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Tuesday, September 1, 2020

ஸ்ரீமந் யதீந்த்ர! தவ திவ்யபதாப்ஜஸேவாம் : Emperumanar Vellai Sarruppadi

                                        புண்ணியர் தம் வாக்கிற்பிரியா ராமானுசா! 


"தஸ்மை ராமானுஜார்யாய நம: பரமயோகினே" ~ we fall at the feet of the Greatest of Acharyas who is hailed as the King of all Sages.   On day 6 of the annual Uthsavam of Emperumanar (Udayavar / Ramanujar] – it would be kuthirai vahanam. On this uthsavam, every year I would post photos of Swami Ramanujar astride a horse wearing ‘white silken robes’ with melancholy – for it was an event in the life of Emperumanar which made us sad.   




Forced by the lockdown and in our series of posting articles related to yesteryear purappadu, here is one on  Emperumanar kuthirai vahanam of 25.4.2009. 

Equus ferus caballus  - may not exactly ring a bell, but the word Horses would. Horses and humans have an ancient relationship. Asian nomads domesticated horses thousands of years ago ! – horses are mentioned in our Ithihasas, Emperors had them and cavalry has been glorified in many wars.  Horses were the animals closest to man in transportation and in conquering territories    until the advent of the engine.   

While most horses are domestic, others remain wild. Feral horses are the descendants of once-tame animals that have run free for generations. Groups of such horses can be found in many places around the world. Free-roaming North American mustangs, for example, are the descendents of horses brought by Europeans more than 400 years ago.  Wild horses generally gather in groups of 3 to 20 animals. A stallion (mature male) leads the group, which consists of mares (females) and young foals. When young males become colts, at around two years of age, the stallion drives them away. The colts then roam with other young males until they can gather their own band of females.  The Przewalski's horse is the only truly wild horse whose ancestors were never domesticated. Ironically, this stocky, sturdy animal exists today only in captivity. The last wild Przewalski's horse was seen in Mongolia in 1968.

Away, horse racing has always been a famous sport.  The International Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 56 yards (2,063 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in August. It is the simplest tactic in the game: jump fast, run faster, stay strong to the line. And when it is deployed by a long-striding powerhouse like Ghaiyyath, it is also the most difficult to defeat. From start to finish, Charlie Appleby’s five-year-old maintained a relentless gallop in the Juddmonte International Stakes here on Wednesday, leaving high-class opponents paddling helplessly in his wake and underlining what was already a strong claim to be the best racehorse anywhere this season. Magical, Kameko and Lord North, all Group One winners already this year, were fresh opponents for Ghaiyyath this season but made no more of an impression on the front-running favourite than any of the others. Simply getting to within two lengths of Ghaiyyath in the straight was enough to drain the finish from all three.  

Our darsana Sthapakar, Sri Ramanujar is rightly reverred as ‘Yathi Rajar’ ~ the king among yathis [hermits and sages],  it is our Acharyan who showed us the right direction to follow. The greatest reformer he was, Ramanuja gave us many vedantic treatises.  Sri Udayavar, toured the entire Country, making the Srivaishnavatie tradition flourish in all his path.  He was a great administrator too.  He created flawless systems – but this yatra was perhaps a bit hard to digest for it was against the will of His followers, though in the end – it was good for our sampradhyam as he visited many places and most importantly Meluktoe Thirunarayanapuram.   

Had posted at length on the significance of day 6 – Kuthirai vahanam – vellai sarruppadi vaibhavam – of Swami Ramanujar astride a horse wearing white robes - a symbolic tradition when our Great Acharyar dons white garment and is seen without trithandam. Symbolic of the travail and travel that Ramanujar had to undertake donning the dress of a ‘grahastha’ instead of his reverred kashaya.  For a detailed post on ‘vellai sarruppadi’ – do read this : Udayavar Vellai Sarruppadi  




Swami Emperumanar travelled along the course of river Kaveri, went out of Cholanadu adorning white dress and went places traversing Kongu nadu,  reached Thondanur, where he constructed a huge lake; thence reached Melukote (Thirunarayanapuram) in Mandya district, where he performed many religious discourses and brought in disciplined ways of temple management.    More was to happen as Udayavar travelled to Delhi to the Court of Delhi sultan where the uthsava vigraham of "Ramapriyan" had been taken by the muslim ruler. The vigraham when invited by Udayavar walked on its own and sat on the lap of Udayavar.

It is our fortune that we are in the lineage of such great Acaryas and have the fortune of worshipping them and reciting the holy works of Azhwar, Acharyas.  

At Thiruvallikkeni on day 6 – Sri Udayavar halts (mandagappadi) at Sri Yadugiri Yathiraja Mutt that is connected to Melukote Thirunarayanapuram.  Here – saffron robes (kashaya Uthareevam) and garlands are offered to Swami Ramanuja. As Melukote is known for the thiruman that we adorn (Swami Ramanujar found them in abundance in the hills of Thirunarayanapuram) are distributed to Srivaishnavas.  

Swami Emperumanar lived for 12 years at Melukote, administered the temple and did many kainkaryam changing the fortunes of people living in that area. Let us fall at the feet of our Acaryarn.   Here are some photos of Udayavar uthsavam day 6 of 2009.  

ஸ்ரீமந்  யதீந்த்ர! தவ திவ்யபதாப்ஜஸேவாம்  :  என்றுமழியாத செல்வமுடைய யதிராஜரே அடியேனுக்கு தேவரீருடைய திருவடித்தாமரைகளில் பண்ணும் கைங்கர்யத்தை, அருளவேணும் !!     

ஆழ்வார் எம்பெருமானார் திருவடிகளே சரணம் -

நம் இராமானுஜன் திருவடிகளே சரணம்.

 

அடியேன் ஸ்ரீனிவாசதாசன்

Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar

21.08.2020.








 

 

1 comment:

  1. Nice. ஆழ்வார் எம்பெருமானார் திருவடிகளே சரணம் -

    நம் இராமானுஜன் திருவடிகளே சரணம்.

    ReplyDelete