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UpadEsa Rathna Maalai (URM) Of Sri MaNavALa Maamunigal (Sri MM): Part 1

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Sadagopan • October 16, 1999 


Dear BhakthAs : In a spirit of kaimkaryam for 
the forthcoming Thirunakshathram celebrations for 
Sri MaNavALa MaamunigaL(MM) , adiyEn plans to undertake 
two initatives related to MM's dhivya prabhnadhams : 

(1)Simple Translation of the meanings of the Upadesa
rathna Maalai(URM).

(2) Translation and notes on the meanings of 
the individual Paasurams of MM's ThiruvAimozhi
NooRRanthAdhi (TN). 

Here is the first part of the Translations on the first 
five slOkams of URM. 

Please let me have your comments on the benefit of these
two kaimkaryams and the levels at which these translations
and notes should be pegged .

AdiyEn places these postings at the sacred feet of 
Sri MaNavALa MaamunigaL and seek the blessings
of MahAns (mahAnthO anugruNanthu) for a successful
conclusion of these efforts .

Daasan, V.Sadagopan 

UpadEsa Rathna Maalai (URM) Dhivya Prabhandham
***********************************************
The URM of Sri MaNavALa MaamunigaL (Sri MM )
is the first of his dhivya Prabhandhams in Tamil .
The others are the ThiruvAimozhi NooRRandhAthi
and Aarthi Prabhandham . In URM , Sri MM focused
on the glories of our revered AzhwArs and PoorvAchAryAs
as Sri VaishNava SampradhAya PravarhtakAs 
and saluted them. The specific items covered in
the URM are:

1)The months of birth of the AzhwArs and their 
  Thrunakshathrams (Stars in ascendance at the time 
  of their avathArams)

2) Sthalmas , where they incarnated as amsams of the Lord

3) The glories of the PoorvAchAryAs , who wrote commentaries
   on the dhivya Prabhandhams of the AzhwArs 

4) The unique glory of Sri PiLLai LokAcchAriyAr 
   and the greatness of his Rahasya grantham , 
   Sri Vachana BhUshaNam and the quintessence 
   of this magnum opus .

Sri MM used delectable Tamil for his first dhivya-
 Prabhandham and set its paasurams in gentle VeNN paa 
meter .There are 73 Paasurams in URM . While saluting 
the AzhwArs , Sri MM follows the order of the birth month 
of the AzhwArs starting from the Mudhal AzhwArs . 


TANIYAN FOR THE URM
********************

munnam ThiruvAimozhippiLLai thAmupadEsittha nEr
  tannin padiyait taNavAtha soll MaNavALa Muni 
tannnbhudansey UpadEsaratthinamaalai tannait-
  tannenju tannil dharippavar thALLkaL saraN namakkE 

(meaning): Sri MaNavALa Muni followed strictly 
the upadEsa kramam of his AchAryan , ThiruvAimozhippiLLai
as learnt from earlier times .Sri MM gave his own
upadesam to us about what he had learned out of his 
immense dayA for us . We seek those , who have learnt 
and retained the meanings of the paasurams of URM
and select their sacred feet as our sole refuge .

The UpadEsa Rathna Maalai Paasurams 
*************************************

UpadEsam to Future Generations(1)
********************************* 

yenthai ThiruvAimozhippiLLai innaruLAL
  vantha vupadEsa maargatthaic-chinthai seythu
pinnavarum kaRka upadEsamAi pEsuhinREn
  manniya sIr VeNNpAvil Vaitthu 

(meaning ): AdiyEn is following strictly the path of 
my revered AchAryan , ThiruvAimozhippiLLai and his
upadEsams that adiyEn has been blessed to receive 
through his parama krupai ; adiyEn is basing these
upadEsams set in the meter of VeNNpaa for the benefit
of learning by future generation of Sri VaishNavAs.

The outreach of his Prabhandhams(2)
***********************************

kaRROrkal thaamuhappar kalvi tannil aasai uLLOr 
   peRROm yena uhanthu pinpu kaRpar -maRROrkal
maacharayatthAl ikazhil vanthathu yenn nenjE! ikazhkai
   aachariyamO thaann avarkku 

(meaning ): Here Sri MM hints that it is sufficient 
if the VivEkis of the world accept his prabhandham . 
He says in this context : " Oh my mind! The learned ones 
with  discriminating intellect will be happy to study
this prabhandham. Some of them  will celebrate 
the acquisition of this prabhandham and will instruct 
other devotees on this prabhandham with hearts fillled 
with joy. The rest , who do not fit into either of 
the above two categories will be filled with jealousy 
and reject this prabhandham . It is no surprise such people 
reject sadhupadEsam and no harm can ofcourse come to us 
by their rejection .

PallANDu to AzhwArs-AchAryAs and their granthams(3)
***************************************************

AzhArkaL vaazhi aruLiccheyal Vaazhi 
  thAzhvathum il kuravar thAmm vaazhi -yEzh paarum
uyya avarkaL uraitthavaikaL thaamm vaazhi 
seyya maRai tannudanE sErnthu 

(meaning ): Here Sri MM salutes the Sri Sookthis of
the AzhwArs and the PoorvAchAryAs : PallANDu to
the Mudal AzhwArs and their fellow AzhwArs ! 
PallANDu to their dhivya Prabhandhams ! May
the blemishless granthams of the glorious 
AchAryAs like EmperumAnAr and their successors
live forever! May the Sri Sookthis of these AzhwArs 
and AchAryAs created for the uplift (ujjeevanam)
of the entire world live forever in the company
of the incomparable ( vilakshaNa ) VedAs ! 
( Sri MM hints here that the Sri Sookthis of
the AzhwArs and the PoorvAchAryAs  are rooted
in the apourushEya Veda manthrams ).

AzhwAr's avathAra Kramam(4)
***************************

PoygaiAr BhUthatthAr PeyAr , pukazh Mazhisai
  ayyan aruLmARan sEralrkkOn --thuyya Bhatta
nathAn anbar thALL thULi NaRR PaaNan nann kaliyan
  Ithivar thORRatthu adaivu aam inghu 

(Meaning ): The order of avathAram of the AzhwArs
in this earth is: Poykai is First; BhUtham is second;
pEy is third; the reputed Thirumazhisai PirAn is fourth;
NammAzhwAr of illustrious grace (aruL) is fifth;
KulasEkara PerumAL is the sixth ; the sacred
PeriyAzhwAr free of any blemish is the seventh; 
Thondaradippodi (BhakthAngri rENu) is the eighth ;
ThiruppANar , the parama saathvikar is the ninth
in order ; dear Thirumangai is tenth .This then 
is the order in which they incarnated on BhUmanDalam .
(one may wonder about the absence of ANDAL and 
Madhura Kavi in the above list. Sri MM pays 
special attention to them later).

The Months and the constellations of the AzhwArs(5)
****************************************************

anthamizhAl naRRkalaikaL aaynthu uraittha AzhwArkal
   intha ulahil iruL neenga vanthu uthittha 
maathangaL nALLkaL tamai maNNulahOr thaam aRiya
   IthenRu solluvOm yaam .....(5)

(Meaning ): The AzhwArs blessed us with Sri Sookthis
of theirs in the beautiful language of Tamizh .
Their insightful prabhandhams are the products of 
deep reflections and help us to banish the darkness of
ajn~anam and viparItha Jn~anam . For the benefit of 
the residents of this earth , we will tell now 
precisely about the months of their avathArams and 
the constellations that were in ascendance at the time 
of their births .

(To Be continued )