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RAMANUJA DARSHANAM

(Philosophy of Ramanuja)

A VEDICS JOURNAL

Volume 3 Issue 2: June Aug 2005

Vedics Foundation(http://www.vedics.net)

Table of Contents Ramanuja Darshanam

Editorial 1

AchArya LakshaNam sri kumaravenkatAchar svAmi

2

kOLari srI embAr rangAchAri svAmi 5

Sri Mudaliandan Swami thirumaligai SrI KM NarayaNan

8

Vaishnavism in the Vedic Period SriV V Ramanujam Swami

16

Great Saints and teachers 20

mumUkshuppadi srI TCAVenkatesan

22

Divyadesa vaibhavam 26

Kamasikaashtakam Sri KMNarayanan

32

Sapthakaadhai Smt. VasumathiSampathkumar

35

Gadya trayam Sri V V RamanujamSwami

39

Editor:Sri Kahiyur Narayanan

Associate Editor:Smt Harini Raghavan

Advisory Board:

Sri Mukundan PattangiSri TA VaradhanSri TCA Venkatesan

Subscription:

Each Issue: $5Annual: $20

Emailvedic_mag@yahoogroups.com

About the Cover image

The cover image of Ramanuja in this issue of Ramanuja Darsanam is thatof Ramanuja at srIvillipuththUr, the birthplace of Sri ANdAL, and thehome of periyAzhvAr. Ramanuja here is affectionately known as kOilaNNar the elder brother of ANdAL. The reason is as follows innAchchiyAr Thirumozhi, in the 9th decade where she sings about the

Lord of thirumAlirum sOlai, ANdAL specifically says that "I offer 100vessels full of butter, and 100 vessels full of akkAra adisil (a sweet) to theLord of mAlirum sOlai". Unfortunately, in her lifetime she could notphysically do the offering. It is said that Ramanuja fulfilled this desire ofANdAL by offering the akkaara adisil in 100 vessels to Lord SundaraRaja at ThirumAl irum sOlai. Hence, he is considered to be the elderbrother of ANdAL the elder brother who fulfilled the desires of hisyounger sister!

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the frightening things standing in the way of one thinkingabout the Supreme Being is the fear about the effect of ourphysical and mental actions (if we think that we are the soleagents for these actions). God's qualities drive away this fearand makes us bold to be capable of anything asNammazhvar says

unnai c chindhai seidhu seidhu un nedumaamozhi isaipaadi aadi

en munnai-th-theevinaihal muzhuvErarindhanan yaanunnai-ch-chindhaiynaal igazhndha iraNiyan agal maarvam

keeNdaen munnai k kOLariyE mudiyaadhaden enakke?(thiruvAimozhi 2-6-6)

"By ceaselessly thinking about You and singing and dancing bereft of fear and responsibility expressing Your greatand far reaching qualities, I chopped off the entire root of theeffect of my earlier acts; My surging remover of hurdles whotore off the broad breast of hiraNya who discarded you inHis thinking! What is there not possible for me?"

The Lord Himself is the remover of the hurdles, in the form of ego, in

thinking about Him and reaching Him, of course, with our concern forself Narasimha has become a form of the Lord to be propitiated forremoving hurdles in goals set by ourselves in samsAra. Maybe that, Hedecided to create this interest in us just to make us remember this formof His, if not the qualities expressed by this form.

SRI MUDALIANDAN SWAMI THIRUMALIGAI

Kazhiyur Narayanan

pAdukE yatirAjasya gathayanthi yathakhyaya |thasya dAsarathE: pAdow sirasaa dArayamyaham||

Sri rAmAnuja yOgeendra karuna pari brumhithAm |srEya see manakAm vandhE sreemath vAdhoola sandhathim ||

(I prostrate to the lineage of Vadhoola vamsam, which is flawless andgraced by the mercy of Swami Ramanuja)

This is how Sri Manavala Mamunikal described when the descendants ofSri Mudaliandan visited him in Srirangam.

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Swami Mudaliandan is one of the closest shishyas of Swami Ramanuja.He is often referred to as Ramanuja Paduka, or yatiraja Paduka,which means the sandals, or foot wear, of Ramanuja i.e. He wasalways present at the feet of Ramanuja.

Sri Kumara Venkatacharyar Acharya of the Mudaliandanthirumaligai at Kanchipuram from 1921 - 1997

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pAncarAtra aagama, there are 6 beras of the Lord in the temple, and theycan be seen in the sanctum sanctorum normally).

SRI AZHAITHU VAZHIVITHAVAR

Theemanam keduththAr:

Appachiaranna is a direct descendant of Sri Mudaliandan Swami and

occupies the ninth position in the family lineage. Swami Appachiarannawas addressed by Swami Manavala Maamuni as "Nam AppachiaraNNanO". Sri Manavala maamuni gave two similar vigrahas of Himselfto two of his key devotees - one to Sri Appachiaranna, and the other toSri Vanamamalai Jeeyar svAmi; these two vigrahas were made from themetal contained in the vessels used by Swami Ramanuja for dailyworship, that was handed over the years to Sri Manavala maamuni, andhad become unusable due to age.

Sri Manavala maamuni also gave Appachiaranna the idol oftheemanam keduththAr (which literally means the One who tookaway the bad thoughts in me).

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This perumAL was worshipped by Sri AtkoNdavilli Jeeyar. SwamiAppachiaranna spent his life in Kanchipuram, doing service to the Lordof KAnchi Varadaraja by bringing in water for the Lordsthirumanjanam the same service that was performed by Sri Ramanujaat Kanchipuram.

TEEMANAM KEDUTHAR

Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan:

Swami Annavilappan, son of Appachiaranna Swami lived in a holy placecalled Singaperumal koil in the service of Sri Pataladhri Narasimha

Perumal as ordained by Lord Narasimha. The Lord of SingaperumalKovil appeared in the dream of Swami Annavilappan and ordered himto set right His abode which was covered under sand dunes, andestablish a place where devotees lived and performed services to Him.Accordingly, Swami Annavilappan followed the divine order, rebuilt thetemple, established a village with people and lived his life in the serviceof Lord Pataladhri.

Varthamana (Current) Swami of the thirumaligai:

The current swami in this great lineage is known as Sri KumaraRamanujachar Swami. He is the only son of Sri Kumara Venkatacharyar

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Swami. Like Swami Annavilappan, he resides and performs nityakainkaryams to Sri Pataladhri Narasimha Perumal at Singaperumalkovil. He performs samashrayanam to Sishyas at his thirumaligai whoseaddress is

Sri Mudaliandan Swami Thirumaligai,

4/115 Sannidhi Street,Singaperumal Kovil,Tamilnadu, 603204.

Sri Laskhmi Narasimhan in the thirumALigai

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Sri K.K.V.A Kumara Ramanujachar Swami

Photos Courtesy:

http://www15.brinkster.com/mudaliandan/

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great AchArya used to go to Kanchipuram every year for the garudasEva of Lord Varadaraja in the Tamizh month of VaikAsi and immersehimself in the great beauty of the Lord there. One year, due to weakhealth, he could not go the Kanchipuram. He was sitting on the banks ofthe temple tank (called thakkaan kuLam), meditating on LordVaradaraja's garuda sEva and was crying as he could not see the Lord on

the garuda sEva that year. Lord Varadaraja immediately appeared infront of him on the garuda vaahana, and the great AchArya worshippedthe Lord to his heart's content.

Lord Narasimha at Sholinghur, the big hill temple

To commemorate this great incident, even today, every year during thegaruda sEva in Kanchipuram, when Lord Varadaraja on garuda comesout of the west temple gOpuram, a big haarathi is performed to the Lord,

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with the great umbrellas for the Lord covering the Lord completely for amoment as the Lord is deemed to have gone to Sholinghur to provideDarshanam to His devotee, doddAchArya!.

This divyadEsam is also called "GhatikAchalam".

Hanuman, at the smaller hill temple

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akkAra-k-kani emperumAn in the lower temple

Current AchArya in the doddAchArya lineage

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Vigraham of Swami doddAchArya

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