THIRUVALLIKENI KANDENE   

  BRINDARANYA NIVASAYA BALARAMANUJAYACHA RUKMINI PRANANADHAYA PARTHASOODHAYA MANGALAM

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                                                                              Sri Parthasarathi thunai

                                                                        Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

                                                                        Sri Vara Vara MunayE Namaha

                                                                    Sri VanAchala mahA munayE Namaha

                                                           SrisailEsa dayA pAthram deebhakthyAdhi gunArnavam

                                                          Yateendra pravanam vandhE ramya jAmataram muni

                                                          RamyajAmatru yOgeendra pAdha rEkhA mayam sadhA

                                                          thathAyath thAthma sadhdhAthim rAmAnuja munim bhajE

Azhagiya varadar, a bAla brahmachAri, stayed along with his acharyan, considering his guru, nAyanAr to be his god (“peethaka vAdai pirAnAr pirama guru vAgi vandhu”, “ThEnAr kamala thirumAmagal kozhunan thane” guruvAgi).  He considered his acharyan, who has blessed him with all happiness and joy, to be everything for him and engaged himself in the kainkaryam of the acharyan as per the acharyan’s wish (“mAdum manaiyum kilaiyum maraimunivar thEdum vuyar veedam senneriyum peedudaiya ettezhuthum”thandha Acharyan.  An acharya has blesses a shisya with cattle, house, relation and the high arthas of the veda adorned by the pandits and also the astAksharam, the manthra raja.)

 Very pleased with the shisyas kainkaryams, nayanAr with great interest thought him the sastras, viz., tarka, meemAmsa etc.  Azhagiya varadar grasped all the lessons in the very first shot, which surprised nAyanar and also made him very happy.  He then continued to teach him the drAvida vedam starting with thirupallAndu.   After that nAyanar proceeded to give the shisya the most important lesson in our sampradAyam, the rahasyas.  He first blessed azhagiya varadar with the rahasyam which has 8 aksharAs, 3 padhams which is been always meditated in their minds by Srivaishanavas(“nAth thazhumbhezha”) who are mumukshus filled with jnana, bhakthi and vairaghya, the thirumanthram,  which bestows all good results.  Nayanar thought all the inner meanings and all the explanations as given by the poorvAcharyas to azhagiya varadar(“nalam tharum sollai nAn kandu kondEn NarayanA ennum nAmam”).

 Followed by the manthra raja, nAyanar blessed azhagiya varadar with the detailed explanation of the meaning of the manthra ratnam, the dvayam.  Next lesson was on the words of geethAcharyan, the charama slOkam, thereby teaching the shisya the essentiality to leave all other upAyas and fall into emperuman, Sri Parthasarathi’s feet considering him to be the siddhOpAyam.  Then azhagiya varadar learnt all the nalAyira  paasura vyakhyAnams and their corresponding rahasya arthas.

 Azhagiya varadar, was filled with extreme joy to have obtained all the divine meanings from his own acharya, but he still remained without any ahankAra mamakArams(ego and pride),  looking at anything with a balanced mind and as a foremost paramaikAntin, considering sheshatva(master), saranayathva(to who’s feet one surrenders) and prapyathva(the ultimate goal) all to be his own acharya.  He remained in madurakavi bhAvam (“Dhevu mattruariyEn”) and with strong belief in the alwars words,”vun padha yugamAm yEr konda veetai elidhinil Aidhuvan”.  Like lakshmana (“aham sarvam karishyAmi”) azhagiya varadar was also always (“ozhivil kAlamellAm vudanAi manni”) involved in all types of kainkaryams to his acharya.  When one fine day, nAyanAr who is none other than the reincarnation of ethirAjar himself, always in the thought of the way to uplift the masses, called azhagiya varadar and with a graceful look suggested him to go to do mangalAsAsanam to deivanAyagan if he desired.  Azhagiya varadar was shocked to hear this, and unable to digest the thought of separation from his beloved acharya, started thinking why nAyanAr has suddenly ordered for separation?

 Let us find the answer in the next posting.

 (To be continued)

 Alwar EmperumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharaNam

 Adiyen Ramanuja dasyai

Sumithra Varadarajan