Beginner’s Guide Part 1

Beginner’s guide

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dhivya prabandham – translations project

srI:
srImathE satakOpAya nama:
srImathE rAmAnujAya nama:
srImadh varavaramunayE nama:

dhivya prabandhams are the most essential aspect of srIvaishNava sampradhAyam.

AzhwArs who were blessed by srIman nArAyaNan’s causeless mercy, sung many
prabandhams in the ancient thamizh language which became to be known as dhivya
prabandham. The importance of dhivya prabandham is greatly highlighted by azhagiya
maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr in AchArya hrudhayam. AchArya hrudhayam fully reveals
the divine heart and emotions of nammAzhwAr. nAyanAr explains that one becomes
established in srIvaishNava principles by first learning the thiruvAimozhi text, then
understanding the meanings and finally living by the same. Here, thiruvAimozhi is
explained as upalakshaNam (example) for all dhivya prabandhams.

These dhivya prabandhams were greatly appreciated by our AchAryas and especially
srI rAmAnuja ushered in a new era of our sampradhAyam which fully focussed on

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understanding the meanings of the dhivya prabandhams and living by it. srI rAmAnuja’s
1000th birth anniversary is approaching us soon in May 2017. To commemorate this
most glorious and auspicious occasion, we are providing simple translation of the
dhivya prabandhams in our http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org website. These
translations are done fully based on pUrvAchArya vyAkyAnams.

We pray to srIman nArAyaNan, AzhwArs and AchAryas to guide us in this effort and
make this kainkaryam a successful one which will benefit srIvaishNavas of different
regions (who are familiar with different languages, etc).

adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

on behalf of http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org team

pramEyam (goal) – http://koyil.org

pramANam (scriptures) – http://srivaishnavagranthams.wordpress.com
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://acharyas.koyil.org
srIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org.

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Preface
srI:
srImathE satakOpAya nama:
srImathE rAmAnujAya nama:
srImadh varavaramunayE nama:

Simple introductory articles.

ANdAL pAtti (grandma) teaches her grand children parAsara and vyAsa who are eager
to learn the basics (and the nitty gritties too) about srIvaishNavam. vyAsa and parAsara
are two smart kids who are fond of questioning a lot and ANdAL pAtti is smarter and is
fond of answering the questions with patience. It is said that when one has any
queries/doubts in ones conduct, he/she should enquire from the elderly lady in the
family. Our srIvaishNava ammangars (grand mothers specifically) were traditionally
filled with wisdom and were also great story-tellers. They would so beautifully explain
the incidents from srI rAmAyaNam, mahAbhAratham and the lives of AzhwArs and
AchAryas. Children too were greatly attached to their grand mothers for their ability to
engage them in wonderful matters effortlessly. We hope that you will enjoy this series of
articles and learn from them too.

Source: http://pillai.koyil.org/index.php/beginners-guide/

Web: http://koyil.org , http://ponnadi.blogspot.com, http://acharyas.koyil.org/,

http://pillai.koyil.org

manmatha – Adi 12 (ALavandhAr uthsavam day 6) – kEttai (July 18th, 2015)

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Topic of Contents
Preface ...................................................................................................................... 4
Introduction to srIvaishNavam ................................................................................ 6
Who is srIman nArAyaNa? ...................................................................................... 8
srIman nArAyaNa’s divine archA form and qualities .......................................... 10
srI mahAlakshmI’s motherly nature ...................................................................... 13
srIman nArAyaNa’s divine mercy ......................................................................... 17

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Introduction to srIvaishNavam
ANdAL pAtti is reciting thiruppAvai, when parAsara and vyAsa comes running towards
her.

parAsara: pAtti, we have a doubt. We keep hearing about srIvaishNavam, please tell
me what does that mean.

ANdAL pAtti: Oh, very nice question parAsara. srIvaishNavam is the eternal path which
outlinessrIman nArAyaNa as the supreme lord and his followers worship him with full
faith.

vyAsa: But pAtti, why srIman nArAyaNa? why not some one else.

ANdAL pAtti: vyAsa, that is a good question. let me explain. srIvaishNavam is based on
vEdham, vEdhAntham and dhivya prabhandhams of AzhwArs. All of these are called
pramANam – pramANam means authentic source of information. All these pramANams
unanimously explain that srIman nArAyaNa is the cause of all causes. We are
supposed to worship the supreme cause. That supreme cause is explained as srIman
nArAyaNa. That is why srIvaishNavam fully focusses on srIman nArAyaNa.

vyAsa: That is good to know pAtti. So, we understand that we are also followers of
srIvaishNavam. Generally, What are we supposed to do pAtti?

ANdAL pAtti: We regularly worship perumAL, thAyAr, AzhwArs, AchAryas, etc.

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parAsara: pAtti, you said we focus fully on srIman nArAyaNa. But why worship thAyAr,
AzhwArs, AchAryas, etc?

ANdAL pAtti: That is a very good question parAsara. thAyAr is the divine consort (wife)
of perumAL. See, perumAL is our father and thAyAr is our mother. We worship them
together only. Often, you offer praNAmams to both your father and mother – so
similarly, we also worship perumAL and thAyAr together. AzhwArs and AchAryas are
dear devotees of srIman nArAyaNa. They had very strong devotion towards srIman
nArAyaNa. They were the ones who clearly highlighted the glories of perumAL and
thAyAr – so we worship them too.

vyAsa: What else we do pAtti?

ANdAL pAtti: As srIvaishNavas, we understand everyone is children

of perumAL and thAyAr. So, we pray for the well being of everyone. We help others in
their devotion towards srIman nArAyaNa.

parAsara: How do we do that pAtti?

ANdAL pAtti: Oh, that is very easy. Whenever we meet any one we discuss with them
only about perumAL, thAyAr, AzhwArs and AchAryas. By understanding the greatness
of perumAL, thAyAr, AzhwArs, AchAryas, etc – they will also develop devotion. That will
be very beneficial to everyone.

vyAsa: This is very nice pAtti. what a wonderful way to spend our time? Thank you so
much pAtti. Today we learnt some basic things about srIvaishNavam.

ANdAL pAtti: It is very nice of both of you to ask such intelligent

questions. perumAL and thAyArwill be very happy for both of you. Come, let us have
some prasAdham now.

Author: sArathy rAmAnuja dAsan

Source: http://pillai.koyil.org/index.php/2014/07/introduction-to-srivaishnavam/

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Who is srIman nArAyaNa?

ANdAL pAtti takes parAsara and vyAsa to srIrangam temple.

vyAsa: Wow, pAtti, its a huge temple. We haven’t seen anything like this big before. We
have heard about kings living in such huge palaces. Are we going to visit a king?

ANdAL pAtti: Yes, We are going to visit the king of all, rangarAjan here. rangarAjan (the
king of srIrangam), we fondly call him as periya perumAL and namperumAL in
srIrangam. periya perumAL in the lying posture over Adhi sEshan shows his supremacy
or swAmithvam. He waits for his devotees to visit him and showers his blessings when
they visit him, whereas namperumAL exhibits saulabhyam, one who is easy to
approach, he understands the difficulties of some of his devotees, who might not be
able to visit him, therefore he visits them as part of his puRappAdu (savAri/procession).
In srIrangam almost throughout the year, we will have namperumAL visiting his
devotees and showering his blessings on them.

parAsara: pAtti, but we thought perumAL stays in vaikuntam, how come he is here as
well?

ANdAL pAtti: Yes parAsara, what you heard is right. perumAL is in vaikuntam and he
has also come here to be with us. I’m sure you might have heard about the various
forms of water: liquid, steam and ice. Likewise, perumAL has five forms, they are para,
vyUha, vibhava, antharyAmi and archai. The form that perumAL has taken in srIrangam

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is known as archAvathAram. avatharam means coming down or descending. As I told

you earlier, we pray for the well-being of everyone in this world. srIman nArAyaNa came
here as an answer to our prayers. He has a great affection for all of us and prefers to be
with us, that is also one of the reasons for his presence as srIranganAthan here.

pAtti, vyAsa and parAsara leaves the sanctum Sanctorium after worshipping periya
perumAL.

vyAsa: We have also started to like him, after hearing more about him from you, pAtti.
Moreover, he looks like us pAtti.

ANdAL pAtti: He not only looks like one of us, but he also lived like one of us. In vibhava
form, he renounced his supreme vaikuntam to be with us and was born and lived like us
as srI rAma and krishNa. Many of us have special liking for either srI rAma or krishNa,
so he decided to continue to be with us as krishNa in periya perumAL’s form and as srI
rAma in namperumAL’s form. periya perumAL is always seen lying in a deep thought,
thinking about his devotees and namperumAL is always in the middle of us, enjoying
the love shown by his devotees.

All three of them reach their home.

vyAsa and parAsara: OK, pAtti. We are going to the playground now.

ANdAL pAtti: Play carefully children and do remember to talk about srIman
nArAyaNa as much as possible with your friends as well.

Authors: jayakrishNan rAmAnuja dAsan, sadagOpa rAmAnuja dAsan – edited by

sArathy rAmanuja dAsan

Source: http://pillai.koyil.org/index.php/2014/07/who-is-sriman-narayana/

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srIman nArAyaNa’s divine archA form and qualities

vyAsa and parAsara come back to ANdAL pAtti’s house after playing with their friends.
They find ANdAL pAtti arranging fruits, flowers and nuts in a plate:

vyAsa: pAtti, whom are you arranging these fruits and flowers for?

ANdAL pAtti: vyAsa, It is time for srIranganAthan’s procession and he visits us on the
way. When someone visits us as our guests, especially elders, it is our duty to take care
of them, while they are with us. That too when a grand eternal king visits us, we need to
ensure that he is taken care of thoroughly.

parAsara: Oh sure, pAtti. Then, I will give the fruits to srIranganAthan, when he arrives.

ANdAL pAtti: That’s so nice of you, parAsara. Come, let’s wait at the entrance for his
arrival.

namperumAL (srIranganAthan) arrives in front of ANdAL pAtti’s home. parAsara is

found gleaming at the propect of providing the fruits and flowers to srIranganAthan

parAsara : pAtti, What does he hold on his left hand?

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chakram (disc) in right hand, sanku (conch) in left hand – above his shoulders,
abhaya hastham (posture giving protection) in right hand, mace in left hand – below his
shoulders

ANdAL pAtti: He holds a mace in his left hand, parAsara. In the archAvathAram
ofsrIranganAthan, he has four hands. On the other left hand over his shoulder, he holds
a conch and on the hand seen above his right shoulder, he holds a sudharsana
chakram. He shows his weapons to inform us, that he is always around to take care of
us and to destroy our difficulties.

vyAsa: What does the right hand signify, pAtti?

abhaya hastham – posture of hand giving us protection

ANdAL pAtti: That’s a nice question. His right hand is directed affectionately towards us
to say that “I am here to take care of you, so don’t fear” and also to let us know his
affection for all of us. Just like how a cow runs to a calf, when the calf needs her, no
matter how the calf might have behaved before.

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tall crown (supremacy) and smiling face (simplicity)

vyAsa: Ok, pAtti. Then, what does he have over his head?

ANdAL pAtti: It’s a crown, vyAsa. It shows that he is the owner of everything in this
world.

parAsara: The crown looks very good, pAtti. It fits very well with his adorable face

ANdAL pAtti: Yes, he has the most adorable face. He is always happy being with us,
that too when he is between children like you, he is even happier.

parAsara: Yes, pAtti. I saw him from a very close distance. I could also see him smiling
and his feet even closer.

ANdAL pAtti: Oh, that’s nice parAsara. We usually say “lotus feet” due to its tender and
beautiful nature. His smiling face indicates that he is easily he has descended joyfully to
be with us. His lotus feet are so firmly placed over the pItam (lotus flower base), which
means that he has come down for us and he will not leave us. So, today, we have seen
some of his main auspicious qualities in his archAvatharam form namely vAthsalyam
(motherly forbearance – him showing his hand in protecting us), svAmithvam
(supremacy – long crown), sauseelyam (mixing freely with us – ever-present smile in his
beautiful face) and saulabhyam (easy approachability – his lotus feet which is easy to
hold on to).

vyAsa and parAsara stand in awe and their eyes follow the procession as it goes past
them.

Author: jayakrishNan rAmAnuja dAsan – edited by sArathy rAmanuja dAsan

Source: http://pillai.koyil.org/index.php/2014/08/sriman-narayanas-divine-archa-form-
and-qualities/

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srI mahAlakshmI’s motherly nature

The next day pAtti takes parAsara and vyAsa to srIrangam temple via North Uththara
vIdhi (street). As soon as they enter the temple. vyAsa and parAsara finds a sannidhi on
their right side.

vyAsa: pAtti, whose sannidhi is this?

ANdAL pAtti: vyAsa, this is srI ranganAyaki thAyAr Sannidhi.

parAsara: pAtti, but we only saw srI ranganAtha yesterday in the procession.

ANdAL pAtti: Yes, parAsara. That is right. It is because, srI ranganAyaki

thAyAr does not come out of her Sannidhi. Even srI ranganAtha has to visit her, if
he wants to see her.

parAsara: Oh! ok pAtti. That means, we need to visit her all the time. Now, we have one
more reason to visit the temple, whenever we are in srIrangam.

After the dharsan of thAyAr, they come out of the Sannidhi.

ANdAL pAtti: Let me ask a question to both of you. When you both return home late in
the evening after playing games, how do your father react?

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vyAsa: pAtti, He gets angry during those times.

ANdAL pAtti: Do your father punish you then?

parAsara: We rarely get punished pAtti. Whenever he is angry, our mother stops him
from punishing us.

ANdAL pAtti: Just like that, we may do things which perumAL might not want us to do
and he may feel like punishing us for it, during those times, thAyAr talks
to perumAL and protects us from the punishment.

parAsara: Then you are right, pAtti. She is like our mother.

ANdAL pAtti: Atleast, namperumAL carries weapons though it is for our protection,
but thAyArcarries lotus flowers only since she is very soft-natured. To
reach perumAL you need to cross ranga-ranga gOpuram, then nAzhikettAn vAsal
(entrance), then garudar Sannidhi, dhwajasthambam and then srI ranganAtha’s
sannidhi. But As soon as you enter from North uthra vIdhi (street), you
reach thAyAr Sannidhi. Thats how close she is to us.

vyAsa: yes pAtti.

ANdAL pAtti: Even as Mother sIthA, she saved kAkAsura from srI rAma. kAkAsura, son
of indhra, took the form of a crow and troubled her. srI rAma was going to punish him.
But she mercifully saved kAkAsura from srI rAma. Similarly, she saves all the rAkshasis
in the asOka vanam after srI rAma killed rAvaNa. hanumAn wanted to kill them all for
the troubles they gave her. But she kindly saves them and explains to hanumAn that
they were helpless at that time and had to execute rAvaNa’s orders. Thus, out of
motherly affection, she tries to protect every one constantly.

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sIthA pirAtti saving kAkAsura

sIthA pirAtti surrounded by rAkshasis

parAsara and vyAsa: Hope she can also save us all the time pAtti.

ANdAL pAtti: She certainly will. She will always recommend to perumAL to protect us
as that is her primary duty.

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parAsara: Is that all she does pAtti? I mean “talking to perumAL in favour of us”?

ANdAL pAtti: Well. She does that until perumAL accepts us. But
once perumAL accepts us, she also sits with perumAL and enjoy our devotion and
service towards them.

vyAsa: How is that pAtti?

ANdAL pAtti: Its very easy to understand. When you serve your parents, do you just
serve your father?

parAsara: No, pAtti. Both mother and father are equally dear to us. We would like to
serve them both.

ANdAL pAtti: Yes – you got it. Similarly, thAyAr helps us to reach perumAL by
recommending to him. But once we reach perumAL, she also accepts our loving
devotion along with perumAL.

thAyAr and namperumAL – together on panguni uthram day

parAsara and vyAsa: Wow! This is very easy to understand pAtti. We hope to hear more
next time. We want to go out and play now for some time.

parAsara and vyAsa then runs out to play!.

Author: jayakrishNan rAmAnuja dAsan – edited by sArathy rAmanuja dAsan

Source: http://pillai.koyil.org/index.php/2014/08/sri-mahalakshmis-motherly-nature/

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srIman nArAyaNa’s divine mercy

vyAsa and parAsara hears ANdAL pAtti reciting amalanAdhipirAn on a lovely Sunday
morning

parAsara: pAtti, What are you reciting? We hear you recite this every day in the
morning.

ANdAL pAtti : parAsara, This is called amalanAdhipirAn. It was composed

by thiruppANAzhwArwho is one among the 12 AzhwArs.

srI ranganAthan – thiruppANAzhwAr

vyAsa: Who are AzhwArs? What is amalanAdhipirAn? We would like to know more
about them pAtti, can you tell us?

ANdAL pAtti: I can certainly tell you more about AzhwArs and their works, but before
that, you need to know something more about srI ranganAthan.

vyAsa: What is it, pAtti?

ANdAL pAtti: You both need to know about his mercy

parAsara: Please tell us pAtti.

ANdAL pAtti: As of now, what I am going to tell you might be little difficult to
comprehend. Hence, Just listen carefully, OK?

parAsara and vyAsa: OK, pAtti.

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ANdAL pAtti: We already saw in previous discussions how srIman nArAyaNa descended
from parampadham as srI rAma, krishNa, etc., and many archAvathAra emperumAns
starting with srI ranganAthan. He is also present inside each one of us as antharyAmi.

parAsara and vyAsa are now focusing on each and every word of ANdAL pAtti with
utmost attention.

ANdAL pAtti: Can you recollect from previous discussions why he appears in so many
of these forms?

parAsara and vyAsa: Oh yes pAtti! We know that he likes us all so much. So he comes
down to be with us.

ANdAL pAtti: Excellent! You have understood the principles very well. Not only he
comes down to be with us, but he also wants to bring us with him to paramapadham
eventually.

parAsara: Why pAtti? What is so special about that place? Is it better than srIrangam?

paramapadhanAthan in paramapadham (srIvaikuNtam)

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ANdAL pAtti: ha! ha! ofcourse, srIrangam is very nice. But paramapadham is his eternal
abode where there is pure bliss and plenty of opportunities for us to serve him
continuously. See, here, we go to temple, participate in uthsavams, etc., but at some
point we have to come home and do other things. But in paramapadham there is no
such break – its continuous joy.

vyAsa: wow! that is the way I like it – constant bliss.

ANdAL pAtti: Also, here, our body’s capacity is limited – we get tired, sometimes catch
cold, fever, etc. But in paramapadham, we get a divine body which has none of these
troubles. We can eternally engage in kainkaryam and still not feel tired or sick ever.

parAsara: wow! that is even better. So, what does he do to bring us to parampadham.

ANdAL pAtti: Excellent question. He does so many things out of his limitless mercy.
Mercy means helping others out of kindness. He himself descends as srI rAma,
krishNa, ranganAtha, srInivAsa, etc. But he still is unable to bring more of us with him,
since many people dont understand him clearly and accept him as supreme.

vyAsa: Why dont people understand him when he is in-front of them?

ANdAL pAtti: It is because he is so big, so some people are envious and others are
scared to approach him seeing his supremacy.

parAsara: Oh OK. I am assuming this is some how leading up to AzhwArs.

ANdAL pAtti: Brilliant. Yes. perumAL thought of an idea. Do you know how hunters catch
deers? They first catch a deer with great effort. They then train that deer to attract other
deers. When other deers become attracted by the original deer, the hunter quickly
catches them all.

vyAsa: Yes pAtti. I have heard about the same trick being applied to catch elephants as
well.

ANdAL pAtti: Yes. Similarly, perumAL out of his causeless mercy to help every one,
selects a few persons and give them full devotion towards him and blesses them full
knowledge about himself and everything else. Such persons who are immersed in
devotion towards perumALare called AzhwArs.

parAsara: Oh. So, through AzhwArs, many become his devotees and reach him. Wow!
Its a great plan by perumAL.

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ANdAL pAtti: Yes, this is his great mercy. Remember, one cannot become an AzhwAr
by ones own effort. Only by bhagavAn‘s mercy, one can become an AzhwAr. Because
one can develop some devotion towards bhagavAn with his/her own effort – but to have
full to devotion towardsbhagavAn only, one needs to have the full mercy of bhagavAn.
Similarly, one can develop some knowledge through ones own effort – but to have full
knowledge about everything, onlybhagavAn who has such knowledge can bless others
to have that.

parAsara: Yes, pAtti. We understand now. You are so good to us in explaining these
principles. And see, since you said its a little bit more difficult subject, we did not even
blink our eyes.

ANdAL pAtti: Yes. Before I let you go and play today, I will just explain you about
amalanAdhipirAn, since you first asked about it. It is the work of thiruppANAzhwAr who
fully enjoyed the divine beautiful form of periya perumAL. In the 5th pAsuram, he says
to srI ranganAthan, you have been doing severe penance for several years, just to relieve
me of my sins and help me understand you and reach you. That is where our whole
conversation about the srIman nArAyaNa‘s mercy started. Now, you have a good
understanding of the whole thing. Next time, I will explain you more about the AzhwArs.
Now you both can play for some time.

parAsara and vyAsa: Thank you pAtti. We will sure return to hear about AzhwArs soon.

Authors: jayakrishNan rAmAnuja dAsan, sArathy rAmanuja dAsan

Source: http://pillai.koyil.org/index.php/2014/09/sriman-narayanas-divine-mercy/

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