On a day some fifteen years ago, we received the paripUrNa kaTAkSa of Kanchi ParamAChAryAL — Paramaatma.
My wife, daughter and I went to Kanchipuram and had darshan of ParamAChAryAL, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi SwamigaL and Sri BAla PeriyavAL; we also had darshan of the night puja. And then we had the early morning viSvarUpa darshanam of ParamAChAryAL and witnessed the go pUja.
We had purchased at Kamakshi temple two copies of the first-time-published Guru pictures that had all the three AcharyaaLs together. We went to Sankara MaTham to give the pictures to ParamAChAryAL and get his anugraha. We had PeriyavAL’s darshan and gave him the pictures praying for his blessings on them. Receiving them, MahA SvAmigaL inquired, “Where were these bought?” It seemed that he was having a glance at that publication for the first time.
He called an assistant, ordered him to get the pictures framed, and on receiving them framed, hang the pictures in two places in the MaTham.
We had boundless ecstasy that the pictures we gave were going to adorn the MaTham. That is the grace of ParamAChAryAL! How many devotees are waiting for an opportunity to hang gold-framed pictures on the walls of the MaTham! This being the case, it was our parama bhAgya that he gave us the opportunity. We were reminded of Sri Krishna Paramaatma voluntarily asking and taking aval (flattened rice) from Sudaaman.
We went back to MaTham around one o’ clock with the two framed pictures and another copy of the picture (we bought for us).
ParamAChAryAL came and sat around 3:30 hours. We gave the three pictures to the assistant for handing them over to PeriyavAL. He ordered the framed pictures to be hung on the MaTham walls. He was keeping the third picture with him. We came to know the reason for this act only later. We understood that it was PeriyavAL’s saMkalpa to grace us with a holy scene resembling the one in which Adi Shankara and his disciples sat and did vedanta vicAra.
We had that eye-overwhelming sight very soon!
ParamAChAryAL came and sat like Adi Shankara. BAla PeriyavAL sat before him, two vedic pundits sitting beside him. The vedanta vichAra started. And we witnessed the scene of Adi Shankara teaching his disciples! BAla PeriyavAL uttered some verses on brahmAtmAnanda anubhava from the Taittiriya Upanishad and MahA SvAmigaL did the vyAkhyAnam for them.
Don’t we say “gurostu maunam vyAkhyAnam” about Sri Dhaksinamurthy? Here it seemed to us as “gurostu lalita vyAkhyAnam”. One particular sentence recited during that vedanta lesson comes to mind even now: “tat brahmana: parimara ityupAsita.* BAla PeriyavAL’s vyAkhyAnam for this verse was “parimariya te iti parimaraH – vAyurityartaH”. He said that the term parimaram meant vAyu.
The two pundits who sat beside BAla PeriyavAL participated in the spiritual debate. The three of us exprienced this brahmAnanda for an hour. Then ParamAChAryAL gave BAla PeriyavAL and the others curd-filled, seeded coconut halves as prasAdam.
We had limitless joy when we understood that it was only to give us this brahmAnanda darshan that he kept us in the MaTham under the guise of ordering the pictures to be framed.
Then he returned to us the third picture (that had the three Acharyas, ParamAChAryAL in the middle with joined palms) with the mantrAkSata and his blessings.
My complete faith about this incident is:
1. ParamAChAryAL took chittam to give us karuNa kaTAkSa. That was why (though there were many devotees waiting to give him gold-framed pictures) he took the two pictures from us by voltuntarily asking for them.
2. He gave us the immense fortune of ordering that the two pictures we gave be hung on the walls of the holy Sri Sankara MaTham.
3. He also made us experience the brahmAnanda of the vedatana vicara scene that could be had nowhere else.
Note:
*The verse is:
tat brahmana: parimara ityupAsita|
paryenam mriyante dvishantas spatna: |
pari ye (a) priyA prAtruvyA:||
We should (also) worship Him as the destroying force. The person doing so would conquer and destroy all His enemies, haters, and bad persons.
— The taitrIya brigu valli verse 10.4
(http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/srirangasri/archives/sep04/msg00175.html)
Glossary:
kaTAkSa – a glance or side look, a leer, caught by glance, an arrow-like look of love, a sidelong glance
vyAkhyAnam – explanation, gloss, commentary
*****
Paramacharya’s paripUrNa kaTAkSha
author:….. Dr. S. Ramakrishnan, Chennai-92
compiler:… T.S. Kothandarama Sarma
book:……. MahA PeriyavAL – Darisana AnubhavangaL vol. 2, pages 89-92
publisher:.. Vanathi Padhippaham (May 2005 Edition)
translated by: Shri Saidevo
source: periva.proboards.com
Can one fathom the blessings showered upon the family of Dr Ramakrishnan by our Compassionate Mother! Shankara. Have a blessed life you all.
Categories: Devotee Experiences
Paramacharya’s paripUrNa kaTAkSha
VMS GOPALAN
Rama Rama
Am typing under What do you think? space.
I think, Periyava.
How to implement the periyava’s guiding principles our own life for betterment.
I wish every devotee can refer page 280-281 of volume 2 under the heading ‘Vedam’.
This talks on wearing the yajnopaveetham.
As devotees under one umbrella, shedding ego and practicing anger management, Let us spend quality time in discussing as well as practicing the periyava’s upadesa optimistically.
Rama Rama
Dear Sri Mahesh: I thought about it. You are right. For all the wisdom we must have been Blessed with, it should stop. My only request is that the two mistakes contained in the Veda mantrams has to be corrected. You can cross check the suggestions made by me with any Vedic scholar, and recheck it with a publication in Sanskrit. I not only know it from memory through the teachings of my Gurunathar (Late) Sri Kalyanarama Sastrigal of Manakkal but also from the book Upanishad Saaram: Taitiriyopanishad published by Sri Ramakrishna Matam authored by Sri Anna. (6th edn. p.87)
I also learnt Taitriyopanishad from a very qualified guru. I also have the book from Shri Sridharan also – let me check these verses and will fix this soon.
Much enlightened. People like me do chant Gayathri daily and we should try and implement what Maha Periyava told us to do. I hope we will all be uplifted by His Grace as our efforts seem to be so poor! Jaya Jaya Shankara, Hara Hara Shankara!
Dear all,
Out of 3 folks in this thread, I know two of them in some way or other. I have great respect for each of you. I have met Shri Hubli mama, interacted with Shri Raju Aiyer mama etc. There is no doubt in my mind that you all are model bakthas of Mahaperiyava for me…..Shri Raju Aiyer mama is solid example to prove nithya sahasra gayathri is possible. As Bagavatham says, each type of bakthi is unique to Lord Krishna – gokulasthree’s bakthi is different from sudhama and is different from arjuna etc. So there is no need to debate about each approaches and challenging each other….We all are devotees of Mahaperiyava and having this satsanga itself is a great proof that we achieve one common think – to reach the lotus feet of Periyava. Each has their own rote – let us go in our ways…..There is no winning/losing in these debates when it comes to bakthi.
Will request all to stop this thread.
Thanks for your cooperation.
Mahesh
sorry if i sound curt but is it not enough to give the name and not those wonderful titles which we are supposed to do regularly! of course if he is a somayaji or nityagnihotri it is different as it has become rare, as rare as this title holder.
I have printed SAPATNA: in all caps only in order to gain your attention. Actually it is sapatna: I am giving this extra clarification because I am really scared of committing any mistake in VMs unintentionally too!
30 May 2013
Namaskaram!
I learnt Sri Rudram-Chamakam-Mahaanyaasam-Sri Suktam-Sri Durga Suktam-Sri Purusha Suktam, Upanishad and a few other Suktams from (Late) Sri Kalyanarama Saastrigal of Manakkal at his residence at Munirka, New Delhi for about three-and-a-half years. My Gurunatha Sri Saastrigal did not take a single penny from us for this noble exercise on his part. Due to various problems I could not chant these mantrams regularly and hence I could not get them by heart, but I can chant with the help of a book. I am 57 now.
However, whenever I read these scriptures taught by my Gurunaathar Sri Saastrigal, I can easily locate mistakes by His Grace. The following lines from Sri Bhrugu Valli, 10.4, has TWO MISTAKES.
We must remember that the Veda mantrams have reached us unchanged by word-of-mouth alone. Therefore when we put them in the print form we have to be very very careful because unconsciously we will be transmitting to posterity WRONG Veda Mantrams, and that is a larger sin than not chanting it at all. I have given the correction in square brackets.
“tat brahmana: parimara ityupAsita|
paryenam mriyante dvishantas spatna: | [Here the word is SAPATNA: and not as has been printed]
pari ye (a) priyA prAtruvyA:|” [Here the word is “brAtruvyA” and not “prA…”
I request the author of this write-up to take it in the right spirit, and kindly carry out the corrections.
With best regards,
Sri Aiyer Raju Sreenivasan (alias)
Sri Swaminatha Sarma
Trikaala Sandhyavandani &
Nithya Sahasra Gayatri Upasaki
Spine-chilling while reading the experience of The Blessed Couple & their daughter with Maha Periyaval.
HARA HARA SANKARA
JAYA JAYA SANKARA.
Rama Rama
Upasaki is feminine gender.
Possibly it can be denoted as upasaka: (ending with visarga).
Basically, by doing nithya karmas like Sandhya upasana followed by agni upasana (2 times a day), Madhya ahnika followed by Brahma yajna ( 1 time a day) we are only repaying the debt towards deva rshi & divya pitrus (and of course definitely not karunika pitrus).
Repayment of debt does not call for displaying the titles as Trikaala Sandhyavandani &
Nithya Sahasra Gayatri Upasaki. Humble opinion but not to humiliate.
Rama Rama
SUNHILSON & N RAMASWAMI (HUBLI RAMASWAMI) Your observations are well taken. The idea is never to boast of what one is doing as part of his duty. The only intention behind such advertisement is to help influence others who may not even be doing eka-kaala SV or 12 Gs everyday. That being the case when someone is doing sahasra G everyday, that is something to be admired and imbibed especially when Sri Mahaaperiyavaa has asked all of us to do sahasra G everyday!
However, as is usual, we have missed the wood for the trees. What I have written is about correct printing of Veda Mantras and the precautions we have to take in being very accurate especially when we have been given something in perfect condition by word-of-mouth alone down these thousands of years.
Upasaki denotes one who does something by way of upasana regularly. The confusion of Upasaki being feminine arises only when we look at saka and saki. I am very clear in the usage of this word “Upasaki” as denoting someone who has taken up upasana of something on a regular basis.
Performing sahasra Gayatri everyday is in no way lesser in stature or rank to a Somayaji. Failing to do trikaala SV daily but being a one-time Somayaji (or a once upon a time Somayaji) is no big deal. If someone can combine nithya-agnihotram to his SV and sahasra G, that would be great. But one does not get all the Blessings combined together in one life time. May be that is reserved for my subsequent births! Well.
I don’t think SUNHILSON & HUBLI RAMASWAMI you have anything to boast at all by way of being a trikaala Sandhyavandani or a nithya sahasra G upasaki. Or you may not be even a once upon a time Somayaji or a Nithya Agnihotri. Try doing SV thrice a day and sahasra G everyday, then you can decide whether to advertise it or not. As for me, I have been there, I have seen that. I know what it means.
Performing one maala of G (108 beads) takes between 15 to 18 minutes depending upon the concentration one is able to devote on the given day or sandhy. Performing 1008 G takes about 3 hours. Having the patience and dedication to sit for 3 hours everyday is something extraordinary and no ordinary folk can do this — unless he has upon him the special Grace of Vedamata Gayatri. I am definitely Blessed that way.
In case I have in any manner hurt the sentiments of anyone who finds it impossible to perform his trikaala sandhyavandanam accompanied by just 12 Gayatris, I crave his indulgence to put up with an effete like yours truly. After all in a message board we come across not just intellectual elite of “High Society” but also very ordinary folks who may not be all that enlightened. My profound apologies to them.
To bring the subject back on its rails, when we print Veda Mantrams we have to be very very careful. We cannot afford to commit even a single mistake. I am sure there is no difference of opinion here. And the corrections I have pointed out above — sapatna: in place of spatna: AND brAtruvyA in place of prAtruvyA — I would like to be corrected if I am wrong.
Last, but not the least, even if you are not capable of performing sahasra Gayatri everyday or at least on Sundays, start doing at least eka-kaala SV and 12 Gs as that MIGHT (that’s a big distant M I G H T) inspire you to perform dwi-kaala and tri-kaala SVs as time goes by and perhaps even attain the mark of performing 1008 everyday! 1008 e v e r y d a y — 365 days of the year (366 if it is a leap year). If you can set a target of 1 crore G in your life as I have that should be admirable. With Sri Mahaaperiyavaa’s Blessings and Sri Vedamaataa’s Grace I shall of course reach my goal.
With best regards,
With no intention whatsoever of injuring or hurting any Brahmana bandhu’s feelings,
– Sri Aiyer Raju Sreenivasan (alias)
Sri Swaminatha Sarma
Trikaala Sandhyavandani &
Nithya Sahasra Gayatri Upasaki
Wonderful indeed, thanks….
அருமையான நிகழ்வு. ஏற்கெனவே படிச்சேன்.