SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
Instruction 34
gyAnAnushtAna yukthasya sadhAchArarathasya cha | pAdhOdhakam vaishNavasya pibEnnithyam prayathnatha: ||
Simple explanation: SrIvaishNavas should try very hard to get the SrIpAdha thIrtham and drink that. SrIpAdha thIrtham should be of those SrIvaishNavas who have very good gyAnam and anushtAnam. gyAnam means clear understanding of philosophy which is understanding that bhagavAn is the upAyam (means) and bhagavAn is the upEyam (goal). This gyAnam should be very clearly present in such SrIvaishNavas and not only should they have gyAnam but they should also have anushtAnam; that is conducting themselves according to that gyAnam. So having complete faith in bhagavAn and engaging only in guNAnubhava kainkaryam. That is listening to kAlakSEpams, studying the pUrvAchAryas vyAkyAnams, and engaging in kainkaryams to bhagavAn. So such SrIvaishNavas who are complete in gyAnam and anushtAnam are the goal for us and we should accept the SrIpAdha thIrtham of such SrIvaishNavas even if they refuse. Usually, good SrIvaishNavas will not easily give their SrIpAdha thIrtham. They’ll consider themselves to be lowly and unqualified and refuse. But we have to try very hard to convince them and make them give their SrIpAdha thIrtham to us as that will purify us every day and it is not a onetime thing we have to do it every day. When we do that then we will develop good gyAnam and anushtAnam ourselves as well. Great bhAgavathas means they’ll be very good in gyAnam and anushtAnam. That is what maNavALa mAmunigaL says “gyAnam anuttAnam ivai nanRAgavE udaiyanAna guruvai adaindhakkAl”. Here guru, AchArya means one who has good gyAnam and good anushtAnam. Similarly, all bhagAvathas who have gyAnam and anushtAnam in a complete manner should be glorified and we should strive to get their SrIpAdha thIrtham.
Video link: https://youtu.be/oJZkWz2P-lw?list=PLcJLpGJlP9mppMuO-AfXKofuYspsreUUb
Instruction 35
svam cha bhAgavathais sArdham sAmya budhdhim na kArayEth ||
Simple explanation: A SrIvaishNava or a bhAgavatha should not consider himself to be equal to other bhAgavathas. SrIvaishNavas, as devotees of bhagavAn SrIman nArAyaNa, must be very humble. We must always treat every other bhAgavatha to be superior to us. It is said by pUrvAchAryas such as piLLai lOkAchArya that we should consider other bhAgavathas to be equal to AchArya and higher than self and bhagavAn. So, every bhAgavatha, here bhAgavatha means one who accepts bhagavAn as upAyam (means) and upEyam (goal); bhagavAn as the goal and bhagavAn as the means to attain that goal. Such person will naturally be fully engaged only in bhagavAn. Such bhAgavathas must be considered at par with our AchArya, the one who guides us in our sampradhAyam. So every bhAgavatha who is fully situated in bhagavath vishayam should be treated at par with our Acharya. At the same time such bhAgavatha should be considered superior to bhagavAn and self. bhagavAn, ISvara, is superior to all. But bhAgavathas and AchAryas are superior to bhagavAn himself because they are more merciful and more accepting towards us. They ignore our faults and they nurture our good qualities. That is why all bhAgavathas and AchAryas are considered greater than bhagavAn. If the bhAgavatha is considered to be superior to bhagavAn himself, there is no doubt that they are superior to us. So bhAgavathas should be considered superior to self and bhagavAn and they should be treated at par with AchArya.
Video link: https://youtu.be/piy_mxcgsg0?si=2aNevLxqSUGbZyRb
Instruction 36
prAkruthAnAm cha samsparSam prAptha: prAmAdhikAdhyadhi | snAtha: sachEla: sahasA vaishNavAngri jalam pibEthi ||
Simple explanation: If we come into contact unknowingly due to our carelessness with materialistic people physically then we have to bath with the clothes which we are wearing and we have to take the SrIpAdha thIrtham of a SrIvaishNava. Whenever we get impurity, we take bath. For example, there is daily bathing (nithya snAnam). Due to dirt, sweat and so on we take bath everyday first thing in the morning and purify ourselves. Apart from that there are situations where we have to take bath again to purify ourselves. For pUjA or yagya, if we have to participate, we take bath. For reasons such as going to a place where death has happened or going to hospitals or barber shop and so on. We have to purify ourselves because of both internal and external impurities we may have acquired due to physical contact there. So, one such situation is when we come in contact with materialistic people knowingly or unknowingly. If we physically touch materialistic people, we must take bath and, in such case, we must take bath with the clothes which we are wearing. This is because materialistic people may not be bothered about maintaining both internal and external purity. If we come into physical contact with them then we also become impure. So, we must take bath to purify ourselves. In addition, we must take the SrIpAdha thIrtham, the holy water which washed the divine feet of SrIvaishNavas to purify us further because in general SrIvaishNava SrIpAdha thIrtham is recommended for all sorts of purification. Purity has to be acquired by accepting SrIpAdha thIrtham of SrIvaishNavas. This is the general remedy for many situations.
Video link: https://youtu.be/rp_ZiDi6uoo?si=wCptNiYRHEajtk2J
adiyEn vidhyA rAmAnuja dhAsi
Proofreading done by – vEnkatESa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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