Swami Desikan’s

Pradhaana Satakam

Annotated commentary in English By:

Oppiliappan kOil SrI Varadachari Sathakopan sadagopan.org I G T N T T E T T A A D T P P B T B S I P I P P T I CONTENTS MPORTANT MPORTANCE NTRODUCTION HISHYAS RADH RADH RADH RADHAANYAM RADHAANYAM MPORTANT CH PACH HAGAVATH HAGAVATHA HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE K ATHI H IGAMANAM A O A NTHIS P P I I M CATEGORIES CHIEF PRADH SH RYAN MPORTANCE MPORTANCE C RINCIPALS RAM A A A A UKHYA A RAMS NAM NAM NAM HINTHANAM S

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sadagopan.org sadagopan.org 2 tam noumiVenkatAchAryamdhur vyadhAth| prapannAnAmpradhAna sathakam ya: pradhAna: follows: RaamAnuja SiddhAnthAm.ThisTaniyanisas among theprapannAs,andleaderamon Sathakam thePradhAna The Taniyanfor SANSKRIT TANIYANFORTHEGRANTHAM their mostgeneralmeanings. therefore NOTcommentontheesotericme PraNavams thatarereservedforproper At theoutset,Iwillsteerclearofexplai essentialitemsthatonewho with hundred adiyEnwill ofpostings, series In this MYCOVERAGE SCOPE OF ofTattvams. peer groups rahasyams andothertattvams.Heflagsth our mandhamathis(dullmind takes usbyhandasitwereandremovesth rahasya granthams,SwamiDesikanoutofhi Saaram (2)VirOdhaParihAramand(3)Pr tenets ofSriVaishNavism.Theseare: stand outintheirloftinesstohelpusde Among alltheRahasyagranthamscreatedby INTRODUCTION PRADHAANA SHATHAKAM . ïImteingmaNt mhadeizkay nm>. . ïImteramanujaynm>. s) incomprehendingthees yam maargEyathIsithu:|| . ïI>. 3 velop theclearestundersta cover the PradhAna sathakam, which deals coverthePradhAnasathakam,whichdeals ning the deeper meanings of rahasyamsand ning thedeepermeaningsof (1) His Magnum Opus, Sri RahasyaTraya Opus,Sri Magnum (1) His upadEsam by one's own AchAryA. I will AchAryA.I upadEsambyone'sown

e doubts and confusion e doubtsand desires Moksham should know precisely. knowprecisely. should desires Moksham salutes Swami Desikan as thechiefone salutes SwamiDesikanas e mostimportantTattvams amongthe s compassionforus g thosewhointerpreted SriBhagavadh anings of RahasyAs and will point out out RahasyAs andwillpoint of anings adhAna shathakam.Inthelattertwo SwamiDesikantoinstructus,three oteric meaningsofthese

as aParamAchArya nding ofthesacred nding s thatmayarisein

sadagopan.org sadagopan.org thoroughly. follows them “IsaihinrOmE”indicatesthat isaihinrOmE). ye ivaimElAm (YengaL kulapathigaL thathefollows reveals as aPrapannAand that asthesuperiorones by hiskulapathis Heacknowledges th benevolent upadEsams. auspicious wordsoftheseBrahmajn~A Prapanna kulapathis(Emperorsoftheku asAz BrahmaJn~Anissuch us bythose elaborate upon theParavith After composingtheaboveslOkaminSans TAMIL SALUTATIONTOTHE GREATNESS OFTHEGRANTHAM (1) foldinsh It willmultiplyhundred goals: siddham). Hegoesontopointoutthatth is tightlyinterwovenwithpramANamsde understood thenatureofparaBrahmam(p matter anditsprovenance.Thesubject displa emotion? Thisunusual WITHGREATAFFECTION.Wh describes it Sathakam”. THISrahasyam ofOURSna raha withthis Swami proudlyidentifies bhajathi sathakOtibhAvamparapa paravith upadasithamna:pradhAna sathakam thisway: he namedasPradhAna Swami Desikanhimselfgivesusaperspectiv GREATNESS OFTHETOPICGRANTHAM bhajathi). That is the personal assessment of our AchAryaSaarvabhouman. bhajathi). Thatisthepersonalassessmentofour PakshEsathaKOtiBhavam (Para RaamAnuja SiddhAntham Sri Bhagavadh strength toputdownmathams (sathAm prayOjanEchasathaBhaavam);it UpadarsithampramANam(t y ofemotionarisesfrom that do not have theinherentbeautyandpowerof that donothave SathakampramANasiddham| kshE cha prayOjanEchasathAm|| kshE cha 4 owering auspiciousness onthe righteous owering auspiciousness matter wastheoneshownbythosewho serve as the guiding stars for his conduct starsforhisconduct serveastheguiding sya granthamas“na:idhampradhAna aravith upadarsitham). Thesubjectmatter aravith upadarsitham). aling withtheParaBrahmam (pramANa hwArs). HesalutestheAzhwArsas lam ofPrapannAs).Hecharacterizesthe nRE yeNNiya nall varthaigaL naam nRE yeNNiyanallvarthaigaL is rahasyagranthamofhisachievestwo med pradhAna sathakam is the way he he istheway sathakam med pradhAna that path shown by them scrupulously thatpathshownbythemscrupulously krit, OurSwamicontinuedinTamilto krit, nis as“nallvArthaikaL”(Clearand at those sacred upadEsams pointedout at thosesacredupadEsams e onthescopeofth heacceptsthemwholeheartedlyand willgrowonehundredcrorefoldin at isthereasonforhisuntypical he PramANamsrevealedto the natureofsubject is grantham,which : upadEsam tous. benefit. Altogether,there are 100 items in three importantitemsin eachofthese cate these EIGHT broadcategories,Swami Desika andAchAryAs Bhagavan, HisBhAgavathAs (6) thecounter-measuresonceanyapachA (5) thewaysforprapannAstoavoidapac bythePrapannA (4) theitemstobefollowed rahasyams, (3)ThesvarUpamofSaraNAgath PramANams thatpoint toBhagavAn, broadcategories:(1)The fallintothefollowing dasakam bySwamiDesikan.They The majortopicsthat aMumukshushould BROAD TOPICSOFCOVERAGEBYPRADHAANASATHAKAM Rahasyam is SwamiDesikanEUhanthaRahasyam crore foldsuperioreffectiveness)compared para towinover able andis upadEsams confer auspiciousnesstotherighteous This iswhyheconcludesassertively that pola). other flowergarlandsadorningHisthir vaarthaigaL tothe supermacy ofThirutthuz SankE polE).Finally,SwamiDesikan amongot superiority ofPaanchajanyam He comparesthesuperiority isdeartoourLord. who avathAram ofMahALakshmi, ontopoftheseven,becaus (KsheerAbshi) yEzhil Kamalaipiranthuavanuhanthaka ocean, whichisthemostsacredamonga He equatesthesuperiorityof Gangai yennumnathipOla). punal aaRuhaLilbhuvanamellAmponnkazh ofHisKulapathisaresupr upadEsams points outthattheriver Gan sacred feetoftheParamAthmA, whomeasur He comparesthosenallvArthaigaltothe SUPERIOR STATUSOFTHESENALLVAARTHAIGAL the NallvarthaigaL ofhiskulapathistothe Milky gA isthemostsacredamon of the upadEsa vaarthaisof of theupadEsa 5 hArams during their post-prapatthi period, duringtheirpost-prapatthiperiod, hArams his PradhAnaSathakaRahasyamisableto umEni (thArilAvantaNN tulavat thArE eme amongallotherupadEsams(pongu this rahasyagrantham as Swami Desikan's mathams withextreme (2) Thespecial meaningsofthethree toothernallvaarthaigaL. Therefore,this ram happens, (7) the methods of serving (7)themethodsofserving ram happens, gories andthenrankorders themforour her conches (sankuhaLil AvanEnthum her conches(sankuhaLilAvanEnthum sacred Gangariverthatflowed fromthe hAi garlandwornbytheLordoverall people manyfoldcomparedtoother equates thesupermacyofthese nall ll thesevenkindsof e itistheOceanthatwasplaceof dalE pOla). He puts the Milky ocean Milkyocean dalE pOla).Heputsthe s andtheitemstobejettisonedbythem, i, thecodeofconductaprapannAs, ed theentire universewiththem.He and (8)MokshaSukham.Ineachof n uses his sharp intellect and lists the andlists the sharpintellect n useshis knowaredealtwithinPradhAna alAl aLanthavantanntALAlvantha and is to be revered by us as such. andistobereveredbyusassuch. : theKulapathisto g allriversjustasthe oceans(kadalkaL effectiveness (One effectiveness (One :

sadagopan.org sadagopan.org Swami Sri Desikan sums it upthis Swami SriDesikan sums it naasthi nadhaivam bhujam sathyam puna:uddhdhruthya swears aboutVedambeingthepradhana Puraanam 8.32).SageNaaradhaaasaN (vEdaath saasthramparamnaasthinadha means toattainmokshasiddhi.Thereis exactly thefruitsgainedbyjeevan Far superior(pradhaanam)toallofthe or competent.ThusSaasthramissuperior means toattainit,when theroutesof Saasthram is thatpramaanam prathyaksham associatedwiththesensoryperceptions. thatdonotpe aboutsubjects conclusions isthemethodbywhichre Anumaanam about theirrealityorotherwise. Prathyaksham methodistosee,touchan Prathyaksham (2)Anumaanamand(3)Saasthram(4)Vedham. gainingthecorrectknowle pramaanams for of Mokshamandthemeansto realizeth 1/100: Bhagavaan. Desikan instructeduson.Themost From hereon,wewilllistandcomment There arefourpramaanams kesavaath param). that instructs usonthe for gainingthecorrectkn 6 Prathyaksham and anumaanam are not useful Prathyaksham andanumaanamarenotuseful in parama padham and shows the correct thecorrect inparamapadhamandshows prominent amongPramaaNamsrevealing aaraayana Paaraayanaraises hishandsand tobothPrathyakshamandanumaanam. above threeisVedam rmit the deductions based exclusively on exclusively thedeductionsbased rmit on the100PradhaanamsthatSwamiSri no saasthramthatissuperiortoVedam d hear about things and get convinced andgetconvinced things d hearabout m amongallthesaasthraas(Sathyam m ivam kesavaathparam--Naaradheeya dge on the above two subjects are: (1) dge ontheabovetwosubjectsare: e blessingsofMoksham.These four asoning powerisusedtoarriveat way: paara-loukikapurushaartha - uchyathe: Vedaathsaasthramparam fruits of Moksham andthe fruits ofMoksham owledge aboutthefruits since it describes itdescribes since 4/100: VEDAANTHAMS. EVEN among PRADHAANAM ANDISSUPERIOR (PRADHAANAM) anddeaths. THEREFOR of births cause ofthisUniverseand Sookthamsalutes Sr four Vedaas.Purusha 3/100: Sooktham ispradhaanamamongVedaanthaas. irrelevant meanstoattain themostsought refer totheotherpramaanams thatdeal itself ofMoksham thefruit Moksham and four items:superiortattvam,thenotsosupe In theabovepassagequoted,“para-apara-t VEDHAANTHAM PRADHAANAM”. pramaanaantharangalaal varumkalakkangalai yellaamtheerkkavalla the Vedams,as“para-apara-tatthva-hit Swami SriDesikandeclaresthesuperiority AMONG THEPRAMAANAMOFVEDAM. Vedam reveredasVedaantham.THUSVEDAANTHAMISTHEPRADHAANAM Pramaanams andtheircorrectness,theentity oftheseincorrect pr prolific nature through tarkamorbynotpayingattention thesefalsepram dismiss We canalways moksham andthesuperiorityofSriman N Many pramaanamsconfuseonebymixing means isMoksham. fromthese byVedamareBhakthiandPrapatthi.Thefruitresulting means shown the superiorTatthvam. Thelower tatthva 2/100: W blessing (paramapurushaartham). Moksha precisely describesthefruitsof alone sinceit THEPRADHAANAMamongthe PRAMAANAMS VEDAM IS tadhupaayangalai yatha-vasthithamaahakaatuhi HAT

IS VEDHAANTHAM IS PRADHAANAM TO VEDAM. Sriman Naarayanan is Naarayananis Sriman VEDHAANTHAM ISPRADHAANAMTOVEDAM. Manthraas havebeenrecommended for There arefourVedas.Puru

PRADHAANAM

AMONG as themeansforMoksham,th V EDAAS sha Sookthamisenshrine 7 ? amaanams. When one is confused about amaanams. Whenoneis confused about E, PURUSHASOOKTHAMISTHE m and the means to attain that supreme toattainthatsupreme m andthemeans ms arechethanamandachethanam.The after phalanx (fruit) of Moksham. Purusha after phalanx(fruit)ofMoksham.Purusha ha -purushaarthangalilanyathaasiddha aanams by proving thattheyarewrong aanams byproving with fruitsotherth to them.Oneisofcourseconfusedbythe aarayanaa asthesupr . “Anyathaasiddhapramaanaantharams” atthva-hithapurushaarth of Vedaantham,the Upanishadic part of part of Vedaantham,theUpanishadic iya: PathiPurushotthamanastheroot rior tattvams, themeansforfruitof uptheabovetrue meansto attain thatresolves alldoubtsisthesirasof the properaaradhanam (worship)of ra Vedam pradhaanam.Hesaysthat ra Vedam e liberationfromthecycles d ineveryoneofthese an mokshamandthe eme mosttatthvam. am” referstothe

sadagopan.org sadagopan.org 6/100: T nama tathaa sarveshumanthreshu naas yathaa sarveshudeveshu itasthepradhaanamanthramthisway: Brahma Vidhyaisalutes chethanams andachethanams.Thatiswh relationship between theSarva seshi, fact thatitistheonlymanthramth aachaarya parigrahaadhisayam)withrelish. IS PRADHAANAM.AllAchaaryaasareag 5/100: the vyApakaManthraasisnextidentified. with SrimanNaaraayana,Vaasudevaaand Vyaapaka ManthraasareAshtaakshari, Dhv perform aaraadhanamtoourLord. to MANTHRAASISPRADHAANAM manthraas, THESETOFVYAAPAKA this Purushotthamancelebr subsequent twoinstructions dealresp subsequent with thePraNavam.The nextnineinstruct The firstfifteenofthetwenty AchArya. onSrimadhRahasyaa Thraya KaalakshEpams remembrance oftheguidelines sabdham thatconstitutethemoolamant about thedeepermeanings these twentysixinstructions ofthedifferentaspects PraadhAnyam From theseventh tothethirty second upa pradhaan piRavi,whichisthe is theJn~anap MOTHER ANDACHAARYANTAKESONTH WHERE THIRUMANTHIRAM (ASHTAAKSHARAM)STANDSASTHE PRADHAANAM AMONGDIFFERENT KINDSOFBIRTHSISTHEONE father toberecognizedasdhvijaJanmam. Mother's womb.Theotheristhebirthre ofbirths.Oneisbi There aremanykinds AMONG THESETOFVYAAPAKA HE

BEST

AMONG

DIFFERENT of the PraNavam, Nama: Sabdham and the NaarAyaNa of thePraNavam,Nama:SabdhamandNaarAyaNa on AshtAksharam here.Wewill notgointothedetails onAshtAksharam ated bythePurushaSook sixinstructionsonthemo thi Naarayanaathpara: of our elders that such inst of oureldersthat nthro Ashtaaksharaath para: nthro Ashtaaksharaath

KINDS 8 ectively withNaarayaNa sabdhamandthe at unambiguously establishes sesha-seshi establishessesha-seshi at unambiguously the sacredmoolamanthram. We willcover thePurushotthaman desams, SwamiSriDesikanestablishesthedesams, sulting from manthropadesam from one's one's frommanthropadesam sulting y thefollowingslokamfromAshtaakshara

Vishhnu. The best (PradhAnam) among among Vishhnu. Thebest(PradhAnam) rth associatedwith rth OF aadasaakshari and Sahadakshari dealing andSahadaksharidealing aadasaakshari Its praadhaanyamisalsoassertedbythe ions relate to the nama: Sabdham. The ions relatetothenama: Sabdham.The am among the different kinds of births. amongthedifferentkinds ofbirths. am MANTHRAMS,ASHTAAKSHARAM

BIRTHS Saaram under thesacredfeetofone's hram. This step is in respectful hram. Thisstepisinrespectful reed upon its pradhaanyam (sarva reed uponitspradhaanyam E ROLEOFTHEFATHER. That ( PI ola manthramareassociated tham. Amongthesetsof R ructions havetocomefrom AVIS ): the residencein and the seshis, andtheseshis, letters. The PramANam citedbySwami means that“A”isthe basis ofallthedo aksharam “A”isPradhAnamamongthethre letters (aksharams).Hepointsoutfurther Swami Desikanremindsusthatthefirs remembers inthiscontext,the Swami Desikanevaluatesthethreeakshar PraNavam accordingtoChAndhOgyam. respectively astheessenceoftheseth (bhU:bhuva:andSuva:)ar vyAhruthis the threeaksharams: A,UandM.Chan SvarUpam thatcreates joyin tadhEthadhOmithi”. Hereth it ukAramakAra akAra svarUpam, The firstUpanishadstates:“prathyag teachusthis upanishad ChAndhOgya combination oftheconstituentak of thethreeaksharAs(lette 8/100: PraNavam amongtheVedAs:“girAmas Himselfhasrevealed of theVedAs.Bhagavaan Nama: andNaarAyaNAya--themostprominent 7/100: dominant meaningofthemool The sacredPraNavam is thrayyakshara Among thethreeparts thatconstitute rs): A,UandM.Sruthiha the heart oftheJeevan. Itis e Upanishadsays:PraNavam a mathramitself amongthetenmeanings giventoit. statement ofGeethAchAryan. trifold division of PraNavam. divisionofPraNavam. trifold 9 mi yEkamaksharam”(Gita:10.25) ree VedAs.Theyunitedtoformthesacred t letter“A”ispradhAnamamongthethree ose outofRg,YajusandSaamaVedAs Desikan is“aksharANAm akArOsmi”,the ctrines described by words constituted by ctrines describedbywords constitutedby aanandham BrahmaPurushamPraNava sharAs. NaarAyAtharvOpanishadand dhOgya manthramstates thatthethree hi, thaa anEkadhA samabhavath, anEkadhA hi, thaa ams thatmakeupthePraNavamand thatthe“Sarva-V e aksharams.SarvaVaachakaprakruthi to us in His GithOpanishad that He is is thatHe GithOpanishad to usinHis Brahmam orPara Brahmammade up themoola- manthram --praNavam, is the PraNavamthatis the isonthesiras constituted by the union of constitutedbytheunionof s revealedthisthree-fold istheParaBrahma aachaka prakruthi”

sadagopan.org sadagopan.org (PraadhAnyam) overalltheothermeanings Jeevan, thechoiceofmeaning of“p (Rakshakat aspect oftheLord'sprotection “A” arose.Oneofthemisthemeaningthat 10/100: vibhakthi(aaya)wi hidden fourth greatness ofOurLord'sSarvarakshakthvam, This meaningof“A”astheprotectorall ofallthevasthusdescribe of themeaning The PrathamAksharam isreally“A+aaya”. “A upof“A”andthehidden“aaya” being made ThefirstletterofPraN “luptha Vibhakthi”. seen notprominently “aaya”. Becauseitis 9/100: direct upadEsamofSriPaarthasArathyto VishNavAs (Dhvayam) istheelaboration (SubhaTanu).The and Hisauspciousbody context ofHisroleasapr There aremanyauspiciousattributes(Vis of thethreeletters(A,U,M).Thefirstle 11/100: overallthe PraadhAnyam (mostpurposeful and usef “upayuktham” (A). SwamiDesikanpointsoutthat The firstletterof PraNavam is“A”,be The firstpartofthesacredAshtAksh There aremanymeaningsfortheroot other meaningsfor“A”. otector. Someofthem are th whichitisassociated. 10 tter “A”referstothe Hisdisciple,ArjunA(Gita:10.33). EshaNams) that are unique to Him in the inthe toHim thatareunique EshaNams) hvam) is the most important one for the hvam) isthemostimportantonefor of the first Rahasyam, Thiru Manthiram thefirstRahasyam, ThiruManthiram of d bywords.HeisalsoSarvarakshakan. arises fromthe root,“av”.Inviewof the ara manthramisthePraNavammadeup theword“A”hasprAdhAnyamover assigned forthepr rotection” (kaatthal) takesprecedence second Rahasya manthram sacred to Sri second Rahasyamanthram sacredtoSri theLordisSarvarakshakan.Sincethis this meaning ofrakshakathvamis this meaning , thefourthvibhakthi(case)iscalled avam isthereforeto berecognizedas ” representstheLord ul fortheJeevan). Thereforeitis hind which ishiddenthefourthCase hind which with whichitisintimatelyassociated. (dhAthu) “av” from which the letter (dhAthu) “av”fromwhichtheletter His Consort,DayAguNam Lord, whoprotectsus. athamaakshaksharam , whoistheorigin 15/100: L Thus, theLordofallisbytr the dhivyadampathisandthereforeLord ritesforthehusbandaloneasyaja unique hi and observances thattreatthehusband theonetobeobeyed.Forin as husband praadhAnam asaresultoftheancienttrad 14/100: rulers ofthesetwovibhUthis consort. Therefore,the mostcentralenti padham). Theundisputedrulersofthesetw samsAra mandalam);theotherisnithya re thedhivyadampathis.Oneis ruled by 13/100: in theformofanuvAKams,NaarAyaN Th ONE tomeditateuponandworship. through theobservanceoftwoBrahma cons neverseparatedfromHisdivine who is for usthattheAkAraVaachyan(Onewhois NaarAyaNAnuvAkam istheprimarypramAN clearly astowhoistheprimordialdi 12/100: (PradhAnam) roleisthatoftheLord'sconsort,SriDevi. tothesuccessof attributes contributing theLord'scons participation ofSriDevi, duetothe factthatthe is sabdham. This (AshtAksharam). ThisDhvayamstartsapprop expands thedharmabhUtha Jn~Anamofth th His SamashtiSrushti. BrahmA enlarges Vyashtisrushti, butitisthe engages in achEthanams) andservesastheiraadhA attributes (BrahmaNathvam).He ente in HisUniverse,whichislargerthanHim Lord islargerthantheskyin instance, theSky(AakAsam)envelopshuge (1) Thereare many entitiesintheworld That whichisruledcalledtheVibh There are many Veda mantrams andpa There aremanyVedamantrams Among thetwoco-equals,Lordand OKA P RADH A NAM

OF adition, thesarvapradhAnan. , thedhivyadampathis. terms of His pervasiveness(v termsofHis

THE L ORD 11 AnuvAkam ispradhAnamforus. AnuvAkam Lord, whosetsthestag vinity. AmongalltheseVeda pramANams, ram andcommands/directsthem.BrahmA chEthanAs cannotbeprotectedwithoutthe

ties are(1)thetwo IN rs allthecreation ort. Therefore, amongalltheauspicious that are gigantic in scope and size. For For that aregiganticinscopeandsize. the Lordasprotector,primary erefore amongalltheVedapramANams itions of thedharmapathnirevering itions of denotedbythefirstletter ofPraNavam), ort, SriDevi,andwho ort, e size of the insentients and shrinks or or e sizeoftheinsentients andshrinks s wifeasequalandyettherearesome areas and hence we call it Bruhath. Our andhencewecallitBruhath. areas

o kingdoms are the Lord and His divine o kingdomsaretheLordandHisdivine VidyAs (Prapatthi and Bhakthi) isthe VidyAs(PrapatthiandBhakthi) cognized astheLeelAVibhUthi(this EVERY is prathi-prAdhAnyam over His consort. overHisconsort. is prathi-prAdhAnyam eithersize(Bruhath stance, inYaj~nams,therearemany stance, e sentients.Weconcede thereforethat maanan. This doctrine extendsevento maanan. Thisdoctrine am. ThissacredanuvAkamestablishes Uthi. Therearetwokingdoms thatare VibhUthi(SriVaikuntamorparama riately with theinvo ssages that help us to understand that helpustounderstand ssages

WAY His divineconsort,theLord is : yApthi). There is no entity entity yApthi). Thereisno vibhUthis and(2)the e forBrahmAthrough s (Chethanamsand vam) orauspicious is approachedonly cation of the “Sri” cation ofthe“Sri”

sadagopan.org sadagopan.org by avarietyofmeansand hence,HeiscalledPARAAYANAM SiddhOpAyan (means to attainthatsiddhi) means, fr fruits(phalan) (8) Those,whoseeksome please KAASHTAI Lord iscorrectlyunderstoodasPARAA to thereisnothing BeyondHim, and gain. ourlast iteminthelistisOurLord.He Lord thesensesfollowed andthen the Indriyams andorder theseitemsthathave tobebrought in gainitems that havetobegained forrealiz of desirous (those (7) ForMumukshUs what GATHI. is recognizedasPARAA they(6) SinceHeistheprincipa seek(5) SinceHeisworshippedbyalltheDe fromPARAMAATHMAA Him.(4) SinceHeintermingles withallAathmAs He staysSun andtheStarsderivetheirJyOthi (3) SinceHeisthesupremeeffulgencefrom as Hence, Heisreveredas PARATATTVAM. Universe. Hedoesnothoweverneedan (2) OurLordisthesupportorsubstrat as PARABRAHMAM whoempo is SrimanNaarAyaNan,ourLord, BrahmA issomewhatenga . . ged inSrushtivyApAram.But l fruit of the Mukthi enjoyed by the muktha jeevans, He ofthe Mukthi enjoyedbythemukthajeevans,He l fruit

, HeisrecognizedasPARAMJYOTHI 12 theultimateboundarythatonehastoreach vathais, HeisknownasPARADEVATHAI. ing Moksham. The same Upanishads rank The sameUpanishads ing Moksham. Moksham), the Upanishads spellouttheMoksham), theUpanishads y AdhAram Himself for His functioning. Hisfunctioning. y AdhAramHimselffor be gained for Moksha Siddhi. Hence, Our Our Siddhi.Hence, be gainedforMoksha e (AadhAram) for ALL entities in this e (AadhAram)forALLentitiesinthis bytheManas,AathmAandsarIram.The

om theLordobserve to one'sfoldforgain and thuspermits Himselftobepleased and and staysastheirindweller,Heiscalled wers BrahmA.Therefore,Heissaluted whomalltheradian . , the power behind BrahmA , thepowerbehindBrahmA . ing moksham.First, specific ritesasthe t entitieslikethe .

appears pradhAnam as in the case ofAr inthecase as appears pradhAnam vatthi (theorderofconstruction ofwo to last indicatingthatJivan issEshan aksharams thatmakeupthePraNavam. bytakingtheexampleofPr PradhAnam the pradhAna purushannorma sitting where appearsimport chariot,ArjunA In ArjunA's Makaar sEshiand Lord, theVisva akAram isinthefrontand wasinthefrontandsEsh Visva sEshi KrishNa satinthefrontashisSaarathy(C whereastheJivanisHissE Visva-sEshi, 17/100: sEshi). superiority comparedtoSrimanNaarAyaNan obeying LORD.Allthose,wh their ONEANDONLY themis theLordofallthese areTHE SUPREMELORD.ThefullyqualifiedONEisLORD,who tocommands andacceptthemastheirleaders. be recognized Theyar important people(pramukhAs). 16/100: as DhwAraPramANams recognizeHimasthePARAMAPRADHAANAM. sEshis.In viewofHisroleasthesupremebeing TheyMANGALAANAAM CHAMANGALAM. haveauspiciousness onthem.Therefore, noarises fromtheirauspiciousattributes.Ou lasting vasthusasausp (11) Werecognizesome (PAVTHRAANAAM PAVITHRAM power. Therefore,Heisrecogniz OurLordempowerssuchpavith blemishes. (10) APavithraVasthuisunderstoodasth reveredasPARAMATAPAS. types ofsiddhis,Heis byTapas. (9) Onecanattainkaaryasiddhi Jivan mayappearpradhAnaninviewof Sarveswaran is therearenumberof thePradhana Seshi:Inthisworld, pramukAs. ThesePramukhAsac the Makaramtrails it inPraNavam.Akaramrepresentsthe am, theJivaninPraNavam. ). 13 the AkAra Vaachyan, the Lord. Due to sabdha Duetosabdha the AkAraVaachyan, Lord. ed asthepurest rds orjuxtapositionof thewords),Jivan

icious (MangaLam).ThatMangalathvam Akaram comes firstandMakAramcomes r LordisagaintheOne,whoconfersthat juna Ratham, where Arjunan (the Jivan) Ratham, whereArjunan(theJivan) juna in everyway asrefereed toabove,allthe sha bhUthan. In Arjunan's chariot,Lord bhUthan.InArjunan's sha e importantbecausemanyobeytheir at which purifies otherVasthusoftheir at whichpurifies harioteer). Arjunasatintheback.Thus a bhUthanwasinthebackjustas the SinceOurLordcanblessonewithall aNavam andthejuxtapositionof In reality, they can not be considered as as reality,theycannotbeconsidered In asthemostnatura ant inasuperficial He isrightfullyrecognized as lly sits. One can guess as to who is astowho lly sits.Onecanguess ra vasthus to have their sanctifying tohavetheirsanctifying ra vasthus juxtaposition: SrimanNaarAyaNanis o look important because of others becauseofothers o lookimportant

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l sEshi (nirupAdhika l sEshi(nirupAdhika sense, since he is heis since sense,

sadagopan.org sadagopan.org when we look at the sequence of when welookatthesequence LakshmaNan isRaamAnujan,itmayappear 18/100: reallyisthePradhAnan. establish, who appears asthoughheisthePradhAnan.On presides theLord, Visva that Inside asHisbody. who hasBrahman why, whenwesay,“EmperumAnE Brahman” since, them alsoareinseparablefromHim, about thebothtogether.Upan inseparablefrom Sarva sEshi(theLord)andis usedbecause SamaanAdhikaraNa sabdhamis ofJivanon on thetotaldependence paryavasAyi), thenwegettounderstandthe vaachi -sabdhams),thenwegettothe arein that theadjectivesandnoun th todescribe case (vibhakthi)isused statements arisefromthe EmperumAnE Sivanetc.HowcanEmpe the sEshanandsEshi.Forinstan 19/100: case ofArjunaRatham. Him,evenifitmayappearsu is sEshanto examine the arthaSvAbhAvam, itbecomescl relationship getsdefinedbyRaamA. RaamAnujan, itisclearthatthePradhA Athyantha PaaratantriyamoftheJivan: Artha SvabhAvamrevealing thattheLo usage under SamaanAdhikaraNa sabdham, wherethesame sabdham, usage underSamaanAdhikaraNa sEshi, who directs them. They are therefore sEshans to whodirectsthem.TheyarethereforesEshans to sEshi, ishads alsodeclareallthedEvAsasNaarAyaNA. Allof theLord,akAraVaachyan. 14 e sEshiandthesEshan the wordsmakingth Hence Raaman is PradhAnam. Whenwe Hence RaamanisPradhAnam. nyathvam restswithRaamA. LakshmaNA's separable (apruthak-s peficially that Jivan is PradhAnam as in the peficially thatJivanisPradhAnamasin body of the Jivan calledBrahmanorSivan body oftheJivan true, the ultimate meaning (nishkarsha true, theultimatemeaning(nishkarsha ce, wesay, “EmperumanE Brahman; importance of recognizing and reflecting and reflecting importance ofrecognizing they serve as His body aswell.Thatis serveasHisbody they e hasonlytolookatthePraNavam ear thattheLordis rumAn be Brahman or Sivan? Such Sivan?Such rumAn beBrahmanor that LakshmaNan is pradhAnan, but but thatLakshmaNanispradhAnan, , we mean that it is the EmperumAn, Him.Therefore,itislogicaltospeak Many times,weusethesamecasefor the sEshan (jivan) is the body of the thebodyof (jivan)is the sEshan rd isPradhAnan:Whenwestate . Whenwerecognize iddha -visEshaNa e compoundword, sEshiandtheJivan Through thepast15upadEsams (7-21), of from atrueunderstanding oftheJivan”is NaarAyaNA istheLord Jn~Anams, theJn~Anamthat Bhakthi andPrapatthiaretheupAyams out oftheclearunderstandi 21/100: ispradhAnam. understanding th sEshi, the differencesbetweenVisva of thedifferentvibhakthis relation). Thus, (Rakshakathva-Rakshyathvare infinitesimal the MakaraVaachyaJivanisone,who AkAra VaachyaEmperumAnistheOne,who Jivan, thesEshi(Liege).Thesedifferent out thatthe AkAraVachyaEmperumAn is (cases) associatedwiththeFi the firstvibhakthiassociatedwithit.Th mann inahidden fourth vibhakthiassociated as sEshiandtheJivansEshan:InPr 20/100: asPradhAnam. and theIsvaran of theSarvasEshi.Itisimportanttounde existenceorfreedomoftheir independent because oftheirstatus asHisbody(Sar BrahmA the sarvasEshi.TheseJivansfrom Pradhaanam amongtheJn~Anams(Kno Differences in Vibhakthis pointing to Differences inVibhakthispointing the meaning of PraNavam. PraNavam. of themeaning rst aksharamandthelastak ng ofthemeaningPraN “theJivanisliegetoSrimanNaarAyaNA and 15 PradhAnam. This Jn~Anam can only arise canonly ThisJn~Anam PradhAnam. e occurrenceofthes cases ofthetwoakshar aNavam, thefirst aksharam,“A”hasthe ira-SaarIrI relation)anddonothaveany for Moksham. Among all possible Tattva for Moksham.Amongallpossible own and are completely under the control underthecontrol andarecompletely own The PraNavampartof the AshtAkshara rstand this relationship between theJivan between rstand thisrelationship these two aksharams of PraNavam reveal twoaksharamsofPraNavam these the sEshi(Lord)ofMakAraVaachya lation as well as the Vibhuthva-aNuthva lation aswelltheVibhuthva-aNuthva e LordandthesEshan onwardsareinseparablefromtheLord er withit;thethirdaksharam,“M”has prime differences between the Isvaran prime differencesbetweentheIsvaran protects and isomnipresent,whereas theobjectofthatprotectionandis wledge): Thetattva Jn~Anamborn sharam ofPraNavampoints avam revealstousthat e differentvibhakthis ams revealthatthe , theJivan.This

sadagopan.org sadagopan.org of Mokshamtothe Lord (Bhara (2) SamarpaNamofthe responsibilitiesof thatheisthedoerand the thought sthOthrarathnaslOkam).Here AlavandhAr's of thefirstverseNyAsadasakamand the“yOsmyaham sakalam” part of (1) samarpaNamoftheaathmAtoLord Prapatthi consistsofthreesamarpaNams oro 24/100: overtheangAs. prAdhAnyam of samarpaNamtheaathmAatLord's sankalpam etal.Evenmoreimportantthan asanupAya-anushtAnam This prapatthi 23/100: important (prAdhAnyam)thanBhakthias Praaptthi withitsangAs. Thisactof ThemiddleMoksham. wordinAshtAksh prerequisite toperformBhakthiandPrapatthi knowledge thattheJeevan is 22/100: T andcoverstheimportantconc AshtAksharam ourbenefit.Nex for merciful SwamiDesikan aspectsofthe Manthram andtheprimary HE I MPORTANT The ImportanceofBharanyAsamovertheother two: PrAdhanyam (Superiority)ofthean The connection of Nama: sabdham to Prapatthi: The acquisition of the ofthe Nama:sabdhamtoPrapatthi:Theacquisition The connectionof

ASPECTS

OF subservient tothe Lordandth N AMA that anything belongs tohim. that anythingbelongs : SABDHAM 16 UpAya-anushtAnamforMoksham. Prapatthi (saanga-prapadhanam)ismore has five limbs (angAs) such asaanukUlya has fivelimbs(angAs)such protection oftheaathmAandgranting gi overangAsinPrapatthi: : SvarUpa SamarpaNam (the “aham” part : SvarUpaSamarpaNam(the“aham”part SamarpaNam, BharanyAsam, Aathma rahasyArthams were coverd by the most rahasyArthams werecoverdbythemost t, hetakesuptheNama:sabdhamof the 5angAsistheangi,whichact epts through nine upadEsams(22-30), nine epts through fferings at the sacred feet of our Lord: atthesacredfeet ofourLord: fferings lotus feet as His property. Angi is thus Angiisthus Hisproperty. feetas lotus theoneperformingprapatthigivesup aram, “Nama:”succinctlyrefersto (22-30) yOgams thatleadtotherealization of at LordisitsSwamithe VyAkaraNa saasthramyieldstheSthUlamas ways: sthUlam,Sookshmam andparam.Th Samhithaiinterpretstheme Ahirbhudnya 27/100: T receives and accepts theBhara compared toPrapatthi, whichisonly (svatantrathvam). Hestandsasthedire Our Lordistherootcauseofeverything was notaccessibletothechEthananandth (vasIkaraNam) ofthechEthana BythisactofPrapa SaadhyOpAyam. Prapatthi is anacttobeperformed byth 26/100: pradhAnam. samarpaNam covered bycharama slOkam 25/100: (priority) overtheothertw category of tattva-Jn~Anam. Therefor associated withPrapatthi.Bharasamarp Both SvarUpaandPhalaSamarpaNambelo of theLordasbelongingtoHim. samarpaNam). Here,thefruitsarisingfromPr (3) SamarpaNam ofthefruitssuch nikshEpaNam). The Lord is PradhAnam overthe upAyamofPrapatthi The LordisPradhAnam In theinjunctionsrelatedtope HE

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o kindsofSamarpaNams. OF S AADHY SamarpaNam isPradhAnam. n. Priortothat act ofpr O 17 P anupAyA,EmperumAnwhoasUpEyA A ct meansforgrantingMoksham.Therefore, e, Bhara SamarpaNam has pradhAnam e, BharaSamarpaNamhaspradhAnam (KaaraNathvam). Heis totallyindependent aning ofNama:Sabdhaminthreedifferent e chEthanan andhenceitis consideredas YAM tthi, Lord comes under theinfluence tthi, Lordcomesunder protection totheLo aNa however does not belong to this this aNa howeverdoesnotbelongto erefore hasremainedasSiddhOpAyam. erefore pect ofNama: sabdham. Here,theword ng tothecategory ofTattvaJn~Anam , thecommand, “SaraNamVraja”is rformance ofBharanyAsamorBhara

apatthi isalsoplaced IN e interpretationalong thelinesof N AMA : apatthi, Sriman NaarAyaNA SABDHAM rd Himself(phala

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sadagopan.org sadagopan.org grace of EmperumAn and Moksha Siddhi grace ofEmperumAn andMoksha that namanam (prapatthi)isthemostim are importance,upAyam(means)andEmperu “ma” andthevisargam“:”.Therespective According toParaYojanAinterpretation, work knownasNirukthA.Thusthisappr of thealphabet;NigaNduisglossary withtheRaha akshara nigaNduassociated to ParaYojanA.ThisYojanAdealswi th providesagain SamhithA Ahirbudhnya Lord, itsMaster.Thebanish sabdham pointsoutthatthereisnoindepe for theJeevan.Thereforeth aksharam, “ma”denotesJeevan.“na”refers In thisglossorialinterpretation, thewo The angamofVedamknownasNirukthamin THE 28/100: S S sabdham, ofthenama: sthUlA lines with itsfivelimbs(SaadhyOpAyam).Inthe turnconnects (VasIkaraNam). Thisin Nama: isderivedfrom“naamayathi” meanin 29/100: I sabdham. from thatoftheLordis J IVAN N OOKSHMA P

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P A YAM (E MPERUM components, theprocessiskn -standing wordsarecombined at revealsHisunmatched A N 19 ) HAS rpretation, nama:sabdhamhasEmperumAn huvrIhi samaasam suggests NaarAyaNA is suggestsNaarAyaNAis huvrIhi samaasam hpurusha SaamAsam is pradhAnam for the forthe SaamAsamispradhAnam hpurusha aadhyOpAyam) by the chEthanA. Thus aadhyOpAyam) bythechEthanA.Thus ound wordmadeupoftwoormorewords the Moolamanthramis“NaarAyanAya”. mAsams toform compoundwords: (1) nner resident ofallchethanams.The nner ddhaantham, naara,thejeevan iseternal. lit the“naarAyaNa”sabdhamintothese P Para YojanApointsoutSaraNAgathiis g place/abode/support(2)UpayA or lits as,“naarA:+ayanam+yasya”. In AyaNA stands as the UpAyam for the AyaNA standsasthe UpAyam for nition is made up from the union of two upfromthe unionof nition ismade who standsinas e abodeorresting place.Heistheir R rishable. Theprefix“na”before“ra” aaya” splitsas“naarANAm+ayanam”. prAdhAnyam over Prapatthi, the prAdhAnyamoverPrapatthi,the which is made up of the two words, which ismadeupofthetwowords, A . InSanskrit,theword“ru”,whichis sam in the NaarAyaNa sabdham of sam intheNaarAyaNasabdhamof DH ing. Heisancientandexistseven A NYAM mahimA andcompassion. own as Vigraham. InTamil, own asVigraham. toforma newword, the

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OF AAGATHI D n meaningsrefertooneor of theLordthrough the HVAYAM st supremeamongthe upAyam andphalan. M iman NaarAyaNAis ANTHRAMS ? theonewith : SiddhOpEyam withoutanycontradiction. SiddhOpEyam unity betweentheUpAyamandprApyama recognized asSiddhOpEyamwell.TheUpanis (SiddhOpAyam). Similarly,Heisthemost Our Lord,SrimanNaarAyaNanis the anci 35/100: S thatgripoffandwalkaway). Lord, Hecannotshake “anathikramaNeeyam hiCharaNa-grahaNam Desikan recallsanisloatedstatement(mug (sacred feet)oftheLordaspradhAna us andHecannotrunawayfromus.Theref prominent. WhenweholdfirmlyHissacred svarUpam. EvenintheThirumEni, thesacr In viewofthis,ourLo admixture ofamangaLams)kalyANaguNams. (asthra BhUshaNAdhis)aswell asHis mangaLa vigrahamoftheLord, His makes iteasiertomaintainthedhyAn The dhyAnamonthesubhAs SvarUpa dhyAnamabouttheLord. we canimaginereadilytheextreme difficu of dhyAnamdoesnotlastin Thirumeni fortheirmeditation. SvarUpadhyAn thought ofThirumeniwillclea ThirumEni istheeasiertograspandcont Our LordhasbothThirumEni(subhAsr of holy feetoftheDivineConsort NaarAyaNa charaNouSaraNam 36/100: U UpAyam. bless uswiththefruitofSaraNAgathi. becomes thePradhAnOpAyam.HeisOn sacred feetasthemeans(Upayam)forsaraNA Even ifwepointouttotheimportanceof RIMAN P A YA - PR N A AARAAYA PYA

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PRADH IS MahA Lakshmi,SrimanNaaraayaNan.

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nd thusHeisbothSiddhOpAyamand emplate on(easytorealize).Thevery THE dhakham) of Bhagavadh RaamAnujA: RaamAnujA: Bhagavadh of dhakham) ed feetofourLord lty thatwewouldhavetoengagein gathi, thepossessorofthoseholyfeet e, whowills(hasthesankalpam)to am is not easytoperform.Thatkind am isnot ” (if one holdsontothefeetof ” (ifone P hads reveal to us that thatthereis tousthat hads reveal RADH A N O . Iftheyhavedifficulty, . PAAYAM r that prapatthi isthe becomesthemost before any others beforeanyothers

sadagopan.org sadagopan.org na kascchithnAparAdhyathi vAsubhAnAmvaavadhArhANam pApAnAm sakruthEva prapannAya...... divi with SriRamAchandranandHis referring heretothetwoimportantsl SaraNyadampat sacred utterancesofthe on thedoctrinesofprapatthi.Amongth 39/100: the adiyArsandareabsolutelyfree delectable onesarethearuLiccheyalkaLof shAsthram inanenchantingmannerto 38/100: shAsthram. which aroseoutofourLord'svAkispra meanings ofPrapatthi. Amongallthese instance, theThirumanthiramand 37/100: P PrApyan. andthe theprApakan NarAyaNan beingboth amsam ofbothupAyamandphalan.Thus,th rooted in the Upanishads ofth entities, theuniqueness is that He upA (upEyam/Phalan). Althoughordinarily, is There maybedoubtsaboutHimserving RADH A Srimath RaamAyaNamandMahA BhArat There aremany shAsthrAs Among themanygranthamsthatelabor NAM

IN

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from errors and falsehoods. fromerrorsandfalsehoods. --- Sri Ramachandran: Yuddha KhAndham: 6.18.33 --- SriRamachandran:YuddhaKhAndham:6.18.33 PRAPATTHI to intrepretthemeanings ne consort,SriSithAPirAtti: 22 Okams ofSrimathRAmAyaNamassociated the oneandonlySup dhAnam. Hence, itisreveredasBhagavath ese two,SrimathrAmAyaNamhousingthe the mind(Chittharanjanam),most the AzhwArs.Theyserv sAsthrAs, Sri pAncha rAthra shAsthram sAsthrAs, SripAncharAthrashAsthram as bothUpAyam(M Dhvaya manthramexplainthedeeper his is pradhAnam. Swami Desikan is is pradhAnam.SwamiDesikan is his yam and Phalan are distinctly different yam andPhalanaredistinctlydifferent plavangamakAryamkaruNamAryENa S ere is nothing inconsistent inSriman inconsistent ere isnothing AASTHRAM ate onthemeaningsofprapatthi ham, the two IthihAsAs, elaborate ham, thetwoIthihAsAs, ugh theDhvayaManthram :

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sadagopan.org sadagopan.org 45/100: T prapatthi as:“adhikAri-nairapEkshya- waysumstheab brilliant Desikan inhis prapatthi thatdoesnotexpect as svarUpam ofprapatthi,SrimanNaarAyaNA prapatthi: dhvayArtham,thequalifications Hence, the fruit (phalan) oftherealization Hence, thefruit(phalan) prAptham), whichisnothing butgainin When theseobstaclesare chasedaway, it wayofmOksham karmAs thatstandinthe all from free us promiseto Lord's our houses It SaraNAgathi. from performing 46/100: overth is pradhAnam are knownasuttharavAkhyams.SwamiDesi are since thesecondandthirdportions SLOKAM ISPRADHAANAM.Thefirstportio of thecharamaslOkam.Hence, THEFIRSTPORTION OFTHECHARAMA shouldweperformSaraNAga question, “why theCharama second andthirdportionsof asaresult of beingcare-freeandblissful such aperforma on thephalanarisingfrom The firstportioninstructsonetoperform mOkshayishyAmi (3)mAsucha: dharmAn parithyajyamAmEkamsaraNam HE I MPORTANT The charamaslOkamismadeupof The secondportionofthecharamaslOk

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S nam (svatha:prApthaSwamilAbham). O B A 25 HITHA KHA Y RATHVA n andhisdharmam.OurLordexplainedto OGAM kthi yOgam.Whenthe Lordrecognizedthe monical destinies(suraandasurasampath r Lord comforted ArjunA by explaining the r Lord comfortedArjunAbyexplainingthe that he(Arjunaa)hadadivinedestinyand ne destiny and as such he has nothing to ne destinyandassuchhehasnothingto N ndhana sOkham”(sorrow arisingfrom s sorrow-stricken over s sorrow-stricken opriate andinstructed compassion blessedSri ArjunAwiththe sixteenth andtheeighteenthchaptersof ”. Swami Desikan comments thatLord SwamiDesikancomments ”. . The wise grieve neither for the dead or . Thewisegrieveneitherforthedeador suri mathAmAsucha:sampadham e fieldtogainthekingdom.Thistype of - nor isitsubjectedtodestructiononthe IVARTHANAM d withthesorrowov inted outthattheSelfiseternaland PHALA aimed atcomfortingHisfriendand ”:

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sadagopan.org sadagopan.org T thestatusofPrAdhAnyam. and henceattains the sufferingsamsArisandth the2ndandth first twoupadEsamshousedin ONE HOUSEDINTHE18thCHAPTERIS PRADHANAM.Heexplainsthatthe that, AMOMGTHETHREEUPADES rescue ofthesorrowingArjunatoremo Swami Desikantakesintoaccountthethre all. easy-to-perform PrapatthiyOgamandwiped at oncetoperformnithya Kaimkaryam 49/100: ispradhAnam. Aartha prapannAs,thelatter away toenjoySriVaikuntaVAsamasmukt karmas thatstandbetweenthemimmediatel Sriman NArAyaNA'sVaikuntamquickly.They toattainmoksha earth andlongintensely developadi arethose,who Aartha prapannAs that theycan attaintheblissofMoksham those,whowantto are Dhruptha PrapannAs PrapannAs. can beclassifiedintothetwo catego SlOkam. Those,whohaveperformedsuch intothemeaningsof being initiated 48/100: HE P RINCIPALS Among Aartha prapannAs, th AmongAarthaprapannAs, performprapa Weshould

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THE P e third upadEsam isthemost upadEsam e third RAPANN tthi atthesacredfeetof ere are those, who want toleavethisworldly life ere arethose,whowant 26 A ve his dukkham. SwamiDesikanconcludes ve hisdukkham. to Sri Vaikuntanathan without “additional” to SriVaikuntanathan without “additional” Thirumanthiram, DhvayamandCharama S AMS FOR SORROW REMOVAL, THE AMS FORSORROWREMOVAL, (48-49) ries of dhruptha pr ries ofdhruptha siddhi without delayandbearesident of without siddhi e instances,whereOur Prapatthi are known as PrapannAs. They Prapatthi areknownasPrapannAs.They ha prapannAs. Among thedhrupthaand ha prapannAs.Among y and thereby attain Moksha Siddhi right right y andtherebyattainMokshaSiddhi at theendoftheirallottedearthly life. eliminate thecausesforfuturebirthsso away ArjunA's sOkhamonceandfor e 16thchaptersarenotofmuchuseto staste for spending additional time on time additional staste forspending wish to be rid of the rest of their SrimanNArAyaNAafter usefulforallchEthanAs apannas and Aartha apannas andAartha Lord cametothe prayANam wouldbethe mostdesirable. on thisearth.Fora prapanna,the th The topicisanthimaprathyayam orthough NirNayAdhikAram chapterofSrimathRahasy 51/100: enjoyment ofLordNarasimhaat (Meaning): “--Vaikuntham kANpathaRkku,yenmanam (Thiruvaimozhi: 9.3.7),wherehepraystoLord Narasimhan: inthisco Swami Desikanquotes margam andtheexpectationofgetting will blessonewithMoksham.Thevery thou willfocuson category ofdhrupthaprapannan tospendone's pleasantway would bea typeof this archirAdhi mArgam.Though spends hisorhertimeonthisearthth 50/100: G urgency toenjoytheMokshAnugrah to havetheirlivesshrunkonearthth enjoying thefruitsofMoksham.Among put upwiththeirallottedli praytoLordsh prapannAs ardortobeatthesideofth unquenchable time. They donotwanttotarry inth ATHI C Here,SwamiDesikan commentsontheto Among the dhruptha prapannAs, the AmongthedhrupthaprapannAs, HINTHANAM My mind will think unceasingly dur Mymindwillthinkunceasingly

AND A fe span,eveniftheyareso NTHIMA rink theirtimeonearthby His abodeofSriVaikuntam. am arethe mostimportant. P 27 the Moksham would be important. beimportant. would theMoksham RATHYAYAM ntext, thepAsuramofNammAzhwAr e minimum andhavethegreatest senseof is earthevenforamoment.Theyhave oughts abouttheLo inking about the blessings oftravelby theblessings about inking remaining timeonthis The prapannaneednot howevertakea thinking is not helpful for Moksham, it Moksham, helpfulfor thinking isnot e Lord'sfeetimmediately. OtherAartha Aartha prapannAs, those, who would like whowouldlike Aartha prapannAs,those, ts during the last moments of one's life thelastmoments of one's during ts ght (Chinthanai Nilai)oftheArchiradhi ght (Chinthanai yEkam yeNNUm irAp pahalinRiyE”. yEkam yeNNUmirAppahalinRiyE”. e's thoughtsonthe a ThrayaSAram(TwentiethChapter). re aretwo categori ing night and day only about the the anddayonlyabout night ing pic that hecovered (50-51) rrowful overthetimedelayin weeks, monthsoryearsand time, whentheLord rd during anthima rd duringanthima earth.Theother es. Thefirstone at lengthinthe

sadagopan.org sadagopan.org 52-54/100: I Thirukkacchi Nambi. messages sentbySriVaradarAjaof BhagavAn willariseduetotheLord'ssank ones forasvathanthraprapatthinishtan.Fo solli vaitthEn..”(PeriyAzhwArThirumozhi:4 susvathE..) andPeriyAzhwAr'sprayerto parithyajyandEham”,VarAha smruthirapi, Swami Desikan'sreferencestotheslOkam thoughts aboutHimduetotheblossomi last, momentsonHisearth(leelAVibhUth (Meaning): avalOkayan --” “SarIrapatha samayEthukEvalamadhI in thiscontext: Swami Desikancitesthe21stchUrNikaiof prayOjana prArthanai. prapatth ofone's asafruit from theLord seektherea not should One a sadhAchAryan. chinthanai aboutHimat prapanna withthoughtsab special effortinthiscontext.OurLord prescribed bysAsthrAs. OurLordisangry aresa Aj~nAkaimkaryams PrapannAs. 52/100: Aj~nAkaimkaryamis pradhAnamover May the illustrious dayA ofSriRangan MaytheillustriousdayA MPORTANT A thetime oftheperformance SPECTS out Him.Itisimportanttoprayfor thisanthima

RELATED 28 yayaiva dhayayA athiprabhuddha: mAmEva yayaiva dhayayAathiprabhuddha:mAmEva ng ofBhagavath-Thatthvajn~Anam! ndhyA vandhanam & other daily rituals ndhyA vandhanam& otherdailyrituals

Sri RanganAthA “appOthaikku ippOthE ippOthE SriRanganAthA“appOthaikku KAnchi to Sri RAmAnujA through Sri through Sri toSriRAmAnujA KAnchi TO out of His infinite daya would bless the dayawouldbless out ofHisinfinite CharamaslOkampassage(sthithEmansi SaraNAgathi gadhyamofSriRAmAnujA SaraNAgathi passage from VarAha PurANam, “nashta “nashta fromVarAha PurANam, passage r such a prapannan, the last thoughts on r suchaprapannan,thelastthoughtson i. Thatkindofprar i. .10.1) onanthimasmruthiareimportant

at those, who do not perform these KAIMKARYAMS fter for the boon of anthima chinthana fter fortheboonofanthimachinthana i) that I am blessed with unceasing i) thatIamblessedwithunceasing alpam. This was also one of the six alpam. Thiswasalsooneofthe anuj~nA kaimkaryam in our lives as as anuj~nA kaimkaryamin ourlives AthA envelop meat AthA envelop Prapatthiitselfperformedby

thanai is a svayam thanai isasvayam thetimeofmy qualifications toreceive spiritualinst needtobe who avoi kinds ofsishyAs, 55/100: PradhAnam. kaimkaryam. AmongKriyAmsa&Jn~Ams rahasyArthams ofDhvayamalsofitsin light of theseSriSookthisinthe a ofAzhwArs granthams, SriSookthis kaimkaryams are those thatinvolveone' cleaningofthepr sannidhi, the Lord's involve physicalinvolvementlikemakingaga Kaimkaryams. KriyAmsa andJn~AnAmsa 54/100: bysAsthrAs. prohibited categories ofAj~nAkaimkaryams,Itis sAsthrAs (2)Performance ofthoserecomm theperformanceof (1) abandoning 53/100: samarpaNam &otheranuj~nA such categoryarekaimkaryams such them. They donotleadtotheacquisitionof Anuj~nA kaimkaryamsarethos the sinsaccumulatedandtherebypleaseLord. are obligatedtoperformappropriatepr Thosewho prescribed Aj~nAkaimkaryams. Which type of Sishyan has tobeav WhichtypeofSishyanhas th AmongtheAnuj~nAkaimkaryams, ThetwoKindofAj~nAkaimkary kaimkaryams fortheLord. kaimkaryams e thatmaketheLordhappy 29 nd AchAryALs.Thestudyandcontemplation ructions dealing with ubhaya VedAntha ructions dealingwith ubhayaVedAntha of the understanding bestowed by the bestowedbythe of theunderstanding those kaimkaryamsthatareprohibitedby as pushpa kaimkaryam as pushpa pradhAnam toceasedoingthosethatare pradhAnam Ayaschitthams (expiatoryrituals) tonegate ded, whentheAchAryan examinestheir AkArams ofthetempleetal.Jn~Amsa s mind such as the study of VedAntha asthestudyofVedAntha s mindsuch to thecategory ofJn~AmsaAnuj~nA ended by the sAsthrAs. Among these two ended bythesAsthrAs.Amongthese oided bytheAchAryan?Therearemany sins,whenonefail KriyAmsa kaimkaryamsarethosethat KriyAmsa missed doing theAj~nAkaimkaryams missed doing rland for the Lord, lighting of lamps in rland fortheLord,lightingoflamps a anuj~nAkaimkaryams,latteris ere arethe2categories as known am areclassifiedasfollows: , whenoneperforms s toperformthem.In , sandalwoodpaste

sadagopan.org sadagopan.org follows the sAsthrAs meticulously andinstru follows thesAsthrAsmeticulously 56/100: rejected be should type ofaspiringsishyan appropriate forthesadAchAryantobanish anya-dEvathAupAsan whoengagesin sishyan, notperform upadE should A sadAchAryan avoid suchaspirants,whopractiseanya in anywayhavetobesummarilyabandone names ofthedhaivamsotherthanSrimanNA the properway.Thoseaspirantshowever,who is alsounderstoodthatit reside these salutationsarefortheLordwho Onthe themarenotforthem. addressed to of Indran,Sooryan,VaruNan,Agnietal For instance,duringtheperformance ofSa karmAs, associateshimselfwithanya types (a-f).Heistheone,whoduringth There isonecategoryofaspirant(would the Lord. f) thosewhocriticizetheLordandAc AchAryan orthosewhodonothave e) thosewhodonotobservetheprocedur d) thosewhobetrayhisAchAryan AchAryan c) thosewhoabsorbthekn b) thosewhotransgresstheinjunctionsofsAsthrAs inthesAsthrAs a) thosewhodonotbelieve attributes: following reject sishyAshavingthe such instructionsthroughtherouteofKA Rahasya thrayasAram). Evenifmanyaspi SriSookthis(Sri granthams andAchArya 56-57/100 initiation. The one to be sought avidly istheBr Theonetobesoughtavidly : W HO

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sadagopan.org sadagopan.org mahAns with great qualifications. Onewh greatqualifications. mahAns with 62/100: adhikAran. SamsAram ispradhAnam.Thattypeof whom onewantstodwell together, the BhAgavathanwho hasutter detachment from 61/100: over theafflictionsofsamsAramisbest. have sallAbham(Conversations/exchanges allth Among caused bysamsAricbonds. whotrulysu theone, or nirvEdha adhikAran BhAgavath other. AmongtheSallAbhayOgya 60/100: Bhagavathbhakthi. possessing BhAgavathan withsuperiorJn~Anamis SahavAsa yOgya BhAgavathALs: Among SahavAsayOgyaBhAgavathALs:Among Bheethi yOgya BhAgavathALs: Onesh BheethiyOgyaBhAgavathALs: SallAbhayOgyaBhAgavathAs:SallAbham 32 e BhAgavathAswithwhomonewantsto pradhAnam over all the BhAgavathAs pradhAnamoveralltheBhAgavathAs o approaches with reverence and respect o approacheswithreverenceandrespect ), the one shows the utmost nirvEdham ), theoneshowsutmostnirvEdham BhAgavathan is known as VairAgya BhAgavathanisknownasVairAgya ffers the pangs of pain from the sorrows painfromthesorrows of ffers thepangs As, the pradhAnam is the one who is istheonewho As, thepradhAnam this categoryofBhAgavathALswith meanscommunicatingwitheach ould have fear in approaching havefearinapproaching ould B isPradhAnam.) Bhaashpa andROmAnjalisfromBhagavathguNAnubhavam recommends thiscategoryofPreethi Based ontheclearguidelinesgivenby gAthravAn). nEthrAmbu). Hishairsarestandingon arising outoftheexperiencebli dhrasitavya:).Hiscool by all(sarvadEhibhi: constantly reflectsontheananthakalyANagu with tearsofjoy,hashorripilationth Tattvam,whichstates:That of VishNu BhAgavathar inthiscategory ofBhAgavath 63/100: emphasized HissarvEsvarathvamduring qualifications andunderplaythemis theone,wh BhAgavathALs, Bheethi yOgya isknownasBheethi other BhAgavathALs united withtheBhAgavatha kaimkary kaimkaryam. Latterisone of themo kaimkaryam; inthemiddleisBhAgavathaka 65/100: AchAryans. whoare not one's BhAgavathAs, overkaimkaryamtothesAdhArana pradhAnam 64/100: HAGAVATH Preethi yOgya BhAgavathars: Swam PreethiyOgyaBhAgavathars: There are in general 3 kinds ThekaimkaryamperformedforaBh of kaimkaryams. The 1st is Bhagavath -B H A GAVATHA -A CH A RYA rough the Bhagavath guNAnubhavam and who andwho BhagavathguNAnubhavam rough the K 33 ss of Bhagavadh anubhavam (AhlAdha seetha ss ofBhagavadhanubhavam(AhlAdhaseetha pradhAnam. EvenSrimanNArAyaNande- AIMKARYAMS BhAgavath Bhakthan, whose eyes are filled eyesarefilled Bhakthan,whose BhAgavath yOgya BhAgavathALs, the one, who has yOgya BhAgavathALs,theone,who st important kaimkaryams. When that gets st importantkaimkaryams. When the aboveSrisookthi,SwamiDesikan end fromthatexperience(puLakIkrutha ALs using the counsel given by a slOkam ALs usingthecounselgivenbyaslOkam yOgya Bhagavathan.Amongthistypeof am thattype of kaimkaryambecomes imkaryam &thelastoneisAchArya o doesnotboastab o avathArams asRaamAandKrishNA. Nams ofthe Lordisthe oneto beseen eyeswillbefille AgavathA, who is one's AchAryanis AgavathA, whoisone's i Desikan evaluates the pradhAna evaluatesthepradhAna i Desikan

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sadagopan.org sadagopan.org 80/100 pradhAnam. withMAnasa sn associated roopa dhyAnam seated inourheartlotusasthePuNyath Lord, SrimanNArAyaNanstandsinplaceof kaimkaryam.For performance ofbhagavath without anydoubtaboutthepower of recommended. Here,onecontemplates on When onecannotevenp thecons prescribed manthrAsandsplashes manthra snAnam,whenoneisilland snAnam, whereoneimmersesfullyinwate snAnavidhis different physical condition, water andmakethemselvesfitforinitiati 79/100 then thepradhAnamisSriVaikunTam, 78/100 way. have paramEkAnthis/Bhagavathars sages haveinitiatedtheprathishtai Saiddham, wheresiddharshaveperformed are: (1)Svyamvyaktham,whereHehasma 77/100 residence toperformkaimkaryamforBhagavAn. and ofemergency times During pradhAnam. bhAgavathAs oftheLordresi 76/100 Bhagavathkaimkaryam. isappropriatefor available withoutdifficulty, Lord, thentheexternal sAmagriyais likeTu 75/100 kaimkaryams. Bhagavath Kaimkaryamwithapurehe such akaimkaryam.Whenthemind,speech (manas)- vAk(speech)andseyal (body 74/100 ThechEthanan(sentient being)ca kaimka Bhagavath Priortoperforming Whenanyoneoftheab where ofkshEthrams, Thefourkinds toperfor ThekshEthramfitforliving limbsare Whenthemind,vAkand Therearemany“instruments”for erform manthraSnAnam,thenmAnasasnAnam is de. This should be the place of residence. This is Thisis betheplaceofresidence. Thisshould de. ove fourkshEthramsare ove performed prathishtai of the Lord in the sAstraic thesAstraic in oftheLord performedprathishtai 36 where BhagavathAsreside permanently. ng Bhagavath kaimkaryam. Based on one's ng Bhagavathkaimkaryam.Basedonone's and action)arethethreedominant onesfor eertham. Whenoneis (consecration) (4)VaishNavam,where unable todipinwater.Here,onerecites mAnasa snAnam qualifying one for the mAnasa snAnamqualifyingonefor prathishtai (3)Arsham,wheretheVedhic m Bhagavath-kaimkaryam iswherethe theholywaters.HeisSupremeOne people performing mAnasa snAnam, our snAnam, mAnasa people performing are prescribed. Theseare:(1)VAruNa are r andtakesthebath(2) The second is the subhAsrayamofarchAmUrthy ecrated waterontopofone'shead(3) nifested out of His own sankalpam (2) ownsankalpam ofHis nifested out Lasi, waterandflowers,whateveris art, then it is pradhAnam among art, thenitispradhAnamamong n perform bhagavath kaimkaryam in n performbhagavath kaimkaryam in Anam, thistypeofsnAnamisindeed BhagavAn is present in the archA form presentinthearchAform BhagavAn is Bhagavath Kaimkaryam. Themind and the limbs are unified toperform andthelimbsareunified danger,anyplace ryam, one has to take bath in pure bath in ryam, onehastotake united in purpose toservethe united inpurpose inaccessible forresidence, immersedinsucha isfithoweverfor when theonethathas committed theapac asanjalimudhrai. with foldedhandsknown one's apachArams.Among theseupAyams,th 85/100 performed andtohaveillwilltowardsthatAchAryan. 84/100 avoid. deepest chambersofnarakam.Therefor AchArya apachAram.SuchapachA forAchArya BhAgavatha apachArams,butnot AchArya apachAram.Onecanperform andth worse thanapachAramtoBhagavAn serving BhagavAn,HisBhAgavathAsand Theyarisefromtransgression chEthanan? 83/100 A anddayA. sadhupadEsams rich insatthvaguNam.Thosenoblesouls encroachment ofsuchdhOshamscanbereal 82/100 desire. ThatispradhAnam. the sinsfollowimmediately.Therefor the wayoffulfillingthesedesi to possess things thesedefects.Thechiefamong banish that producethat arenotappropriate no long term happiness. Manas thedefectofutteringuntruth. VAk has When themhave body constituting some one stands SAsthrAshave focusedon VAk andLimbs. in 81/100 D Bhagavath kaimkaryam asrevealed andarepure.This are unifiedinpurpose whatever stateheorsheisaslong PACH H O SH Thereareinsufficienciesassociatedwi There are a few upAyams to persuadeeven ThereareafewupAyamsto TheworstoftheAchAryaapachAramis WhatarethereasonsfordhOsham The relieffromallthese imperfec A A RAMS S

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37 the three instruments-m

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sadagopan.org sadagopan.org A of freedomfromworries. thinks ofthatvow, seekre those,who forconsoling pradhAnam Hi one,whosought to saveunfailinglyany declared infrontofthear SamsAram.SriRaamachandran afflictions of 88/100 the AchAryancorrectssinnerandbrin prevent thisdisaster,onehastohaveth prAyacchittham asameansofredress.Ifhe 87/100 BhagavathAs themselvesandse overcome thoseapachArams.Thedomina 86/100 with gratitude thehelpofferedearlier. E not acceptourLordas the DEvA Lord asParadEvathai(SupremeLord) is 93/100 T perform thekaimkaryamsapproved 92/100 T AchAryan. toofferthesalutationPrAc pradhAnam 91/100 meanings) andpreparedthesishyant andCharamaslOkam(thethree rahasyamsandtheir Thirumanthiram, Dhvayam SAsthrams.Amongthem,theAc vEdhAntha 90/100 the AchAryan,whoinitiatesoneinto 89/100 CH HE HE K A A NTHIS I PRADH RYAN MPORTANCE Whenone'sAchAryanandHis Therearemany waystoremovethesorr andapachAra sins Onecommitsheinous IfonecommitsapachAramstoBhAga InthesannidhiofourLord,showingreve It is pradhAnam to get the niyama There may be morethan oneAchAry Theparentsandteachersbelongto

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THOSE e's ownbhakthiandtatthva jn~Anamand ThiruananthAzhwAn ThiruananthAzhwAn adhAnam amongsuchsukhamsistheone performed by the muktha jeevans in Sri Sri performed bythemukthajeevansin seeks mOksham as the sole fruitanddoes asthesole mOksham seeks

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kivtaik ïImte ve»qezayvedaNtgurvenm>. PradhAna Sathakam sampUrNam PradhAna Sathakam R k is 41

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