We are all born in this world, we eat, we live, & die, this is common to both humans & animals, then where is the difference? there must be some factor to distinguish ourselves from mere animals. As humans what is our goal? mere than the word humans, it is apt to use the word ” Sri Vaishnavas”. So what is the ultimate goal of a
Sri Vaishnava?
There are four goals or Chaturvidha Purusharthas, namely Dharma, artha, kaama and moksha.
- Dharma is righteous path prescribed in the Saastra
- Artha is financial aspects and its equivalents.
- Kaama is gratification of the sense organs
These three goals namely Dharma, artha, kaama are transitory and very limited and are mundane goals. The fourth goal is Moksha, which is permanent and unlimited. Moksha is liberation from all karmas and hence from the material world, reaching the transcendental divine world Shree Vaikuntam and doing eternal service to the lotus feet of Shreeman Narayana: and having infinite bliss. And now when our goal is clear, what are the ways to reach it?
Yuga in Hindu philosophy is the name of an era within a cycle of four ages or chatur yugas namely krita yugam, Treta yugam, Dwapara Yugam, and kali yugam. Every yuga has a dharma for itself, to understand it first we must understand ” Sri Vaishnavam”
Followers of ” Sri Vaishnavam” are called ” Sri Vaishnavas”“Vaishanava Jana Tho”, a favorite of Mahatma Gandhi.
Who is a Sri Vaishnava?
By birth in a bramhin caste, & wearing yagnopaveetham (poonal) one cannot be qualified for Sri Vaishanavisim and Sri Vaishnavisim is not a caste, it is an association or group, with which one has to associate ourselves to reach HIM, Out of 12 alwars only 3 were bramhins, rest all belong other 3 varnas, even lords incarnation as Rama was a kshatriya by birth and Krishna was a yadava . So birth is not a eligibility for Sri Vaishnava
defintion for Sri Vaishnava & Sri Vaishnavisim
Vaishnavism is a broad-based universal religion , which is open to one and all independent of Caste,creed, gender, and scholarship of the individual. The qualifications to be a true Vaishnava has been described beautifully by Narasimha Mehta in his song
The following is the summary of the song which summarizes practical vaishnava values in a unique way
He is a true Vaishnava who knows and feels other’s calamities as his own. Ever ready to serve, he never boasts. Keeping his thought, word and deed pure. Blessed is the mother of such a person. He treats women as he would treat his own mother He keeps his mind calm and does not stain his lips with falsehood; Nor does he touch other’s wealth. No bonds of attachment can hold him. Ever in tune with Rama-nama (name of God), within his body is present all places of pilgrimage. Free from greed and deceit, passion and anger, This is a true Vaishnava
Sri Vaishnavas.(Vaishnavas and Sri Vaishnavas are equal in meaning. The word Sri is added for auspiciousness in the Vaishnava Paribhasha(Colloquliasm). It is also a matter of respect accorded by others to Vaishnavas.” Adiyen went in search of such person, in all the maada veedhis of Thirumala, but could not find any other person, lowlier than me, that is why adiyen came swamy” (who other than Periya Tirumalai Nambi can say these words, we always boast of our education and designation we hold, and also about our children, & want publicity known even to our relatives, can we ever imagine to stand in front of Periya Thirumalai Nambi) who was so humble.an aspect of dharma that is valid for a yuga. In Satya-Yuga or the golden age there was a different set of Dharmas or laws; in Treta, they changed into another form; in Dvapara, the Dharmas were different from the Dharmas of other Yugas; and in Kali-Yuga, they assumed still another form. The Dharma changes according to the changes of the cycles. Man is undergoing change. His nature gets transformed through experiences. Hence, his external form of Dharmas also should change. The other aspect of dharma is Sanatana Dharma, dharma which is valid for eternity.
1) a person who is not able to bear the pain of others, cries and bothers as he himself is undergoing the sorrow and immediately goes & helps them is the 1st character of Sri Vaishnavan
example once Swamy Ramanuja,saw Embar(his cousin & sishya)putting his hand into the snake’s mouth, on enquiry, embar replied, “adiyen is removing the thorn that got struck in its tongue, so that it would be relieved from pain” Embar could not even see the creature suffering from pain, such was the karunyam he had on the snake, even knowing the fact, that snake bite may lead to fatal death. Once Swamy Ramanuja’s asked his another disciple Koorthalwan to cut the banana leaf from tree, but Alwan did not return for a long time, when he went to see what happened Alwan was unconscious, alwan was not able to bear the pain, the plant was undergoing while its leaves are being cut, such is his compassion(what an example, can we ever live upto them? not even in our dreams)
2)A Sri Vaishnava’s 2nd character is that we must think that we are the lowliest of all, we should shed all the 3 egos which comes to us1) by our birth being in a rich or pious family 2) by our education or qualification 3) by our fortunes or prosperity/wealth, “paraspara neecha bhaavam sri vaishnava lakshanam” goes a saying, every Sri Vaishnava must think himself as the slave & lowliest of other sri vaishnava, no room for ahankaram.
example, when Swamy Ramanuja, visited Thirumala once, Periya Thirumalai Nambi (his maternal uncle & 1 among the 5 acharyas of Swamy Ramanuja) came to welcome Swamy near Kali gopuram, along with prasadams & mariyadhai, Swamy Ramanuja said “Why did devareer, at this age come, down all the way, is it not enough, to send some small person or boy, why did devareer strain?” Periya Thirumalai Nambi said
Thus our poorvacharyas lived upto the mark.
How can we attain spiritual up liftment? in the age of kali is discussed below:-
Manu smriti states
There is one set of (yuga) dharmas for man in the krita yuga; a different set for each of the treta, dvaapar and kali yugas; the dharmas change according to the change of the yugas.”
The human mind was not polluted in Satya Yuga and therefore he/she was able to climb the ladder of self realization easily. 1)The first way is Nama sankeertanam (chanting his names) innumerable no of times , no need for time, place and other factors, we cant do it while driving, cooking, walking,anywhere & anytime the easiest and simplest wayIn the Srimad Bhagavatam it is statedkaler dosa-nidhe rajann asti hy eko mahan gunah kirtanad eva krsnasya mukta-sangah param vrajet krte yad dhyayato visnum tretayam yajato makhaih dvapare paricaryayam kalau tad dhari-kirtanat “The most important factor in this Age of Kali, which is an ocean of faults, is that one can be free from all contamination and become eligible to enter the kingdom of God simply by chanting the holy names. The self-realization that was achieved in the Satya millennium by meditation, in the Treta millennium by the performance of different sacrifices, and in the Dwapara millennium by worship of Lord Krishna can be achieved in the Age of Kali simply by chanting the holy names.”
In Thirumalai 2nd pasuram Thondaradipodi Azhwar says “achyutha, amarareere aayar tham kozhundhey ennnum icchuvai thavira yan poi indihra logam aalum, acchuvai perunum vednden arangamanagurulanee”Azhwar reveals that the bliss that arises from reciting the many divya naamAs of Sri RanganAthan is far superior to the bliss arising from staying even at Sri Vaikuntam . Therefore, he says that he rejects life at any other place over the life at Srirangam spent in the enjoyment of the naama sankeerthanam (chanting names) of the Lord.“One’s athma gunas, will be a favourable factor for acharya sammandham but in my case my athma gunas are uncordial for my acharya,sammandham, Adiyen does not want to have Sri Ranganatha Darshanam which forbids my acharya sammandham.(emperumaanr/bhaagavatha sammandham) “ & immediately left for Thirumalirun Solai, (Madurai) as he did not want to stay in the place which has not accommodated his acharya and a utthma bhagavatha So our poorvacharyas lived as example to us that bhaagavatha sammandham is much superior than bhagavath sammandham adiyars of lord are more important than the lord himself. And all alwars has hailed this bhaagavatha sammandham in their sri sookthis/arulicheyalVipra Narayana was the former name of Thondar adi podi alwar, meaning is thondar = servants/adiyars adi = feet, podi = dust, here he identified himself as the dust under the holy feet of bhagavathas i.e thondar adi podi alwar.
In the Treta Yuga, Yajna and Yagams were seen as the methods of worship.
In the Dwapara Yuga, pujas and rituals were seen as the best modes or worship.
In the Kali Yuga, chanting of mantras and prayers is considered to be the ideal method to attain self realization. This is because the age of Kali is an age of in-auspiciousness. Mind will be easily attracted to pleasures, which lasts only for few seconds. There will always be a craving for pleasures. There will be no control of desire. Non fulfillment of desire leads to anger and destruction. People will not be able to concentrate in the Kali. So in this yuga, we have only 3 ways, as resort for our spiritual upliftment.
In this context, adiyen would like to share an example which is cited by our poorvacharyas. They say Lord Narayana is like a bar of gold, and his namam (name) is like ornaments. Though gold bar is precious and highly valued, we cannot instantly make use of it. but the ornamants (his namam) can be easily worn by us. Thus than the lord, it is his Namam(name) that comes to our help, when called upon. In the kaurava sabha, when Draupadi called upon her husbands to save her when she was humiliated in front of everyone, no body could help, lastly she raised her hands and called “Krishna, my lord save me, I take refugee in you”, though krishna was not present, there his namam came as her savior. again Gajendra called “Naryana O Manivanna, Oh ! Lord, please come and save me” came the lord on garuda, killed the crocodile to save his bhaktha. Our only refugee is his thirunamam, Keep on chanting the ashatkshara manthram, there is no yagam, pooja, archana, japam, thapam more than that.
2) The second way is Thatheeyaradhanam feeding the adiyars of the Lord. it is also said, that by doing this, we would be doing prayachittham for all the sins, which we sometimes do even without our knowledge, example, in our day to day life, we kill so many insects, worms, bacteria, while cooking, walking, cleaning, this thaatheeyaradham is a prayachitta homam for the same.3)The third and the last way is Bhaagavatha sammandham
Bhaagavatha sammandham (relationship/association with adiyars) is much hailed than even bhagavath sammandham (relationship/association with lord).
Sri Vaishnavas, never send their guests un-feeded, even if the guest is not up to the mark, he is to be given the best hospitality with good food, and accommodation, because ” Athithi devo bhava” athithi/guest is god. that is why, we put rangoli (kolam/muggu), in front of our houses,with rice flour so that it will feed insects and ants, and offer food to crows & birds (mandatory) and when other people of other sub sects/religion call prasadams distributed as annadhanam or prasad vinayogam but our sri vaishnava sampradayam calls it “Thatheeyaradhanam” which is split as Thatheeyars + Aaradhanam, thatheeyars means adiyars of Lord, and aaradhanam means doing service to them, so it means, we are performing service by feeding to adiyars of Lord Sriman Narayana.
Example, after koorthalwan’s eyes being lost, because of kirumi kanda chozhan & swamy Ramanuja, being exiled to Karnataka. koorthalwan went to have darshan of Sri Ranganatha in Sri Rangam temple (even though he had no eyes), when he was about to enter the temple gates, he was stopped by the watch keeper, saying associates/sishyas of Swamy Ramanuja are banned to enter the temple according to the orders of the king, & said “but swami even though devareer is Ramanuja’s sishya you are humble & full of athmas gunas so devareer can enter the temple” Koorthalwan replied
Bhaagvatha kainkaryam is regarded even higher than Bhagavath kainkaryam by our sampradayam. The basis for this belief is that the true devotees of Vishnu are dearest to the Lord Sriman Narayanan and any service rendered to them is most pleasing to the lord.
Sahasra vaarshiki pooja vishnoor bhagavthoj vijaa:
sakruth bhagavatharchaya: ka laam naarhatheshotacheem!!
goes parasara visishta paradharma sastram
meaning
Doing aaradhana or kainkaryam once to lord’s devotees is equal to doing aaradhana or kainkaryam to lord for 1000 years.
Padmotthara purana says of all types of worship, the worship to Vishnu is great, and even greater than that is service to bhagavathas. It further adds that even by neglecting the worship of god if one offers worship. to bhagavathas , the god supremely is pleased with him and showers his grace on him
The food part taken at the bhaagavatha’s house is superior & pure, and the same level of holiness is in ganga theetham, vishnu dhyanam and observance of ekadasi vratham
Thus Sri Vaishnavisim calls for bhaagavtha bakthi more than bhagavath bakthi.
When Swami Ramanuja walked 18 times from Sri Rangam to Thirukottiyoor, every time he got a priceless message from his acharya Thirukottiyoor Nambi of them the following were given
12th time) On getting Satsangam, we will have Bhaagavatha Sammandham
13)Bhaagavatha Sammandham leads to Bhagavat Sammandham
14)Bhagavat sammandham makes us to avoid other subjects
15)Avoiding other subjects leads us to be Adiyars to Emperumaan
16)Being Adiyars, we take refuge only in HIM (lord)
Thus bhagavtha sammandham leads to prapatti and ultimately to the Lotus Feet of the Lord.
Taking our poorvacharyas as example, we must atleast make some efforts to follow them to reach our goal as “Sri Vaishnavas”
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