sri:
srimathE rAmAnujAya nama:
srimadh varavaramunayE nama:
sri vAnAchala mahAmunayE nama:
kulashEkara AzhwAr longed to visit
srirangam every day. He started his perumAL thirumozhi with glorifying
sriranganAthan and his adiyArs. Seeing that, our pUrvAchAryAs also
developed this craving for visiting srirangam and living there.
emperumAnAr recited gadhya thrayam
(sharanAgathi gadhyam, sri ranga gadhyam and srivaikunta gadhyam) on a
panguni uthram day in front of namperumAL and sriranga nAchiAr. He
performed a sharaNagathi for the sole purpose of rescuing fallen
jIvAthmAs. He requested to emperumAn and pirAtti that anyone who gets
connected to the emperumAnAr dharisanam through authorized AchArya
paramparai gets the same benediction he himself got - that is parampadha
prApthi at the end of one's life. At that time, emperumAn promises to
emperumAnAr that he will grant that benediction. emperumAn also
instructs emperumAnAr to just stay in srirangam and relish the great
meanings of dvaya mahAmanthram. What was said to emperumAnAr is taken as
family wealth by all pUrvAchAryas, since every one considered to be
part of this thondar kulam (family of servants to emperumAn).
Even if we are not able to go and live
there permanently, we can atleast try to visit the holiest of shrines
once in a while. adiyen had such bhAgyam to be in srirangam for 3 days
and had the chance to participate in pavithrOtsavam this year. Even
today, srirangam is one dhivya dhEsam where we can observe great
enthusiasm and festivity in the manner every single thing is conducted.
Really, if we want to understand who is the real king (rAjA) - we have
to go and visually see rangarAjA in srirangam, The way the sripAdham
thAngis (the ones who carry emperumAn) bring him out, the way the
aruLappAdu is recited for every step/kainkaryam, the way emperumAn is
carried around, the way thiruvArAdhanam and all the upachArams are done
to him by the archakAs, the way vEdha viNNappam, etc are recited in
front of him - it takes us literally to an unimaginable situation - we
cant see this kind of setup anywhere else in this world. We really have
to be present there to appreciate it all. We can also imagine how it
would have been during our pUrvAchAryas times where they had no other
life than emperumAn.
What is the use of our life, if it just
stops with bhagavadh anubhavam? We should take it to the next level - bhAgavatha anubhavam. Everyday, both in the morning and
evening, we can participate in aruLicheyal anubhavam in emperumAnAr
sannidhi. NithyAnusandhAnam is recited nicely and we get some wonderful
prasAdham as well. Also, on Tuesday (uthrAdam) aruLicheyal anushandhAnam followed by sthOtra rathnam recital happened at nAthamunigaL sannidhi for ALavandhAr. On Wednesday (Shravanam) and Thursday
(avittam), aruLicheyal anusandhAnam happened at piLLai lOkAchAryar
sannidhi. Also, srivachana bhUshanam and AchArya hrudhayam were
wonderfully recited on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. mAmunigaL
being the AchAryan of emperumAn himself, is thoroughly enjoying all of
these right from his wonderful sannidhi as well.
Our vAnamAmalai jeeyar swamy is
observing his chAthur mAsya vratham in srirangam this year. Swamy, even
amidst his physical inconveniences, is actively participating in all the
activities. ThadhiArAdhanam is being organized and several adiyArs are
participating every day. On Wednesday evening, srimAn bhattar khuzhAm
(run by Sri U.Ve parasAra bhadhir nArAyaNa bhattar swamy) students
enacted the greatness of ponnadikkAl jeeyar (prime disciple of manavALa
mAmunigaL and 1st swamy of vAnamAmalai mutt) and varthamAna jeeyar swamy
was emotionally very moved by that presentation. On Thursday, swamy
gave a mesmerizing lecture in front of many vidhwAns. Swamy spoke about
the greatness of aruLicheyal, nammAzhwAr, our svarUpam, our bhAgyam in
being born in vaishnava kulam, etc.
Being jnAna sthAnam of our sampradhAyam,
several gurukulams are functioning actively there. Many kAlakshEpams
are also happening there every day where several adhikAris are giving
lectures.
All good things come to an end in this
leelA vibhUthi. It was time to leave srirangam, but the memories are
there to cherish and share with other bhAgavathas as well.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan