SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavaramunayE nama:
kandhAdai aNNan’s dream
A SrIvaishNava came down a ladder from upstairs and lashed at kandhAdai aNNan with the whip which he brought with him. Though aNNan had the capability to prevent the lashings, he did not do so. He felt that he was being punished like this because of a quality which was against his basic nature. Reminiscing the words “SasthrakhsArAgnikarmANisvaputhrAya yathA pithA” (it is only to cure his son’s wound that a father indulges in activities such as cutting his skin with a knife or applying stinging medicine or branding with a hot rod), he kept quiet. The whip after some time became torn and the SrIvaishNava pulled aNNan by his divine hand. aNNan asked him as to what was to be done; the SrivaishNava told him to go up the ladder. aNNan went upstairs through the ladder. The SrIvaishNava took him beyond the parapet wall where a jIyar (sanyAsi) was sitting with one foot hanging down, one foot tucked in, having a thridhaNdam (flag post composed of three sticks signifying chit, achit and ISvara entities) resting against his shoulder, holding a whip in his divine hand and with fiery eyes. The SrIvaishNava took aNNan to that jIyar. The jIyar started lashing aNNan with the whip in his divine hand. That whip too tore. In order to beat him further, the jIyar took one of the sticks from the thridhaNdam. The SrIvaishNava prostrated before him; cupping his hands in anjali mudhrA (offering salutation), he looked at the divine face of the jIyar and told him “He is a young person and has taken a lot of lashing. Please take pity on him with dhEvarIr’s divine mind and pardon him”. The jIyar too took pity on aNNan, took him on his lap, petted his head and with his divine heads touched aNNan all through his divine form. He told aNNan “uththama nambi and you have caused offence” aNNan told him “Without realising the greatness of azhagiya maNavALa jIyar adiyEn had an unclear mind. Please pardon my misdemeanour” and fell at his feet. jIyar took pity on him and said “We are bhAshyakArar (rAmAnujar) and he [the SrIvaishNava] is mudhaliyANdAn” and told the verse
thvadhIyAn aparAdhanyIran thvadhsambandhi kruthAnapi
kshamAmyaham dhASarathEs sambandham mA’nyathAkrutha:
(we have pardoned your mistakes and the mistakes of those related to you. Do not make your connection with mudhaliyANdAn to become futile) and further told aNNan “We are thiruvananthAzhwAn (AdhiSEshan); we are varavaramuni (azhagiya maNavALa jIya). Your relatives and you should take refuge from his divine feet and uplift yourselves”. Immediately aNNan woke up from his sleep and was thinking for a long time “How this dream happened!” Becoming surprised, he kept thinking of the events which happened in his dream. He then woke up his brothers and shared with them his dream. While recounting the events to them, he was speechless sometimes and had goosebumps on occasions.
The events which happened to kandhAdai aNNan through emperumAnAr have been captured by eminent people through the following SlOkams:
vAdhUladhurya varadhArya gurOr papANa
svapnEyathIndhra vapurEthya krupAparOnya:
SEshOpyaham varavarOmunirapyaham thvam
mAmaSrayEthitham aham kalayAmi chiththE
athyantha pApaniratha: kathamAryavarya
thvAmASrayEhamithi tham krupaNam vadhantham
dhrushtvA khamAmi nanudhASarathEs thvadhIya
sarvAparAdhamithi tham pravadhanthamIdE
(I worship that merciful jIyar who manifested himself in the divine form of emperumAnAr in the dream of kandhAdai aNnan who is an eminent person in the vAdhUla clan. He had said in that dream “We are AdhiSEshan, we are mAmunigaL. You take refuge under us”. I meditate on him in my mind. When kandhAdai aNNan told him in a feeble voice that he is firmly engaged in sinful activities and was wondering as to how he could take refuge under him, he [rAmAnujar] told aNNan “Oh aNNA! For the sake of mudaliyANdAn, we will pardon all your faults” aNNan went with his brothers saying as in SrIvishNu purANam 5-17-3 “adhyamE sapalam janma suprabhAdhAsamE niSA” (my birth achieved its goal today; yesterday night became a great dawn for me)) to Achchi and prostrated before her. Ensuring that she did not get scared, aNNan told her about his dream the previous night. Achchi then told him that she had taken refuge under jIyar and narrated the incident of taking his sandals on her head and how that water purified her. She also told him about how her father had taken bath in kAvEri river at a place where the water flowed after bathing jIyar and how he got enlightenment subsequently. aNNan became very ecstatic after hearing these, went to singaraiyar and explained mercifully everything, then went to the divine river kAvEri, had his bath, carrying out the daily chores and then left for meeting jIyar.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
archived in https://granthams.koyil.org/
pramEyam (goal) – https://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – https://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – https://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava Education/Kids Portal – https://pillai.koyil.org