Monday, March 17, 2014

The ayudhams of Maha Vishnu.

Maha Vishnu has pancha ayudhams. i.e. five weapons. They are the Discus (Sudarsana) the conch (Panchajanya) the mace (Gadha Kowmodaki) the sword (Nandaka) the bow (Saranga) Does God Need weapons? These weapons are actually looked upon by the alwars as ornaments for the God. He is the astra bhooshana. they are symbolic tools he uses to achieve his objectives. It is believed the pancha ayudhams are nityasuris who are protecting the perumal, keeping a watch over Him all the time and ready to rush at His behest to achieve His spoken wish and unspoken thought.
From Vishnu Purana Vishnu is said that the intellect exists in Madhava in the shape of His mace. the Lord holds the twofold divisions of egotism into elements and organs of sense in His conch shell and bow. the mind in the shape of the Chakra which is the strength of all and excells wind in its flight. The bright sword or Achyuta is symbolic of holy wisdom and is used to tear the scabbard of ignorance in his devotees. Even the Vaijanthi the necklace worn by the Lord contains five precious gems pearl, ruby, emerald, sapphire and diamond represents the five elements sky, air, fire, earth and water. the supreme Lord who is eternal who is the refuge of all beings who in Vedantha is known as the embodiment of Rig, yajur, Sama and atharvana vedas is the tru and eternal representative of the universes ultimate truth.
Pancha ayudha stotra.
Sudarshana;
Even do I seek in Vishnu's chakra the Sudarshana. The discus is very powerful and has a thousands spokes of glitering flames equal to crores of suns.
Shankh
I seek refuge in Panchajanya the conch whose very sound filled with the air emanating from the mouth of Vishnu puts an end to the pride. it is white like a crore of moons.
Kaumodhaki
the mace of gold which in strength is equal to mount meru, it has no equal in its power.
Khadga sword.
the shining sword of Hari is known as Nandaka.
Sarang
the bow the twang of which when heard all fear is lost. it showers thunder like arrows.
Each of the Ayudhams have interesting stories attached to them and their origin, names etc.

Sri Maha Vishnu Panchayudha Mantram


Sphurad sahasrara Shikhadhi theevram,
Sudarshanam Bhaskara koti thulyam,
Suradvisham prana vinasi vishno,
Chakram Sadaham saranam prapadhye. || 1 ||

I surrender always to the Vishnu’s wheel,
Which is sharper than thousands of flames,
Which is equal to billion suns,
And which takes out the life of Rakshasas.

Vishnor mkhothonila poorithasya,
Yasya dwanir Dhanava dharpa hantha,
Tham Pancha janyam, sasi koto shubhram,
SAnkham sadaham saranam Prapadhye. || 2 ||

I surrender always to Lord Vishnu’s conch,
Which makes sound due to the air from mouth of the Lord,
Whose sound humbles the pride of Rakshasas,
And which shines like billions of moons.

Hiranmayim Meru samana saram,
Koumodhakeem daithya kulaika hanthrim,
Vaikunta vamagra karabhimrushtam,
Gadham sadaham saranam prapadhye. || 3 ||

I surrender always to Lord Vishnu’s mace,
Which is golden and shines like mount Meru,
Which is Koumodhaki, the destroyer of Rakshasa clans,
And which is lucky to be touched by the left hand of Vishnu.

Raksho suraanaam katinogra kanadach-,
Chethakshara sonitha digdha dhaaraam,
Tam Nandakam nama Hare pradeeptham,
Gadgam sadaham saranam prapadhye. || 4 ||

I surrender always to the sword of Lord Vishnu,
Which is hard, powerful and shines red due to the blood,
Which flows when it cuts the heads of Rakshasas,
And which is called Nandaka and shines in the hand of the Lord.

Ya jjayani nadha sravanath suraanam,
Chethamsi nirmuktha bhayani sadhya,
Bhavanthi daithyasani bana varsha,
SArngam sadaham, saranam prapadhye, || 5 ||

I surrender always to the Sarnga bow of Vishnu,
Whose sound heralds victory in the mind of devas,
And whose presence removes the fear from their minds,
By reminding of the arrow down pour against Asuras.

Phala Sruthi / Herald of Benefits

Imam hare Panchayudha nama,

Sthavam padeth yo anudhinam Prabathe,

SAmastha dukhani bhayani sadhya,

Papani nasyanthi, sukhani santhi. || 6 ||

Those who read daily morning,
This prayer to the five weapons of Lord Vishnu,
Would get rid of all their sorrows and fears,
Destroy their sins and establish their pleasures.

Vane, rane, Shathru jalagni madhye,
Yadruchaya Apadsu maha bayesu,
Idham patan stotram anakulathma,
Sukhi bhaved thath krutha sarva raksha. || 7 ||

In the middle of forest or war or among enemies,
Or when surrounded by water or fire,
Or unexpected dangers or during great fears,
If the worried man reads this prayer,
He would be happy as this provides all round protection.

Festive days at tirumala.

Ekadasis and Dvadasis 25 of each in a year                        50 days.
Nakshatras sravana, rohini, arudra, punarvasu, chitta (x 13)    65 days.
Samvatsaradi asthanam                                                        1 day
Vasantotsavam                                                                     3 days.
Nityotsavam foll samvatsaradi                                                2 days.
Teppotsavam                                                                        3 days.
Dhanurmasam                                                                      30 days.
Adhyayanotsavam                                                                 25 days.
        radha Saptami                                                                 1 day.
Brahmotsavam                                                                       10 days.
total                                                                                      190 days.
Once in four yearsAdhika month                                                10 days.
Grand total                                                                             200 days.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Spiritual power. Sri Aurobindo.other world philosophers.

Q. For an effective style, reading is very necessary. In order to manufacture your style, which is incomparable, your enormous reading must have helped a lot, I am sure.
Sri A Style cannot be manufactured. It is born and grows, Of course it is fed on by reading. But I have made much of the little reading. Yoga has developed my style by the development of consciousness, fineness and accuracy of thought and vision, increasing inspiration and an increasing intuitive discrimination (self critical) of right thought, word form, just image and figure.
Why was it that I who never understood or cared for painting, suddenly in a single hour by the opening of vision got the eye to see and the mind to understand colour, line and design? How was it that I who was unable to understand and follow a metaphysical argument and whom a page of Kant or Hegel or Hume or even Berkeley left either dazed and uncomprehending and fatigued or totally uninterested because i could not fathom or follow, suddenly began writing pages of the stuff as soon as I started the Arya and am now reputed to be a great philosopher? How is it that at a time when I felt it difficult to produce more than a mere poem short and laboured, perhaps one in two months, suddenly after concentrating and practising Pranayama daily began to write pages and pages in a single day and kept sufficient faculty to edit a big daily paper and to write 60 pages of philosophy in a single month.

German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is considered the most influential thinker of the Enlightenment era and one of the greatest Western philosophers of all times. His works, especially those on epistemology (theory of knowledge), aesthetics and ethics had a profound influence on later philosophers, including contemporary ones.
Besides establishing himself as one of the foremost Western philosophers, Kant also made an important contribution to science and is considered one of the most important figures in the development of modern science despite the fact that he was most interested in philosophy of science and knowledge that science produces. His main contribution to the rise modern science was its liberation from theology.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel is a German idealist philosopher famous for his teleological account of history, an account which was later taken over by Marx and inverted into a materialist hypothesis of an historical development culminating in communism. He was born in Stuttgart on the 27th of August 1770 and died during a cholera epidemic in 1831.


DAVID HUME - BIOGRAPHY

David Hume (May 7, 1711 – August 25, 1776) born in Edinburgh was a Scottish Philosopher and Historian. He was raised from an early age by his widowed Calvinist mother and attended Edinburgh University. His self-description in his five-page autobiography holds to be quite honest, “a man of mild Dispositions, of Command of Temper, of an open, social, and cheerful Humour, capable of Attachment, but little susceptible of Enmity, and of great Moderation in all my passions.” His good friend, Adam Smith upholds Hume's portrait of himself in the obituary written in honor of his friend: “Upon the whole, I have always considered him, both in his life-time, and since his death, as approaching as nearly to the idea of a perfectly wise and virtuous man, as perhaps the nature of human frailty will admit.”
Arguably the most important of the British empiricists, Hume maintained the work of his predecessors John Locke (1632-1704) and George Berkeley (1685-1753) and moved beyond a the understanding that knowledge derives from experience in opposition to the rationalist belief, developed in the 17th century, that ideas held an innate value. He embraced a radical skepticism suggesting that experience holds utmost importance writing that no philosopher “will ever be able to takes us behind the daily experiences or give us rules of conduct that are different from those we get through reflections on everyday life.” The ideas that abound, then, are made up of sensations from everyday life albeit rather complex ideas. Hume distinguished between impressions and ideas, impressions being immediate sensations of the reality that surrounds us and ideas being the recollection of these impressions. Any development of thought from politics to religion is reliant on the integration within the mind which Hume described as “a kind of theater, where several perceptions successively make their appearance; pass, re-pass, slide away, and mingle in an infinite variety of postures and situations.” As for a notion that does not contain “abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number” or “experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence” Hume writes poetically, “Commit it then to the flames, for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.” Hume's writings were crucial to the development of Kant's eventual work weaving rationalism and empiricism into a coherent bond.
Hume's first published work, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739-40), is the most widely read and considered his masterpiece was published when he was 28, but he said that the impetus to write such a tome was within him since the tender age of 15. The Treatise was written during his stay in the small Northern French town of La Fleche in Anjou at the Jesuit College where Descartes had been educated. Upon return to London where he managed to enter into a contract with John Noon he was able to publish anonymously a thousand copy edition of the first two 'books' of the Treatise entitled “Of the Understanding” and “Of the Passions” in 1739 under the general title of A Treatise of Human Nature: Being an Attempt to introduce the experimental Method of Reasoning into Moral Subjects. The third book, “Of Morals,” was published a year later by a different publisher. The reception disappointed Hume and he called it “dead-born from the Press, without reaching such distinction as even to excite a murmur among the zealots.” Hume exaggerated the lack of reception for the Treatise was noticed in at least three lengthy reviews although the tone of said reviews was hostile and disdainful.
Hume took it upon himself to claim the responsibility for the poor reception of the work feeling that it had presentational defects and that the readers were hostile because they couldn't understand the concepts he laid out while in all actuality, his critics found Hume's views to be heretical and even more ghastly unto themselves, atheistic. In a move that would be characteristic of Hume throughout his life, he sought to rewrite the Treatise so that his arguments could be better understood. While his later reworkings and reincorporations of earlier work into later work were more successful, Hume's attempt to clarify the Treatisewas a six-penny pamphlet, again published anonymously, and laboriously entitled “an abstract of a late Philosophical Performance, entitled A Treatise of Human Nature, &c. Wherein the chief Argument and Design of that Book, which has met with such Opposition, and been represented in so terrifying a Light, is further illustrated and explain'd.”
While Hume was met throughout his life with accusations of heresy and conflict in regards to his disobedience in light of religion, he did gain notoriety as an effective and important figure in philosophy (and later history). His following work after the Treatise was another anonymous work, the two-volume Essays, Moral and Political which included 27 essays of a range of topics from criticism to manners to politics to name a few. These volumes did well enough for Hume to become a candidate for the Professorship of Ethics and Pneumatical Philosophy at Edinburgh University. Although there was no direct opposition to Hume, he was not chosen and instead he accepted a tutorship for the Marquis of Annandale. It was during this time that Hume produced An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding and Three Essays, Moral and Political which were both published in 1748.
The Enquiry was intended to supersede the Treatise and indeed brings the issue of causality to the forefront, casting aside the more (what we would call now) psychological approaches. In a chapter, “Of Miracles,” Hume began to gain fame amongst his peers for his iconoclastic implications. It is in this particular chapter (which he had left out of the Treatise) that he writes, “That no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such kind that its falsehood would be more miraculous than the fact, which it endeavors to establish.” It was the Three Essays that was the first of Hume's works to be published under his own name and gained popularity for its timeliness. Of theThree Essays, Hume described them as such, “One is against the original Contract, the system of Whigs, another against passive Obedience, the system of the Tories: A third upon the Protestant Succession, where I suppose a Man to deliberate, before the Establishment of that Succession, which Family he should adhere to, and to weigh the Advantages and Disadvantages of each.”
Consequently, Hume was dismissed from his tutorship and was briefly enlisted in an expedition under General St. Clair before becoming an Aides-de-camp in the Embassy to the Court of Vienna and Turin where he remained until 1748. It was during this time that he held correspondence with Montesquieu for the last seven years of the French thinker's life. Apparently Montesquieu had been so taken with Three Essays, Moral and Political that he shared his own work with Hume and they wrote to each other often. Hume's popularity was increasing but the reworking continued when Hume returned to Scotland where he wroteEnquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, (1751) meant to replace the third book of the Treatise and a piece that Hume considered to be his best. The next year, 1752, Hume published Political Discourses and began work on Dialogues concerning Natural Religion as well as History of England. The hostility originally inspired by the Treatise did not seem to be as prevalent with Political Discourses although it was still listed on the Roman Catholic Index along with his other works.
Hume continued his work on the what came to be six-volume History of Englandwhile working as the Librarian to the Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh. He occupied the position from 1751-57 although he intended to resign after the curators would not allow Hume to include La Fontaine's Contes in 1754. Instead he gave his salary to a struggling poet named Blacklock until he finally left in 1757. The History, published throughout the end of the 1750s and into the 1760s, gained Hume notoriety as a historian and received abounding acclaim as shown by Voltaire's exuberant remark that, “nothing can be added to the fame of this History, perhaps the best ever written in any language.” Voltaire was not the only French thinker to herald Hume's importance as shown by his popularity among the 'philosophes' of Paris during his visit in 1763, most notably the 'encyclopedistes' Diderot and d'Alembert. When he returned home from Paris in 1766, Hume brought Jean-Jacques Rousseau back with him since Rousseau had been living in Switzerland since he had made so many enemies in Paris. Hume received firsthand experience as to how Rousseau had lost his connections in Paris for Rousseau's paranoia made staying in England impossible. The friendship ended roughly as Rousseau returned to continental Europe.
The late part of Hume's life was spent in Edinburgh continuing to rework and work on his philosophical enterprises. He continued to be the radical skeptic up until the end with one of his final works being The Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion published posthumously in 1779. The Dialogues dispute any claims for rational or natural theology and it is perhaps due to the extremely controversial nature of the work that Hume withheld the text. It was also within the last years that Hume was able to act as mentor to the burgeoning thinker, Adam Smith, and was able to read the first part of The Wealth of Nations before expiring

George Berkeley was a an Irish bishop and eminent empiricist philosopher whose main philosophical achievement was the theory of empirical idealism or immaterialism, summarized by his aphorism esse est percipi (“to be is to be perceived”). Berkeley was born in 1685 in the Kilkenny county, Ireland. Although Berkeley’s father was English, George always considered himself Irish. Berkeley attended Kilkenny College for several years before going to Trinity College in Dublin in 1700. Berkeley completed his Masters degree in 1707 and became a Senior Fellow in 1717. Berkeley was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1710, which was common at the time for British academics. Berkeley remained at his alma mater until 1724 as both a tutor and a Greek lecturer.
For Berkeley the philosopher, things that do not have the ability to think, like ideas, are perceived and it is the mind (human or divine) that perceives them. Berkeley's theory shows that individuals can only know the sensations and ideas of objects, but not abstractions like matter or general entities. Berkeley’s central principle of his philosophy is that ideas do not exist outside of a mind perceiving them. This is also an intuitive kind of truth: when I say that an object exists, I mean that I can feel it, that I can see it, or that it is perceived by another mind. As a result, for Berkeley it is impossible to conceive of an absolute and independent reality; esse est percipi (“to be is to be perceived”). The “esse” or being of the object is in its “percipi” or being perceived. Therefore we can only speak of things to the extent that they are in direct relationship with our mind.

Friday, March 14, 2014

faith Sri Aurobindo. Ramanuja and Kierkegaard.

Faith is a general word -shraddha -the soul's belief in the Divine's existence, wisdom, power, love and grace.
SRI AUROBINDO
The fundamental faith in yoga is this, inherent in the soul, that the Divine exists and the Divine is the one thing to be followed after -nothing else in life is worth having in comparison with that. So long as a man has that faith, he is marked for the spiritual life and I will say that, even if his nature is full of obstacles and crammed with denials and difficulties, and even if he has many years of struggle, he is marked out for success in the spiritual life.

SRI AUROBINDO
25 June 1932
One must say, "Since I want only the Divine, my success is sure, I have only to walk forward in all confidence and His own Hand will be there secretly leading me to Him by His own way and at His own time." That is what you must keep as your constant mantra. Anything else one may doubt but that he who desires only the Divine shall reach the Divine is a certitude and more certain than two and two make four. That is the faith every sadhak must have at the bottom of his heart, supporting him through every stumble and blow and ordeal. It is only false ideas still casting their shadows on your mind that prevent you from having it. Push them aside and the back of the difficulty will be broken.
SRI AUROBINDO
29 April 1934
The experience you had of the power of the Name and the protection is that of everyone who has used it with the same faith and reliance. To those who call from the heart for the protection, it cannot fail. Do not allow any outward circumstance to shake the faith in you; for nothing gives greater strength than this faith to go through and arrive at the goal. Knowledge and Tapasya, whatever their force, have a less sustaining power -faith is the strongest staff for the journey.

For Ramanuja and Kierkegaard faith is not mere belief; They do not regard it as a mere intellectual assent to a dogma, or some propositional truth. Positively they think it is a whole fabric of Godward attitudes that make it primarily a passion which grips the whole man, and regularises his day to day living.

Ramanuja emphasizes the "Ardour" of faith. It is this which makes faith a loving devotion exclusively directed (to Him) or a continuous meditation attended with love. Here it is said we have passion at its highest: and the surpassing intensity is made possible by the fact that faith is directed to the Supreme Person, the repository of all auspicious attributes.
Kierkegaard's view is quite similar to him too faith is "an infinite passionate and personal interest in Eternal Happiness."

Thursday, March 13, 2014

THEERTHA PRABANDHA Vadiraja (Madhva saits travelogue)

The great pilgrim centers and the holy rivers, sacred mountains and a great reverence for mother nature are the topics dealt with here.
Jayateertha an apostle of the Dvaita system explains devotion as The Supreme attachment to the Lord on a complete understanding of his greatness and supremacy to the love of one's own self and possessions and which remains unshaken in the face of innumerable difficulties. It flows uninterruptedly. this kind of devotion secures salvation.
In the following of the dvaita tradition the Haridasas of Karnataka, through their songs, poems and philosophical treatises were trendsetters in the South India bhakti Movement. These divine bards spread God's glory through their compositions in chaste Kannada. They were literally the servitors of God and enjoyed their proximity to Him. Illustrious saints like Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa  Vaikunthadasa, Vyasaraja and Vadiraja.
Here our author Vadiraja who wrote the Teertha prabandha in Sanskrit lived during the fifteenth century. He was an outstanding scholar and an eminent hymnist. he has scripted a dozen original works. he has written inKannada, Sanskrit and Tulu. his famous works include Yuktimallika, Rukminisa Vijaya and the famous Dasavatara Stotra and they all speak volumes of his devotion to SRI HARI.

Sri Madhvacharya installed Lord Krishna at Udupi, eight centuries ago and appointed eight young monks for worshiping of Kadagola Krishna.
Sri vadiraja was the direct disciple of the 19th Saint of the Sode mutt of Udupi. his parents were Sri Ramacharya and Saraswathi devi. he lived for 120 years from 1480 to 1600 A.D. he became a monk at the age of 8. his contributions speak volumes when  the mutt he belonged to came to be know as Sode Vadiraja Mutt. he has authored 77 books, 7 0n philosophy, 6 critical notes, 4 poetry, 11 critical review, 49 stotras all of them in Sanskrit. In kannada he has authored 7 books and numerous Bhajans which bear a mark at the end as his tutelary deiety Hayavadana. He also wrote a tulu poem on the Dasavatara of Sri Hari. He composed Lakshmi Shobana song in Kannada, which when recited in temples or on the eve of marriages creates a supremely divine atmosphere. his very famous works include Yuktimalika, Rukmineesha Vijaya, Sarasa Bharati Vilasa, Mahabharata Lakshalankara and Teertha Prabandha. He was the first to enter Bridavana Alive at his 120th year. after him Raghavendra swamy was the second saint to have done so on the banks of Thungabadhadra river at Mantralaya.

Oh Mind, do concentrate on Sri Hari
for the thought of Sri Hari, like the waves of the Ocean of milk
can cool both body and mind,
Besides liberating us from all miseries.

Leaving the richest town Dwaraka
Parting beautiful Gopikas who worshipped you
Crossing the Father-in-laws abode (ocean)

Oh Sri Krishna. You have come to stay in the great Rajatha Peetha.
All the holy rivers are mentioned in the book interspersed with the details of the kshetra. divided into four regions.
Five holy Kshetras
Kurukshetra, Gaya, Ganga, Prabhasa, Pushkara.

Eight Holy Abodes.
Srirangam, Srimuhsnam, Venkatadri, Salagrama, Naimisharanya, Totadri, Pushkar, Narayanaashram.

Twelve holy places of worship.
Gokarn, Rama Sethu, Himalaya, Prayaga, Kashmir, Somnath, Vishnupada, Srirangam, Kedaram, Tiruvananthapuram. kanyakumari and Kurukshetra.


Wednesday, March 5, 2014

literal meaning.

Giving.
You do not know the art
But we reap a rich harvest
Out of you, O Lord!
Surely your devotees are
Cleaver than You!
With mere devotion, we catch you.
And firmly hold you in our hearts
Placing a basket full of Tulasi leaves at your feet
We buy salvation from you O Lord!
Your devotees are adepts in the art of
striking a rich bargain
By bringing to you the products of your own creation
We manage to gain your boundless grace
By offering only a salutation
We transfer all our burdens to you O Lord!
Your servants indeed are very clever!
Fetching a pail of water from the pond
We sprinkle a hand full on you
And get whatever boons we seek
Your devotees excel in such arts, O Venkatesvara!
They certainly are far cleaver than you.

Who else but Annamayya can write such words to prove that God's Vaatsalyam is actually his weakness. His great love for god makes him unique.

Song: Kondalalo nelakonna koneti raayudu vaadu.
He is one who is permanently residing in the Hills, he is the master of the theertha in the hills.
He is the one who is very generous in conferring boons in mountainous propotions.
He is the one who sanctioned every boon sought by the potter Kuruvarathi Nambi.
He is the one who went to every place detailed by Thodaman Chakravarthi who waged battles with his enemies.
He is the one who out of sheer fun and pleasure carried mud on his head and helped Ananthaalvan.
He is the one who talked and talked with Thirumalai Nambi till he became tired.
He is the onw who showered His grace on Thirukkachi Nambi and made him come to his vicinity.

song: Vaade Venkatesudane vaade veedu.
He who is know as venkatesa is this very person.
He is one who is holding the sharp round weapon in his right hand.
Bewitched by the sweet words of the son of Kaarimara (Nammalvar) he discloses the secret of the vedas without any inhibition to him.
In the spirit of limitless fun, he willingly partook the food offered by Thirumangai alwar through robbing others.
He is the one who adorned round his neck the crushed garlands worn earlier by Periyalvar's daughter.
He is the one who when a young damsel keeps her hand on him, becomes enamoured and extends his shoulder to her.
He spreads the message to the entire world and asks even the illiterate people to sing songs in His praise.
He is the one who is staying at Venkatagiri as His home along with Almelumanga, daughter of his uncle Akaasaraaja.
Angas of sharanagathy:
O Lord! I know none other than you. (Mahaa Visvaasa)
O Lord! will you not teach me about your own self. (Aanukoolya Sankalpam)
O Lord! I like to do things that you don't like O teach me to avoid them. (Pratikoolya Varjana)
O Lord! Many are the sins that I have committed. (Karpanyam)
O Lord! What is the path You will show me and Guide me O Lord!  What is the way you will adopt to rescue me. (Goptritva Varanam)

ACHYUTAANANDA GOVINDA NAAMOCHCHARANA BESHAJAATH
NASYANTI SAKALAA ROGAAH SATYAM SATYAM VADAAMYAHAM
SATYAM SATYAM PUNASSATYAM UDDHRITYA BUJAMUCHYATE
VEDASAASTRAAT PARAM NAASTI NA DAIVAM KESAVAATH PARAM
SHAREERE JARJAREEBHOOTE, VYAADIGRASTE KALEBARE
AUSHADHAM JAANAAVEE THOYAM, VAIDYO NARAAYANO HARIAH.

Hari Ashtakam from Brihannaaradeya.

Harirharati papani dustacittairapi smrtah
anicchaya pi sansprsto dahatyeva hi pavakah.

sa ganga sa gaya setuh sa kasisa ca puskaram
jihvagrevartate yasya harirityaksara dvayam.

varanasyam kuruksetre nimisaranya evaca
yatkrtamtena yenoktam harirityaksara dvayam.

prthivyam yani tirthani punyanyayatananica
tani sarvanyasesani harirityaksara dvayam.

gavam kotisahasrani hemakanyasshadrakam
dattam syattenayenoktam harirityaksara dvayam.

rgvedo thayajurvedah samavedo pyatharvanah
adhitastena yenoktam harirityaksara dvayam.

asvamedhairmahayajnaih naramedhaistathaivaca
istam syattena yenoktam harirityaksara dvayam.

prana prayana patheyam samsaravyadhinasanam
duh khatyanta paritranam harirityaksara dvayam.

baddhah parikarastena moksaya gamanamprati
sakrduccaritam yena harirityaksara dvayam.

haryastakamidam punyam pratarutthaya yahpathet
ayusyam balam arogyam yasovrddhissriya vaham.

prahladena krtam stotram duh khasagara sosanam
yah pathetsa naroyati tadvisnoh paramam padam.

iti. sri haryastakam

free transalation goes
When remembered even by people with evil mind, Lord Hari removes all their sins.
Even as a fire will definitely burn a person even when touched without one's knowledge, i.e. unintentionally.

Aakati velala nalapaina velalanu
Thekuva Harinaamame dikkumari ledhu.    goes the telugu song. sung when (A) was chained.

When one is hungry, also when one is tired,
Chant with full faith the Name of Hari, there is no other remedy.
When one is helpless and orphaned,
when one has been ostracized from the very community in which one is born,
When one is imprisoned and held captive by ohers.
The very formidable Name of Hari alone is the remedy and solution.
Even by mistake, if one forgets this means, one better realise that there is no other remedy.
When dificulties and danger confront one. when one becomes the butt of redicule for all
When the times are not congenial, when passing through testing times
When one is frightened out of one's wits,
At such times chanting the Name of Hari to the best of one's capacity is the only remedy.
Even if you think deep and long and wallow on the ground till the evening there is no other remedy.
When one's hands are chained when one is sentenced to death, when creditors come in a never ending stream and confront,
Only the name of Venkateswara will set one free and relieve.

On the great works of Ramanujacharya. by Annamacharya the great.\
Telugu.

Emee neragini mammu nekkuva sesi
Paamarula doddajese bhaashyakaarulu

gathachanna Vedaalu kamalajunaku nichchi
Atani karuna cheta nanniyugani
Gathileka poyina kaliyugamuna vacchi
Pratipaalinchangalige bhaashyakaarulu

Lokamella velli bogaa lonane surala gaachi
aakumeeda thelina yathani kripa
Kaakari mathamulella gaali buchchi paramitte
Paikonaga garuninche bhaashyakaarulu

Pankajapu jeyi chaachi paadapu baramicchina
Venkatesu kriopa thoda velaya daane
Thenkine udayavarai thirumantra dvayana
Pankamella bogadige Bhaashyakaarulu.

free transalation.
It was bhashyakara who transformed us who knew nothing, to become enlightened.
In the olden days, the Vedas which were lost were rescued by Vishnu and given to Brahma
With Vishn's blessings Brahma mastered them.
He Bhashyakara came into the world during the hapless Kali Yuga
and he alone re established the vedas
He Vishnu protected all the gods by keeping them within himself
With the grace of that Vatapatra sayee
The great sri Bhasashyakara,
were able to wipe away the other in significantheritical religions
Supreme reality has been made known to all by Bhashyakara out of his compassion.
With the grace of Lord Venkateswara whose one lotus hand draws attention to His Feet,
The Udaiyavar (Sri Ramanuja) was able to assert his greatness and taught Thiru mantra and Dvaya mantra to all by His grace.
Thus Bhashyakaara washed away all our sins.
here he is drawing a parallel between Ramanuja and the Supreme Lord.
comparing how the lost Vedas were rescued and given back to Brahma so also Ramanuja charya has given us the re-established vedas. Ramanuja has dispelled all other religions and established the Supremacy of Narayana.

Evvado gaani eragaraadhu kadu
Dhavvulane vundu thalapulonundu

Edayyavu thanarekka legasi poledhu
Kadu dhaagugaani dongayu gaadu
Vadi gindhupadunu sevakudunu gaadu
Vedagu gollu venchu vitudunu gaadu

Migulaa bottivaadu mintikini bodavu
Jagadaalu tapasi veshamulunu
Maguvakai poraadu mari virakhthudunu
Tagugaapupanulu nenthayu dhelladhanamu.

Tharunula valapinchi thagili paikonadu
Thuragamu dholu rauthumu gaadu
Tiru Venkataadripai thirugu neppudunu
Parama moorthiyai paragu nee ghanudu.

Free transalation.
Except for some wise men, no one claims to comprehend Him.
He is quiet far away, yet is very near for he is ever in our thoughts.
He cannot spread out his wings and fly away.
He is seen hiding buthe is not a thief.
He goes down below, but yet is not a servant.
He grows long nails, yet he is not an immoral person.
He is very short in stature, but he is even taller than the sky.
At times he is seen valiantly fighting, at other times He takes on a garb of an ascetic.
He fights for the sake of a lady, yet he is the epitome of detachment.
He does lowly things, yet he is blemishless and is pure.
The damsels love Him, but He is not after them.
he is not a jockey, yet  rides a Horse.
He is moving about forever on the Thiruvenkata Hill.
This great one is Parama Purusha (The Ultimate Being)

Cheppinanthapani ne jeyagalavaada ninthe
Appatina aparadhamaa aadharinchavaladaa?

Neeyaajna dehamu ne mochithi ninthe
Iyyeda vijnaanamela iyyavayyaa?
Veyyavelai vegudaakaa vetti sesi yalasithi
O ayyaa! konthainaa ooradincha valadaa?

Neevu vese karmamu ne jeyuvaada ninthe
eevala naananda sukha miyyavayyaa!
Kovaramai venta venta golichina bantlaku
Thaavula gonthavadainaa dappi deerchavalada?

mathilo Sree Venkatesa! manikainavaada ninthe
Thathi naapaatuku daya dhalachavayya
Ithavai panicheseti inti pasuramunaku
Vethadeera baalaarchi veddu petta dagadaa?

Free transalation.
I can do nly what i am told. That is all
How can it then be said that it is my fault? Should you not comfort me?
As per your order I bore this body. That is all
Why then do you not confer knowledge and enlightenment on me?
Right until day break, I did thousands of works and I am tired.
O Father, should you not at least to some extent, console and comfort me?
What you asked me to do i faithfully discharge. That is all.
Why then do you not confer bliss on me?
To all those servants who with full faith followed you.
Don't you think you should quench their thirst at least to some extent on the way?
In my mind, O Venkatesvara, I have dedicated myself to You.
That is all
Please, therefore, take pity on me and show mercy.
O Lord, does not this hard-working domestic, deserve to be fed by You?

In this poem the poet argues his case with aplomb and seek the reward from his God almost as a matter of right. This sort of single minded, pinpointed devotion towards the Lord of Seven Hills and seeking His blessings is the hallmark of all the poems of Annamayya.

E daivamu Sripada nakhamuna buttina Ganga
Trilokapaavanamu cheyanu tripathagaamini aayanu
E daivamu nabhi nalinambuna janiyinchina ajundu
Akhilaandambulu srujiyimpa nadhipathi aayanu
E daivamu urassthalambu tanakunu, mandiramaina Indira
Maatha yayye, ee jagambulakellanu
E daivamu avalokanamindraadi divijaganambula-
keelappudunu sukhambu laapaadinchunu
E daivamu dehavasthuvani animishulandharu goodi
Sri Narayana devundani nammi yunduduru
Aa devude sirula kanathavaradhudu thiruvenkata-
Girinaathudu ubhayavibhuthi naathude naa nathudu.

Transalation
That Deity from whose Divine toe nail, the River Ganges was born, and which River split into three to sactify the three worlds.
that Deity from whose navel lotus Brahma was born to create the worldand become the master of all creations.
that deity whose chest became the mansion for Indira (SRI) who became the Mother for all the worlds.
That Deity whose glance brings eternal bliss to Indra and the hosts of other Devas.
That Deity whom the Devas identified as Sri Naaraayana, the One, who abides in all the embodied souls and in whom they have immense faith.
That Lord is the sole unfailing bestower of all boons (eternal Benefactor)
He is the master of the holy Venkata Hill.
He is the master of Lila and Nitya vibhootis;
He is my Lord and master.
This song enumerates and spells out the traits and characteristics of Lord Vishnu.
It is reminiscent of what Divya Kavi Pillai Perumal Iyengar, a staunch Srivaishnava and gradson of
Thiruvarangathu Amudhanar, a Sishya of Parasara Bhattar, also known as Alagiya Manavala Dasan, a great devotee of Lord Ranganatha had to say about the river Ganges and the greatness of Lord Vishnu.
Divya Kavi is known for the Ashta Prabhandhas of which Thiruvenkatamaalai and Thiruvengadathu Andaadi are two books of verses exclusively on Lord Srinivasa of Tirumala. Lord Srinivasa is believed to have given Darshan to him in a south eastern portion of "Salavaikkal Praakaaram in Srirangam temple. As he was a staunch Vaishnava, he would not compose any song on Lord Siva. There is a famous kshetra near Srirangam known as Thruvaanaikkaaval. The siva bhakthas of that place some how felt very strongly that they should make the Divya Kavi compose a song on Lord Siva. Divya Kavi reportedly replied that the tongue which sings the praise of "Rangam will not sing the praise of "Kurangan" the word  kurangan stands for deer and indicates Lord Siva who holds the dear in his hand. One day Kapilaa, the cow which was used in Srirangam Temple for the Visvarupa Darsanam was found missing. After a search the priests located it at Thiruvaanaikkaaval. apparently, when the cow had gone grazing on the lands near the Siva temple there, the priests of that temple thought it was a good opportunity for dictating terms to Divya Kavi by holding the temple cow of Srirangam as hostage. When the priests of Srirangam requested the adminstrators of Thiruvaanaikkaaval to release their cow, they laid down a pre condition that the divya kavi should compose atleast one song on Lord Jambukeshawara there, Pillai perumal would not yield. But, as the time for the Visvarupa was approaching, the compulsion on Divya Kavi to concede a bit was mounting. The Thiruvaanaikaaval administrators cameto Santhanu Maharaja Mandapam in Srirangam Temple and requested Divya Kavi to at least compose one line on hearing which they would release Kapilaa, the cow and said that the restof the verse on Lord Siva could be completed at a later time. Divya Kavi apparently decided to have the Visvarupa darshanam performed on time. He therefore composed and rescited the following line.
"Mangaibaagan sadaiyil vaittha gangai"
 It means, Ardhanareesvara has the River Ganges in his hair. the Siva bhaktas were pleased. They thought the staunch Vaishnavite had at last relented. the cow was released. The Visvarupa Darshanam went on schedule.

even today a descendent of Annamacharya sings "Melukolupu" before Suprabhatam and during Ekanta seva "Pavvalimpu" both songs composed by Annamacharya.

Nanati Brathuku Natakamu, Puttuta Nijamu, Povuta Nijamu Nata Nadimi Natakamu.
Life is a drama to be born inevitable to die is also inevitable the time inbetween is a veritable drama.

Bhaavamulona Baahyamunandunu Govinda Govinda ani Koluvavo Manasa
Acchyuta achyutasaranu anavo Manasa.

A study of the songs of Annammayya makes it very evident that through Adhyatma Sankeeratana he has explained the fundamental concepts of Visistadvaita, like Saranagathi, Nava vida bhakti marg, role of Kainkarya, the concept of Daasaanu Daasatva, the role of Sri as Purushaakaara, quality of daya, the Omnipresence, Omniscence, and Omnipotency of the Lord. He has also addressed the insignificance and immaterial nature of Caste and community, also topics of a true Vaishnavite, True Sandhyavandanam, snana.
Annamayya uses simple vocabulary steeped in bhakti. He had a certain enviable familiarity with the Lord of the Seven hills.

"Govinda naamam okkate kooda pose punyamulu
Sri Vishnu namam okkate Chethi Kicche Vaikunthamu,
Kesava Naamamu eegalavella iche."
The name of Govinda alone will shower all merits.
The Name of Lord Sri Vishnu alone hands over Vaikuntham to us.
The Name Kesava gives all possible things desired.
 be continued.

Monday, March 3, 2014

quotes.

A happy heart. a contended home, and loved ones near.

Let us work as we pray for work indeed is the body,s best prayer to the Divine. Sri Aurobindo.

lots more to come.