and religious thought developed. Ramanuja rejected Sankara's conception of Brahman as an indeterminate, qualityless, and differenceless reality on the ground that such a reality cannot be perceived, known, thought of, or even spoken about, in which case it is nothing short of a fiction. In substantiating this contention, Ramanuja undertook, in his Sri-bhasya on the Vedanta-sutras, a detailed examination of the different ways of knowing. Perception, either nonconceptualized or conceptualized, always apprehends its object as being something, the only difference between the two modes of perception being that the former takes place when one perceives an individual of a certain class for the first time and thus does not subsume it under the same class as some other individuals. Nor can inference provide one with knowledge of an indeterminate reality, because in inference one always knows something as coming under a general rule. The same holds true of verbal testimony. This kind of knowledge arises from understanding sentences. For Ramanuja there is nothing like a pure consciousness without subject and without object. All consciousness is of something and belongs to someone. He also held that it is not true that consciousness cannot be the object of another consciousness. In fact, one's own past consciousness becomes the object of present consciousness. Consciousness is self-shining only when it reveals an object to its own owner--i.e., the Self. Rejecting Sankara's conception of reality, Ramanuja defended the thesis that Brahman is a being with infinitely perfect excellent virtues, a being whose perfection cannot be exceeded. The world and finite individuals are real, and together they constitute the body of Brahman. The category of body and soul is central to his way of thinking. Body is that which can be controlled and moved for the purpose of the spirit. The material world and the conscious spirits, though substantive realities, are yet inseparable from Brahman and thus qualify him in the same sense in which body qualifies the soul. Brahman is spiritual-material-qualified. Ramanuja and his followers undertook criticisms of Sankara's illusionism, particularly of his doctrine of avidya (ignorance) and the falsity of the world. For Ramanuja, such a beginningless, positive avidya could not have any locus or any object, and if it does conceal the self-shining Brahman, then there would be no way of escaping from its clutches. A most striking feature of Ramanuja's epistemology is his uncompromising realism. Whatever is known is real, and only the real can be known. This led him to advocate the thesis that even the object of error is real--error is really incomplete knowledge--and correction of error is really completion of incomplete knowledge. The state of moksa is not a state in which the individuality is negated. In fact, the sense of "I" persists even after liberation, for the self is truly the object of the notion of "I." What is destroyed is egoism, the false sense of independence. The means thereto is bhakti, leading to God's grace. But by bhakti Ramanuja means dhyana, or intense meditation with love. Obligation to perform one's scriptural duties is never transcended. Liberation is a state of blessedness in the company of God. A path emphasized by Ramanuja for all persons is complete self-surrender (prapatti) to God's will and making oneself worthy of his grace. In his social outlook, Ramanuja believed that bhakti does not recognize barriers of caste and classes. The doctrinal differences among the followers of Ramanuja is not so great as among Shankara's. Writers such as Sudarshana Suri and Venkatanatha continued to elaborate and defend the theses of the master, and much of their writing is polemical. Some differences are to be found regarding the nature of emancipation, the nature of devotion, and other ritual matters. The followers are divided into two schools: the Uttara-kalarya, led by Venkatanatha, and the Daksina-kalarya, led by Lokacarya. One of the points at issue is whether or not emancipation is destructible; another, whether there is a difference between liberation attained by mere self-knowledge and that attained by knowledge of God. There also were differences in interpreting the exact nature of self-surrender to God and the degree of passivity or activity required of the worshipper.
OUR SWAMI, SRI U.VE.ABHINAVA DESIKA POIKAIPAKAM GOPALACHARYA MAHADESIKAN
The Lord, Almighty Sriya: Pathi Sriman Narayana takes an Avatara to bless his Bhakthas. An Acharya takes an avatAra not only to wipe out the sorrows of all who seek his feet, but also to show them the path for Eternal Bliss- mOksha. That is why Vedas proclaim "Acharya Devo Bhava" and "Devamiva Acharyam Upaseeta". That is why our great Acharya, Sri Nigamanta Guru, vehemently said ("AcharyAdiha DevatAm SamadhikAm AnyAm na manyAmahe") that in this world, there is no other Devata, which is superior to an Acharya. Vedas, Smritis, Itihasas, Puranas and other Pramanas proclaim that if aperson does not get the blessings of an Acharya, he will not get Moksha,even though he may possess all the material wealth; on the other hand, One who has the blessings of an Acharya, will not be prevented from attaining the Eternal Bliss-Moksha, even though he has committed the most heinous crime. Our Acharya Parampara starts from Sriman Narayana and Sri Nigamanta Gurustands in the middle as the "Crest Jewel". In that guru parampara, OURSWAMI, Sri U.Ve.Abhinava Desika poikaipakam Gopalacharya Mahadesikan, stands aloof as a Supreme Acharya-Par Excellence-as an undisputed and universally accepted GUIDING STAR for our Sampradaya and as the ABHINAVA AVATARA of Sri Nigamanta Guru and in no way inferior to the original Avatara in Knowledge, Acharya, Anushtana, and VairAagya. This will be very clearly understood if one goes through the various incidents and happenings in OUR SWAMY's life. It will be an amazing experience to us if we find out how Our Swami wasprepared by the various doyen in all the shastras to fill thepost of a Guiding Star and to augment and supplement the great work done by the Nigamanta Guru in this Abhinava Avatara.
BIRTH:
Our Swami, Abhinava Desika was born in a village called poyapakam, 5 miles away from Vilupuram town, vilupuram District in Tamil Nadu, as the son of Sri.U.Ve.krishnamachariCHAKRAVARTI SWAMI, who was the Ekadhipati of that village at the time. He was well known for his family background, wealth, Acharya, Anushtana, Knowledge, etc.
KULAM:
Srivatsa - Tirumalai Nallan Chakravarti Vamasam.
TIRUMALAI:
As the ancestors of Our Swami settled in Tirumalai, to do the NityaKainkaryam to the Lord of Seven Hills, Sri Tiruvengadamudaiyaan, they got the title "Tirumalai".
NALLAN:
One of the ancestors of Our Swami, once saw a Brahmin's dead body beingwashed ashore in floods in Vegavati river near Kanchi and tookthe trouble of arranging PrEta-Samskara (funeral rites) for the dead body. Not knowing that this act is equivalent to that of performing many Asvameda Yagas, the local people boycotted him. But Sri Devadhiraja Swami enshrined at the Kanchi temple, had different ideas; called him and proclaimed that he may be considered "Bad for the world -But Good for me" -"Oorukku Pollan, Emakku NALLAN" ? Tanian slokas starting with "Vega Vegopaneetam etc etc", ? are available to prove the above incident.
CHAKRAVARTI:
Puranas hail, that Lord Tiruvengadamudaiyan gave the "Sudarsana-Panchajanya" to one Tondaimaan Chakravarti, who as, in his previous birth, born as Rangadasa, He was doing Pushpa Kainkaryam to Lordof Seven Hills by supplying flowers to Vikanas Maharshi who was doing Pooja to Lord Tiruvengamudaiyan. God was so pleased with Rangadasa that he blessed him to be born as a King in his next birth. The Lord gave him Sudarsana-Panchajanya for worshipping him and hailed him "CHAKRAVARTI". This is the Sanka-Chakra handed over to Sri Bhashyakara by our Swami's ancestors who were also alled "CHAKRAVARTIS" as they continued the Kainkaryam to Sri Tiruvengadamudaiyan after Tondaiman Chakravarti.
SRIVATSA GOTHRAM:
It is well known that the Nityasuri, SRIVATSAM on the chest of Lord Sriman Narayana, the permanent abode of Sri Lakshmi, was born as Sri Vatsa Maharishi. Sri Valmiki, Brughu, Chyavana, Dadheechi, Udanka, and Sownaka rishis belong to the Srivatsa Gotram. We will enjoy the greatness of Swamy's ancestors in the next post.
SRIMATE VIRARAGHAVARYA MAHA DESIKAYA NAMAHA
SRIMATE RANGARAMANUJA MAHA DESIKAYA NAMAHA
SRI BHOOMI DEVI SAMETA SRINIVASA PRARABRAHMANE NAMAHA
AchAryan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
SrI:
Sri Padmavathi Sametha Srinivasa Parabrahmane Namaha.
Sri Perundhevi Sametha Devadhiraja Parabrahmane Namaha.
SrimathE Bhagavad Ramanujaya Namaha:
SrimathE Nigamantha Mahadesikaya namaha:
Srimate Rangaramanuja Maha Desikaya Namaha.
Srimate Abhinava Desika Vatsya Satchakravarti Poyapakam SRI GOPALACHARYA
MAHA DESIKAYA NAMAHA
SrImAn venkatanAthAryaH kavitArkika kesarI |
vedAntAcArya-varyome sannidhattAm sadA hRdi