Anuyatra .. Anusmaranam..svAnubhuthi

Paasuram – 1 Maargazhi thingal madhiniraindha nannalal – Aandal starts with the concept of date. She is depicting the month and the Shukla paksha of the month. She did not depict the year since all of us will misinterpret that this vrattam/nonbu should be done only in that year. Remember, tamil years are cyclic in nature. Therefore she did not mention the year at which she sang this Tiruppavai. Perukkarunai swamigal mentions beautifully that this line is a sankalpam for Aandal to perform the vrattam/nonbu. Let’s look at the word by word meaning and then look into the Svapadesam(Rahasyaartha). Maargazhi thingal - If you look at the Sanaatana Dharma’s depiction of Time. 1 Year in earth is equivalent to 1 Day for Devas. Uttarayana is their day and Dakshinayanam is their night. Marghazhi comes a month before Uttarayana punya kaala begins, therefore it is their Braahma muhurtham. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita that “ I am Margaseersha within 12 months” “Maasanaam Maargaseersho

Avatharikai Asmad Acharyan Thiruvadigale Saranam All of our Poorvacharya granthams avatharikai has a common set of framework Avatharikai deals with three major set in the framework. 1.        Katru vailakshyantam – Lakshanam of the Kartha or the author 2.        Vishaya vailakshyantam – The lakshanam of the subject that is being discussed 3.        Prabhanda vailakshyantam – The lakshanam of the prabandam as a whole. This framework is applicable to all Sri vaishnava granthas and undergoes strict reconciliation with the Pramaanas (or the basic axioms in Vedas). At no point of time, can a prabhandam or the vishayam deviate from the pramaanas. It is an important yardstick for all granthas and its vishayam. Let’s look at Thiruppavai in these frameworks. Katru Vailakshyanyam                 Aandal – Amsam of Bhooma Devi Thaayar. She was named as Kothai by Periazhwar. Desika says Saakshat Kshama. Kshama is the other name of Bhooma Devi as she is very patient and

Ayodhya, Mathura, Maaya, Kaasi, Kaanchi, Avantika, Dwarika. These kshetras are mukti tharum kshetras. What is moksha or mukti? Some say it is a state of mind, some say it is a final destination. However, in order to attain the state of mind or the destination, Gnyana is an important tool. All these 7 places are the seat of Gnyaana or learning which leads us to the path of moksha. Kanchi is one of the most important seat of learning in ancient India and has produced more scholars and acharyas for Sanatana Dharma. It is now known for Kanchi Sri Sankara matam which follows the Advaitha philosophy. Both Advaitha and Vishishtadvaitha philosophies has existed in Kanchi for centuries and still an active repository of these knowledge.                 Adiyen is thoroughly blessed as I studied my graduation in engineering under the shade of this age old institution of Sankara university. Adiyen visited the Vaishnavite divyadesams in Kanchi several times during my college years and also in r

Srimathe Srivan Satakopa Ranganatha Yateendra Maha desikaya namaha Sri Lakshminrusimha Divya Paduka sevaka Srivan Satakopa Sri Narayana Yateendra Maha desikaya namaha With the grace of Asmad Acharyan and periyavas, Adiyen had the Bhagyam to visit North India Divyadesams. Following was the itinerary of our programme. 05/01/15 Board Duronto Express to New Delhi 05/02/15 Alight at New Delhi and visit Vrindavan 05/03/15 Visit Mathura and back to New Delhi for Rishikesh 05/04/15 Rishikesh – Local Sight seeing 05/05/15 Deva Prayag, Adi Badri and PeepalKote 05/06/15 Jyoshirmutt, Badrinath 05/07/15 Badrinath, YogDhyan Badri, Ardha Badri, Peepalkote 05/08/15 To Haridwar 05/09/15 Ganga Aarthi at Haridwar, Start to New Delhi 05/10/15 Flight to New Delhi 05/01/15 The excitement of going for the yatra m

Sri Sankara is one of the greatest philosophers which ancient India had. I consider him as a Vaishnavite even though he commented on the Advaitic philosophy. One of his works is Sri Ranganaatha ashtakam. Adiyen is still learning about Vaishnavam and its foundations "The Vedas". And based on my learning, I wanted to share the tatparya of this sloka. If anything I have mentioned is wrong, I am open for discussion so that I can correct myself. Aanandarupe nijabodha rupe, Brahma swaroope sruthi moorthi rupe, Sasanka rupe ramaneeya rupe, Sri ranga rupe ramatham mano mey. Sri sankara starts with meditating on the roopam of Periya perumal. In the above verse, Sankara describes Periya perumal as Ananda Roopam. This roopam of perumal brings Anandam to the hearts of Bhaagavadas. Periya Perumal is called as Karunaa Pravaagam or the ocean of Karunai. This Karunai flows from Perumal to the Bhaagavadas thereby increasing the bhakti and aanandam in the hearts of the devotees who come and wo