Memoirs of Kanchi munivar: A Floral collection

MEMOIRS OF KANCHI MUNIVAR: A FLORAL COLLECTION Disclaimer for my Translated Materials These English translations done by me of darshan of Paramacharya and other Gurus and experiences of devotees, their discourses and other kinds of publications on and by Paramacharya and other Gurus, from their original presentations in print and other media are posted here with the sole intention of carrying the divine message of Paramachaya and other Gurus to the members of this Forum, for a discussion among the members so as to understand and practice the directions contained in the message. As a translator, I have no commercial interests or financial considerations in spreading the message of Gurus and darshan experiences, and have no claims of copyright for the translations. I have duly quoted the source of these translations, and I hereby acknowledge the credits to the publications, authors, devotees and any other people concerned. Since Paramacharya is the real source, I understand that the original credit of these materials accrues to SriMatam, Kanchipuram followed by the other people involved in spreading Paramacharya's message. If anyone involved with these publications has any reservations on the implicit consents and permissions assumed in these translations, for the spiritual benefit of mankind, the same may be brought to the notice of the Forum Administrator, for necessary changes or removal of the material presented. 'saidevo', as translator of the materials presented. Special Note The book Memoirs of Kanchi Munivar: A Floral Collection that narrates the life story of Kanchi Paramacharya is replete with historical and spiritual information about people, places and times, mainly of Tamilnadu. My main objective in posting the contents of the book here is to share this highly interesting and enlightening information with the members of HDF.--sd author:....... Raa. Ganapathi source:....... kAnchi munivar ninaivuk kadambam, 240 pages publisher:.... Divya Vidya Padhippaham (Jun. 1995 Edition) type:......... book, Tamil

Chapter 1. The pUrNa kumbham and the vAhana ArohaNam pages 1-6 The time when Sri Maha PeriyavaaL was the boy Swaminathan in Tindivanam. That is, the beginning years of this century. In that town, sIDai muRukku vyApAram (sale of crunchy snacks) of an a~ndaNap pATTiyammai (brahmin old woman). Swaminathan had a special taste in pATTiyammai's sIDai muRukku. When he got chillaRai (surplus small coins of money) he used to buy and be happy eating them. Without just being happy himself, he would also distribute them to his friends and make them happy. Later, when those friends too got chillaRai (let us not go 'researching' into how they got the coins! Can everyone be like the chaste Swaminathan?), they started buying pATTiyammai's ~noRukkut tIni (crunchy snacks), muRukku ityAdi (Murukku and such). The chaste Swaminathan was also a sAmartyashAli (skilful person). His chasteness elegantly set a limit for his skill to remain justifiable. Now, that boy of about twelve years of age, showed that nyAya sAmartyam to pATTiyammai. "pATTI! I have given you these many customers, right? So you sell the edibles at a discount to me", he said. Commission and discount are there in any dharma nyAya vyApAram, right? pATTiyammai refused--since she did not know that the boy was an avatara of Lord bhikShANDi to whom she can give even her sweet soul not just for a commission, but free. That avatara also, even when he saw his hundred years of age, acted as if he didn't know it? Therefore, like a twelve-year old sAmAnya mANavan (ordinary pupil) he bargained again. pATTiyammai did not budge. Swaminathan said angrily, "I am not going to buy form you henceforth!" pATTiyammai asked him with even more anger: "Go away if you don't buy! As if if you are not buying, I shall have no means of living, and shall call you with pUrNa kumbham, you thought?" "kUppiTTuttAn pArEn (you try doing it)!" said Swaminathan and moved away.

*** *** *** Only a year or two would have run. Tindivanam swelled in utsava utsAham (festive delightful enthusiasm) that Kanchi KamakoTi PIThAdhipatigaL was to visit the town. Any place would swell at the visit of a Jagadguru, but it was not like that. The town swelled anantam (countless) times in a swell of bliss. The reason was that, it was only that thirteen year old Swaminathan, who, until two months ago, was the pet boy of Tindivanam, was the Jagadguru Kanchi KamakoTi PIThAdhIshvara Sri Sankaracharya SwamigaL who was to visit the town now! In a totally unexpected turn of events, the school boy has evolved into a world teacher! The pUrvAshrama Swaminathar, who ascended to pIThAdhipatyam without much kolAhalam (fanfare) in the North Arcot Kalavai, and became Srimad Chandrasekharendra SaraswatigaL, is now going for a sampradAya paTTabhiShekam (tradition-honoured consecration) with rajarIka vimarisai (royal grandeur) in Kumbakonam, a town that in those days remained as the rAjatAni (capital) of SriMaTham. On the way he visits Tindivanam, his previous vAsasthalam (town of residence) that gave him to the world. Happiness in every house, of the expectation of seeing their own son as DandapaniSwamy who guides a householder! As if an external sign of that ananta kumbham filling their hearts, a pUrNa kumbham was kept ready to receive the deivIka kuzhandai (divine child). (It was the custom that people of sakala jAtis (all castes), even women, did this honour in bhrAmmaNa mukham to the Jagadguru.) That muRukkup pATTiyammai who had a twist of temperament on that day also had an intention to honour, and was ready with her pUrNa kumbham. And that with what agitating emotions? After she drove away that samarttu sarkkaraik katti (skilled and gentle 'suger candy') with her words, "...shall call you with pUrNa kumbham?"--words that were just short of a slap on the face--, that 'candy' never showed its head in that area. Later pATTiyammai learnt that it ascended the Mahaguru PiTham, which was a rare honour to get. From the day she learnt the news, she was regretting her action, with the feelings of an aparAdhin (guilty, offending). Only with the pressure of that feeling, today she prepares her pUrNa kumbham to earnestly receive that child whom she drove away on that day. pATTiyammai's manas (mind) is in saMcgalanam (agitation): 'Whether the kuzhandai guruswAmi (the Child Guruswamy) would accept or decline it?' Did he not pose a challenge on that day saying, "kUppiTTuttAn pArEn (you try doing it)!"? The Guruswamy that appeared far away, moves towards her, little by little, stopping here and there, and has now come to the next-door!

How much of a change in figure! That within one or (shine) that stopped at the limit of adisamarttuk kaLai skill) then had now become elevated into deivIka majesty). In that is weaved in wonder, the suppleness of

two years! The tejas (elegance of extreme gaMbhIryam (divine a divine motherliness!

When on behalf of pATTiyammai at the entrance of her house, the pUrNa kumbham is offered next, would that tejas separate itself and scorch as a flame? There, when the Guruswamay has arrived... eagerness and anticipation pushing pATTiyammai's legs forward, fear and a feeling of guilt drawing them back... somehow her managing it, coming forward and standing with humility... on her behalf, SastrigaL extended the pUrNa kumbham before Kuzhandai Gurunathan. The shining eyes of the Gurubala settled on the pATTiyammai who was desparate to hide herself. The light did not become a flame! Instead of the tejas alone separating, only the motherliness separated and came up swelling! That motherliness, with the simple and readily relating heart of a child, blossomed into a smile and flowered as a talk with a childlike frolic. Touching the coconut that was pUrnaphalam on the kumbham, and saying as honey, "kuDuppEnA-nna ~nIyum kuDuttuTTE! vA~ggippEnA-nna ~nAnum vA~ggiNDuTTEn! (you who said 'will I give it', gave it! I who said 'will I receive it', received it!)", he took it in his hand, that Acharya Murtam of all beings, who has become the embodiment of love. The joy of victory to both of them, for having got defeated in their own challenges! As a rUpakam (form) of that joy, pATTiyammai did a namaskAram that matched all the prostrations done by the people of the town. The Child Guruswamy who has become a suddha prEmai vaDivu (pure embodiment of love) in which thoughts like guilt and pardon never arise, blessed pATTiyammai with a blessing that matched all the blessings he gave to the people of the town, with the prArthanA 'Narayana, Narayana'. *** *** ***

Glossary: aparAdhin - guilty, offending, criminal. Pages 6-12 The previous year before Swaminathan became SwamigaL, the then Sri KamakoTi PiThAdhipatigaL was camping in a village called Saaram, located a few miles away from Tindivanam. A short time before that he had risen in his blessing stance in another village called Perumukkal near Tindivanam, for chAturmAsyam. Even at that time, a magnetic attraction had developed between that PiThAdhipati SwamigaL and Swaminathan. Meetings had taken place between the two that surprised the people of the place as to what subject could there be to converse in private, between a twelve year old school boy and a Jagad Acharya. Nevertheless, more than those sAmIpya sa~ndippugaL (meetings in person), when after finishing his chAturmAsyam, the PiThAdhipatigaL started from his two months camp and went to the Alayam (temple) of that place in what was known as the viShvarUpa yAtrA, the bAlakan saw the Acharyadeva in the temple from a distance, and it was only then for him, "Something that cannot be described as this or that, registered deep in mind!" Maha PeriyavaaL has generously given a lot of details about his external life to the author of this essay, but showed his inner life only much less than the 'tip of the iceberg', therefore slipped away from revealing more than what he said above! Thus, that 'something that cannot be described as this or that' did not leave the baAlakan to stay doing nothing about it. Although on that occasion he returned home with his father-mother, later when he came to know about the PiThAdhipatigaL visiting Saaram village, that 'something' stired and prodded him--out of the house. One day, before dawn, without informing his parents about it, he started for the SriMaTham camp. The young heart longed to have a companion. He went to his classmate Krishnaswamy's home. As he was not able to 'kidnap in stealth' the boy who was doing Kumbakarna upAsana (fast asleep), he gestured to a relative-lad of the boy who was sleeping near his friend but woke up suddenly, asking the boy to follow him silently. Both the young things (chiTTu) flew away. The bAlan who was running towards Acharyapada's sripAda (holy feet), had pain in his legs. Right at that time they spotted a cart belonging to the MaTham going towards the village Saaram. Both the boys rushed prodding their aching legs even harder, with the thought of catching that cart for further travel.

Swaminathan also spotted the mEnA (palanquin) of the PiThAdhipati going before the cart, which made his Ananda swell for a kShaNam (moment). The reason his happiness subsided after a second was that he saw that the bhoyis who carried the mEnA were jogging at a hectic pace. The clever boys understood that the sage had gone on vijayam (visit) to some surrounding village the previous day and was hastily returning to his Saaram camp in that tender morning. Therefore, they somehow digested the situation that they could only have the darshan of the mEnA then, with no possibility of darshan of the traveller in the mEnA. They decided to seek a place in the MaTham cart as they thought earlier, so they rushed toward it and caught the vehicle. kArvAr Sri Venkataramaiyer was inside the cart. 'kArubAru' in Telugu refers to government administration. Based on that term, the name kArvAr came to refer to the man holding an important administrative responsibility in large institutions. The chief official of SriMaTham has the names 'srikAryam', 'agent'; also referred to as 'sarva muktiyArnAmA'. Next comes the kajAnA adhikAri called 'kajAnji'. Third in the hierarchy is 'kArvAr', then 'mEstri (supervisor)'. Venkataramaiyer, who had became a SriMaTham chippanti (staff member) many years before Sri Maha PeriyavaaL ascended to the PiTham, was also a strict kArvAr for a long time in PeriyavaaL's PiThAdhipatyam. That kaRAr (strictness) he showed on that day to those chiRar (lads)! To Swaminathan who asked for a place in the cart, he showed the rule 'the MaTham cart is only meant for people who belonged to the MaTham' and refused to let him climb in. Just like the muRukkup pATTi refused to give him a discount! Another paribhava (humiliation) in this way to the tavak kuzhandai (child born out of tapas-penance)! However, just like he challenged the pATTiammai then, he did not do anything now; only continued his 'Nataraja service' (walking)! The bAlakAs reached the Saaram village. Gurunathar welcomed them, in the camp, his face blossming--as the sAram (essence) of shuddha premai (pure love)! Instead of asking how the two lads came alone, he said in sarva sahajam (very naturally), "Swaminatha, ingEyE iru~nduDEn (why don't you stay/remain here)!"

As how much dIrgha darshanam (previson of a long future) did the later times regard it? But then at that time? It had occurred to the bAlaka in earlier times of his darshan of SriGuru, if he could stay with the sage without returning home. But at this time specifically? Since the bAlaka in some rush had come without informing his home, and as he had the prevailing feeling of how anxious would the parents be--his friends' too--not finding their children at home, he told the truth without hiding anything to the PiThAdhipatigaL and sought his early leave to return home. (Later too he was 'pecked away' by the SriMaTham people to 'remain there itself', without his even informing home!) "Having come, stay here for at least a couple of days and then go. I shall send word to your home right now", said the gurunAtha pitA with vAtsalyam, seeing in the lad his own jnAna putra. And forthwith he sent word. Two days later, when he bid farewell to Swaminathan, he ordered a chippanti take the boys to Tindivanam in the SriMaTham cart. He could also do this adhisaya vAhana upakAram (strange obligation of a vehicle) according to the nyAya that the vehicle is meant only for those who belong to the MaTham? Because, then and there, why even before that time when he first met Swaminathan, he had made a saMkalpam to have the boy as his successor! The bAlar who returned home in the MaTham cart, did not at that time meet the kArvAr in person. Still, as one who had administered the MaTham affairs in all strictness, he would have heard the strange news that the official cart was used to take the school boys home; and also obtained the inner paripakvam (spiritual maturity). The same story of the pATTiammai again! Later, within four to five months when this Swaminathan was elected as the next PiThAdhipati, in the rush of events on that day, from Kalavai where SriMaTham was camping then, it was a cart drawn by kOvERu kazhudai (mule, as the mount of a king) that was sent to bring the vArisu (successor)! Like a god that was sought to be worshipped accosting the devotee by crossing his path, the iLamkO (young king) having been spotted in Kanchi, a town that was the single large capital of SriMaTham, the vAhanam locked to an ERu vilangu (mule), took him there and then and brought him to Kalavai. This would in all certainty have been known to the kArvAr. Not only known to him, but there would also have been his role in sending the cart. But then, the hero of our essay did not witness the paripakvam of the official at this juncture too. It took sometime later, by which time Swaminathan had become SwamigaL and the yajamAna (boss) who does 'kArubAru' as one in rank far above the 'kArvAr!

It was a day of festivity, or so it seemed. The MaTham carts were given a coat of paint and decorated. To supervise the work, that kArvAr himself brought the 'yajamAnan' Swamy! BalaGuruswamy had a look all the carts, rolling his splendid eye. Also looked at the kArvAr meaningfully, in a way the meaning sank in the official's heart! The kArvAr face bowed, with the thought 'I refused him to take in one cart that day; today all these carts belong to him'. BalaGuruswamy's milky words raised with coolness, the face that bowed! The parivu mozhi (word of compassion) that wipes away the guilt and comforts! In that a subtle streak of humour! "It was (the case) then that only those belong to the MaTham could climb into a cart. Now you people have made all these carts, even this MaTham itself, as mine. But even now for me it is the same thing--not climbing into a cart", he said, that sannyAsa chakravarti (emperor of ascetics) who had the tuRavaRa niyamam (discipline of asceticism), of not climbing into a cart that has a wheel! Glossary: kajAnA - treasury, public treasury. paribhava - m. insult, injury, humiliation, contempt, disgrace. saidevo 27 June 2008, 08:14 PM Chapter 2. avatAra dinam (The Day of Avatara) Pages 13-17 Like the vinAyaka chaturthi, janmAShTami, and shrI sankara jayanti, the good day of vaikAsi anusham has also become one of our sacred days. Is there any doubt in the janma dinam of the visible God Sri KamakoTi Maha PeriyavaaL who touched his hundredth year of age, being among the divine days? It would be proper to refer to vaikAsi anusham as vaishAkha anurAdhA. Only vaishAkhi has become vaikAsi--like madurai becoming marudai! That month of vaishAkha is the period of two pakShas (fortnights) from the day of pratamai which is the next day of our chittirai (chaitra) month amAvasya, until the day of the next amAvasya. Since the days of avatara and pandigai (festivals) are determined in the chAndramAna rIti* that starts its months from the vaLarpiRai pratamai (waxing lunar fortnight), only this will apply to Sri Maha PeriyavaaL's jayanti (day). Further, Sri PeriyavaaL was born in the Kannada kuDi (class) that follows the Chandramana Panchangam. Therefore, it is always the custom in our Kanchi SriMaTham to celebrate his jayanti in the Chandramana vaishAkha month only. On some occasions, that would also be the vaikAsi month according to the Sauramana Panchangam we follow in Tamilnadu. On many other occasions,

however, the day would fall during our chittirai month itself. The last and hundredth jayanti when Maha PeriyavaaL carried his sharIraM (body) also came in our chittirai month. Only on that day, which was May 7, 1993, the beginning of the shatApta mahotsavam was conducted in vimarisai (royal grandeur). Since the lunar eclipse took place on June 4, which was the day of our (Tamilians') vaikAsi month anusham, commencing the festivities on that day was not considered that shlAgya (excellent). But then during the eclipse time the vIryam will increase much for mantra japam. Therefore, some of us among his adiyars (devotees) took it as two jayanti days blessed by him: one on May 7th as a day of external festivity and another on June 4, the day when we can experience the shAnta sukham by ceaselessly chanting "jaya jaya sankara, hara hara sankara, taking it as the mahAmantram for our sadguru paramAtman and soaking inwardly in him. One hudred years ago, that day of anusham when he took avatar--the golden day of May 20, 1894--was in the month of vaishAkha-vaikAsi, in harmony with the two systems Chandramanam and Sauramanam. There can't be the dvaita (duality) of two computations after all on the very avatara day of the advaita svarUpam that arose to unite the whole country in harmony (~nADellAm oRRumaikkuL uyyavE)? *** *** *** Sri Maha PeriyavaaL's janana kAlam (time of birth) is one that shines with grandeur in many respects. It was vasanta Rtu (spring time), the best of the seasons. Madhavan has said "Among the seasons I remain as the spring." (aham RutunAm kusumAkaraH-Gita 10.35). Among the two months that come in vasantam, vaikAsi is distinguished by the very name 'mAdhava' month. chittirai is known as madhu and vaikAsi as mAdhavam; means 'full of honey'. Only in the vaikAsi month referred to as the very nArAyaNa svarUpam, did Sri Sankara Bhagavadpada, who prescribed nArAyaNa smaraNam to his descendents, took avatar; and gushed the honey of grace. He has also said, "mahAns go about their saMchAra (roaming) as the vasanta Rutu, doing loka hitam (healing the world)!" In vaikAsi only did the vaishNava tilakas Ramanuja and Nammazhvar took birth. Buddhas' birth, jnAnodaya (revelation) and mahAnirvANa, all three happened only on the vaishAkha pUrNima. When a person takes birth, the day of his birth will have a certain tithi and nakShatra. But then in the later years, when we start computing his day of birth, we would find that his janma tithi and nakShatra, have no necessity to fall on the same day, and actually fall on different days. In such a state, a question arises as to on which day between these two days, a person's birthday celebrations and the Aysh-homAdi worships should be done. Our ancients have prescribed that only the day in the month of birth, when a person's janma nakShatra falls should be taken as the birth day for the

general jana samudAya (public). Only accordinly, all of us are doing. However, that same great tradition has determined that the janma dinam of mahA puruShAs should be celebrated based only on the tithi, not on the nakShatra. In udAharaNam (example thereof), we celebrate sri-rAmanavami based only the navami (tithi), without considering the punarvasu (nakShatra). Although Adi Sankara Bhagavadpada Acharya's janma nakShatra is Athirai (Aardhra), we take up the jayanti vizhA (birthday celebrations) only on the panchami tithi. Those belonging to institutions such as the Ramakrishna Mutt also conduct the jayanti vaibhava for their mukhya puruShAs based only on the janma tithi. In addition, they derive the month of birth following only the Chandramana system, as with the jayanti of pUrva KAla puruShAs (great people of the ancient times). Sri Ramanuja Vaishnavas too have accepted the Chandramanam. Nevertheless, when it comes to tithi or nakShatras, in contrast to what the rest of the people do, they would take up janma dina celebrations for their mahA puruShAs only based on the nakShatra. Although they too celebrate jayanti for Ramapiran as per the navami tithi, for Kannan (Krishna), they celebrate it as 'Sri Jayanti', based only on the rohiNi nakShatra . Importance is not given in general, in the bhArata samudAyam for the maRaivu dinam (day of death) of mahA puruShAs. On the maRaivu dinam of a tuRavi (ascetic), only his disciples in the name of ArAdhana worship it like a shrArda (ceremony). Mostly the day is not even known to the other general public. The world does not also know the maRaivu dinam of Ramapiran and Kannan! However, in Tamilnadu, it is the custom among the Saiva Nayanmars to give importance only to the day of death and worship it in the form of Guru Puja. As even more unusual in this, if in general we consider only the tithi and not the nakShatra for the day of death and follow it, these Sivanesa SelvargaL alone do their puja only on the day of the nakShatra on which their gurus attained shivapadam. In that way, only on the vaikAsi mUlam is the worship conducted for Tirugnana Sambandar who was the amshAvatara of Sri Kumaraswamy. Sri Maha PeriyavaaL's jayanti would fall as the next day of Nammazhvar's (avatara) day which is vaikAsi visAkam and two days before Jnana Sambandar's (mukti) day which is vaikAsi mUlam. Based on the tithi if we celebrate PeriyavaaL's jayanti on the vaikAsi kRushNa pratama, that same day would sometimes would happen to be Sambandar's day of mUla nakShatra. Although in the vaikAsi month mahima, that month is spoken as belonging to Madhavan, visAkam is very much connected to Murugan too. There is a name 'visAkan' for Muruga! If Sambanda Peruman is murugAmsha, there are nAdi leaves that describe our Dandapani Jagadguru who took the holy name 'Swaminathan' as the avatara of Sri Swaminatha himself. Note: * Hindus celebrate their new year according to two systems known as CHANDRAMANA and SAURAMANA. Those who follow the lunar calendar observe Chandramana and those who follow the solar calendar observe

Sauramana. (http://yoga.india.yogelements.com/FPYK_Yoga_Newsletters.php? ltr=21Mar04 ) Glossary: udAharaNa - n. the act of relating, saying, declaring, declaration; referring a general rule to a special case, an example, illustration. Pages 17-22 Is the mAdhava month only for pouring honey as amudham (nectar)? Adavan (the sun) pouring warmth in amita (limitlessly) is also in that month only! As that Adavan only is the jnAnam spoken of! The same mahAtmAs who shower the honey of grace, also remain as Aditya in giving the light of knowledge, jnAna oLI. When Aditya's Adhipatyam is uccha in the vaishAkha month, on the day of 15th which is in the exact middle of the month (according to Chandramanam), at midday, the shubha jananam (auspicious birth) of our SriCharaNaaL who is the jnAna-bhAskara (sun of knowledge), took place. The day of that date was also Sunday! sUrya bhagavAn is also the adhi-devatA (presiding deity) of the anurAdhA nakShatra! There is a custom to refer to Goddess Lakshmi as that tArakA's deity. Still, on the words of the shruti, "anUrAdhA nakShatram mitro devatA" (Krishna Yajur Veda, 4.4.10), mitra is only sUrya. If that mitra is the friend who shapes up our worldly life, only AsAn (the teacher) is the friend who shapes up the spiritual life? How much distinction has our religion given to the anurAdhA nakShatra! Whatever be the homam conducted, at the beginning, when the deivabrAhmaNAs' anumati (permission) is sought by what is known as anujnA, the mantra says: "May we attain fulfilment by giving upachAra through homam and namaskAram to mitra deva! O mitrA! Bless us with your bounty! Adoring the anurAdhA nakShatras by giving aviH, may we live for a hundred years as parAkramashAlis!" ruddhyAsma hayair namasopasadya | mitram devam mitradheyam no astu | anurAdhAn havishA vardhayantaH | shatam jIvema saradaH savIrAH | For our anurAdhA nakShatra avatAra reaching his hundred years of age, what wonderful connection does the "shatam jIvema saradaH svIrAH" show! Here the parAkramam known as vIram not only shows the bodily might; also the inner power. It is the Anma dhIram (spiritual wisdom) spoken of by Avvai as "pulanai~ndum venRAn tan vIramE vIram" (the valor is that of one who has conquered his five senses). The reason for referring to anurAdhA nakShatras in plural is that it is composed of four tArakAs.

The visAka nakShatram has another name, rAdhA. One that follows it is 'anurAdhA'. The terms 'rAdh, rAdhA' refer to ArAdhana (worship), giving happiness, luxuriance and victory. The year too, when Sri Maha PeriyavaaL took avatara, refers to victory--jaya varsham! Whereas Sri PeriyavaaL for himself would only do parihAsam about his janma nakShatram. "If there is one way for all the people, it is the opposite for me. My nakShatra visheSham is such! Would you know it is vishvAmitra sRuShTi?", he would say. anurAdhA is one of the nakShatras that vishvAmitra created, when he created a svargam for triSha~gku (Trisanku), which was an alternative to the brahma sRuShTi. These nUtana tArakAs appear to move in the opposite direction of the gati (path) of the rest of the twenty-seven tArakAs. It was that which SriCharanaaL attributed for himself as "If there is one way for all the people, it is the opposite for me." In that parihAsam too there is only truth--when the whole world is going the Kali way, losing its order, was he not the one who remained as the maharshi and went in the Satya Yuga way, in the opposite direction? If for a deiva puruSha, taking the janma dinam based on the tithi and not the nakShatra is the most suitable, what is SriCharanaaL's janma tithi? In addition, if we are to take up PeriyavaaL's jayanti celebrations only in accordance with the Chandramana janma tithi, without letting the difference in the day between the Chandramana and Sauramana arise, as we celebrate in the case of Rama Navami, Krishna Jayanti, Vinayaka Chaturthi and Sankara Jayanthi, what is that day which suits this presciption? The pratama of the waning lunar fortnight, which is born on the next day of paurNami (full moon day) in the Chandramana vaishAkha month, which according to our (that is, Sauramana) system is born as the pratama on the next day of the Chittirai amAvAsyai (new moon day) is that holy day. If we are to express Sri PeriyavaaL's jayanti computed acording our sampradAya (tradition)--as we say that Sri Rama (was born) on chitra shukla navami, Kannan on shrAvaNa kRushNa aShTami, Adi Sanakara on vaishAkha shukla panchami--it is vaishAkha kRushNa pratama. Nevertheless, it has been the custom to celebrate the birthday of SriCharanaaL based on the nakShatra as with the case of the general public like us, and as against what is appropriate for the avatAra mahA puruShas. Such a jayanti in many years has been the day that the government honours as buddha pUrNima. On many occasions, Kanchi Varada Garudotsavam has also aligned on that same day. When we say pratamai, there is no need to feel chuNakkam (depressed) that it is an "ahAta nALAchchE" (an inauspicious day)! Many that are 'ahAta' in laukikam would be very 'Ahira' (auspicious) in AnmIkam--like krittika,

aShTami, navami! Just as the chaturdashI (14th day) on the day before the amAvAsya when the moon completely wanes, has visheSha shiva sambandham, so also the pratamai on the next day of pUrNima when the moon completely waxes, has a special devi sambandham. For the pUrNima that reels and rolls in close intimacy with Goddess Ambika who is karuNAmayI (compassion itself), the pratamai on the next day is only an apt tithi when the vAnaha mahA mAtA (Heavenly Great Mother) comes as SriMata, reducing by just one kalA (sixteenth part). During the waxing phase, Ambikai's charanAmRutam fills up the chandra manDalam as moonlight, tithi after tithi; and once it attains pUrNa kalA, from the waning phase pratama, the tithi nityA devIs one by one on each day would drink from that nectar, a volume of one kalA. If they as the mothers drink it, it means that they drink it for us, the people of the world, and that AmbaaL's charaNAmRutam through them would collect within us even without our knowing it. Thus, when it is emptied on the amAvasya, during the next waxing phase the charaNAmRutam would again start filling up of its own accord. In this way, it is only on the kRushNa pakSha pratama that sAkShAt jaganmAtA's aruLamuda pAnaM (nectar drink of grace) becomes available to us. For one who came as apara kAmAkShi to feed the world with the nectar of grace to take avatara, is there any other tithi more suitable than that? Did we not speak about the honey of grace together with the splendour of jnAnam above? Appropriately, the pratama that follows the nectar-showering pUrNima also remains in sUrya sambandham (connected to the sun deity). There is a tradition to worship AmbaaL as chandra-manDala-vAsini during the waxing phase and as sUrya-manDala-vAsini during the waning phase, starting from the pratama. Even though there is a general opinion that there should be no shubha kAryam (auspicious work) on the pratamai, the jyotiSham (astrology) experts say that to do utsavArambha on the kRushNa pakSha pratama is visheSha. Not only this deivIka kAryam, two important activities in vaidIka kAryam also are carried out on the pratama. A karma called sthAlI bhAgam, which is the basis known as prakRuti for all the bhAga yajnas, and the dharSa-pUrNa iShTi, which is the prakRuti for havIr yajnas, are to be performed only on the pratama. Therefore, the vEda mudalOn (God of the Vedas) who came to sustain the world from forgetting the Vedas, taking birth on a pratama is appropriate only! The 'mudalvan' (the principal one) should appear only on the pratama tithi? The advaita that establishes only the eka tattvam should start its utpava (winnowing) only on the first tithi? Glossary: Adhipatyam - supremacy, overlordship, duties of a king. Arambha - undertaking, beginning; haste, speed, effort, exertion. anuj~jA - permission, consent, command.

chuNakkam - (Tamil) 1. delay; 2. emaciation; fatigue; depression of spirits; 3. dalliance parakramaH - valour, bravery, aggression. parihAsaH, parIhAsaH - joking, jest. sRuShTiH - creation, production, creation of the world, offspring. triSha~gkuH - Trisanku, king of Ayodhya, Chataka bird, cat, glow-worm. uccha - high, tall, loud. Pages 22-24 When we see that the pratama for festivities, Sunday for mangala kAryas and anurAdhA for the sthApitam of maTha, devAlayAs are visheSha, we wonder how appropriately the tithi-vAra-nakShatra have aligned at the time of our SriCharaNar's avatAra kAlam (time of birth). There is a certain adbhuta (wonderous) agreement. SriCharaNar was one who lived with Goddess Kamakshi as his life breath. There are people who worship him as the apara kAmAkShi. The day that Kamakshi was in AvirbhAva in the Kanchi Kama Kottam was only on a waning phase pratama. (SriKamakshI Vilasam, XII.76). Securing the tradition without any compromise was one of the specialities in the greatness of SriCharaNargaL. Showing himself only as a sAmAnya manuShya (ordinary human), he guarded the sampradAya muRaimais (traditional rights and properties) with strictness. So long as he was bearing a body, we too could act as if we accepted that sAmAnyatvam only! Whereas today when he has become akhaNdam (partless, wholesome) giving up his body, it appears that it might be appropriate not to consider him with the sAmAnyAs but to rank him among the deiva puruShas that include Ramapiran, Kannapiran, and his mUla puruSha Adi AcharyaaL, and as we do to them, for him also fix only one day as jayanti day, as 'standard', in accordance with the Chandramanam as well as the janma tithi. However, we should also note an adbhuta agreement in our having celebrated rAma-kRushNAdhi jayanti as per Chandramanam and SriCharaNar's jayanti as Sauramanam until now. That is, in many years, this SriCharaNa jayanti happened to be the exact mid-date between Sri Rama Navami and Sri Krishna Janmashtami! Even in this year 1995, it is 64 days from Sri Rama Navami to vaikAsi anusham; and 66 days from vaikAsi anusham to Gokulashtami. Taking the vaikAsi waning phase pratama as SriCharaNa jayanti, it is exactly 65 days from Sri Rama Navami to that day and from that day to Gokulashtami! "As Raman lived, as Kannan taught"--in this way people are usually given the Adesha (advice). Is not the avatara of our Maha PeriyavaaL a Rama-Krishna sangamam (confluence) that shows that his very life was an upadesha and he also did upadesha by his words? Sri PeriyavaaL once explained the meaning of the gap of an exact half year between two puNya dinams (sacred days). Pointing out the half year gap

between Shivaratri and Gokulashtami, he gave this explanation. The same satya tattvam remains as jnAna-shAntam inside and shows an outward appearance of prema-lIlA. That jnAna-shAntam is Shiva; and the prema-lIlA is Tirumal (Vishnu). The figure wherein they both remain pappAdhi (in exact halves) in the same body is Sankara Narayana Murti. Only in order to show that just as they are pappAdhi in the same figure, so also are they pappAdhi in the same kAla tattvam, the Shivaratri and Gokulashtami meant for Kannan who is a pUrNAvatara of Tirumal (Vishnu) take place.--This is the explanation that PeriyavaaL gave. As detailed here, SriCharaNar jayanti and the jayanti of another contemporary mahApuruSha happen at a gap of an exact half year. That another person is Swami Sathya Sai Baba. When we see that Shivaperuman's jnAna-shAntam is more explicit in SriCharaNar and Kannan's prema-lIlA is more explicit in Baba, doesn't this time gap sweeten us as an adbhuta agreement? *** *** *** Glossary: AvirbhAva - m. manifestation, becoming visible, presence sthApita - mfn. caused or made to stand, fixed, established, founded etc.; handed over, deposited; put aside, kept, stored Pages 24-29 So far as SriMaTham is concerned, for this birthday there are three special agreements. First, the vaishAkha kRuShNa pratamai, the day of SriCharaNa jayanti falls on the eleventh day after the vaishAkha shukla panchami on which day the first among the jnAnis Sri Adi Sankara took avatara. That is, on the holy day when Bagavadpada was given the nAmakaraNa Sankara, our Abhinava Sankara has taken avatara. The second one, to put it properly, concerns the year of birth, not the day. It was only in the year 1894 when Sri Maha PerivaaL was born, that his paramaguru (guru's guru) gave the world a great vedAnta shAstra vichAra institution named 'Advaita Sabha'. Thirdly, for the vaikAsi anusham too there is a visheSham. The janana dinam of Sri Sudarsana Mahadevendra Saraswati Maha SwamigaL, SriCharaNar's paramEShTi guru (guru of guru's guru), known as 'Ilayattankudi PeriyavaaL' was also a vaikAsi anusham. Beyond everything, for Tamizhagam (Tamilnadu), there is a speciality for this day. It is only a news custom to celebrate the birthday of TiruvaLLuvar Peruman, the first among the great people that Tamizhagam gave the world, on the day after the Pongal festival, in his own name. The day perumakkaL (great people) who respect the ancient traditions attribute as the birthday of

that Perumagan (great son)--according to the very Panchangam they follow-is only vaikAsi anusham! Only the TirukkuRaL author's avatara day? There is a song sung by Nammazhvar that refers to Sri Vamana Murti, who was of kuRuvadivu (small frame), as 'TirukkuRaLan'. There is a statement in that song that appears as if it describes only our SriCharaNar in ratna churukkam (bright and compact as a precious stone). There was a Vaishnava pUrvAcharya who took up vichAra (inquiry) of the inner meaning of that statement. The day he took janma was also a vaikAsi anusham. Why give this narration as just a kuRaL in brief? Let us see it in some detail! *** *** *** Sri Maha PeriyavargaL would say that the mUla puruSha, mukhya puruSha of all the sects of our Sanatana Dharma, is Veda Vyasa. The father who gave that mahA puruSha was Parasara Maharshi. He is the one who gave in upakAra (service) the great book Vishnu Puranam--a mother-like root book for Srimad Bhagavatam. To ensure a permanent place for this Rishi's name in the world was one of the AGYAs (orders) that Sri Ramanujacharya had received from his guru ALavandar. Ramanuja's atyanta (closest) disciple was KoorathAzhvan. To him and his wife mangai nallAL (best among women) AndaL, by the sarkkaraip pongal (sweet rice) prasAdam that Sri Ranganatha himself had sent to them, two sons were born as little lumps of sugar. To the elder among them, Sri Ramanuja himself did the nAmakaraNam, as Parasara. Growing in the tirusannidhi (holy sanctum) itself as Sri Ranganatha's pet child in a thULi (a swinging cradle in cloth), and wallowing with his hand (aLaindu the nivedanams meant for Him, that child finally blossomed as Parasara Bhattar, one of the mukhya puruShas of Sri Ramanuja Darshan. If it is 'Bhattar', it was only him for the Vaishnavas! It was he who wrote a commentary for Sri Vishnu Sarasranamam in the Ramanuja tradition. Bhattar who was a bhaktimAn and a buddhimAn even in childhood, would listen and feel happy about the Divya Prabhandam that his father gave him in anusaMdhAnam. One day his father--KoorathAzhvan, who is referred to by Sri Vaishnavas as 'Azhvaan'--was reciting a pathikam (set of 10 hymns) starting with the phrase 'NeDumARkaDimai' (slave of Tirumal) from 'Tiruvaimozhi' composed by Nammazhvar, who is referred to by Vaishnavas as 'Azhvaar'. The third line in that song would speak very highly of adiyAr perumai (greatness of the devotees) as "when the parama bhAgavatas remain in this very world, would it be right to merge in bhagavAn's pAdam?" உ"ேமா பா'ேய)k+ இv.லக 12"µட2 5ைறய 8"மாேம9 5:rtத எ2 ெசnதாமைரk கC DEk+றளா2 ந"மா'ைர நாC மலரHk IJp L+தல2M அவனHயாr

8"மாம9சராy எ2ைனயாCடாr இŋேக DSயேவ? uRumO pAviyEnukku ivvulaka mUnRumuDan ~niRaiya chiRumAmEni ~nimirtta en se~ndAmaraik kaN tirukkuRaLAn ~naRumAvirai ~nAN malaraDik kIzhp pukutalanRi avanaDiyAr chiRumAmanisarAy ennaiyANDAr i~ggE tiriyavE? (When the devotees of God, appearing in smaller and bigger frames and taking charge of me, wander this world of lands, will it be right for this sinful man to avoid them and try to merge in the fragrant, flowery feet of my red-lotus-eyed Vanama Murti, who grew his small frame replete with greatness in such a way that it filled up well the three worlds?) To the anju vayasu pinju (five-year-old offspring) Parasara, the tAtparyam (purport), padap poruL (phrasewise meaning), everything was intelligible, except the phrase 'chiRu mA manisar' that occurs in the fourth pAda (quarter)! Since the one who took kuRaL vadivam (tiny form) as Vamanan became Trivikrama and pervaded the three worlds, it is alright to speak of him as chiRu mA mEniyan (small-framed, great-famed). But then why refer to the Adiyar Tilakas who voluntarily take control to guide the worldly people (including those who call them pAviyEn-sinful) as 'chiRu mA manisar' (little great men)? Interrupting his father who was reciting the pAsuram (hymn), the bAlaka asked: "What is that 'chiRu mA manisar' Appa? How can the chiRumai (meanness) and the perumai (greatness) that are opposite to each other come together in the same person?" The thandai (father) did sindhai (gave it a thought). Then came back with the answer: "PiLLAi (my boy)! Since you haven't undergone upanayanam (threadbearing ceremony), there is no way to show the veda shAstrArtham (scriptural meaning) for this. But I shall give you a pratyakSha (plainly visible) example. How do the men such as [b]siRiyAcchAn[/i] (Balariyar), AruLaLap Peruman (Devarajamuni), who are seen as respectable in our tradition even today, look like? Only small in their frames. But then in knowledge and experience, what greatness do they possess? These men who are 'chiRu' in appearance but 'mA' (big) inwardly--aren't they chiRu mA manisar'? Why, even our Emperumanar (Ramanuja), when we look at his inner greatness, remains only small in his body? Azhvar has described only such people as 'chiRu mA manisar'." This is the explanation given by Sri Vaishnavas' guruparampara story, through 'Azhvaan'. If 'chiRu' refers only to the bodily appearance, there would be many people among the bhAgavatas who are not that way? Why speak highly of only the small-framed, leaving those other people?

Therefore we can have it that 'chiRu' does not refer to the smallness of the body frame, but only refers to the vinaya sampath--the naichchiya guNam (humility) that Vaishnavas speak highly of--in which the devotees, though their inner greatness is much, they don't display it explicitly, but only consider and present themselves as small-framed. This vinaya is the lakShaNa (indication) of all the bhAgavatas, without any difference in the frames of their bodies as small or big. The pratyakSha udAharaNam (visible example) we have seen for such 'chiRu mA manisar' in our times--should we say that explicitly? 'mA' in knowledge and experience; not an ordinary 'mA' but one who can be refered to as 'mA mA (mahA mahA}' (great among the great) is our Maha PeriyavargaL. In vinaya sampath, naichchiya guNam--who else can be there to receive that epithet 'chiRu' like him, who always shrinks himself? Apart from that, he also remained small-framed according to the explanation of the guru parampara story? Is there any other example for the saying 'mUrti chiRisu, kIrti perusu' (the figure is small but the fame is large)? Therefore we can say that in the words of Nammazhvar, who wrote the Vedas in Tamil, the phrase 'chiRu mA manisar' is one which has become the most suitable ratna garbha epithet for our Maha PeriyavaaL. The reason why all this story is narrated here is that, that great man Parasara Bhattar, who asked for and got the explanation for phrase 'little great men' was also born on a vaikAsi anusham! *** *** *** Glossary: anusaMdhAnam - investigation, deep scrutiny nAmakaraNa - m. a nominal suffix; n. the calling of a person by the name of; (Tamil) ceremony of naming a child on the 11th day after birth; Pages 29-33 I had mentioned in the beginning of this essay that it would be proper to refer to our Sri Maha PeriyavargaL's janma dinam as vaishAkha anurAdhA instead of vaikAsi anusham. But even the wrong prayoga (usage) vaikAsi anusham has a lofty meaning! Sri Maha PeriyavargaL would say, 'There can be a tattvam (principle) even in nescience.' We can see such tatvArtham here. SriCharaNargaL (once said that he) had gone to a temple near Sirkazhi, seventy years ago. There, the name of Padanjali who was near Nataraja Murti was wrongly written as 'Padancholli'. Our Tavamunivar saw a tattvam even in

that mistake! It was Patanjali Maharshi who authored the vyAkaraNam, the scripture of grammar. vyAkaraNam is known by the very term padam also. Therefore SriCharaNar asked if it is not right to call that Rishi 'Padancholli' (one who spells out the usage of words). Referring to this ten years later in an upanyAsa (speech) he gave in Chennai, he said, "I was happy that even in nescience there was found a tattvam." Saying vikAsam is to mean 'blossoming out'. vikAsam has meanings such as AkAsham, prakAsham (sky, brightness). All these padams (words) have been derived from the dhAtu (root) 'kas'. Related to the vikAsam is vaikAsi. For the vaikAsi we have obtained by corrupting vaishAkha there is one such meaning! Blossomed AvirbhAvam, expanding vimala AkAsham, prakAsham--all these are apt references to PeriyavaaL, right? To say Sha is to mean parama shreSTa (the very best). That Sha would also indicate the parama puruShArtham known as mokSham. anu refers to something prefixed. Looking in this way, rather than anurAdhA, saying anusha seems to have a lofty meaning, right? *** *** *** Until 1964, SriCharaNar's jayanti was held shAstroka (done according to scriptures) only in SriMaTham without any publicity. (To give an idea, although during his jayanti in the years 1958 and 1959, he was camping in the Chennai city, the general public had no idea about the birthday at all!) Only in 1964, at the completion of his seventieth year of age, when the bhImaratha shAnti was performed, his aNukka bhaktas (close devotees), conducted it as a general festivity in vimarisai (grandeur). From that day, the outer world too was awakened to the vaikAsi anusham. And festivities were started to be arranged in several places. At that time it is said, the shiShya santati (disciple family) who were computing and publishing an almanac as the Sri AcharyaaL MaThatthup Panchangam since the time of SriCharaNar's parApara guru (SwamigaL of the 64th Title), wanted to mention this jayanti also in the almanac. Whereas SriCharaNar did not give approval (for many years) saying, "The already existing pandigais (festivals) are enough; no need to add this as another." Still, after fourteen years, when in 1978 the jayanti celebrations had started to be held with much popularity in every house and magazine, he did not express any AkSepaNa (objection) for including that day in the Panchangam. The kuTi (lineage) SriCharanaaL was born in belongs to the Kannada tradition. They have their months according to the Chandramanam. In SriMaTham too, the Acharyas from the 61st Title have been Kannadastas (until SriCharanaaL). Perhaps due to that, his janma dinam was celebrated in SriMaTham also on the day of Chandramana vaishAkha anurAdhA. However, perhaps since SriMaTham has the Tamizhaga Kanchi as its capital, SriCharaNar permitted the Tamilian

Sauramana vaikAsi anusham as his janma dinam, saying, "If one such thing is to be included at all, it can be done." Even though it is the tradition that for the deiva puruShas the janma dinam is celebrated based on the tithi rather than the nakShatra, and in addition, though a guru does not appear to have any viShesha deivAmsam he should be considered as a deivam, for the vinaya-shIla (humility as the very nature) SriMaTham Acharya lineage, the janma dina homam and celebrations are conducted on the day of the nakShatra only, as done for the ordinary people. In the first year when SriCharaNar jayanti entered the Panchangam in 1978, that is in the KaLayukta year, the same day according to the Chandramanam of the Kannadastas and the Sauramanam of the Tamilians, happened to be his janma dinam. But then in the later years when these days happened to be different, his jayanti was mentioned (in the Panchangam) only according to the tradition of Tamilnadu, in the month of vaikAsi. However, in the (SriMukha) year 1993 when he commenced his hundredth year of age, though the Kannada-Tamil jayanti days came on different dates, contrary to the previous custom, only the Chandramana vaishAkha anusham that came in our chittirai has been mentioned in the Panchangam as his jayanti day. It might be that the festivities of the hundredth year were decided on that day, several months earlier. In addition, the reason could be that the lunar eclipse taking place on the day of our vaikAsi anusham might have seemed amangaLa to some people. Whatever the reason, with the SriMukha year, the jayanti witnessed during SriCharaNar's sthUla vAzhvu (life in the gross body), has taken leave of farewell. Even before the shatApti pUrti, the nara vaDivinar (bearing the human form) of the nitya tattvam (deathless principle), did samApti (completion) of his life and went into samAdhi. But there is no doubt that SriCharaNar Jayanti will be celebrated until the world exists, like Sri Rama Navami, Janmashtami, Vinayaka Chaturthi and Acharya Jayanti. Glossary: vikAsa - m. expanding, budding, blowing (of flowers); m. opening, blossoming, expansion, diffusion; opening of the heart, i.e. cheerfulness, merriment. Chapter 3. avatAra sthalam (The Place of Avatara) Pages 34-36 The janma sthalam (place of birth) of Maha PeriyavaaL, who is of vizhumiya (excellent) greatness is vizhuppuram (written Villuppuram in English). 'vizhu', 'vizhumiya' denote chief excellence, great goodness. "'Cணகt ேதவEm நCண.மாVடா 'WpெபாEேள " "viNNakat tEvarum ~naNNavumATTA vizhupporuLE"

"Even the heavenly gods cannot come near that Truth of Excellence." --thus MaNivachagar would spread the truth of Parasivam. If that Parasivam draws near the maNNagam (the lands of the world) and takes birth, that place should only be Vizhuppuram, be the most excellent among the places? puram refers to the body. The name 'puruSha' came to refer to Jiva based only on the body that is puram. The shUla-sUkShma-kAraNa deha (gross-subtlecausal bodies) are known as muppuram (the three outer sheaths). If the feeling of them drops (for 'vizhu' as a verb in Tamil means 'to fall'), that state is mokSham (liberation). We can say that Vizhuppuram is one that points out to this tattvam (principle). The mahA kShetram (great place) Tiruvatikai--the great place sung by the (great) Three Nayanmars-- which was the the vIrATTAnam (vIra sthAnam, place of valour) where Isha (Shiva) burnt the Muppuram, is in the Vizhuppuram taluk. "வைளnதX 'lZ; 'ைளnதX [சl; உைளnதன µpLரm" "vaLai~ndadu villu; viLai~ndadu pUsal; uLai~ndana muppuram" (Bent was the Bow, went on the war, and rent in pain was Muppuram.")--MaNivachakar would thus sing the tale of TripurAntaka bending his bow and burning Tiripuram. There is a custom to attribute the name Vizhuppuram as a corruption of 'Villuppuram'. Even today, in English it is known as Villupuram, having a connection with the bow. But then perhaps since there is also the aitihyam that Isha burnt the Puram just by laughing, without taking up any weapon, people speak of our Villupuram relating it not to Sivaperuman, but to Ramapiran. They would say that Villuppuram is the place where the Ayyan (Sri Rama) fitted an arrow to his bow to hit the maya Maricha (who took the appearance of a golden) deer. The would also say that the small village called Kandamanadi ('kanDamAnaDi'--'where the deer was seen'--'mAn' in Tamil meaning a deer), is the place where the deer was hit. Indeed an apt place to arise for the JnAnAsAn who beats down Maya! Apart from this, Sri Rama was one who took it as his avatara charitam (life) to hide his divine greatness and create Adarsha mAnuDam (ideal example of a man). For our Munipungava who follows him totally, it is only very appropriate to speak of his sambandham, while we are in his janma sthalam! I would also share an opinion of mine that appeared rather funny to me, to add to the Tiripuram bearning. It seemed to me that for the Acharya who was the very mUrtam (image) of AchAra neRi (scripture-dictated tradition), the avatAra sthalam being 'vizhuppu'ram is not so appropriate (the term 'vizhuppu' meaning 'ceremonial impurity'). However, it came to my mind that the following 'ram' (the suffix) denotes agni (fire). So I made up the vyAkhyAnam (explanation) that Vizhuppuram is the place where the ram as fire burns the vizhuppu!

What to say of the happening that Vizhuppuram, which was the headquarters of a taluk in the South Arcot district, in that year of SriCharaNaaL shatApti becoming the headquarters of a newly-formed Vizhuppuram district! (The SriMaTham capital Kanchi, thought by the people of the North from the ancient times to be the capital of the entire Dravida Desham, and later becoming the capital of Pallava Samrajyam, became only the headquarters of a taluk during the British rule. But then after SriCharaNaaL changed SriMaTham from Kumbakonam--where it had moved in the meantime for two hundred years--back to Kanchi, that Kanchi too has become the headquarters of a district!) I had written about Vizhuppuram so far as my knowledge went, about thirty years ago (in 1966). SriCharaNargaL who ran his holy eyes through that write up told me a surprising piece of news. He said, "If one goes straight 'as the crow flies' (he used this very same phrase), one would find that Vizhuppuram is 'equi-distant' (he used this phrase) from Kanchipuram as well as Kumbakonam." He added, "Not only that; if you connect Kanchi and Kudantai (Kumbakonam) in the straight path of a crow, then Vizhuppuram would be in the exact middle of that line of path." Glossary: aitihyam - traditional instruction, legendary account. Pages 36-39 In the ancient divisions of Tamizhagam, Vizhuppuram is located in the area of TirumunaippAdi in the NadunAdu. Nadunadu has other names, Sethi Nadu, MalAdu Nadu, said SriCharaNar, and added that there is an opinion that even Tirumunippadi was another name for Nadunadu. "But then nadu is the madhyabhAgam (central part); whereas munai is the tapering place. Howsoever then Nadunadu became MunaippAdi?", he also raised this question. Saying that for the king who adopted and brought up Sundaramurti SwamigaL, there was a name Munaiyaraiyar, he clarified that Munaiyaraiyar was only the king of Munaippaadi. The name Tirumunaippadi might have referred to one end of Nadunadu; since there are many places that end with the term 'pAdi', Muniappadi could as well have been the name of a place at a tapering end of Nadunadu and later that name might have come to be referred to the surrounding areas too.--it seems that he was of this opinion. Since it was the middle part of Tondai Mandalam and Chozha Mandalam, it became 'Nadunadu'. Our Acharya PerumAn, the embodiment of neutrality, has taken avatara in Vizhuppuram in Nadunadu, which was located between the Tondai Mandala Kanchi and the Chozha Mandala Kudanthai (Kumbakonam)-both these places having received a special connection with SriMaTham!

The greatness of Nadunadu is limitless. It was only in an idaikazhi (narrow place) of a house in this idainAdu (middle country) that the first three Azhvars (Poigaiyar, Boothathar and Peyazhvar) met accidentally (since they had to be huddled there to escape from rains), NamperumaL (Lord Vishnu) came as the fourth, pressurized them and obtained an antAdi song from each of them and created the Nalayira Divya Prabhandam known as the Dravida Vedam. This great incident took place in Tirukkovalur in Nadunadu. For the country Nadunadu--specifically the part around Vizhuppuram--that obtained such a great honour in Vaishnavam, there are many honours in Saivam. Tiruvamur where Appar Peruman took avatara, Tiruvatikai where he returned to Saivam from the Jaina religion, Tirunavalur where Sundaramurti SwamigaL took avatara, and TiruveNNainallur where Iraivan (Shiva) took charge of him and made him sing a song on His glory--these uttama sthalas (lofty places) are located near Vizhuppuram. TiruveNNainallur has also the honour that the Saiva Santana Acharya MeikaNda Tevar lived there. Tiruturaiyur, a Padal Petra Sthalam and the place of Arunandi Sivacharyar, is also located near Vizhuupuram. Since the Advaita Sampradaya Sannyasis forgo their shikhA (hair) and do muNDanam (tonsure) they are known as muNDa(r), munDi(n). Among the Patal Petra Sthalams near Vizhuppuram, there is a place bearing the very name Mundeechvaram (muNDIchvaram). Next to Vizhuppuram is another place called Mundiyampakkam with a railway station. I had mentioned in my earlier-written essay about our Turavi Vendar's (ascetic king's) birthplace thus being surrounded by places that have connection with turavu (asceticism). Whereas (on reading it) SriCharaNar said playfully, "It can also be taken to mean the good-for-nothing muNDam (headless body)!" He also gave an interesting new piece of information: "There are stone inscriptions, that, for the very place Mundeechvaram having the name of a moTTaitthalai (tonsured head), give name in Sanskrit as 'Mauligramam' and in Tamil as a direct translation, as 'Tirumudi' (tirumuDi). Our (SriMaTham) Swami is also Chandramauli, right? Those who carry that name, we call them just 'Mauli'". Thus he showed one more connection. He continued with another interesting connection: "If our Swami is here in Mundeechvaram, In Tiruvatikai, Amman bears the name of our MaTham's AmbaaL and remains as 'TripuraSundari'. In the very place where Swami remains as Tripurantaka, AmbaaL TripuraSundari is also there." He who told this also spoke about a mahat tattvam (great truth) in anAyAsa (effortlessly), which can be elaborated over pages. "The essence of Brahma Vidya and SriVidya, both are seen here; the process of rejection by neti neti and the process of acceptance as sarvam shakti mayam!" To reject the shUla, sUkShma, kAraNa purams as none of them are Atman is the neti of Advaita that is Brahma Vidya; to accept even these as parashakti vilAsa (manifestions

of Goddess Parashakti) and have the essence of Shiva in them is the Shakta that is SriVidya.) Glossary: antAdi - end and beginning, a poetic work where the ending word or phrase appears as the first of successive verses. muNDana - shaving the head, tonsure; protecting, defending. shikhA - locks of hair on the head, tuft, crest, peacock's crest, flame, ray of light. Pages 39-42 "Not only is the name Tripurasundari there for Amman; in one of the TiruttANDakams on that place, Appar SwamigaL has spoken about AmbaaL as the very 'KamakoTi'! Is not Tiruvatikai the kShetram where Swami took charge of Appar? So he has sung several pathikams (set of 10 hymns) on the Swami of that Ur (place): 'tiruvaDit tiruttANDakam, pORRit tiruttANDakam, aDaiyALat tiruttANDakam'--he has poured it all in this manner! Among them, in the TiruttANDakam where he shows aDaiyALam (identity) to Swami--In KanchIpuram on the KambA tIram (shores of the Kamba river) when Kamakshi was doing puja with a Sand Lingam that she had shaped by her own hands, Swami tested her causing a great flood. AmbaaL, however, did not give up her puja, but remained tightly hugging the Lingam with the thought 'let the floods do whatever they can'. Appreciating her prema veLLam (flood of love), Swami controlled the floods of the river and became prasanna (visible)--is there not such a story? "When AmbaaL tightly hugged Swami, it is said that her own 'karattazhumbu' and 'urattazhumbu' (strong marks of her hands and fingers) were stamped on the Lingam. Even now on the Ekambareshvara Prithvi Lingam that mark is there. It is this 'urattazhumbu' that Appar SwamigaL has spoken about in his Tiruvatikai aDaiyALat tiruttANDakam as "ெகாWmபவளc ெசŋக9வாyk காமkேகாVH... தWmLளேவ"--"kozhumpavaLach che~gkanivAyk kAmakkOTTi... tazhumbuLavE"... "In accordance with the lingustics of the Tamil language, the term 'KamakoTi' is referred to as 'KamakkOTTi', 'KamakkoDi' in the old Tamil songs. Kamakshi resides only in KamakkOTTam known as KamakoshTam? Therefore she might have been spoken of as 'KamakkOTTi'."

Let Rama shooting the arrow from his bow be on one side; the story of his mUlavan (root form) Malavan (Vishnu) himself becoming an arrow--he narrated it in connection with Tiruvatikai--SriCharaNar, who has no match in linking several kinds of tales and truths. The bow called pinAka that Sivaperuman took up to destroy the Muppuram was the Meru mountain. That which became the arrow for that bow, sAkShAt

Tirumal (Vishnu)! SriCharaNar said that for Tirumal who helped Tiruvatikai TripurAntaka by becoming a charam (arrow), there is a separate temple there, and that in that temple Perumal's name is CharaNarayana.

More than Tiruvatikai, I had written so much about Tiruvamathur which is nearer to Vizhuppuram. In that (my writing) I had shown PeriyavaaL's charitam (life), matching it to what Appar ADigaL has sung on the God of that place, relating Him with the Sandhya Vandanam worship, as "சnDயாைனc சமாD ெசyவாr தŋகll LnDயாைன "--"sa~ndiyAnaich chamAdi seyvAr ta~ggaL pu~ndiyAnai". SriCharaNar was one who did not specially do any vaidIka anuShThAnam (vedic religious practices) before he ascended to the PiTham. Still at that time he was keen on doing Sandhya Vandanam daily without skipping the appropriate times. Even during those days of boyhood when one is much influenced by the attraction of sports and games, once the astamana kAlam (sunset time) came up, he would throw away his badminton racket and hurry towards the nearby water canal. I had shown another relation in our Aiyan who came to the vaiyam (world) only to foster vaidIkam, taking birth in the vicinity of Amathur. Sundaramurti SwamigaL in his pathikam on this place has announced his getting away from everyone except the vedavid (Vedic pandit) with a doubly emphatic phrase " m IN D a n a n , mINDanan" as " ^ Cட ன 2 , ^ Cடன 2 ேவத'tதlலாதவrகVேக!"--"mINDanan, mINDanan vEdavittallAtavarkaTkE!". SriCharaNaaL who went through what I had written said, "Tiru Atikai got its name due the fact that it had adhikam (much more--of spirtual fame) over all the other kShetras. But then you have written much more about Tiruvamathur than about it (Tiruvatikai)! There is some justice in that too. Don't we say, "avanukkenna, kombA muLaichchirukku (what about him, have two horns grown on his head)?" when someone boasts much about himself? The kShetram to which horns had grown was only that Tiruvamathur!" And he proceeded to explain that horns-grown mahima (greatness). "It is said that in Adi (the beginning), the Avinam (herds of cows) had no horns. So the cows were suffering from their inability to retaliate when their enemies attacked them. Then they observed severe penance in this kShetram. God appeared before them with compassion, as mother to even those pasuvarga (class of cows) which are known as Gomata. Because of that, that place got the name Gomatrupuram and A-Matru-Ur (Amathur). "In addition to its calf, since it gives milk to us also, we celebrate the cow as mother and call it Gomata. The place where Swami came as mother to even that pasu jAti (class of cows) is Gomatrupuram (Tiru Amathur). But He did not give milk to those cows. If our mother gives us milk in diluted form, Swami who came as Gomata gave thick horns to the pasu jAti, gave them anugraham so the horns grew on their heads and gave them the boon, 'with these horns you protect yourselves from your enemies.' Wasn't it that lakShyam (aim) they

were in tapas for? Only after that the cows and bulls started having horns, and the kShetram got its related name." SriCharaNar laughed like a child as he narrated this story, and continued. Glossary: prasanna - a. clear, bright, pure; distinct, plain, just; propitiated, pleased, delighted, content; gracious or kind to. Pages 42-47 "Of those accounts that stand in the name of Sthala Puranam, many would have been written then and there, locally. Some of them would be figuring in the Maha Puranas. If it is so, people will feel prouder about the place. Even more greatness is spoken of it, if there is a mention of a kShetram in the Ramayana-Bharata Itihasas. The greatest pride for a sthalam is to get a mention in the Vedas themselves. Of the kShetrams that are found in lakhs in our desham, only a few--may be a hundred or hundred and fifty--would have a reference in the Vedas. Such a greatness is there for Tiruvamathur. This story is told in the Taittriya Aranyaha.* That Veda story tells that the pasu jAtis that no defence because they had no horns, came together and performed a yajnam and obtained their horns." About that place that received a Vedic story, Sthala puranam, and Thevara pathikam, the twin-poets (iraTTaip pulavargaL) have composed a book named 'Tiruvamathur Kalambakam'. Vannacharapam Dhandapani SwamigaL, who lived and passed away during the last century has also composed a sthala purANam on the place and a number of hymns on the God of that place. His Samadhi is also located in Amathur. Only this much had I mentioned in my essay. SriCharaNar told more interesting accounts about these two (three) Bhakti PavANargaL (poets of devotion). "reTTaip pulavar~ggiRavA aNNA tambiyA (are the twin-poets elder-younger brothers)?" he asked as if it was not known to him. I who had been thinking as such until then, since he posed this question, made 'jAgrata' of myself (look at the thoughts of our own mAnAvamAna-dignityinsult, even in that sannidhi-presence!), and said, "teriyalai (don't know)". "They were not elder-younger brothers. atthAn-ammAnji (son of father's sister-son of maternal uncle). Some people say mAmA-marumAn (unclenephew). What is kalambakam?" Again a question about what is not known to me, as if it is not known to him! "Except that it is among the ninety-five forms of Prabhandam, I have no further idea", I said. A beautiful explanation came forth from Gurunathan. "Kalambakam is a mixture composed of many forms of the Prabhandams. If it is a poem, it

should be one with a specific subject in a specific bhAvam (viewpoint)--they call it thuRai--and with the lakShaNam (attributes) of that thuRai, and composed in a specific chandam (verse-form); this is the general rule. But then in kalambakam, many subjects in many bhAvams in many chandams should occur. For the taste of variety they have designed one such form of Prabhandam. "Don't we refer to something made by mixing many things as kadambam? In vAstavam (reality), kadambam is a single kind of puShpaM. It has a rich red colour. So much favoured by AmbaaL that she is herself referred to as 'Kadamba Vana VAsini'. It is a favourite of Subramanya Swami also. To call him KaDamban, KaDappan is all based on the kadambam. That puShpaM blossoms in bunches. A bouquet of many such bunches is referred to as a kadambakam, adding a 'ka'. The same thing is also known as 'kalambakam', in a corrupted form. That same name kadambakam which refers to a bouquet of many flowers of the same class, we use for stringing many classes of flowers and call it kadambam, kadambam. We call it kadambach chAdam when that rice is prepared with annam kneaded with sambAr which in turn is prepared with many kinds of vegetables. Mixing many kinds together, we have made it a kadambam! Taking the term kalambakam which is a corruption of kadambam in prosody, they have named that composition which is made by a mixture of verse forms as kalambakam. It was in that rIti (manner) that the twin-poets sang in Tiruvamathur." SriCharaNar also amazingly elaborated on the adbhuta shakti (wonderous power) of that specific kalambakam. "In those days, if it is a postakam (book), it should be staged first in the vidvat samUham (experts community) and only after their approval, it could be made prakAsham (revealed) for the Ur-olagam (place and world). In that way, the arangEttam (enactment) for this kalambakam also was done. In that, in a song, there occurs (a line) that there is a temple on the western bank of the Pampa river. In vAstavam, the temple was then located only on the eastern bank of the river. These people somehow sang this way without paying attention to it. "The other pulavars (poets) who were waiting to find fault with the submission, forthwith caught hold of it molumolu (uproariously). 'Only one of you two is blind or both of you?* Or both of you jnAna shUnyams (of zero-knowledge) with no sense of direction? If you don't give your samAdAnam (resolution) by tomorrow as to why you changed the direction, we will not give your postakam our angIkAram}, they said. "The arangEttam took place with the arrangement that these poets would read out their verses on the first day, others would ask questions about them, and these poets should reply to the questions on the next day. For the twin-poets it was a tremendous worry that they had committed such a large blunder. Even then, would it not be possible for the clever to dissect words and letters in a

verse and form different meanings on their different combinations? Therefore, with the thought that they would break their heads the whole night as to whether there could be any akaTa-vikaTa-sandhi-vigraham (unusual dissection and combination of words) in the verses they had composed, they said, 'Tomorrow we will give our samAdAnam.' The story runs that in their abhiprAyam (opinion) they sang only on the prompting of Goddess Sarasvati herself, so they said, 'yAmum aRiyOm; vANiyum poy solAL (we do not know it ourselves, and VANi will not utter a lie'. "But then howevermuch they both tried the whole night, tearing apart their verses into their bolts and nuts, they could not give it a meaning about the location of the river and the temple as found in thir verses. "When the manuSha yatnam, shakti, sAmarthyam (human endeavour, power, skill)--none of it becomes phalita (fruitful), the only way is to fall at the feet of Ishvara in saraNagati (surrender)? Thus they both prayed to Ishvara with full heart and mind. "Swami also did parama karuNai (supreme compassion) to them. What he did was that, he caused the rains to pour in aDai mazhai (incessant rains). With the river flooding, it became a jala pralayam--the whole place including the western and easter sides of the temple immersed in the floods. What happened then was that the Pampa river changed its course and ran leaving the temple on its western bank as found in their song! It is as such even now. But to show that the river once upon a time ran its course on the other side of the temple, symptoms of a river bed are found there. "The Tiruvamathur story shows that Swami Himself would change a lie into truth in order that the words of his bhakta, pulava (devotees and poets) are not proved false. "On the next day, the other poets saw the wonder of the river and the temple located as found in the song. Celebrating the twin-poets that Swami Himself has replied to their questions and that as Swami Himself has given approval to their book, so who were they to do it, they prostrated to the twin-poets." Note: *The mantras that start with "gAvo vA etat satramasata ashRu~ggAH satIH shRu~ggANi no jAyanta iti"--in the seventh kANdam, fifth prashnam of the Taittriya Aranyaha that belongs to the Krishna Yajur Veda.--RaaGa. *One of the twin-poets was blind, the other lame. The blind used to carry the lame and wander places as guided by the carried.--RaaGa. Glossary: a~gIkAraH - acceptance, agreement akaTam - (Tamil) injustice

phalita - mfn. bearing or yielding fruit, producing consequences, fruitful, successful, fulfilled, developed, accomplished samAdAna - n. taking fully or entirely, taking upon one's self. contracting, incurring; resolve, determination samUha - a collection, assemblage, aggregate, heap, number, multitude; association, corporation, community. vigraha - m. separation, division; isolation, analysis (g); discord, contest, quarrel, war with vikaTa - obscure, obsolete; exceeding the usual measure, huge, monstrous, hideous, wicked, bad; yatna - m. endeavour, effort, labour, pains about; m. activity of will, volition, aspiring after Pages 47-52 The details SriCharaNar gave about Vannacharapam Dhandapani SwamigaL: Like Ramalinga VaLLalar, Dhandapani SwamigaL was one who emphasized jIva kAruNyam (ahimsa towards non-human beings). He did not even accept the vELvis (Vedic sacrifices) that had pasubali (animal sacrifice). (The term 'pasu' here does not denote 'Avinam'-cows; it means generally as the animalkind). He was one who composed songs on God doing parihAsam (joking) even on God as to how He accepts those sacrifices. (SriCharaNar also said, "Even Appaiya Dikshitar was of some such abhiprAyam, but later on when he saw in pratyakSha the yajna pasu after its Ahuti took course towards the divya lokam in sUkShma sharIraM, his mind was calmed down.") Since Tiruvamathur is a kShetram where Swami did paramAnugramahm to the pasu jAti, that place had a special attraction for him. For one who belonged to Tirunvelveli, he did saMchAram (wandering) of aneka sthalams in Tamilnadu and finally settled down in Amathur. "One who said that there should be no pasu arpaNam in yAgas, settled down in the place where the pasus themselves did yAgam and obtained their horns", said SriCharaNaaL and laughed. "People who go to mukhya kShetras like Kashi with an intention to lay down their lives only there (when the time comes), would take a pratiGYA (oath) in saMkalpa pUrvam (in the form of a firm thought) not to leave that kShetram whatever happens, in order to guard against the possibility that they might have a change of mind and move to another place. Such an oath is known as kShetra sannyAsam. In the North many sAdhus thus remain in kShetrams like Kashi under the name of 'keth sannyAs'. This SwamigaL was one such man who took a saMkalpam not to move away from Tiruvamathur and remained there, until he obtained his Siddhi in that place", SriCharaNar explained thus and also told a rare viShayam (special detail) that had a direct bearing on this chapter titled 'Avatara Sthalam'. "Before settling in Tiruvamathur, he did saMchAram of the surrounding places and sang in temple after temple. At that time he also went to Vizhuppuram and in the KailasaNathar temple, did stotram of Swami, AmbaaL, Pillaiyar, Subrahmanya Swami--all these Gods there. Though he was specifically a

MuruganAdiyar (devotee of God Muruga) he has also sung in Vishnuparam (about Vishnu). In Vizhuppuram he had also gone to VaikuNTa Perumal temple and sung on Perumal." *** *** *** I had collected and written more in my essay about the specialities of the places around Vizhppuram; but about Vizhuppuram itself I had written scanty little, since I did not know much about its greatness. SriCharaNargaL, who gave new information that for the Shiva-Vishnu Alayas of that place there were stotras from great Meyyadiyars (Saivite sages), also talked in Alaya rIti (on the subject of temples) about the ancient greatness of that place. In addition, he made me wonder talking historically about its pUrva kAla specialities. *** *** *** Of the many details SriCharaNargaL told me about the historical greatness of Vizhuppuram and its surrounding towns, known through the stone inscriptions, I shall recount about some that has stuck in my memory. Saying that he would narrate about a kalveTTu (stone inscription) far loftier than the stone-inscribed letters in the prakAra walls of the temples, he started, kindling my interest. "There is a kalveTTu in all the bANa lingams which are the mUla mUrti. Arjuna beat the Swami with an arrow when He came as a kirAta. 'Kuzhandai (my child), with what kuRi (precision) and visai (force) has hit me?' feeling happy thus and as if Arjuna adorned Him with a tiruvAbharaNam (divine jewel), Swami created a scar of that hit on his shiras (head) and showed that scar proudly to everyone. It was only This God who, at a later time, when the Pandya Raja whacked him with a cane, did not take that strike upon Himself but made everyone including the one who hit Him take that strike! There, since some Raja whacked as a punishment he acted in that manner. In his bhakti Avesha (height of influence of devotion), Manikkavasagar crossed the lokadharmA-dharmas (rules of the world) and built a temple out of the kajAnA (treasury) funds; that the King considered as 'misappropriation' and went on to punish the sage; for that act of punishment, Swami thought of punishing the King and so acted in this manner. Since the people also did not advice the King of what is just, Swami caused the blow to fall on them too. "But the strike Arjunan gave was according to the dharma of the valiant. When Swami and Arjuna were engaged in a fight, the prince did what he was bound to do. Therefore, appreciating 'with what alacrity has he shown his dhanur veda sAmarthyam (archery skills)' and taking that strike as bhuShaNam, Swami showed it to the entire world. Ordinarily, when we have some swelling or injury, feeling shy to speak of it to others we would 'plaster' it with the words that we fell down or bumped against something. But then sAkShAt Paramesvara, displayed the scar of the strike that He received from Arjuna--as

if it was the Bharata Ratna, Padma Bhushan title--as a swelling in the form of an arrow mark, in the shiro bhAgam (head portion) of all His bANa linga rUpams (Bana Linga forms), in a way that the world celebrates it giving the name pArtha prahAram (the strike that Partha gave). "Only the bANam is the stone obtained naturally as a form of Shiva, in the Narmada river. Such countless stones are found in that river. From the small ones worshipped in home pujas to the larged sized bANams kept in temples-irrespective of their huge numbers having been extracted from the river over centuries of years, the stones are still being found in abundance, without (any sign of) exhaustion in the Narmada river. And in all those stones this vadu (scar) is found naturally, at their top portion! Those prAntiya-vAsis (provincial residents) proudly speak of them as kankar sab shankar! It means that all the pebbles in that region are Shankara svarUpa (forms of Shiva). Called bANa lingam, in all of them is found the scar caused by Arjuna's arrow. The God who came as a coolie carrying sand in return for pittu (pudding as wages) in the Pandyan story and made the blow that was to fall on Him fall on everyone else except Him; in the Arjunan story did not only allow the strike to fall on Him who was in the form of a kirAta (hunter), but made it fall on all his linga rUpams! Of course, He also gave a blow to Arjuna in return. Even that He gave as a 'prize' a mahAvIra (great fighter) gives another mahAvIra. At length, however, to the one who hit Him with an astram (missile), Swami gave that Pasupata Astram, beyond which there is no other mahA astram, with parama prIti (supreme love). "The reason I came to narrate this is that, above all the prakAra stone inscriptions, on the Shiva Lingam itself remains as a stone inscription, the blow Arjunan gave..." "Above the prakAra kalveTTu, the pArtha prahAra kalveTTu", I interrupted. That man of word-play who also indulges in word-play welcomed what I said interrupting him and continued. "pArtha prahAram is one generally seen in all the kShetras. The visheSham in Tiruvamathur is that there on the linga svarUpam there is no stamp of Arjuna's arrow strike. However, there is another kalveTTu there. It is the mark of a cow's hoof; the mark known as goShpadam. Just as an ammAkkAri (mother of a woman) holds her child aloft her head asking it to kick her head and feel happy at it, in this Gomatrupuram, Swami who came as Amma for the cow, received a blow from its hoof on his head and continues to show it as a permanent stamp in the linga svarUpam. Thus an apUrva kalveTTu (rare stone inscription)! Glossary: Ahuti - offering oblations with fire to the deities ; any solemn rite accompanied with oblations; bhuShaNa - decorating, adorning, embellishment, ornament, decoration

goShpada - n. the mark or impression of a cow's foot, a small puddle; fig. a trifle. kirAtaH - hunter, of mountain tribe, barbarian, savage, horse-man, name of Siva in the disguise of a hunter. prahAra - m. stroke, blow, shot. prakAra - a wall, enclosure, fence, rampart (esp. a surrounding wall elevated on a mound of earth; m. manner, way, sort, kind; --- adj. like, -fold, abstr. {tva} n. shiras - head, mountain, peak, crest top skull, pinnacle, front part, top part, chief, principal, importance. Pages 52-55 "Among the kalveTTus in writing in the prakAram also, there is one rare inscription. Stone inscriptions are there since the time of Rajarajan who built the Brihadisvaram. One of them is about a surprising rAjamAnyam (Raja's grant). Since the time of Rajarajan, for singing the Tevara Tiruppathikam in temples, the rAjAngam (government) had been giving grants. In that way, in this kShetram, during the time of the kalveTTu I speak of, ask who were the people who recited the Pathikam--they were sixteen blind men! Without going broken hearted that everything was lost since they lost their eyes, they too had their rights to bhakti in anantam: the elders of those days had made an arrangement that seemed to show that even those blind men could remain happy among themselves and do the service of devotion, as being prayojana (useful) to others. The elders taught Tevaram to these blind men and arranged that they sang it as arpaNam (offering) to Swami in the temple and tad dvAra (by that) the other people could listen and get God's blessings. In this way, sixteen poTTaigaL (blind men). There was a certain place (it seems), either a hostel or some other accommodation, where they could live together. Two guides to bring them from there to the temple and then get them back to their place. In the Ur (town) where at a later time, a lame poet showed the path and a blind poet walked carrying him, thus to show the path to the blind men, two exclusive rAjAnga sEvakas (royal servants) who were, however, not cripped themselves! For the nila mAnya shAsanam (title-deeds to land) made for these eighteen men, there is a kalveTTu there. In other words, combining the makkaL sEvai, mahEsan sEvai (service to people, service to God), by the people who were handicapped, an upakArap paNi (beneficial work) that is deiva sambandham (related to God) had gone on for the other samUham (people). *** *** *** Thereafter, on the basis of historical stone inscriptions and copper plates, SriCharaNargaL started talking about the historical importance of Vizhuppuram and its surroundings. "Even though this was a part of NadunAdu, it remained as an important part of land in the rAjyam (kingdom) of the Pallavas of the Tondai nAdu. Since

Kanchipuram which is the rAjatAni (capital) of our MaTham was also the rAjatAni of those Pallavas, from that time, this part might have had an Atma sambandha relationship with Kanchipuram. Mahendra Varma had a title by name Gunaparan. In Tiruvatikai, for the ancient temple that he built, the name Gunaparechcharam--Gunatarechcharam had been its original name. He was one who was a Jaina and then changed into a Saiva. It was only due to the mahimA (influence) of Appar SwamigaL who in that same way, was a Jaina and then changed into a Saiva, that he got converted. They say that as he got converted, he also converted the SamaNappaLLi (Jain temple) in Tiruvatikai a Shivalaya, as Gunaparechcharam! They also debate as to whether the name was Gunaparechcharam or Gunatarechcharam... "In these days, if Vizzhuppuram remains as a town and Tiruvatikai as a village, in those days however, Tiruvatikai was a large kShetra paTTaNam and Vizhuppuram remained as a village. This Vizhppuram samAchAram (news) is known only since the time of reign of a Pallava called Nrupatunga Varma. At that time, he had named Vizhuppuram as 'VijayaNrupatunga SeyantAngi Chaturvedi Mangalam'. "If you ask who is he, he was the one who remained as the Pallava Raja during the latter half of the ninth century, seven-eight generations after Mahendra Varma. He had conquered in yuddham (battle) some king who was the mukhya rAja (formidable king) for the southern part of Tamilnadu--a Pandya or a Chola king, yArO oruttan (someone). Ask about the place where he conquered, and it is in the battle of KumbakoNam-Arisil river bank! The Kanchipura-KumbakoNa sambandham arrives here! Touching it, also arrives the Vizhuppura sambandham! Only as the way to celebrate that victory, Nrupatunga Varma had made a dAnam (charity) of Vizhuppuram in a shAsanam made out to BrahmaNas who were pundits skilled in the four Vedas. Only to such villages is the name 'Chaturvedi Mangalam' attributed to. Since this mAnyam was given as a symbol of a victory mahotsavam (grand festivity), adding the terms 'Vijaya' (victorious) and 'SeyantAngi' (bearing victory) he had made that Ur (place) as a brahmadEyam (brahmadesam, a place given to the brahmaNas)." (For one who took avatar to give a new lease of life to the Vedas, SriCharaNar's avatAra sthalam being mentioned for the first time in history as a village belonging to the chaturvedis (people of the four Vedas)--what an appropriate connection!) "The kalveTTu relating to this news is found in the Vizhuppuram VaikuNTa PerumaL temple. With the next generation of Nrupatunga Varma, the Pallava vamsam (generation) came to an end. The yuddham (battle) that sang mangaLam (last-song) to their rule also took place in the KumbakoNam locality! And then the kings called 'piRkAlach chOzhargaL' raised their heads." (The Cholas who ruled since the Sangam times before the Pallava kingdom was formed are known as 'muRkAlach chOzhargaL' (Cholas of the early times). Karikalan, KiLLivaLavan are the ones who belong to that generation. Then the

Chola rule ended and the Pallava began; and then later on, when the Pallavas bowed down their heads, the Cholas again formed a kingdom. These are the 'piRkAlach chOzhargaL' (Cholas of later times)). Glossary: paTTana - town, city. paTTaNam - (Tamil) 1. coastal town; 2. town, city, large town; 3. Ka1viri-ppuum-patTTiNam; 4. Madras shAsanam - teaching, state, government, rule, royal command, law, royal grant of land, houses etc., deed, authority, title-deed, record, royal copper plate, royal inscription, punishment. Pages 55-59 "Among them after Vijayalayan and Adityan, Parantaka Chozhan came to p o w e r. H e w a s t h e o n e w h o o b t a i n e d t h e t i t l e ' p o n v E i ~ n d a parAntakan' (Parantakan who gold-thatched), after he renovated the Kanakasabha (the Golden Hall) of the Chidambaram temple, thatching it with gold. Many people are thinking that it was Parantaka Chozhan who for the first time thatched in the Chidambaram temple with gold. But then it is in the Puranas that even at the time the temple was built in Adi (ancient times) it was constructed as a kanaka sabhA. Appar SwamigaL himself, who lived many generations before Parantakan, has sung '_ய ெசmெபா29னா l எWD ேவynத 8`றmபலm' -- 'tUya semponninAl ezhuti vEy~nta chiRRambalam' (the small SabhA thatched with pure gold). The kalveTTu of the Parantaka Chozhan time is at the Vizhuppuram VaikuNTa PerumaL temple. A kalveTTu over a thousand years old. It is in that inscription that there is the reference of Nrupatunga-who belonged to the Pallavas who were the Chozha's janma shatru (enemies from birth)--having given that Ur (place) as Brahmadeyam. "When rAja vamsams (royal generations) change, it happens that the dAna shAsanams of the earlier generations get cancelled. In that way, it seems that the state of Vizhuppuram also, which was sarvamAnyam to the BrahmaNas, was cancelled. Because, there is a shAsanam in another temple, that is, VAlIshvarar Alayam, which mentions that Rajarajan--the Rajarajan who built Brihadisvaram--who came three-four generations after Parantakan, again gave Vizhuppuram in dAnam as Chaturvedi Mangalam. Or it might be that for the Brahmadeyam that was in the name of the Pallava Raja until then, Rajarajan might have given his name, gave it in visheSha sambhAvanA[ (special honour) to those BrahmaNas, celebrated the occasion as a new utsavam and made it as a shAsanam. "If Rajaraja Chozhan gave his name for the place, it is not referred to as 'Rajaraja Chaturvedi Mangalam'. There were many names of title to him. That which remained as the shikharam (peak) of them was the title 'Shiva PAda Sekharan' (one who holds on his hair the holy feet of Shiva Peruman). That was a title that showed his heart of devotion. There is also a title to him that showed his priyam (love) and popularity with his people and his democratic

aptitude--as 'JananAthan'. Don't we refer to democracy as 'jananAyakam' (ruled by the people)? For the Vizhuppuram of his times he had given the name 'JananAtha Chaturvedi Mangalam'! "In addition to the VaikuNTavAsar, VAlIsvarar temples, there is another temple called Kailasanathar Alayam, that also remains as pradhAnam (chief). The mokSha lokam of Saivas is Kaliasam. For VaishNavas it is VaikuNTam. In Kanchipuram, with viShesha silpa prasiddhi (known for its distinguished sculptures), temples are there for both Kailasanathar and VaikuNTa Perumal. As in Kanchipuram, in Vizhuppuram also, two temples are there, in the names of Kailasam and VaikuNTam!. It is known from shilA shAsanas (sculptural inscriptions) that the Kailasanatha Temple existed from the time of Rajarajan. "Later, when these piRkAlach chOzhargaL passed away, KADavas who are said to belong to the Pallava Vamsam raised their heads, and a man called Koppurumsingan ruled all over the places ToNdaimaNdalam, NadunAdu and the Kerala Seemai (the Chozha kingdom). At that time, without Kanchipuram being the capital, a place called Sendanur, located adjacent to Vizhuppuram, had been the capital. We call it Sendanur now, which was then Sendamangalam. There is a Sendamangalam in the Salem district also. It is the place where the samAdhi of AvadhUta SwamigaL is located. And there are Sendamangalams in many other Tamilnadu areas too. To know the difference perhaps this South Arcot district Sendamangalam became Sendanur. Since it was a rAjatAni paTTaNam (capital town) of a large rAjyam (kingdom), Vizhuppuram might have at that time been sticking to Sendamangalam as a part or suburb. "After Koppurumsingan, the rule of Pandyas came up. Him and the Chozha Raja who was lying low in his time, JaTAvarma Sundara Pandyan conquered, and became the sAmrAjyAdhipati (emperor). There is a place called KOchchaDai in Madurai. 'Ko' is only 'Raja'? So KOchchaDai is a Raja with jaTa. That was JaTAvarman. Paramesvara, who is JaTAdhara became the pati (husband) of Meenakshi Amman and ruled there as the first Sundara-Sundaresvara--Pandyan. Therefore, the kings who came in the Pandya Vamsam used to have their names as JaTAvarma Sundara. One such named was the one who conqured the kADava Raja during the latter half of the thirteenth century. From his time only there are shAsanas that mentioned the name Vizhuppuram for Vizhuppuram. "When JaTAvarman vanquished (vIzhttiya pOdu) Koppurumsingan, the rAjatAni formed with Sendanur and Vizhuppuram stuck together also lost its position and fell (vizhundu viTTadu) in antastu (status). Showing up this condition only that JaTAvarman gave the name 'Vizhuppuram' to that place?--I sometimes used to think that way. I had even felt it as a shortfall that it was a name that refers to the hInasthiti (deprived standing) of a place that became patanam (fallen). Glossary:

antastu - (Tamil) 1. rank, condition, standing; 2. storey of a building; 3. order regularity jaTa - mfn. wearing twisted locks of hair patana - mfn. who or what flies or falls Pages 59-63 "Later on, after doing some research, it was known (to me) that there was another reason for that name. It was that there was a samUham (community) called 'vizhupparaiyar'. If it is (the term) 'vizhuppu', today we have it (the meaning) as anAchAram, tITTu (ceremonial impurity). Looked in that manner, vizhupparaiyar would mean 'Raja in anAchAram' (king of ceremonial impurity) (because, isn't 'araiyar' a transformation of 'arasar-king? And arasar is a transformation of 'rAjan'?)... (laughs for a long while). "Not that way. yadartham (actually), vizhuppam means a high lineage. That word comes even in TirukkuraL. vizhupparaiyar are those who brought eminence to the lineage and caste they were born in. Just as we have named the brAhmaNAs who sought udyogam (occupation) in the Rajasabha as amAttiyar, mAmAttirar, these people might have belonged to a sub sect in the caste of brahmins who sought Rajanga service. It seems that as days went by they gave up more and more of their brAhmaNAchAras (customs and practices of brahmins) and only excelled in the Rajanga udoyogas. It is also known that just like the BrahmarAyAs of good brahmin caste of the later time Chozhas, these vizhupparaiyar were (ministers,) even prime ministers. The mukhya sthAnam (chief position) that samUham (community) held in Rajangam is seen until the time of Thanjavur Nayakka Rajas. "But then whatever happened in the later time, so far as is known to me-(what is known to him is of the Himalaya dimension!),--nowadays the vizhupparaiyars are found only in the temple kAryam (activities) of the Tiruvarur temple. There, when they bring (Lord) Thyagaraja in bhavani (procession) in the utsavam (festival), He would come in his ajabA naTanam (effortless dance) in hops and leaps. His dancing in such leaps is due to adding something known as puLLat-thaNDu (young stem) in the vArais (bamboo poles) he is seated in. Ask who does the task of adding the puLLat-thaNDu in the vArais--and they are the vizhupparaiyars. What is that and how they add it is a rahasyam (secret) known only to them! (What SriCharaNar told about Thyagar's dance is of the viSTara (spread out) that can be given in a separate essay). "These vizhupparaiyars were also referred to as vizhubrahmar. The term brahma indicates the vaidIka brAhmaNa mUlam (root of Vedic brahminship) they had in pUrvam (the olden days). The term araiyar is one that indicates the kShatrIya sthAnam (royal position) that came to them later. Another name called 'vizhuppADa-rAyar' also belonged them. The rAyar (which is only a transformation of rAjar) is another name that shows their position in the royal community.

"In the Chaturvedi Mangalam of the NadunAdu that was Brahmadeyam until the time of the Chozhas, the rule of KADavas took place later, and still later when the Pandyan conquered it, the vizhupparaiyars became a samUham that held a mukhya sthAnam (chief position) in the nirvAham (governance), and therefore it seems that the name of the place itsself was changed to Vizhuppuram. At that time, being neither 'brahmar' indicating brAhmaNa sthAnam, nor 'araiyar' indicating kShatrIya sthAnam, they were generally referred to as vizhupperumar, in the same way that we refer to the people of the high communities as 'perumakkaL' of the janasamudAyam (public). "The thought 'vizhu~ndupOna Ur' (fallen place) is wrong, and that it is a place of a samUham that had charitra mukyatvam (historical importance)--when this was known (to me), my shortfall was given nivRutti (rest) to some extent. ~nIyAnAl (Whereas you)--(the 'you' that SriCharanar refers to is only the author of this essay)--you lift it all to the skies saying that the place is of 'vizhumiya siRappu' (excelling greatness), the 'jnAnapuri (town of knowledge) that brings out the AtmA even as the thought about the puram that refers to the sharIram (body) falls, and with your stotram (praise) removed my shortfall right from its base!" Thus laughed as a flood of flowers, our MahaGurunathar! *** *** *** Vannacharapam Dhandapani SwamigaL would refer to Sri Maha PeriyavaaL's janma sthalam as ":kக LகJc arசாl 'WpLரtXr" mikka pugazhch chIrsAl vizhuppurattur "of a great fame and distinction is that place of Vizhuppuram"; and as "ேமத+ arDகJ ெதாCைட ந2னாVb"m 'WpLரm" mEtaku sIrtigazh toNDai ~nannATTuRum vizhuppuram "Eminent, distinguished and located in the good country of ToNDainAdu, is Vizhuppuram". He has sung beautiful pathikams (hymns) on the Sivaperuman, Ambikai, VinAyaka and Murugan who have taken sannidhi (presence) in the Kailasanathar Temple; and on Tirumal who resides in the VaikuNTavAsar Alayam, located in the town. That periyAr (great man) is one who reached God's feet even as our PeriyavaaL was of four prAyam (years of age). And during the time he sang

these pathikams, PeriyavaaL was not at all born. Even so, it is surprising that in those hymns are found some vAchakAs (statements) that show sangeta (signs) to our Sankaravatara ShaNmatha Guru! When dharma suffers from impoverishment, it is by seeing the sufferings undergone by the mother of the world that Adiya (the most ancient) takes avatar. Considering that before PeriyavaaL's avatara, such an opportune moment has come, that Pulavar PerumAn (great poet) asks Hari who is in yoga nidra (yogic sleep) if he could still be not waking up, in the 'Tirumal Pathikam' he sang at Vizhuppuram. ைவயமகll அழkகCbm இரŋகா`ேபா` `dleரl வழkக2" vaiyamagaL azhakkaNDum ira~ggARpOR RyilkUral vazhakkanRu "Even after seeing that the Mother of the World is weeping, it is not your custom to remain in sleep, without showing mercy." He says in the 'Murugap PerumAn Pathikam' that Lord Muruga has six faces each representing one of the shaNmathas (six streams of Hinduism)--Shaivam, Vaishnavam, Shaktham, GaNapatam, KaumAram, Sauram (worship of Shiva, Vishnu, Goddess Shakti, Ganapathi, Karthikeya and the Sun God respectively). ஆ"ந2 ெனMgm எ2µகŋகெள2 ேறாrகாl அைறnX ARu~nan neRiyum enmuka~ggaLen ROrkAl aRai~ndu "Once proclaiming that the six streams are your six faces..." Maha PeriyavargaL used to say that of the pancha bhUtas (five elements), Ganapathi for pritvi (earth), TirumAl (Vishnu) for appu (water), Surya for tEyu (fire), Ambikai for vAyu (air) and Sivaperuman for AkAsha (ether)--thus indicating these five Gods as panchAyatana and adding Skanda as the God of shaNmatha, as the guru svarUpam (form of Guru) that guides to all these Gods, (Adi Sankara) BhagavadpAda gave us a concept worship. Dhandapani SwamigaL too proclaims this greatness of Skanda's as +ரவெரl லாEm52 வHெவனt ேத"m +ணm ெகாbtதாy kuravarel lArum~nin vaDivenat tERum guNam koDuttAy "You gave me the temperament of considering all forms of gurus as your form..." Our Maha PeriyavaaL in bAlyam (childhood) did not obtain Vedic expertise. He did not also practise the samayAchAra anuShTAnas (religious rigours and

routines) in viShesham (specifically). Even so, that thirteen-year old Swaminathan who was a student of the American Mission School, in a way that even shocked him, ascended to the KamakoTi pIThAdhipatyam (position of pontiff). Thereafter within a short time he earned all the respects pertaining to that position in a way that surprised the world. How did it happen? Only beause that KamakoTi Mother Herself took charge of him, led him to preeminence and gave him the honours. As if he saw this truth in dIrgha darshanam (prevision) that Bhaktakavi prays in his 'Umaiamman Pathikam' to Ambikai who sat willingly at Vizhuppuram: சŋகரpேபr மாµ9வ2த2ைனயாC டா`ேபாl இŋகHய ேனைனgmந2 ேக`"kெகாll அmமா sa~gkarappEr mAmunivantannaiyAN DARpOl i~ggaDiya nEnaiyum~nan kERRukkoL ammA "As you took charge of the great sage that bears the name of Sankara, Here, accept this devotee of yours too, Amma." *** *** *** Glossary: amAttiyan - (Tamil) minister, counsellor mAmAttiran - (Tamil) physician sa~ggetaH - (ie, sangetaH) - gesture, sign, mark, token for remembrance, indicating token, agreement, condition yadartha, yadartham - mfn. having which object or intention; on which account; a. for which purpose, wherefore. Pages 63-67 We mentioned three important temples in the avatara sthalam. Where the avatara took place was also in a kOvil teru (street with a temple). But then that temple is not among these three. One who is a Bhagavan as well as a Bhakta is the mUrti who has taken up temple there. Yes, the avatara took place in the Hanumar Kovil street. Isn't Hanuman the mUrti who stands as a Bhakta with his palms joined, without showing his bhagavat shakti? Isn't it appropriate that our Gurunathan who lived hiding his mahima in his simplicity, taking birth near the Hanuman temple? This Hanuman Alayam which remains as the own temple of a private family has a special distinction. Isn't the custom of setting up two mUrtis and worshipping them as twin PiLLaiyAr, followed only for Heramba Ganapathi who is the Arambha swAmi? Whereas here, for the MarutiRayan who finishes with a mangaLam, as a novelty seen nowhere, there are two mUrtis! As elderyounger brothers, one measuring up in height to the neck of the other, two Hanumans stand next to each other joining their palms and making us join our own. If the Ramayana kartA (author) got the name as Valmiki by remaining

inside an anthill, these two who are the 'Ramayana mahAmAlA ratna', in the same way were found from inside an anthill in the foothills! About two hundred years ago, following an AGYA (order) he received in a svapna (dream), a Madhva who was a resident of Vizhuppuram, found and took charge of these vanmIka (vAlmIka) mArutis and sat them in a temple here. What is the mystery of the matchless Anjaneya standing in a matched pair and standing in two forms? One of them is He himself; the other--taking birth in his own Alaya vIdhi (temple street), by the mixture of simplicity in greatness, was to become one like Him--did he show this in advance? Atma jnAnam, bhakti, ulaka jnAnam, sollARRal, suya vAzhvE aRRa paNi vAzhvu, bhAvana brahmacharyam, seyalARRal, dIrghAyuL (spiritual knowledge; devotion; worldly knowledge; skill of words; a life of service with no individuality; wholesome, manifest celibacy; skill of action; a long life)--thus in everything wasn't Sri Maha Periyavar a match for the Anjanai Selvan? For this man too only RamaNamam was the precious companion, in a very important situation in his life! During that moment when he was totally upset with the tiding and thought 'A school boy, I have been appointed as the JagatAcharya?', he only called "Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama!" for help. Rama's sahodari (sister) who was not different from Him, took charge of the boy. They say that today's Kannada Desham is the place Kishkinta where the vAnaras (monkeys) lived. The man who found, not singly but as a pair, the mUrti that AcharyaaL speaks of as 'vAnara nikara adhyakSha (the superintendent of the multitude of monkeys), was also a Kannadiga. Our SriCharaNar who is an apara mUrti (posterior form) of that mUrti is from a Kannadiga family too. He said once that during his boyhood he had done cheShTa (pranks) such as climbing up the compound wall of this temple--thus also reminding the vAnara mUlava! *** *** *** As a fitting end to the honours of Vizhuppuram and its surroundings two things in relation to our SriMaTham. It was known for a long time that Sri Atma Bodhendra Saraswati SwamigaL, who is spoken of by SriMaTham guru parampara stuti (Guru lineage euology list) as one who was for fifty-two years Sri KamakoTi PIThAdhipatigaL (pontiff) from 1586 to 1638, and also BodhendraaL's guru, had obtained his samAdhi at VadavAmbalam located adjacent to Vizhuppuram-Sendanur. Nevertheless, the exact place earmarked for building a samAdhi construct there lost its identity in the olden times before our SriCharaNaaL (in 1907) came to the throne. The holy thought of discovering the samAdhi sthAnam of his pUrvAchAryA and arranging for worship at the place came to SriCharaNar when he did saMchAram (roaming) in those areas during the year 1926. With deep thought

he roamed the fields and groves of that village. As he came to a spot, he ordered digging it to have a look. The village people told him that they had already dug there for some other work and no clue for a samAdhi was found in the place. Regardless of it, SriCharaNar ordered digging in the same place asking people to go deeper than was done before. Will what appeared in his chittam--what his chintana (thought) dug deep into the olden times and looked--go without being satyam (a truth)? As they went digging the land deeper, a kapAla asti (skull bone) was found. The man who dug it up, Kumaramangalam Sambamurthi Sastry fell down unconscious. When he came to senses after sometime, he told a surprising news. He said that in his vision an uttama sannyAsi (excellent ascetic) appeared, surrounded by his upanishad-chanting parivAra (group of followers). First he ordered, "Don't dig, don't dig!" Then he made the Sastry pass out in silence, through the omkAra of the mantra sadAshivOm, sadAshivOm he chanted. It was decided, that was the place of Atma Bodha's samAdhi sthAnam. Raising a stage there and keeping a tulasi plant, SriCharaNar with his golden hand did pratiShTA (consecration) of mandira called 'Brindavanam' on the 17th January, 1927. This one just narrated, relates Vizhuppuram with the pUrvAchAryA of the MaTham. The other one relates the place with Sri Jayendra Saraswati SwamigaL who has come to the throne succeeding our Maha PeriyavaaL. Though he was born in IruLnIkki of the Thanjavur district, the place he spent his childhood was only in Vizhppuram where his father was then in occupation! One who was born in a place whose name means 'removing the darkness' having his growth in Vizhuppuram where the Great Teacher born to give Anma vizhippu (spiritual enlightening)--isn't it highly appropriate? It is the kavi marabu (poet's tradition) to first speak elaborately of the country and place where the hero of the epic is born, arranging the writing in chapters called nATTup paTalam and nagarap paTalam. Maha PeriyavargaL who lived as an itihAsa (true story) that can't be told in full by whatever number of epics written on him, himself giving us several interesting details, it is only his loving grace that made us go through this paTalam! Glossary: mandira - n. any waiting or abiding-place, habitation, dwelling, house, palace, temple, town, camp stuti - praise, eulogy, panegyric, commendation, adulation

Pages 68-71 Chapter 4. tiru~nAmam (The Holy Name) We saw the honours associated with the day of birth and the place of birth. According to the vachanam (saying) Urum pErum (the place and the name) we shall now see the honours associated with SriCharaNaaL's name. We shall have a look at the honours of the name given to him by his parents and then the tirunAma mahima of the sannyAsa Ashrama that came to him, persistently dragging him to it. It is said that only the nAma mahimA is the pratyeka jIvana auShadham (medicine for each individual soul) for this Kali Yuga. Srila Sri Somasundara Gnanasambandha Paramacharya SwamigaL who spread the shiva~nEsam (love for Shiva) as the earlier pontiff of Madurai TirugnAnasambandha MaTham was one who took up extensive research of the world of spirits. He was interested in analysing the many births incurred by an Avi (soul) and the mysteries behind them. He would say concretely, showing evidences that if a name is given to an Avi in a birth, in reality it is not the name given by the parents who give birth to the soul or by others, but only a name that is 'set' based on deeper reasons, for the soul for that birth. It is known that in the NADi Josyam (astrology based on ancient palm scripts) to which many people take to, importance is given to a name. Although Shakespeare said, "What's in a name?", it is the statement of AnROrsAnROr (ancients and learned) that there is much, much importance associated with a name. The name that was given shAstroktam (Shastras-guided) in the nAmakaraNam (naming ceremony) to our nAyakan (hero) is one that has aLapparum mahimai (measurless honours) associated with it. The holy name of Swaminathan (swAmi-nAthan). One who has all the charAcharaM as his 'svam', possession, and is the possessor, owner of them is that God 'svAmi'. One who has even Him, that svAmi, as his slave, as his possession, by being nAthan (owner, lord) is 'svAminAthan'. 'Can there be a nAthan who can even take svAmi as his slave? When svAmi is the nAthan of sakalam (everything), how could it be sAdhya (possible) that there is a nAthan even for Him?' For this (question)-(the answer is that it is) sAdhyam. Because the one who is svAmi (God) is in the position where the dvaita bhAvam (state of duality) is present, in which there are countless vastus (things) known collectively as 'sakalam' and the

svAmi as different from them, is in possession of them, activating them. There is a state that includes and swallows up all that sakala charAcharam and even their nAthan who is svAmi! That highest state of advaita jnAnam is the satya satyam (Truth of truths). One who stands as the metaphor for that satya satyam in our scope of vision, in a way intelligible to us is that Swaminathan, nAthan of even the svAmi (Lord of God). Should not one who includes svAmi, be svAminAthan? He is the yajamAna (boss) who gives this dvaita prapancha (universe of duality) as wages to svAmi! Therefore, doesn't it become that the svAminAtha nAmam (name of Swaminathan) is the name of the mUrti related to the tattvam (that-ness, truth) which is higher than all the highest truths? Even the parajnAna paramashivam (Shiva of Supreme Knowledge) once staged a play wherein he shrank himself into a dvaita svAmi and obtained advaita anubhUti (perception, knowledge, experience of Advaita) through the praNava upadesham (teaching of PraNavam, the meaning of AUM). At that time, the nAthan who gave svAmi the upadesham of praNavam was Murugan, who belongs to the name Swaminathan. [Amusingly, in the dvaita ~naDappu, ~naDippu (walk and pretense of Dvaita), even this One is a svAmi who possesses and rules over the charAchara. In the Amarakosham (Sanskrit dictionary and thesaurus by Amarasimha), the very name 'svAmi' is given to that Murugan! Therefore, adding the 'svAmi' that is exclusive to Him, it is customary to refer to Him as 'svAminAtha svAmi.] When he was Guru to even Shiva who as Dakshinamurti is considered the AdhAra (basic) guru of Advaita, the holy name that Murugan carried was Swaminathan! If he is guru to Shiva, as one who is above Him, he is referred to as kumara guruparan (the Supreme Guru as Son). For the Advaita-Guru avatara, can there be a more suitable name than this one? If there is a place for Muruga in the shaNmaTha (six streams of worship), it is only due to his guru sthAnam (position as guru), our SriCharaNaaL has clarified. The other five mUrtis represent the pancha bhUta: for AkAshA (ether), Shiva; for vAyu (air), Shakti; for agni (fire), Surya; for jalam (water) Vishnu; and for maNN, pRthvI (earth) Ganapati. Since a Guru is necessary to enlighten these Tattvas, Kumaraswami is for that Guru Tattva, thus he has clarified.

While giving the author of this essay the responsibility of organizer for the Sankara Shanmatha Conference that was held in Chennai in the year 1969,

SriCharaNar had spoken about this subject in detail. But then Sri KamakoTi SastrigaL, one of the sthAnIkas (founders) of Sri Kamakshi Devasthanam has expressed in his essay '~nURANDu jOti' (flame of hundred years) that for AkAshA Surya, for vAyu Shiva and for agni Shakti giving it as told him by the sage. Since it seems that the time SriCharaNar told him that way was before the year 1969, we can take what is given here as his final conclusion.

Glossary: auShadham - herbs used in medicine, simples, a medicament, drug, medicine in general charAcharaM - moveable and immovable, animate and inaimate; the aggregate of all created things whether animate or inanimate, world pratyeka - a. each one, each single; Pages 71-74 For one who was to blossom in future as the KamakoTi PiThAdhipati and get the title 'ShaNmatha pratiShTApakAchAryANAm adhiSTAne pIThAbhishikta', is it not an adbhuta (wonderous) agreement that the holy name of Swaminathan, who holds the unnata sthAnam (lofty place) as guru mUrtam (image of guru) among the shaNmatha deivams (six gods), was given? We also heard the Adiyar's song earlier about Murugan having six faces, each representing one among the shaNmatha! Murugan who stands blessing in Swamimalai, the fourth among the aRupaDai vIDus* and the Tiruverakam that got the very name Gurumalai, is one who bears the name of Swaminatha. Only He is the kuladeivam (family deity) of our SriCharaNargaL's pUrvAshrama kuTumbam (family of an earlier stage of life). The father Sri SubrahmaNya SastrigaL for his eldest son had given the name of his father Sri Ganapathi SastrigaL. For our Sad Gurunathan who was born as the second son he gave the name of their kuladeivam. Therefore in a surprising alignment, the names of the elder-younger sons were set as Ganapathi-Swaminathan, as referring to the Vinayaka-Muruga sodara (brothers). 8வkெகாWnெதன கணபDgட2 வEm இைளேயாேன sivakkozhu~ndena gaNapatiyuDan varum iLaiyOnE "O the younger boy who comes with Ganapathi as a tender sprout from Shiva!" --We can therefore call our Swaminathan too with these words of Tiruppugazh.

For this ThambirAn to be born after that Ganapathi Anna, Sri Maha PeriyavaaL himself has said, that his parents had even prayed ("vENDiNDellAmkUDa iru~ndirukkA"). One who is the personification of modesty, he said on a later occasion humourously, "~nAn vENDiNDAkkum poRa~ndavan!" (I am one who was born by parents's prayers!) and laughed. A question rose inside the devotee: 'There is an elder brother for this great man! Then why did they pray seeking the boon of a child?' He did not have the courage to express his question. PeriyavaaL looked at him with delicate keenness and said, "When there is an elder son before him, why would they seek to pray? And this man somehow brags about it--it seems to you? Whether it seems to you so or not if I were you, it would have seemed so to me!" And then he explained the reason for the prayer of his parents. It can be read in the essay 'Kanchi Mamunivar's Tears and Anger' (coming up as the seventh chapter of this book). *** *** *** Didn't we see earlier that on the same holy day of vaikAsi anusham he was born, was also born his paramEShTi guru Ilayattankudi PeriyavaaL? In the same way, this same Swaminatha name was also the pUrvashrama name of his parama guru who was known as Kalavai PeriyavaaL! Although we refer to his paramaguru and paramEShTi guru in the lineage, in sthUlam (physical form) our Sri Maha PeriyavaaL did not get the guru upadesham! Even before he reached his guru to get the upadesham, that guru left for the paramapadam (feet of God)! The Swaminatha name matches here also in paramAdbhutam (most wonderously)! In general, it is only the father who teaches GayatrI from the position of a guru. In the Itihasa-Purana, in places where the term pitA (father) occurs, it would have been mostly referred to by the name guru. But then Swaminatha Peruman is tagappan sAmi (father's god)! Instead of being taught by his father, he taught his father! The Rig Veda rudra sUktam itself that came to speak of Shiva's glory, has said about this Swaminatha mahima as 'kumArashchitpitaraM vandamAnaM'*. How can there be a guru for such a one? Another unexpected agreement too! Is Murugan spoken of as Lakshmi's kumAra (son) anywhere? Still for some reason Arunai Muni (Arunagirinatha) in one of his Tiruppugazh hymns that worships "the Swaminatha guru who grows in the Tiruverakappathi" has called him ராஜத லiண லj: ெப`றEll ெபEமாேள! rAjata lakShaNa lakShumi peRRaruL perumALE!*

"PerumaaL of grace born to Lakshmi whose characteristic sign is the silver!" and in another ராஜத லiண லj: ெப`றEll தmπராேன! rAjata lakShaNa lakShumi peRRaruL tambirAnE! "Tambiraan of grace born to Lakshmi whose characteristic sign is the silver!" Only Uma Maheswari for some reason he has referred to by the name of Lakshmi. The name of our Gurunathan's mother is Mahalakshmi. Therefore he is only the "Lakshmi-borne PerumaaL/Tambiraan who blesses us!" The brahmin women of the Kannada Desham would generally observe much fasts. Mahalakshmi Ammai was such a one. To receive this sadputra santAnam (wealth as a son) it is said that the Mahabhakyavati observed the fasts to appease her family deity Swaminatha Perumaan. Many years back a Nadi astrologer in front of Sri Maha PeriyavaaL read from the songs that elaborated on the sage's biographical details. In that the sage was referred to as the holy avatara of Tiruveraka Swaminatha Perumaan. *** *** *** Notes: 1. aRupaDai vIDu - six sacred temples in Tamilnadu, as abodes of Muruga at the places Thirupparankundram, Thiruchendur, Pazhani, Swamimalai, ThiruthaNi, and Pazhamudircholai. Most important events in the life of Lord Muruga took place in these six places. • In Thiruparamkundram, the Lord wedded Deivayani or Devasena, daughter of Indra • In Thiruchendur, the Lord killed Soorapadhman, a daemon king of asuras • In Pazhani, the Lord renounced the world, and set himself apart from the family • In Swamimalai, Lord Kumara became a Guru to his own father, Lord shiva • In Thiruthani, the Lord wedded Valli, daughter of a forest king • In Pazhamudircholai, the Lord blessed avvaiyar, another famous tamil poet. (More details at http://s.gokul.tripod.com/arupadaiveedu/html/ arupadaiveedu.html). 2. कुमारिश्चित्पतरं वन्दमानं प्रित नानाम रुन्द्रोपयन्तम् । भूरद े ार्तारं सत्पितं गृणीषे स्तुतस्त्वं भेषजा रास्यस्मे ॥

kumArashchitpitaraM vandamAnaM prati nAnAma rundropayantam | bhUrerdAtAraM satpatiM gRuNIShe stutastvaM bheShajA rAsyasme || "I bow, Rudra, to you, approaching (our rite), as a boy to his father when pronouncing a blessing upon him: I glorify you, the giver of much (wealth), the protector of the virtuous; do you, thus glorified, bestow healing herbs upon me." (Translation by H.H.Wilson) 3. rAjata lakShaNa lakShumi peRRaruL perumALE!* "PerumaaL of grace born to Lakshmi whose characteristic sign is the silver!" PerumaaL and Tambiraan are the characteristic names used by Arunagirinatha for Murugan. Does the silver in the verse refer to the silvery abode in Kailash and hence Lakshmi to Uma?--sd Glossary: sodara - n. born from the same womb, co-uterine, such a brother and sister; of whole blood, closely allied or connected with, next of kin to. Pages 74-76 Such is the mahAtmiyam (greatness) of the name that no one used for calling after his thirteenth year of age! And then the names that came to him! The names of Him who made a guru of Swaminathan! One name is the 'SankarAchArya nAmam' that belongs to the adhipatis of Sri Sankara MaThams. And another, the name 'Chandrasekhara', the sannyAsa nAmam (name as an ascetic) given to him as his own. One should listen to how SriCharaNar explains the beauty of the 'Sankara nAmam' applying to Sri BhagavadpAda. (He explained that) Shiva remained only as Shambhu until Sankara was born. That is the utpatti sthAnam (place of origin) of parama-sukham (Ananda, bliss). But then the world did not seek for that sthAnam. The world was in despair, with no experience of that paramasukham. It was only then that Sham-bhu became Sam-kara, to himself seek the people and impart the bliss to them too. For the achala mauna (motionless, silent) dakShiNA-mUrti becoming the AchAra mUrti who always acted, roamed, talked and wrote for the welfare of the world, SriCharaNar would thus deftly show the Sham-bhu, Sam-kara names in sAkShiyam (evidence). For 'Sankara' deriving from 'Shambhu' the vAk (words) of the GitAchArya KaNNan (Krishna) credited with the title of Jagadguru also stands in testimony. In the vibhuti-yoga he says, "I am the Sankara among the Rudras". But then among the ekAdasha rudra (eleven Rudras) there is none with the name 'Sankara'; only 'Shambhu' is there. Since the prefix 'S(h)am' denoting the parama-sukham is present in only this name among the names of those eleven

Rudras, this is the Sankara that KaNNan talks of--the authors of the commentary have thus explained. The parama-sukham is only the advaitAnubhavam (experience of Advaita). It would ever remain as the self-created svaymbhu. That is, to remain as Shambhu is its nature. The 'kara' in Sam-kara brings that pure, inert existence down to Dvaitam. Sankara is the personifcation of the immense compassion with which the Advaita Murti took upon Himself the Dvaita BhAvam, in order to turn the Dvaita world to Advaita. All the kAryas (actions) belong to Mother Shakti. And compassion is her very soul. Therefore it was our SriCharaNar's custom to always speak of his mUlavar (ancestor Guru) Sankara as not just Shiva avatara but a Shiva-Shakti avatara. In the same way, in the present times, our SriCharaNaaL is the jnAna-karuNa avatara, who caused sukham sadA kAlam (happiness at all times) to the outer world, while remaining the advaita svarUpam inwardly. How many thousands of people have worshipped him as Shiva, as AmbaaL, and as Ardhanariswara? Is not the competence that he had to bear the name Sankara which means 'one who does only good' a distinguished one? AhA, is he not the 'ellaiyil peru~nalam' (boundless great goodness) who from his thirteenth year of age for eighty-five years thought only about the world's welfare day and night, conversed only to cause it and walked all over to places, his golden feet bearing the wear and tear of it? The Chandrasekhara nAmam is one that denotes measureless grace and beauty. The crescent moon on the jaTAmuDi (twisted locks of hair)--what a beauty! Although Isha remained as the ghoramaya rudra (terrific Rudra), it is the ornament that adorns him. Though a waned third-day-moon, for compassion it shows the state of fulfilment! Because Isha's mark of compassion touches its peak when He not only pardons the sinner Chandra, but lifts and wears him on His head! Yes, the Chandra-sekhara is the KShamAshikhara! SriMaTham's adhinAyaka (Lord) is also Chandra-maulIshvara! [sekharam and mauli are one and the same. Both the words indicate the shiras (head).] When there are countless names for Ishvara, for the spaTika lingam (crystal lingam) received by KAlaDi Sankara from KailAsha Sankara to bear this name only shows its special elegance. They also say that the crescent moon indicates that we should endlessly grow in knowledge while we seek to increase our beauty and the grace of God. The entertaining kalas (arts) are also included in the area of knowledge. Since we say chandra kalA, this metaphor gets confirmed, right? The outer beauty that is the expression of the inner beauty, the characteristic of pardoning even the greatest sinner and appreciating whatever little goodness in them, the vidyAbhyAsa (practice of seeking knowledge) that did not leave him even in his vRuddhAbhyam (old age) [from the Adi-anAdi

pazhamaRai (beginningless Vedas) to the atinUtana (most modern) psychometry!], and the ~nuNNiya kalA rASikkiyam (appreciation of subtle arts)--by these qualities Maha PeriyavaaL remained as the mahA-bhAShyam (great commentary) for the name of Chandrasekhara. The sannyAsa title Indra Sarasvati. We call the power of Maya, indra-jAlam. Concealing his divinity, Sri PeriyavaaL remained only as a mAyA mAnuSha rUpadhAri (showing the Maya of a human form). This is on one side. On another side, the Vedas would speak of Indra as the parampoRuL (Supreme Truth) that became everything due to the Maya Shakti. The Upanishads show him as an Advaita JnAni who realized the Absolute Truth within his self by himself. In these respects too, Sri PeriyavaaL is only Indra, right? One who is rasamaya (essence-filled); a good nature to move with everyone in sarasam (love); immersed deeply in all the areas of knowledge and arts; and capable of an elegance of words that is unique. Yes, he is only the form of Goddess Sarasvati! Therefore, the names given to SriCharaNaaL in his pUrvAshrama and turIyashrama, all of them became exclusively applied to him. Long live that tirunAmam, perunAmam, gurunAmam (holy name, great name and the guru name) that fosters our life! Glossary: achala - mf(%{A})n. not moving, immovable; m. a mountain, rock; a bolt or pin; the number seven; rAsikkiyam - (Tamil) appreciation. utpatti - f. coming forth, origin, birth (p. {-nant}); result, produce; f. arising, birth, production, origin. Chapter 5. tiru~uruvam (The Holy Figure) Pages 77-80 nAma mahima (power of the name) is alAti (distinctive). In this Kali, only for that is the highest position given. But then they say, 'Guru's name should not be spoken aloud; if spoken aloud, it would constitute a great apachAram (religious offense)'? If we look at why such contradiction, in fact there is no contradiction at all. The guru's name should not be spoken aloud only to the others. It should be recited inside the mind as a mahA mantra, sadA sarva kAlam (at all times). Not only that. Except that the guru's name should not be spoken in conversation, it can be expressed explicitly in stuti vAchakam, stotram, pADal (eulogy, hymns, songs). If it is otherwise, would our SriCharaNar himself have encouraged the ghoSTi ghoSaNam (proclammation in a group), 'jaya jaya sankara, hara hara sankara' that repeats the guru nAmam twice? The guru nAma japam is a great medicine that clears the mind.

'teLivu guruvin tiru~nAmam cheppal' is the Tirumantiram. Even preceding it is the tirumantira vAchakam 'teLivu guruvin tirumEni kANDal. We are confused in maya, with no knowledge of the satyam. Only when the confusion clears, there can be satya darshanam, jnAnAnubhavam, mokSha prApti. That clarity is provided by the darshan of the holy figure of the Guru PerumAn, it is said. It is said generally that clarity will be obtained by the upadesham (teaching) that Guru does. It is also said in elaboration that even that is not enough; clarity will be obtained only when the disciple realizes in meditation that teaching in manana (reflection) and nididhyAsana (deep meditation). The latter half of the Tirumantira song referred to above also mentions these. teLivu guruvin tiruvArttai kETTal teLivu guruvuru si~ndittal tAnE. The tiruvArttai kETTal is receiving the teachings; called 'shravaNam'. After shravaNam, mananam and nididhyAsana are prescribed in Brahma Vidya. Our SriCharaNaaL has given an explanation in nUtanam (new and fresh) that the 'uru' that comes in the 'guruvuru' refers only to the manana by which the guru's upadesham is repeated in mind (uruppODutal) and the 'si~ndittal' (deeply meditating) only to the act of nididhyAsana of the teaching deep inside the mind. The full verse: ெதl. ெதl. ெதl. ெதl.

+E'2 DEேம9 காCடl +E'2 DEநாமm ெசpபl +E'2 DEவாrtைத ேகVடl +E.E 8nDtதl தாேன.

teLivu teLivu teLivu teLivu

guruvin tirumEni kANDal guruvin tiru~nAmam cheppal guruvin tiruvArttai kETTal guruvuru si~ndittal tAnE.

"Clarity is (obtained by) seeing guru's holy form; Clarity is reciting guru's holy name; Clarity is listening to guru's holy words; Clarity is meditating on guru's form." Here, after speaking about the tirumEni darshanam in the first pAda (line), there is no need again to repeat it by meditating on the form, is SriCharaNar's opinion. Since shravaNa, manana, nididhyAsana (study, reflection, meditation) is the sAdhana krama (order of spiritual endeavour), after mentioning the shravaNa that is listening in the third pAda, it is only appropriate to follow it up

and seek the meaning of manana in the 'uru'ppODal and nididhyAsana in the si~ndittal, he would say. For the 'guruvuru' the meaning should be derived as 'guru aLitta upadEsattai uruppODal' (memorizing the guru's teaching in mind by repeating it), he would say. But then only seeing Guru's holy form is enough, if it is done in the way it should be done (sighting as in darshan). It would remove the confusion of maya and obtain clarity. Sometimes it might happen that unnecessary debates arise by the words of teaching and confuse the knowledge! So long as our mananam dwells in kAryam (acts) born out of indulging in superficial knowledge, it would be an unidentifiable confusion as to whether clarity or further confusion is obtained from the teaching! The state of nididhyAsana which is deep, one-pointed meditation is one that is not reachable by most people! Therefore, more than the manana-nididhyAsana, saying the holy name would remain as one that gives clarity. In the mano-vAkku-kAyam (thought, word and deed), even though there is the opinion that higher than the kAryam of the kAyam in sthUlam (gross), are the vachana-stotra-japana kAryas (acts of praising in words and songs and mental repetition) of vAk (speech), and even higher than this kArya of vAk which is somewhat sUkShma (subtle), is the kAryam of the mind which is manana, and the highest is the nididhyAsana, the deep meditation which is an ati sUkShma kAryam beyond the mind and only that raises (the seeker) to the state of shuddha anubhava (pure experience), in practice, for many people, more than the manana-nididhyAsa, chanting the holy name would be one that gives clarity. Glossary: nididhyAsana - profound and repeated meditation Pages 81-84 In this same way, as our Sri CharaNaaL himself has exemplified, more than the nAma japam done with vAk, darshan, the sight with the eyes done in sthUla (physically), would be the one that gives better clarity. He would say in his own clear style: "Two things are given, as svarUpa dhyAnam, namochchAraNam (meditation on the true form, utterance of the name), in (the manner of) nAma-rUpam to catch hold of the [i]deivam (deity) with ease. Going to the temple, having mUrti darshanam, getting absorbed in that beauty, we get bhagavat smaraNa (God remembrance) without difficulty. Although much is said about the name as nAma mahAtmiyam (power of name), in the state of sAmAnya (general, ordinary) we are (for most of the time), even that delights and stops the mind in its course, only when uttered along with (the sight) of a form. When we say 'Rama Rama', our mind automatically thinks of Sri Ramachandra Murti in emerald complexion, holding his bow kodaNDam. If the name is uttered without including the form, it would only seem vaRaTTu, vaRaTTu (dry) to the

ordinary people. Even when the nAma japam is done in the proper way, it is said that first the dhyAna shloka should be uttered and the rUpam is kept firmly in mind. Our prayAsa seems to be more in uttering the name than in sighting the form. Just thinking about a rUpam which is sundaram (beautiful) is more joyful and easier than everything else." Since this was said by SriCharaNar referring to AmbaaL, he has spoken about it, creating her form in mind and thinking over it. Without thinking about the form, that is, without seeing it with the mind's eye, in the physical sighting with the fleshy eyes, since our efforts do not even have the difficulty of shaping a form, that becomes a far easier sadhAna. But then with the darshan which is the kAryam of the kAyamAna kaN (bodily eye), similarly the nAma uchchAraNam which is the kAryam of vAk, even with these acts our deep thinking should merge with them. What sukham (happiness) can be obtained by having darshan of a form or by uttering a name, when the mind is running elsewhere? Therfore, without having the mind to strive and toil much as with nididhyAsana, the nAma japam too is only with the mind engaging deeply, though without that much effort; even less exerting than it, in a comforting way wherein the exertion is not felt at all, remains the act of doing rUpa darshanam and getting its benefits. In the nididhAsana done as our thinking, it is difficult for the mind to get steeped in harmony; in nAma japam it is less hard; and in rUpa darshanam the mind soaks in very easily. The moment a person is spoken about, what we think of him is only his figure. When that figure is seen, our mind unites with our eyes and we sight it easily. An act that requires no effort at all! When going to have darshan of a mahA puruSha (great sage) or the image of a deity, having it with the bhAvam (frame of mind) that the figure is there only for blessing us is what we say as 'pArkkiRapaDi pArppathu' (seeing it as should be seen)! To pick up this frame of mind is also easy. All it needs is a simple faith. Even in that it is enough if we move only half the way. Where we go with such (inadequate) preparations, that mUrti itself would fill up the balance and make our darshana sAdhanA muzhu pakva (darshan endeavour accomplished). It is not that the mUrti should talk to us. It is not even that the mUrti should see us. Even if we go and sight it with an inadequate bhAva, that mUrti, that svarUpam would automatically fill up the shortfall with the power of grace it is filled with and give us the darshanAnda (joy of darshan). The only thing to be noted is that the mUrti should really be a form filled with grace inside! For this guidelines of grammar, what better literary expression is there than the divya rUpam (shining figure) of our SriCharaNaaL?

That small figure was only filling itself inside with that great grace that gushed towards all the beings of the world! Thinking and thinking about AmbaaL, that holy figure remained only as the dayA mUrtam (image of compassion) that was not different from that very Mother! Without an iota of svaya eNNam (self thought) what he said--how aptly it suits himself, check the following: "If a mahAn (sage) remains as a parama bhakta of AmbaaL, why does the manas draws towards him prompting us to, 'look at him without taking eyes'? 'As the Mother so the Son'--thus the saundaryam (beauty, splendour) that has grown in his rUpam is the one that does this way? If a man has his mind absorbed in AmbaaL's svarUpam and in his hRudaya (heart) her charaNam (feet) is in pratiShTA (established), in the outer form however much kONal, vikAram, kaRupput thOl, ~noLLaik kaNNu, teRRup pallu, chUNA vayiRAyiru~nthAlum(ேகாணl, 'காரm, க"pLt ேதாl, ெநாllைளk கCm, ெத`"p பlZ, nணா வdறாdEnதாZm)--crooked, deformed, black-skinned, blind-eyed, tangle-toothed, pot-bellied he be,--as the child who drank the milk of knowledge, milk of love, that milk flowing over his sarvAngam (all limbs), with no guile and deceit in him, only with Ananda (bliss) bubbling over and love swelling up he would remain, so howevermany the crowd, they would experience him as an azhagu rUpi, with a desire to look and look and look more at him, standing on their tiptoes! "If a man is the child of AmbaaL, he would not be like us, his very form would become distinct. His eyes distinct, face distinct, words distinct, all that he does waving his hands and legs distinct--thus his inner beauty becoming visible not just in the face, but through padAdi kesham (feet to hair on the head), and himself remaining as a child to child, mother to mother, he would dispense comfort to the people who are in different forms of tApam (affliction)." Although SriCharaNar says as vinaya vigraham (an image of humility), '~nam mAdiri illAthavan' (one not like us), including him with us, we are not going to see a better example of such a mahAn who is ambALmayam than him. He was one who had his holy figure infused with AmbaaL's Motherliness, which was realized by many in the world, as the darshan of AmbaaL Herself. Glossary: pakva - a. cooked, prepared (on fire), ripened, matured, fully developed, accomplished. prayAsa - exertion, effort, pains, trouble. uchchAraNa - n. utterance, pronunciation. Pages 85-87

Here he referred to a kurUpam and has spoken about the beauty that AmbaaL does even to that kurUpam. Surely, he cannot be referred to as such a kurUpi. Still, in the perspective of anga lakShaNam (features of limbs), that holy face cannot be referred to as one that was extremely beautiful. Even his prakAsha netram (lustrous eyes) where the sun's light of knowledge and the moon's light of compassion merge, had come very near to being what he refers to as '~noLLaik kaNNu' (blind-eyed). Though his complexion was above mAniram (yellowish brown, tan), it was a color that could not be spoken of as blondwhite or rosy. Even then, because the inner light had also gilt his outer body, (there was) a wonderful glow all over it, so as to refer to his body as ponnAr mEni (gold-coloured body)! And thereby he excelled with a pAvana lAvaNya tiruvuruvam (purifying, beautiful, holy figure) that made his devotees crave 'howevermany the crowd, to look and look and look more at him, standing on their tiptoes.' Though his facial features were not distinctly superior, his figure was one where the other limbs were formed much more beautifully. The decorum and sweetness displayed by his figure as a whole were alAti (distinctive). With just a look at him, not only the pAvanam (power of purification) would be seen, but a thought 'what a small figure' would arise. Perhaps the avatAra sharIram took a small frame and formed its mellowness within it, in order that power and commanding position should not keep people at a distance! Just as Goddess Ambika, remaining lalita, latA in her figure, had kept hidden and controlled inside her, her aparimita (limitless) mahA-shakti that performed the five tasks, what a great power had our SriCharaNaaL stuffed inside his puny body! Without drinking even a mouthful of water, walking kAdam after kAdam, then doing his snAna-dhyAnam (bath and meditation), thereafter performing puja for hours at a stretch, and even thereafter, conversing, and doing vAda-vichAram (debate) and scriptural research for hours, without showing lava-lesham AyAsa--how many were the days he was in upavAsam (fasting)! A yogi's bigu even in that laLita deham (slender body)! No hunchback even at the ripened age. That spinal column which would stand upright during his japa kAlam! That height which was less than madhyama AkRuti (medium kind), the laLitam (slimness) that showed no weakness though it was slender, the rotund, flawless suppleness of the hands and legs, above all that hairless saukumAryam--these features showed him as the very Mother Goddess. In that, as his upper vastram (cloth) slips, in the beauty of his back that he displays, we would only have darshan of one of AmbaaL's several adbhuta vigrahas (wondrous images). A renowned painter would say: That back side below the neck is only the form of a sixteen year old divine girl! Even when he touched his hundred, it only displayed young healthiness, showing nothing that was nAmbu narambu (emaciated and veiny)--the dhivya

sharIram (divine frame) of one who took the name of the 'always young' (Swaminathan). Still, the bone would be seen high and distinct in the area of the chest. A pryatakSha udAharaNam (visible example) of what the TirumurukARRuppaDai speaks of the munivars (ascetics) living in TiruvAvinankuDi as "ஊ2ெகb மாrπ2 எ2L எWnX இயŋ+m யாkைகயr"--"UnkeDu mArbin enbu ezhu~ndu iya~ggum yAkkaiyar"--("with the body of an emaciated chest where the bone moves raising")! SriCharaNar would say that a tuRavi (ascetic) who needs to be in vrata (fast) and vairAgya (denial) should only appear as such. Where else are we going to see that beauty of the garlands he heaped on that round head fitting him well there, and when he wore a garland around his long face, that face giving darshan as sAkShat lingAkAram (visible form of Shivalinga)? A feeling of strangeness appears in us when a crown of flowers and such other things are fitted on the head of others, whereas how nicely they fitted in his case! kara karaNa mahima (greatness of his hands and religious practice) we shall see in a separate essay. Say about their saundaryam (splendour)! More than compensating for the shortfall of the mukha lakShaNa, were those holy hands and holy feet, swelling with beauty. The plump softness those holy feet displayed even after walking through thousands of miles! The wonder of that palm and inner foot remaining, like the heart, as panju and pinju (cotton-like and delicate)! The shaN^kha, chakra rekhAs (lines of divine conch and disc of Vishnu) in the charaNam (feet)! That was one seen by an astrologer even in his boyhood! We learn that in the latter days an elderly man spoke about the padma rekhA (lotus line) in Sri Maha PeriyavaaL's shiras-head (it was the shiras that saw the sahasrAra padmam in full bloom!), the shUla rekhA (trident line) of Shiva Peruman and the trikONa rekhA (triangular line) of Goddess Ambika in his karam-hand. Instead of the rekhAs of fate, the mudras (stamps) that showed divinity! Glossary: AkRutiH - shape, form, body, appearance, specimen, species, kind. AyAsa - effort, exertion (of bodily or mental power), trouble, labour. bigu - (Tamil) 1. tightness, hardness 2. severity, rigidity 3. arrogance. kAdam - an ancient India measure of distance of about 10 miles. kurUpa - ill-shaped, deformed, ugly. lalita - innocent, soft, gentle, charming, lovely; sported, played, playing, wanton, amorous. latA - creeper, a slender body. lava - part, piece, plucking, sawing, small drop, particle, smallness, minuteness, ruin. leshaH - a small bit, very small piece, a figure of speech. rekhA - scratch, line, streak, stripe.

saukumAryam - tender, delicate. Pages 87-90 PeriyavaaL's ears were large. 'Is it not the avayava that listens to the entreaties of one and all? Therefore it is as such'; he laughed at what I had written thus about them. "pllெச'ய2னா யாE2) ெதSgேமாlqேயா? அXதா2!-~nILseviyannA yArunnu teriyumOlliyO? athutAn!--(If one has long ears, you know who it is? Only that, yes!), he said. (The name 'long-eared' applies only to the 'vehicle' that carries the dhobi's wash clothes!) A speciality of those ears: it is rare for humans to wave their ears the way an elephant does. They call it gaja-karNa vidya. Whereas PeriyavaaL would do it in anAyAsa (with ease). About his shiras (head) too he spoke humorously once. It is said that the tuRavis need to have a mukkAdu (veil) over their head because displaying the maNDai (bare head) is considered to be ashAstrIyam (against the scriptures). Whereas it was a common sight that PeriyavaaL was seen without a veil over his head. 'When PeriyavaaL observes shAstrAchAram (scriptural injunctions) so much, why this way in this aspect?...', the question rose inside the devotee. How could he ask the question anyway? But then the sage who shines remaining in everyone's chittam (mind) said: "Does this maNDai look like a copper pot that is rolled over? My vastram always slips. As it befits to call the useless daNDam-muNDam (stick, trunk), if it is a daNDam in hand for me, it is muNDanam (shaven head) above!" Apart from this reason, whether it was due to the simplicity of the child that seeks nothing to hide, or due to his avadhUta mahatvam (greatness of an AvadhUta), generally the occasions were more when the vastram remained only non-committally (paTTum paDAmal) on his entire body. Which was why we had the bhAygam (fortune) of having darshan of that rUpam that was made as a nirmala nilayam (house of purity)--made only of holiness, not just bones and flesh--without the vastram hiding most of it. Even when we watched him as a kaupIna-dhAri (one in loin cloth), unlike watching others in that pose, we felt it only as pure concordance. The manda gamana where the movement is slow and leisurely, and the ashva gamana (horse pace) where the movement is quick, and the various abhinaya lAkava (easy, smooth gestures) of hands--all truly belong only to him! Is that not a holy figure where "His eyes distinct, face distinct, words distinct, all that he does waving his hands and legs distinct--thus his inner beauty becoming visible not just in the face, but through padAdi kesham", that inner beauty brimming over in him? Whether it was motionless in kAShTa maunam (complete silence all through the body); was doing restless abhinaya in hita himsa mauna (mildly inconvenient silence); talking long and deliberately at length and leisure;

pouring over in speech like the gush of sea; that thumb alone swaying (occasionally) in half-sleep; peaceful in deep sleep; showing mudra in japa pujAs; quickly closing partially and then opening the eyes for a kShaNa kAlam (moment) in AshirvAdam (blessing); slightly rolling his shiras in Amodana (delightful consent); slightly spinning and rolling the hand in permission to mean "can be done in that same way"; taking plesure in his own words and talking with joyful laughter; talking and acting in imitation of a male child; why, even moving forward in small hops while in the squatting position; caressing the chin and gently stroking the stem of the nose during conversation;--thus in whatever mannerisms that were part of him, the matchless holy figure that showed a charm in each of them! How many are there who can thus display their natural charm, in their own natural way? It would be known by a look at his photographs in many poses, as to how in every bhAva (expression) that holy figure was deeply immersed! In the picture that shows him with shining eyes, laughing widely and talking with hands spread out, he would be the authority of action. In the portrait showing him meditating with closed eyes and focussed mind, he would remain as an instance of an image of peace. In the picture where he gives his gesture of protection, his eyes showing compassion, his palm curving, he would be seen as a holy figure for the divine favour. And in the picture showing him in prayer, his eyes closed and his two hands folded over his chest, that anugraha mUrti himself would remain as a mUrti for vishvAsa bhakti (trustful devotion), praying for divine favour, dissolving into his Self. Glossary: avayava - limb, member, part, portion. gamana - n. going, coming, moving; going to, entering, approaching kaupInam - loin cloth worn to cover man's private parts, sin, improper act. lAkava - lAvaka - m. cutter, mower, reaper. (Tamil) ease, facility, effortlessness, smoothless. manda - slow, tardy, slow moving, loitering, idle, sluggish; dull, faint, low, gentle, feeble. Pages 90-93 A human figure shows artistic beauty only when its limbs are in proportion to each other. Just like the svara sthAnas (notes) that are individually melodious join together and show the beauty of composition in the ArohaNa and avarohaNa (rising and falling cadences), the limbs of a body should be proportional. For one who remained thus with well proportioned limbs, ValmIki would speak of Sri Ramachandra Murti as samaH sama vibhakta angaH*. This nAsi (nose) for this nayanam (eyes), hands, legs, body, a distinct complexion for these, height, weight--the beauty of a body where all such features are in proportion can be compared to a layakkaTTu (composition of notes) which is sarvalaku shuddha (pure in every unit). Such a samaH sama vibhakta angaH holy figure is our Gurunathan's.

The wonderful flexibility of that body! It is one that makes us wonder if it is made of wax, without any bones, hard muscles or twisting nerves! How fluently could he do that Hatha Yoga where he did a padmAsana while standing on head in shirasAna! How was it that he would play, showing us his bowels rolling them into a ball inside his stomach? How did these vidyAs come to him, for one who did not learn the YogAsana exercises from anyone that the world knew of? Once when he was demonstrating some Asana to somebody, it was said that as he stretched his two legs in opposing directions, it was a straight line all through from the foot of his right leg to that of the left! Such an unthinkable flexibility, in the body as well? It is not a word spoken in civility to call it deiva thirumEni (divine body)! For that body that knew no hunger or starvation, no heat or cold, no stupor of sleep, no pain of legs, there was no sweating! However, when it did sweat very rarely, only the fragrance of the manoranjita flower it wafted? No one can excel the description given in English by Sri K.S.Venkataramani about SriCharaNaaL, when the latter was in his thirtees. K.S.V. says: "Have a look at SwamigaL for a moment. The tenderness born of asceticism and the splendour of purity overflow and spread their light in that environment of his presence. In that face that always smiles, the innocence of a child and the freshness of the morning snow find their abode. In the timbre of his voice is found the strain of divine compassion.* In the pointed glance of his eyes are the pulse of heavenly love and the soft light of the rising sun. SwamigaL is naturally endowed with the power of creativity and in the wonderful decorum of that pace of creativity is also there a reservoir of peace. Though it has depth and abundance, it remains like a pond meekly bound within the confines of a glen, rather than swelling in waves and foam and dashing against the banks. Even then, because of the boundless compassion Mother Nature has for the plains of the valley, she arranges for the fall and flow of water from one end of the pond that is held meekly in the upper glen in the peaks of the steep mountains. It is the satyam (Truth) that Adi Sankara's grace has taken avatara in Sri Chandrasekharendra Sarasvati SwamigaL." *** *** *** Kalasapakkam Nat Narayana Rao would talk about an adbhuta sangketa (wonderful mark) in SriCharaNar's holy frame that identifies him as TrimUrti. The term 'mark' is not enough; it can be said as a kAttiya, nAttiya sAkShi (shown and established evidence) in the sRuti vAkhya (scritpural words)! In Gurunathan's sharIram are seen five moles in a group, then three moles in another group and then a single mole. It is in these moles that the Pundit would speak about the indication to TrimUrti. In the place where the Krishna Yajur Veda (4.4.10) talks about the twentyseven nakShatras (constellations), assigning each to an adhi-devatA (presiding

deity), it says that Brahma is for the Rohini NakShatra (rohiNi nakShatram prajApatir devatA), Rudra for the Tiruvathirai (Ardra) NakShatra (Ardra nakShatram rudro devatA), and TirumAl (VishNu) for the TiruvoNam (ShravaNa) NakShatra (shroNo nakShatram vishNur devatA). Among these, Brahma's RohiNi NakShatra has five stars; TirumAl's ONam has three stars; Rudra's Atirai is a single star. Just like these three NakShatras in space which is the form of akaNDa brahmam (unbroken, infinite Brahman), in the body of SriCharaNaaL, who is an AkAsha sharIri (space-bodied), the three groups of moles in five, three and one! Another identity in this is that Rudra's NakShatra Atirai is red in colour. Its reddish light could be seen in the sky. That single mole in Maha PeriyavaaL's body would also be seen embedded as a tiny bead of coral! He would elaborate on that redness as Goddess Ambika, the form of compassion of Shiva! While SriCharaNaaL generally shows only the form of compassion as AmbaaL, in the dhivya tejo darshanam (divine, shining darshan) he gives, after finishing his snAnam, anuShTAnam (bath and routines), in his nIRu pUsiya nimala mEni (pure, vibhuti-smeared body), saffron clothes, daNDam (staff ) and kamaNDalam (water jar), he would touch any heart as parameshvara svarUpam (the natural form of Shiva). There is none other than that darshan to purify us. Let us have an inner-eye darshan of him! Note: 1. ValmIki Ramayana, Sundara KanDa, Book 5. dundubhi svana nirghoShaH snigdha varNaH prataapavaan | samaH sama vibhakta ango varNam shyaamam samaashritaH || 5-35-16 "He has a voice like the sound of a kettle-drum. He has a shining skin. He is full of splendour. He is square-built. His limbs are built symmetrically. He is endowed with a dark-brown complexion." 2. SriCharaNaaL's voice would seem to raise not from his kaNTam (throat) but born somewhere from his pure inner space and go penetrating us to our interior being. When that Hamsar does a 'hum' in a feigned woman's voice that depth would be found! Was it not the Deivatthin Kural (Voice of Divinity)? Glossary: ArohaNa - ascending, rising, rising up avarohaNa - descending, falling, descent sa~gketaH - gesture, sign, mark, token for remembrance, indicating token, agreement, condition. vibhakta - divided, distributed, isolated, lonely, distinct, different, manifold, regular, symmetrical. Chapter 6. SriCharaNargaL's SriCharaNam; Sankara's abhaya karam

(The Holy Feet of SriCharaNar and the Securing Hands of Sankara) Pages 94-97 [An Anbar (devotee) has inquired about the meaning of calling Sri PeriyavargaL SriCharaNar. When looking at his query, I was reminded of the essay I wrote and gave under the above title to SriCharaNaaL's parama bhaktas Sri Ramaswamy--Smt.Kanakamma dampati. An essay that I wrote for a book of homage that they gave as a gift to a circle of close devotees. The answer to the devotee's question is found there. Additionally, there are many other things. Adding a few more, I share it with all readers here.] DEவH தStX 5`கt DCணm நாm உynதவாேற! tiruvaDi tarittu ~niRkat tiNNam ~nAm uy~ndavARE! --Appar "standing on His holy feet so we live in spiritual prosperity." ைக தர வlல கட.ll ேபா`M! kai tara valla kaDavuL pORRi! -- Manikkavachagar Praise the Lord (Shiva) who can lend a helping hand! RukmiNI, who was massaging KaNNan's (KrishNa) lotus feet as he was about to enter his nidrA (sleep) or yoga nidrA (slumber of meditation) was startled. The reason was that the feet were full of blisters of burn. She implored him the reason for such blisters, her eyes flooding. KaNNan, the MAyAvi, who had created the incident to give garva bhangam (decrease of arrogance) to RukmiNI, who had considered herself unmatched for loving him, asked her with a mischievous smile: "Did not Radha come this evening to meet me? You gave her a cup of milk that was just boiled down from the oven, right? Exactly at that time I too entered the room? Her yearning to have darshan of me swelled up in her, but at the same she also did not forget the civility of not disregarding your kShIra upachAram (offer of milk), so he cried out 'KrishNA!' and drank the milk as such. And she is the one who has done pratiShTA (established) of my feet in her very soul! Which is why the hot milk hurt and turned up blisters in my feet! Tomorrow, at uShaH kAlam (time of dawn) when she finishes her puja to me and drinks the charaNAmRutam (water that washed my feet), in that rosewater all my blisters would go away!" As she read that the heat of boiling that should have hurt Radha instead affected KaNNan's lotus feet, mAtRu siromaNi (gem of a woman) Smt. Kanakamma Ramaswamy's thoughts spread out towards our parama pUjya Sri Kanchi Maha PeriyavaaL. "lokAn bhava tava shikhA tApa papashya mAnAn", as the saying goes, SriCharaNaaL's divya charaNam are the ones that bear the tApam (heat) of the world which is getting fried in the heat of the wildfire of

samsAra (World-Process)? Additionally, those pAda padmam (lotus of feet) also bear the devotees' heartburns? Shouldn't those feet be immersed in sheetala chandana kalavai (cool, sandal paste) and be cooled? Just by worshipping those imprints, shouldn't we do samanam (balance) of our inner yearnings against the heat of this life and obtain shAnta sukham (comfort of peacefulness)?--in this manner, that lofty woman's thoughts went. There is a shloka in which a devotee asks God Nataraja who gets sheetala chandana abhiShekam on the dewy early morning of MArgazhi TiruvAdirai (Arudra nakShatra day of the MArgashIrsha month): "With Ganga on the head, along with the cool crescent moon; chilly cobras on hands and feet; on the left side (of body), AmbaaL who is the daughter of snowly mountains and is herself cool in her compassion; as if these are not enough is the heaping up of sandal paste on all your body parts, also pouring it over your head! If you are not one who has nityavAsam (permanent abode) in my chittam (mind) that swelters under the heat of afflictions, how could you have obtained the trANi (strength) to bear this much great coolness?" If that AdiyAr gave a place to IRaivan (Shiva) in the warmth of his mind so the degree of coolness does not affect him, this AmmaiyAr (woman) yearned to cool down with sandal paste the holy feet of the Sadguru who takes the heat of sins and desires of the world as his own! She got the great desire that the prints of SriPAda imprinted in sandal paste should be had for their family as a kShemanidhi (life saving), and doing puja to those footprints they must obtain all the iha-para nalam (benefits of this and other worlds). She prepared the fragrant sandal paste and took it to SriCharaNargaL and prayed to him to give her his footprints on it. That Master of Compassion was one who could fulfil her prayer considering that AmmAL's bhakti alone. In addition, when that AmmAL's piRa~nta vIDu and puku~nta vIDu (home of birth and home she entered) were both having atyanta bhakti (strong, unbroken devotion) towards him for so many decades, why ask if her prayer was granted? For a long time that caused her worry that SriCharaNargaL might be afflicted with sheetala (cold), he divinely favoured her by pressing his kamala kazhalkaL (lotus feet) in that cold night. And Avvai's vAk (saying) "aதk களபc ெசnதாமைரp [m பாதm--sItak kaLapach che~ntAmaraip pUm pAdam" ("the flowery, red lotus feet adored with cool, fragrant paste") was realized in every word of it! Glossary: bha~ggaH - breaking, split, separation, portion, part, bit, peace, decay, contraction, decrease, evil, pain, impediment, obstacle, going, motion Pages 97-100

They call kaLapa chandanam (sandal paste) 'kalavai'. Only the kShetram called Kalavai is where the two sages who became SriCharaNaaL's Guru and Paramaguru, merged with the ParamporuL (Brahman). SriCharaNaaL who begot two PiThAdhipatis (pontiffs) to succeed him even during his time (of physical life), has offered in that Kalavai the imprints of his two holy feet, as if he had intended to pass his divine favour along with the grace of his two earlier pontiffs (through them), to the world. Smearing sandal paste on the surface is called chandanak kAppu. This pair of footprints impressed in sandal paste is also only chandanak kAppu (sandal protection); that is, a symbol that protects by grace and provides security! One that PeriyAzhvAr referred to as 'ேசவHc ெசv' DEkகா pL--chEvaDich chevvi tirukkAppu (the holy safeguard that is a lovely red lotus)'! Falling in 'sharaNAgati' (surrender) is only at the charaNam (feet)! sAmba sadAshiva shambho shankara sharaNam me tava charaNa yugau--svarNamAlA stuthi thus BhagavadpAdA himself has surrendered only at Bhagavan's feet! To show the mahima (greatness) of feet, is there anything more than his taking the name BhagavadpAda? All the mahAns (great sages) have only got the name 'aDiyAr' (holy-footed) for them? Since they always meditate on the feet of God in their head and stay oriented towards them, they become 'aDiyAr'. Another explanation: because of their excellent quality of humility, they consider themselves lowly in the society even as the feet are at the bottom of the human body and call themselves 'aDiyEn', 'aDimai', so they are 'aDiyAr'. Yet another explanation: If the Paraman (Supreme God) has to come to us, he should only 'dislodge' his feet and come? Only those feet should we too bow to, weep at, wash, hug and feel happy about it? Only the MahAns render us the assitance of bringing those holy feet to us? So, considering them as the form of those holy feet, adding a prefix of respect, we call them 'aDiyAr'. 'Tiru-aDi' is the direct Tamil form of 'Sri-pAdam' or 'Sri-charaNam'. The 'aDiyAr' who is its mUrti (form) is 'SriPAdar' or 'SriCharaNar'. Here it should be referred to as 'charaNa' as 'cha-kAram' (not 'sha-kAram'). Our seeking refuge at that 'charaNam' is referred to as 'sharaNam', using the 'sha-kAram'. Not 'sa' but the 'sha' as it occurs in 'Shankara'. It is only that aDik kamalam (lotus feet) that is aDaikkalam (refuge) that VaLLuvar repeatedly speaks about in the opening chapter 'kaDavuL vAzhtthu' (Praising God) in his (Tiruk)kuRaL: vAlaRivan ~naltAL, mAN aDi, aDi sEr~ntArkku yANDum iDumbai ila, tAL sEr~ntArkku allAl piRavAzhi ~nIttal aritu, tALai vaNa~ggAt talai, unless iRaivan aDi is reached, it is not possible to cross over the great ocean of births--all these are the kural (voice) of the kuRaL*.

Only the Paraman's pAdam (feet) became the Vishvam (world) and the sakala bhUtam (all beings) in that Vishvam, is the shruti vachanam (word of scriptures). That the darshan of the feet is capable of giving the complete honour of God who is the vishvAtmaka (soul of the world) is exemplified by VAkIchar's words 'கCேட2 அவr DEpபாதm, கCடMயாதன கCேட2--kaNDEn avar tiruppAdam, kaNDaRiyAtana kaNDEn' ['saw His holy feet, and (in that sight) saw what I had not seen (earlier)']. It is the tradtion of devotees to meditate on only the God's feet instead of the full form (as residing) in the lotus flower inside their hearts. VAkIchap PerumAn (Appar, TirunAvukkarasar) would say, 'நாHேன2 52ற2 பாதm நbpபட ெநr8)llேள--' ('sought your feet in the middle of my heart'). This is in his Koyil (Chidambara) Pathikam. That ChidambarEsan doing [i]mokSha pradAna (granting liberation) is also by his raised holy foot! The other holy foot that steps on Muyalaka is one that does the maya of tirodhAna (concealment). So, this and the other world both are only by the pair of God's feet! Adding (the acts of) creation, preservation, and dissolution to these two, MaNivAchaka would finish his TiruvenpAvai, hailing that only the Foot does the pancha kRutya (five acts of God Shiva). upAsaka shreSTa (best among worshippers) would know about the meditational greatness of guru pAdukA (feet impressions) and the pAdukA of AmbaaL, who is guru svarUpam (natural form). "bhajAmi shirasi stitham guru padAravinda dvayam"--thus only the Sri Guru CharaNa Kamalam (lotus feet of guru) expands the nectar (of bliss) in the apex of the head and merges one in Advaita Ananda, is the way our elders have given us, knowing it in their own experience. "Whatever other honours are there, if a man does not sink his mind in the lotus feet of guru, that mind is of what use, what use, what use, what use?"-asking (the question) 'what use?' thus four times ('tataH kim tataH kim tataH kim tataH kim '), Jagadguru Adi Sankara himself has sung his gurvAaShTakam. One who is Maha PeriyavaaL, our SriCharaNaaL's charaNa visheSham is alAti (distinctive). Only those feet of compassion have travelled thousands of miles over stone and thorn and jungle paths? Still, it is a wonder that instead of getting rough, those feet stayed divinely smooth and thus got their superiority, like the lalita charaNas of Goddess Sri Lalita! Those feet remain as a treasury of beauty, small like the feet of a mother. Still, these two small feet also have the vishvAkAra prabhAvam (universal majesty, splendour) that is characteristic of Maruti Prabhu (Hanuman) who is described as chiRiya tiruvaDi (Smaller Feet). Just as Vedanta Desika sang a thousand songs considering Bhagavan's feet imprints as a divine form, we can also sing for our Desika! Go on speaking about we can, of the tiruppugazh (holy fame) of the tiruvaDi (holy feet)--what Tiruppugazh states as +E arபாத ேசrைவ--guru sIrpAda sErvai (the greatness of Guru's pair of feet)!

*** *** *** Note: The Tamil version of these verses might be read here: http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/weaver/content.htm with the English translation here: http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/weaver/eng_1.htm Glossary: aDi - (Tamil) foot pradAna - n. giving, esp. in marriage, presenting, offering, yielding, granting, applying; gift, donation, oblation; communicating, teaching, proclaiming; putting on, applying; effecting, producing. tirodhAna - concealing, covering, disappearance, vanishing vishvaM - the universe, dried ginger Pages 100-103 The great day when SriCharaNargaL as an image of his grace that comes pulping like the sandal paste, impressed his footprints of such greatness was the day when the Shukla year, PurattAsi (bhAdrapad) month, Krishna PakSha ShasTi and the Budha Varam (Wednesday) united. 'Shukla' is light. It also refers to Shivam. PurattAsi is 'bhAdrapadam'. For that name itself we can take the meaning as 'mangaLa charaNam' (auspicious feet). They say 'even if gold is obtained, the Budha Varam is difficult to obtain'. For the puNya pAdam which is more valuable than gold to get imprinted on our aham (Self), it was only that day when Aiyan blessed with his anugraha. In the English computation, it was 20.9.1989. (Adding up these digits gives 2, denoting the pair of feet.--sd) In deiva saMkalpam (divine will), there is a predestinately fixed time for everything. Although SriCharaNaaL graced those pada mudrAs (footprints) that is bhadra pradham (giveing forth blessings and prosperity) in (the month of) BhAdrapadam, it seems that he had saMkalpam for the right time to get their shAstroka pratiShTA (scripture-guided installation) only later. During those three months in between, the feet imprints remained in Chennai with the AmmaiyAr. The power of compassion can be felt with heightened impression only when there is a trial which is solved soon after. The power of devotion is proved only when remaining not weakened by the trial. In addition, the pain the devotee gets during the trial will also help in lessening his karmic burden to some extent. In our pAda mudrA itihAsa too, such a sodanai paTalam (trial phase) turned up! The sandal paste dried and cracks started developing (on the footprints). Any effort to set it right could not be accomplished. In the mind of the bhaktai (woman devotee) too, cracks started developing. Finally, for the solution, she

went to SriCharaNaaL himself, who was the mUlavar (origin) of the charaNam (foot). That was on December 30th. The fifteenth day in the middle of the holy Dhanur month (mArgaShIrsha--mArgazhi). But then, the trial continued in the holy sannidhi (hall of divine presence) too! A large and swelling crowd there. Many mukyastas (notables) are waiting with their important supplications. Even though SriCharaNaaL's pAriShadas (attendants) were in good parichaya with the AmmaiyAr, the circumstances were in such a bustle that the assistants could not recommend anything. The AmmAL at that time couldn't do anything more than remain silent and waiting, keeping the feet imprints covered with flowers as such, before SriCharaNaaL. SriCharaNaaL dropped in parama pAvanam (supreme act of purification) the vanni patra saram (garland of leaves of the Indian mesquit tree) on the feet imprints and gave his anugraham. He also gave his command of grace: "In thai mAsam vasanta panchami (first day of the spring in the month of paushya-January) you do pratiShTA (installation) in the AchAryAL Sannidhi at Sita Paatti's pAThashAlA (school)." With that his look of grace turned to the next devotee. The pAriShada had moved the pAda mudrAs beside the AmmaiyAr. It should have been a matter of great happiness that Gurunathan graced with the garland of vanni patra and with his holy mouth pronounced the place and time for the pAThashAlA vaibhavam (installation festivity). Still, there was no happiness now. The cracks found on the prints proved to be crackers for the happiness! Kanakamma returned home with the thought, 'after getting back to Chennai, try the other cures suggested by some other people and check if the cracks unite, let the solution be whatever Periyavaa intends!' When she took the feet imprints for the 'vaidhyam' (other cure)--what to say of the wonder she saw? The feet imprints remained with the fullness of greatness without any trace of cracks that made her wonder 'Were these the prints that had developed cracks?'! They dazzled giving the assurance that they would never develop cracks henceforth, looking hardened as concrete! The vittakam (knowledge and wisdom) of the vEndan (king) that also gave fullness to cracked hearts! To the SriCharaNa MudrA that SriCharaNargaL blessed, devotees fixed precious stones around and did the alaN^kAra upachAra (service of decoration). A beautiful glass box was also readied. The shloka (verse) about Sri Guru CharaNam which remains as the raft that can let one cross the ocean of

samsAram (World-Process) was also recorded on a copper plate to be installed with the feet imprints.* One who was a companion of utsAham (strength and vigour) to all these efforts was PujyaSri Jayendra Sarasvati SwamigaL. The vaLar piRai panchami (fifth day of the waxing moon fortnight) that follows our tai amAvAsya (paushya--Jan new moon day) is the puNya tithi (auspicious day) known as Vasanta Panchami in the chAndramAna mAgha mAsam that SriCharaNaaL indicated. In the yearly study curriculum of veda adhyayanam for six months and education in the other subjects for six month, the day the veda adhyayana pUrti (completion of Vedic study) happens is on this Vasantha Panchami. Therefore, only that day is the day of Sarasvati Puja in the Vedic routine. (The Sarasvati Puja that comes in the ShArada NavarAtri is only paurANikam--puranas-based). Vasantha Panchami is also the auspicious day for such events as temple kumbhAbhiShekam, mUrti pratiShTA (temple ablution and deity installation festivities). Which is why our Indra Sarasvati had desired that day for his pAdukA-pratiShTA! Note: Is the Sri Guru CharaNam shloka refererred to here, the following? mAnasa bhajarE guru charaNam, dushthara bhava sAgara taraNam Glossary: parichaya - acquaintance, intimacy, familiarity with, knowledge of; trial, practice, frequent repetition; heaping up, accumulation. saidevo 13 September 2008, 08:06 PM Pages 104-106 Before going to Mayiladuturai for the pratiShTA, the devotees went back to Kanchi to inform SriCharaNargaL about it. Totally unexpected, as if one tries a pair of sandals, SriCharaNargaL climbed on his sandal feet imprints that were dented and dry, pressing his own feet and sat squatting on them! After doing an Achamanam sitting on them, he sprinkled a few drops of water from the pot on his left footprint! It is only the left foot that is worshipped as if as a separate deity by the name 'KunjitaPAdam'? Only that foot gets one to the state of immortality, kicking away Yama? Did SriCharaNaaL thus do kumbhAbhiSheka to it meaning that only that foot on the AmbaaL's part (of Parameshvara) grants more blessings? Still in the strange nature of human mind, the AmmaiyAr at that time also feared at the bottom of her happiness--that 'by SriCharaNaaL climbing on and squatting, the prints should not have broken or developed cracks! They should not also be damaged by the wetness of the water!' But then in the great power of grace, will such things happen?

On 31.1.1990, the day of Vasanta Panchami, in Mayiladuturai, the pratiShTA was held as a mahA vaibhavam (grand festivity), and till today the nitya naimittika pUjas are held in a grand manner. 371 Our Abhinava Sankara has rejoiced doing pratiShTA of Adi Sankara's feet in various sthalas (holy places) spread throughout Bharatam. Whereas his own feet, as Sri Jayendra SwamigaL said, did their pratiShTA of their own accord! *** *** *** From now on, we shall see with a savistAra pIDikai (elaborate bush-beating), an incident wherein our SriCharaNaaL's charaNa mahima was brought out even during his boyhood. The year 1906. Sri Chandrasekarendra Sarasvati SwamitaL who was the then KamakoTi PIThAdhipati was observing his chAturmAsyam in the Perumukkal village of the Tindivanam taluk. Sri SubramaNya SastrigaL who was a Tindivanam resident had gone with his family to Perumukkal to have darshan of SwamigaL. The second son of that family who at a later time blossomed into our Maha PeriyavaaL was the then Swaminathan! SwamigaL was at that time sitting in the Puja. When his nayanas (leading eyes) that were immersed in the darshan of ChandraMauleesvara and MahaTripuraSundari, were going round the side of the devotees, they rested on the twelve year old Swaminathan who was sitting as a komaLak kozhundu (tender sprout). Suppose in the sight of a bird that scans the sky, earth, people and trees, its own nest comes by? Even before the bird can enter that nest, its sight will enter it? And will sprinkle love to its offspring there? Thus SwamigaL's dRShTi (sight) which had seen countless people all these times, as a peaceful sight when entering its own nest, as a compassionate sight towards its offsprintg, was fixed on Swaminathan. Two planets that appeared to be going about their two different courses, had entered into a path where they attract each other! Without anyone knowing that this is an angurArpaNam for the great incidents waiting to happen, the dRShTi dIkShA (initiation by sight) took place in such a simple manner!

After the puja was over, he inquired SubramaNya SastrigaL about the latter's kuTumba yoga kShema (worldly and spiritual welfare of the family). Importantly, he inquired about Swaminathan. To Swaminathan himself he talked. The SankarAchArya SwamigaL who was Jagadguru Sri Kanchi KamakoTi PIThAdhipatigaL talked with concern to a twelve year old bAlakan (boy). Not just on that day, during the two days that SubramaNya SastrigaL was staying in Perumukkal, he often sent word for Swaminathan and was talking to him. What sort of experiences the boy received in his meeting with the PIThAdhIshvarar is not known to us for certain. *** *** *** Glossary: angurArpaNam - a ceremony preliminary to a marriage or any other auspicious function in which certain seeds are placed in vessels for sprouting. kuTumba - household, members of a household, family savistara - having diffuseness, diffuse, detailed Pages 106-111 To the author of this essay, SriCharaNaaL has given a lot of details about his charitam (life) with his blessings. "வCH வCHயா ெசாlqdEkேக2;"--"vaNDi vaNDiyA cholliyirukkEn" ("I have given you cartloads of information."); "ஒŋtVட ெசா2ன அள.k+ யாrtVடgm ெசா2னDlேல" "o~gkiTTa chonna aLavukku yArkiTTayum chonnadillE"--("To the extent I have told you, I have not told anyone else.")--he had even spoken voluntarily in such words. Still, even after telling all these details, he has kept it at a shortful without making it full! Because, all those 'cartloads' he told were things which can be referred to as his external life; and not about his inner life that was embedded with meaning, an infinite number of times. He mostly kept silence about the lofty and wonderful details of his spiritual life that we could have expected him to reveal at certain stages. Or he simply went on pushing them aside, saying that nothing lofty or wonderful did take place! Of course, to those who felt his unnata deivIkam (lofty divinity), this would not be acceptable. Then why did he, a holy form of satyam, veil and hide it in that way? Was it due to the situation that under the influence of Kali when even normal human bhAvanas (acts of promoting welfare) are getting bleak in today's world, he should not unwind and display his own divine bhAvanas (states)? Or did that LokaNAyaki (Mother of World) plan that he should hide his real heights and show only simplicity, remaining in direct opposition, in order to balance the trend of today's world, where everyone is doing a make-believe of their nonexistent heights? Did She make a judgment that today's world has no rights or

qualifications to crave for more (about knowing that inner life), so she let those details of inner life remain in secrecy when details of his external life are themselves so lustrous that they show Maha PeriyavaaL's charitam as a mahAmahA itihAsam? However that may be, we are only disappointed at places where we expect those inner details that are dense with the taste of the divine in his life. The connection that developed between Bala Swaminathan and the then PIThAdhipati is one among those (expectations). Except that it is known for certain that it was an atyanta (strong) connection, the graceful spiritual nuances of that atyantam has not come to light. Fortunately, one thing has come to be known, from what some of the MaTham mukhyastas and panditottamas (notables and pundits) of those days said at a later time. That is, the then PiThAdhipatigaL had felt certain heights in Swaminathan even as he had a first sight of him. Later, conversing with him, he had well confirmed himself about the (spiritual) kernel of the boy and decided to appoint him only as the next successor of the PITham. About this decision of his, he had also expressly told the mukhyastas and panditottamas of the MaTham. He had told them in spaShTa to the extent that Bala Swaminathan would shine as a Maha PuruSha. SriMaTham's mukya nirvAhi (chief manager) MaNakkal Sri Kandaswamy Aiyar, Maha Vidvan TiruvisaiNallur BrahmaSri VenkataSubbA SastrigaL and such other people have thus given evidence about their knowing the decision of that PUrvAchArya directly from him. Was it a decision of PUrvAchArya? Or he knew about the deiva saMkalpam (divine will) and decided thus on it? It should be the latter. Will not that Adhipati of Kanchi SriMaTham recognize the greatness of our SriCharaNar--it was he who made him SriCharaNar--which was spotted by Sri Sivabhinava Narasimha Bharathi SwamigaL who was the then excellence-filled AdhipatigaL of Sringeri SriMaTham? Only because he recognized it, had he made Bala Swaminathan, Sri Sankaracharya SriCharaNar? Are you asking with sharpened ears, what that Srigeri samAcham (news) is? That will appear in one of the books to be published in future, made possible by that holy grace. However that may be, the then KamakoTi Adhipati did not at that time tell Swaminathan of his decision. Indeed to a small boy, no elder would have revealed such a big news. Much less to a pupil of a Christian missionary school who did not have the qualifications that we attribute for the ArohaNam (ascension) of a JagatAchArya PITham. In addition, though his family was from their pUrvIka kAlam (ancient times) had strong connection with SriMaTham, as far as he was concerned, that parichayam was not there for him. To a boy in such circumstances, it was not surprising that the news of the very administration of that large institution was to be made over to him was not conveyed. Even later on, without the possibility of the PIThAdhipatigaL telling

him the news, in the next seventh month itself, he attained deha-viyogam (passed away giving up his body). This is from the side of the PUrvAchArya. From Swaminathan's side, as mentioned before, whatever personal heights of experiences he had, it is not known that he expressed them to anyone, though having lived for eighty-eight years thereafter. He has also emphasized to this author that he did not get any such experience. Still, after much supplications from this man, what he has informed, in some detail of his outer feelings, and even giving a hint of his inner feelings, is now distributed to all the readers. "When looking at him, it was not at all like looking at other manuShAL (people). A feeling that here is a very great man, and a respect that did not till then arise towards anyone else, appeared. It was heard until then only in stories and puranas about mahAns and jnAnis, who are to be thought of and kept on par with Swami Himself; was seen in dramas. Only now we see such a man in person, it seemed. A respect that did not arise when listening to a story or seeing a drama, arose. "That mariyAdai (respect) on the one side. In addition, a priyam (affection) of some sort! A feeling that he is so great a man, I am so much smaller, and even then, this mahAn is one who is very much desired for us. Without being in the state 'Somehow we came for darshan and moved away', the manas (mind) got ready to be always with him. One such priyam! "Whatever my priyam? The priyam he showed towards me is the priyam. His priyam was seen in such a great man, without any reason, seeing and talking to an innocent boy, listening to him and treating him well. And in that my priyam became more and more. "'What happened spiritually' is your (Raa.Ga.'s) question, right? You are repeatedly asking it. It might seem to you that I feign kirAkki (a high price) without replying straight away. But what to say of something that did not happen? At that time, I was not at all familiar with the 'spirit'; had not even thought about it. Still, for something to happen spiritually--for the guru kRupa (guru's compassion) to make it happen as such--there is no need to know or think about it [for one who is to receive it]. Even after such a happening, it is not necessary for that to be known [by the recipient even at a later time]. Perhaps something in that manner could have happened? "I do not know what to say. Don't be in tApam (longing) that Periyavaa does not say anything! What to say when I myself did't know anything?" Glossary: spaShTa - clearly perceived or discerned, distinctly visible, clear, evident, plain, intelligible, distinct, manifest. unnata - raised, high, eminent; bent or turned upwards, elevated, lifted up, high, tall, prominent, projecting, lofty.

viyogaH - separation, absence, nonexistence, loss. Pages 111-117 Even after that Parama Satya SvarUpar, with supreme love, said thus with a mellowing compassion, to think that he veiled his antaranga AtmIka anubhavas without speaking them out, would seem an error, even an apachAram (offense). Even with that, we cannot hide the fact that in the latter times-many years that grew tall later--he did conceal his divya shakti (divine power) in innumerable things, in what it resulted to us (his devotees) as well known miracles. Which is why it could have been the saMkalpam of Goddess Parashakti that the details of his inner life remain as one that can be described as 'deva rahasyam' (divine secret), although he is a Satya SvarUpar and one who melts in supreme love. Therefore, it needs to be considered that his life incidents and experiences did not end with the external details he spoke about. We can compare here what we saw in the essay 'The pUrNa kumbham and the vAhana ArohaNam--as the PUrvAchArya finished his chAturmAsyam in Perumukkal and came in vishvarUpa yAtrA to the temple, to Swaminathan who saw him there, "Something that cannot be described as this or that, registered deep in mind!" To the question that when for two days the PIThAdhipar called the bAlan (boy) to him several times and conversed a lot with him, did he not ask anything Atma sambandha (spiritually related), the graceful reply that SriCharaNar gave: "I think he did not. Chiefly, he asked (questions) only to test (my) buddhishAlittanam (intelligence), seems I replied (well). [Look at the simplicity in not talking about the parama tRupti (complete satisfaction) that the AchArya had in the replies ivar (SriCharaNar) gave to the questions avar (his guru) asked!] "If something can be said which is of Atma sambandham, only the previous year was my pUNUl kalyANam (thread ceremony) held; he asked about it. He was happy that I was doing sandhyA vandanam regularly. He was also happy that I was learning all that is customarily learnt once the pUNUl is worn, and that my father had arranged a tution in Sanskrit only for that purpose (see note below). [SriCharaNar evaded it as ordinary, the swell of happiness that the PUrvAchArya got in the very quick progress the boy showed in Sanskrit as well as memorizing the pArAyaNa sUktas and stotras within a few months of his beginning their learning, and that also keeping the first rank in his school education he did it all. This was learnt by Raa.Ga. mostly from the 'leading question' that he asked to the sage.] When SriCharaNar was asked whether his PUrvAchArya at least symbolically indicated or asked about the administration of SriMaTham was to be passed on to the bAlan, he said, "I don't know to say such a thing with certainty. Since I

was first in the class, he had asked if I was (at any time) the monitor. That could have been to check if I had the sAmartyam (tact) to advise and control the other boys." But then nothing is in (my) memory as to SriCharaNar saying anything (at any point of time) about his being a monitor or not (in the class). It may be that he did tell me and I failed to keep it in the curtain of my mind or share it in paper. Note: During SriCharaNar's eleventh year of age, in the year 1905, the upanayanam was held for him. The PIThAdhipadigaL had also sent prasAdam on that occasion. Nevertheless, the bAlan was not taken to his holy presence and made to have darshan of him, even at that time. Sometime later, only in the Tirumukkal camp, did our Gurunathan see his Paramagurunathar for the first time. Our Devadevar who had (learnt) the deva bASha (Sanskrit) as his own mother tongue, had not known a single alphabet of the language either to write or read until he got his Brammopadesham in his eleventh year of age! The reason was that Sanskrit was not taught in the schools in Chidambaram, Villuppuram and Tindivanam, where he studied. After the upanayanam was done to him, he was sent to the tution classes conducted by a SamskRuta Pandit in Tindivanam. Since SriCharaNar also learnt, along with his lessons, what the brahmin boys 'usually learnt' after their upanayanam, we can have it that he would have learned PuruSha SUkta, SriSUkta, SriRudra-ChamakAdigaL, and VishNu SahasranAmam. An important viShayam (thing)--rather a correction--is to be mentioned here. Obtaining essays from many great men, the people of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in their magazine Bhavan's Journal, were publishing them under the title of the lesson their life had taught them. Under the series, SriCharaNaaL's essay was published in 1961. In that essay, he has mentioned knowing about his succession to Sri KamakoTi PIThadhipatyam at a totally unexpected occasion and feeling upset and wailing about it. The essay says that in that contingency he took hold of RamaNAmam only, and that it was the only thing that he had known religiously at that time. It seemed vichitram (strange) that a thirteen year old brahmin boy at the beginning of this (twentieth) century--and that one who belonged to a family that had special connection with SriMaTham--had not known anything other than RamaNAmam. In addition, it is seen in Sri Maha PeriyavaaL's biography titled Sri Jagadguru Divya Charitram written by Sri Sambamurti SastrigaL, that (PeriyavaaL's mother) "Mahalakshmi AmmAL to her children taught all the stotra verses that she knew. Young Swaminathan immensely liked memorizing them." Sri Sambamurti SastrigaL was SriCharaNar's sAkShAt pUrvAshrama

thambiyAr (younger brother of his earlier stage of life). He was only five years younger to SriCharaNaaL. And one who himself learnt the stotras from his mother. Apart from this, there is another bAla kANDa vRuttAntam (young life incident) that PeriyavaaL himself recalls. He said that to the SriMaTham camp at Perumukkal, a brahmin landlord from an adjacent village came with a show of pomp and fuss. For one who was fattened by money, he had come with the expectation that the AchArya SwamigaL of that day should show special attention to him and honour him. Whereas SwamigaL, without doing any such thing, continued his conversation with the other sAmAnya shiShya koTi (group of ordinary disciples). The landlord was angry at that. With a 'dhivya' thought he should 'attack' the then AchArya by reciting a shloka from the Adi AchAryaaL, he shot a bANa (arrow) of a verse from the Bhaja Govindam that read, 'kAShAyAmbara bahukRuta veShaH | udara nimittam bahukRuta veShaH'. It was a shloka that refers to the Sannyasis who are veShadhAris (pretentious men) wearing kAShAyam (saffron cloth) as one of the appearances that people take in order to nourish their stomach. Ascribing that stigma to the very AchArya PITham, that ganavAn (notable) without any compunction spoke it out loudly in ghoSaNam (proclammation). But then it would have been clear to everyone that what he ascribed would not be applicable to the PIThAdhipatigaL even in lava-lesham (small part). Becuase, had the then MaThAdhipar was veShadhAri sannyAsi who is intent only on nourishing his stomach, for nourishing the bigger stomach of the MaTham, he would have paid all his attention to the ganavAns and ignored the others? The bANam could not do anything to SwamigaL who was a shAnta sattva sampanna (one who is accomplished in the qualities of goodness and peacefulness). He remained quiet. But then a vidvAn of the MaTham who was present there could not bear it. In a very pleasant and polished manner, he took another bANam from the same Bhaja Govindam and shot it back at the landlord! He recited, "mA kuru dhanajana-yauvana garvam; harati nimeshAtkAlaH sarvam |". "Don't be proud because of your wealth, servants or youth. The Lord of Death would in a minute take away all those things" is the meaning. That bANam piercing him sharply, the rich man traced his way back with a hung face! (There is a continuity to this story. Perhaps we might see it sometime later). When this incident took place, Bala Swaminathan was present there. It got recorded in his 'photographic' memory and the 'photo copies' were received by several devotees long after the incident! The reason why we highlight this here is that we obtain from this incident that even during those days when the Perumukkal camp was held, Swaminathan

was acquainted with the Bhaja Govindam. From the way SriCharaNaaL recalled it, one was able to know that from his acquaintance of Bhaja Govindam in those early days, he was at first upset when the landlord threw an example from it and was happy when a VidvAn later gave another example in return. Glossary: sa~gketaH - gesture, sign, mark, token for remembrance, indicating token, agreement, condition. vRttAnta - occurrence, incident, event, doings, life; course, manner, way; tidings, rumour, report, account, tale, story, history; a topic, subject; sort, kind; nature, property; leisure, opportunity; a whole, totality; mfn. witnessing or being a spectator of any action; mfn. inquiring into what has taken place. Pages 117-118 Note: continues... Only when SriCharaNaaL was camping in Mahanandi in 1957, it was possible to make a mention to him about the 'Bhavans' essay. "It has come out that way?", he asked. This is an excellent aMsam in the wonderful ascetic disposition of PeriyavaaL. Getting engaged very minutely in a subject, he would seem for a long time to be one having an atIta (excessive) attachment to it. Whereas when something crops up as its result, he would stand away from it, with absolutely no attachment! Showing much interest in fulfilling the request from the people of the Bhavan, he gave the details to a professor and directed him to do an English translation of them. When the translation was in progress, he advised changes when either the professor sought them or he directed the latter for such changes. He even made corrections in some places to the English usage of the famous professor in a way that the professor appreciated it. But then when the full essay was submitted to him as a typed manuscript, he just turned the pages for the sake of it and okayed the script. Later when it was published, he had a glance at the beginning, somewhere in the middle and at the end, and then moved to the next essay. After six years now, in a leisurely manner he asks, "appaDiyA va~ndirukku?"! "When compared to the learning through [Veda] pAThashAlAs (schools) or by growing in the satsangam (divine company) of the BhAgavatAL (learned devotees), what was known to me at that time was only very little. But at that time [of emergency], without having anything of them coming to the mind, only the RamaNama turned up. I would have mentioned it him [mentioning the name of the professor who translated it in English]. Seems he understood it this way and had written it", he said. When Raa.Ga. supplicated that since a collection of those essays have also come in book form now, if a correction is advised to them now they would

carry it out in their next edition, he put a full stop to it saying, "adellAm oNNum ippak keLaRiNDu irukka vENDAm--(Let us not rake up all that now)!" Raa.Ga. himself indeed translated that very essay that took its English form through an oral expression of Sri PeriyavaaL, from English to Tamil. Perhaps due to PeriyavaaL's full stop, it did not occur to him to do this correction, even at those times when he was permitted to send it for publication to many special issues (of Tamil magazines), until PeriyavaaL gave up his body! Only now after his sthUla uDal (gross body) matured and fell, the remembrance came and the correction mounts up for printing! Pages 114-119 The main essay continues... Learning that the bAlan (boy) stood first in the oratorical competition and in reciting the dialogues of dramas, Paramaguruswamy was said to be happy. One thing that is much surprising. We come to know that during that Perumukkal camp, the Paramaguru decided that Swaminathan would be the future PIThAdhipatigaL and informed about it to some very close disciples. Even then, he did not advise the boy's father to stop his getting general education at the Missionary School and give him shAstrAbhyAsam (training in the study of scriptures)! Perhaps he considered that it was not the occasion to inform the father about his decision regarding the son. Even later on, no occasion came up (for him) to inform orally of his decision and obtain the father's consent! Only when the father had gone to Trichy to attend a conference of the Government's Department of Education he worked under, did an urgent telegram from SriMaTham was received (by him) and his consent was obtained through his urgent reply telegram, and Swaminatha Brahmachary became a SankarAchArya Sannyasi! From the essay in the "Bhavan's Journal" and what Sri PeriyavaaL personally said later on, it is obtained that it was altogether unknown to Swaminathan that his PUrvAchArya had willed to make him his successor. Six or seven months later, unexpected turn of events happening, when Swaminathan was taken by the SriMaTham chippantis (staff members) to the then MaTham camp Kalavai, and the mEstri (supervisor) of the MaTham told him that only he is going to become the PIThAdhipati immediately, he was completely unnerved-thus shows the Bhavan's essay clearly. He whould have become unnerved in that way only because he had no pUrva sangeta (original indication) from his PUrvAchArya? Pages 119-122 Although a mahAn (sage) does not inform either openly or by a sign his own opinion or that of God, due to the inner connection a shiShya has to his guru,

that opinion would be somewhat known (to him) on a few occasions. Only on a few occasions. In ParaShakti's drama of maya, it is possible that even a parama shiShya fails to know of the holy opinion of his Gurunathar. So, even if the bAlan Swaminathan did fail to glean then and there the holy mind of his atipriya, pUjya AchArya, there is nothing to be surprised about it. Does a seed sprout up immediately when the rain drop falls on it? At that time, the seed would not even seem to have absorbed the rain water. Still, given sufficient time, we would see a green sprout coming out of it. Later, it grows into a tiny sapling, a plant and then a tree! Just as he would promptly reply if his school teachers asked him questions, Swaminathan gave replies to SwmigaL's questions in the same way. The yati shreShTa (excellent ascetic) got impressed with the formal beauty and the intellectual beauty of this child. A man with no ties, with a feeling of celebrating an exclusive relation, he proudly spoke to the people around him with the words, "Did you see this boy? You saw his intelligence?" Suddenly he said with a majestic happiness, "This boy is going to shine as a great man." Even then, neither Swaminathan, nor his father Subrahmanya SastrigaL did guess that, that 'periyavan' (great man) was to become a 'periyavaaL' and later 'maha periyavaaL', ascending to the divine empire of the PiTham. SastrigaL started for Tindivanam with his family. Even after that, SwamigaL ordered him to bring Swaminathan often to the MaTham camp. SastrigaL complied with his orders. The seed started to soak more and more in the water. *** *** *** On that day, SastrigaL's home smarted under allOlakallOlam (hullabaloo). It was all crying and weeping, bustle! Swaminathan was not seen right from the morning. How can the parents and the born-with remain without bustling and being in distress? Where would he be gone? They checked with the homes of all his friends; searched all the wells and ponds in the town. No tidings were known about him. The parents did not have food, were merely kneading their grief-stricken hearts, and praying to gods they had not prayed usually. The tidings came. A MaTham chippanti (staff member) brought news that Swaminathan had come to the camp in a place called Saaram, five miles from their place, where SwamigaL was staying and that he was fine there. Later, the MaTham cart came and dropped Swaminathan and his sakA (friend).

When Swaminathan returned home, the parents were in rapture as if they saw their son with a new lease of life. It was only happiness for them that without wandering somewhere, he had gone seeking a Mahaan. But it seemed to Subrahmanya SastrigaL that at the bottom of that happiness were sediments of inexplicable questions: Why such a connection between this small boy and that great Sannyasi? Why did he call the boy to his presence so often? Why does this boy of his own accord run to the sage without even informing anyone about it? Whatever occurred to him, SastrigaL took the boy, along with his horoscope, and went to his friend VenkataRamaiyar, who was well versed in astrology, palmistry and horary astrology. Since that man was of the Telegu tradition, he was also known as VenkataRamaiyaa. His son Krishnaswamy was our Swaminathan's classmate. It was only forming a pair with the other boy of that home did Swaminathan flew to the village Saaram. When he was found missing, his people had missed checking with this home. Only after the vichAram (anxiety) of the missing son subsided and a new vichAram took its place, did SastriyAr go to that house putra sahita (along with his son). If those who were the first to know about the mahima (greatness) of MahaPuruShAs were bhAgyashAlis (blessed with divine fortune), then there was no bhAgyashAli like VenkataRamaiyar! He looked into Swaminathan's jAtakam (horoscope). God, what they call yoga jAtakam, is it the one with so much of yogams? Enough to call this just a yoga jAtakam? Not only is this a yoga jAtakam, it also reads like a yogi jAtakam? Even in that yogi, a speciality is seen! Without remaining removed as a yogi, this jAtakan is seen as one who remains with the jana samUham (popular society) doing his anugraham (divine favours)? As he looked more into the horoscope, happiness and surprise kept growing tall in VenkataRamaiyar. Pages 122-125 Additionally, he wanted to ensure some hint that he found. He said, "SwaminathA, I need to see the soles of your feet! Go wash them thoroughly and come." (Only for this news about the tiruvaDi (holy feet) which is the subject of this essay, was the meeting with PUrvAchArya at Perumukkal, etc. narrated as a prelude!) Subramanya SastrigaL was sitting in eagerness as to whatever surprises were there in store for them.

Washing his feet in the courtyard of the house, and walking hesitantly, slim as a creeper, Swaminathan came to the drawing room. "kozhandE (my child)! The dust on the floor will again stick to your soles. So bring some water and wash them here itself", Aiyar said. Perhaps he decided to have a good darshan of those holy feet today! Washing his feet at the entrance, Swaminathan displayed those red lotuses. As he looked pointedly at them, Venkataramaiyar tightly hugged them; and he did not seem to relax his grasp. Feeling shy, Swaminathan babbled, "mAmA, take your hands off! mAmA, take your hands off please!" and tried to shake his legs off his grasp. His efforts weren't fruitful. "sAr (sir), would you grasp the leg of a child?" Subramanya SastrigaL also pleaded. Aiyar sobbed: "You don't know what it is, SwamI! You know how much bhAgyam one should have done to hold these legs? This is a pAdam not obtained easily by anyone, ayyA!" and he relaxed his grasp. "Here, look, the shaN^kha rekhA (the line of the Conch). And here, the chakra rekhA (line of the Disc)! You won't get it this way, SwamI, never", he said. "The jAtakam is good, isn't it?" asked Subramanya SastrigaL, with satisfaction. "Good? It is the rarest of the rare to see a horoscope like this one", said Venkataramaiyar, but suddenly controlled himeself. It was of course a rare jAtakam in his perspective. But how could it be so in the perspective of a father? When Suka became an ascetic and ran away, did not Veda Vyasa himself ran after him (seeking desperately to stop him)? Aiyar told only this much to SastrigaL: that Swaminathan's horoscope was one where several yogas met and that he would become very famous. He did not inform that the sakala yoga, rAja bhAva, selvam, kIrtti (indications of spiritual, sovereign, wealth and fame) it contained--all would be sahAya to only the sannyAsa yogam. The horoscope confirming what Acharya SwamigaL told--"He is going to be a periyavan (great man)"--SastrigaL started his way back along with son, feeling happy. Venkataramaiyar stood, his eyes misty, looking at the holy feet that slowly moved, stamping their glory on where they touched, as PeriyAzhvAr sang: ஒE காq` சŋ+ ஒE காq` சkகரm

உllளH ெபாDt(X) அைமnத இEகாZm ெகாCb அŋ(+) அŋ(+) எWDனா`ேபாl இலc8ைன பட நடnX oru kAliR cha~gku oru kAliR chakkaram uLLaDi podit(thu) amai~nda irukAlum koNDu a~g(gu) a~g(gu) ezhudinARpOl ilachchinai paDa ~naDa~ndu "Conch in one leg, Chakra in another, with two legs formed with such soles walking as if their signets written there, and then there..." The 'chakaTa yogam' of those feet with the stamp of the Conch and the Disc! The wonderful 'chakaTa yogam' of one's feet who would never mount a cart with a wheel, known as 'chakaTa yAnam! Making the holy earth of Bharatam more holier, they have gone on saMchAram over several thousand kAdams (units of ten miles). If our Maha PeriyavargaL has the honour that if it is a 'walking god' it is him only, the part that is fit for such honour (in his body) is only this pAdam (foot) of his? After that '~naDamADum deivam' (walking god) sat down in recent years as a god that would not walk, to make those charaNams (feet) too as a walkless, separate god--an asaiyA mUrtti (moveless image)--in a temple, the divya saMkalpam (divine will) had come up. Its prosperous result was the pratiShTA at MAyUra Maha KShetram of the feet that are shaN^kha-chakra mudritam, getting stamped in sandal paste. *** *** *** Glossary: mudrita - sealed, stamped, impressed, printed, marked, contracted, closed, sealed up. sahAya - a companion, follower, adherent, ally, assistant, helper in or to; companionship, assistance. Pages 125-127 It is the foot that does the job of carrying a person to places. Whereas it is only the hand that does most other things. Only based on (the word) 'karam' has the word 'kAryam' originated. The acts of blessings of deiva mUrtas (divine images, deities) are carried out only by their hands. The varada of large scoops of bounty is only by the hand. Even more visheSha (excellent) than that, the abhayam of granting protection, preceding it with the word 'a~jchEl' ('dont fear'), is also by the hand! The asura saMhara (destruction of demons) is also one that the hand does. Whatever the deivam (deity), in the dhyAna varNanA (meditative description) (of the god), the details of how many hands, what weapon or mudrA (sign) in each, take precedence.

Although in general the pAdam (foot) is considered as a deity in its own stature, the Veda in the 'SriRudra SUkta' praises that it is only the hasta (hand) of a jIva (individual Self), doing puja after puja on Shiva, becomes a bhagavAn even loftier that bhagavAn himself! For this, can there be any better proof than SriCharaNaaL's hastam that conducted archanas in crores of numbers to ChandraMauleesvara? What a nectarine hand is that, which has shown abhayam and comforted so many crores of jIvarAsis (living beings)? As 'kara-charaNam', we say it, give precedence to the hand even before the foot. The chief divine act of granting aikyam (unity with Brahman) that an Atma nAyaka (Spiritual Lord envisaged as a husband) does is also a pANigrahaNa (joining hands in marriage)? hasta visheShas are thus in plenty. After the pAda pratiShTA, SriCharaNaaL's abhaya hasta pratiShTA should also happen in the same way--thus Goddess Ambika, the antaryAmin (inward r e g u l a t o r ) , p r o m p t e d a d e s i r e i n s i d e Ka n a k a m m a . D i d n o t S r i Ramachandramurti, who displayed his kAl vaNNam (divine power of feet) through Ahalya shApa vimochanam (liberation from curse), show his kai vaNNam (divine strength of hands) through the dhanur bhangam (breaking of the bow), 'kaiyODu' (without delay)? His breaking the rudra dhanus in that way is only the bheda (splitting) of the rudra granti* in the Ajna chakra! Only following this, is the sItA-rAma vivAham (marraige of Sita-Rama), which is the shiva-shakti aikyam! Gurunathan's abhaya hastam is only that which grants that advaita aikyam! When it is not abhaya mudrA but a chinmudrA*, the hastam shows this truth in vyakta (clear manifestation). Therefore, when the AmmaiyAr desired for the world SriCharaNaaL's abhaya hastam, she inwardly also longed for the chinmudrA in addition. Still, when she went and supplicated to SriCharaNaaL with the suganta chandana kalavai (fragrant sandal paste), without asking for abhaya mudrA or chinmudrA in particular, she only requested that his dhivya hastam be imprinted on it. The karuNAmUrti who is a kAmitArtha bRuta (one who fulfills desires), pressed his holy hand in the kalavai and gave it to her with blessings. Note: 1. rudra granti psychic knot or block between ajna and sahasrara chakras. When the Rudra granthi is pierced, and the air enters the seat of the Lord (the space between the eyebrows), then the perfect sound like that of a flute is produced. Brahma Granthi, Vishnu Granthi and Rudra Granthi. It destroys phlegm which is the bolt or obstacle to the door at the mouth of Brahma Nadi (Sushumna). It enables one to know the Kundalini.

Ref: http://en.mimi.hu/yoga/rudra_granthi.html http://www.healthandyoga.com/HTML/readingroom/ays/ays160.asp 2. chinmudrA hand gesture in which the first finger is kept at the root of the thumb, the last three fingers are unfolded. The Cinmudra signifies that communion of the soul with the Absolute is possible only when ego, Karma and Maya are overcome. Ref: http://en.mimi.hu/yoga/chin_mudra.html http://www.hindu.com/2004/03/15/stories/2004031500360800.htm Glossary: aikya - oneness, unity, harmony, identity; bha~ggaH - breaking, split, separation, portion, part, bit, peace, decay, contraction, decrease, evil, pain, impediment, obstacle, going, motion kAmita - desired, wished, a wish, desire, longing varada - mfn. granting wishes , conferring a boon , ready to fulfil requests or answer prayers (said of gods and men) Pages 127-129 That was 05.12.1991, the day of Kartikai AmAvAsya (new moon day of the Kartikai month) in the PrajApati year, a day filled with auspiciousness. In addition, it was guru vAram (Thursday, the day of the Guru). On that day, our SriGuru's nakShatram anusham had also aligned, adding further speciality! At the time when the cows return to their cowsheds, known as the parama pavitra godhULi kAlam (the supremely divine sunset time)*, PUjya SriCharaNaaL pressed his hastam (hand) for an imprint in the sandal paste, with his blessings. The divine orders came to do the hasta pratiShTA on the forthcoming Sri Sankara Jayanti day, at the same Mayiladuturai PAThashAlA temple in the Sankara Sannidhi. The kara pratiShTA taking place on the avatAra dinam (birth day) of the everbenevolent Sankara--it is only appropriate? There was an Ashcharya aMsam (a share of suprise) in this hand imprint: Adjacent to the imprint of the five fingers spread out was imprinted the index finger and the thumb separately! But then here too a question mark got added to the resulting happiness! The reason was that the index finger was stretched straight, without bending to touch the thumb and thereby make it a chinmudrA. 'There is no such mudrA! What can be done now? In SriCharaNaaL's hand impression, it is not proper for

another person to put hand and bend it to a chinmudrA?' With many such questions, the AmmaiyAr returned to Chennai. To answer her question, doesn't the Power that blesses have the capability? The divyAdbhuta shakti (wonderous divine power) that had earlier beautifully united the feet imprints after they had developed cracks, did not also take its 'hand' away now! Yes, after reaching Chennai when she checked it, the straight index finger had bent beautifully, touching the thumb and forming the jnAna mudrA properly! Perhaps to show that the jIvAtmA does not easily give in to bending to merge with the paramAtmA, he first made it stand taut and then bent it! Thus, the AdiyAr had received, the abhaya mudrA and the chinmudrA both as a double bhAgyam (divine endowment)! In the kaingaryam (service) of the bhaktas (devotees), this hand imprint was decorated with precious stones around and took a greater shobhA (lustre). Before taken to MayUram for the pratiShTA, the SriHasta MudrA was again submitted in SriCharaNaaL's Sannidhi. Like showing harihara abhedam (unity of Hari and Hara), SriCharaNaaL bestowed by placing on it a tuLasi garland as well as a rudrAkSha garland, which he was wearing then. At this time, he had very much reduced his vyApAra (affairs) with the outer world. Yet he asked for and approved the verse of explanation of the chinmudrA that was recorded on a copper plate on the advise of Sri JayendrargaL for installation along with the SriHastam. Wasn't it the chinmudrA that was formed with an adbhutam (wonder) for its nucleus? The imprint of the feet that did saMchAra through the length and breadth of the country went straight to MayUram; whereas the imprint of the holy hand that gives its blessings of prosperity remaining where it is, did vijayam (travel) to Kumbakonam, which was SriMaTham's second rAjatAni (capital) during the interim days, and to Govindapuram, which was the brindAvanam (resting place) of Sri BodhendraaL, who got out from the JnAna PITham and grew the crops of devotion through Rama Kirtanam (songs on Rama), and obtained the grand festivities at those places. Later, during the last AngIrasa year on the great day of Sri Sankara Jayanti (that also aligned to be a guruvAram, Thursday) it obtained the pratiShTA mahotsavam (installation festivity) at the Sita Paatti Veda PAThashAla at Mayiladuturai. *** *** *** Note: 1. godhULi kAlam - Here is a picture of a cow at the peaceful sunset time: http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/15643/ppuser/ 9231

Glossary: godhULiH - dust caused by homeward treading of cows in the evening at sunset, so this time is known as godhULi kAla, evening, twilight. Pages 129-131 When there are so many places, for selecting this place, who can get to know the Sadguru's saMkalpa rahasya (secrecy of will), as such? Still, we might have a look at the greatness of Mayuram, and the eminence of that Sita Paatti to the extent we know them. Of the sapta nadis (seven rivers) of Bharatam, the only river that flows through Tamizhagam is the Kaveri. In that Kaveri, it is only at Mayuram is the superior bathing ghat known as 'TulA kattam'.* The greatness of the holy foot and the holy hand are there in alAti (distinctively) for that place. Only the holy foot raised high shows the maximum honour of the foot. And that is given abhinaya (dramatic representation) only in Thillai Natesan's (Siva) Ananda tANDavam (dance of bliss) is the prevailing opinion of most people in the world. In fact, for that AnandakkUtthu there is another name, 'gowrI tANDavam'. And Paraman enacted that 'gowrI tANDavam[/i]' only at Mayuram! Therefore that pathi (place) is (always) referred to as 'GowrI Mayuam'. At Thillai (Chidambaram), Gowri only watches as a witness; IshA dances as she watches. Whereas at GowrI Mayuram he dances with she too dancing with him. Long before he came, she came to that pathi as a mayUram (peahen) and was doing penance for her pati (husband). Later on, he too came in the form of a mayUram (peacock). Both of them joined together and performed the Ananda tANDavam. That was why that place earned the name Mayiladuturai. "AchAryaaL has mentioned in Saundarya Lahiri (shloka 38) that only in the chittam (mind) of the mahAns (sages) do Shiva-Shakti give darshan as hamsa dampati (a swam couple). He has himself--he should have been keeping Mayuram in his memory (at that time)--mentioned their dancing as a mayUra dampati for all the people to be in Ananda, in his Sivananda Lahiri (shloka 54)"--thus our SriCharaNaaL has shown in example. Just as the white light that does not get classified with any other color, scatters as sapta varNa (seven colors), the achalam (not moving, inert) that is Shivam becomes the movement that is Shakti and does all the movements in the prapancham (universe). The bloom and glitter of the seven colors is expressed best only in the peacock. The Shakti from Shiva who is the ParamporuL (Supreme God) takes vidhavidha rUpa (different forms)--where the Svetasvara Upanishad mentions this, it has spoken it with the word vividha. The term 'vi' also means a pakShi (bird). Therefore it is explained one vyAkhyAnam (commentary) that the term 'vividha' implies that just as the mayUra pakShi

(the bird peacock) shows different colors, the Shakti of Shiva shows nAnAvaNNam (distinctly different colors). For our SriCharaNaaL, this poetic description is a favourite one. Which is why in his dhivya stuthi 'Durga Pancharatnam', he has stated the same Upanishad sentence with a small change at the end, as 'parAsya shaktiH vividhaiva srUyasE (the shakti that is cast away takes different forms). Two lines later, he has mentioned in spaShTa (clearly), as 'vividhA mayUri', referrring to Shakti Mayilambika. In Taitriya AnandaValli, each kosha (sheath, body) has been metaphorically given as a pakShi (bird). In SriCharaNaaL's rare poetic eye, the Anandamaya Kosha which is the bird that is said to have Brahmam for its tail has appeared as AmbaaL! In the feeling where the advaita jnAnam and the artistic mind (born in dvaita and reaching in advaita) merge, he has an exclusive interest in the dance of the Adi Dampati. Note: Paramacharya's discussion on the 'Tula Kattam' in the Kaveri river from the 'Kaveri Puranam' as found in 'Deivatthin Kural' is given here in English: http://advaitham.blogspot.com/2008/09/deivathin-kural-95-of-vol-2-of-14mar.html Glossary: vividha - mfn. of various sorts, manifold, divers; mfn. coloured variously, changing from one colour into another; Pages 131-134 In her making the achalan (unmoving) dance, the visheSha (distinction) is only for the pAdam (foot) for its aDavu (footwork)? (Alhough there is ativisheSham to the hand that shapes its mudrAs, the peacock has no hands!) In gowrI tANDavam, the raised foot which is his left foot is only hers? Perhaps he (SriCharaNar) thought that only to the shadow of that mayUra padam should the imprints of his own feet go! In Mayuram, if the naTanam (dance) shows the divya pAda mahima (greatness of the divine foot), the holy name that AmbaaL carries in that sthalam (place)--'abhayA'--highlights the hasta mahima (greatness of the hand), raising it to the Himalayas! There is yet another special reason for the AdvaitAchArya to have a distinct interest in Mayuram. Isn't that the kShetra where Sri Medha DakShiNAmUrti has taken temple in? It is most special that for the varNamAlA stotra Sri Bhagavad PAdAL has blessed us with, keeping that MUrti's mantra akSharas in order as the beginning syllables of the shlokas, he has arranged it in the matta-mayUra vRuttam and also mentioned this vRuttam by name in the last shloka.

That is a jnAna kShetram, one that cures the mayal (delusion) known by the name mAyA, can be known by what JnAna Sambandha PerumAn has mentioned in his pathikam (set of 10 hymns) on that place as ஊனtX இEllpŋ tடேவCHl ஞானp ெபாEll ெகாC(b) அHேய)m Unattu iruL~nI~g kiDavENDil ~jAnap poruL koN(Du) aDiyEnum "To have the darkness of flesh removed, I should with wisdom (investigate it)..." and as மயlvr மdலா bXைற mayaltIr mayilA DutuRai "Mayiladuturai that cures delusion..." Isn't that BhagavatPAdA who devised for us the jnAna mArgam (path of knowledge) also much appreciated the vaidIka AchAras as the foundation for it? That Mayuram has also that honour would be shown by PAlaRAvAyar's tiruvAkku (sacred words): பCbm பலேவ Dயேராத வCடாr மdலா bXைறேய... νணŋ+m LSx லrகlleH வணŋ+m மdலா bXைறேய... paNDum palavE diyarOda vaNDAr mayilA DutuRaiyE... ~nuNa~ggum puri~nU larkaLkUDi vaNa~ggum mayilA DutuRaiyE... "From the ancient times, several Vedic Brahmins chanting (Vedas), the Mayiladuturai replete with bees buzzing (over flowers)..." "A crowd of the Sacred-threaded joining and worshipping, O Mayiladuturai!" Isn't it in a unique harmony that our VedaNAyakA ordered installation of those charaNa-hastas with Vedic chanting at the Veda PAThashAlA there? *** *** *** Who is that Sita Paatti who established the Veda PAThashAlA in that place? That mUdATTi (old woman) who had reached the puNya loka (heavens) several years back was one who had lost her pati (husband) even at her tenth year of age and from thereon grown her bhakti in Pashupati. She was one who did

AshrayaH (sought refuge) to SriCharaNaaL, having known him as the mAnuDa vigraha (human image) of that Pashupati. She can't be said to be particularly rich. Still, spending from her own properties and collecting donations without feeling shy about it from the Astika jana (God-believing people), she always remained conducting grandly something by way of bhajans, pujas or samArAdhanas (community worship). Isn't some sort of vratAnuShThAnam mentioned daily in the PanchAngam? She would have probably conducted employing suitable brahmins, all those observances! She made widows like her stay in the several rooms in her house and involved all of them in the sacred tasks and service. Sita Paatti had neatly scheduled the rent received from each of them for a specific satkAryam (sacred task). As a jewel on the crown for all these satkAryas, she established the Veda PAThashAlA right opposite her home and constructed in that school a Sannidhi for Sri BhagavatPAdAL, who is pratiShTApanAchAryAL (founder teacher) of the vaidIka mArgam (path of Vedic rituals). One who was the adopted son of her was Smt.Kanakamma's son-in-law. It is under his supervision that the Vedic school and the house Sita Paatti lived in, remain presently. The woman who sought the imprints of feet and hand, only prayed with the consideration of her own family welfare. But then whatever prayer did Sita Paatti sought from SriCharaNaaL? Which is why SriCharaNaaL should have had the consideration for installation of his feet and hand imprints in Sita Paatti's Vedic School as a living memory to her and for the welfare of the entire world. For one who wonderfully unites several aMsas (share of events) in his LIla of Grace, has also arranged for visheSha puNya to collect for that family, since the supervision of this Vedic School vests with a relative of Kanakamma's family. Let us hope that this installation would open up a way for this Vedic School which remains presently closed to get a renewed lease of life! May the CharaNaHastAlayam at Mayuram remain as the sharaNAlayam (refuge) of the bhakta koTis (community of devotees) and give them their daily [i]shAnti saukhya[i] (peace and happiness)! *** *** *** Pages 134-137 charaNam, hastam both these terms have the meaning 'support'. That which shares the weight and comforts is 'support'. The divine, holy frame that supported countless aDiyArs (devotees) giving refuge through the charaNa kamalam and security through the hasta kamalam has disappeared. But was it that the mEni (body) and its limbs dispensed that immense grace of support? Physical body can only support physical things. How can a physical body support the mental burden, the life burden of devotees? That support was

done only by ParAshakti's principle of Supreme Compassion. Since people cannot absorb that sUkShma shakti although it is one that is immortal and is vyApaka (pervading) everywhere at all times, it dispenses its supreme compassion showing avatAra sharIras to them and using those bodies as a tool. Still, in the inexplicable sport of ParAshakti, it is given a rule of lifetime and the body is finished (when its time is up); even the avatAra sharIras. Although it is this way, from the greatness of the holy service of support rendered by the sharIrI (body-bearer) during that lifetime, devotees can understand him as the power of the grace (of ParAshakti) that cannot be limited to a sharIram. Therefore, when an avatAra sharIram falls, since the nava nava sundara lIlas (always modern and lovely sports) it did for our eyes to see and our eyes to hear also come to an end, it is natural that grief swells up in us; nevertheless, if we look at it with a cleared mind after prayers, we can understand that it was not the sharIram that supported and protected us, and that that power of support and protection remains with us even today, surrounding and permeating us, and that it will ever remain so. We can understand this fact in experience, not just by vAi joDanai (decorative words of mouth) or mano kalpitam (mental imagination). All that is informed to us from the veda vachanam jIvema sharadaH shatam* to the podu vachanam (common saying) 'shatAyus' uttered even when a child sneezes is that the adhika pakSha (maximum) lifetime of a sharIram is a hundred years. The term 'nURudal' also means 'get destroyed'! Such a maximum limit is the time SriCharaNargaL has with parama karuNai (supreme compassion), parama poRumai (supreme patience) withstood by that dharma vigraha sharIram of his, the adharma kali kolAhalam (adharmic uproar of Kali) prevalent everywhere and dropped his body. Many of us are among the majority who has deliberately let slip the fruits obtainable from that parama shreShTa avatAram (supreme and best avatar) who lived for many long years to only turn all the people into their life of dharma, keeping this mission night and day and all times, in his thoughts, words, deeds, prayers and anugraha (divine favour). Enough if we adore and talk of his greatness, we can go in our own way without doing anything that he would appreciate in us and be proud of--we have remained (in our ways) only with this intention. Even then, without accusing us, cursing us, and without himself feeling bad about it, without considering success-failure in accordance with the crowning example of Gitopadesham, working with all his breath for dharma punaruttAraNaM (rescuing and securing dharma) which is the avatAra svadharma (natural dharma of an avatar), without showing the strain of it but remaining like a flower in blissful bloom, and abundantly dispensing Ananda to the world, he has dropped his body when his pUrNAyL (complete lifetime) is about to be over. More than feeling sorrow thinking of him, it would be much prosperous and fruitful if we think of ourselves and do some Atma chodana (self examination).

If we do it, the power of grace of that parama mUrti which is nothing but a form of compassion would wipe out grief and lift us as pure souls. Having made a parama shreShTa avatAra sharIram go about as a walking god on one side, and making the kali pravAham (the steam of Kali) flow preventing any special renaissance of veda mArgam (path of Vedas) as the work of the avatar on the other side--whatever the chittam (intention) of ParAshakti, which is a mixture of compassion-maya, in playing this sport? Has not the avatar helped in somewhat embanking the Vedas from being completely swept away (in the floods of Kali) and in keeping up the Atma dIpam (lamp of Self) at least to the extent of a spark without going off completely? Perhaps only that much She intended (to take place)! Note:* तच्चक्षुदेर्विहतम् पुरस्ताच्छु क्रमुच्चरत् । पश्येम शरदस्शतं जीवेम शरदस्शतम् ॥ tachchakShurdevahitam purastAchChukramuchcharat | pashyema sharadasshataM jIvema sharadasshatam || --RV 7.66.16, TA 4.42.5, AV 19.6.7] "He first arose who was the doer of good to the scholars and was blessed with pure eyes of knowledge. May he bless us with a long life of 100 years devoid of misery and pain so that we may live, may hear, give sermons, lead a comfortable life and dwell in happiness for more than a hundred years." (http://www.aryabhatt.com/vedas/yajurveda5.htm) Pages 137-142 After staying in Chennai for nearly one and a half year from the latter part of September 1957 until the former part of March 1959 when SriCharaNargaL started out, in the farewell function given to him many people spoke (on the stage) only about the same Atma chodana mentioned above and said, "At least from now on we must conduct ourselves according to Periyavaa's upadesham." The AvatarA in his crowning speech at the end showered nectarean compassion as words and asked, "Those who cannot do it (all these days) when I was sitting in the midst of you and advising you daily--how can it be that they be asked to do it after I am gone?" and then spoke with heartfelt {i]anutApa[/i] (remorse) about the difficulty in swimming against the various trends of these days that draw people away from the shAshtrIya life. He followed it with words blossoming from his mouth as premopanishad mahA mantras: "If you don't do it even after I advise you, it is not your fault. It only means that my word does not have the shakti to make you do it. That is, it means that my tapas is not enough. It is not that there are two different things as I and you; only one thing. All of you are only my limbs. Therefore, now you need not feel about any shortfall; need not feel sorrow thinking 'I couldn't do it

that way, or this way'. Only I should make myself alright. Then you all would become alright automatially." It was not the yadArtham (reality) however, only vAchakam (words) uttered out of fullness of love by the paripUrNa puruShA who was all right by more than a hundred percent! It was a vAchakam uttered as a mother sharing the ailment of her child. What he said on that day as, "Those who cannot do it (all these days) when I was sitting in the midst of you and advising you daily--after I am gone..." stitches in memory today with a deeper meaning. Let me not finish this essay with the siddhAnta of distrust. "நmπேனாr ெகbவDlைல; நா2+ மைற vrpL".--"~nambinOr keDuvadillai; ~nAnku maRai tIrppu."--"Those with faith don't go astray is the verdict of the four Vedas." So if we believe in that aDaikka charaNam (refuge of feet) and the abhaya hastam (securing hands), "ஜயµCb பய:lைல"--"jayamuNDu bayamillai"--"There is only success, no fear"! *** *** *** Many an epic can be written, to show the charaNa-hasta mahima (greatness of feet and hands). Just one example. During the chAturmAsyam of the year 1941, SriCharaNaaL was camping in Nagapattinam. During that time, the ADi pUram festival came up. Usually on that day a grand utsavam (festivity) would be held for NIlAyadAkShi AmbaaL. But then in that year? It was a long time since the place had seen rains. Indescribable water scarcity. The ponds, pools and wells had all gone dry. So the temple authorities thought of issuing a circular asking the yAtrikAs (pilgrims) not to come over this time. Nevertheless, before issuing it they thought of supplicating to the MahAn who had risen in blessing in their place and came to the SriMaTham camp one morning. The AruLmUrti listened to their supplication of distress with a deep feeling that can be described as sorrow. He did not say anything opening his mouth. Without any necessity for it, his entire holy frame from head to foot was manifest with compassion. Giving his prasAdam silently, he bid them farewell and then went for his ekAntam (solitude). When a half hour passed by, he went to the temple pond. Was it like a pond? Except for the hooffuls of water stagnant here and there, the rest of the place was either dry earth or mud. After much searching, SriCharaNar finally selected a small pit and pressed his tiny SriCharaNas, and water welled up to the extent of sinking those sIrAr chEvaDi (great red-lotus-feet)--only to that extent.

Surprisingly, he did prokShaNam (sprinkled) on his shiras (head) that very water at his feet! The Munivar returned to the mukhAm (camp). Severe sunshine heated up the atmosphere during the entire daytime. At midday on the next day, he went again to the sacred pond. Even the hooffuls of water seen on the previous day had dried up either into mud or dry, brittle earth! Today, with his own dhivya hastam (divine hands) he scratched one of the mud patches there. A few drops of water welled up. Ayyan sinking the thumb of his right leg on it, it sank only to some extent. His tiruviral (holy toe) wet in the water, Ayyan raised his head towards the sky with a wet tiruvuLLam (holy mind). Though white clouds with no moisture in them had closed the sky here and there, the sky remained mostly clear blue. The holy face of SriCharaNargaL looking at the sky was seen as that very sky--as the unveilable space of akaNDa amaidi (breakless peace), though the cloud of karuNA shokam (the very karuNA rasam is itself only shokam!) had covered it! Tightly holding his daNDam (staff), he did anjali (homage) towards the sky, lifting up both his hands. With a silence dense with inseparable grace and peace, he returned to the MaTham camp. Around four o' clock afternoon, the moistureless white clouds had started turning into cool blue. A cool wind started blowing to balance the heat (in the atomosphere). Within a short time, small drops of drizzle started falling. Later it began to intensify into an aDai mazhai (incessant, torrential rains)! It rained the whole night. The whole of the next day. The next day, why even on the fourth day it rained incessantly! The Nimalan's arUL (grace) urging in the form of a supplication, NIlAyadAkShi took the blue sky as her eyes and showered all her karuNA kaTAkSham (compassionate look) through it. The words of VAdavUrAr (Manikkavachagar, author of Tiruvachakam),

நnதmைம ஆyைடயாll த29` πS'லா எŋேகாமா2 அ2பrk+ µ29 அவll நமk+ µ2zரk+m இ2னEேள எ2னp ெபா{யாy மைழேய! ~na~ntammai ALuDaiyAL tanniR pirivilA e~gkOmAn anbarkku munni avaL ~namakku munsurakkum innaruLE ennap pozhiyAy mazhaiyE! "One who rules over us all (as the Mother), for the devotees of our God who is not separated from Her, O rain, shower as the sweet grace that She thoughtfully wells up in her breasts!" became true. All the ponds, pools and wells were filled up to the brim. The utsavam too was held with more grandeur than usual, the place and the hearts cooling up. The reason for the more-than-usual-grandeur was nothing but the sprouting of happiness in hearts--that had earlier turned pale--due to the compassion showered by the sky. ChellammAL (she was a longtime devotee who attained Paramapadam last year--in 1993) who witnessed the sequence of incidents by being present on the spot would narrate it with fondness in this way: "The temple people thought of making an announcement that the yAtrikAs were not to come over. Whereas PeriyavaaL himself sent the invitation to all the people for AmbaaL's Utsava KalyANam through the AkAshaRAjan and the VaruNaBhagavAn! If KrishNa ParamAtmA protected from the torrential rains by lifing up a mountain with his finger, our Guru ParamAtmA pressed the BhUmi with his toe and called up the heavy rains!" Still, isn't our Parama GurunAthan was one who showed only simplicity like Sri Rama, unlike KaNNan who expressed his deivIka mahima (divine greatness)? Which is why he hid his charaNa mahima, did anjali towards the sky bringing together his hands in simplicity, and showed that he called up the rain (due to his prayer). *** *** *** Pages 142-145 BhagavadpAda, who has the term 'kara' in his very name Sankara was one who was born in the season of vasanta Rutu-spring on the day of panchamififth in the vaishAkha-April/May month. Our SriCharaNar is one who raised Alayam (shrine) at many places from Imayam to Kumari for his pAdam. (As 'charaNakamalAlayam' AruNagiri would speak about tiruvaDi (holy feet) only as

Alayam-temple.) The day when that same SriCharaNar accomplished installation of his own feet images at KaruNAlayam, Mayuram, at the kAlaDi (feet) of the Kaladiyavatara was on the day of vasanta panchami that occurs in the paushya-January month of the hemanta Rutu-winter season. 'vasantam' also refers to residential living. Hasn't BhagavadpAda praised Ganesha who takes up permanent residential living in the heart as "hRudantare nirantaram vasantam" in his (Ganesha) pancharatnam? For the term 'panchamam' there are also meanings chAturyam-dexterity, amiableness and saundaryam-beauty. May the SriCharaNa CharaNam which is the panchamam in these meanings become our "hRud-antare nirantaram vasantam" and add prosperity of the vasantam to our adhyAtma (spiritual) life, and for that let us pray to that Ocean of Compassion! The graceful sayings of our ancestors spoken about tiruvaDi and tirukkaram are countless. Let us look at a few of them as selected gems. tiruvaDi (holy feet) Let us start with BhagavadpAda Sankara who took his name because of his feet. Sri BhagavadpAdAL has very much relished the sahasranAma varNanai that ParAshakti has for her pAda dhUli the vakittuk kunkumam (saffron smear on the parting hairline where it meats the forehead) of VedaMAtA. Therefore Sri BhagavadpAdAL has praised in his saundarya lahari that VedaMAtA with her Upanishads which is her shiras (head) supports the feet of ParAshakti. The meaning is that all the tattvas only end in that feet. AchAryAL has an insatiable quest that just as the bee which has six legs drinks and enjoys the honey buried inside the lotus flower, our jIvabhAva vaNDu (the bee of our being Jiva) which has the antaHkaraNam (inner instrument) comprising the panchendriyas (five sense) should bury itself in the lotus feet of ParamAtmA, drink and enjoy the satchidAnandAmRutam (nectar of bliss). He has expressed this quest in both the stutis saundarya lahari and subrahmaNya bhujangam. It is only the guru pAdam that supports the burden of his disciples. The power of grace of Sri Sankara Guru has shown this support in physical reality. On one occasion, Sanandana, his gem of a disciple, in his gurubhakti Avesham, started walking towards his AsAn (teacher) at akkarai (the other bank) of the Ganga river, without noticing that the Ganga was in flood. How did the Gurunathan supported him with akkaRai (concern) from being drowned in the floods? A mahA padmam (giant lotus) flowered from under where Sanandana kept his feet on the water surface and supported that feet--the man of that feet. And Sanandana became PadmapAda! It is customary for the disciple to worship his

guru's feet by keeping his head on them; whereas the lotus that blossomed by the grace of vinayamUrti BhagavadpAda supported the disciple's feet! It is one that bears the burden of pApam! ேதbm ெபாEym 8வ2 கழேல--tEDum poruLum sivan kazhalE!--"the entity I seek is only Shiva's feet!", Manikkavachagar would say. pAvai AnDAL, who like him sang the (Tirup)PAvai, suffered in the unquenchable tApam (heat of devotion) only to obtain the fortune that she ேகசவ நmπையk காl πHpபா ll--kEsava nambiyaik kAl piDippAL--"would catch hold of the legs of Kesava Nambi (Vishnu)". As tiruvaDit tiruttANDakam, ApparADigaL would speak about the pAdamahima in successive waves of poetry. Look at some of those waves that aptly suit our Sadguru ParamAtman: சாrnதாrகV ெகlலாm சரணாமH பர.வாr பாவm பைறk+m அH... ைகெதாWX நாேமtDk காmm அH... கணk+ வழkைகk கடnதவH... அழெகWதலாகா அEVேசவH... ெபEmπtதr eHp πத`"m அH... ஒEகாலt ெதா2றாt 52றவH... ஊ{ேதா|{ உயrnதவH... LகJவாr LகJதைகய வlலவH, இE5லtதாr இ2L`றŋ ேகtXm அH, இ2L`றாr இVட [ ஏ"m அH... 8றnதவrk+t ேதனாy 'ைளk+m அH... உEெவ2(") உணரp படாதவH... உைரமாைல ெயlலாm உைடயவH, உைரயாl உணரp படாதவH... வானவrகll தாm வணŋt வாJtXm அH... ந"மலராy நா"m மலrc ேசவH... vtDரளாy உllேள DகJnதவH... மnDரµm தnDரµm ஆயவH, ப~பவrk+p பாŋகாக வlலவH, ப`ற`ேறாr ப`"m பவளவH, ம~யH, ெபா2னH, மாCபாm அH, மEnதாyp π~ vrkக வlலவH... µtதாt µ2ேன µைளtதவH sAr~ndArkaT kellAm charaNAmaDi paravuvAr pAvam paRaikkum aDi... kaitozhudu ~nAmEttik kANum aDi... kaNakku vazhakkaik kaDa~ndavaDi... azhakezhudalAkA aruTsEvaDi... perumpittar kUDip pidaRRum aDi... orukAlat tonRAki ~ninRavaDi...

UzhitORUzhi uyar~ndavaDi... pugazhvAr pugazhtakaiya vallavaDi, iru~nilattAr inbuRRa~g kEttum aDi, inbuRRAr iTTa pU ERum aDi... chiRa~ndavarkkut tEnAy viLaikkum aDi... uruven(Ru) uNarap paDAtavaDi... uraimAlai yellAm uDaiyavaDi, uraiyAl uNarap paDAtavaDi... vAnavargaL tAm vaNa~ggi vAzhttum aDi... ~naRumalarAy ~nARum malarch chEvaDi... thIttiraLAy uLLE tikazh~ndavaDi... ma~ntiramum ta~ntiramum AyavaDi, paNipavarkkup pA~ggAka vallavaDi, paRRaRROr paRRum pavaLavaDi, maNiyaDi, ponnaDi, mANbAm aDi, maru~ndAyp piNi tIrkka vallavaDi... muttAki munnE muLaittavaDi The Foot that... • is the refuge of all those who seek it; • removes the sins of those who adore it; • we have darshan worshipping with joined hands; • is past all reckoning and customs; • is the graceful lotus whose beauty can't be portrayed; • divinity-intoxicated (seemingly) prattle about; • stands in unity at all times; • raised its stature after each great pralaya (deluge); • can make the fame of its adorers excel; • the people of this vast earth praise, feeling happy; • is adorned by the flowers offered by its happy devotees; • causes the honey of bliss to those that excel spiritually; • is not realized as any form of manifestation; • has all the garlands of words sung on it; • is not realized by words; • the Devas bow to and bless; • smells sweet as a fragrant flower; • was lustrous internally as a ball of fire; • is sought by mantras and tantras; • can give prosperity to those who bow to it; • is red as coral, grasped firmly by the renunciate; • is a gem, gold and is glorious; • can cure the disease (of birth and death) (acting) as medicine; • became a pearl and appeared in front. Pages 145-148 In the same way AruNagiri who sang the 'sIrpAda vakuppu' in successive waves of poetry says that it is only that pAdam that became the anubhuti,

உைர அ'ழ, உணr. அ'ழ, உளm அ'ழ, உdr அ'ழ, உளபHைய உணEபவr அ)[D ஆனX urai avizha, uNarvu avizha, uLam avizha, uyir avizha, uLapaDiyai uNarubavar anubUti Anatu "(it) became the anubhUti (perceptible knowledge), wherein the word slips off, feeling slips off, mind slips off, soul slips off, and the Truth is realized (in its own condition)..." Periyazhvar said, "the world earned a divine fortune by the presence of the dust of the feet of the anubhUtimAns (Self-Realized) who realize the Truth in its own condition"--"pAdadULi paDutalAl ivvulakam bAkkiyam seydadE"-பாத_l பbதலாl இv.லகm பாktயm ெசyதேத. For one who considered himself as the very pAdadhULi (feet dust) of such ADiyArs and took the name 'toNDaraDippoDi AzhvAr' wails, "பாSl 52பாத1லm ப`Mேல2"--"pAril ~ninpAdamUlam paRRilEn"--"O I haven't yet caught hold of the core of your feet in this world!" Considering the tiruvaDi (sacred feet) as Bhagavan's pUrNa svarUpam (complete form), NammAzhvAr goes singing, "of the Feet, NaraNan, Kesavan, ParanjuDar"--"tiruvaDiyai, ~nAraNanai, kEsavanai, para~jchuDarai--DEவHைய, நாரணைன, ேகசவைன, பரrzடைர! In the same bhAvam (feeling), Sambandha PerumAn too says, "Can I (ever) get the sacred grace of your sacred feet of the Ruler of ChengAttangudi?"--"che~ggATTA~gkuDi mEya tiruvaDitan tiruvaruLE peRal AmO"--ெசŋகாVடாŋ+H ேமய DEவHத2 DEவEேள ெபறl ஆேமா! Even beyond the opinion that just the feet in itself is the form of Bhagavat, Bhaktakavi who sang the 'ParipADal' would say that His feet are even loftier than Him: "Even better than You, Your pair of Feet!"--"~ninniR chiRa~nda ~nintAL iNaiyavai"--529` 8றnத 52தாll இைணயைவ! There is no other way to salvation except falling at those Feet--about this truth says Kulasekara, "If it is not your Feet, there is no refuge"--"un charaNallAl saraNillai"--உ2 சரணlலாl சர~lைல; and AruNagiriyAr who sang the 'anubhUti', "Get salvation by holding on to the feet of Murugan"--"murugan kazhal peRRuyvAy"--µEக2 கழl ெப`"yவாy. And TirumUlar would sing the renown of TiruvaDi as the very Tirumantiram: DEவH DEவH DEவH DEவH

ேய8வ மாவX ேதSl ேய8வ ேலாகr 8nDktl ேயெசl கDயX ெசpπl ேயதrசm உllெதlவாrkேக!

tiruvaDi tiruvaDi tiruvaDi tiruvaDi

yEsiva mAvatu tEril yEsiva lOka~j chi~ndikkil yEsel gatiyatu cheppil yEta~jcham uLteLivArkkE!

If they know that the Sacred Feet becomes Shiva, if they ponder that the Shivalokam is the Sacred Feet, if they speak that the Sacred Feet is the way to go, For the (inner) Realized only the Sacred Feet is the refuge! Now some bits and pieces of what Sri Maha PeriyavaaL--who came as a unified form of all the ancient sages--said about the pAda mahima: "Whatever the god, one should first only go to hold on to its feet. It is only at the feet that one falls seeking refuge. Only by keeping the feet on the head of the Bhakta does the god give the dIkShA in guru rUpam (form of guru)." "Only that is the place we must go to and fall at. As 'charaN, araN, pukal'-feet, fort, refuge--only that must be held on to. (You are) not told to hold on to the mukham, hastam (face or hand). The neck? (laughs)...only the feet to be held on to; and the feet must be held on to--if we are to catch the house of MokSha, the karma and janma (birth) that has seized us slipping off!" "If one needs to be liberated, Amma would not be our refuge; same way with Appa; those who are born with and the bandhu mitrAL (relatives, friends)--no one would be our refuge. Only the Guru PAdam is the refuge."--thus says the AchAryAL (in his bAlabodha sangraham) in a way that touches the heart: शरणम् न भवित जननी न िपता न सोदराच्छान्ये शरणम् देिसक चरणम् sharaNam na bhavati jananI na pitA na sodarAchChAnye sharaNam desika charaNam sharaNam desika charaNam: saraNam is refuge, and charaNam is feet. When Totakacarya did stotram on his guru, he only returned what his guru had said (as above): "bhava sankara desika me charaNam"! கEணாகர +E •சரணr அEணாmLஜேம அவr சரணm LSேவாm அைதேய sமரணm அXேவ-இதய 'ரண சமனm ஜனன மரண ஹரணm

பவசாகர தரணm தர~kேக உtதாரணm L+ேவாm அDேல சரணm! karuNAkara guru SrIcharaNar aruNAmbhujamE avar charaNam purivOm adaiyE SmaraNam aduvE-idaya viraNa samanam janana maraNa haraNam bhavasAgara dharaNam taraNikkE uttAraNam pukuvOm adilE saraNam! Guru of compassion is our SriCharaNar; and his feet are the sun-blossoming lotus flower. We shall always remember it. Only that-balances our beating hearts, destroys our births and deaths, is a buoy to cross the ocean of life deliverance for the entire world so, let us seek refuge in them! *** *** *** Pages 148-151 Tirukkaram (sacred hand) Although we make a distinction between the abhaya mudrA and chinmudrA, our SriCharaNar has deftly shown that both are one and the same. The pair of hands are talked of only as vara-abhayam. Just as many boons are granted by the vara hastam, the state of abhaya (fearless) may also be granted as a boon? Then why separate the abhaya varam from the other boons and give a separate hand for that boon?--SriCharaNar would raise this meaningful question and also give a categorical answer to it. And the answer is: The state of abhaya is not like the other boons which are granted by one to another; only when there is (a state of) dvaitam (duality) as different from the Self that the bhayam (fear) crops up; because the shrutishiras says that if there is no duality there will be fearless abhaya padam, abhayam is only the advaita Atma sAkShAtkAram (non-dual realization of the Self). It is only the Self remaining as such and is not something that falls in the list of boons given by one and received by another. The abhaya mudrA is only to indicate that state by a gesture. Since the chinmudrA is also a symbol of the same advaita sthiti, aren't both the one and the same? Relating it as a kaLippu rUpam (form of ecstasy), the Adi AchAryAL would narrate where he says: करकिलत िचन्मुद्रम् आनन्द रूपं स्वात्मारामं मुिदत वदनं दिक्षणा मूितर् म्--"karakalita chinmudram Ananda rUpaM svAtmArAmaM mudita vadanaM

dakShiNA mUrtim"; 'Ananda rUpam'=kaLippu uruvam; 'svAtmArAmaM'=remaining elated in one's own Atma (which is the Self); 'mudita vadanam'=a face swelling with brightness. Granting it with that kara mudrA to him, AchAryAL would pray to Devan DakShiNAmUrti to teach him tat-tvam-asi: देवस्-तत्-त्वमसीित बोदयतु माम् मुद्रावता पािणना devas-tat-tvamasIti bodayatu mAm mudrAvatA pANinA Let the Advaita be on one side. If Paraman inquires with the affection as 'nammavan' (our man), then that Dvaita too is one that gives happiness? ApparaDigaL would show Sriman NatarAja MUrti's abhaya mudrA as one such kushalaprashna (friendly inquiry of wealth and welfare)--when he sings about that mudrA as one that shows எŋ+ வnதாy எ)m DEk+ MpL --e~ggu va~ndAy enum tirukkuRippu--"the sacred gesture that asks 'what for you've come to me'"! It is the hand that principally helps us to strive and toil. But then in the struggle of life we carry on for our munvinai (earlier karma) to get exhausted, the power of hand which is the source of our svayabalam (personal strength) won't be sufficient. Only Paraman's hand keeps company there and gives the strength. (So) AruNagiri would say, "µ2L ெசyத ப{k+t Xைண அவ2 ப29E ேதாym"--"munbu seyda pazhikkut tuNai avan panniru tOLum--"for the karma done earlier, only his twelve shoulders would stand to help". He has blessed us with a stuti (hymn) known by the very name 'tirukkaiyil vazhakka vakuppu' (verse section relating to custom of the sacred hand). In that (composition) he has sung about the jnAnam given as prasAdam by MurugapperumAn with his sacred hand, using the metaphor of the divine elephant AirAvatam. Such an elephant's strength is the abhayam! Singing the greatness of the hand as 'puya vakuppu' he lists that Ayyan's hand captures (and gives) the (divine treasures) maNi (chintAmaNi), megharAsi, surabhi (kAmadhenu, the divine cow), shakham (shankhanidhi), kancham (padmanidhi), panchashAlam (karpagam, pArijAtam and such wish-granting Devaloka trees)--"எைவெயைவ கEDl அைவயைவ தE ெகாைடயாl"--"evaiyevai karudil avaiyavai taru koDaiyAl"--"whatever is wished, granting exactly those things". kara-charaNa Our SriCharaNar is one who said "For me AmbaaL is the most important." We refer to the foot relating it to Goddess Lakshmi as 'shrI charaNam'--'tiru aDi'. Whereas SriCharaNar would say, 'AmbaaL's hastam (hand) would give sakala shrI (all the treasures)". SriCharanar would say thus based on what AchAryAL

says in Saundarya Lahiri, using the simile of the padmam (lotus) which is her seat and became more reddened with the nalungu of her feet, comparing the colour of the lotus flower to the redness of her hands. When AmbaaL's feet are the vara abhayam, then why should there be in her hands the pAsha-ankushaH (rope and hook) to destroy kAma-krodha (desire and anger) and the bANadhanus (arrow and bow) to destroy the indriyas (senses) and mind?--He would raise this juicy question and answer it that such rUpam (form) of hers is for the gaMbhIra saundaryam (majestic beauty) that arises when she thus remains as a chakravartini (empress) with the chaturbhujai (four-armed). He would add: "Only to show that as the jnAna sAmrAjya rANi (sovereign queen of knowledge) she gives mokSha, the pAsAnkusha which destroys the rAgadveShas (likes-dislikes) are given in her two hands. And the dhanur-bANa in her hand is only to show that she herself takes away from us the manoindriyas that we should submit by ourselves at her feet! Just like holding up a child in hands with the affectionate expression 'why should the child fall at my feet'!" Let us finish the kara-charaNa mahAtmiyam with the nectarine words of Abhirami Bhattar who has sung on Ambikai's feet and hands together: காைலgm nடகk ைகையgŋ ெகாCb கDtத கpL ேவைலெவŋ கால2*எ2 ேமl'bmேபாX ெவl5l கCடாy!... காராmLயµm சரணாm Lயµm*அl லாl கCHேல2 ஒE தrசµேம! kAlaiyum chUDakak kaiyaiyu~g koNDu kaditta kappu vElaive~g kAlan^en mElviDumpOdu veLi~nil kaNDAy!... --adhirAmi andhAti, 86 "Hey Abhirami! When Yama is angry with me and throws his forked trident at me, you should give darshan to me with your sacred feet and bracelet-adorned hands (which even Vishnu, Brahma, the Vedas and the Devas could not find in their search)." kArAmbhuyamum charaNAm bhuyamum^al lAl kaNDilEn oru ta~jchamumE! --adhirAmi andhAti, 58 "I don't see any refuge except your arms and lotus feet." May the kara-charaNa of SriCharaNar be our charaNam! *** *** *** Chapter 7. Kanchi Mamunivar's Tears and Anger Pages 152-156 ((1) This essay was published in the Tamil magazine 'Amudhasurabhi' in two issues, dated August and September 1993.)

Sri T.V.Swaminathan in his essay "Kanchi Maa Munivar's AnubhUtis" published in the 'Amudhasurabhi' issue of the month of May, has narrated certain details I had told him. Of them, I want to now explain two things in their proper perspective. One (of them) concerns the incident of Sri Maha PeriyavargaL having his eyes covered with tears when he heard about the passing away of his pUrvAshrama elder brother. The other is what he asked in these words: "enakkuk kOvam vanduttA enna ARadu?"--"what would happen if I get angry?". 1 1961. The time when Sri Maha PeriyavargaL was doing his anuShThAnam of chAturmAsyam at Ilayattankudi. It was during that time that the news came that his pUrvAshrama elder brother Ganapathy SastrigaL had passed away. When he heard the news, SriCharaNar was not perturbed even to the extent of an iota; neither his eyes nor his mind were afflicted by the bereavement. What he said immediately, in a natural, normal manner was only this: "Ask LalithambaaL not to sit for the SuvAsini Puja!" It was surprising! Complete renunciation from the blood relationship on the one side; on the other the atyanta uRavu (strong relationship) as the head of a MaTham, of keeping up the shiShTAchAra marabu (ordained traditions)! Only because of this relationship, and having in mind the only thing that the traditions of AchAram should not suffer, he removed that mAdharasi (exemplary woman) from the SuvAsini Puja. LalithambaaL was a co-uterine sister to Ganapathy SastrigaL (also to PeriyavaaL in his pUrvAshramam). Since it is blood relationship, that woman would be having thITTU (ceremonial impurity) on that day? After giving these orders, he continued that (some other) subject he was talking about earlier. About that subject, in his usual wont, he was obtaining the news in a leisurely manner, scraping and scraping for more information (that was how he would describe it!) and himself piling up more and more information, digging and digging. It was surprising too: 'such a vairAgyam characterized by its breaking away from all bonds? even the saying 'if one doesn't stir, his flesh sure will' became false here!' In that conversation, the prastAvam (introduction of) about the chaturthi came up. It seemed that the day Ganapathy Sastry was either born or died was a chaturthi. I don't remember it correctly. But then I remember that only relating the chaturthi, SriCharaNargaL began his talk about his elder brother. He went on talking without a trace of tear (in his eyes), and with a smiling face. "The chaturthi that suited his name. But the name was not given thinking about PiLLaiyAr-Ganapati. ThAtthA (grandfather) had that name. Since he was

the talaichchan (first-born) that name (of the grandfather) was given (to him). (Our) kuladeivam (family deity), Swamimalai Swami. So, the eDachchan (iDaichchan, second child) was given the name of that Swami. [He only refers to him as the eDachchan. SriCharaNar's pUrvAshrama nAmam was Swaminathan). For the elder-younger brothers it suited, as if the names of PiLLaiyAr-SubramaNyar were given! "Between the two of us, a difference of so many years.(*2) Long after he was born, they (parents) had even prayed (for another child) since they did not have a child for so many years! They (our elders) would say that if it is a single boy, since something sometime might happen to him, it would be better to have another (boy).(3*) The vachanam (proverb) says it: 'One boy is not a boy, nor one tree is a grove.' "Though elder in vayasu (age), he would treat (me) as his equal. He was studying in the St.Joseph College at Cuddalore Manjakuppam. Even today (in 1961) that is going on as a school with a good name. His sAppADu (meals) was arranged with a brAhmaNa ammA (brahmin woman). When he came home in the holidays he would tell stories about that AmmaaL (woman): (She) was a woman of so much anger, her name was MangaLam. 'ெபாŋ+ m மŋகளm எŋ+m தŋ+க'--'ponggum manggaLam enggum tangguka'--'May the swelling auspice stay on everywhere'--I had heard of this saying even then. To my elder brother this MangaLam ெபாŋtp ேபாVbCH Enதவ, ேகாபtXல ெராmப.m ெபா ŋt CH E nதா - - p o n g i p p OTTu N D i r u n d ava , k O b a t t h u l a r o m b av u m pongiNDirundA--was serving, swelling hot rice and was herself swelling with anger!--with this (comparison) we used to make fun. "Enough, enough--your stay with her! Let this 'pongum MangaLam' also not stay anywhere else."--this way we used to joke (about her)." He was only ten years old when SriCharaNar spoke with such pun and humour. Did it not show the sharpness of his brain, even as a tender sprout--a bAlaka having Kannada as his mother tongue doing so much word play with the Tamil sayings? "Treating (me) as his equal was only then. Later on (refers to the later times when he became the PIThAdhipati), he was doing the MaTham work with much bhavyam (humility) and shraddhA (faith, confidence). When the mudrAdhikAri(4*) scheme was started, for five-six years he toured all over Thanjavur, Tiruchinapalli districts and worked for it. "In the olden times when we were orE Atthu manushAL (relatives in the same home), he once behaved that way..." What does 'that way' mean? SriCharaNar, the peak of qualities that he is, only indicated by that reference that although his brother was elder, the man showed him respect, without using the word 'respect'. His elder brother working with humility (bhavyam), keeping faith (shraddhA) in his graceful orders, and this he subtly referred to as his brother doing 'that way' in the

MaTham work! The way to do service to this MaThAdhipati severed of all svaya kAryam (personal work) is only by doing the MaTham's work? Note: (2) a difference of nine years. (3) SriCharaNar used to say that so much care was taken for the putravaMsam to stick on, not only for the continued inheritance of the piturArjita sotthu (ancestral property) like the cattle and land, but also that the Vedas which is the piturArjita wealth, and the dharma of piturkaDan (rites to ancestors) should flourish in the future times. (4) A rare scheme SriCharaNar started, integrating divine and public service and with a view to unite all the communities of our society. One who was in charge of the scheme on behalf of SriMaTham in every district was known as mudrAdhikAri. Pages 156-161 "At that time he had come home from his stay in another place.(5*) My returning home from school would sometimes be even at seven o' clock. Because of the desire to play games! Cricket had not then become the game of the school boys. Only the kiTTip puL (the game of tipcat) was there. Only by developing this (game) the White have made it into (the game of) cricket. I had no interest in the tipcat; had some iShTam (preference for, interest) in football; and had lots of iShTam only in the badminton.(6*) Since my AkRuti (form, shape) was not enough [refers to his small frame], my trANi (trANa, (strength of) defence) was not sufficient for the football played with kicks and defence. So, went to the flowery handball game, instead of the football... Even badminton went to the chImai (foreign country) only from our place and obtained that name they say, know that? [As was his wont, he asks the people around, one head after another, but none knew it.] After school, coming home was only after playing the badminton. The utsAham (joy) would drag as along, unmindful of the time passing. "Whatever the utsAham, didn't forget the Sandhi [sandhyA vandanam]. A kAvA (canal) was (running) there near the playground. Since the arghyam had to be offered before sunset, (we) would go to the canal stopping all play. Just as we played in a team, so would we go as a team, wash hands and legs, smear (vibhUti) on the forehead and do the Sandhi. Even after that, some days, if there was shady light, (we) would play. Sharpening our eyes, (we) used to play so long as the ball was visible. When coming home, would have been very well dark all around. "(It was) The time when my upanayanam had been held only recently. So, although there were no other adhyayanam, anuShTAnam (Vedic study, religious routines), at least the Sandhi was held onto a little."

'A little' should have been the saying made purely out of his humility. We can't also take his 'though there were no other adhyayanam, anuShTAnam' literally. Because PeriyavaaL himself has informed that after his upanayanam was held, a private tuition in Sanskrit was arranged for him and he started learning 'the usual things BrahmachAris get to learn'. He has also said that when the morning was young he would take pazhaiyadu (previous day's cooked rice soaked in water), go through a hasty bath, attend that class, and after it was over, came back, took fresh food and then went to the school. Therefore, apart from his doing Sandhi, he would have also done [i]pArAyaNam of 'the usual things BrahmachAris get to learn', such as some Veda SUktas and Stotras. Nevertheless, he would have spoken thus because, instead of doing a vidhivat adhyayanam (disciplined study) of the Rig Veda Samhita, which was his family Veda, he learned only a few Veda SUktas (and that according the Krishna Yajur Veda chanted widely in Tamilnadu). A rare incident should not go without mention here. Sri Maha PeriyavaaL's Guru as well the one who was PiThAdhipati for only eight days--the previous titleholder--was only his periyammA putra (son of mother's elder sister). As a ten-twelve year old BrahmachAri called LakshmIkAntan, when he was doing Rig Veda adhyayanam at Chidambaram, at one stage of time as PeriyavaaL's father was working in Chidambaram, he was staying in their house. At that time, the Child Swaminathan who was four years younger to him heard his chanting the Veda Rgs to memorize, and by an apAra (boundless) power of memory, committed some of them to its own memory! And when the child started to chant them proudly in a majestic posture, the elders in the house suppressed it--since a boy who had not been given upanayanam should not chant the Vedas! [Thus, later when he accepted the turIyAshramam (the fourth Ashrama of SannyAsa), in order that SriCharaNar who did not have gurumukha upadesham in sthUlam (physical life)--the Protector of the Shastras who came to give a new lease of life the Vedas and insist on the guru-shiShya parampara--had in some way learnt the Vedas from a guru, perhaps such an incident took place!] Five years later (in 1966), when camping in Sri KALahasti, Sri Maha PeriyavaaL who clarified many things in his bAla kANDam (part of boyhood life), said this about this sandhyA sambhavam: "That there was a saukhyam (comfort) in doing the Sandhi in open space, looking at the sky, without doing it in the confines of home, one or two gRuhasthas (householders) would come over to the Kaveri banks and do it. (I) used to get the vibhUti from them and smear it over... Mostly, once the pUNal (sacred thread) is worn, would go to school only wearing the dhoti--known as 'soman'. And then the playing, climbing up the tree--all by only tucking in the dhoti or wearing it as kIzhppAchchu (in the loincloth style)! When a Durai like the Governor or Collector visited the place, and the whole school went to see him, when the sports events were held, when the Education Department officials such as the D.E.O. came to the school for inspection, and in certain other days, would go to school wearing nijAr

(shorts). VeShTi or NijAr whatever, since the school vizhuppu (ceremonial impurity) is not admissible, even that is stripped and the Sandhi done only with a kOmaNam (kOvaNam, kaupInam, loincloth)... In Malayalam, the AchAram is only that way: that the brahmachAri boys should do their adhyayana as only kaupIna dhAris; even now it goes on. Even the AchAryaaL would have done it that way..." Even in the causual way of doing Sandhi, such a wonderful alignment with that mUlavar (root) for this Adi Sankara Avatara? Coming back to Ilayattankudi, let us continue the Deivam's voice from where we left it: "When my ANNA had come, I came home after dark, completing my Sandhi outside. "He was possessed of mahA kopam. 'periya dorE! ADip pADiNDu iruTTi Ezhu jAmatthukku varE! (A big Lord, you are! With song and dance turn up after dark at the seventh yAmam! Was it daNDam (waste), the upanayanam done to you? What for such game-playing, leaving aside the Sandhi? hA, hU!' He spoke a lot, doing adambu (losing temper).(7*) "'He refers to a mistake that was not made by me'--thus I couldn't keep my roSham (sense of honour, feeling of self-respect). Was romba chellam (reared with cuddles) at home. (8*) Father-Mother never spoke a word (at me) intemperately. So, it had come up swelling; and gushing through the eyes, the tears started flowing. But, somehow, (I) did not spill a word from the mouth. [The quality of humility that he showed even at that young age when he could have justly shouted back--even that quality he expresses now muffling it in subtlety!] 'After all he shows his anger only with the good thought, could I leave aside doing Sandhi on time?'--thus I kept quiet without talking back in anger. Still I felt that he found a fault that was not at all in me. Muffling even that somehow, I asked him only four words: 'I too know that the Sandhi should be done on time. I come only after doing it in the kAva (canal). Your getting angry at my skipping the (Sandhi) time was reasonable, before I entered. But after I have entered, without even looking at the person properly, how could you talk losing your composure? Didn't you know looking at my forehead?'" Note: (5) This incidence took place at Tindivanam in 1905 or 1906 during SriCharaNar's eleventh or twelfth year of age. (6) PeriyavaaL used to make fun that though the name was badminton, it was only goodminton. (7) Not only talked intemperately, but gave a smack in addition, would say the elders who knew this Bala KANDam.

(8) The parents considered this treasury of wealth a parakeet and called him the name 'KiNi'. 'KiNi' in Kannda means a parakeet.