SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
Our SrIvaishNava sampradhAyam is mainly called and highly revered as rAmAnuja dharSanam. Our AchArya rAmAnuja’s greatness is widely glorified in irAmAnusa nuRRandhAdhi. This was mercifully composed by thiruvarangaththu amudhanAr. It was AchAryar rAmAnuja’s grace which transformed thiruvarangaththu amudhanAr, who was previously not accepting emperumAnar and was only involved in worldly affairs, into becoming a staunch bhaktha of periya perumAL. Later in his life, thiruvarangaththu amudhanAr became very much devoted to AchArya rAmAnujar and lived his life only for emperumAn.
prapaNNa gAyathri
maNavALa mAmunigaL has given a brief commentary for irAmAnusa nuRRandhAdhi, in that, he highlights, just like how the 108 gAyathri japa is the foremost aspect of a brahmana, likewise irAmAnusa nuRRandhAdhi is foremost and equivalent to gAyathri for a SrIvaishNava. Hence, it is called prapaNNa gAyathri. Therefore, it is emphasized that all SrIvaishNavas should recite it everyday. irAmanusa nuRRandhAdhi has 108 pAsurams. In these 108 pAsurams, amudhanAr has perfectly placed AchAryar rAmAnujar’s thirunAmam in every pAsuram. When it is recited, one gets the chance to say the thirunAmam of AchArya rAmAnujar, 108 times.
pAsuram 1
pU mannu mAdhu porundhiya mArban* pugazh malindha
pA mannu mARan adi paNindhu uynthavan* pal kalaiyOr
thAm manna vandha irAmAnusan charaNAravindham
nAm manni vAzha nenjE! solluvOm avan nAmangaLE.
Meaning : oh my mind! Please surrender yourself at the lotus feet of and honour the name rAmAnusan, who has attained his ujjIvanam by surrendering himself at the lotus feet of mARan (nammAzhwAr), who always sings only the glories of the one who has in His chest, SrImahAlakshmi seated on a lotus flower.
The intriguing point to be noted here is, amudhanAr does not start the pAsuram directly starting with rAmAnujar. The pAsuram beautifully unfolds starting with ‘pU mannu mAdhu porundhiya mArban” which denotes SrImahAlakshmi residing on emperumAn’s chest(vakshasthalam). Next, he mentions – (“pugazh malindha pA mannu mARan”) the renowned nammAzhwAr who sings the glories of the one with the lotus on his chest. Then only, amudhanAr sings about rAmAnujar (“mARan adi paNindhu uyndhavan”) who has surrendered towards the lotus feet of mARan (nammAzhwAr) to him; oh my mind bow down and honour his name -“rAmAnusan”.
The salient lineage starting from thAyAr who is seated on the chest of emperumAn to whom nammAzhwAr surrendered unto whom rAmAnujar surrendered unto whom my mind surrenders is how the pAsuram starts.
All the pAsurams go in a wonderful pattern having the thirunAmam of rAmAnuja. amudhanAr emphasizes on AchArya bhakthi throughout his pAsurams. In one pAsuram: “mozhiyaik kadakkum perum pugazhAn” he says that: words cannot comprehend the glories of his AchArya kUraththAzhwAn, who has transcended the 3 types of pride that traps all – namely vidhyA madham, dhana madham and AbhijAthya madham (pride due to being born in a higher social status). kUraththAzhwAn was born in a very respected family lineage, had great wealth and he was scholarly that even his AchArya rAmAnujar would look up to him. Yet, AzhvAn had no pride. This quality amazes amudhanAr and he is glorifying his Acharya kUraththAzhwAn. He continues to say that his AchArya has a great quality to remove the sufferings from the hearts of others as well.
This phenomenal work “irAmAnusa nURRandhAdhi” of amudhanAr has outlined the sublime connection that AchArya rAmAnujar have with each AzhwArs.
The following pAsurams are very much adorned in our sampradhAyam.
pAsuram 45
pERu onRu maRRu illai nin charaN anRi * appERu aLiththaRku
ARu onRum illai * maRRu achcharaN anRi ** enRu ipporuLaith
thERum avarkkum enakkum unaith thandha semmai sollAl *
kURum param anRu * irAmAnusa! meymmai kURidilE
In this pAsuram amudhanAr declares that he is nothing without rAmAnujar.
pAsuram 76
ninRa vaN kIrththiyum nIL punalum * niRai vEngadap poR
kunRamum * vaigundha nAdum kulaviya pARkadalum **
un thanakku eththanai inbam tharum un iNai malarththAL *
en thanakkum adhu * irAmAnusa! ivai Indhu aruLE
This pAsuram describes that one can attain all the divine experiences one gets in dhivya dhESams just by meditating upon rAmAnujar.The lotus feet (thiruvadi) of rAmAnujar is the ultimate goal of life and to achieve that goal the same thiruvadi is going to help. Showing how he is totally dependent on the grace of rAmAnujar and has no other means.
pAsuram 98
idumE iniya suvarkkaththil * innam naragilittuch
chudumE? * avaRRaith thodar tharu thollai ** suzhal piRappil
nadumE? ini nam irAmAnusan * nammai nam vasaththE
vidumE? saraNam enRAl * manamE! naiyal mEvudhaRkE
amudhanAr brings out the favors done by rAmAnujar. Once a person has surrendered to rAmAnujar, he will see to it that the AthmA neither goes to swarga nor goes to naraka, but will break the cycle of birth and death, leading the AthmA to paramapadham.
Thus, this divine work of amudhanAr shows how Acharya rAmAnujar is playing a key role for the jIvas in attaining paramapadham.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/live/W4vjhU2FUlo?si=eFYneOKITgOVfmdG
adiyen hEmA rAmAnuja dAsi
adiyen vidhyA rAmAnuja dAsi
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