Srivaishnava lakshanam - 4

Our guru paramparai

sri:
srimathe ramanujaya nama:
srimad varavaramunaye nama:
sri vaanaachala mahamunaye nama:

In the previous article we discussed the unique relationship between acharya and sishya.

Some will ask - "Why do we need an acharya between us and emperumaan? Has there not been cases where emperumaan directly acknowledging individuals like Gajendraaazhwaan, Guha perumaal, Sabhari, akrUran, thrivakraa (kooni in Krishna avathaaram), maalaa kaaran, etc?".

For this our pUrvaachaaryaas explain that, while emperumaan is svathanthran and he will occassionally choose to pour his mercy on some souls, he is also bound to give results by an individual's karma. This is where an acharya comes into the picture. Emperumaan out of his constant sukrutham for everyone, tirelessly creating opportunities for a jIvaathma to ultimately reach a sadaacharya who will impart the real knowledge and prepare the jivaathma to reach him. Acharya being a recommendation authority like piraati (who is purushakaara bhoothai) ensures to emperumaan that the jIvaathma is ready to give up worldly attachments and is purely depending on emperumaan's mercy to reach him.

It is said that while emperumaan will grant samsaaram or mOksham according to one's own karma, acharya will always ensure that the surrendered jIvaathma gets mOksham. It is also explained that going directly to emperumaan is like trying to reach out to his hands to hold on and going through an acharya is like reaching out to his lotus feet to hold on (since achayas are his thiruvadi nilai - representing his lotus feet). Emperumaan directly acknowledging jIvaathmaas are rare and him accepting jIvaathmaas through an acharyan is the most common/appropriate process as explained by our pUrvaachaaryaas.

Before going in to srivaishnava lakshanam, since we are discussing about acharyas it is very appropriate to understand our own acharya paramparai. This will help us fully appreciate how we got this knowledge down to us from emperumaan. Most of us will probably already know this, but still sharing this since without this acharya paramparai - we would also be like so many other samsaaris in this world today.

Srivaishnavam (also known as sanaathana dharmam) is an eternal sampradhaayam and many great personalities have propagated it throughout the history. Towards the end of dvaapara yugam, azhwars started appearing in southern part of bhaaratha varsham at the banks of various rivers. The last aazhwar appeared in the early part of kali yugam. Vyaasa rishi, in sri bhaagavatham identifies that exalted bhakthas of Sriman Narayanan will appear in the banks of various rivers and will enrich every one with the divine knowledge of emperumaan. Azhwaars are 10 in number - Poigai Azhwaar, bhoothathaazhwaar, peyaazhwaar, thirumazhisai aazhwaar, nammaazhwaar, kulasEkaraazhwaar, periyaazhwaar, thondaradi podi aazhwaar, thirumangai aazhwaar and thiruppaanaazhwaar. Madhurakavi azhwaar is an aaacharya nishtar and Andaal is avathaaram of Bhoomi piraati. Azhwaars (except Andaal) are all jIvaathmaas hand picked by emperumaan from samsaaram. Emperumaan gave the Azhwaars the most perfect knowledge about tattva trayam (chit, achit, isvara) through his own sankalpam and through them he re-established the bhathi/prapaththi maargam when it was lost. He also made them realize past, present and future events fully and clearly. Azhwars sung 4000 divya prabhandham (popularly known as arulicheyal) which were direct outpourings of their bhagavad anubhavam. The essence of arulicheyal is in the divine verses of thiruvaaimozhi which was rendered by nammaazhwaar.

After the time of aazhwaars, acharyas started appearing. Several acharyas such as NAthamuni, Uyyakkondaar, manakkaal nambi, aalavanthaar, periya nambi, periya thirumalai nambi, thirukkOshtiyur nambi, thirumaalai aandaan, azhwar thiruvaranga perumal arayar, emperumaanaar, embaar, koorathaazhwaan, mudhaliaandaan, arulaala perumaal emperumaanaar, thirukkurugai piraan pillan, engalaazhwaan, nadaathur ammaal, bhattar, nanjeeyar, nampillai, vadakku thiruveedhi pillai, periyavaachaan pillai, pillai lOkaachariar, azhagiya manavala perumaal naayanaar, koorakulOthama daasar, thiruvaaimozhi pillai, vedhaanthaachariar, manavaala maamunigal appeared and propagated our sampradhaayam. This acharya paramparai continues through the 74 simhaasanadhipathis and jeeyar mutts (established by emperumaanaar and manvala maamunigal) until today. These acharyas wrote several commentaries on arulicheyal, explaining the meanings of the paasurams in great detail. These commentaries are the great wealth they have left behind to us - for us to read them for ourselves and immerse in the bhagavad anubhavam. The acharyas, by the mercy of the aazhwaars were able to exactly understand the exact message in the paasurams and explain them from different angles.

In upadhEsa rathina maalai, maamunigal explains that we are able to understand these arulicheyal as it is only because of the existence of these commentaries (vyaakyaanamgal). If there were no commentaries, our arulicheyal would have also become like other Tamil literature (which are only learnt by a few elite group of people). Since our pUrvaachaaryaas understood the message, they even made arulicheyal as part of nithyaanusandhanam at both homes and temples. To see it practically, we can visit thiruvallikeNi divya dEsam - during siriya thirumadal gOshti on fridays, we can even see 5 year olds and 6 year olds chanting out louder than the older ones. Also, every one of us knows Thiruppaavai - every where, atleast during maargazhi month we can see even 3 year olds and 4 year olds singing the glorious paasurams of Andaal naachiaar.

This article ended up being another slight deviation from original topic - but again a very important aspect that is to be understood and appreciated clearly.

In the next article, we will continue with the original topic and move on to Pillai lOkaachariar's presentation of the qualities of a vaishnava adhikaari.

azhwaargaL vaazhi, aruLicheyal vaazhi, thaazhvaathumil kuravar thaam vaazhi

அழ்வார்கள் வாழி, அருளிசெயல் வாழி, தாழ்வாதுமில் குரவர் தாம் வாழி

adiyen sarathy ramanuj dasan

Srivaishnava lakshanam - 3

Acharya-Sishya relationship

sri:
srimathe ramanujaya nama:
srimad varavaramunaye nama:
sri vaanaachala mahamunaye nama:

In the previous article we saw how Pancha samskaaram begins ones journey as a srivaishnavan. We also saw the beginning of a unique relationship named "acharya-sishya" relationship. This is actually a small diversion from the original topic - but since this is such an important aspect in our sampradaayam, let us understand a little bit more about this relationship based on purvaachaarya sri sookthis.

Acharya literally means "one who has learnt saastras, applying it in his own life and teaching it to others". It is also said in the sastras that "Even a sanyaasi, if he does not accept vishnu parathvam, he must be considered to be a chandaalan only". So it is imperative that acharya must be a vaishnava - i.e. one who accepts Sriman Narayanan as the supreme god and is trying to please him every moment in his every action. Our purvaachaaryas have insisted that one who performs the thirumantra upadesam (along with dvayam and charama slOkam) during pancha samskaaram is the direct acharya.

Sishya means one who undergoes sikshai (correction/purification). It is generally translated as disciple in English - which means one who is to be disciplined. Here the sishya gets himself/herself shaped into a proper mould under the guidance of the acharya.

Our purvaachaaryas have discussed the qualities of achaya and sishya in a very detailed manner. To start with they have established based on the saastras that acharya-sishya relationship is exactly the same as father-son relationship. Just like the son is always totally subservient to the father, sishya must also be totally subservient to the acharya.

In bhagavad gItA, Krishnan says "tad viddhi pranipAthEna pari prasNena sEvaya, upadEkshanthi tE jnaanam jnaaninas tattva darshinah". This nicely summarises the qualities of acharya and sishya. In the first line, he says that "a sishya should submissively approach an acharya, do some service to him and ask him questions submissively (about athma/bhagavad vishayam)". In the second line "since the acharya has seen/understood the real tattvam (emperumaan), he will instruct the sishya in that jnaanam".

Some of the qualities that are expected out of an acharya are:

* Acharyas are generally equated to piraatti (sri mahalakshmi) - their main job is to do purushakaaram (recommendation as done by piraatti) to emperumaan.

* Just like piraatti, they should also accept that they are only subservient to emperumaan, they accept emperumaan as the only upaayam and their acts are for the enjoyment of emperumaan only.

* They should be full of krupai - to accept sishyas, develop their athma jnaanam and vairaagyam, and involve the sishyaas in bhagavad/bhaagavatha kainkaryam.

* Per maamunigal's divya srisookthi, acharya must only be focussed on sishya's athma rakshanam.

* Pillai lOkaachariaar says "An acharya should have proper knowledge about self, sishya and the result".

   * He should think that he is not the acharya but his acharya is the acharya.

   * He should think that his sishya is not his sishya but his acharya's sishya.

   * He should think the result is to create a well matured sishya who will constantly perform mangalaasaasanam to emperumaan - nothing else.

* Per vaarthaa maalai grantham and sistaachaaram (per elder's practices), Acharya should treat his sishya with great respect - since the sishya has come to him for total protection purely based on injunctions in saastra - without analysing the qualities/capabilities of the acharya.

* It is explained by our purvaachaaryas that even emperumaan being an acharaya - that is why he chose to be in the beginning of our OrAN vazhi guruparamparai. He also likes to have an acharya for himself - that is why he chose the most perfect acharya for himself - Sri Azhagiya Manavaala Maamunigal.

Some of the qualities that are expected out of a sishya are:

* Pillai lOkaachariar says, "A sishya's focus should completely be in emperumaaan, ready to serve anytime in anyway to the acharya, sorrow/fear looking at this material world, desire in bhagavad vishayam, free of jealosy when hearing about bhagavad/bhaagavatha glories".

* A sishya must think all his properties are really his acharya's properties. He should only take as much is required for him for dEha dhaaranam (to run the basic livelihood).

* A sishya should also think that his acharya is everything for him as explained by aalavandhaar in "maatha pithaa yuva..." slOkam.

* He should take care of his acharya's livelihood.

* Maamunigal also explains in upadEsa rathina maalai that "one should not stay away even for a moment from his acharya when he is in this world".

* A sishya should glorify his acharya in his presence and always have upakaara smrithi (gratefulness) for the knowledge that is given by his acharya to him.

It is also explained that it is inappropriate for the sishya to do athma rakshanam of acharya (i.e., sishya should never perform athma sikshai to acharya) and inappropriate for the acharya to do dEha rakshanam of sishya (i.e., sishya should not except that the acharya will take care of his day to day livelihood).

As explained by pillai lOkaachariar, it is very difficult to be a sishya (and also we dont really understand no matter how much we learn about being a sishya) - that is why emperumaan himself took the form of "Nara" rishi and became the sishya of "Narayana" rishi (who is an avathaaram of emperumaan as well) to learn thirumanthram.

With this background, we can also try to understand the different categorizations of acharyas.

* anuvritthi prasannaacharya and krupaa maatra prasannaacharya

anuvritthi prasannaacharya

In the days before Emperumaanaar, the acharyas were testing the prospective sishyas for their level of dedication before accepting them. It was customary for a prospective sishya to go to his acharya's residence, stay with him and serve him for a full year before being accepted. This type of acharyas are called anuvritthi prasannaachaaryas.

krupaa maatra prasannaacharya

But when Emperumaanaar saw the nature of kali, he determined that if acharya's are to be like this, only very few will be motivated towards giving up worldly attachments and many will not be able to satisfy the demands of the acharyas. So, out of his unbounded mercy, relaxed the rules and gave this most valuable knowledge to the ones who had the true desire to learn bhagavad vishayam. So the qualification was changed from deserving to desiring candidates. He also laid the guidelines for his sishyas to follow the same methodology and brought in several thousands of people into the fold of srivaishnavam out of his grace. Starting with Emperumaanaar, our acharyas are called krupaa maatra prasannaachaaryas.

Maamunigal, explains this concept wonderfully in his upadEsa raththina maalai paasuram "OrAN vazhiyaai upadEsitthaar munnOr, erAr ethiraasarar innaruLal paarulagil aasai udayOrkkellaam koorum enRu pEsi varambharuththaar pin"- "ஓராண் வழியாய் உபதேஸித்தார் முன்னோர், ஏரார் எதிராசர் இன்னருளல் பாருலகில் ஆசை உடையோர்க்கெல்லாம் கூறும் என்று பேசி வரம்பறுத்தார் பின்".

* uththaaraga acharya and upakaaraga acharya

In charama upaaya nirnayam -a work done by naayanaar aachaan pillai explains these two types of acharyas.

Uththaaraga acharya

He is the one who is capable of taking some one from samsaaram and placing him/her in paramapadham easily. It is explained that Sriman Narayanan, Nammaazhwaar and Emperumaanaar are the 3 uththaaraga acharyas.

  * Sriman Narayanan is the prathamaacharya (first acharya) and being sarvajnan, sarvasakthan, etc. - he can easily give mOksham to anyone. But since he is going to act based on saastram, he will either give mOksham or keep some one in the samsaaram - based on the individual's desire and karma.

  * Nammaazhwaar who was hand picked by emperumaan to give knowledge to samsaaris and correct them is also capable of giving mOksham to anyone. This is understood from his own words in thiruvaaimozhi - "ponnulagu aaLirO, bhuvani muzhuthu aaLiro" - "பொன்னுலகு ஆளிரோ, புவனி முழுது ஆளிரொ". He is asking the birds which he is sending thuuthu (as messenger) to emperumaan, that he can give both nithya vibhUthi and leela vibhUthi to them as sambhaavanai for their help. But after receiving this knowledge, as he is an aazhwaar - even though he did parOpadhEsam a little bit, he got so immersed in bhagavad anubhavam and out of his aarthi left the material world at a very young age.

  * Emperumaanaar was declared as udayavar - the controller of ubhaya vibhUthi - by SriRanganathan and ThiruvEnkatamudayaan. Not only, he was immersed in bhagavad anubhavam, he also lived in leela vibhUthi for a long period (120 years) and served emperumaan's mission fully. He established proper temple worship, created 1000s of sishyaas, created 74 simhaasanaadhipathis to carry forward his message, etc. So, naayanaar aachaan pillai concludes that Uththaaragathvam is complete in emperumaanaar.

upakaaraga acharyaHe is the one who is capable of leading us to an uththaaraga acharya. In our sampradaayam, all acharya paramparais coming under emperumaanaar upto our own acharya is classified under upaakaaraga acharya. Whenever we undergo pancha samskaaram, our acharya requests emperumaanaar through his guru paramparai to hand over that jivaathmaa to emperumaan as a person with the desire of leaving samsaaram and reaching paramapadham.

Both uththaaraga acharya and upakaaraga acharya are equally respectable - though Emperumaanaar has a special place in our sampradaayam. Even maamunigal in his upadhEsa raththina maalai starts with thiruvaimozhi pillai and ends with emperumaanaar.

* samaasrayana acharya and jnaana acharya

 * samaasrayana acharya is the one who is performing pancha samsakaaram to us.

 * jnaana acharya is the one from whom we hear grantha kaalakshEpams, etc which develops our athma jnaanam.

While we are always indebted to our samaasrayana acharya and should be totally surrendered to him, jnaana acharya should also be respected equally. For some, both samaasrayana and jnaana acharyas will be the same person. In fact, every srivaishnava must be respected as ones own acharya as per srivachana bhushanam.

To summarize, a sishya must depend on his/her acharya for totally. He/She also have the responsibility to taking care of livelihood of the acharya. One must constantly be in touch with the acharya (it is not that the acharya does samasrayanam and we go back to him after several years to invite him for our wedding as it happens nowadays) and also provide assistance in his needs.

There were many wonderful incidents in our pUrvaacharyaas lives between acharya and sishya. We will see some of them here:

* Manakkaal nambi used to do menial services at his acharya's (uyyakkondaar) residence.

* Manakkaal nambi took so much efforts to bring aalavandhaar into srivaishnavam.

* emperumaanaar treated kooraththaazhwaan with utmost respect even though he (emperumaaanaar) was the acharya.

* once, when emperumaanaar got upset with kooraththaazhwaan. at that time azhwaan said, "adiyen is emperumaanaar's property - he can do whatever he wants with me".

* embaar use to test his acharya's bed by lying down on it first. When asked if it is not a sin, he said he wont mind those, as long as his acharya's bed is made sure to be most comfortable for the acharya.

* emperumaanaar says to ananthaazhwaan that parasara bhattar is just like himself and should be treated the same.

* bhattar and nanjeeyar had excellent conversations. nanjeeyar gave up everything and became a sannyasi. He said once, "if my ashramam comes in as an interference for my service to bhattar (his acharya), I will break my thrithandam."

* nanjeeyar encouraged nampillai's view points even though they were some times different from his own for some paasurams.

* pinbalagiya perumal jeeyar said he wanted to stay in this leela vibhUthi just to observe/enjoy nampillai's (his acharya) thirumuthugu (back shoulders,etc) while coming back from cauvery after bathing.

* koorakulOththama dasar took so much efforts to bring thiruvaimozhi pillai into srivaishnavam.

* manavaala maamunigal took thiruvaaimozhi pillai's (his acharya) orders as his only goal in life. He learnt sribhashyam once and gave lectures on it but then he focussed during the whole time in arulicheyal and rahasya granthangal.

* SriRanganathan with sridhEvi and bhoodhEvi listened to eedu kaalakshEpam in front of his sannidhi for a whole year and at the end gave his own sEsha paryankam as his acharya sambhaavanai and a thanian to manavaala mamunigal which is chanted every where both at the beginning and end of any arulicheyal gOshti even today per his orders.

* Manavaala maamunigal gave his own seat, thiruvaazhi and thiruchangu (chakkaram/sangu) to ponnadikkaal jeeyar and asked him to do pancha samskaaram for appaachiaar anna.

There are many such incidents but just listed some to understand how acharyas and sishyas dealt with each other in their real lives.

With this in mind, we will move onto a very important topic. Pillai lOkaachariar in Mumukshupadi's dvaya prakaranam, 1st sutram, explains the attributes that a vaishnava adhikaari should develop in his life time. This sutram explains the qualities that we should aspire to have in a crystal clear way. Mamunigal has done an excellent vyaakyaanam for this sutram and we will see it in our next article.

adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

Srivaishnava lakshanam - 2

Pancha samskaaram

sri:
srimathe ramanujaya nama:
srimad varavaramunaye nama:
sri vaanaachala mahamunaye nama:

We have seen the physical attributes of a Srivaishnava in the first article of this series.

Some one may ask "Why is the physical appearance is important? Why cant I be a srivaishnava without the physical appearance specified in the saastra?". It is possible for some advanced srivaishnavas in some rare cases but generally for everyone saastra recommends certain rules and regulations and we are suppose to follow them. A loukika example is - when a police man is properly dressed in his uniform, the law of the land gives certain capabilities to him. He cant ask "Well, I am a police man but why should I be dressed in my uniform when I am in duty?". There may be exceptions, but if he is not dressed as a police man he would not get the same respect (except from the ones who can recognize him as a police man). Also, we feel nothing indifferent if we have to dress up (uniforms, shoes, hanging ID cards) in a particular way for our work (because it provides us our livelihood) - but will question when the saastras instruct us to do the same thing for our svarUpam - such is the state now.

Let us move on to the next aspect.

A brief description of Srivaishnavam

Srivaishnavam is the eternal philosophy which centers around the supreme God Sriman Narayanan. He is full of auspicious qualities with many beautiful forms. He is the owner of both nithya vibhUthi (paramapadham - spiritual world - never changing) and leelaa vibhUthi (samsaaram - material world - ever changing). This is a tattva traya phiolosophy - i.e. there are three entities Isvara (God), chit (souls) and achit (matter). Isvara is the owner of both chit and achit. There are infinite number of souls in both spiritual and material worlds. This philosophy/siddhaantha is based on saastras (vedas, upanishads, ithihaasas, puraanas, paancharaatra agamam and azhwar/acharya srisookthis). The saastras are meant specifically for chit (souls) and saastras help a soul from leaving the material world (which is defined as asaasvatham - temporary and dhukkaalayam - place filled with sorrows by Krishnan in Bhagavad GIta) and reaching the spiritual world (vaikuntam - place where there is no sorrows - i.e., full of joy only). The process that initiates this journey of the soul from samsaaram to paramapadam is called pancha samskaaram which will be discussed in the next sections.

How do we become a Srivaishnava?

According to our purvaachaaryas, there is a proper mechanism through which one becomes a srivaishnava. This process is called "pancha samskaaram".
Samskaara means the process of cleansing or purifying. It is the process which transforms one from an unqualified state to a qualified state. It is by this process one first becomes a srivaishnava. Just like taking birth in a braahmana family makes it easy for some one to become a braahmana by going through the brahma yajna process, taking birth in a srivaishnava family makes it easy for some one to become a srivaishnava through the pancha samskaaram process. The beauty/distinction here compared to the braahmana family example is, one need not be born in a srivaishnava family to become a srivaishnava - because srivaishnavam is associated to the soul while braahmanyam is just associated with the body.

Pancha samskaaram

Pancha samskaaram or samaasrayanam is the process that is explained in saastras to prepare an individual to become a srivaishnava. The following sloka explains the parts of panch samskaaram - "thApa: pundra: tathA nAma: mantrO yAgas cha panchama:". The five activities which happen during the pancha samskAra are:

• thApa (austerity) - shanka chakra lAnchanam - heated impression of shanka and chakra on our shoulders. This identifies that we are property of emperumaan - just like a vessel is marked with the symbols of the owner, we are marked with the symbols of emperumaan.
• punDra (symbol) - dwAdasa urdhva pundra dhAranam - wearing of Urdhva pundram (Thiruman and SriChUrnam).
• nAma (name) - dAsya namam - a new name given by the AchAraya (rAmAnuja dAsan, madhurakavi dAsan, srivaishnava dAsan).
• mantra - mantrOpadesam - learning the secret mantra from the acharyan; mantra - that which relieves the chanter from grief - thirumanthiram, dwayam and charamaslokam which releases us from samsara.
• yAga - dEva pUja - learning the thiruvArAdhanam process.

    Goals of Pancha samskaaram

• As sAstrAs say, tattva JnAnAn mOksha lAbha: - by gaining knowledge about the brahmam, one gets mOKsha. By getting valuable knowledge from an AchAryA in artha panchakam (brahmam - God, jIva - soul, upAyam - means to attain God, upEyam - the result, virOdhi - hurdles which are stopping souls from getting the result) which is part of the mantrOpadesam, we become eligible to secure the ultimate goal - performing kainkaryam in nitya vibhUthi to Sriya:pathi.
• While in the current life, performing kainkaryam to our AchAryan and Srivaishnavas (by doing in many possible ways) and ArchAvatAra emberumAn - through thiruvArAdhanam at home and divya dEsa kainkaryam.

So, as explained above, this philosophy of srivaishnavam is to leave this samsaaram to go to paramapadham to perform uninterrupted kainkayam to sriya:pathi (Sriman Narayanan).

Who can perform pancha samskaaram?

Srivaishnavam although is an eternal philosophy was rejuvenated by Azhwaars and Achaaryaas. Sri Ramanuja studied the saastraas and re-established the norms which were lost over time based on the instructions from his preceptors - Nathamuni, Alavandhaar, etc. He established 74 simhaasanaadhipathis (acharyas/spiritual teachers) and authorized them to perform pancha samskaaram to the individuals who understands this goal of life (leaving samsaaram to go to paramapadham). Anyone who comes in those lineages can perform pancha samskaaram. He (as well as Sri Manavala Mamunigal) established certain Mutts (Monastries) and jeeyar swamys (sanyaasis) whose lineages are also authorized to perform pancha samskaaram to individuals aspiring to become a srivaishnava. There is no distinction done based on caste, creed, nationality, sex, financial situation, family situation, etc - whoever desires to be put on the path of salvation can be included in this fold.

Is pancha samskaaram the beginning or the end?

It is common misunderstanding that, this process of samaasrayanam is a simple ritual and is the end. But that is completely wrong. This is the beginning of our journey in srivaishnavam. The ultimate goal is set (to leave samsaaram to go to paramapadham) and the process is given by our purvaacharyaas (which we will see in subsequent articles) - it is up to the individual to follow this process and accomplish the goal. This also brings in a wonderful relationship between acharya (master) - sishya (disciple). We will see the nature of this relationship in the next article.

So, so far, we have seen the physical attire of a srivaishnava, what is srivaishnavam and the process of panchasamskaaram.

adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

Srivaishnava lakshanam - 1

Srivaishnava - External appearance/qualities

sri: 
srimathe ramanujaya nama:
srimad varavaramunaye nama:
sri vaanaachala mahamunaye nama:

There are several places in our purvacharya granthas where srivaishnava lakshnam is explained. In this series, we will see many of those references from our purvaacharya works - one at a time.

Let us start with a very basic pramaanam from padma puranam which is referred by our purvacharyas in their works.

ye kaNTha lagna tulasi nalinaaksha maalaa

ye baahu mUla paricihinnita shankha cakraa

ye vaa lalaata phalake lasad Urdhva pundraa

te vaishnavaa bhuvanam aashu pavitrayanti

This purana sloka explains who a vaishnava is from a physical appearance perspective and what does he do to the place where he lives.

One who wears maalaas (necklace) that is made out of Tulasi and Lotus stems (also includes pavithra maalai which was adorned by perumal, thaayaars, azhwars, acharyas),
One whose shoulders are decorated with the unique symbols of Sriman Narayana - shankam and chakkaram (as part of the pancha samskaaram process),
One whose forehead is decorated with Urdhva pundram (an authorized symbol applied by mixing the clay that is found in holy pilgrimages and that represents the holy feet of Sriman Narayana) - while it talks about forehead specifically, our purvaacharyas always applied 12 urdhva pundrams at various places of the body per sastras,
That vaishnava quickly purifies the world (the place where he is present).

Our purvaacharyas have always emphasised the importance of physical appearance and always ensured that they maintained their physical appearance according to the sastraas even at dire situations. After all we are also driven by our senses - so the easiest way we can identify a vaishnava is thru the sense of vision. Only advanced vaishnavas can identify another vaishnava (who may not be physically appearing so). That is why this pramaanam from padma puranam puts emphasis in physical appearance.

With this beginning we will go thru pramaanams from various granthangal of our purvaacharyas.

adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

Srivaishnavam - Do's and Dont's

The principle of dos and donts for a Srivaishanava per koorathalvan's words in athimaanushastvam (slokam 53):
Yat tvat priyam tadiha punyam apunyam anyat - Whatever is pleasing to Emperumaan is to be done and the rest are to be avoided.
We have tried to summarize with our little knowledge some of the dos and donts based on various pramaanams in ubhaya vedantham. Please enquire learned srivaishnavas and come to proper conclusions.

Do's (Aanukulyam)

• First and foremost follow the foot steps/activities of our poorvacharyas as much as we can (not as much as we want to).
• Respect other Bhaagavathaas (Irrespective of their birth, position, social status, etc.)
• Perform Nitya and Naimithika karmas without fail (Emperumaan says "Sruti Smriti mamaivaagya, aagya cheti mama drohi") - This includes primarily Sandhyaa vandahanam, Tharpanams, etc.
• Perform thiruvaaradhanam daily for the deity at home and atleast recite Thirupallandu, Thirupallieluchi, Thirupaavai, Kanninun Chiruthambu and Saatrumurai Pasurams)
• Listen to upanyasams and kalakshebams. For srivaishnavas, these are considered as the way to spend the time usefully and also to make our faith very strong. This is actually parama bhogyam (very much more enjoyable) also, when we have the ruchi/taste for it compared to all other forms of entertainment such as movies, dramas, sports, politics, etc.
• Perform kaayika (by body), vaachika (by speech), and maanasa (by mind) kainkaryam to Emperumaan, azhwars, acharyas, srivaishnavas and divya desams. There are so many divya desams which literally have 1 archaka and 1 person doing sevakalam. If we can visit those divya desams that will bring joy to emperumaan and srivaishnavas.
• Help others with the knowledge we acquire from our poorvAchAryas. Emperumaan and the knowledge about the sampradAyam is not only for a select few. Everyone should be given an opportunity to benefit out of the works of our poorvachAryAs.
• The following list is defined as Srivaishnava lakshanam in Mumukshupadi Sutram #116:
  • Give up attachments to anything but bhagavat/bhaagavata vishayam including its vasana/ruchi (taste)
  • Accept Emperumaan as the only protector
  • Strong conviction on the achievement of the ultimate goal (by the grace of acharya)
  • Longing for the ultimate goal every moment
  • While in samsara, for the rest of the days, engage in bhagavat, bhaagavata, acharya, divya desa kainkaryams as the main activity
  • Serve the srivaishanvas who are having the above qualities with the understanding of their greatness
  • Have faith in Thirumanthiram and Dvayam
  • Have strong attachment for the acharya
  • Having a service attitude towards emperumaan and acharya
  • Associate with the vaishnavas who have true knowledge, detachment and peace

Dont's (Prathikulyam)

• First and foremost is avoiding any bhagavat/bhaagavata apachaaram
  • bhagavat apachaaram (Artha panchakam 5.1)
    • Considering Emperumaan has no vibhuti (qualities, properties, etc) and lingam (form)
    • considering archaa moorthy's as just stones/metal
    • considering rama/krishna as normal human beings or even just exalted/super human beings. We should always think them as Emperumaan himself and out of his kindness he has come down.
    • Considering other devataas (brahma, siva, indra, shakthi, GANESH, etc) to be equivalent or higher to him.
  • bhaagavata apachaaram (Thirumaalai, Artha panchakam, etc)
    • disrespecting bhagavataas based on their birth, wealth, social position, etc.
    • talking ill of other bhaagavataas/acharyas or anyone.
    • considering acharyas thirumeni to be similar to ours.
• Dont indulge in any devataantara (demigod) worship. That will only cause svarupa naasam. (Thiruvaaimozhi 4.10 - onrum thevum padhigam).
• Dont perform any kaamya karma (such as doing praarthanai to get some benefit, etc.)
• Dont consume anything that is not prasadam (prasadam - offered to emperumaan first) (Bhagavad Gita 3.13). Avoid items which are not fit to be offered to Emperumaan, such as:
  • coffee, tea
  • cool drinks, icecreams, chocolate, biscuit, bread, cakes, etc which are prepared in the store.
  • food prepared and served at hotels/restaurants.
• Dont use leather products. All our azhwars and acharyas had shri krishna very dear to their hearts, and krishna had the cows of vrindavan dear to his heart. And most leather is coming from cow. So, it is one of the biggest apachaaram to use leather products being vaishanvas. (thiruvaaimozhi 10.3.10 - Thivathilum pasu niray meppu uvathi - Krishna likes Tending cows more than being in Srivaikunta, puraana vakyam - namo bramanya devaya go brahmana hitaya ca jagat ditaya krishnaya govindhaya....)
• Dont discuss/indulge in matters other than Emperumaan, azhwar, acharyas. Imagine the time we will save if we dont watch TV for 2/3 hours a day, if we dont watch a cricket match which is 8 hours long, etc. All these time spent on nonsensical things could be effectively used in the service of emperumaan.

SrIvaishNava thiruvArAdhanam

SrI:
SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: 
SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:
SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
SrI vAnAchala mahAmunayE nama:

Read the full series in an e-book at  https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=32ECDEC5E2737323!141&authkey=!ADiONLHOhGuRO7U&ithint=file%2cpdf

This article is a humble effort in highlighting the importance of nithya thiruvArAdhanam at srIvaishNava homes. This aspect (along with other vaidhika anushtAnams such as sandhyA vandhanam) is slowly losing importance amongst srIvaishNavas who have ubhaya vEdham (samskritha and dhrAvida vEdham) as the top most authority and emperumAn as the only achievable goal. 

srIman nArAyaNan out of his causeless mercy manifests himself in five different forms - para (in srIvaikuNtam), vyUha (vAsudhEva, pradhyumna, anirudha, sankarshaNa and kshIrAbdhi nAthan), vibhava (srI rAma, krishNa, etc), antharyAmi (in-dwelling super-soul) and archai (deity form). For full details on the five different forms, please read http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/10/archavathara-anubhavam-parathvadhi.html. Of these, archAvathAra emperumAn is the most magnanimous. Even amongst the archAvathAra emperumAns, the ones who descend right into individuals home are even more merciful. It is every srIvaishNava's important duty to properly worship the emperumAn at their homes.

As part of becoming a srIvaishNava, we undergo pancha samskAram (samAsrayanam as generally known) under an AchArya. samskAram means purificatory process - a process which converts an unqualified entity to become qualified to perform a particular task.

 periya nambi (mahA purNa) performing pancha samskAram to srI rAmAnuja

pancha samskaram is understood from the following pramANam - "thApa: puNdra: tathA nAma: mantrO yAgas cha panchama:". The five activities which happen during the pancha samskAram are:

• thApa (heat) - sanka chakra lAnchanam - heated impression of chakra and Sanka on our shoulders.

• puNdra (symbol) - dhwAdhasa (twelve) Urdhva puNdra dhAranam - wearing of Urdhva puNdram (thirumaN and srIchUrNam) in twelve parts of the body.

• nAma (name) - dhAsya namam - a new name given by the AchArya (rAmAnuja dAsan, madhurakavi dAsan, srIvaishnava dAsan) to highlight our connection with bhagavAn/AchArya.

• manthra - manthrOpadhEsam - learning the secret mantra from the acharyan; manthra - that which relieves the chanter from grief - here manthra refers to thirumanthram, dhvayam and charama slOkam which release us from samsAram (material world).

• yAga - dhEva pUja - learning the thiruvArAdhanam process.

As it is explained by our pUrvAchAryAs, the goal of of pancha samskAram is two fold:

• As sAsthrAs say, "thathva gyAnAn mOksha lAbha:" - by gaining knowledge about the brahmam, one gets mOKsha. From an AchAryA, the sishya learns artha panchakam (brahmam - God, jIva - soul, upAyam - means to attain God, upEyam - the result, virOdhi - hurdles which are stopping souls from getting the result) as part of rahasya thrayam (thirumanthram, dhvyam and charama slOkam) and becomes eligible to secure the ultimate goal - performing kainkaryam in nitya vibhUthi to sriya:pathi.

• While in the current life, performing kainkaryam to bhagavAn, bhAgavathas and AchArya. In the present situation, one can easily serve bhagavAn in his archAvathAra (deity) form - especially through thiruvArAdhanam at home and by performing kainkaryams divya dhEsa emperumAns.

In this article, we will go through various pramAnams that highlight the importance of daily thiruvArAdhanam at each srIvaishNava thirumALigai (home).

Current (and sad) situation is - the daily thiruvArAdhanam is seldom happening in many srIvaishNava homes. Even though there may be sALagrAma emperumAns (also known as sri mUrthy, thIrtha nAyanAr) at home, often times they are ignored completely. Many are busy in their lives and have even forgotten the ultimate act of emperumAn's saulabyam (easy accessibility), i.e., he is descended into each of our homes and residing there irrespective of AchAram/anushtAnam are followed in that home.

The reasons for not performing thiruvArAdhahnam is mostly due to  lack of proper understanding of the thiruvArAdhanam process and the importance of the same for a srIvaishNava.

In the following sections, we will see the importance of thiruvArAdhanam as observed in various pramAnams such as vEdham, ithihAsam, purANam, bhagavath gIthA, dhivya prabhandham, pUrvAchArya anushtAnams/upadhEsams/aidhihyams and finally in rahasya granthams.

vEdham

One who accepts vEdham as authority must try to follow the instructions in vEdham as much as possible. In this day and age, we have pretty much lost majority of AchArams/anushtAnams (except for a few who may be consciously attempting to follow them). But as outlined in vEdham, all vaidhikas are called pancha kAla parAyanas - one who divide the day in to 5 sections and perform certain activities in each section of the day. The whole day is focussed on the middle section which is thiruvArAdhanam. 

The five sections are:

• abhigamanam - waking up (before brahma muhurtham - approx 4am) and preparing ourselves - by doing all morning anushtAnams such as relieving ourselves from wastage, cleaning teeth, taking bath, sandhyA vandhanam, etc

• upAdhAnam - collecting raw materials for thiruvArAdhanam

• ijjA (yAgam) - Use the raw materials in the process of thiruvArAdhanam - this is suppose to be done just after noon at home.

• svAdhyAyam - learning and teaching vEdham, dhivya prabhandham, etc (as applicable to ones own varNam)

• yOgam - resting our consciousness on brahmam through meditation and sleep

Here, ijja (yAgam) is the process of dhEva pUja (worshipping a deity) and srivaishnavas are suppose to perform thiruvArAdhanam to their personal deities at home. Along with thiruvArAdhanam, we also engage in learning about emperumAn, discussing his glories and meditating on the same.

Only after going through the pancha samskAram, one is allowed to perform the formal thiruvArAdhanam process, since that is the purificatory step which prepares us to carry on our duty through out our current life.

It is interesting to note that periyavAchAn piLLai in vyAkyAnam for perumAL thirumozhi 1.7 pAsuram - "maram thigazhum...", for "iru-muppozhudhu" (2 + 3) - he identifies that as "pancha kAlangal" (5 sections of the day).

ithihAsams/purANams - upa brahmaNams - through which we can understand vEdham

In srI rAmayanam, srI rAma himself performs thiruvArAdhanam to his kula dhanam/dhaivam - srI ranganAthan (named nArAyNan at that time) - who was first worshipped by brahmA and subsequently by all raghu vamsa kings (starting from ikshvAku until srI rAma). The famous rAmAyaNa slOkam "saha pathnyA visAlAkshyA nArAyaNam upAgamathu" even shows how sIthA pirAtti also accompanied/helped srI rAma in the thiruvArAdhanam.

 srI rAma handing over srI ranganAthan to vibhIshaNAzhwAn

In purAnams also, the importance of thiruvArAdhanam is shown in several places.

The famous verse in srI bhAgavatham which highlights the instruction of srI prahaladhAzhwAn as follows:
sravaNam kIrthanam visNO: smaraNam pAdhasEvanam
archanam vandhanam dhAsyam sakhyam AthmanivEdhanam

This explains the various ways to worship emperumAn. Many of the aspects directly relate to various angas (parts) of thiruvArAdhanam process. As part of thiruvArAdhanam, we sing the names of bhagavAn, we perform archanai to him, we hail the glories of emperumAn, we serve him in different ways, etc.

In gAruda purAnam, while explaining the eight qualities of his bhaktha, emperumAn himself says,

madh bhaktha jana vAthsalyam, pujAyAm anumOdhanam, svayam api archanam chaiva ....

The two important points here are pujAyAm anumOdhanam - one who supports/feels happy when others worship me and svayam api archanam - one who himself worships me. This is quoted by maNavALa mAmunigaL in vyAkyAnam for AchArya hrudhayam 85th chUrNikai. There are many other such incidents recorded in various purANAms and ithihAsAm.

bhagavath githA - direct words of krishNa

In many slokAms krishNa himself stresses the importance of thiruvArAdhanam.

Twice he says "man manA bhava madh bhaktha: madh yAji mAm namaskuru" - indicating the need for us to always be engaged in remembering him, having devotion towards him and worshipping him.

Our pUrvAchAryAs also identify "yE yathA mAm prapadhyanthE thAms thathaiva bhajAmi aham" slOkam with archAvatharam. This slOkam indicates that emperumAn assumes the forms in which the devotee desires to worship him - same meaning as in "thamar uganthathu evvuruvam avvuruvam thAnE" (mudhal thiruvanthAdhi).

In "pathram pushpam palam thOyam yO mE bhakthyA prayachchathi ..." (9.26) slOkam, emperumAn says even if one offers leaf (tulasi), flower, fruits and water with love he will accept that.  In the next slOkam he says "yath karOshi ... madh arpaNam" - whatever you do, do it as an offering to me. These are all naturally part of our thiruvArAdhanam process and it shows emperumAn's most magnanimous nature in accepting anything from us if submitted with devotion.

He further says in "yagya sishtAsina:..." (3.13) slOkam, that any food that is cooked for the pleasure of the individual without being submitted to emperumAn first and eaten, that is verily like eating sin. He clearly states that we should only eat prasAdham and nothing but prasadam. yAgam is thiruvArAdhanam and anu yAgam is the activity of accepting prasAdham.

aruLicheyal (dhiyva prabhandhams which are of great importance for us):

In aruLicheyal, there are many pAsurams which directly/indirectly talk about the thiruvArAdhanam process - in general worshipping emperumAn.

thamar uganthathu evvuruvam (mudhal thiruvanthAdhi)

poigai AzhwAr beautifully highlights emperumAn assumes the forms (and names) in which his bhakthas want to see him. Many incidents are cited from the lives of pUrvAchAryas in the vyAkyAnam for this pAsuram.

sUttu nan mAlaigaL - thiruvArAdhanam of nithyasUris (thiruviruththam)

In thiruvirutham, nammAzhwAr vividly describes the thiruvArAdhanam performed by nityasUris in paramapadham. In this pAsruam, he says, when nityasUris offer dhUpam and when emperumAn is covered in the smoke, he takes the opportunity to slip away,

• comes to leela vibhUti as kaNNan emperumAn

• engages in stealing the butter and eating it as much as possible and

• kills 7 bulls to marry nappinnai pirAtti.

• dances his favourite kuda koothu (dancing with pots in hands, head, and a drum in the waist).

• comes back to paramapadham when the smoke clears and sits there as if nothing happened.

parivathil Isanaip pAdi (thiruvAimozhi)

In thiruvAimozhi, nammAzhwAr explains the svAradhathvam (easily worshippable nature) of emperumAn. In eedu vyAkyAnam, nampiLLai brings out beautiful aspects such as the conversation between bhattar and nanjIyar, where bhattar says any flower can be offered to emperumAn. He even says in one place that bring some leaves and burn it, emperumAn will accept that as wonderful fragrance.

Another important point is also brought out here, unlike other devathAs which ask for difficult activities such as - "Attai aRuththu thA" (offer me a goat), "piLLaik karRi thA" (offer me your child as food), etc., srIman nArAyaNan just asks for the loving devotion of his bhakthas.

cheyya thAmaraik kaNNan padhigam (thiruvAimozhi)

This padhigam is fully focussed on bringing out the glories of gruhArchai. nammAzhwAr clearly establishes that emperumAn at ones own home is the most magnificient manifestation. mAmunigaL highlights AzhwAr's divine emotions in thiruvAimozhi nURRanthAdhi 26th pAsuram "eythumavarkku innilaththil archAvathAram eLithu" (For the ones in this world, archAvathAra emperumAn is the most easily approachable).

theriththu ezhudhi vAsiththum kEttum vaNangi vazhipattum pUsiththum pOkkinEn pOthu (nAnmugan thiruvanthAdhi)

This is called as thirumazhisai AzhwAr's dhina chariyai (daily routine). He himself says how he spends his day - learn, write, read emperumAn and worship emperumAn everyday.

pUrvAchArya anushtAnams (practices), upadhEsams (instructions) and aidhihyams (incidents)

anushtAnams (practices)

Many Acharyas have themselves performed thiruvArAdhanam to divya dhEsa emperumAns/AzhwArs/AcharyAs even beyond their worship at their own thirumALigais (homes).

• nAthamunigaL - In kAttu mannAr kOil, it is said that nAdhamunigal himself was performing thiruvArAdhanam to mannanAr.

• aruLALa perumAL emperumAnAr was given the task of performing thiruvArAdhanam to pEraruLALan (emperumAnAr's personal deity) by emperumAnAr himself.

• thiruvAimozhi piLLai and maNavALa mAmunigaL both performing thiruvArAdhanam for bhavishyadAchAryan (emperumAnAr) in AzhwAr thirunagari.

upadhEsams (instructions)

• emperumAnAr wrote nithya grantham (samskritham) explaining the thiruvArAdhanam process in a very detailed manner. This is one of his nava rathnam (each grantham of swAmy is a rathnam and this was the last one).

• maNavALa mAmunigaL wrote jIyar padi (thamizh) thiruvArAdhana kramam which is a little bit shorter than emperumAnAr's grantham.

As we can see from both anushtAnams and upadEsams, these are really meant for us - srivaishnavAs.

aidhihyams (incidents)

There are many instances where pUrvAchAryAs demonstrated the practice and importance of thiruvArAdhanam.

emperumAnAr - vangi purathu nambi

periya thirumozhi 6.7.4 – periyavAchAn piLLai vyAkyAnam – In this pAsuram, thirumangai AzhwAr talks about kaNNan emperumAn (supreme god himself) was scared of yasOdhai and started to cry as soon as he was caught stealing the butter. In this connection, a beautiful incident is explained. vangi purathu nambi requests emperumAnAr to teach him thiruvArAdhana kramam (how to perform daily worship at home). emperumAnAr was unable to spend the time and teach him the same due to his busy schedule. But once in nambi’s absence, emperumAnAr starts teaching thiruvArAdhana kramam to AzhwAn and mAruthi siriyAndAn (hanumath dhAsar). At that time vangi purathu nambi enters the room and seeing him emperumAnAr feels great emotions. He says at that time “I had this doubt in my mind for a long time. Now I realize/understand why emperumAn (even though being supreme) was feeling scared after being caught stealing butter. I am going through the same emotions now – when you requested, I did not teach you this but some how I started teaching them the same. Even though I am AchAryan and you are sishyan and I dont have to fear for you, because of my deed, I am feeling scared looking at you”.

bhattar - sOmAsiyANdAn

sOmAsiyANdAn asks bhattar to teach the thiruvArAdhana kramam, and bhattar teaches him a very elaborate process. But when one day sOmAsiyAndAn comes to bhattar's thirumALigai, bhattar is ready to eat and after everything is served for him on his plantain leaf, bhattar asks one of his sishya to bring his thiruvArAdhana perumaL and offers the food right there and starts eating. When asked by  sOmAsiyANdAn, bhattar says for him even this is elaborate and for sOmAsiyANdAn whatever taught to him was small. The inner meaning is bhattar for his state of mind, if he starts the real thiruvArAdhanam he will melt, but sOmAsiyANdAn (being a sOma yAji - performer of sOma yAghams) whatever (elaborately) was taught to him was small since he was used to long yAgams.

eRumbi appA - maNavALa mAmunigaL

• When eRumbi appA comes to visit srIrangam to take shelter of mAmunigaL, at that time, he listens to the wonderful kAlakshepam, etc., but leaves to his home town without taking the prasadham of mAmunigaL. After returning to his thirumALigai, his thirvArAdhana perumal (Sri rAma) does not let him open the door of the kOil AzhwAr (thirvArAdhanam room) and orders him to go back to maNavALa mAmunigaL.

• In pUrva/uththara dhina chariyai (daily routine of mAmunigaL) grantham, eRumbi appA also hails mAmunigaL's thirvArAdhanam as part of his daily routine.

rahasya granthams

There are many places that talk about gruha archai (home deities) specifically in rahasya granthams. Let us look at a couple of them now:

mumukshuppadi

dhvaya prakaranam - sUthram 141 - ivaiyellAm namakku namperumAL pakkalilE kANalAm - In the vyAkyAnam, mAmunigaL says, All of these divine qualities (vAthsalyam, swAmithvam, sauseelyam, saulabhyam, gyAnam, shakthi, etc) in nam (our) perumAL.

Note: While namperumAL generally refers to srI ranganAthan, in this context it refers to all archAvathAra emperumAns, including the ones at our own homes.

AchArya Hrudhayam

chUrNikai 75 - vIttinba inbap pAkkaLil dhravya bAshA nirupaNa samam inbamAriyil ArAichi - In the vyAkyAnam, mAmunigaL says, vIttinbam means archAvathAra emperumAn in the homes of those heart and thoughts are situated in emperumAn fully. This is specific reference to the greatness of gruha archAvathAra mUrthy (deity form at homes).

Conclusion

From all of the above we can clearly see the imporatance given for thiruvArAdhanam in vEdham, ithihAsAms, purANams, dhivya prabhandham, pUrvachArya anushtAnam/upadhEsam/aidhihyams and finally rahasya granthams. It is the duty of every srIvaishNava to atleast spend a little bit of their time every day in performing thiruvArAdhanam to the emperumAns at their homes and partake in the prasAdham (and prasAdham only) after the completion of thiruvArAdhanam.

It is recommended by our elders that this thiruvArAdhana kramam is learnt from an AchAryan properly. There are many books that are available nowadays which explains the thiruvArAdhana kramam in a simple way for additional insight after learning the thiruvArAdhana kramam properly.

Doing the thiruvArAdhanam daily with love is one way we can reciprocate bhagavAn's unconditional grace towards us (if not in the same quantity/quality atleast to some extent) to him who is manifesting his ultimate saulabhyam by entering our home.

It is also customary in the olden days that every day once the thiruvArAdhanam is complete to emperumAn, the prasAdham is offered to bhAgavathAs as thadhiyArAdhanam. People who go on yAtrAs depend on these thadhiyArAdhanam and they were readily offered by srIvaishNavas at home on a daily basis. It is also considered as an important aspect in our life. But nowadays we can hardly see this happening. We can also try to practice this whenever possible. 

Annexure: Quick guide/steps for thiruvArAdhanam

Preparation

• Head bath.

• Urdhva puNdra dhAraNam - wearing 12 thirumaN/srIchUrNam (chant guruparamparA slOkam, AchAryas thanians, dhwAdhasa nAma manthrams for both perumAL and thAyAr).

• sandhyA vandhanam.

• mAdhyAnhikam (depending on the time of the day) - Ideally thiruvArAdhanam should be done around noon time, but it may not be practical for most of us nowadays. All we can do is we can try our best to follow sAsthram and wherever we cannot, we can ask for forgiveness from emperumAn.
• Preparation of pancha pAthram (utensils), dhUpam, dhIpam, thiruviLakku (lamp - dhiyA), pushpam, thIrtham, thIrtha parimaLam (ilAichi/krAmbu - fragrance powder), etc.
• AchAryan srI pAdha thIrtham (charaNAmrutham) - it is ideal to keep AchAryan's pAdhukA (sandals) or thiruvadi vasthram (cloth with imprints of AchAryan's lotus feet) as part of our thiruvArAdhanam. One can offer thIrtham to pAdhukA or thiruvadi vasthram reciting the guru paramparA manthram (asmadh gurubhyO nama:, ...), thanians of the AchAryans and consume the srIpAdha thIrtham. This is an important step in the thiruvArAdhanam routine.

• Others at home (including women) can participate in the thiruvArAdhanam in various ways such as - preparing flowers, cleaning the place where thiruvArAdhanam is done, preparing bhOgam, etc.

Steps

Note: Utensils and their purpose

• 1 - arghyam - water for emperumAn's hand washing

• 2 - pAdhyam - water for washing emperumAn's lotus feet

• 3 - AchamanIyam - water for cleansing emperumAn's mouth

• 4 - kaNdUsham (rinsing), snAnIyam (bathing), madhuvargam (honey etc), pAnIyam (water for bhOjyAsanam), kaNdUsham - for each Asanam respectively

• 5 - sudhdha udhakam - water for purifying anything to be offered to emperumAn

• 6 - padikkam - vessel to receive thIrtham offered to emperumAn

• 7 - thIrtham for AchAryan

• 8 - thirukkAvEri - utensil to hold fresh thIrtham (to be used in thiruvArAdanam)

An important aspect in thiruvArAdhanam is to constantly remember that ones own AchAryan is doing the thiruvArAdhAnam to emperumAn and one is just an instrument in the hands of the AchAryan. 

It is emphasised by elders that one should first perform same steps for AchAryan, mAmunigaL, emperumAnAr, nammAzhwAr (and other AzhwArs), vishwaksEnar (and thiruvananthAzhwAn, garudAzhwAr, sudharsanAzhwAr, pAnchajanyAzhwAr) before worshipping emperumAn and pirAttis. For example, arghyam, pAdhyam, AchAmanam should be first offered to AchAryan, etc., and finally to emperumAn. We should have separate utensil to worship AchAryan. bhOgam, pushpam, sandal wood, etc., should first be offered to emperumAn followed by AzhwArs, AcharyAs and finally to ones own AchAryan in sequence.

The following steps show a brief and somewhat simplified version. This may not be complete and it may be different for each thirumALigai, family, dhivya dhEsam, etc. Please enquire with the elders on the proper steps. But these give a brief idea of the general thiruvArAdhana kramam that can be followed by any one who is eligible to do so.

• Get thiruthuzhAi (thuLasi) after offering respects, chant "thulasyamrutha janmAsi..." slOkam
  

• Light the thiruviLakku (lamp) - chant common thanians, vayam thagaLiyA, anbE thagaliyA, thirukkandEn pAsurams.

• Set up pancha pAthram.

• Add thIrtham to thirukkAvEri (main thIrtham utensil).

• Chant uththara vAkyam of dhvayam (srImathE nArAyanAya nama:) - with thIrtham and thiruthuzhAi (thuLasi) and purify all materials (vattils, flowers, etc) by sprinkling thIrtham on them.

• Add thIrtham to various vattils (utensils).

• Open the kOil AzhwAr door after mildly clapping hands (to awake emperumAn) by chanting jithanthE (1st 2 sthOthrams), kausalyA suprajA slOkam, kUrmAdhIn dhivya lOkAn slOkam, nAyaganAi ninRa nandhagOpanudaiya, mAri malai muzhainjil, anRu ivvulagam aLandhan and anganmA gyAlaththu arasar pAsurams.

• perform sAshtAnga praNAmam (full obeisances).

At the beginning of each Asanam, fresh water should be poured from the thirukkAvEri into each vattil with sankalpam (dedicating the water for that purpose). Also after offering argyam, pAdhyam, AchamanIyam etc, please wipe emperumAn's face with thiruvoththuvAdai (wiping cloth).

manthrAsanam - inviting emperumAn to accept the thiruvArAdhanam

• remove flowers from the previous day - chant "uduththuk kaLindha" pAsuram.

• offer arghyam (water to wash his hands), pAdhyam (water to wash his lotus feet), Achamanam (water to rinse his mouth) to emperumAn - while offering chant Om arghyam samarpayAmi, Om pAdhyam samarpayAmi, Om Achamaniyam samarpayAmi respectively or chant thirukkaigaL viLakkiyaruLa vEndum, thiruvadigaL viLAkkiyaruLa vEndum, Achamanam kandaruLa vEndum respectively.

• invite all emperumAns (108 divya dhEsa emperumAns) to accept the thiruvArAdhanam

• Emphasise that the thiruvArAdhanam is done by one's own AchAryan and us being the hands of the AchAryan.

snAnAsanam - bathing the emperumAn

• place the sAlagrama emperumAns into a suitable place (thirumanjana vEdhikai or a plate).

• offer arghyam, pAdhyam, Achamanam.

• offer snAnIyam - Om snAnIyam samarpayAmi or snAnIyam kandaruLa vEnNdum.

• perform thirumanjanam - chant purusha sUktham, nArAyaNa sUktham, vishNu sUktham, srI suktham, bhU sUktham, NILA sUktham - as much as time permitting. End with "veNNai aLaintha kuNungum" pathigam and additional thirumanjana kAla pAsurams.

• offer arghyam, pAdhyam, Achamanam, dhUpam, dhIpam, warm milk and/or fruits (whatever possible).

• empty all the thIrtham into the padikkam (utensil to collect all offered water).

alankArAsanam - decorating emperumAn

• place the sAlagrama emperumAns at their original place.

• Fill fresh thIrtham in to all vattils (utensils). 
• offer arghyam, pAdhyam, Achamanam.

• offer sAththuppadi (chandhanam) and flowers - chant "gandhadhvArAm dhurAdharshAm..." slOkam and "pUsum sAndhu en nenjamE" pAsuram. Note: Generally Urdhva puNdram  is not applied for sAlagrama emperumAn - only sAththuppadi.

• offer dhUpam (chant dhUrasi slOkam), dhIpam (chant udh dhIpyasya slOkam).

• manthra pushpam, vEdhArambam (starting of vEdham).

• dhvAdhasa nAma archanai.

• dhivya prabhandham recital 

• podhu thanians starting from "srisailEsa dhayApAthram"

• thiruppallANdu, thiruppaLLiyeLuchi, thiruppAvai, amalanAdhipirAn, sthala pAsuram (divya desam where one is from or where one is staying now), kaNNinuN chiRu thAmbu, kOil thiruvAimozhi, rAmAnusa nURRanthAdhi, upadhEsa rathina mAlai, etc. 

• Notes: 
• depending on the available time chant as much as possible.
• rAmAnusa nURRanthAdhi is called prapanna gAyathri/sAvithri - it is mentioned by mAmunigaL that just like gAyatri mantram is chanted daily without fail by a brAhmaNa, a prapanna should atleast chant rAmAnusa nURRanthAdhi once.
• It is also customary to recite 4000 dhiya prabhandhams in a cycle every month reciting pAsurams based on the nakshathram of every day. Please view http://kaarimaaran.com/sevakalam.html for full details.

Prepare bhOgam (food) in the mean time. We should use separate utensils/vessels for preparing the bhOgam. Also bhOgam should not be offered in the same vessel it was cooked - it should always be transferred to a different vessel. We should not use these vessels for our personal use, these vessels should be exclusively kept for emperumAn.

bhOjyAsanam - offering food

• offer arghyam, pAdhyam, Achamanam.

• place the bhOgam in front of emperumAn.

• sprinkle thIrtham and spread some thiruthuzhAi (thuLasi) over the bhOgam.

• offer the bhOgam to emperumAn chanting kUdArai vellum sIr, nARu naRumpozhil, ulagamuNda peruvAyA pAsurams and yA prIthir vidhurArpithE slOkam.

• offer suruLamudhu (betel leaves/nut), sAththuppadi (chandanam) to emperumAn.
• Offer the same (bhOgam, etc) to AzhwAr AchAryas.

• now bhOgam has become prasAdham and can be taken away.

punar manthrAsanam - mangaLAsAsanam/sARRumuRai

• offer arghyam, pAdhyam, Achamanam.

• offer Araththi - chant "thadh vishnOr paramam padham...."

• Recite mangaLa sthOthrams for kOil, thirumalai, perumAL kOil, thirunArAyaNapuram emperumAns, jagannAthan, perumAL (srI rAman), pArthasArathy emperumAns followed by ANdAL, nammAzhwAr, kaliyan, emperumAnAr, maNavALa mAmunigaL, all AcharyAs.

• chant the sARRumuRai pAsurams, thiruppallANdu pAsuram, vAzhi thirunAmams.

• the person who is doing thiruvArAdhanam can accept thIrtham and distributed to others.
• srI pAdha thIrtham can be distributed to one and all by  the person doing thiruvArAdhanam.
• thiruthuzhAi (thuLasi) placed in the lotus feet of emperumAn during the thiruvArAdhanam can be accepted by the person doing thiruvArAdhanam and distributed to every one.

• chant vAzhi thirunAmam of the particular AzhwAr/AchAryan thirunakshatram for that particular day.

paryankAsanam - requesting emperumAn to go to rest

• Recite "pannakAthIsa paryangE", "kshIra sAgara" slOkams.
• perform sAshtAnga pranAmam (full obeisances), chant "upachArApadhEsEna" slOkam (sincerely asking for forgiveness for mistakes committed during the thiruvArAdhanam)

• close the door of kOil AzhwAr (thiruvArAdhanam room) - chant "uragal uragal uragal", "panikkadalil paLLi kOLai pazhagavittu" pAsurams.

anuyAgam - completion of yAgam/thiruvArAdhanam

• recite dhEvarAja ashtakam or varavaramuni pUrvA/uththara dhina charyai  or vAnamAmalai jIyar prapathi/mangaLAsAsanam according to ones own mutt/thirumALigai practice

• offer prasAdham to srIvaishNava athithis (guests)

• accept prasAdham (meals)

Additional aspects:

• anadhyayana kAlam 

• During anadhyayana kAlam, we dont recite AzhwAr pAsurams. During opening the kOil AzhwAr, we recite jithanthE sthOthram (first 2 slOkams), kausalyA suprajA rAma slOkam, kUrmAdhIn slOkam and open the door. There is no restriction to remembering/meditating on AzhwAr pAsurams in heart/mind while opening the door.
• Similarly, during thirumanjanam, we just stop with sUkthams.
• In manthra pushpam, in place of "chenRAl kudaiyAm", recite "emperumAnAr dharisanam enRE" pAsuram.
• For sARRumuRai, we recite upadhEsa rathina mAlai and thiruvAimozhi nURRanthAdhi pAsurams which are followed by "sarva dhEsa sadhA kAlE..." routine and vAzhi thirunAmams.

•  laghu thiruvArAdhanam (less than 30 minutes)
• open kOil AzhwAr (temple room)
• arghya, pAdhya, Achamanam
• thirumanjanam 
• thiruppallANdu, thiruppAvai, etc - whatever we can recite in the available time. During anadhyayana kAlam, we can recite dhivya prabhandham thanians, upadhEsa rathina mAlai, etc.
• offer bhOgam to emperumAn, AzhwAr/AchAryas
• sARRumuRai
• srI pAdha thIrtham
• close the kOil AzhwAr

• Important Notes:

• As shown in pUrva/uththara dhinacharyai, thiruvArAdhanam is done 3 times a day. We can do as much as possible.
• Simple thiruvArAdhanam in the morning after morning sandhyAvandhanam
• Elaborate thiruvArAdhanam after mAdhyAhnikam
• Simple thiruvArAdhanam after evening sandhyAvandhanam 
• On EkAdhasi day, usually full alankAra thaLigai (meals) is not prepared. Some fruits/nuts or simple bhOgam can be prepared and offered according to the family situation (presence of children, aged, etc).
• On dhvAdhasi day, thiruvArAdhanam is done quite early and perform pAraNam (breaking of fast by accepting thIrtham, thiruthuzhAi (thuLasi) and prasAdham).
• During anadhyayana kAlam, we usually refrain from reciting 4000 dhivya prabhandhams. Instead we recite pUrvAchArya sthOthrams, upadhEsa rathina mAlai, thiruvAimozhi nURRanthAdhi, AzhwAr/AchArya thanians, vAzhi thirunAmams, etc. Once mArgazhi month begins, thiruppaLLiyeLuchi and thiruppAvai can be recited.
• When travelling, it is either advisable to carry the emperumAns along with us or make arrangements for his thiruvArAdhanam even in our absence. emperumAns can also be safely handed over to other srIvaishNavas  who can perform thiruvArAdhanam.
• During Asoucham (theettu) when we cannot perform thiruvArAdhanam, alternate arrangements should be made.
• Finally, having emperumAn at home and not performing thiruvArAdhanam is like inviting some one to our house and turning away.

By following the injunctions of sAsthram and pUrvAchAryAs instructions in performing thiruvArAdhanam at home sincerely, one can be fully and naturally engaged in bhagavath/bhAgavatha/AchArya kainkaryam and thus become very dear to emperumAn, AzhwArs, AcharyAs and ones own AchAryan.

Collection of pramANams (slOkams/pAsurams) used in thiruvArAdhanam can be viewed at 
http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2014/12/srivaishnava-thiruvaradhanam-pramanams.html

Obstacles/hurdles while performing thiruvArAdhanam are explained in detail at http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2014/03/virodhi-pariharangal-16.html.

adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

Sources: jIyar padi, kAnchIpuram PB aNNangarAchArya swamy's nithyAnushtAna padhdhathi

In thamizh:  http://srivaishnavagranthamstamil.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/srivaishnava-thiruvaaraadhanam/ 
thamizh e-book: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=32ECDEC5E2737323!143&authkey=!AAS1WeJFYJguuT0&ithint=file%2cpdf

In telugu: http://srivaishnavagranthamstelugu.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/srivaishnava-thiruvaaraadhanam/

archived in http://ponnadi.blogspot.in, also visit http://srivaishnavagranthams.wordpress.com, http://guruparamparai.wordpress.com, http://sriperumbuthur.blogspot.com