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Experiences at the Land of Divya Desams - 5

From the Bhakti List Archives

Anand K Karalapakkam • June 25, 1998 


                                  Sri :
          
             Srimate  Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha Para Brahmane Namaha

                  Srimate Sri Kanakavalli nAyikA sametha Sri-
                       VeerarAghava Para Brahmane Namaha

                       Srimate  ShatagopAya Namaha                                    

                  Srimate  Bhagavad   RAmAnujAya  Namaha      

                  Srimate NigamAntha MahAdesikAya Namaha 

             Srimate Sri Lakshmi - Nrusimha Divya PAdukA Sevaka - 
         Srivan  Shatagopa  Sri NArAyana Yateendra MahAdesikAya Namaha      
             

     Dear  bhaktAs of Sriman NArAyanA,
    
     Namo NArAyanA . kindly accept adiyen's pranAmams. 

  --cont--
  
 AzhagiyaSingar started the Upadesam on "SaranAgati" (ie. prapatti) for us
& directly spoke to adiyen : "Unnaku edulAm therium. ErundAlum ,
maththavALukulAm theriyumo theriyAdho ..." ( "You know all these . But ,
others may or may not know .." ). Adiyen really became speechless after
this statement of AzhagiyaSingar which exhibited H.H.Jeeyar's  sowseelyam
, sowlabhyam , compassion , ...& host of other kalyAna gunAs .

  Even to an akinchanan like adiyen, AzhagiyaSingar was speaking with such
kind &  encouraging words . Earlier , adiyen understood the great ocean of
mercy of Srimad AzhagiyaSingar from H.H.Jeeyar's encouraging statement on
samAsrayanam article ( If some disciple is atleast interested in some
aspects of sampradAyam & tries to perform some kainkaryam to his capacity
, H.H.Jeeyar spots that & encourages him/her to get them involved further
in the sampradAyam ). But , the reality is that adiyen hardly knows about
the details on prapatti (whatever is known is also due to blessings of
AchAryAs) . Still , AzhagiyaSingar comes down to the level of even adiyen.
Eventhough adiyen doesn't know much on prapatti , the statement
(blessings) of AzhagiyaSingar can never go wrong , since MAlolan would
certainly make it happen for sure . 
     
    A pretty old Sri VaishnavA was also about to get prapatti performed.
AzhagiyaSingar told to him " IppadiyA varadhu ? Thalaila mudiyellam
niraiyA ingeyum angeyum errukke (referring to giridhA , little front hair
etc). mudiyA kAppAtha porudhu ?  chiina paiyan (referring to adiyen) ,
kalyAnam Agappora vayasu , yeppidi vandhirukkAn pArtheengaLA (referring to
shikai) ? yenga errukku unga veedu ? "
 
 (" Is this the way to come ? Your head is filled with hair here & there
(referring to giridhA & little front hair) . Is the "hair" that is going
to save you ? Can't you see the way in which this small boy (referring to
adiyen) , in the age of getting marriage has come ( referring to shikA ) ?
Where is your residence ? " )

   The old Sri VaishnavA answered that he lives at West MAmbalam itself.
Then AzhagiyaSingar advised " Please listen to me. You can kindly go back
for today . Have a shikA & come tommorrow . MAlolan & myself will be here
only . You needn't worry . Hair is not going to save anyone. You live in
West MAmbalam only . So , there shouldn't be much of a problem for you to
come back tommorrow right ? But stay back for the upadesam "

  When AzhagiyaSingar was about to start the Upadesam , some
kainkaryaparA came & consulted something.Then AzhagiyaSingar told a
kainkaryaparA that the parAyanam of pAdukA sahasram performed by the
ladies be done in a very low voice , since Upadesam is going to take place
here . Meanwhile , the old Sri VaishnavA  went back into the crowd (for
reasons known to him only ; probably to get some dakshanA or cassette for
recording etc. But he was a good devotee indeed ; participated in
SAttrumurai , chanted vedAs ,prabandhams & was involved in organizing the
goshti etc ). At this time , AzhagiyaSingar enquired about the
whereabouts of the old Sri VaishnavA & asked us to inform him & make him
attend the Upadesam . AzhagiyaSingar suddenly changed the decision & told
the SriVaishnavA that H.H.Jeeyar would perform the prapatti for him today
itself ( probably AzhagiyaSingar took his absence as a sign that he may
not return the next day ) ; but cautioned that if the prapatti has to be
fruitful , he should be very sincere (atleast follow strictly as per the
Upadesam that is going to be delivered ).

Thirty minutes went past just like a second. AzhagiyaSingar explained
about Prapatti very wonderfully in H.H.Jeeyar's own inimitable style (
even a lay man can understand very easily . adiyen is the proof ) . Adiyen
has recorded the invaluable upadesam. Unfortunately , it is at chennai
itself. The upadesam gave the perfect mind set to adiyen for the most
important event in adiyen's life ( includes all previous births etc ).
      
    It was adiyen's parama bhAgyam that some devotee had arranged for the
thirumanjanam of all the perumALs . It is certainly a mahA bhAgyam to
prostrate unto the lotus feet of MAlolan when all the ornaments are
removed ( sevai of His (& other perumALs) svayam archA thirumeni happened
to adiyen . This is something extrordinary ) . The parama bhAgyam of sevai
of MAlolan in His archA thirumeni can't be had by all (only to those whom
He chooses ). But , the height of bhAgyam in adiyen's case was the
performance of prapatti when MAlolan  was giving His sevai of His archA
thirumeni .

     The screen was put so that others wouldn't see the performance of
prapatti. Those who had already undergone prapatti ( like adiyen's
father & such close relatives of others performing prapatti) were allowed
in . AzhagiyaSingar cautioned them not to utter the mantrAs  .

    Adiyen can never forget the way with which AzhagiyaSingar made us look
at MAlolan . AzhagiyaSingar was in full ecstacy (adiyen still remembers
the wonderful sweet smile in H.H.Jeeyar's face , completely reflecting  
H.H.Jeeyar's deep love towards MAlolan & His archA thirumeni ), when
H.H.Jeeyar showed us the beautiful smile of MAlolan . Oh ! That was a real
treat to our eyes ( the only use of our eyes) . Adiyen took some 4 or 5
seconds to really get the sevai ie. only after closer concentrated look
adiyen was able to enjoy the most beautiful smile adiyen has ever seen .
This sevai is impossible to obtain for anyone who has prostrated to
MAlolan with His usual decorations . What a glorious smile with widely
opened mouth ? AzhagiyaSingar in a very joyous mood with his sweet voice
told us " yenna AdbudhamAna/AscharyamAna siRRippu pArthElA ? " ( "Can you
all see that wonderful ( Adbudham / Ascharyam) smile ? " ). 

     Everyone had their sevai to their heart content. Then AzhagiyaSingar
showed the smile in pirAtti's face . Oh! that was even more beautiful
. Probably AzhagiyaSingar showed us the most wonderful smile in the
faces of PerumAL & pirAtti to make us understand that when a jIvAtmA
performs "prapatti" , the happiness obtained by the Divya Dampati ( due
to the fact that their dear child would be reaching them soon for
eternal association at Sri Vaikuntam ) would be million times more
than even the hapiness of jIvAtmA which is performing the prapatti !!

Then AzhagiyaSingar showed us the lotus foot of MAlolan ...Everyone was
spellbound there . Then started the sankalpam , sAthvIka thyAgam ...,
prapatti to pirAtti , prapatti to MAlolan ....... At each stage ,
AzhagiyaSingar told us about what we are actually doing . Thus , prapatti
in Ukti NishtA ( repetition by the sishyA of the mantrAs recited by an
AchAryA , during prapatti) got completed . 

   Thus the marriage (prapatti) was performed by AzhagiyaSingar & adiyen's
marriage day is thus VaikAsi sravanam . 

------------------------
  P.S. One of adiyen's well wisher & dear bhAgavthA of this
bhakti/prapatti list kindly pointed out the possibility of misinterpreting 
an information in the first part of this series ( whether prapatti was
performed  once or twice ? ; the wordings sound as if it was performed
twice , which is perfectly against sAstrAs ). Basically , adiyen's
father requested Srimad AzhagiyaSingar twice (once when adiyen was at USA
itself ; the second time being at chennai itself , when adiyen was present
there ) for performing "Bhara NyAsam" to adiyen . The request was only
made twice , but the performance of "prapatti" was only once ( the
experiences of which is written above) . Infact one should request Srimad
AzhagiyaSingar , even in the day/night before prapatti is going to be
performed ( this should be one's bhAvA regarding prapatti ) .

If one deeply understands the greatness of prapatti & the importance of
AchAryA , from the depths of one's hearts , one can understand the "bhAvA"
with which adiyen's father requested ( anyway all the Sri VaishnavAs
sincerely approaching the AchAryA for prapatti have this bhAvA ) .It is
always in the hands of the H.H.Jeeyar to reject the plea ( if the person
seeking prapatti doesn't meet certain standards of conduct expected by
H.H.Jeeyar ). It is only out of AzhagiyaSingar's mercy that prapatti is
being performed . 

     Unfortunately , if someone assumes this "prapatti" (that pleases
Sriman NArAyanA to grant mokshA ie. eternal kainkaryam to Divya Dampati
at Sri Vaikuntam) to be something very "cheap" ( like buying something
from stores ) , then he is obviously unfit . "prapatti" is the final
essence of all sAstrAs - the nectar churned out of the ocean of sAstrAs.
Moreover , the granter of moksham is none other than Sriya: pathi , the
unparalleled Lord of all Lords , but who is simultaneously the SaranAgata
Vatsalan ! One should know about the greatness of NArAyanA, atleast to the
extent that, even the demigods like BrahmA , SivA , IndrA etc are mere
servitors to Him . If one doesn't have this knowledge also (ie. thinking
that all "Gods" are same etc ie. devatAntara sambandhA ) , there is no
point in performing prapatti for him ,since the most important requisite
- ananyagatitvA (no other resort) is lost => he won't be given moksham by 
Sriman NArAyanA .

      Even if one is a great bhAgavathA , H.H.Jeeyar can reject his plea .
So , one should have deep humility to accept one's incapabilities , say,
worst among sinners ( Akinchanyam) . Just because the AchAryA performs 
prapatti for his disciple , if the disciple takes that to be very light ,
it is a great offense. No one can repay in whatsoever way to the ocean of
mercy of his/her AchAryA ,for performing the prapatti ,which has ended for
sure the long journey of millions of births in the world of samsArA
filled with miseries.


      "prapatti" as the sure means for securing moksham is vouchsafed in
the sAstrAs  ( nyAsa vidyA in Upanishads ; Lakshmi tantrA , & Ahirbudhnya
samshitA  deals with the way of performance of prapatti ; numerous
episodes in IthihAsAs & purAnAs , Upadesams of Sriman NArAyanA in
His vibhavA form (avatArams) as VarAhA , RAmA & KrishnA giving the highly
cherished charama slokams , etc )

   But the beauty of Sri Vaishnavam is that Sriman NArAyanA in His archA
avatAram also vouchsafed about the efficacy of prapatti . When Bhagavad
RAmAnujA was at kAnchi , Lord Varadan spoke to  Thiruk kachi NambigaL 
regarding the 6 questions of Bhagavad RAmAnujA . Varadan assured that
Prapatti is a sure way of attaining Him & He would Himself give anthima
smaranam to the prapannA ( ie. prapannA needn't put efforts for obtaining
anthima smaranam unlike a bhakti yogi ). Similarly , Lord Lakshmi
Nrusimhan while instructing Sri Adivan shatagopa yateendra MahAdesikan (
first jeeyar , Sri Ahobila Mutt ) told that the SaranAgati mArgA should
be propagated to each & every village , & ordered H.H.Jeeyar to take Him       
(ofcourse pirAtti is inseparable from Nrusimhan ) along for sanchAram .

  --- to be continued --

   Namo NArAyanA

   Adiyen

   Anantha PadmanAbha dAsan  


                      Sarvam  Sri KrishnArpanamastu