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From: M.S.HARI Madabhushi Sarangarajan Hari (mshari_at_usa.net)
Date: Thu Dec 21 2000 - 08:54:09 PST
Dear SrI N.Vijayaraghavan <wasimlara@hotmail.com>
>I would like to ask a fundamental question.Who are alwars and
>acharyas?
Alwars are divine incarnations (amSa-avathAram) of various nithya-sUris
of the God SrIman NArAyaNa. For example, Tiru-malizai-Alwar is
sudarSana-chakra-amsam. Alwars got 'submerged' in the divine ocean of
kalyANa-guNas (divine qualities) of SrIman NarAyaNa and enjoyed His
kalyANa-guNas.
AchAryas are preceptors; their succession (guru-parampara) is very
important in preserving the parama-vaidika-matham ViSishtAdvaita SrI
VaishNavam. The guru-parampara starts with SrIman NArAyaNa, has great
AchAryas like SrI SatakOpa, SrIman nAthamuni, SrImath yAmunAchArya,
Bhagavath rAmAnuja, SrIman nigamAntha mahA dESika to name a few. AchArya
is he who practices and preaches the parama-vaidika-matham ViSishtAdvaita
SrI VaishNavam. AchArya blesses us with pancha-samskAram, SAstra-adyayanam and
finally makes us to adopt the upAya-anushtAnam which is
SaraNagathi (which has five angams) at the lotus feet of SrIman NArAyaNa.
>Do alwars have some divine power?
Alwars had definitely divine power given to them by the God; and that
power is "mayarvara-mathi-nalam" - absolute knowledge about the
thathva-hitha-purushArthams. Above this power, they had ultimate mercy
and showered it on all of us through their 4000 divine verses
(nAlAyira-divya-prabandam) and thus explained the Veda (theLiyAda maRai
nilangaL theLigindROmE - swAmi SrIman NigamAntha mahA dESika) in Tamil in
a simple way. These verses are outpouring of their experiences that they
had with the unparalleled and unsurpassed supreme self SrIman NArAyaNa
(bhagavath-anubhava-parivAham). Their power is so great that their words
have expressed the universal philosophy and practice of the ViSishtAdvaita SrI
VaishNavam in such a lively manner, comprehensible to all of us.
>Where the alwars stand as per our sampradayam and what is their exact
>role?.
In our ubhaya-vEdAntha sampradAyam, Alwars stand in a very important
position next to the rishis like bAdarAyaNa, parASara… But SrI
SatakOpa (namAlwAr) is also an AchArya in the guru-parampara. Therefore,
SrI SatakOpa is acknowledged with highest regards as
prapanna-santhAna-jana-kUtasta: and SrI VaishNava kulapathi. Without the
sambandam of this AlwAr, the souls cannot even think of salvation. Such is the
greatness. Their role is to educate all people through their works
(nAlAyira-divya-prabandam) regarding ViSishtAdvaita SrI VaishNava
thathva-hita-purushArthams and make the souls to adopt SaraNAgathi
(prapaththi/Bhara-nyAsam) at the lotus feet of SrIman NArAyaNa.
Thanks & Regards
M.S.HARI rAmAnuja dAsan (mshari@usa.net)
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