SRIMAN NARAYANA, SRI LAKSHMI AMMA (DAYA DEVI) AND THE HOLIEST OF HOLY WORKS OF THE REVERENTIAL AZHWARS ( MYSTIC SAINTS ) OF THE SOUTH OF INDIA.       ( Part 2 / 21)  

SRIMAN NARAYANA, OUR SUPREME PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD           

 Part 2  of 21

THE MAHATMAS WHO ATTAINED SRIMAN NARAYANA AND MAHALAKSHMI AMMA THROUGH PRAPATTI (TOTAL WHOLEHEARTED SURRENDER)

Countless Mahatmas over the four yugas ( Krita, Treta, Dwapar and at present Kali yuga) have attained Sriman Narayana and Lakshmi amma by Prapatti , though sheer patience and utmost devotion, faith in superlative that the divine will come to their rescue come what may.  Their conviction and unflinching belief was that the entire inhabitants of the mortal  world could  desert them, their closest of close could shut them off their lives but our one and only one creator of all the worlds, our dearest of dear  one and only "PARMATMAN" will surely not forsake them.

All these mahatmas have self experienced the divine, have spoken to him in their human form in this mortal world, some have sat on his lap, some have partaken of the annaprasadam with him , some have  been carried by the divine on his most lovely shoulders, they have all conveyed their divine experiences to the human kind for only one reason that if they could attain the one and only divine , why not we?  Countless prostrations and glories to these srivaishanava saints who for the sake of mankind shared their bliss with a thought that each and every jivatma should attain  him and get a permanent liberation, such were their noblest of noble thoughts.

The devout Srivaishnavas, are those who follow compassion, humility, run to the rescue of every others in distress and above all SURRENDER ONLY AND ONLY UNTO THE LOTUS FEET OF SRIMAN NARAYANA AND LAKSHMI AMMA, NONE ELSE. They do not have caste, creed or religion nor are they encased in only human form, they could be in any form sentient and insentient such as holy birds like Garuda, very sacred instruments such as Panchajanyam, the conch of lord Sri Krishna, the temple bells in the service of Lord SriGovinda, the flora and fauna used to adorn our beloved, animals like lion, tiger , tortoise, fish ,  boar (Matsya, Koorma, Varaha, Naarsimha ) etc whose form our beloved has taken to rescue us and hence let each one of us have the unique distinction and proudly proclaim that we are SRIVAISHNAVAS AND OUR ONLY PURPOSE HERE IS TO SERVE OUR MOST BELOVED DIVINE CONSORT.

Mentioned below are few of the Srivaishnavas who have made our lord proud and have permanently attained him only through the PRAPATTI MARG:

1. Prahalada Maharaj : Our most beloved child, who despite so many tortures from his asura father Hiranyakashapu who made his life miserable because the divine sweet child kept chanting SRIMAN NARAYANA continuously. The divine child, never for a moment, lost faith in the one and only one, never felt what would his condition be when attacked so many times and that too so brutally and also by his own father, kept on chanting our beloved lords holy name, the child did not even , once convey to our lord to come to its rescue for he was sure that at the right moment, our lord would rush and HOW DID HE COME!

 THE ANGER WHICH NONE IN THE WHOLE WORLD HAVE EXPERIENCED ESPECIALLY WHERE OUR MOST COMPASSIONATE LORD IS CONCERNED, CAME IN THE FORM OF A FEROCIOUS LION,  GROWLING AND HOWLING TORE HIRANYAKASHAPU TO SHREDS, SUCH IS THE LOVE OF OUR MOST LOVING LORD WHO NEVER KNOWS HOW IT IS TO GET EVEN ONE BIT ANGRY, BUT IF HIS DEVOTEES ARE HARMED ,HE WOULD GO TO ANY EXTENT TO LIBERATE THEM.  HE BECAME SO ANGRY THAT LAKSHMI AMMA OUR DEAREST MOTHER ALSO COULD NOT GO NEAR HIM BUT HIS LOVING DEVOTEE CHILD PRAHALADA MAHARAJ WENT AND LOVINGLY SAT ON HIS LAP , THEN ONLY HE COOLED DOWN LIKE AN ICEBERG.

CAN  EACH ONE OF US CAPTURE THIS WONDERFUL MOMENT BEFORE US AND PROSTRATE LOW WITH JOINED HANDS  BEFORE OUR BELOVED LORD SRIMAN NARAYANA AND ALSO PRAHALADA MAHARAJ WHO CONVEYED TO US THAT IF ANY OF THE SRIVAISHNAVITE DEVOTEE IS HARMED THEN OUR LORD WILL DESCEND TO PROTECT US  , DID OUR BELOVED LORD NOT MENTION THIS THROUGH HIS OWN DIVINE MUKHAKAMALAM IN SRIMADH BHAGAVAD GITA WHEN UNRIGHTEOUNESS RULES, AND HIS DEVOTEES ARE PUT TO INCONVENIENCE, HE WOULD PERSONALLY APPEAR AND ANNIHILATE THE WICKED.  COUNTLESS GLORIES TO OUR ONE AND ONLY ONE LORD SRI KRISHNA.

2. Draupadi amma: When in front of the entire assembly , her honour was at stake, when she was dragged mercilessly  by the cruel Duryodhana, when even her husbands stood with their heads bent in shame , our beloved SriGovinda at one call of hers , came running in lightening speed and saved her self respect. Do any one of us after this, yet harbour a doubt in our minds?

      3.  Gajendra Moksham : Our lord rescued our beloved Gajendra, a mighty elephant caught by the crocodile,                     when he lovingly called out Sri Govinda, in utter pain and heavy blood stains, our lord came running at jet set             speed to rescue him, all it requires is a humble heart to call his holy name , once he captures us in his heart               then, never ever will he forget us even if we fail to remember him. JUST, ONCE PLEASE CALL HIM...

Gyaneshwar mauli, Tukaram mauli, Sri Ramanucharya acharyan, Mira amma, andal amma, Sant Kabir, Sri Vedanta Desikan acharyan and countless other mahatmas have experienced him.

One very very humble confession, have too experienced him in every atom of my being, have gone through  some great hurdles, some life taking, these are my bonus years gifted by him for was on death bed several times,  but do not want to glorify my self, nor wallow in self pity for will always count my blessings for there are many more of our brethrens who are still worse off and less fortunate than us .

 HE HAS ALWAYS COME TO MY RESCUE AT ALL TIMES( NO EXCEPTIONAL CASE AT ALL), MANY TIMES, FELT THAT THIS IS THE END, ALL THE DOORS HAVE CLOSED ON ME BUT HE OPENED  AND KEEPS OPENING THE ONE GOLDEN DOOR WITH A DIAMOND KEY AND FOREVER ENCAPTURED THIS SERVANT OF SERVANT OF SERVANT UNTO HIS LOTUS HEART.

This is also one of the main reason , am under his divine will and guidance writing this holy write up for and on behalf of Sriman Narayana and Lakshmi amma, as an invisible speckle of dust at their lotus feet ,with a very humble thought that if he can lovingly carry  this non entity servant then surely he can tenderly carry every of his creation

 ALL THAT IS  REQUIRED ,MY DEAR SPIRITUAL BROTHERS AND SISTERS, PLEASE DOTINGLY CALL HIM ATLEAST ONCE "SRI MADHAVA, SIR GOVINDA , SRI MURALI MANOHARA, SRI DAMODARA, SRI KRISHA, SRI ANIRUDHA  AND HIS COUNTLESS HOLIEST OF HOLY NAMES. HE WILL COME TO ALL OUR RESCUE, LET EACH  ONE OF US , INCLUDE HIM IN ALL OUR HAPPINESS, IN ALL OUR ACHIEVEMENTS , ALL OUR SMALLEST OF SMALL  MOMENTS AND SURRENDER UNTO THE DIVINE CONSORT,  THEY WILL SURELY CLAP FOR US , THEY WILL VERY KINDLY CARRY US AND  WILL WIPE OUR TEARS TOO, NO DOUBT AT ALL.

HE IS OUR BELOVED LORD SRIMAN NARAYANA AND SHE IS OUR DEAREST OF DEAR MOTHER LAKSHMI AMMA, LET EACH ONE OF US MAKE THEM AN INTEGRAL PART OF OUR LIVES, THEN WE NEED NOT EVEN BOTHER OF SALVATION,  THE DIVINE BEING A PART OF US , THEN SRI PARMAPADAM IS HERE ON THIS EARTH ITSELF, NO NEED TO SEARCH FOR IT ANYWHERE ELSE.  

Yatra yogesvarah krsno yatra partho dhanur-dharah tatra srir vijayo bhutir dhruva nitir matir mama. (Wherever there is Lord Govinda/Lord Madhusudana, the master of all , and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality.

WHAT DOES  PRAPATTI COMPRISE OF?

• Chanting his holy names continuously . In this modern fast paced lifestyle one can at all time, while performing routine activities, while cooking, boarding a transport, at work, while having annaprasadam, while retiring to bed and in so many other times with total love and not as a mere mechanical process  chant his holy names, it does not require any time at all , just as breathing is eternal and ongoing so is chanting continuous here and  hereafter. His holy names should be taken effortlessly and in total purity and devotion.

• Cooking tasty delicious annaprasadam for him especially sweets which he is very fond of.   Can't we with all pure thoughts of love and happiness cook for him saatvik annaprasadam with the highest love, as a samarpayaami (pure offering ) all that he enjoys and relishes and humbly offer him as prasadam and then consume after he has partaken of it.  Can we in all humility do the least for our undisputed king of the cosmos. What a bliss!  our beloved has loved every morsel, he has blessed our annaprasadam and then we have it, won't it be free from all impurities? Never would we ever fall sick after this sacred ritual.

• Weaving of beautiful multi hued garlands. Is it very expensive to buy few colour fragance filled flowers with the holy tulasi leaves and beautifully weave a loving garland and adorn the divine consort with the fragrant sweet flowers? .  The very act of weaving beautiful garlands is a benediction from him and blessed are those who can do this service in a very loving and pious manner. JAI HO PRABHU!

• We can sweep the holy floors of his temple if it is permissible , we can distribute prasadam to his loving devotees, we can light lamps in our homes, offer a beautiful peacock feather which he is so much fond of, light fragrant incense sticks, we can adorn our lord with beautiful vastrams (divine dresses) and above all we can share with him our days events, HE LOVES TO HEAR OUR SCHEDULE, HE HEARS IT WITH RAPT ATTENTION AND THE BEST PART IS WHEN WE ARE NARRATING TO HIM LORD HANUMAN, OUR MOST BELOVED BROTHER, ALSO SITS AND HEARS THE SAME WITH KEEN ATTENTION AND  INTEREST.
• IN SHORT, WE HAVE TO ENSURE EACH MOMENT OF OUR LIFE IS WOVEN AROUND HIM, WITH HIM, FOR HIM, BECAUSE OF HIM........WE CAN AND WE WILL FROM JUST NOW. ALSO PLEASE SERVE HIS DEVOTEES TOO,  FOR MANAVA SEVA IS MADHAVA SEVA ( SERVICE TO MANKIND IS SERVICE TO SRIMAN NARAYANA).  All this neither requires big money, nor time, nor great efforts, nor any great talent,  all that is required is to make him a part of our self ,steeped with purity of thoughts , fully free from ego.  he has accepted the humblest of humble offering of Shabari amma and also of our loving Sudhama , his dearest friend, then surely he will also accept ours too.

PLEA TO  OUR DEAREST SRIMAN NARAYANA AND OUR MOST LOVING MOTHER LAKSHMI AMMA

Our dearest of dear Lord Krishna, please forgive me, if there has been any flaw or mistake in any of the word for this servant of servant of servant of yours is a left hand zero infinity , the only reason , she has , under your guidance and grace, as an instrument in your holy hands, been able to write a drop  in an overflowing biggest deepest ocean. You are the personification of humility, goodness, purity, kindness and every other loving qualities and countless glories sung in your praise over countless yugas would also  be only a smallest of small droplet.  In my lowest of lowly state, I do remember you and make a small attempt to love you,  yes, surely it would be  very minuscule as compared to the gigantic proportions of love, mercy and benediction you have bestowed on each of your creation but please, accept and bless  this very small write up, come from the deepest core.

Also, on behalf of all the Srivaishnavite devotees, do I plead, with both hands joined  and raised above and under your holiest of holy lotus feet , beg of you, that just like you take the highest joy in bestowing upon us unasked , undeserved too, please give us an opportunity to forever serve you and Lakshmi amma in the manner you deem fit, we do not want permanent salvation, we want to only serve you with the purest of pure love, we want to keep you happy.

You who have bestowed so many joys on us, we want to protect you from all evil eyes, yes our dearest lord, you have heard it right, unbelievable as it might seem, we who are wholly dependent upon you , want to protect you for it is our bhavana ( our sentiments because more than the king of the cosmos we consider and treat you as our beloved family head and hence surely, blessing you or protecting you from all evil eyes also is not a misplaced sentiment, only you will understand this deepest feeling of ours). 

PLEASE, OUR MOST BELOVED MOTHER, FATHER, SARVASVAM (ALL IN ALL), PLEASE ALLOW US TO SERVE YOU ETERNALLY HERE AND HEREAFTER, WE PROMISE YOU, AFTER THIS ,WE WILL NOT ASK YOU ANYTHING. THIS IS THE ONE AND ONLY ONE SENTIMENT VOICED  BY EACH OF YOUR DEVOTEES , AM VERY SURE , AS ALWAYS ,   YOU WILL UTTER THATHASTHU (PERMISSION GRANTED).. THANKS, OUR DEARMOST ONE AND ONLY SRIMAN NARAYANA AND LAKSHMI AMMA, COUNTLESS GRATITUDE AND DEEPEST APPRECIATION  FOR EVERYTHING.

SRIMAN NARAYANAM CHARANAM SHARANAM PRABHADHYE, SRIMAN NARAYANAYA NAMAHA.

OM TAT SAT

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE.

SRIMAN NARAYANA, SRI LAKSHMI AMMA (DAYA DEVI) AND THE HOLIEST OF HOLY WORKS OF THE REVERENTIAL AZHWARS ( MYSTIC SAINTS ) OF THE SOUTH OF INDIA. 

SRIMAN NARAYANA, OUR SUPREME PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD           

 Part 1  of 21

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,

At the very beginning , would like to make a honest submission in all humility that this entire write-up , am writing with only one sentiment and that is total prapatti, meaning unconditional voluntary surrender unto the divine lotus of Lord SriKrishna and Lakshmi amma and hence want to completely stay away from technicality and exact sciences, for am of the opinion that if one gets into too much rationale, scientific validation, reasoning and perfect arithmetic logic and  an accuracy which is like the exact sciences,   then pure devotion  gets permanently lost for we are constantly  in search of  a perfect foundation in each and every aspect which one cannot look for in our spiritual journey towards the supreme personality Lord Sriman Narayana/ Lord Sri Govinda/ Lord Sri Krishna.  When our countless srivaishnavite saints, mahatmas and learned gurus have personally experienced him, spoken with the divine consort face to face  and have conveyed to us of his complete supremacy with total conviction we need to totally accept their divine experience and make it a part of ours too.

Who is Sriman Narayanaya?

Sriman Narayana is the one and only supreme personality of godhead who has created the entire cosmos and is known as "PARMATMAN".  Rest all are to  be treated as Jivatmas, who are his creation and need to be subservient to him .  The entire world , the sentient (living ) and  the in sentient (lifeless) moves only on his directions and none else. He is the super supreme ultimate authority and master of all his creations. His powers are unlimited and matchless.  Each and every entity in all the worlds are his divine design, wholly dependent upon him  and at the end of every  yuga ,each of us has to reach him for he would absorb all his creations back unto him.  Having understood that our most beloved Lord Sri Krishna is the  only ultimate master of each one of us , without wasting one billionth of a second we need to unconditionally, wholeheartedly surrender unto his divine lotus feet.

THE EASIEST ROUTE/PATH TOWARDS  OUR MOST ADORING SRIMAN NARAYANA/  LORD SRI KRISHNA- PRAPATHI- UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER

As uttered through his holy lotus mukhakamalam in our highest scripture Srimadh Bhagavadh Gita, we can attain him through Karma yoga, Gyana yoga, Bhakti yoga and last but not the least prapathi.(total unconditional surrender).  Each of his devotee can take the path towards him as they deem convenient but the most easiest, fastest and sure shot successful path  towards him is Prapathi- total unconditional surrender. The other paths surely will lead us to him but would not nullify the debit credits of our Karma, for example in Bhakti yoga , the credits of our karma could supersede the debits and hence the jivatma once again has to take birth to reap the benefits of the good karma of the past but in total unconditional surrender unto the lotus feet of  Lord Sri Krishna there is no rebirth at all for one has lovingly caught on to his holy feet with the greatest devotion conveying to him a situation of utter helplessness, of total faith in him and him only and a mindset that the individual jivatma cannot leave him and sustain itself  for even a lightening second,  exactly  like a situation of a new born baby who is fully dependent upon its mother , similarly each of the jivatma cannot live without him at all.  Also, no matter how evolved one is yet to know his glories fully is just not possible , it is mentioned in our  holiest of holy scriptures what is known of him is only a smallest tiniest bit which itself is like a deepest of deep ocean , please imagine how it would be to know his glory in its entirety. 

The king of the cosmos, our very known Lord Sri Krishna has kept within himself so many aspects of his divine personality which even the most evolved saints are unable to decode for the very simple reason , one of our lords most holy trait is his utter humility , he does not know to blow his own trumpet unlike us  jivatmas who would love to at every interval,  feel that we are the very best in all what  we do.  Another reason, he wants to keep his highest of high state all to himself because if we come to know of his fathomless stature , in fear ,each of us at our atom like existence,  will start moving away from him in utter awe , just like Arjuna in the eleventh chapter of Srimad Bhagavadh Gita , when he sees the universal form of our dearest of dear, he is frightened beyond a point and begs our lord to once again regain his normal beautiful , compassionate  and highly endearing form which all of us so much love and are so familiar with.  This one quality itself, amongst his countless other sterling qualities qualifies only him as the creator who wants to be so very close to his creation.  WHAT A MARVEL!

Prapathi is an extremely simple path where our dearest of dear lord SriKrishna , himself will guide us towards his abode, the holiest of holy parmapadam, a place of no return, a state of permanent salvation. How can one forget and miss the direction of  the route where the owner (PARMATMA) himself accompanies the traveler (JIVATMA).  NO CHANCE AT ALL.  Also , when the king and queen are with us in our journey towards them, is there even a smallest of small reason to be frightened, doubtful or unsure of the destination.  He is govardhanagiridhara, who in his tiniest little finger carried the entire mighty govardhan mountain, he who showed the entire universe in his small beautiful mukhakamalam as a baby to his most beloved mother and ours too Yashoda amma , can he forsake us , even if we forget him, will he leave us behind ?..NEVER not  in one billionth chance. 

His mercy, compassion and memory is so strong that each of his creation are forever  shielded in his heart and become an integral part of his divine self, no matter whether one is good or bad as he himself mentioned in our divine gita "I am an impartial friend to all , to friends and foes alike".  HE IS THE ONELY ONE WHO DOES EXACTLY WHAT HE SAYS AND NEVER EVER FAILS IN HIS COMMITMENT  . He behaved with the evil Duryodhana in the same manner as our virtuous Arjuna. HE WILL NEVER EVER FORSAKE HIS CREATION AT ALL, LET EACH OF US REST ASSURED THAT NONE BUT HIMSELF ONLY CAN REDEEM US . THIS IS THE ONLY AND THE HIGHEST TRUTH OF OUR EXISTENCE AND IF THIS IS WHAT WE TOTALLY BELIEVE IN  HIM THEN WHY FEAR? PLEASE THROW AWAY EVEN A MOLECULE LIKE FEAR OR A HIMALAYAN DOUBT TOO BOTH HAVE NO PLACE WHEN WE ARE BEING CARRIED BY OUR DIVINE FATHER AND MOTHER. A DOTING MOTHER, EVER CARRIES HER ALL CHILDREN IN HER BOSSOM EVER, NO DOUBT AT ALL.

WE HAVE UNDERSTOOD THE EASIEST OF EASY PATH, MORE SIMPLER THAN BHAKTI , GYANA AND KARMA YOGA THAT TOTAL PRAPATHI IS THE BEST AND  MOST EXCELLENT PATH TOWARDS HIM. YES, SURELY WITH PRAPATHI, BHAKTI AND OTHER QUALITIES DEFINITELY WILL ALSO BE PRESENT OTHERWISE WITH THE ABSENCE OF PURE DEVOTION AND  SPOTLESS ATTACHMENT TOWARDS HIM HOW CAN WE EVEN THINK OF SURRENDERING UNTO HIS LOTUS FEET? ONLY ONE  THING HAS TO BE BORNE, THAT HE IS THE KING WHO IS LEADING US , WE HAVE TO ALLOW HIM TO CARRY US AND IN THIS STATE OF TOTAL PRAPATHI ONE SHOULD NEVER ASK HIM "WHY ME?" WHEN THINGS ARE UNFAVOURBALE FOR US INSTEAD WE SHOULD THANK HIM ETERNALLY, COUNT OUR BLESSINGS  AND CONVEY TO OUR MOST BELOVED LORD SRI KRISHA" WHY NOT ME, THE BEST IS HAPPENING TO ME BECAUSE MY BELOVED CREATOR IS WITH ME NULLIFYING MY PRARABDHA KARMA ( ALL THE PREVIOUS ACCUMULATED KARMAS) BECAUSE OF WHICH MY SOUL IS GETTING CLEANSED THOROUGHLY OF ALL ITS PAST RESIDUE GOOD OR BAD AND AM REACHING VERY CLOSE TO MY LORD TO BE HIS FOREVER.

QUALITIES AND QUALIFICATIONS NECESSARY TO ATTAIN SRIMAN NARAYANA AND LAKSHMI AMMA

The only traits required to attain the divine are  compassion, goodness, pure heart which knows for sure he is with us all the time and will never ever leave us no matter in what state we are in, whether at the foothills or the tip of the peak, whether a saint or a sinner.  Our dearest Lord SriKrishna himself has conveyed to us towards the concluding chapter of our most divine Srimad Bhagavadh Gita that even if the nastiest  of the nasty sinner were to surrender unto him, he  would be accounted for as a saint for he has rightly resolved to reach the one and only one. Does any one of us want a further validation , after hearing from his own lotus mukhkamalam?.  PERMANENT CONFIRMATION FROM THE ETERNAL KING OF THE ENTIRE COSMOS HIMSELF. 

The people in this mortal world, whom we love we trust unconditionally, then so much so for the creator who has created, sustained and is blessing us every second so unconditionally, we need to love , respect , care and shower our highest of high adoration for him.  How simple he has made our path to attain him , here in the mortal world one needs to be highly qualified to earn his bread but in the holiest of holy parmapadam neither do we have to possess highest qualification nor do we need to hold powerful positions, all that is needed is a pure heart filled with immeasurable love for our most beloved father and mother , the one and only one. Also, please note, no distinction is made in his abode with regards to caste, creed, gender for the immaculate soul does not have a gender , it is pure and indestructible. 

Its only purpose and mission is to reach him into a land of no return filled with pure bliss and happiness.  After knowing this principle, none of us need to worry about our social , financial and emotional status , they do not matter to him at all, we are his children and every child no matter whether successful or not is equally loved by its mother, so also , please rest assured, all the irrelevant distinctions in this mortal world does not hold water in his abode, all that is sacrosanct  here , does not have authenticity  in his abode,  for all the equation in this mortal world is subject to contamination whereas in his abode the purest of pure , the kindest of kind and humblest of humble only reside and we can relate to each one of them for none will laugh at our weakness, our innumerable flaws for yatha raja thatha praja ( as the king so the subordinates), just like our Lord Sri Rama is known for ages across all the yugas to be the most compassionate king , and all his subjects were the happiest of happy under his rule for truth, honesty and humane values are the epitome of his personality.

My dear loving sisters and brothers , after knowing who our  SRIMAN NARAYANA is , the only easiest of easy route towards him is total unconditional surrender and the only few traits that we need to possess are kindness, humility, purest love , we need to make a  communication to him that WE KNOW NONE, WE NEED TO KNOW NONE, WE ENDORSE NONE, WE ARE  YOURS AND ONLY YOURS IS THE ONLY PERSONA WE NEED TO CARRY WITH US WHEN WE ARE SO LOVINGLY CARRIED BY HIM....IS IT REALLY VERY DIFFICULT? IF YOU WERE TO ASK ME, THE SIMPLEST OF SIMPLE THING IN THE ENTIRE COSMOS IS OUR LORDS DESIRE TOWARDS US, CAN'T WE IN RIGHT EARNEST GIFT HIM  THE SIMPLEST OF SIMPLE OFFERING  HE IS REQUESTING FROM US , WHEN HE HAS IN HIS IMMENSE GLORY, LOVE , MERCY AND COMPASSION GIFTED US WITH THIS HUMAN FORM OF OURS.  CAN WE CONDUCT OURSELVES AS HE WANTS US, THAT  TOO IN OUR OWN INTEREST? AREN'T WE ALL , IN SEARCH OF THAT PERFECT HAPPINESS, PEACE AND BLISS THAT ONLY HE CAN BESTOW ON US?

Let  each one of us ,firmly  resolve just now, that we will do exactly what he wants of us, let the path towards him be filled with thorns and difficulties, we will surely tread on the complexities of the route , all for him, even the worst of worse suffering will be burned to ashes by him, please let us give it a try, for this path has no failure at all, not even one exception case, let us learn to trust the one and only PARMATMAN for only he CAN DO IT FOR US , HE IS OUR ONLY ONE WHO WISHES THE VERY BEST FOR US,OUR TRUEST WELWISHER.  HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO IS WITH US 365 24 7  AND ONLY HE CAN FREE US OF ALL OUR KARMAS , NULLIFY THE  BALANCE SHEET OF OUR LIFE AND LOVINGLY CARRY US IN HIS WARMTH HERE AND HEREAFTER.....

SRIMAN NARAYANAM CHARANAM SHARANAM PRABHADHYE, SRIMAN NARAYANAYA NAMAHA.

OM TAT SAT

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE.

SRIMAN NARAYANA, SRI LAKSHMI AMMA (DAYA DEVI) AND THE HOLIEST OF HOLY WORKS OF THE REVERENTIAL AZHWARS ( MYSTIC SAINTS ) OF THE SOUTH OF INDIA.       

 ( INTRODUCTION  )

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,

In one of my earlier blogs, we have read in 5 series ,about our most respected Azhwars ( 12 in number), mystic saints of south India, also known as nitya suris, their holiest of holy life and their sublime transcendental  devotion par excellence towards our most beloved  Sriman Narayana/ Lord Sri Krishna (our only Parmaatma , the creator of the entire universe , most affectionate supreme personality of godhead ) and our most loving one and only Sri Lakshmi amma, a  seamless ocean of compassion (Daya Devi).

In this 21 series would like to highlight , the  core essence  of their wonderful priceless works for this would help us to appreciate what true devotion to our loving divine consort means, how to reach Sri Parmapadam, the abode of our  most adoring Lord SriGovinda and the true purpose of our life and of course final salvation.  Their works are fathomless, immeasurable and infinite that countless PHDs would be insufficient to highlight them but knowing the quintessence of their monumental works would surely lead us to our most kind and super caring  lord  Sri Krishna.

Our core purpose is to go back to our beloved Sriman Narayana and Sri Lakshmi amma  to their abode , the only place known for sat chit anand, pure permanent bliss and happiness of the highest order free from all material contamination never to return back.

Our dearest of dear divine consort are desperately waiting for us more than our own zeal and enthusiasm to reach them ,  their most beautiful holy arms are  forever open for us, time is precious , a non renewal resource, so let us take a small step now in the direction of  our Lord SriKrishna and SriLakshmi amma, am very sure, beyond an iota of doubt,  our beloved Lord Sri Krishna will take the giant leap towards us  just like he did when he descended on  to our dearest mother earth  as a most attractive vaamana murthi, dwarf sized  hiding SriLakshmi amma in his vastram, transformed himself  in just a billionth of a second and  became a Trivikrama, Brahmandarupa (his universal form) , his holiest of holy feet measured the whole universe with no place left  to calculate further ) .

My request would be if possible , for those who have not read about my earlier blogs about our  most adorable azhwars, please read them first and then their works for then it would be very easy to co-relate and also have a great clarity of interpretation.

The contents of their works would be as under:

1. Sriman Narayana, our supreme personality of godhead               Part 1 and 2 of 21
2. SriLakshmi Amma, Daya devi (an ocean of compassion)              Part 3 and 4 of 21
3. Sri Poigai Azhwar                                                                      Part 5 of 21
4. Sri Bhuthat Azhwar                                                                   Part 6 of 21
5. Sri Pey Azhwar                                                                          Part 7 of 21
6. Sri Tirumalisai Azhwar                                                               Part 8 of 21
7. Sri Madhurakavi Azhwar                                                             Part 9 of 21
8. Sri NamAzhwar (king among our azhwars)                                   Part 10 and 11 of 21
9. Sri Kulashekara Azhwar                                                              Part 12 of 21
10. Sri Periazhwar ( Srivishnuchitta)                                                 Part 13 and 14 of 21
11. Sri Andal amma ( Bhuma devi our dearest mother earth)             Part 15 and 16 of 21
12. Sri Thondar adi podi azhwar                                                       Part 17 of 21
13. Sri Tiurppan Azhwar                                                                   Part 18 of 21
14. Sri Tirumangai Azhwar                                                               Part 19 and 20 of 21  
15. Review and summarization                                                         Part 21 of 21.

As we are aware, all our twelve most respected azhwars have written their works in Tamil, one of the oldest Dravidian languages in the world and their major verses put together sums to 4000 holy verses known as Naalaayira Divya Prabhandham ( 4000 holiest of holy verses, also known as Dravida vedas).  The entire vedas written in Sanskrit has been so beautifully captured by them , the result is a nectarine work where each of us in our own humble way can understand in a very  simple manner, the core principles of our most reverential vedas.

Have sourced this devotional write up from the various lucid  English translations of one of the most erudite srivaishnavite  scholars , countless thanks and my humblest of humble respects to them , am in the capacity of a humble invisible speckle of dust and as a servant of servant of servant at the lotus feet of our loved Sriman Narayana and Sri Lakshmi amma am able to move the pen, only because of their divine grace, blessings and mercy, nay they are moving my pen.

Have taken every care to retain  the originality of my thoughts, feelings and views .  

Am very sure from the foothills of my atom like existence, my failings are many, for which at the very outset, please allow me to seek immense forgiveness and also offer my respectful obeisance and innumerable thanks at the lotus feet of my most loving  acharyan Srimate Srivan Satakopa Sri Ranganatha Yatheendra Maha Desikan (46th Azhagiyasingar  ( jeeyar/ head of the holy ahobila mutt), all our most lovable srivaishnava acharyans, mahatmas and saints  ,  countless in numbers, Sri Ramanujacharya acharyan, Sri Nigamantha Vedantha Desikan acharyan , one and only our universal benevolent mother SriLakshmi amma and the greatest Rajathi Raja, Maharathi, our most loving supreme personality of godhead, the only Parmaatma, Sriman Naryanaya/ Lord Sri Krishna.

At all their celestial lotus feet do I bow my head in humblest of humble reverence and seek their loving permission to commence my writing.  Am very sure, it is only my infinite love for the greatest of great, greater than Mount Meru ,  and not on my  merit but purely on their mercy  did I get this most lovely opportunity to dance , rejoice and rejoice once again and sing their glories and grandeur 

                                    OM TAT SAT

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE.

HARE KRISHNA MATAJIS AND PRABHUJIS,

A VERY HAPPY SRI KRISHNA JANMA DINAM...........MAY WE ALL PRAY FOR OUR DEAREST OF DEAR LORD SRI KRISHNA'S HAPPINESS AND BEG OF HIM TO ETERNALLY SERVE HIM AT HIS LOTUS FEET ALONG WITH  LAKSHMI AMMA HERE AND HEREAFTER.

SOME TIPS FOR EXTREMELY JOYOUS STRESS FREE EXISTENCE IN LORD SRI KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS:

1.Our life in this material world is extremely transient, every relation here, be it of the birth giving parents,  the closest of close,siblings,  friends, well wishers, etc may conclude in this life itself. There may be no carry forward from here. The only permanent thing which every jivatma carries from our dearest mother earth while departing is the sum total of all our karmas , rest including the gross body one has to leave it here itself. The only way to avoid the cruel trappings of earthly existence is to perform all our karmas with total detachment.  Our dearest Lord Sri Krishna wants us to perform each of our duty with the highest diligence but with no expectations at all, which surely will never make us despondent , for when we are only interested in fulfilling our swadharma and do not have an eye towards anything in return, we do not want a single favour from any of our associations here,  then the question of dejection, loss, pain, crumbling of hopes does not arise at all.  The best part is, in this highly temporary world, with everyone around us , we feel lonely for there is no guarantee whether they will come to our rescue at the time of our need, for every relation , will give thousands of reasons not to be there , whereas our one and only one Lord Sri Krishna would give countless reasons to be there for us at all times     24 365 7 despite his highest stature as our creator. HOW PARADOXICAL. OUR CREATOR HAS ALL THE TIME FOR EACH ONE OF US , WHERE AS THE ONES WHOM WE SERVE ALL THE TIME, FIND IT DIFFICULT TO ADJUST THEIR  SCHEDULES WHEN THE OCCASION DEMANDS WHICH ONLY GOES TO PROVE THAT APART FROM OUR LORD SRI KRISHNA WE WANT NONE WE WILL BOW ONLY TO HIM AND NEVER TO ANYONE ELSE.   When our creator can spare time for each of his creation, then the only  way to reciprocate his love is to serve him with the highest prapatti ( a sum total of pure, pristine bhakti and unconditional surrender with total faith) for everything in the seven worlds belong to him , the only thing which our beloved craves and longs for is our unalloyed love for him , nothing else. WHAT CAN WE OFFER OUR CREATOR LORD SRI KRISHNA WHEN EVERYTHING IS HIS ONLY, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS VERY  SIMPLE MATTER AND NOT COMPLICATE OUR EXISTENCE.

2 Having fully surrendered unto his lotus feet we need not worry at all for anything in this entire cosmos.  HE KNOWS, HE WILL ACT AT THE RIGHT TIME. We need to in a very stress free mode and like a beautiful ballot effortlessly glide through our lives journey.  Like  a highly  streamlined orchestra with the most beautiful , melodious error free notes NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THE PAST,  THE PRESENT AND DEFINITELY NEVER EVEN THINK OF THE FUTURE FOR TODAY IS OURS, NONE KNOWS IF THERE WOULD BE A TOMORROW IN STORE FOR US. LET EACH OF US BE HAPPY AT ALL TIMES, DANCE TO THE TUNES OF JOY EVER FOR OUR LORD WANTS TO SEE EACH ONE OF US HAPPY, FOR WITH HIM AROUND US WHO HAS SHIELDED US FROM ALL SIDES , HOW CAN ANYONE EVEN THINK OF LEADING A DISTURBED LIFE. OUR LORD SRI KRISHNA/ SRI GOVINDA FEELS VERY SAD WHEN HE COMES TO KNOW IF EVEN ONE OF HIS CREATION IS UNHAPPY FOR THE WHEELS OF OUR LIFE , MOVES UP AND DOWN  IN VERY SWIFT STEEP MOVEMENTS, JOYS, SORROWS, LOSSES AND  PROFIT ARE A PART OF EACH OF US, TODAY S SADNESS, WOULD SEE TOMORROWS HAPPINESS AND TOMORROW'S HAPPINESS WOULD ONCE AGAIN WITNESS SADNESS FOR THE WHEELS OF SAMSARA WILL KEEP MOVING AND MOVING, AMIDST PAIRS OF OPPOSITES,  WE  NEED TO JUST IGNORE AND MOVE ON HAPPILY, CAREFREE, SINGING, DANCING , AND CHANTING HARE KRISHNA AT ALL TIMES.

3. A question in most of the devotees mind, will our dearest of dear Lord Sri Krishna come to our rescue, with the highest conviction and first hand experience of the greatest magnitude,  would surely convey,  rest assured, the world can go hither and thither, but our dearest lord is there for each one of us, cutting across every distinction, gender, religion, caste, status etc , he will without an iota of doubt at all times come running to us if only we call him lovingly/ with total surrender ,  with joined folded hands raised above just as Gajendran and  Draupadi amma called him , only one holiest of holy name uttered with total trust and love "GOVINDA, MADHUSUDANA, MADHAVA, KESHAVA, MURLI MANOHARA, VASUDEVA, KRISHNA, HE WILL BE THERE , not only to solve our problems but to carry us lovingly in his beautiful arms by absorbing and eliminating our problems in totality by its roots. Am very very sure of this, no uncertainty or scepticism on this at all. PLEASE CALL HIM WITH PURE LOVE JUST ONCE AND SEE , YOU WILL BELIEVE HE IS ETERNALLY WAITING FOR EACH ONE OF US TO REACH HIM, TO EXPERIENCE IS TO ENDORSE, PLEASE BOW BEFORE HIM AND ONLY HIM FOR HE IS THE ONLY ONE AND ONE PARMATMA. WHEN THE HIGHEST OF HIGH , GREATEST OF GREAT , OUR DEAREST LORD SRI GOVINDA/ OUR DEAREST VITHU MAULI  IS WAITING VERY ANXIOUSLY FOR EACH ONE OF US , CAN'T WE NOT RECIPROCATE HIS FEELINGS, HIS OCEAN OF MERCY AND LOVE FOR US, FOR NOTHING IN THIS WORLD CAN WE OFFER HIM FOR EVERYTHING IS HIS SOLE PROPERTY , BUT EACH ONE OF US CAN BEG OF HIM TO GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY HERE AND HEREAFTER, IN EACH OF OUR BIRTHS TILL WE ATTAIN PERMANENT SALVATION ( THAT TOO ONLY BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE GRACE OF LORD SRI KRISHNA)  TO SERVE HIM VERY LOVINGLY WITH ALL OUR SENSES, WEAVE BEAUTIFUL MULTI COLOURED SCENTED AROMATIC GARLANDS FOR HIM, ADORN HIM WITH THE MOST FRAGRANT SANDAL PASTE, OFFER HIM THE MOST DELICIOUS ANNA PRASADAM , BE WITH HIM  ALWAYS WITH  OUR HEART IMMERSED IN HIM EVERY SINGLE MOMENT, FOR IN HIS LOVING SERVICE ONLY CAN WE REDEEM OURSELVES.

WITH THE HIGHEST LOVE AND SURRENDER STEEPED WITH UNFLINCHING FAITH AND DEVOTION AND  WITH ZERO EXPECTATIONS LET EACH OF US, TODAY AND EVERY BILLIONTH OF A SECOND, IN UNISON , CHANT WITH HUMBLENESS AND PURITY "HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE." OUR CHANTING SHOULD REVERBERATE THE ENTIRE COSMOS WITH HIS HOLIEST OF HOLY NAME.

JAI KRISHNA NANDA LALA MURLI MANOHARA, JANMADINAM SUBBECHHA...MANGALAM MANGALAM MANGALAM.

OUR DEAREST ONE AND ONLY ONE  LORD SRI KRISHNA , MAY YOUR DIVINE GLORY SPREAD IN ALL THE WORLDS, MAY YOU BE LOVED IMMENSELY BY ALL YOUR CREATIONS WITH THE HIGHEST FAITH, MAY YOU FOREVER BE BLESSED WITH THE HIGHEST HAPPINESS FOR YOU ARE THE SOLE CREATOR , MAY OUR DEAREST OF DEAR LAKSHMI AMMA BE WITH YOU FOREVER AND MAY YOUR ONLY WISH THAT WE YOUR CREATION SENTIENT AND NON SENTIENT LOVE YOU EVER, WE WILL SURELY EVER AND EVER SERVE YOU WITH THE HIGHEST LOVE.

OM TAT SAT....

THE TWELVE AZHWARS ( MYSTICAL SRIVAISHNAVA SAINTS) OF SOUTH INDIA. (PART 5 OF 5) - conclusion

HIGHLY LOVED AND ESTEEMED SRI VEDANTA DESIKAN ACHARYAN

Sri Vedanta Desikan acharyan  is always seen holding the Shruta-Prakashika in His hand, which  Sri Sudarshana Suri had asked reverential Desikan acharyan  to protect, as it was a detailed commentary on SriRamanujacharya’s Sri Bhashyam.

Sri Vedanta Desikan swami ( Desika in Sanskrit means acharyan ), also known as Nigamantha Mahadesikan is one of the greatest profounder of the Vishisthadvaita principle of Srivaishnavism, after Sri Ramanujacharya. He was born in 1268 CE( approximately 750 years back), to Sri Anantha Suri and Smt.Thotharamma, in Thoopul in Kanchipuram, in the month of Bhadrapada, on the Sravana star ( Lord Sri Govinda's Nakshatram too), which also coincided with Vijayadashami.  His parents were devout bhakthas of Lord Govinda of  Tirupati  and when Smt. Thotharamma was pregnant the couple went walking from Kanchipuram to Tirumala hills, at the time when there were no buses , trains or public transport and climbed the holy hills  ( such an arduous journey and that too during pregnancy, countless salutations to the divine couple, ).  Lord Govinda of Tirupati  was so pleased with their devotion that  he blessed them with an illustrious son called Venkatanatha, who is our dearest of dear Sri Vedanta Desikan acharyan, an incarnation of the temple bell of Sri Tirupati temple. He was a master of Vedas, Tarka shastras, Puraanas etc at a very young age for his ever eager  heart and superlative intellectual quest and inclination led him to the height of wisdom, compassion and all pervasive knowledge of Brahman , the one and only one Sriman Narayana. He entered grahastha ashram at the age of around 21 years. Sri Vedanta Desikan acharyan’s monumental works in Tamil, Sanskrit and Manipravalam ( mix of Tamil and Sanskrit) are numerous in number and most revered , respected and read with the greatest devotion by  every aspirant in search of PARMATMAN Sriman Narayana. Amongst his highly scholastic works , very large in number , Sri Paduka Sahasram is one of the most divine magnum opus of  1008 shlokas written in praise of  the most divine paduka (divine sandals )of our greatest of great, one and only Lord Sri Ranganathar  ( Sriman Narayana) which he wrote in not more than six hours. If the most divine padukas of our dearest lord is so pure, lovely and worthy of countless pious thoughts and permanent salvation  how much so is his divine lotus feet !  Beyond human comprehension for it has to be looked at, only from a transcendental plane nothing less. He has been  conferred with superlative titles such as Kavi Tarkika Simha (Lion among poets and logicians), Sarva Tantra Swatantra  ( master of all science, philosophy, arts  ) etc Vedanta Acharya etc.

Sri Vedanta Desikan swamigal led a life of a saint and hence went door to door for grains as a bhiksha.  Seeing this , his most loving devotees felt that a person of a Himalayan stature such as him should live a life of comforts and hence in the rice they mixed gold coins for they knew for sure he would never accept any material possession.  When his wife was about to start making the annaprasadam she saw these coins, she too was so saintly she did not know what these coins were and showed it to our dearest acharyan , he separated them with the durba grass since he did not want to touch it at all. Countless pranams to such renounced saints who are the strongest foundations of our Bharata culture, our values and ethos which at all times they not only preserved but spread with unconditional love to all of us for our redemption. We need  to practice at all times what they preached  which will surely lead us closer  to Parmapadam.  Another heart rending  event in his life is once during the annual rites of his parents none of the Brahmins were willing to partake of the prasadam,  our acharyan laid all the prasadam in the plantain leaf and prayed Sriman Narayana. Lord Varadaraja Perumal  of Kanchipuram, Sri Govinda of Tirupati and Lord Hayagreeva ( god of knowledge) of Tiruvaindripuram personally appeared and  partook  the prasadam . Height of celestial sight.!

So many enriching moments, so many spiritual encounters of our dearest of  Acharyan can be only felt at a mental level, pondered and  prayed upon.  Our acharyan left for Parmapadam at the age of 101 years. Sri Ranganayaki amma ( Sri Lakshmi amma) , of Srirangam  requested his sannidhi to be constructed near her sanctum sanctorum and after that no other acharyan should be accorded this exalted stature was her message. Is there a  necessity of even one syllable after our dearest mother’s desire….Till date our dearest of dear Sri Vedanta Desikan acharyan is revered, worshipped and accorded the highest respect not only at Srirangam temple but across the entire globe. Countless prostration at the most divine lotus feet of our most beloved acharyan , a torch bearer of the divine principles of Srivaishnavism.

SRIRAMANUJA DAYAPATRAM JNANA VAIRAGYA BHUSHANAM

SHRIMAD VENKATANATHARYAM  VANDE VEDANTADESHIKAM.

REQUEST FOR FORGIVENESS FROM PARMATMAN SRIMAN NARAYANA AND LAKSHMI AMMA

mantra-hinam kriya-hinam bhakti-hinam janardana

yat pujitam maya deva paripurnam tad astu me

yad-dattam bhakti-matrena patram puspam phalam jalam

aveditam nivedyan tu tad grihananukampaya

vidhi-hinam mantra-hinam yat kiñcad upapaditam

kirya-mantra-vihinam va tat sarvam kshantum arhasi

aparadha-sahasrani kriyante ‘har-nisham maya

daso ‘ham iti mam matva kshamasva madhusudana.

TRANSLATED IT MEANS THE FOLLOWING:

O my Lord, O Janardana, whatever little puja or worship that has been performed by me, although it is without devotion, without proper mantras, and without the proper performance, please let that become complete.

Whatever has been offered with devotion–the leaf, the flower, the water, the fruit, the food offering–please accept it out of Your causeless mercy.

Whatever has happened without the proper chanting of the mantra, or without following the proper procedure, kindly forgive all that.

Thousands of offenses are performed by me day and night. But thinking of me as Your servant, kindly forgive those, O Madhusudhana.

Request for forgiveness from Sriman Narayana and Mahalakshmi amma, that despite, having no knowledge of our shastraas , yet have taken the liberty to write about the most divine azhwars and also yourself .  Please forgive me for all the mistakes committed and please accord me a place at your lotus feet as a servant of servant of servant and grant me pardon that whatever has been written is more out of purest of pure  love for yourself and Lakshmi amma  than possession of  knowledge or any other consideration.  

Shamasvam, Shamasvam, Punar Shamasvam SriKeshava, SriMadhusudana, SriGovinda, SriJanaardhana and Sri Krishna.

WITH HANDS FOLDED TOGETHER AND RAISED HIGH ABOVE IN HUMBLEST OF HUMBLE TOTAL PRAPATTI TO OUR MOST BELOVED PARMATMAN LORD SRIMAN NARAYANA AND MOST DEAREST OF DEAR LAKSHMI AMMA.

COUNTLESS HIGHLY RESPECTFUL PROSTRATIONS TO ALL OUR TWELVE AZHWARS (NITYA SURIS)

COUNTLESS  HUMBLEST OF HUMBLE  PRANAAMS AND NAMASKARAM TO OUR MOST REVERENTIAL AND LOVING

SRI RAMANUJAR ACHARYAN, SRI VEDANTA DESIKAN AND COUNTLESS OTHER SRI VAISHNAVA SAINTS WHO TOTALLY SURRENDERED WITH THE HIGHEST STEADFAST FAITH UNTO THE LOTUS FEET OF SRIMAN NARAYANA AND LAKSHMI AMMA. 

                                                            OM TAT SAT

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE , HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE.

HIGHLY VENERABLE SAINT , YATI RAJA, EMPERUMANAAR, SRI RAMANUJACHARYA , PROFOUNDER OF SRIVISHITHADVAITA PRINCIPLE OF SRIVAISHNAVISM.

One of our most  esteemed , highly revered and admired acharyan is Sri Ramanujar. He was born in Sriperumbudur, in Tamil Nadu in a Brahmin family.around 1001 years back. Sri Ramanujacharyan propounded the Vishisthaadvaita philosophy of Srivaishnavism. He is a saint par excellence and a reformer for he tried to change so many areas of spirituality which he felt needed reformation, initiated new ideas and above all thoughts that needed infusion of change, age old practices, ideologies  that warranted a shift, all these changes implemented   at a time not well suited for rectification for he had to face severe orthodox thinkers who were stubborn to the core. Within sixteen years of age, he had mastered all the Vedas and Sastras and at  the age of seventeen entered into grahastha ashram.  At the age of around 30, our dearest acharyan took sanyasam , he is the king among sanyasis and hence is very lovingly referred as “Yati Raja”

One poignant moment in his life when he proved to the entire world that he is compassionate incarnate was when his guru advised him to not reveal certain powerful maha mantras which surely would lead to his moksham ( permanent salvation ) and that he  should use it only for his own  up-liftment and benefit and if he did reveal ,he would go to hell, but , without thinking for even a single moment the adverse consequences, he climbed  the gopuram of a temple and amidst his loving disciples he proclaimed to each of his disciple these mahamantram’s which only goes to prove that the  highly exalted saints never lived selfishly for their own well being and prosperity  but painstakingly and very lovingly  partook of all they had , be it knowledge , learning or their divine preaching with highest love as a most divine prasadam to the entire humanity without any bias towards caste, creed, religion , gender etc and that is why they are highly respected over countless centuries. Times slide by  but their glory only increases and  touches  its zenith. When his guru learned about this, he was very angry and asked him an explanation as to the reason why he revealed the maha mantram’s to his disciples  when he had  specifically instructed  him not to, Sriramanujar acharyan ,  very calmly and with total reverence conveyed to his guru that by disobeying his guru ,only he would go to hell,  but so many aspiring jivatma’s would get permanent salvation for the most powerful mahamantra’s when chanted with true devotion and unconditional surrender  to our one and only dearest Sriman Narayana and Lakshmi amma, can surely be released speedily from several human bondages , on hearing this highly divine reply, his guru was ecstatic and named him Emperumanaar meaning my lord and declared  henceforth Srivaishnavism would be known as SriRamanuja darshanam, the divine light of our dearest of dear SriRamanujar acharyan.

He attained the lotus feet of Lord Sriman Narayana and our dearest of dear mother Lakshmi amma on completion of his 120 years after his avatar (incarnation).

His holiest of holy body in sitting posture , on the command of none other than Sri Ranganathar (Lord Sriman Narayanaya), is preserved inside the temple of SriRangam temple as a separate sannidhi.  His most compassionate eyes and radiant loving tirumukha kamalam (lotus face ) is highly  radiant like the numerous divine rays of our dazzling  sun and is worthy of  countless prostrations, praise and surrender for only he can lead us to Sriman Narayana , and he will at all cost, do that for all his loving devotees, for none can compete with him on compassion, love  and highly humane considerations. Sri Ramanuja daasosmi..

His highly pious life has so many illustrious divine moments, which at my lowest of low level and in the capacity of an invisible speckle of dust, in order  to maintain brevity am unable to do right justice , but this very small synopsis itself speaks volumes of his greatness and  humility.  His commentaries on Brahma sutras and several other scholastic works  are treasure troves of immense worth, which when read with utmost devotion, understood in proper perspective and implemented righteously will lead us closer to our dearest Lord Sriman Narayana and our most beloved Lakshmi amma.

                                                        OM TAT SAT

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE........JAI SRI KRISHNA

THE TWELVE AZHWARS ( MYSTICAL SRIVAISHNAVA SAINTS) OF SOUTH INDIA. (PART 3 OF 5)

9.        GODAI THAYAR/ ANDAL AMMA:

She is none other than Bhudevi amma, divine consort of our lord Sri Govinda, sent by him on our dearest mother earth to spread the message of love and affection. She is divinity incarnation for right from her birth she loved Lord Sri Krishna to the zenith. When her foster father our greatest of great Peria Azhwar, weaved the beautiful garland she used to adorn it first. Peria azhwar never knew of this and hence the practice of the child continuing to adorn the garland meant for our lord Sri Krishna went unnoticed by him.  One fine day, one strand of hair was found in the garland and Vishnuchittar came to know that it was already worn by Andal amma , he felt very sad that for so many days this has been continuing and all the wonderful garlands were actually worn by andal amma before offering our lord which is a wrong practice, the other way it is possible our lords vastram, garlands can be worn by us after he adorns it.  Vishnuchittar was clueless as to what to do but our dearest lord as usual simplifies matters , he appeared in our Azhwar’s dream and conveyed to him that he would adorn the beautiful garlands only if andal amma wore it first. Such is the love of our dearest of dear Parmatman, he never hesitates to bow down to any level when he is convinced of true love for him.  In the meanwhile andal amma wanted to marry Lord Sri Krishna just as other women saints such as Mira amma.  In the auspicious month of Marzhai (corresponding between December 15 to January 14 till Makar sankranti) she along with her friends observe Kathyani Vrath for 30 days which is very tough and lofty.  She with her friends used to get up very early in the morning that is Brahma muhurtam, have a holy bath , they abstained from all sorts of sweets, savouries, milk and other  products and begged Lord Sri Krishna to marry her.  Her innumerous plea before the lord can melt the toughest of tough , then the softest of soft, softer than a rose petal , our most beloved Lord Govinda how could  he not relent. Her holiest of holy verses Tirupavai totaling to 30, each for a day is read till date in all the Srivaishnava temples with the greatest reverence .  Lord Govinda ultimately marries her with the greatest happiness, once again, a live testimony of  an individual jivatma merging with the one and only parmatma.  Andal ammas simple message of love towards the one and only Sriman Narayana  and to all the mortals of the world is to attain the divine lotus feet of Lord Sri Keshava.  As all  other azhwars , who spread  the same message to each one of us is that the ultimate truth is the one and only PARMATMAN , our dearest Sriman Narayana and our most beloved mother Lakshmi amma, nothing or no one in the entire cosmos matters more than them, having attained their lotus feet and abode there is no return back to this ephemeral world which is only a permanent residence of sorrow, misery and maya (illusion).  Countless prostration to our dearest Andal amma who stands as a brightest torch bearer of Srivaishnavism and above all an intermediate between Sriman Narayana and us, if she wills to take us to him none can stop us, this is the surest of sure assertion.

10.Thondar adi podi Azhwar:

Thondar adi podi Azhwar is popularly known as Vipra Narayana . Vipras are those people whose main routine is to praise Sriman Narayana. He was a very staunch devotee of Lord Sri Ranganathar of Srirangam.  He tended to the most wonderful gardens of Srirangam temple. As all other Azhwar’s he was very humble and loved our lord dearly and treated everyone with due respect and courtesy and hence was loved by all. Podi means tiny particles of dust , whenever he encountered any devotee of our dearest Lord Sri Govinda , the dust from their feet,  he sprinkled on his head and hence he is called Thondar adi podi Azhwar. He wrote  some of the most beautiful verses to wake Lord Sri Ranganathar of Srirangam temple who is none other than Lord Sri Krishna. Till date , Lord Sri Ranganathar visits the garden so lovingly tended by Thondar adi podi Azhwar during the spring season and enjoys the cool breeze, the highest token of appreciation from PARMATMAN to a jeevatman in praise of his most loving efforts.   Needless to say, our dearest of dear Azhwar who was humbleness personified , occupies the top position in Srirangam temple as also other Srivaishnava temples for his pure devotion not only to our lord but also to the devotees of our lord.  Countless prostration to our dearest Thondar adi podi azhwar.  May his glory touch the three worlds.

11. Tiruppan azhwar

4.    Shri Thiruppana Azhwar was found lying in a paddy   field by a couple of Panar caste who took him to their house. They nurtured him. People of Panar caste were considered untouchables but are supposed to be expert in singing and playing music and our beloved Azhwar was no exception to this. He played the Veena beautifully.  His only desire was to have a darshan of Lord Sri Ranganatha, of Srirangam temple but because he was from the fourth varna , in those days it was not permissible for them to enter the temple and so he played the Veena near the banks of the river Cauvery at Srirangam without disturbing anyone. He used to very often go in trance and during such times he was totally oblivious towards his surroundings. On one such occasion when the head priest of Srirangam happened to go to Cauvery , inadvertently , bumped himself on Tiruppan Azhwar.  The priest being very orthodox, got very angry and hurled a very huge stone at Tiruppan Azhwar injuring him who was bleeding profusely, by now ,had regained consciousness and felt very bad that because of him the priest was put to inconvenience.  The priest went inside the temple and to his amazement found that the the sanctum sanctorum was locked from inside.  He wondered how could this be possible , he started shouting on top of his voice to ensure the doors are opened.  After his most pitiable pleas , Lord Sriranganathar , who himself had bolted from inside, spoke to him and admonished him saying why did he hit him with a huge stone.  The temple priest asserted that he never hit him, when in turn Srirangathar made him realize any harm done to his loving devotee is as good as hurting him and hence he will not open the door of the sanctum sanctorum till the priest goes out and lifts Tiruppan azhwar on his shoulders and presents him in front of him.  When the priest attempts to lift our dearest azhwar,  he runs in fear lest he does not commit further offense but the priest assures him that only on the orders of our dearest lord is he lifting him,  the priest carries him to the sanctum sanctorum and when our beloved Azhwar very lovingly has a divine darshan from the lotus feet to the lotus face of our lord , his eyes brimming with fulfillment and ecstasy that at last he could get a glimpse of our most beloved loving Sriman Narayana, he sings in praise of him and merges with him just as Andal amma merges with Sri ranganathar .   Our most compassionate lord will make every attempt to ensure his devotees are not put to any inconvenience and this he has countless times demonstrated, we need no proof at all for we are more than 100% sure he will come to our rescue under every circumstance, he is just at an arm’s distance from us , if only we showered our truest of true love on him and convey to him that we have none but him in this entire cosmos why will he delay? No reason at all.  Our purest of pure Tiruppan azhwar is an embodiment of divinity,  our lords love for  him and his for our lord cannot be ever matched.  Caste, creed, gender, are all overlooked and is correlated only to the gross body , our subtle soul is beyond any classification , it is tiniest of tiny million watt light which resides in our gross body which is merely a cover to our sparkling soul which is never subject to destruction ever , it is eternal , all pervasive and surely will attain permanent salvation if it surrenders unconditionally first unto the lotus feet of all our azhwars, then at the lotus feet of our most beloved Lakshmi amma and finally the one and only destination our beloved lord Sriman Narayana, beyond that for there is nothing to achieve in all the three worlds after attaining our dearest of dear Parmatma…Countless prostrations unto the lotus feet of our most loved Tiuppan Azhwar , a harbinger of divine bhakti and total prapatti…(unconditional surrender with total trust and love)……

12. Thirumangai Azhwar: 

4. Thirumangai azhwar’s father was a military commander serving the king. When his father grew old, he was appointed as his successor After few years , he met Kumudavalli , and well in love with her and wanted to marry her.  She put two conditions to him , one he should become a true Srivaishnavite and worship Sriman Narayana and Lakshmi amma only, second he has to feed 1000 Srivaishnava devotees daily.  He agreed to both her conditions , married her and lived very happily.  But with such lofty deal, his financial situation started declining, but promise he had to keep and hence he decided to rob the rich to feed the Srivaishnava devotees. Once when he was on a robbing spree, he encountered a marriage party, he felt this would be one of his best loot and hence , by force, ensured that the bride and bridegroom divest themselves of all their jewels which he bundled in a sack and was about to lift the same , he could not.   He tried very hard to lift the bundle of sack filled with priceless ornaments but failed miserably.  At that moment, to his immense surprise the bride and bridegroom were none other than Sriman Narayana and Sri Lakshmi amma who had come disguised to test him.  No doubt he robbed but he did that to feed the Srivaishnava devotees, when he came in direct contact with  our dearest of dear lord , he fell at his lotus feet to seek refuge and forgiveness, and our most benevolent lord uttered the Ashtakshara mantra in his ears, the superlative maha divine holiest of holy name of our dearest of dear lord “Namo Narayanaya”, the only elixir that can cure every ailment known and unknown on this earth. When  a jivatama encounters the one and only one PARMATMA, at that moment itself attains permanent salvation for a mere glimpse of our dearest lord can burn to ashes all our sins and purge our soul of all impurities.  From then onwards our most dearest azhwar, took to holy ways and wholeheartedly surrendered unto the divine lotus feet of our lord.

Temporary Conclusion: To call the works of azhwars a  conclusion or to put a full stop would be a grossly misplaced action for  it is just a beginning but can rephrase it to temporary comma( , ) and not a full stop for anything even tons and tons of praises for all our beloved azhwars would be totally insufficient for they are Nitya suris who are compassion, love and purity personified.   They have paved us a way of life of divinity with a holiest of holy message, from their own lives, that irrespective of caste, creed, gender, status which are the most transient element in this mortal world, the single most important thing “ PUREST OF PURE LOVE ONLY AND NOTHING ELSE CAN DIRECTLY ENSURE EACH OF THE JIVATMA A PERMANENT PLACE AT  THE LOTUS FEET OF SRIMAN NARAYANA AND OUR MOST BELOVED LAKSHMI AMMA, ALL IT TAKES FOR OUR LORD TO CARRY US THROUGH THIS MIRAGE IS OUR SELFLESS PRAPATTI FILLED WITH DEVOTION , FAITH AND UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER. NOTHING ELSE EVER MATTERS. SATYAM SATYAM PUNAR SATYAM OUR BELOVED KESHAVA NEEDS ONLY OUR  MOST DIVINE LOVE AND NOTHING ELSE CAN WE GIVE HIM. OUR RECIPROCATION TOWARDS HIM IS ONLY THROUGH OUR UNALLYOED BHAKTHI FILLED WITH THE HIGHEST TRUST IN HIM AT ALL TIMES WHICH EACH ONE OF US HAS TO START IMPLEMENTING FROM JUST NOW FOR TIME IS FLYING ,FLEETING AND IS AT A  PREMIUM, WE NEED TO WORK AT A LIGHTENING SPEED TO ENSURE OUR LORD CARRIES US TO HIS ABODE , A PERMANENT RESIDENCE OF JOY UNTOUCHED BY ANY MATERIAL CONTAMINATION, SATCHITANAND……

THE TWELVE AZHWARS ( MYSTICAL SRIVAISHNAVA SAINTS) OF SOUTH INDIA. (PART 2 OF 5)

ZOOMED IN PHOTOGRAPHS  OF THE FIRST FOUR HIGHLY REVERENTIAL AZHWARS 

MAY WE UNCONDITIONALLY SURRENDER UNTO THEIR LOTUS FEET.

                                                                                                 THIRUMAZHISAI  AZHWAR 

4. Madhurakavi Azhwar: (meaning sweet poet in Sanskrit)
5.  Madhurakavi Azhwar was  born into a brahminical family, he wanted to break loose from the materialistic world and hence took to pilgrimage to  Mathura and Ayodhya situated  in the northern part of India. One day, one bright glow of light that appeared in the sky directed him southwards, which he followed and reached at the spot under a very holy tamarind tree,  where Namazhwar ( we will discuss about him next) was seated for sixteen long years without a single movement , in an absolute yogic trance. To test Namazhwar, he threw a small pebble and asked him a riddle what is the duty, action and reaction  of a subtle soul in relation to its gross body, what will it eat and where will it stay?.  For the first time in sixteen years, our  most dearest and highly esteemed Namazhwar moved and replied if the subtle soul identifies itself to the gross  body it will only live and eat in the material world but if the spotless soul identifies itself to Parmatman it will eat , live and always reside at Parmapadam with the one and only one Lord Sri Krishna to serve him eternally. Madhurakavi azhwar immediately prostrated at the holy lotus feet of one and only Namazhwar and accepted him as his guru.  All the works of Madhurakavi Azhwar revolve around his guru Namazhwar only.  He completely surrendered unconditionally at the holiest of holy lotus feet of Namazhwar, his guru. Many people , then, who were orthodox in their views criticized him severely for serving a guru who is also a mere mortal but he never succumbed to their pressure but always pleaded with his guru Namazhwar to protect him from their constant onslaught.  His is a classic example of the most obedient  and subservient student to the most honoured, revered and admired guru in Srivaishnavism , the one and only one Namazhwar. His contribution to the divine 4000 verses is eleven in number.  Here, please note , the quantum is not important it is the quality, the divine thoughts , and the greatest act of surrender unto the lotus feet of Namazhwar which is most vital. Madhurakavi azhwar is the priceless Kohinoor diamond , a brightest beacon light in Srivaishnavism.  His devotion to his guru is par excellence and an eye opener for each of us that without our respective gurus we cannot attain Parmatman.. His affection and love for his guru withstood all the tests and he emerged victor and till date when any mention of guru or shishya (disciple) is brought about, none can forget our most beloved  Madhurakavi azhwar for the highest devotion he bestowed on his even more loving guru Namazhwar.  In Srivaishnavism, the philosophy propounded by Sri Ramanujar acharyan is that  the only route towards Parmatman is through an acharyan( no direct access to our lord without a guru) who will lead us till Mahalaxmi amma , our dearest mother and she in turn will plead our case as her dearest children before Sriman Narayana and if our dearest lord is convinced about our sincere love and bhakthi with total unconditional surrender then only  our case can be heard further and hence an acharyan can only guide us towards salvation and none else and hence we need to take utmost precaution to love our beloved acharyan, serve him first and then he will intermediate on behalf of us for our salvation.  None can beat our dearest Madhurakavi azhwar in his highest service to his most venerable guru , our most beloved Namazhwar.  Let us salute both our azhwars and practice and spread  here and hereafter their ideals and values .  Countless prostrations to our most beloved Madhurakavi azhwar, an ace   in the guru shishya parampara . (master disciple lineage)

6.             NAMAZHWAR : (Nam in Tamil means ours and hence he is very lovingly called our Azhwar)

As we have already seen above Namazhwar is the guru of our Madhurakavi azhwar who solely lived for his guru and conveyed that he did not know of any god other than his acharyan, the one and only Namazhwar swamy. One’s mind , if possible , can imagine what an impact a guru can have on his most erudite shishya (disciple). Firstly, let us know for sure, countless thesis on Namazhwar and his works will not do justice to his stature for he is the unparalleled king among the azhwars for his contribution to the 4000 holy verses is 1102 in number more than 1/4. It is a well known fact that uptil the age of sixteen he did not cry, move, eat or even open his eyes, he was in absolute yogic posture for he was born enlightened. He mentions later that till the age of 16 he lived , played , meditated on Lord Sri Krishna and hence our dearest lord himself was his food, water and shelter, he did not want anything at all from this transient world from his birth itself he wanted to break the shackles of worldliness and reach the transcendental. It is beyond an iota of doubt that a baby who does not drink milk at its birth, does not move one bit and sits in a padmasana ( lotus ) position can only be a divine incarnation. It is believed he is the first mortal to have attained permanent salvation in the kali yuga and hence whoever serves him unconditionally at his lotus feet can also reach easily Parmapadam for he is very dear to Lord Sri Krishna. Namazhwar could only at all times think of our Parmatman and none else.  He is lovingly also called Adi guru. He is also called Satagopan , one who has conquered all the senses. His love for lord Sri Krishna is beyond any words or expression for our lord himself acknowledged that in this mortal world, to constantly think and chant the divine names of our lord is very rare , Namazhwar is a mahatma who could not bear separation from Sriman Narayana , he is most closest to our Sri Govinda himself and hence when his time came to leave the world, our lord himself seated in Garuda vahanam (vehicle ) lovingly carries him back to his abode Parmapadam.  Can we , with all our senses, imagine this most wonderful sight where one of our beloved Sri Govinda’s most loved one merging with him in oneness?  To write or speak about Namazhwar for an ordinary mortal is very difficult for he has broken every frontier to reach and merge with Parmatman, his 1102 verses can they even be explained in 10,000 pages or even more for he is an institution in himself.  His love for the transcendental , his shift away from every material existence is a very clear indicator to each one of us that we need to totally break the shackles of this samsara ( wheels of mortal life)  to attain permanent salvation an abode of total peace free from any single worry, care or concern.  The very best part of our dearest Namazhwar is, he is humbleness personified for he constantly mentions despite his highest Himalayan stature that everything is Parmatman driven and ordained, nothing is done by him, is there any iota of doubt in our minds of our  greatest Namazhwar and his zero ego.  Namazhwar is one in countless whose lotus feet when worshipped with devotion can enable us to find and reach our Parmatman Sriman Narayana and our dearest of dear Lakshmi amma whom our beloved Namazhwar adored beyond a point. Countless namaskarams to our dearest one and only one Namazhwar , may his glories reach the entire cosmos with a resounding pitch and may we all be a part of this holy sound uttering in unison Sriman Narayanam charanam sharanam prabhadhye. Hail Hail to Namazhwar our very own dearest.

7.               Kulashekhara Azhwar

4. Kulashekhara Azhwar was a king from Kerala state. He had to fight wars as it is a duty of the kings to protect  his subjects.  At one point, he realized that this entire bloodshed is a total waste of time, loss of precious human lives and a mere tool of hatred and is highly loathsome as it is against  the interests of humanity . On becoming aware of the ill effects of bloodshed he wholeheartedly surrendered unto the lotus feet of Sriman Narayana under our lord’s grace and mercy.  His love for Lord Sri Rama is unparalleled. Once a sage was narrating tales from our most divine Ramayana, at a point when Sri Rama was in danger and to be harmed, Kulashekhara was so engrossed that he commanded his battle to protect Lord Sri Rama. His army was baffled since it was only a narration but at the insistence of their beloved king the army prepared to fight for protecting Lord Sri Rama , and when Kulashekhara azhwar comes out of his trance  he realizes and commands his army to withdraw.  Can we think of anyone  as passionate as Kulashekhara Azhwar in his bhakti for our dearest lord?.  Also Kulashekhara azhwar was very fond of devotees of our Lord and hence served them everyday, this was a bone of contention amongst his jealous ministers and hence they hatch a plot and inform him that our lords devotees stole precious jewels from the treasury. Kulashekhara azhwar asked to bring before him one of the most poisonous snakes in a pot and he decides that he will put his hand in the pot of snakes for he is very sure that they will never bite since the Srivaishnava devotees whom he loves beyond a point can never steal a paise for they crave for none other than our dearest lord himself.   This was a test put by our greatest of great Lord Sri Govinda himself but our dearest Azhwar passed this exam with flying colours for none of the snake ever bit him. What a love! Beyond any realms of doubt he is one of the truest Sri Vaishnavite who loved our dearest lord Sri Madhava as  he equally loved his devotees too.  Any sentence beyond this would be redundant. 

As conveyed earlier, this series is a very summarized version, for the greatness of all the Azhwars , their works and devotion to our divine Keshava and Lakshmi amma cannot just occupy few lines or pages  but requires an encyclopedic work and that too will fall short beyond any measure. Kulashekhara Azhwars love for our dearest lord can be seen when he explores the various possibilities of serving Sriman Narayana, sometimes he feels he should be born a fish, or a flower adorning the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna etc, and every time he imagines what should his role be in bhakti he feels all this lacks something and is not permanent, then our lord himself comes to his rescue and promises that the first threshold of the sanctum sanctorum of Tirupati would be named as Kulashekhar padi ( padi in Tamil means step, so the first step is reverentially called as Kulashekhara Azhwar padi). Similar to this, at our most wonderful Bhoolokam Vaikuntam, Sri Pandarpur, we have Namadevchi payari ( Saint divine Namadev’s steps).  Unasked our lord knows everything and bestows very correctly what we deserve and aspire, we can rest assured that all that  we crave , our lord will grant it in the greatest measure but patience we must keep,  for everything will come only at the right time in the most appropriate manner as ordained by our dearest of dear Sri Govinda.  What a divine love our lord has for Kulashekhara azhwar and what a surrender  and devotion of our beloved Azhwar unto the divine lotus feet of our Parmatman.  Countless salutations and prostrations to Kulashekhara azhwar.

May we follow all his  loving principles, values and methods of worship of Sriman Narayana ,when our beloved Azhwar has attained Parmapadam will he not plead with our lord  on behalf of each of us , to grant us permanent salvation.  Surely he will and our lord will listen to him and act.

8.    Periazhwar/ Vishnuchittar:

4. ( Peria in Tamil means big , he is lovingly called as Big Azhwar, not because of his physical size but because of his biggest wisdom and highest love to Sriman Narayana. He is also called SriVishnuchittar for his chit/ his all indriyas  is always on Lord Vishnu )..  He has one of the most exalted positions since his foster daughter our very own dearest Andal amma( we will read about her shortly, foster because she was found near the Tulasi maddham in his home) has married Lord Sri Krishna and hence he is the father in law of our dearest lord Sri Govinda and at the same time one of his most precious verses, beyond any human comprehension, in praise and benediction for our dearest lord Sri Krishna  called Pallandu (Pallandu in Tamil means countless praise be the lord where in he blesses our Lord Sri Krishna just like  a mother would to her son and hence he is also our lords mother. In every Srivaishnava temple , till date , irrespective of the gender, age or any other consideration everyone in chorus sing Pallandu everyday as  blessing our lord. Can we bless our dearest lord or do we seek his blessings?  Yes, to both.  We surely need his grace and blessings in the greatest measure but at the same time , if we consider him as our son can’t we bless our lord Sri Krishna? Is there anything more heavenly than this?  Our emotions, our bhavana leads us closer to our dearest lord, we may think of him as our mother, father, baby, brother, guru etc , he is ever ready to accept the role you offer him, that is his greatness, his saulabhyam ( easy accessibility), his karuna/ daya ( his immense compassion).  Our lord’s love for us is unconditional and he is ever ready to come running to us , if only we seek him…how easy and simple  yet how difficult we make it. If only we realize this simple truth how much quicker we can extricate ourselves from our severe bondages. Alas ! if only………

Sri  Vishnuchitta  was  a Devout  Brahmin  serving  the  Lord  Vatapathrashayi ( Lord Sri Krishna)  in  Srivilliputtur a small temple town in Tamil Nadu. He  nurtured  the  flower garlands and weaved beautiful garlands with the best fragrant flowers of different hues and colours with Tulasi leaves intermittently. His garlands were superlative and our lord looked stunning and highly lovely in the wonderful garlands woven by our dearest Peria azhwar so lovingly. Our lord is known as alankara priyan ( he loves to adorn / beautify himself ) Once the king of Pandya kingdom wanted a debate on the supremacy of gods, lord Sri Krishna wanted Vishnuchitta to take part in the debate but our azhwar ,humblest of humble, felt he knew nothing much to stand in the midst of the august assembly and debate but our lord Sri Krishna insisted and he entered into the tip of our azhwar’s tongue and very boldly in the royal assembly amidst erudite scholars our dearest azhwar spoke volumes on Sriman Narayana’s supremacy in all the three worlds and won hands down. Sri Vishnuchitta was seated on an elephant and taken on a procession as a celebration of  the victory of our lord and a wonderful sight, the crowning glory moment, wherein our lord with Lakshmi amma had personally come to witness the holy spectacle, seeing our lord in his garuda vahanam (vehicle) our peria azhwar jumps out of the elephant and rushes at jet set speed  to our lord to remove the evil eyes which he feels will affect the divine consort.  THIS SIGHT IS BEYOND THE SCOPE OF ANY WORLDLY CONSIDERATION IN THE HISTORY OF BHAKTI WHERE A HUMBLE PURE DEVOTEE IS WARDING OFF THE EVIL OF OUR MOST BELOVED LORD SRI KRISHNA, WHO CAN WARD THE EVILEST OF EVIL AT A BLINK OF AN EYELID BUT HERE WE HAVE OUR DEAREST AZHWAR SO MUCH WORRIED ABOUT THE EVIL EYES CAST ON THE DIVINE CONSORT AND HERE THE ONE AND ONLY ONE PALLANDU IS SUNG BY OUR AZHWAR  WHICH IS THE TESTIMONY OF THE HIGHEST BHAKTI WHERIN THE JIVATMA IS BLESSING THE PARMATMA , UNBELIEVABLE TO MANY , BUT THE HEIGHT OF TRUTH, NO HUMANLY WORDS CAN EVER DESCRIBE SUCH A CELESTIAL SIGHT…..COUNTLESS MILLION PROSTRATIONs TO OUR PERIA AZHWAR (RIGHTLY HE IS CALLED PERIA WHICH MEANS BIG IN TAMIL FOR HE HAS TAKEN THE ROLE OF A MOTHER TO OUR GOD AND HENCE HE IS DEFINITELY BIGGER THAN THE SON………BEYOND ANY COMMENT…HAIL HAIL, HUMBLE GREETINGS  TO OUR AZHWAR WHO ONLY CAN BE SO THOUGHTFUL AND TO THIS DATE IN THE SRIVAISHNAVA TEMPLES PALLANDU (BENEDICTIONS TO OUR DEAR LORD) IS ACCORDED THE HIGHEST STATURE, IT CONTAINS COUPLE OF COUPLETS WHICH CAN BE READ AND UNDERSTOOD IN OUR NEXT FOR FEW PHD’S  WOULD BE HIGHLY INADEQUATE FOR DECODING PALLANDU FOR IT IS THE HIGHEST PRISTINE LOVE OF A PUREST OF PURE  DEVOTEE TOWARDS OUR PARMATMAN… A TRUE MERGER OF AN INDIVIDUAL JIVATMA WITH THE ONE AND ONLY PARMATMA…NOTHING MATERIAL CAN TOUCH THIS , IT CAN BE UNDERSTOOD ONLY AT THE TRANSCENDENTAL STATE. COUNTLESS SALUTATIONS AND NAMASKARAMS TO SRI PERI AZHWAR, MAY HIS DIVINE GLORIES REVERBERATE ACROSS THE ENTIRE COMOS.

THE TWELVE AZHWARS ( MYSTICAL SRIVAISHNAVA SAINTS)  OF SOUTH INDIA.

PART 1/ 5

Part 1- Introduction to the divine azhwars, the first four azhwars.

Part 2 – Five to eight Azhwars i.e  works of four more azhwars

Part 3- works of the remaining four azhwars summing to 12

Part 4 – Life and works of Sri Ramanujar acharyan

Part 5- Concluding – Life and works of Sri Vedanta desikan acharyan.

Hare Krishna Matajis and Prabhujis,

Countless saints have manifested , in Bharatham our most reverential , very ancient,  Dharma bhoomi, over the four yugas ( Satya, Tretha, Dwapara and now Kaliyuga).  Their contribution to the entire humanity is beyond any expression or boundary. Their love, bhakthi and total prappatti ( unconditional most devotion filled surrender)  towards the one and one Parmatman Sri Krishna/ Sri Vithobha mauli is unparalleled. If we consider each of our saints as an invaluable jewel like a ruby, sapphire, emerald, Kohinoor diamond, pearl, etc and in a most beautiful multihued silken thread, form a single lovely garland and offer it to adorn Lord Sriman Narayana and our most beloved mother Sri Lakshmi amma it would be most apt and apposite and would please the divine consort immensely.

In this series of five parts would like to , highlight the highest contribution of the twelve azhwars ( mystic saints of south India), their one pointed love in superlative degree towards Sriman Narayana and their monumental works that are beyond any humanly endeavour and above all their kindness, compassion to redeem mankind from the immense misery of this materialistic  world is worth reading, analyzing and surrendering unto their lotus feet.  The colossal epic work of the twelve azhwars , mystic saints of south India,  of course needs infinite PHD’s and thesis for the quantum and their quality of writings are beyond the scope of any intervention at a human plane but know we must, about them and hence in a very summarized manner capturing only certain core essence of their lives  and their works and another two towering saints Sri Ramanujacharya and Sri Vedanta Desikan acharyan summing to 14 saints of South India, nay the whole universe.  This is done in the capacity of an invisible speckle of dust at the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna and Lakshmi Amma.

(Have sourced these series  from various scriptures, texts, sites, Wikipedia, Vishithadvaita books and have taken every effort and precaution  to maintain originality).

Our lord Sriman Narayana manifests himself  in five forms namely para ( vasudeva swarupa), vyuha,( Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha) ,vibhava( as avataraas/ incarnation such as Sri Rama, Sri Krishna, Sri Narsimha etc to punish the evil and protect the righteous), antaryami (as a fraction of the divine  parmatman residing in each one of the jivatmas as a witness , guide and friend, also known as an individual conscience/soul)   and archa ( in various parts of the world as an image/idol worship,  such as Lord Balaji of Tirupati, Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam , Sri Vithobha mauli of Pandarpur, etc to enable us to use all our indriyas (senses) in his loving service.).  Undoubtedly, all the forms of our most beloved Lord Sri Krishna is most important, and are all inclusive, pervasive and complement each other. 

WHO ARE NITYA SURIS?

Sriman Narayan (Lord Vishnu) had sent his Sankh (conch), Chakram (Sudarshana discus), sword, Gathai ( his mace), Kausthupam ( his precious stone), Vaijeyanthi malai( holiest of holy garland adoring Lord Sri Krishna) and the Nithya Suris( souls that have attained permanent salvation)  as Azhwars in this transient world for the redemption  of mankind (Jivathmas/ individual soul.).  Azhwars are accorded status higher than the sages for the saints and sages performed Tapasya, Homams and Yaghyas to attain salvation by controlling their karmendriyas ( the five senses, ego, intellect and mind) , whereas Azhwars lived in this world among the ordinary people and led an ordinary life with an extraordinary devotion towards Sri Krishna , their only mission is to let mankind know the true purpose and essence of life, the type of devotion to be accorded to Sriman Narayana and Sri Lakshmi amma and the pious ways to attain the most divine lotus feet of our lord which is the only permanent abode of happiness free from all material impurities. They composed the nalaayiram Divya prabandams in Tamil (total 4000 holiest of holy verses of all the twelve azhwars combined in praise of our dearest Lord Sri Krishna)  which contains the essence of Vedas.  Their writings were in Tamil because every saint who appears on this earth, be it Mira Amma, Gyaneshwar Mauli, Sant Kabir etc wanted the local people to understand their writings / discourses in the language they are most comfortable in and have knowledge of  and hence being born in the south of India, one of the major language spoken is Tamil, all their works are in Tamil to maintain a very deep connect with the people there , to ensure their preachings are easily understood and also each of our mother tongue effortlessly ensures our ideas , thoughts , feelings and emotions are easily and correctly expressed for we have attained proficiency in them. Of course, all their works, now , are available in English too,  for greater access to many devotees across the world, thanks to the erudite who have translated their works.

The twelve azhwars – Nitya suris are those atmans(souls) who have attained moksha permanently.. They were sent to our dearest mother earth by Sriman Narayana for a specific purpose , they are the physical  manifestation of Sri Krishna’s possessions such as his conch, mace, garland of flowers, etc. They took the mortal form, on the desire of Sriman Sri Krishna to  propagate his divine message, to the entire mankind,  on his behalf. In a very lighter vein, once our lord remarked, that many times he wants his leelas, his greatness and his stature to be known not from his own mukha kamalam (lotus lips) since many would consider him egoistic and hence he wanted his height and depth (fathomless to be precise) to be known through these nitya suris, going to only prove how humble our beloved lord is, he neither craves fame, nor status only keenly desires all his beloved creations to love him unconditionally.

The twelve azhwars and their original status at Parmapadam with their auspicious star / Nakshatram under which they manifested are mentioned below:

1. Poigai Azhwar - Manifestation of Lord Sri Krishna’s conch, Panchjanyam,     Star/ Nakshatram - Tiruvonam, Shravana Nakshatra.

2. Bhoothatha Azhwar – As Lord Sri Krishna’s mace, Kaumodhaki, Star/  Avittam Nakshatram

3. Pey Azhwar – As our Lord’s sword, Nandaka , Star/ Sadaya Nakshatram.

4. Tirumazisai Azhwar – As Sudarshana chakram, Star/ Magham Nakshatram

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5. Madhurakavi Azhwar – As Garuda, lord’s vahanam/ vehicle , Star/  Chitrai Nakshatram

6. Namazhwar - As Vishwaksena , lord Sri Krishna’s commander and chief,

Star/ Nakshatram- Vishaakam

7. Kulashekhara Azhwar - Kausthubham ( Lord Sri Krishna’s jewel adorning his neck),         Star/ Nakshatram – Punarvasu.

8. Peria Azhwar/ Vishnuchittar - Lord Sri Krishna’s Garuda,   Star/ Nakshatram – Swathi.  Peria Azhwar is the foster father of Andal amma who herself is one of the azhwars.

9. Andal amma/ Godhai - None other than Bhumadevi amma ,( mother earth ) Lord Sri Krishna’s wife and divine consort………..    Star/ Nakshatram – Pooram.

(ONLY FEMALE AZHWAR, OTHER ELEVEN WERE MALE, SO ANDAL AMMA IS ACCORDED A VERY SPECIAL PLACE IN THE LOTUS HEART OF OUR DEAREST SRI KRISHNA FOR SHE IS NONE OTHER THAN BHUMA DEVI , HIS DIVINE CONSORT)

10. Thondaradipodi Azhwar -  Lord Sri Krishna’s garland ( Vanamalai),     Nakshatram/ Star – Kettai

11. Tiruppan Azhwar- As srivasta, an auspicious mark on Lord Sri Krishna’s chest, Nakshatram/ Star- Rohini.

12. Tirumangai Azhwar -  As saranga , Lord Sri Krishna’s bow,   Nakshatram/ Star Krittika

Traditionally Sri Ramanucharya and Sri Vedanta Desikan acharyan are not considered amongst the twelve Azhwars, mystic nitya suris , but many school of  thoughts opine to include their works if not within the twelve azhwars but to definitely consider them separately for their highest contribution to Srivaishnavism which is at its optimum best..

1. Sri Ramanujar Acharyan ( One of the Greatest Profounder of the Vishithadvaita Philosophy of Srivaishnavism) – incarnation of Anantaseshan as primary , secondary as Sri Lakshmana,        Nakshatram/ Star- Tiruvadirai.

2. Sri Vedanta Desikan Acharyan – Incarnation of the bell of Sri Govinda at Tirupati Temple,        Nakshatram/ Star – Rohini  - born after 131 years after his guru ,                Sri Ramanuja acharyan attained parmapadam,

• To 3. Poigai Azhwar/ Pey Azhwar/ Bhoothata azhwar:  These three azhwars belonged to Dwapara yuga (before 4200 BC). They were born of divinity , Venerable Poigai azhwar was born near a pond  (in Tamil Poigai means small pond) and hence he was named Poigai, Pey and Bhoothath azhwar were so madly in love with Sriman Narayana as though they were possessed by our divine lord and hence they were lovingly called Pey and Bhoothata (in Tamil their names mean one who is possessed).  All the three azhwars were contemporizes. Once they took shelter in a very small dim dingy room on a very heavy rainy day.  The room was so small that they could barely breathe and stand, and all of a sudden one force pushed all the three and they got a feeling one more person is inside the room for taking shelter from the heavy rains. What they saw was beyond any human description or emotions, it was none other than Sriman Narayana himself who stood amongst them , resplendent , like the divine rays of   million suns put together, their immense , pure , unalloyed devotion to our dearest lord Sri Krishna enabled them to be blessed with such a heavenly angelic sight.  Their joys knew no bound, in the pouring rains they started singing in the divine praise of our lord Sri Krishna which only goes to prove , when we love our lord with the greatest spotlessness and pristine devotion , without wanting anything in return , he is ever ready to accord his darshan.  Such is the glory of our most compassionate lord Vithu mauli. Please call him and he will come running in a lightening speed, the only criterion being our restlessness in realizing him , many times we may not be able to physically touch him or speak or see him directly  as we generally do in our human relations, but feel we all can at all times, in everything around us, in the vast beautiful nature, flora , fauna, in his creations, animate and inanimate if only we gave that few minutes of our life everyday surely each one of us , at any stage of our devotion, at the foothills or at the peak can definitely become conscious of  our most beloved Lord Sri Govinda.  Reverential Poigai azhwar, Bhoothat azhwar and Pey azhwar were pioneer azhwars who were highly instrumental in the initiation of Sri vaishnava philosophy , let us wholeheartedly and unconditionally with the purest of pure devotion surrender unto their lotus feet to guide us towards the supreme personality of godhead Lord Sri Govinda/ Madhava/ Madhusudhana……..

4. Tirumazisai Azhwar: He was born in 4203 BCE. A childless tribal couple called Tiruvaalan and Pankaya Chelvi engaged in cutting canes found the child and took it home although he was born to Bhargava maharishi and his wife Kanakangi after an unusual 12 months stay in the womb. The fetus came out as just a lifeless lump of flesh with no arms and legs. The couple were terribly depressed and with unwillingness left it under a bamboo bush and proceeded with their spiritual journey. Lord Govinda appeared with his divine consort Lakshmi amma and blessed the "flesh" with their merciful grace (kataksham)  it turned into a  lively human being who was then lovingly nurtured by the childless tribal couple .Strange are the ways of our dearest lord Sri Krishna, he himself was born to Devaki amma and Lord Vasudeva but was very lovingly taken care by Yashoda amma and Nanda Maharaja. Yashoda amma’s love for little baby Krishna is unparalleled in the history. Every single second she lovingly forgave her dearest of dear baby Krishna for all his lovely childhood pranks ( can we call them leelas)  and the most poignant moment was when she could not accompany him to Dwarka when he was to take up kingship, Lord Sri Krishna’s tears at the separation from his most loving mother can melt the strongest of strong rocks.

Thirumazhisai Alvar proclaimed that he didn't belong to Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya & Shudra in one of his couplets as he was considered (Avarna) beyond caste bound person.  Yes, very true to the core, as uttered by our dearest Lord Sri Krishna,  in our most divine Srimadh Bhagavad Gita, one is not a Brahmin by birth , he is to be accorded any status exalted or otherwise only by his deeds/ his actions  which have to be at its very best, pure and meritorious filled with compassion and love for every of our dearest of dear Vithu mauli’s creation, inanimate or animate. Here, it comes to my mind , a beautiful maxim the hands that serves is holier than the lips that pray, “Manava seva is Madhava seva, why only manava seva, duty and service  towards every of our dear lord’s creation whether human or otherwise, serving every devotee of our dearest Sri Govinda will please him ever and will cleanse each of our souls for a single dedicated saatvik (pure) service is better than thousand prayers. Thiru in Tamil means pure, saatvik, goddess of wealth Mahalaxmi amma and hence every godly person is prefixed with Tiru which is auspiciousness and hence all the Azhwar’s would have Tiru as their prefix denoting auspiciousness and purity.  Thirumazhisai Azhwar’s contribution in the 4000 divya verses is 216 in number which contains his immense love for Sriman Narayana who means the world to him. One billionth of a second he cannot live without his most loved Sri Krishna which he keeps mentioning in all his most pious verses.

The Azhwar’s affirmation ( I have clearly  known that Sriman Narayana is the only one and one Parmatman  which he repeats three times over, followed by a beyond question/ irrefutable declaration the fourth time, as emphatic as Sri Vyasa Bhagavan’s assertion, ‘Satyam, Satyam. Puna: Satyam……na daivam Kesavath Param’.(‘It is the truth, truth, truth, there is no god greater than Kesava).  Holiest of holy Tirumazisai Azhwar’s deepest love for our dearest lord Sri Govinda , his immense compassion to redeem us is worth countless prostrations and salutations.  May we lovingly surrender unto his divine lotus feet, for surely he will lead us very safely , caringly and lovingly unto the most divine lotus feet of our dearest of dear Vithu mauli. He surely has that much influence over our lord SriGovinda and our dearest mother Lakshmi amma.

                              OM TAT SAT.

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE.

A BLESSING IN DISGUISE

My Dearest of dear Vithu mauli,

When in excruciating pain and agony,

When one after one ailment assailed,

Approached you with anger and irritation

Can’t you cure me, “WHY ME?” did I ask insensitively,

Saw a million watt smile on your most divine lotus face,

The message clear, your body is a temple and in it the soul myself,

Can’t you respect, tend and nurture it?

Care did I, and lo! my pain and suffering vanished.

Yes, my Vithu mauli dearest, indeed a  blessing in disguise.

Soft, docile , passive , submissive and highly meek were I,

Attacked by the brute, insensitive and bullies,

Could not fight my case, came to you with frustration and misplaced anger,

Can’t you save and rescue  me from these inconsiderate lot,

Shouted at you on top of my voice, “WHY ME?” once again,

Saw a billion watt smile on your lovely merciful lotus face,

Can’t you rise to the occasion and fight back was your kind response

Fought back alone this time, gallantly ,  whenever the situation demanded ,

Yes, my Vithu mauli dearest , indeed a blessing in disguise.

My dreams and aspirations shattered, nothing worked my way,

Once again came charging towards you blaming my dearest,

This time wailed louder “WHY ME?” , don’t you have any pity for me,

Saw a zillion watt smile on your superlative lovely lotus face,

Can’t you plan, re-engineer, build and rise like a phoenix was your message

Yes, rise did I and how ! today am in an exalted position never imagined.

Yes, my Vithu mauli dearest, indeed a  blessing in disguise.

When the wheels of fortune turn in a reverse gear,

Indeed it is a blessing in disguise, For to fight adversity is fulfilling,

Lessons learnt is worth a lifetime, priceless, to fall is victory for

it teaches us to rise, to touch the clouds, the stars and the cosmos.

Every fall is a step closer to humbleness, resilience, to become more humane

Yes, every failure and fall  is a greatest blessing in disguise.

My life today at times, seems barren, and at others highly fruitful,

This time, have come before you with joined hands raised above

For the first time, have I ,humbly in a voice filled with remorse and

total prapatti(unconditional surrender) ask yourself ‘WHY NOT ME?”

Seeing a countless watt smile on your most compassionate lotus face,

YES, AT LAST HAVE UNDERSTOOD, ALL THIS IS BECAUSE OF MY RESIDUE,

KARMIC LOAD, my past and present actions AND NOT BECAUSE OF THOU MAULI,

Realization dawned there are countless brothers and sisters across the three worlds,

Who are holier than the holiest, suffer more than one can imagine,

Yet ,love you unconditionally and do not approach you with “WHY ME?”

What is it, that , have done that merits only joys , happiness and best life,

Why can’t I face the wheels of ups and downs of samsara ( mundane life)

in a stoic dignified way?,  Vithu mauli dearest, you  have stood like a

Himalaya mountain  in front of me, protecting, shielding, guiding and

preventing every onslaught from every quarter , but realize did I not,

Your very large divine steps, engulfed every danger before they manifested,

For to run away is easier but to acknowledge, reciprocate , counter act is difficult.

Sorry, sorry, sorry, infinite, amends will I make, now and ever, at a lightening speed

This time, with zero expectations, will I serve you lovingly beyond any parameter,

Stand will I , as a humble invisible speckle of dust, at your side ,here and hereafter,

 to protect , bless, serve you , YES MY VITHU MAULI DEAREST, HAVE I LEARNT, AT LAST,

TO COUNT MY BLESSINGS, THE TRUE PURPOSE OF LIFE….THANK YOU BEYOND…………

OUR  APPEAL, DESIRE TO SEE YOU IN PERSON  MAULI

Our dearest Vithu mauli, on behalf of all Warkari’s

Wish to convey to you in the humblest of humble prostration,

We want to see you in person, our time here is very limited,

Unasked you have given more and much more,

Some of us feel we should ask to get,  while others feel not to ask,

But have decided to represent all your loved ones in all the worlds and

Without any shame, guilt and with full confidence want to ask, under your divine grace,

You may wonder and question us what is our qualification for such a lofty desire?

Yes, our mother dearest, we have qualities but no qualifications,

Will you not confirm to us how a child can live without seeing its mother?

We, who have borne onslaught upon onslaught from all directions,

Yet our faith in you has only strengthened, grown and multiplied

We have blamed our karmic residue but never questioned yourself,

Have we not, with nothing to boast of, come to your rescue at all times?

When anyone uttered anything about you that we did not endorse,

Is this not enough, my dearest mauli, Vithu, Amaraprabhu, Aprameya,

You of unfathomable stature, can definitely bank upon us a non entity,

To be at your side at all times to lovingly serve you unconditionally,

Our desire to see you in person in your lovely pitaambari (golden vastram)

With Rakumaai amma, and her most beautiful compassionate smile,

Please do not appear before us in your Vishwaroopam, for it

Will frighten us beyond, even for a second, if you appear before us,

It would be a lifetime here and hereafter, we will bow with devotion,

And touch only your golden lotus feet again and again,

 But with our dearest Lakshmi amma, we will take more liberties; we will sit on her lap,

For at all times, she has carried, so lovingly, all our petitions to you, so we fear her less than you,

For how can we effortlessly shrink the gap between Parmaatman (yourself) and jivaatman (us)?

None but only you can, if you please, but appear before us, you should, our dearest Sri Krishna,

Your ways we know not, for you suddenly accord your darshan before those who do not crave,

While seers and saints who have practiced countless penances of the highest order you do not please,

We, who live, breathe; think of none but yourself, why don’t you appear before us?

Please let us know our areas of deficiencies and faults, we will improve but do not say no to us,

We promise you, when we see you in person, we will not beg and  ask for anything at all,

For we fully acknowledge that by giving us unlimited and beyond , you surely are very tired,

We will not even utter a word other than your uncountable holiest of holy names,

 Madhava, Keshava, Murli Mohana , Sri Govinda, Narayanaya, Madhusudana, Vithu

 Sri Ram Krishna Hari, Vasudeva, Aniruddha, Pradhyumna, Narsimha, Balaraama,

And countless others, we will show our most pristine love for you and Lakshmi amma,

Am very sure, you too only want that, yet you take time to come to us, know not why

Our Mauli dearest, is there even a single reason, please let us know,

We do not crave anything material, yes, sins countless we have collected,

Even after Prapatti (total unconditional surrender) we err to the very highest,

But despite all, is it not the duty of a mother to come immediately when her children call?

Why mauli, you are taking so much time, we cannot wait any further,

We know you wanted our collective plea to reach you, now that we have put it before you,

We see no reason for you not to appear, Vithu mauli please do not say no.

Sorry, we had to be a little assertive, but all done with purest of pure thoughts,

Hail Hail, my dearest mauli, today and ever, please do not laugh at us,

We are sure you will  come now, we are waiting indefinitely with joined hands raised above,

Please come, welcome, welcome again, Vithu dearest, for us to dance, sing and clap with joy………….

MY MOST PRECIOUS KARMIC BAG

I have a very huge karmic bag bond on my back,

Rusted, dark dust coated and grime filled.

Yet I can see its contents for the bag is full and spilling, 

Numerous humiliations, allegations baseless,

Hurt, despair, pain and sadness,

Failures galore, an uncontrolled mind swaying everywhere,

Few beautiful silken threads of success and happiness,

Beyond this , am unable to fathom its other contents,

My dearest vithu amma , you have on many occasions,

Gently reminded me of unloading this bag from my back,

For you are very concerned it will hurt me which you cannot bear,

Yet I refuse to discard this bag of mine,

Yes, it hurts me to no end because of its heavy weight,

Have fought with you on this , that I will not obey you,

For this huge bag bound on to me has bound  me to you,

It is a constant reminder when was in pain, and no humanly help in hand,

You were there with me at all times and very lovingly carried me aloft,

Then how can I abandon this precious bag, if I do so, I will lose you,

How can I survive for even a billionth of a second without you,

For when I throw away this bag I will become lighter and my pain will vanish,

Then surely in my ecstasy will forget you, despicable that I am,

Without this bag too, you can effortlessly burn to ashes my karmic load ,

But why should I every time break the line, when so many pure are in the queue.

They too need you and love you more than I do,  Let me learn to wait for my turn,

For many births with this heavy bag of mine, so that when my soul is fully cleansed

Then only do I deserve to reach you, although this wait is painful and longing,

Vithu amma and rakumai amma, please do not separate me from my loaded bag now,

Later surely, for when I wait and merge with you both will I value your love and grace,

Till then let me be bogged down by my precious karmic bag for it binds me to you ever.

OM TAT SAT.  HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE

REJOICE , REJOICE AGAIN HAVE FOUND MY VITHOBA MAULI

              (mauli in marathi means most caring mother)

Years have been searching my Sriman Narayana, my dearest Vithobha mauli

Nay, countless birth has this quest begun, but could not find my Vithu mauli,

My ignorance made me do austere penance for him, still could not find my Vithu mauli.

Felt Karma yoga, gyana yoga and most severe fasting could get me near my Vithu mauli,

Did not succeed here also, he is there in all these, but could not find my Vithu mauli

Worn out, sad, restless and of out utter dejection gave up my search for my Vithu mauli.

Looked at the vast expanse of the sky above, Lo I could see my beloved Vithu mauli

My happiness knew no bounds, it moved to the flora and fauna and  nature in its  best , I saw my vithu mauli

Mad with joy ran to Pandharpur, Tirupati and Sriranagam,  there in standing and reclining     

posture did I see my loving smiling inviting Vithu Mauli,

In my most ecstatic state sat for hours in Pandarpur observing the loving Warkaris,

My God, I found my beloved mauli in them, dancing madly with joy, I could see 

My mauli everywhere , here, there and everywhere, what did i learn?

My mauli is always present in pure love and affection, he discards the most

expensive jewels, lofty penances, for he loves  the simplest of simple things , 

His highest joy is him being with his beloved pure loving devotees,

In my trance , in absolute affection wanted to pray and utter  a benediction for him,

Pray for mauli? Our creator ? Yes, our mauli too needs our prayers, wishes and love

Whom should I pray for my Vithu mauli, without a doubt , one and only  himself,

 My dear Vithu mauli please give us the opportunity to forever serve you ,

 To shower you with our truest ,purest love, you who have held the entire cosmos

 let us hold you in our heart and deed forever, here and hereafter,

 May your entire cosmos reverberate with your loving holy name and each

 of your creation surrender unconditionally at your lotus feet,

 May your entire children only do such acts as deemed fit by you.

 SriMadhava, SriKeshava, SriNarayana, SriMadhusudhana, SriGovinda

Did I forget our most beloved mother Lakshmi amma , Daya devi, your divine consort,

No, how can I separate you from her, in your holy name do I find her and the entire  

cosmos, At last I realized only due to your mercy , grace and love ,

In prayers for you, can we see you, despite your unfathomable height

the  distance between you and me is zero, 

The infinite yourself (Parmatma) and the finite me (Jivatma)

have merged, in yourself do I find me and in myself do I find you.

Countless salutations to  you , thousands of prostrations to my most beloved mauli, Sri Ram Krishna Hari.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Raama Hare Raama Raama Raama Hare Hare.      

CHAPTER VIII:  THE YOGA OF THE INDESTRUCTIBLE BRAHMA

Our lord Sri Krishna explains that the supreme permanent, eternal and everlasting being is Brahma, the individual jivatama is adhyatma, and the dutiful discharge of actions is Karma (action), all perishable beings are adhibhuta, the shining purusha (Brahman) is Adhidaiva, and the great lord residing in all beings as inner witness and conscience keeper  is adhiyajna which again goes to prove that everything in the three worlds is Parmaatma , Sriman Narayana himself for all mentioned above is a part and parcel of his supreme self.

As always, in the very best interests of each and every jivatma, our dearest Lord Sri Krishna once again, as always, conveys that those souls who think of him and him not only during their lifetime but during their departure uttering his divine glorious name will reach him.  Seems very easy but just not possible very simply for only those soul can ever think of him whilst they leave their mortal remains, is who have forever engaged  and surrendered their thoughts, actions and fruits of action unto his lotus feet, otherwise it would be impossible while departing all one can think and feel bad is what one is leaving back , the gains from his wealth which on his leaving will be enjoyed by some one else all these thoughts would pain the person leaving for he has never gained enlightenment that nothing on this earth can we bring nor can any being in the entire cosmos carry along anything for if a jivatama has not brought anything on arrival how can one take anything while leaving?  Terribly caught in the maya ( makeshift pleasure world) all of us forget our creator and get so much engrossed in the mundane meaningless existence that when the time has come to pack up we are not willing to let go and keep thinking even at the last moment can we enjoy still more time on this earth whereas a realized soul desperately waits for the time to shed his mortal coil for he knows that to reach the transcendental abode of Lord Sri Krishna is the only place worth living , very merrily and willingly serving our most lovable lord Sri Krishna is the only duty of each jivatma and the only way to avoid all miseries is forever chanting the loving names of our lord Sri Krishna rest everything is futile , what the soul can only take at the time of departure is the karma performed which will act as a carried forward balance in the next birth .  After enlightenment when the entire debit and credit of all the lives  and births put together is nullified by our creator Sriman Narayana and when he so ordains we can reach his abode to permanently serve him till then we all have to patiently wait in the queue.

Our lord teaches all of us the science of loving him, where those pure hearted souls who strive all their lives with thoughts and service to Lord Sri Krishna by offering him everything while on earth with a very strong hope that one fine day the lord will carry us back with him, only that disciplined jivatma will attain the lotus feet of our most divine Sri Krishna, this is the final verdict of our creator.  Here our lord Sri Krishna wants us to constantly practice meditation with the highest focus and devotion while residing on our beloved mother earth and while leaving he wants each jivatma to utter the one syllable “AUM” with total mental picture of Lord Sri Krishna in his absolute form (with a beautiful silken orange robe, most divine flute and his entire smiling form).  Our lord is very particular, as always, that his personal aspect is the most important way and the only easy swift path to attain him.  He is the happiest of happy when every jivatma worships him with beautiful scented flowers, most fragrant sandal paste, uses each of the sense organs for his service and above all loves and serves him unconditionally in his divine form either as Lord Sri Krishna, Lord Raama, Lord Narsimha or any other form of the Dasavataar ( ten transcendental incarnation / form of Sriman Narayana) for he is the same Lord Sri Krishna only taken different forms as deemed fit for the occasion to annihilate the evil doers.

Our lord conveys that in the past great souls have reached him who have served him with the highest devotion and apart from Parmapadam (the eternal abode of our dearest Lord Sri Krishna) every other region is subject to the wheel of samsara and is not eternal, one has to reach that abode, enjoy for few years as ordained by lord Sri Krishna and come back once again to the most transient abode of sorrow and pain.

Also the time of departure is very important.  As per our lord Sri Krishna the uttarayanam punya kaalam (period from Makarsankranti, mid January till the end of June when days are longer and sun god brightest) and the Dakshina kaalam (from July to December when nights are longer, moon god is effulgent) both decide the fate of the departed soul.  Souls who leave their mortal remains during uttarayanam reach his abode, of course subject to every other condition ordained by the lord and fulfilled by the jivatma. One has to carefully note, that uttarapunya kaalam is not the sole condition for the soul to attain the lotus feet of Lord Sriman Narayana but one of the important aspects  coupled with all the other as declared and authenticated by our lord Sri Krishna. Our most pious Bhishma pitamaha waited very patiently and suffered unbearable  pain ,  lying on the string of arrows awaiting in utmost devotion uttara punya kaalam to enable to serve our Lord Sri Krishna eternally in his abode but his each and every action of his whilst alive  was fully sanctioned by the scriptures and approved by our Lord Sri Krishna and hence before arriving at any conclusion we have to relentlessly strive to decode the message of our dearest Lord Sri Krishna in the very right perspective, fully meditating on him and seek the divine authorities who have mastered our holy scriptures to clarify and explain to us matters that are beyond our understanding for these highly evolved gurus only can guide us in our spiritual journey.  A very careful observation and examination that our Lord Sri Krishna keeps on repeating again and again same points not for his benefit but as a brushing of our memory and in our very best interests to break the shackles of this futile existence and tries his very best to explain to us in the most simple language one can think of to meditate and serve him to reach him , to an abode which is only filled with permanency, happiness of the highest order and peace personified for surely  each one of us would love to reach his abode for we are absolutely tired of struggling and striving in this transient world for our daily petty existence of gratification of sense pleasures

Our lord conveys that the best yogi would surely try his level best under the very divine guidance of our Lord Sri Krishna himself using all his faculties to reach the abode of Sriman Narayana and forever unite with him serving him which is the only true karma and dharma.

Many times, few of us  could  feel that our Lord keeps repeating the same philosophy in different words in all the eighteen chapters wondering why does our lord emphasize on the same thing again and again , why can’t he be very brief and convey only once his views rather than mentioning it again and again, the only reason for this is , anything very important which when repeated and thought of several times sinks in faster and gets embossed  permanently and one never forgets and hence our dearest lord Sri Krishna ,at very regular intervals,  wants to refresh the points mentioned before with a fear that lest we forget the core principles  of his preaching.  Our teachers ,will always repeat the important points for our ready reference and records , many times we get bored but a diligent student will never tire of his teacher for he 100% knows that his guru is repeating the same points in his favour only because of its great significance and value, if this is understood in this transient world then surely each one of us can relate to our creator who is awaiting desperately and impatiently with the highest love for each of his creation to return to him as a eager mother not willing to part with her children for even  a second……LET US SEEK THE MOST DIVINE BLESSINGS OF OUR LORD SRI KRISHNA AND AS PER HIS INTENSE DESIRE REACH HIM FOR HE IS WAITING FOR US AND WE SHOULD EVER RUN TO HIM ONLY FOR HIS PROTECTION TO SOOTHEN OUR MINDS WHICH IS AGONIZED WITH THE HIGHEST CONFUSION AND TURMOIL LETS NOT FURTHER TORTURE  BUT RELEASE OURSELVES FROM ALL OUR BONDAGES THROUGH OUR LORD SRI KRISHNA BY ASSURING HIM THAT ONCE HE CUTS OUR KARMIC CYCLE WE WILL ETERNALLY VERY LOVINGLY SERVE HIM , NONE ELSE AND WILL FOREVER BE CONTENT AND  HAPPY BEING WITH HIM…..THIS THOUGHT ALONE WILL DRAW OUR LORD CLOSER TO US AND HE WILL COME IN THE FASTEST TIME POSSIBLE TO CARRY US IN HIS LOVING ARMS TO HIS ABODE. WHAT A JOYFUL THOUGHT? NOTHING CAN BE MORE DIVINE THAN THIS….

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE………

                                                   CHAPTER VII:  THE YOGA OF JNANA AND VIJNANA

In this chapter VII, our dearest Lord Sri Krishna wants Arjuna to listen with one pointed concentration, total devotion and exclusive love the pure science of knowledge of Parmaatma in his form and formless aspect after knowing which nothing on earth needs to be known.

Our Sri Krishna very clearly conveys it is very difficult to attain him for only one striving soul,  among countless can do so, but this does not mean that mere morals cannot reach him, all our lord Sri Krishna wants to caution is one should not take things very casually and feel  that by default, without any efforts one can easily reach the abode of Lord Sri Krishna, on the contrary even pure love requires efforts, dedication and above all the highest purity for our lord which in no way can be undermined.  Simply put, to attain our Lord Sri Krishna is the toughest yet the simplest, may seem paradoxical but all that it means is we need to take that one step ( which is not that easy ) , having done that our Lord will take the giant stride towards us like Trivikrama where his first two steps are so huge that there is no place for the third step which clearly without an iota of doubt authenticates his vishwarupam where the entire cosmos  is manifested in him and hence each one of us first have to realize the highest greatness of our Sri Krishna , acknowledge his limitless power and in the humblest of humble manner with absolute devotion surrender unto his lotus feet as done by our revered saints then we can say that we have paved our path towards him.

Lord Sriman Narayana ( Sri Krishna ) , our beloved  one and only one creator of this entire cosmos, reveals that the elements (fire , earth, water, air, ether, mind, reason and ego) are his lower material nature and his highest constituent is which sustains this entire cosmos .  Each and every atom is evolved from him as mentioned in the Purushasukhtam and at the time of deluge will once again merge within him  , this whole prakriti ( nature, creation, sustenance and dissolution is his sport ).  Our lord very emphatically declares that there is nothing besides him, everything is permanently etched within him and is his part and parcel. Further our lord continues  that he is the pleasant taste  in water, the brightness , effulgence  and light in the moon and sun gods , he is the sacred syllable “AUM” , he is the eternal seed of all creation , in short he is everything (animate and inanimate ) present in the entire cosmos.  After hearing this one is awe struck, dumbfounded and thunderstruck that our most lovable Lord Sri Krishna is the one and only one Parmaatma, and how humble, kind, gentle, compassionate is he.  Can’t we all learn lesson from our most loved Lord that despite being everything yet how much accessible he is to all of us , and we at our mortal plane are filled with ego , with the feeling of mine , me and myself  and even  if we achieve wee bit we feel highly bloated and tend to become very arrogant whilst our lord who is the repository of everything is so down to earth, who very lovingly ate the already tasted food of his loving devotee shabhari,  with great enthusiasm and relish accepted the  old puffed rice  of his dearest childhood friend Sudama and an epitome of compassion forgave even the greatest wrong doing of kakasura who harmed our beloved Sita amma which clearly indicates our lord is ready to help and forgive us at all times, only we need to love him and nothing more. The best part is, with the highest utter humility and personal experience can convey that he is always available 365 24 7 and we can surely seek his benediction and he is there for each of us, all we need to have is patience and unshakable faith in his love for us and one should not even for a moment doubt his purest of pure grace.

He has in detail enumerated the three gunas (sattvik- pure, rajasik (filled with pride and arrogance and the worst of the lot tamasic seeped with laziness, idleness, inactivity and sloth).  He has also mentioned the four types of devotees who approach him.  They are as follows:

1. One who approaches him for wordly pleasures and for material gains. These are the lowest evolved souls.
2. Second group who approach him for getting rid of their pains , the diseased. They want a reprieve for their ailments which is highly painful and unbearable
3. The jignasu , the seeker of knowledge, he is in the process of refinement and has taken the first step towards enlightenment.
4. Last but not the least the gyani, the permanent seeker of wisdom who is the most lovable to our dearest lord Sri Krishna for he is the one who loves our lord under all circumstances and never approaches him for anything, not even a needle worth requirement but is constant in search of ways and means to eternally serve at the lotus feet of our most loving Lord Sri Krishna and our loving Lakshmi amma who is forever seated in the heart of lord Sri Krishna. The gyani does not even want moksha; he wants only loving service and wants to perform only those actions which will please and bring the highest joy to our lord.  He is willing to undergo any pain or torture to ensure our lord is served.  What a magnificent state of mind?  In this state of enlightenment will our most loving lord ever forsake such a karmayogi?  Never, unasked such an evolved soul  will get everything for one thing is the most certain in this uncertain world that is our lord is a fountain of mercy and only wants the best for each of his creation , we need not aspire, ask or attain anything,  everything will be gifted at the right time unasked, unuttered , and unsaid. Such a kind of soul who lives, breathes and surrenders every second to Lord Sri Krishna is never entangled in this web or birth or death is forever released from this dreadful wheel and attains the abode of Lord Sri Krishna.  Here the lord conveys to Arjuna, that any devotee worshipping any other form will only reach that abode and will be subject to birth and death and only those devotees who worship him exclusively and none else can reach the permanent abode of Lord Sri Krishna which is a very clear indicator that Sriman Narayana only needs to be worshipped and none else.  There is no doubt in the statement of our Lord Sri Krishna for repeatedly throughout he keeps mentioning of his supremacy and him being the only creator and hence without any self doubt we have to seek refuge in our Lord Sri Krishna only for none can protect us but our most revered Sriman Narayana.

The most delightful , exquisite and wonderful lines which conclude this chapter is where our lord Sri Krishna informs not only to Arjuna but to each one of us that those who have sought protection at the lotus feet of himself will be permanently delivered and taken care of for he encompasses the entire Brahma ( the absolute), the whole Adhyatma ( the totality of all the jivatmas ), the entire field of karma, Adhibhuta ( the entire field of matter), Adhidaiva ( Brahma ) and Adhiyagna ( the divinity residing in the hearts of all jivatmas as a witness and conscience keeper).IS THERE EVEN A SINGLE SYLLABLE TO UTTER AFTER HEARING ALL THIS FROM THE LOTUS LIPS OF OUR MOST DEAREST LORD SRI KRISHNA… NONE AT ALL…..ONLY WE NEED TO PUT TO PRACTICE ALL WHAT OUR LORD WANTS FROM THIS MOMENT  ITSELF FOR TIME WASTED IS LIFE WASTED……ONE MORE BIRTH, MERCILESSLY CAUGHT ONCE AGAIN IN  THE GRINDING CRUEL WHEEL OF SAMSARA.

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE.   

CHAPTER VI:  THE YOGA OF SELF CONTROL

Our lord Sri Krishna starts by conveying that the jivatma  is both a samnyasi ( Sankhyayogi ) and also a yogi (Karmayogi)   who practices the yoga of karma and gets the benefits of both yogas  for he truly has surrendered his soul at the lotus feet of his creator Lord Sri Krishna and hence each one of us practising Karmayoga will be blessed with the dual payback of both the fruits of Karmayoga and Sankhyayoga. When a man ceases to be attached to sense objects, with one pointed focus concentrates on the lotus feet of our Sriman Naryana giving up all worldly pleasures, is forever contented, is in the highest state of meditation and that too while performing all the duties as prescribed in the scriptures is said to have reached the position of gyani/ saint.

Many times, because of our constant contact with sense objects despite our great fervour and dedication, we get entangled with worldly pursuits and hence our self works antagonistically like an enemy because our mind is still tainted and is unable to break lose of the material possessions, but we need not worry at all, with further practice we can elevate ourselves and conquer our self.  Please let each one of us understand , that we need to be very patient in our spiritual pursuit for we cannot attain everything overnight, we have to meticulously with full faith in our lord Sriman Narayana/ Sri Krishna  keep following each of  his instructions correctly , read our scriptures in the very right perspective , fall and rise every time and always aim to be a mere servant of the lord be content, by being subservient to him, in due course by the divine blessings of our most beloved Lord Sri Krishna, every jivatma  will reach where our lord  wants us , so no point in feeling frustrated, lost and depressed.  Maybe during this life time even with all our sincere efforts we may not be able to even reach a step closer to Lord Sri Krishna so be it, let us know for sure when the right time comes our lord knows and does the very best for each of us, all we need to do is keep performing all our actions surrendering them at the lotus feet of our lord and leave every other thing unto his divine discretion and benediction.  Rome was not built in a day; we need to wait for our turn. Our lower self needs to be conquered and this is possible only by the anugraha ( blessings and grace) of our lord and this has to be earned by drawing our lord closer to us and the more close we pull him towards us the more fast he will rush to our rescue.   If we  look up to him from a great distance and with lots of protocol then maybe we will never attain him for how can we love our near and dear ones keeping them at a very great space and remoteness.  The art of gently pulling our lord closest to us has to be mastered, rest will follow quickly in a lightening speed much earlier than we expected or desired. PLEASE NOTE PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE  IS THE KEY WORD FOR ATTAINING THE ETERNAL LOVE OF OUR LORD SRI KRISHNA FOR  HE PUTS US TO NUMEROUS TESTS AND ENSURES THAT WE PASS THE EXAMS AND ONLY HE CAN CLEAR US WITH FLYING COLOURS AND NONE ELSE SO LET US WAIT WITH BOWED HEAD FOR HIM TO ASSESS US.

Our lord conveys to us the wonderful traits of a yogi who looks at everything with the same equanimity, self control and level headedness, the gold and the stone, friends, well wishers, foes etc with absolute poise and grace and is never perturbed by the pair of opposites because this balanced nature which is at perfect equilibrium is that of our lord Sri Krishna’s and hence we being a part of his glory too possess the very qualities which can illumine us.  The yogi prefers to be silent, does not unnecessarily crowd his mind with thoughts that are of no use nor does he like to be seen with many people and idle his time speaking and discussing topics which are mundane and hold no value add, he is forever in a position of meditation, self introspection and the highest analysis of all the matters of attaining parmaatma and finding every single means to elevate his soul and redeem it to enable it to reach the abode of Sriman Narayana to permanently serve him lovingly and make our creator happiest.  What a fantastic position when the jivatma surrenders and every action of it pleases our creator Lord Sri Krishna and the soul never returns to the transient world ever for it has gained permanent liberation and has become one with our lord Sri Krishna , the true yogi like all our most revered saints of India have practised and attained this state reaches the same state of pure bliss.   A true Karmayogi will ensure that every of his thought and action revolves around lord Sri Krishna and in this process he strictly adheres to the Dinacharya (day to day routine) as prescribed in our most revered scriptures, he neither over eats nor does he starve, he neither over sleeps or keeps awake all the time, every of his action strikes a moderation, neither in excess nor in complete deprivation. What this means is the food we cook has to be first offered to our Lord Sri Krishna and the moment he partakes of it , our food becomes anna prasadam very pure and sublime,  our earnings which has to be ethical has to be surrendered unto the lotus feet of lord Sri Krishna as a very humble offering and by doing so we will never be subject to poverty or penury for anything offered to Lord Sri Krishna keeps multiplying in abundance  beyond our expectations for he is our master who can compound our happiness in a way we can never ever think.  Our lord Sri Krishna in this chapter, in full detail, enumerates the principles of yoga in its entirety, the uses, the purpose and the result of yoga on a jivatma.  Yoga when practised rightly is the most nectarine form of existence which can flood our body and soul with abundance of peace,  bliss and fulfilment.  It can cure us of every ailment no matter how deadly, can balance our mind and transport it to the highest arena of calm and hence has to be implemented by each one of us, more so in this highly complex commercial stress filled world that we inhabit. Yoga does not mean retreat to the mountains but in the midst of cacophony and tumultuous noise we need to find peace and serenity, it is a highest form of art which needs to be unceasingly mastered to reach our beloved Lord Sri Krishna. It is compared to the state and  focus of an un-flickering lamp of  light which does not sway at all , our mind should reach that illumined state, efforts put will surely be rewarded for yoga is not difficult but requires a consistent ongoing  approach and one must strictly follow the routine and not flout the  discipline   and highly regulated ways of life as conveyed by our Lord Sri Krishna otherwise it would be very tough to implement and we would be permanently lost in the puddle of material activities and its contamination.

Arjuna is confused and conveys to our Lord it is so difficult to control our self and wants to know that despite our best efforts if we are unable to control our self then what would be our fate, will it not be that of a torn cloud which is moving aimlessly, all the efforts totally lost in vain.  Our lord Sri Krishna reassures Arjuna that the soul which is at all times taking every efforts to rise itself will never meet failure, even if fails to achieve complete accuracy in its fulfilment, yet it will not fall, for on departure such jivatmas who tried their level best but could not succeed  entirely in their endeavour  , will reach heavenly abode where only the most righteous have resided  and having stayed there for countless years and enjoying the very best come back to the home of the most pious people or saints and by the efforts of the previous birth once again, this time with lesser labour reach the ultimate destination of our Lord Sri Krishna for in the previous birth the mammoth effort put is carried forward in this birth ( the principle that our soul is immortal and never subject to destruction )  and that as a life boat carries the jivatma more smoothly and speedily this time , so in essence our dearest and most beloved Lord SriKrishna wants to clearly convey in no uncertain terms that the soul which tries its very level best to reach him, will never fall, will eventually at the most appropriate time be carried away by our lord Sri Krishna in his loving arms if not today , tomorrow or the day after but surely one day it will reach parmapadam.  As mentioned earlier, one should keep practising and practising unendingly with no dejection but the highest hope, conviction and faith  that he would surely be redeemed if not for his own efforts but 100% on the love , grace and immense compassion of our Lord Sri Krishna and pray our creator to be with us at all times to ensure that we pass in all his tests put by him and reach him as early as can be for if we plead with him with joined raised arms with immense love that we cannot live without him for even a single billionth of a second and beg him to carry us, will our Lord Sri Krishna make us wait..He would break all the rules and regulations set by him and lovingly lift us to his abode for he is more impatient to redeem us and wants us to serve him lovingly and does not expect anything from us for there is nothing on this earth we can offer for everything belongs to Sriman Narayana/ lord Sri Krishna  but surely what he is in ever need of is our loving caring service for he thrives only on our love, love and love and nothing else.  As all our revered saints have showered their purest love on him and attained his lotus feet forever, let us also follow them and reach him for he is very eagerly and impatiently waiting for us to plead him to take us to his abode, once having appealed to him that we cannot be separated with him and yet survive please believe he will rush and then none can stop him. Here please note to clearly demarcate the worldly love which we feel and the transcendental love of Lord Sri Krishna, the emotion of love here and there is as different as cheese and chalk , here every love is tainted and selfish and the transcendental love of Sri Krishna is the purest of pure. CAN WE IMPLORE HIM TO LOVE US FOREVER……..YES, JUST NOW WE WILL FOR WE CANNOT WAIT FOR EVEN A SINGLE SECOND SEPARATION FROM OUR LORD SRI KRISHNA AND BELIEVE ME, THAT OUR LORD SRI KRISHNA ADORES US THE MOST WHO ARE AT THE LOWEST STATE OF DEVOTION FOR HE KNOWS THAT WE ARE IN VERY URGENT NEED OF HIS HELP RATHER THAN THE MOST EVOLVED SOULS SO HE IS EVER READY TO PROTECT US AS A MOTHER  WOULD FOR HER NEW BORN BABY WHO IS ENTIRELY DEPENDENT ON HER , ARE WE NOT SO JUST LIKE THE BABY WHO FOREVER WANTS OUR MOST BELOVED LORD SRI KRISHNA TO BE WITH US , COMFORT, CONSOLE AND FOREVER BIND AND FASTEN US TO HIM?

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE…………….

CHAPTER V:  THE YOGA OF ACTION AND KNOWLEDGE

This chapter is brief since most of the aspects of Karmayoga and Sankhyayoga has already been discussed by our Lord Sri Krishna in the earlier chapters.

Arjuna asks our Lord SriKrishna which path is superior that of action ( Karma Yoga)  or knowledge (Sankhyayoga).   There are many avenues  that lead us to the same destination even in our day to day life, the question that arises in each of our minds is which route should one adopt, definitely the one that is easier, faster and very pleasant.  Our most loving Lord Sri Krishna without waiting for even a single second responds that the best route is Karma Yoga steeped in Bhakti, very loving service to our beloved creator , rest will also lead to him but he wants each of his creation to follow the Karma Yoga for he is truly in favour of its benefits and Karma yoga only pleases him the most for it is very easy, it is brimming with unconditional surrender and service.  Why should not each one of us abide by our Lord’s desire and do exactly what he says and find his grace, benediction and love instantly rather than adopt things which may be favoured by him only as a secondary approach.  Hence Vishisthadvaita propounded and spread by our most reverent Ramanujacharya acharyan is very well adopted and reciprocated by even the grahastas and grihini (family men and women ) for all that has to be done is to perform every action with a total surrender unto the lotus feet of our lord.  Lord Bhuvaraha, where Sriman Narayana took the form of a wild boar to save mother earth from sinking, with all conviction, conveys that the things that please him the most are sankreetans (hymns in the praise of Sriman Narayana), worship by offering beautiful scented flowers, highly fragrant pure sandal paste and delicious prasadam.  If our lord has communicated this to us then we have to follow what he likes there is no choice, it is an absolute pleasure of the highest order to love our lord in the manner he wants, to do the things that pleases him and the best part is the most simplest form of worship makes our Lord Sri Krishna happy then why adopt path which may lead to him but is lofty, tough and nearly impossible for the commoners like us to implement.  When the action and the fruits of action is humbly , lovingly and with the greatest sense of gratitude  offered at the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna then all the impurities automatically gets nullified and the blessings of our lord increases by manifold times and the happiness and contentment enjoyed by us here and here after   is super supreme. One of the very greatest qualities of our Lord Sri Krishna is showering in abundance very instantly and with the purest love, of everything, in his loving devotee’s life thereby enriching and making their lives so happy.  This can be done only by our lord and none else.  Our lord is not affected by any good or bad, he is totally immune for he is parmaatma, the creator and hence the pair of opposites can never touch him and since every jivatma is a very small part and parcel of his glory, the karmayogi too is untainted by pleasure and pain and transcends every other modes of prakriti ( nature and gunas ) and is only concerned of loving our Lord Sri Krishna and in the process of actively discharging his duties  finds him and reaches his abode as swiftly as can be to eternally serve him…WHAT A BLISSFUL STATE?. Restraining every sense pleasures, controlling the mind and above all knowing for sure with absolute faith and most intense devotion that it is only Lord Sri Krishna who can redeem us and who is our sole best well wisher, true friend and guru surrenders everything including his soul at his lotus feet and thereby gains the highest love of our lord Sri Krishna for he is the happiest to welcome each of his creation into his fold with open arms and most loving embrace.  After this state, is there anything that any one would want, am very sure never….It is a beautiful journey and culmination of life on earth and a very fresh inauguration  into the abode of Lord Sri Krishna which is highly transcendental in nature and is a fountain of pleasure for here we would have our lord permanently with us by our side  and where our lord is there, happiness, peace, prosperity and contentment will forever reside…Let us be a true karmayogi as our beloved lord Sri Krishna wants us , not for him or his necessity , but to forever reach his abode to serve him eternally  and our most beloved mother and his consort Lakshmi amma for what better for a jivatma then to serve his creator and perpetually earn his divine blessings and love.

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE………..

Hare Krishna,

In the kaliyuga , one of the biggest problem is adharma when righteousness is declining in major proportion.  World wars, world destruction through artificial means like hatred, terrorism, fight in the name of religion, caste, creed, status etc and on the other hand onslaught of natural calamities like flood, draught, hurricanes, eruption of volcanoes etc. The list of destruction is never ending but the most horrendous of the lot is when man destroys man, when blood is shed due to mine and yours, when honour of women is lost and when children are sold and tortured.

Is there a permanent solution to this wreckage, catastrophe? HOW,  WHEN, WHETHER , these questions keep bogging the conscience keepers all the time and they fervently pray that the inhabitants of this entire cosmos should be peaceful, happy and free from all miseries.

The permanent solution to these problems is when humans recognize that the eternal , bright sparkling soul is the sole cause rest is nothing, the wonderful soul does not have caste, religion  or gender nor is it  killed, or can it kill or can be destroyed, then all these worthless , wasteful fight in the name of I, me and myself  would permanently end for everyone would endorse that they have a very limited shelf life and during this time instead of fighting they can live happily, lovingly caring and sharing and enjoy a very happy , peaceful life  for the soul can reach our dearest Lord Sri Krishna only if it elevates its position by performing the very best actions for only loving action can liberate all the jivatmas. Our most loving saints have all the time preached that the world goodness should be always put first , our most beloved lord Gyaneshwar mauli who is the incarnation of Lord Vithobha has written "PASAYADAAN" wherein  he has requested our Lord Sri Krishna to redeem every soul irrespective of their actions which goes to prove how noble , pure hearted he was, the very people who  behaved so wickedly with Mauli (lovingly called as mother), the unbearable and unimaginable  torture that they perpetrated on Sant Gyaneshwar for no fault of his  and yet he very lovingly pleads to our creator Lord Sriman Narayana to forgive and grant permanent liberation to even  these hopeless creatures , if only we learnt from the works and actions of such enlightened messengers of lord Sri Krishna such as Mirabai, Ramanujacharya, Vedanta Desikan acharyan, Tukaram Maharaj and other countless such saints our misery would end automatically because we will learn to be very tolerant, loving and just and know for sure that nothing is ours and everything belongs to our Lord Sri Krishna and none else.  Why destroy our loving Lord's creations, why degrade our souls to worst places like hell, why goes against the scriptural injunctions and earn countless sins, why not be subservient to our Lord Sri Krishna and practice that the entire cosmos is one beautiful happy  family and it is our duty to stay together through thick and thin and love each and every creation , sentient and non sentient, be a harbinger of peace , love and compassion then this world would become parmapadam, the abode of Sri Krishna and just imagine how happy he would be that his creations have not let him down and done him proud.......LET US RESOLVE NOW THAT WE WILL ALWAYS SPREAD THE MESSAGE OF KINDNESS, ONENESS AND BROTHERHOOD ACROSS THE COSMOS........HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE, HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE........ 

Hare Krishna!

Till about sometime, despite being a very staunch devotee of Lord Sri Krishna, the one thing that frightened me the most was "DEATH and DISEASE".  The very thought of both used to send shivers... Most of us , despite knowing all philosophies , when it comes to practical implementation find it impossible to come to terms with separation of our near and dear ones and also fear  of our own departure.  The highly evolved souls such as Arjuna, Parikshit Maharaja and others also suffered this fear then what about us , who have just taken one step towards the spiritual path.

My father, who left for heavenly abode around 5 years back ,deeply suffered from renal failure and underwent dialysis ONE OF THE MOST PAINFUL PROCESS, for about a year after which he left for heavenly abode, which was my closest brush with death.  Seeing the unbearable pain, the crumbling of the body, the uncountable Intensive Care Admissions (ICU), the very huge amount spent on medical and the worst part bear your loving one suffer and be a silent spectator watching helplessly , praying our most beloved Lord Sri Krishna can at least one day pain of my father be transferred to me to lighten at least his one day. Is this possible? Never, each one of us has to bear the cross and none else can help us, we can morally, spiritually , financially and emotionally support our loved ones but never ever take their pain for each one of us has to cut free of our karma.  After his leaving for heavenly abode for almost 4 years kept on remembering and recollecting what else could have been done.  Why do good people suffer?  Yes, death and old age  is inevitable but why leave the world with so much pain and sadness? Why does the separation of our dear ones cause great sorrow, why can't we happily let go of the soul to its eventual destination. The thought by pondering again and again on our lord's action and decision are we suspecting his credentials ? Very easy to preach but toughest to practice for many times we get angry , upset and let down by our lord and we keep questioning him time and again "WHY ME?" and never convey to him "WHY NOT ME? ".

Whilst in deep meditation , one fine day , our most beloved Lord Sri Krishna in his immense mercy and not on my merit, set me free and to this day have learned the art of celebrating death for it is a mere change of the body and a new journey in a new garment for the soul, one of the most beautiful message rendered by our Lord Sri Krishna.  Why should anyone of us , stop our beloved ones in their spiritual path which has been ordained by none other than our creator Sriman Narayana.  When this realization was put into practice it evoked one of the greatest calm , serenity and the mindset to endure what one cannot cure for when our creator decides it is final and abiding on each one of us.  The thought that "father in this birth but what about the other births? Was there any link , would there be any  connection in the next birth, all that exists is only for a very brief spell , rest none knows and need know ...The art of let going was slowly developed and to this day any beloved one while let going his mortal coil does not evoke a tear for the next journey has begun , who are we to stop the progress path of any jivatma.  When any one of us , keep crying and  keep recollecting  of the departed we are pulling their soul in a reverse direction and stopping it from reaching its rightful destination, that is why to my mind, we should not even keep their photos after they leave for we have set the soul free and have released it of  all its bondages, all we need to do is to perform the amavasa darpanam , the yearly shraddham with great shraddha and devotion  and definitely recall with love, gratitude and reverence  our pitrus( ancestors ) but never ever cry or feel sad for their redemption would be stopped.

Similarly , many times, we fear our own death wondering what would happen if we leave, what would the status of our children or our kith or kin be after our departure.  This thought too has to be erased for unconditional surrender at the lotus feet of our dearest Lord Sri Krishna means he is the doer , the deed and the actual protector of all his creation, we are just mediums , our departure will also enable the show to move on for none of us have brought anything with us and none can take or leave anything, we are just tenants on this earth and when the time is up we need to pack and leave graciously and gratefully  with the strongest belief , faith and love that our Lord Sri Krishna will surely take care of all his creations and it has never been that we have done , it has always been that he is doing.......

Let each one of us, pray our dearest lord Sri Krishna to grant us the serenity to bear everything with stoic courage, celebrate death and disease for it has cut our bad karmas and we are heading towards better days. At a human level, it is difficult to be equipoised but practice, wisdom and gyana will make us perfect and above all if our love for our most beloved Lord Sri Krishna is unquestionable, impeccable and unshakable then it is the easiest to release and renounce everyone and everything for breaking free of attachment whilst  unceasingly performing our  karma is the essence of life.

REJOICE REJOICE, CELEBRATE CELEBRATE SEPARATION FOR IT IS BIRTH ONCE AGAIN WITH A MOST BEAUTIFUL NEW MULTI COLOURED WONDERFUL GARMENT.

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE............

In this very important chapter, our dearest Lord Sri Krishna , very gradually, lovingly  and systematically leads Arjuna to higher levels of knowledge by conveying that his entire preaching/ discourse is a timeless treasure conveyed by Parmaatman first to Vivasvan (sun god) and later sun god transferred it to Manu his son and Manu in turn to his son Ikshavaku.

Till now, Arjuna always loved our Lord Sri Krishna as his very beloved friend, guide and philosopher but on hearing this he wonders how come our dearest Sri Krishna could have existed before sun god without knowing that Suryanaryana ( Sun god )  is one lotus eye of Lord Sri Krishna and the other being Chandranarayana ( Moon god).  The best part is that each one of us in our worldly existence and pursuits are incapable of judging the very people who touch our lives which is very true to this day, where we take each and everyone/everything for granted but the moment we come to know the greatness and ocean of supreme love of some of the people associated with us who are the epitome of humbleness, ever flowing compassion and are true to the core we are speechless, stunned and are repentant of our ignorance.  Lord Sri Krishna conveys to Arjuna every jivatma has very limited memory but the one and one parmaatma knows not only of all of his births, leelas and avataars but is a greatest repository of each and every jivatma and knows the evolution and has record of every karma of each and every soul and all this is unwritten but stored in his most beautiful lotus heart and is never subject to virus and permanently acts as a source of the further births of all the jivatmas.   Sriman Naryanaya is the most caring father, mother, guru, sarvasam and is the only divine best well wisher who can erase all our karmas and carry us to salvation and none else, this is the ultimate truth.  The all empathetic, kind and most benevolent Parmaatma is ever waiting very eagerly, enthusiastically and fervently for each soul to introspect and reach him as fast as they can but he offers full independence to each soul for taking this decision and never imposes it on any soul despite his highest power and position as our only creator, which only goes to prove his immense love for each of his creation.

This chapter is enriched with the highest and most reassuring message of our dearest Lord Sri Krishna that whenever adharma/ unethicalness is on rise he would himself come forth and rescue his loving devotees, after this most heartening and supportive statement and that too from our creator is there even one billionth of a reason for us to worry for anything?  Our lord rushes more than lightening speed to protect his devotees and does not think twice to vanquish the evil doers. Each one of us can live peacefully and with total confidence that we are fully under the caring shelter of our lord. Our smallest of small want is fulfilled by him unasked, all that we need is to fully repose our faith in our creator that the whole world can go hither and thither but he is there for us ever and ever and we are encircled in his protective lotus arms.

Our lord speaks of different methods and fruits of the various sacrifices as prescribed by our most venerated scriptures and vedas, the methods of attaining heavens, de-alienation of the body and full one pointed concentration on the immortal soul , identifying  the most righteous, erudite and experienced guru and  then surrendering at the lotus feet of the revered guru for seeking of knowledge/ wisdom for only  a true guru can lead us to Lakshmi amma and Lord Sri Krishna and further has very beautifully enumerated of the  four varnaas, importance of nishkaama karma, the fate of the doubting soul which is lost forever and the fine fortune of  those loving jivatmas, even the foulest of foul who surrender to the will of our creator reaches the ultimate destination with the help of our dearest Lord Sri Krishna is the essence of the chapter IV . Any other path however tough or steep will never lead us to moksha for the only one and one route to attain permanent salvation is Lord Sri Krishna/ Sriman Narayana and none else. One step from jivatma towards our Lord Sri Krishna would be most gently reciprocated by him by shielding us in his loving fold eternally. Our Lord keenly desires that each of the jivatma should adopt only his swadharma ( perform with single pointed devotion and fervor the  duties of  Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya or the fourth varna as ordained and allocated to the individual soul and under no circumstance switch over to any other dharma no matter how enticing or fulfilling it may be), he has very greatly emphasized the importance of wisdom and knowledge which can illumine and sparkle the soul and above all irrespective of whether we are able to cross the jungle of  samsara, control our senses or not , all we need to do is unconditionally surrender our soul at his lotus feet, rest will be  fully taken care of by him.  The simplest of all paths yet difficult for many, if only the jivatma is able to do this destination of parmapadam is very near and who on this earth would not love to be in the happiest of happy places engaged in the loving service of our creator the one and only Lord Sriman Narayana, Govinda, Krishna, Madhusudhana, Vithobha…………

Few of the points could have been missed out but a very sincere attempt has been made to include some of the most important message as conveyed by our Lord Sri Krishna, any lacunae may please be pardoned for this entire most divine Srimad Bhagavad Gita has been analyzed by me as a humblest of humble servant and mere medium of our Lord Sri Krishna in the capacity of a tiniest of tiny speckle of dust. 

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE, HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE.