SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
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This article is a transcription of lecture given by SrI u vE sArathy thOthAthri swamy.
In this series of lectures, in English, on certain important topics, at present we are taking up bhagavath rAmAnuja’s final instructions. Recently we have started virOdhi parihArangaL grantha kAlakshEpam. As part of that virOdhi parihArangaL which was blessed by bhagavath rAmAnuja to vangi purathu nambi and vangi purathu nambi subsequently documented the instructions given by bhagavath rAmAnuja. As part of that grantham, i.e., the published book, we have seen the other places where bhagavath rAmAnuja had given final instructions. It was a thoroughly enjoyable section where very important and fundamental principles about our SrIvaishNava sampradhAyam and the aspects which we need to pursue and what we need to avoid they are all shown in a very pinpointed manner. This virOdhi parihArangaL grantham itself is a very beautiful and fundamental grantham which has to be studied by every SrIvaishNava. In fact, in my [sArathy swamy’s] view, this virOdhi parihArangaL should be studied first as soon as one gets into SrIvaishNava sampradhAyam because it gives us clarity on what we should do and what we should avoid.
In every aspect of our life and in every aspect of our sampradhAyam, whether it is the philosophy or whether it is the activities we do on a day to day manner, whether it is the thought process we have, what we have to listen to, what we have to recite, what we have to eat, all of these topics are taken and bhagavath rAmAnuja had given instructions to vangi purathu nambi. And vangi purathu nambi in turn had documented those instructions along with the brief commentary. So, it’s a very wonderful grantham, very foundational grantham for our SrIvaishNava sampradhAyam.
This grantham was published in the last century by SrI u.ve. V.V. rAmAnujam swAmy. He lived a very long life, serving our sampradhAyam to his fullest ability and publishing many wonderful granthams. And also, as part of that virOdhi parihArangaL grantham, i.e., the published book, he had incorporated/included the other instructions which were given in his final days by bhagavath rAmAnuja. Some of them were documented in guru paramaparA prabhAvam 6000 padi and then there are some which are documented in prapannAmrutham which is a Sanskrit grantham on life and glories of our AchAryas. guru paramparA prabhAvam is a maNi pravALa (thamizh/sanskrit words mixed) grantham. Then there is prapannAmrutham. And then there is the six instructions which are very popular and famous, given by bhagavath rAmAnuja. All of these were included by V.V. rAmAnujam swamy in his virOdhi parihArangaL publications. So, we are very fortunate to be going through the detailed commentary of the same in thamizh as grantha kAlakshEpam.
In addition to that, this virOdhi parihArangaL was translated by me (sArathy swamy) many years ago, around 12-13 years ago. It was one of my earliest initiatives to translate this beautiful grantham into English with detailed additional notes for each of the points. So, that grantham, English translation is available on our website (https://granthams.koyil.org/virodhi-pariharangal-english/). It is a very huge book/grantham. But it covers a lot of very important information about our sampradhAyam.
As a SrIvaishNava – a SrIvaishNava means a combination of prapanna and mumukshu. One has to be a prapanna, that is one has to surrender to bhagavAn and then one has to be a mumukshu. Surrender is to attain bhagavAn and perform eternal kainkaryam, which is known as mOksham. The one who desires mOksham is mumukshu. So, a SrIvaishNava means he has to be both prapanna and mumukshu. That is what is our tradition, that is what is shown by AzhwArs and AchAryas. So, for SrIvaishNavas, the essential knowledge one has to have, all of that is covered in this beautiful grantham and that is translated in a very detailed manner and published as a book in our kOyil.org initiative. We have that book in books.koyil.org. So, those who are really interested in knowing more about virOdhi parihArangaL which is a very fundamental grantham, which must be studied by every SrIvaishNava without fail; please go to our website, either get the publication in print (https://books.koyil.org/index.php/2020/10/12/virodhi-pariharangal-english/) or use the pdf file, whichever is convenient for the viewers, please go through that and get that copy.
As part of that book, as said before, the 74 instructions given by bhagavath rAmAnuja during his final days, is also documented and I (sArathy swamy) thought of sharing that brief grantham which will be very useful for all of us. Since virOdhi parihArangaL is already translated and is available in our website, people can go through that. But, since this one is not translated and it is short and to the point, pinpointed grantham, I thought taking this up and sharing with all of you. Hope, everyone enjoys this grantham. It is a beautiful grantham. Hopefully one also starts following whichever points that are possible for each of us. In this virOdhi parihArangaL grantham, and in these 74 instructions, we see certain aspects are difficult to implement. It is not impossible because when we have these granthams showing these principles, when we see at least one or two bhAgavathas (devotees) who are following these principles and putting them into practice, it must be possible for others to emulate. If one person can do something, then anyone else can come and do the same activity. So, there are people who are following these principles even today. Maybe a handful, but still there are bhAgavathas. So, since they are there, we can look up to them for inspiration, and we can also try to follow these principles.
In our sampradhAyam it is very important that we try to put things into practice. Knowledge when it is not put into practice, goes to waste. Only when the knowledge is applied, it is of use else it is of no use. So, whatever we hear, whatever we learn, whatever we study, we have to try and implement them in our life, little bit at least to our capability. There are certain things that are possible for each one of us to change. There are certain things which are under our control which we can change. There are certain things which are beyond our control and for those we have to pray to bhagavAn and request him to facilitate even those aspects. So, that is how we have to see these granthams, whether it is virOdhi parihArangaL or SrIvachana bhUshaNam, or mumukshuppadi, all of these granthams, they are all aimed at SrIvaishNavas. It is a very important fact we have to understand.
All of our pUrvAchAryas granthams are for SrIvaishNavas and not for others. We cannot go and preach samsAris (materialistic people) to become very noble, compassionate, to become very devoted. First, we have to preach that within our community. We have to first preach that to ourselves, to be in line with pUrvAchAryas’ principles. We have to ensure certain basic etiquette and conduct, avoid other dhEvathAs, as any indulgement in worshipping other dhEvathAs is completely prohibited in our sampradhAyam as shown by our pUrvAchAryas. We don’t have any disrespect towards any dhEvathAs. All the dhEvathAs are established by bhagavAn. But we don’t go and worship them. This is very important for us to understand.
Similarly, we must ensure that we eat prasAdham only. Whatever we eat, must be allowed for us and it must be offered to bhagavAn, AzhwArs and AchAryas, before we consume. Before we offer the food to bhagavAn, it remains as bhOgam. Once it is offered to bhagavAn and bhagavAn accepts that, it becomes prasAdham. So, we have to eat prasAdham only. When we say we have to eat prasAdham, then we have to understand what we can offer to bhagavAn. One should not offer something that is forbidden in SAsthram. As a prapanna, as a SrIvaishNava, whatever is allowed for us, only that should be consumed
Avoid apachArams, hurting others, disobeying bhagavAn, and disobeying SAsthram. If we disobey SAsthram, then that is bhagavath apachAram. SAsthram provides certain rules and regulations. We have to follow that. If we don’t follow that, then we are doing bhagavath apachAram. If we try to steal bhagavAn’s properties (everything is bhagavAn’s property); if we try to claim ownership, then that is bhagavath apachAram. If we consider other dhEvathAs to be at par with bhagavAn, if we consider bhagavAn’s divine form to be inferior or superior based on the material it is made, these are all bhagavath apachAram. In this manner there are many aspects which are bhagavath apachAram.
bhAgavatha apachAram – offending and hurting bhAgavathas. The first and foremost bhAgavatha apachAram shown by our pUrvAchAryas’ in their granthams is to consider a person (a bhAgavatha (devotee)) inferior based on his birth. If we look at a person (bhAgavatha) and say that the person is inferior based on the birth or the person is superior based on his birth, that itself is a big offence. Similarly, if one is considered superior or inferior based on one’s knowledge, one’s wealth, one’s physical appearance, which we observe today, all these are bhAgavatha apachAram. If some wealthy person comes, people fall head-over-heels and celebrate and accept such a person. Even in temples we see this. A temple is a place which is sacred where we should be very honest, devoted, and we must have a far wider compassionate vision. But even in temples we see such discrimination. If somebody comes with money, they are treated differently. If somebody is looking nice, beautiful and appealing, then one goes and talks to that person, and if somebody is ugly (in one person’s view) then that person will not go and talk to that ugly person. Thus discrimination, stating someone as inferior due to birth, wealth, knowledge, or conduct, is unacceptable. It is the firm faith in bhagavAn that bhagavAn is the upAyam (means) and bhagavAn is the upEyam (goal). And, acting according to that, is what makes a person inferior or superior. If a person is SaraNAgathan but still is going around materialistic desires, worldly pleasures, then that is not anything to glorify. Such persons have to be reformed, and AchAryas have to reform such persons. But if the same person is very devoted, humble, and dedicated, then that person is superior and has to be glorified. Thus, such offences, apachArams have to be avoided. These are some of the fundamental aspects which people are not even grasping these days. Even in SrIvaishNava families, even in traditional families; not just brAhmaNa SrIvaishNavas, also abrAhmaNa SrIvaishNavas. Therefore, without realising this, if people continue to do bhAgavatha apachAram, then that will lead them to hell, and they will suffer in this samsAra. Even though they have got AchArya sambandham, still if they continue to do bhAgavatha apachAram and do not show any remorse or repent for that, then they will also suffer.
Thus, these are some of the basic aspects. Avoiding other dhEvathAs, consuming prasAdham only, avoiding offences (apachArams). All of these are fundamentals and must be known by every SrIvaishNava. Whether one is a great AchArya or one is a new entrant into our sampradhAyam, everyone should know these principles.
Everyone should have humility and have compassion towards others. These qualities are very important in a SrIvaishNava. That is the real SrIvaishnavathvam. We see in our pUrvAchAryas literature, nanjIyar says that, when a person looks at the other person who is suffering and says “Alas! This person is suffering how can I help him, why is he suffering unnecessarily”, and feels for that suffering, then that is the real SrIvaishNavathvam. If we feel heppy seeing a bhAgavatha suffering, then we can guarantee that we are not a SrIvaishNava. Whenever we feel happy seeing another SrIvaishNava/bhAgavatha, then that means we are a good SrIvaishNava. And, if we feel sad seeing their sadness, then that too indicates we are a good SrIvaishNava. Instead, if we feel happy with their suffering or vice-versa, then we are not SrIvaishNavas. Thus, such attitude, and good noble qualities should develop.
All of these above, are systematically explained in these granthams such as SrIvachana bhUshaNam, virOdhi parihArangaL.
Unlike virOdhi parihArangaL, bhagavath rAmAnuja’s final instructions are smaller. We will first relish how bhagavath rAmAnuja ascended to paramapadham.
bhagavath rAmAnuja lived a complete life of 120 years. When he incarnated, bhagavAn ordered bhagavath rAmAnuja to stay in this world for 200 years. AdhiSEshan incarnated as bhagavath rAmAnuja and bhagavAn orders AdhiSEsha to live in this world for 200 years and spread the greatness of SaraNAgathi and bring souls into this sampradhAyam. As per bhagavAn’s orders AdhiSEsha appears as iLaiyAzhwAr in SrIperumbudhur as the divine son of kEsava sOmayAji and kAnthimathi ammAL. He grows up in the early life and learns everything from his father. He goes through the samskArams like upanayanam, and then marriage. His father ascends to paramapadham. After that he goes to kAnchipuram and stays there. He learns from yAdhava prakASa with whom he has some disagreements and yAdhava prakASa’s disciples try to kill him by taking him to vArANasi and drowning him in ganges (river gangA). But somehow, he escapes from that plot with the help of embAr (gOvindhAchArya). embAr helps his elder brother (iLaiyaAzhwAr) to escape from that situation and then he comes back to kAnchIpuram. He takes guidance of kAnchI pUrNa (thirukkachchi nambi), and serves varadharAja perumAL (dhEva perumAL). And then at some point he accepts sanyAsa ASramam and becomes to be called as rAmAnuja and yathirAja.
After sometime, he goes to SrIrangam, he is greatly and warmly welcomed by bhagavAn SrI ranganAtha. And he was given great honours. At that time Sri ranganAtha gives rAmAnuja the title of udaiyavar (udaiyavar means swAmy). udaiyavar is thamizh word, which means owner. So, bhagavAn gave ubhaya vibhUthi to bhagavath rAmAnuja (nithya vibhUthi and leelA vibhUthi). nithya vibhUthi is paramapadham and leelA vibhUthi is samsAram. He tells bhagavath rAmAnuja that whoever he accepts as his follower, they will be given paramapadham. So, in this manner bhagavAn gives great honours to bhagavath rAmAnuja. bhagavath rAmAnuja continues to grow our sampradhAyam. He writes commentaries for brahma sUthram. He explains brahma sUthram in a detailed manner in SrI bhAshyam. And then he also explains the essence of brahma sUthram in vEdhAntha sUthram and vEdhAntha dhIpam. bhagavath rAmAnuja did not write separate set of commentaries for upanishadhs, but he composed vEdhartha sangraham and eliminated all the doubts one may have in upanishadhs. In vEdhArtha sangraham, the controversial aspects which were misinterpreted by adhvaithis and others in upanishadhs, were explained. Then he gave nithya grantham which is a thiruvArAdhana kramam, SrI bhagavath gIthA bhAshyam, and gadhya thrayam (SaraNAgathi gadhyam, SrI ranga gadhyam and SrI vaikuNta gadhyam).
Subsequently, he becomes very famous and travels all over bhAratha dhESam and preaches the message of bhagavAn and convinces many people and brings many devotees and disciples. In this manner, he lived a very successful and glorious life. He went to thirunArAyaNapuram for some time, hiding away from the evil Saiva king. Then he returns to SrI rangam. He stays for some more time in SrI rangam. Finally, one day, he goes to periya perumAL and recites gadhya thrayam. periya perumAL becomes very pleased and says, “what do you need?” bhagavath rAmAnuja replies “I want to be liberated from this world as soon as possible.” bhagavAn asks bhagavath rAmAnuja “why so early? I asked you to be here for 200 years, and it’s only 120 years. Why are you rushing?”. bhagavath rAmAnuja replies “I cannot tolerate any more time here”. And thus, he ascends to paramapadham based on the orders of bhagavAn. Thus, bhagavAn orders that bhagavath rAmAnuja will leave his divine body and ascend to paramapadham, seven days from then.
bhagavath rAmAnuja became very happy and he started giving some special instructions to his disciples. And all the disciples/bhAgavathas there are wondering “Why is bhagavath rAmAnuja giving so many instructions suddenly? Are these his final moments?” They then ask bhagavath rAmAnuja, for which bhagavath rAmAnuja admits that bhagavAn has granted mOksham to him and he is going to ascend to paramapadham in seven days. So, at that time he gives very important instructions and those instructions are found in a few different places. Certain aspects are part of guruparamparA prabhAvam. Also, there is prapannAmritham where some of these are highlighted, and bhagavath rAmAnuja’s final instructions are from prapannAmritham. lastly, there is virOdhi parihArangaL which is bhagavath rAmAnuja’s instructions to vangi purathu nambi.
In this manner there are wonderful final instructions given by bhagavath rAmAnuja. Hearing that rAmAnuja is leaving in seven days, many people fall down like a broken tree. They became exhausted and exasperated and were unable to think about bhagavath rAmAnuja leaving them. bhagavath rAmAnuja lived for 120 years in this world. Many of his devotees/disciples lived their entire life with bhagavath rAmAnuja. So, they have been seeing and worshipping bhagavath rAmAnuja for such a long time. So, for him to leave the divine form in itself was not digestible for many of them. They were fainting, crying out and wailing. Finally, bhagavath rAmAnuja convinces everyone that nobody should do anything wrong, because some people were thinking they will commit suicide if bhagavath rAmAnuja ascends to paramapadham. bhagavath rAmAnuja says that “it is a promise on me that nobody should engage in any such activities. You have to be here, follow my instructions, follow the will of bhagavAn and live a satisfied complete life.” They all accept that and from that day onwards bhagavath rAmAnuja gives special instructions. Thus, in this manner bhagavath rAmAnuja gives instructions.
After that, when the time comes, on the seventh day, bhagavath rAmAnuja sits on a seated posture and he is meditating upon yAmunAchArya (ALavandhAr). He was having his head placed on devotees and his lotus feet on his devotees like parASara bhattar, kidAmbi AchchAn and many of them; and he gives up his body and ascends to paramapadham. Seeing that, everyone becomes heart broken and they all start crying. But after some time, they realise that it is reality of this world that if somebody comes they have to leave. So, they start doing the final rites (charama kainkaryam) for bhagavath rAmAnuja. It was run in a most elaborate way. As soon as bhagavath rAmAnuja ascended to paramapadham, SrI ranaganAtha became very upset that rAmAnuja is no more in this SrIrangam. And then he orders all the disciples/devotees there to bury bhagavath rAmAnuja’s divine form under the ground in his vasantha mandapam. The rAmAnuja sannidhi we are seeing today, is SrIranganAtha’s vasantha mandapam. It was given by bhagavAn to bhagavath rAmAnuja. After bhagavath rAmAnuja ascending to paramapadham, to preserve bhagavath rAmAnuja’s divine form/body, this place was granted by bhagavAn. That is why we see that bhagavath rAmAnuja’s divine form is buried under the mUlavar sannidhi. Subsequently the mUla mUrthi was consecrated and then the uthsava mUrthi was also consecrated.
In this manner bhagavath rAmAnuja’s divine ascent to paramapadham was glorified greatly. Many bhAgavathas recited dhivya prabandham, thirumanjanam (divine bathing) was performed for bhagavath rAmAnuja (his divine final form). Lots of glorifications were done and plenty of aspects shown is SAsthram were completely fulfilled. Finally, his divine form was buried underground in the vasantha mandapam and now we see bhagavath rAmAnuja’s divine form as mUla mUrthi and uthsava mUrthi. Thus, in this manner he ascended to paramapadham but before ascending to paramapadham he did not remain quiet. He rather gave lot of instructions to lot of his disciples. And one such set of instructions are these 74 instructions, which are given by bhagavath rAmAnuja.
bhagavath rAmAnuja was sent here to remain for 200 years, but he went back to paramapadham earlier. Only for those like nithyasUris who come from paramapadham, we can say that they went back to paramapadham. For badhdhAthmAs (all of us), we have to use the phrase “We are attaining (reaching) paramapadham”. We are not returning to paramapadham, but we are reaching paramapadham.
While going to paramapadham it is common for AchAryas to give instructions. Even in the case of ALavandhAr (yAmunAchArya), when he was ascending to paramapadham, he gives lot of instructions. All of these are shown in guruparamparA prabhAvam. Anything that is given during final days is considered as auspicious.
bhagavath rAmAnuja remained here only for 120 years even though he was ordered to remain for 200 years. One may wonder why AdhiSEshan didn’t fulfill that. For that we have to understand that Sri varavaramuni swAmy (maNavALa mAmunigaL), who is the reincarnation of bhagavath rAmAnuja, remained in this world for 73 years. Therefore, 200 years is (120 +73) which approximately sets up properly.
Thus, these final instructions from bhagavath rAmAnuja have to be studied properly, under a proper mentor. We are taking the help of the grantham published by puthur bAlAji swAmy. He has written simple explanation for the instructions which are in sanskrit. He has recently published this small booklet. As previously mentioned, SrI V.V. rAmAnujam swAmy has also included these set of instructions which are given in prapannAmrutham.
Through all of these granthams, whatever is easy for us to practice, we must try to implement immediately. For example, always being with thirumaN kAppu and SrIchUrNam, always being dressed in vaidhika attire. All of these are very basic and fundamental. So, these must be compulsorily followed by every one of us. But there may be certain aspects that may be difficult to follow. We have to get guidance from elders and start practicing as mentioned by bhagavath rAmAnuja. All of these aspects are very important for all of us to understand and also practice.
With this introduction, let us go through the 74 instructions by bhagavath rAmAnuja which were given during his final days.
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/live/nqJw14J-jOM?si=4O38o4b2rj4W0Mbp
adiyEn vidhyA rAmAnuja dhAsi
Proofreading done by – vEnkatESa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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