||    H.H. The Poundarikapuram Andavan's UpanyAsam    ||

Yesterday , the revered AchAryA of Poundarikapuram Asramam blessed us with his Svasthi Vachanams and anugraha bhAshaNam. He plans to conclude this series of two upanyAsams on January 9 at 10.30 AM via the telephone bridge. The distinguished disciples of IdhAnim Poundarikapuram Andavan have asked me to summarize the upanyAsam of this revered AchArya , whose AchAram , anushtAnam , VairAgyam and Scholarship are respected by his fellow yathisvarAs. Hailing from Poundarikapuram/Oppiliappan Koil background , I consider it as a MahA BhAgyam to perform this Kaimkaryam. Our hearty thanks are to the revered Andavan's sishyAs , Sri U.Ve .V.N. Venakatanathan of Oppiliappan Sannadhi, Sri Murali Rangaswami , Sri Anbil Ramaswamy and the office bearers of Ahobila Mutt , who helped with the set up of the International telephone bridge .

The upanyAsam can be split into Four constituent parts:

1. Svasthi Vachanam , Sautations to pUrvAchAryAs and Srirangam Divya Dampathis and recognition of the Kaimkaryams of USA based BhakthAs to advance the cause of our ancient sampradhAyam and a plea to work together.

2. UpakAra Sangraham / BhagavAn's limitless help to us:
Elaboration of the First verse of UpakAra Sangraham of Swami Sri Desikan.

3. The Supermacy of ArchAvathAram over Para , VyUha , Vibhava and AntharyAmi forms of the Pancha Roopi , Sriman NaarAyaNA : Three facets of our conviction that Archai is the most important for us , as residents of His LeelA vibhuthi , while we strive to attain Moksha Siddhi through SadAchArya Sambhandham and BhagavAn's acceptance of our Prapatthi performed by our sadhAchAryAs on our behalf .

4. The significance of ThAyAr's ( SitA PirAtti"s ) auspicious katAksham on four occasions in Srimadh RaamAyaNam in the context of the use of the ThAyAr's kalyaaNa nAmam as " VisAlAkshi" by Her prANa nAthan, Sri Raamachandra MahA Prabhu.

With pramAnams from AzhwAr's divya prabhandham , purvAchAryA's Sri Sookthis, IthihAsams, Quotations from KrishNa KarNAmrutham , the revered AchAryA drove home the twin messages of his upanyAsam:

(1) Sriman NaarAyaNA's limitless upakArams to us (2) the uniqueness of NamperumAL and the worship of Him in ArchAvathAram at Srirangam over and above the worship of Him by all of us through any one of His other four forms ( Param ,Vyuham , Vibhavam and AntharyAmi ).

1.Svasthi Vachanam and recoginition of Kaimkaryams
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1.1: Introductiory Remarks by U.Ve.V.N.VenkatanAthan
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The great AchAryA was introduced by Sri Venakatanathan first with great affection and reverence. He stressed on the importance of AchArya avalampanam and AchAryA's mahOpakAram through his prayAsai and the need for anushtAnam after initiation through samAsrayaNam and the performance of Prapatthi. He mentioned that there is no substitute to show our gratefulness to the AchArya except to fall at his sacred feet again and again ( puna: puna : PraNamya ). He reminded us of our duties as SishyAs to our AchAryAs with thoughts reminiscent of Sishya krithyAdhikAram ( Swami Sri Desikan's AdhikAra sangraham: Paasuram 38):

yERRi manathezhin jn~Ana viLakkai yirulanaitthu
mARRina varkkoru KAIMMAARU MAYANUM KAANAHILLAAN
pORRI yuhappathum punthiiR koLvathum ponghu puhazh
sARRi valarpathum saRRalavO munnnam peRRathaaRkkE

Sri Venkatanaathan concluded with an extension of his New year greetings to us all.

1.2. Svasthi Vachanams by the Revered AchAryA
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He commenced the upanyAsam with AchArya paramparai anusandhAnam bequeathed to us by Swami Sri Desikan in AdhikAra Sangraham (Third Paasuram):

yennyuirtan taLittavarais Saranam pukki
yAnadaivE yavarkurukka Nivarai vaNangi
pinnaruLARp PerumpUthUr vantha vaLLal
Periyanampi yALavanthAr maNakka nampi
nanneRiyai yavarkkuraittha vyuuak koNdAr
Naathamuni SatakOpan Senai naatha
ninnamudhat ThirumahaLen Rivarai munnitt-
temperumAn RiruvadikaLadaihinREnE

{Meaning): I take refuge at the sacred feet of the ParamAcharyan, Sriman NaarAyaNan through my Acharyan and their AchAryans in the order of Sri BhaashyakAra , Periya Nambi , AaLavanthAr ,MaNakkAl Nambi , UyyakkoNdAr , Naathamuni , NammAzhwAr , VishvaksEnar , and Periya PirAtti .

Next, Sri Andavan recited the AdhikAra Sangraham's 42nd paasuram of Swami Sri Desikan extolling the greatness of Sri RanagarAjan's periya Koil at Srirangam in anticipation of his focus on NamperumAL as the most important ArchA mUrthy, a theme that he was going to develop later:

aarAtha aruL amudham pothintha Koil
ambuyatthOn Ayoddhi mannaRkku aLittha Koil
tOlAtha tani Veeran thozhutha Koil
sErAtha payan yellam sErkkum Koil
sezhu maRayin mudahl yezhutthu sErntha Koil
theerAtha vinai anaitthum theerkkum Koil
Thiruvarangam yenat thihazhum Koil taanE

(meaning) : Thiruvarangam is the divya dEsam , which is an insatiable nectar for our enjoyment , since it is the residence of Sri RanganAtha,
the embodiment of Compassion for us. This Koil was deeded to Emperor IshvAku of Surya Kulam by BrahmA ; it has the glory of being worshipped
by Sri Ramachandra , a scion of that Surya Kulam ; it is the succor to VibhishaNan , who seved as companion and help to Sri Ramachandran ; it is the Koil , which confers us all the blessings that are not attainable from other Koils ; it is the Koil with its VimAnam in the form of PraNavam; it is the Koil that destroys all of our sins ; this indeed is the Koil that is head and shoulder over all the other Koils .

1.3: Recognition of Thondars and Kaimkaryams
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At the outset , Sri Andavan said that today , the resident Sri VaishNava community of USA is distinguished by its zeal (1) to perform nithya karmAs sanctioned by SaasthrAs (2) organizing conferences on Sri VaishNavism to propagate and disseminate our AchArya 's Sri Sookthis (3)the creation of new organizations such as Swami Desika Darsana Sathsangham and (4) the creation of a new electronic journal like SaraNAgathi to cover the most important doctrine of our sampradhAyam. (5) suppot for many kaimkaryams initiated by SadAchAryAs in India . He noted especially the unique services of his distinguished sishyar, Sri Anbil Ramaswamy, since his relocation to USA after his retirement from his high office in India. His exact words are "nErE ThondarAhi vittAr".

He instructed us to work together in a spirit of unity and to channel our undivided energies to spread the glorious message of our revered sampradhAyam. He appealed to us to fight divisive proclivities and unite together in our efforts to perform kaimkaryams to our revered traditions. He identified an important Kaimkaryam , (viz)., saving many rare granthams of our AchAryAs from extinction (luptham ) by getting them into print before it is too late. He pointed out that it is our prime duty to perform this Kaimkaryam. {thanks to Sri Andavan's earlier initative supported by BhakthAs from here (viz)., the third volume of ChillaRai Rahasyams was reprinted and made available to us for our deep
studies }.

Sri Andavan expressed his sense of joy over the news that a temple for Sri RanganaathA is rising in America with the untiring efforts of Sri Venakt KanumAlA and BhakthAs. Sri Andavan recommended that all Sri VaishNavAs of North America should visit this " BhulOka Vaikuntam in America " and prayed for the growth of Sriranga Sri at this new temple for Sri RanganAthan.

2. BHAGAVAAN'S LIMITLESS HELP TO US
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We will continue with the First focus theme of the revered AchAryan in his upanyAsam yesterday. That deals with the many meanings incorporated by Swami Sri Desikan in his first verse of UpakAra Sangraham that we will quote below in its entirety. Srimath Andavan elaborated on the individual, powerful words of this verse to illustrate the paramOpakArams of the SaraNya Dampathis.

2. Divya Dampathi's Many UpakAram to us
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H.H. Srimath Andavan selected FIRST the subject of the upakArams done by the divya dampathis for us. According to Swami Sri Desikan , they fall into three major categories:

(1) PoorvOpakAra ParamparAdhikAram
(2) SaadhanAdhikAram
(3) NirNayAdhikAram

Swami Desikan has brilliantly summarized all of these upakArams in the first Tamizh Paasuram of UpakAra Sangraham. Srimath Andavan anchored his first focus theme on the individual subsections of this verse that have very rich meanings:

anthamilA pErinbham arundha yERkkum
adiyOmai ARIVUDANE yenRum kaatthu
munthai vinai nirai vazhiyil ozhuhAthemmai
munnilayAm DESIKAR TAMM MUNNE SERTTHU
MANTHIRAMUM MANTHIRATTHIN VAZHIYUMK KATTI
vazhippadutthi VAAN YERRI ADIMAIK KOLLA
Tanthaiyena ninRa tanit ThirumAL ThALil
Talai vaitthOm SatakOpan aruLinAlE

This work of Swami Sri Desikan is understood as the VyAkhyAnam for the Sri Sookthi of NammAzhwAr revered as THIRUVIRUTTHAM and particularly its first paasuram (poy ninRa Jn~Amum --ViNNaPPamE).

The revered AchAryA of Poundrikapuram Aasramam selected this paasuram of Swami Desikan and dwelt on the selected words in this paasuram and linked it to other powerfull words from the other paasurams of NammAzhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi {TVM }, (e-g)., " annAL nee tantha AAKKAYIN vazhi uzhalvEn " ( TVM: 3.2.1).

Sri Andavan pointed out that the Divya Dampathis help us in every way. Mainly , there are 54 incomparable upkArams that are performed by them for us , SamsAris , with the view to join us to Their parama Padham in the spirit of NammAzhwAr's TVM Vaakhyam :
" Vaikuntham puhuvathu maNNavar VidhiyE " .

He reminded us of Sage MaarkanDEyA's Vaakhyam in this context: lOkAnAm MaathA PithA cha MADHAVA : The reference here was to " Tanthai yena ninRa Tanit ThirumAL ', section of the above verse to the sarva vidha Bhandhu , SarvEswaran .

Before He joins us to Sri His Vaikuntam for nithya kaimkaryam, ThirumAl performs many upakArAms that is hard for us even to keep track off (NaaraNan maayayai aRibhavar yArO --TVM: 1.3.3, AtthA nee seythana naan aRiyEnE! ).

His upakArams are giving us aakkai (sarIram) to house the Jivan ; He bleesed the Jivan to be eternal ( nithyan ) in svarUpam and blesses the Jivan with Dharma BhUtha JnAnam and makes it the Jivan's nithya guNam and protects thus the Jivan's svarUpam and SvabhAvam. This is the connection to the paasura pasage , "adiyOmai yenRum aRivudanE kaatthu" in the UpakAra sangraham.

Srimath Andavan went on to explain the other key passages in that important paasuram of Swami Desikan .The meanings are:

anthamilAp pErinbham arundha yErkkum adiyOmai = for us , who are fit to enjoy the limitless bliss of the great Moksha anubhavam

arivudanE yenRum kaatthu , munthai vinai nirai vazhiyil ozhuhAthu emmai munnilayAm Desikar tamm munnE sErtthu =
blessing and protcting us with the eteranl dharma bhUtha Jn~Anam and also protecting us from drowning in the timeless flow of the river of karmAs and getting us to the safety of the bank by uniting us with SadAchAryAs for--

manthiramum manthiratthin vazhiyum kaatti vazhippaditthi = (by uniting us with the sadaachAryAs) for upadesam of Your redeeming sacred manthram , the AshtAksharam and for learning about the inner meanings of that manthram (viz)., the middle section of the manthram (nama: sabdham ) denoting Prapatthi and the end luptha chathurthi vibhakthi standing in for Bhagaavdh Kaimkaryam. The greatness of this acquisition of knowledge through upadesam has been celebrated may times by AzhwArs and AchAryAs:

iha sangrahatha: SrimAn GopthA sEshi samAdhika dharidhra:
SaraNam sarva sarIri prApya; sEvyasccha saadhubhirbhAvya:

-- Srimath Rahasya Thraya Saaram , Moola manthrAdhikAram (Meaning): Briefly , the Moola manthram recognizes our Lord as Sriya: Pathi (Srimaan) through akAra sabdham and rakshakan (protector with many upakArams) , in luptha chathurthi as sEshi , and as one who has no equal or superior, in namas sabdham as upAyam ( prapatthi ) , in NaarAyaNa sabdham as sarvAntharyAmi and in the final chathurthi as the One to be worshipped by Saadhu Janams as PrApyan and Sevyan.

Srimath Andavan referred to the paasura vAkhyam, MaamAyA! mikkAr otthAr ilai ! There is no one equal to You or greater than You (samAdhika Dharidhra: in the above Rahasya Thraya SlOkam).

The VedAntha Jn~Anam imparted to us by SadaachAryAs (Mantharitthin vazhiyum kaati) is another of these MahOpakArams of the Lord since it leads to the ultimate bliss of ascent by archirAdhi maargam (vaanERRi adimaik koLLa) and nithya kaimkaryam. That is the nall Vaazhvu referrred to by Thirumangai in his ThirunedumthANDakam (TNT) paasuram passage:

anthaNar maattu anti vaittha MANTHIRATTHAI MANTHIRATTHAAL
maravaathu YENrUM VAAZHUTHIYeL VaZHALaM --TNT pasuram :4

(Meaning): Oh my foolish mind ! If you enjoy the Thirumanthiram, the saaram of the Vedantham, which is the wealth of the Brahmins , and if you reflect upon the meanings of that sacred manthiram , you will surely attain sadhgathi ( nall Vaazhvu ).

Srimath Andavan continued with the explanation of the fourth paadham of the UpakAra Sangraha SlOkam:

Tanthai ena ninRa tanit ThirumAl ThALil
tlai vaitthOm SatakOpan aruLAlE

The Lord stood as the Forever-caring Father, who performs great upakArams (tanthai ena ninRavan).

He is a matchless EmperumAn with the mahimai of PaadhAravindham that ha s no comparison in its redemptive and anugraha qualities (Tanit ThirumAl ThALil).

Next Srimath Andavan expalined as to what happened at these sacred feet of the Lord as a result of the grace of NammAzhwar our Prapanna SanthAna Jana kUtasthar. The paasura Vaakhyam is: Tanit ThirumAl ThALil talai VaitthOm SatakOpan aruLAlE. Through the Parama KrupA of NammAzhwAr , we got to Sri Vaikuntam and laid our feet at the sacred feet of Sriman NaarAyaNA as the ultimate step in Moksha Siddhi rsultign from SadAchArya Sambhandham and BhagavAn's paramOpakArams.

NammAzhwAr is the One , who showed us the way through his Prabhandhams. He used the purvOpakArams done by the Lord to anticipate the future upakArams to come and showed us the way. He was blessed with Bhakthi and Jn~Anam from the Lord of Nithya Sooris. His enjoyment of the Lord blossomed as the Four divya prabhandhams. Thiruviruttham was the first of the Four prabhandhams. Here, he desribes his varalARukaL (Virutthams) and thus this prabhandham came to be known as Thiruviruttham. In the very first paasuram (Poy ninRa Jn~Amum-- ViNNappamE), NammAzhwAr reflects on the purvOpakArams (or the upakArams done earlier through conferral of aathma Jn~Anam, Dharma BhUtha Jn~Anam) and sets that up as Infrastructure for the ensuing paasurams and prabhandhams containing his requests for other upakArams that culminate in Moksha Siddhi at the end of ThiruvAimozhi. In this Thiruvirutth a Paasuram , NammAzhwaar addresses the Lord as ImayOr talaivA ( sarva Seshi ) and himselfas adiyEn ( sesah bhUthan ). The sEsha-sEshi Sambhandham , Artha panchakam are covered here. The connection of Artha panchakam with brahma SvarUpam is known as Shadatha nirUpaNam. That was what NammAzhwAr instructed .Swami Desikan wished to show us the paramountcy of this central message and crated UpakAra Sangraham.

Srimath Andavan of PoundarIkapuram Aasramam selected this verse deftly as the first theme in his upanyAsam.
We are indeed blessed.

In this third of the four postings , I will cover the next theme that Srimath Andavan covered : The superiority of ArchA rUpam among Sriman NarAyaNA's pancha rUpams ( param , VyUham , Vibhavam , antharyAmi and ArchA ).

Parama padham , where the Lord is resident as Parama padha nAthan is surrounded by the aNDams and the aavaraNam waters (Oceans). It is not of easy access to us residing on earth. We can not travel there even to get a vessel filled with aavaranam waters. It is too far away. Hence param and parama padham can not be enjoyed with our sthUla sarIram. Only as a muktha Jivan possesing Sookshma sarIram , one can enter and enjoy the anthamil pErinbham there.

The second rUpam of the Lord is as Sesha saayee in the middle of the milky ocean. Here He is presenting Himself as KshIrAbhdhi nAthan to DevAs and maharishis. Again, this is beyond our reach with SthUla sarIram. hence, it is not of much use either for us to see and enjoy.

The Third rUpam of the Lord is what has been celebrated as Raama , KrishNAvathArams. These Vinhava avathArams were enjoyed by those who were contemproaries. Today, it is histroy and we can not enjoy Lord KrishNA as Gopis and AkrUrar did . Thus this rUpam is in the past like last year's river water , which is no longer available to quench our thirst ( dried up river bed ).

The fourth rUpam is antharyAmi savrUpam. It is likened to OoRRu jalam. You have to dig in the river bed sand and access the water under. Through the difficult JNa~na Yogam , one can visualize this svarUpam of the Divya dampathis seated in our heart cavities. Very few have the power to succeed in such efforts and thus , this svarUpam is also not within reach of ordinary folks on this earth.

The fifth rUpam is the One that Sriman NaarAyaNan took to make Himself easily available to one and all and to enjoy Him with our own sthUla sarIram and Maamsa chakshus. No divya dhrushti as needed by ArjunA is a must to see the VisvarUpam of the Lord ." angu vaitthu , inghE piRanthathu " is the celebration of this ArchAvathAram by Eedu grantham.

Srimath Andavan went on to describe the five rUpams celebrated by Vedams in the manthram in the manner of tamizh maRai:

ambhasya paarE bhuvanasya madhyE
naakasya prushtE mahathO mahIyAn
sukrENa jyOthIgumshi samanupravishta:
PrajApathisccharathi garbhE antha :
-- TaittirIya AaraNyakam : III.13.3

In ParAvathAram, the Lord is in Sri Vaikuntam as para VaasudEvan enjoying the Saama ghAnam. Therefore it is described as Paattu kEtkumidam. It is not accessible to us; we can not hear this music with our Maamsa karnams.

In VyUham , Lord rests on the serpent bed enjoying His yOga NidhrA .He is rudely awakned by all the terror stricken devAs , who seek His interventiion and complain about the terrors inflicted on them by the asurAs. He has to come to help after listening to their fear-laden prayers ( muRaidal iDam ). This far off place is also inaccessible to us .We can not get there to appeal to Him to intervene and help us from our afflictions. Therefore Vyuha Moorthy is off limits for us.

Vibahva avathArams are known as kuthittha iDam. Lord NarasimhA jumped out of the pillar and performed His avathAra Kaaryam and can no longer be seen in His original vibhava form.

AntharyAmi svarUpam is known as OottumiDam. It is a svarUpam exclusively seen by those , who have succeeded in their Jn~ana Yoga saadhanais. It is again out of reach for us.

ArchA SvarUpam is known as VaLaittha iDam. Here, the Lord has become very accessible to us and rests at Srirangam suggesting that He would not leave us until all of our Paapams are removed. He patiently waits for us to get SadAchArya Sambhandham and come to Him . AzhwArs and AchAryAs enjoyed the ArchA mUrthys at the various divya desams and stated unequivocally that it is their preferred choice among the five prakAra rUpams of Sriman NaarAyaNan .

It is interesting to note that para VaasudEvan gives us sEvai on the PraNava VimAnam at Srirangam , VyUha Moorthy is seen as Archai at Srirangam , Anbil , Thirukkudanthai et al , Vibhava Moorthys are present in the ArchA form at ThiruevuLL ( Sri Veera Raaghavan ), Dwarakai ( KrishNan ), AhObilam ( Narasimhan ) et al.

AzhwArs and AchAryAl's assertion of their preference for the archA form of the Lord over all the other Four forms are abundant. Srimath Andavan quoted a few of them. I have added a few moreto illustrate his point:

icchuvai taviRa yaan pOy Indira lokamALum
achuvai peRinum vENDEn Arangamaa naharuLAnE
-- ThirumAlai of ThindaradipoDi : 2nd Paasuram

aNdavANanarangan , van pEy mulai
uNDa vAyanRanunmatthan kANminE
-- KulasEkharar : PerumAL Thirumozhi:3.4

sempavaLa vaayan ThiruvEnkatamennum
EmperumAn Ponn malai mEl yEthEnum aavEnE
--- Kulasekharar : PerumAL Thirumozhi : 4.10

AanDAi unaik KaaNpathOr aruLenaakaruLithiyEl
vENDEn manai vAzhkhayai ViNNagar MEyavanE
-- Thirumangai's Paasuram on ThiruviNNagarAn
Manai means here Sri Vaikuntam .

athraiva sukhamAsva
-- Sri RanganAthA's instruction to AchArya RaamAnujA

nirantharam nirvisatha : tvadhIyam
asprushta chinthA padham aapirupyam
satyam sapE Vaarana sailanAtha
vaikunta vaasEpi na mEabhilAsha :
--Swaami Desikan , Sri VaradharAja-
PanchAsath: 49th slOkam

Here Swami Desikan that he has no desire to reside in Sri Vaikuntam since he has the bhAgyam to enjoy the unparalleled beauty of Sri VaradarAjan right here in His archA form on top of Hasthigiri. He swears that he prefers Kaanchi Vaasam to have the Sevai of Lord VaradarAjA over residence in Sri VaikuntanAthan.

That is the glory of ArchA rUpam for us as revealed by our AzhwArs and AchAryAs.

Lord Ramachandra in His vibhavAvathAram performed AarAdhanam to Sri RanganAthA in ArchA form at AyOddhi. That is the highest form of tribute that one can come across regarding the celebration of ArchA rUpam as the most enjoyable by us on earth among all the five prAkarams of Sriman NaaraayaNan.

The fourth sub-theme of the revered Andavan's UpanyAsam dealt with Sri RanganAthA's beauty in ArchAvathAram and the power of SitA PirAtti's KatAksham. Sri Andavan cited quotaions from Kamba RaamAyaNam ( AyodhyA KhAnDam ), ThiruppANAzhwAr's AmalanAdhipiraan that celebrate the sarvAnga soundharyam of Sri Ranganathan . Andavan's conclusion was that Sri Ranganathan"s beauty is the most delectable among all other divya desa EmperumAns'soundharyams.
I am sure that the BhakthAs of other divya desa EmperumAns ( Kanchi, ThiruviNNagar , Thiruppathy ) would understand the adhisayOkthi behind such an anubhavam .

Regarding ThAyAr's auspicious long eyes (VisAlAkshi) rejuvenating and sanctifying all that She casts Her Katakshams on , the revered Andavan cited FOUR passages from Srimath RaamAyaNam , where Her consort, Sri RamachandrA , addresses Her as VisAlAkshi .

Sri Ramachandra in Vibhavam is Sri RanganAthA in archai and SitA pirAtti in Vibhavam is Sri Devi Herself as Sri RanganAyaki according to Paraasara Bhattar as eulogized in his SriguNarathna Kosam slOkams. We will refer to them as a foot note after covering Srimath Andavan's citations from Srimadh RaamAyaNam.

Slokam 1 : AyOdhyA KhAndham : Sargam 6
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Here Vasishta maharishi instructs Sri RaamA and SitA to worship their kula dhaivam , Sri RamganAthA in preparation for the acceptance of responsibilities as the new king of AyOdhyA. Both Sri RamA and His consort went to Sri RanganAthA's sannidhi at their palace and worshipped the Lord reclining on AdhisEshan. When SitA enjoyed the beauty of the Lord , She turned around and looked intently at Sri RamA, since She knew that Her consort was the most beautiful One (ChitthApahAri).Her intent look to compare the beauty of Her Lord in front of Her and the ArchA mUrthy (Sri RanganAtha-NaarAyaNan ), that She was worshipping made her to look intently at both of them with wide open eyes (VisAlAkshi) according to Sage Valmiki :

saha pathnyA VisAlAkshyA NaarAyaNam upAgamath

SlOkam 2 : AraNya KhAndham: 54th Sargam
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Here RavaNA commits the heinous crime and abducts SitA PirAtti and places Her in his aerial chariot and flies towards Lankhaa nagaram. The distraught ThAyAr sees a group of five monkey chieftains assembled on the peak of malayA mountain.

She takes a portion of Her upper garment and when RavaNA was not looking , She tied some of Her personal jewelery and dropped it in the midst of the Monkey chieftains ( Sugrivan, HanumAn et al ) so that they can recover it and perhaps give it to Sri Ramachandran to let Him know of Her forcible abduction by the evil RaavaNA. SitA PirAtti's auspicious glances fell on these Vaanara SrEshtAs to bless them to participate successfully in the war to come. Here again , Sri Valmiki uses the naamam of VisAlAkshi to salute that auspicious glances of those broad eyes of ThAyAr :

tEshAm madhyE VisAlAkshi kousEyam kanaka Prabham
uttarIyam varArOhA subhAnyAbharaNAni cha

mumOcha yadhi RaamAya samsEyurithi Bhamini
vasthramruthsrujya tanmadhyE nikshiptham sahabhUshaNam

(Meaning): The lovely lady with large eyes took off Her silken upper garment , brilliant as gold , placed the jewels in it and threw it in their midst to break the news of Her being carried away against Her will by RaavaNA to Sri RaamA , if they ever met Him .

Slokams 3 & 4 ,Yuddha KhAndham : 123rd Sargam
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The public Yuddham and the personal anguish (Agni PravEsam) are over. Sri RamA and Sri SitA are happily reunited and they start their journey northwards on the Pushpaka VimAnam placed at their disposal by King VibhishaNan. Sri RaamA is in an ebullient mood and recalls the tasks He undertook to retreive SitA from abduction and the heroic tasks that He completed on behalf of His Large/Broad Eyed ( VisAlAkshi ) consort:

tava hEtho: VisAlAkshi nihathO RaavaNO mayA

As the VimAnam flies over LankhA in ruins , just after the war , Sri RaamA shows His dear consort the ruins of LankhA , whose rulership has now shifted to the hands of His parama Bhakthan, VibhishaNan. He wants our ThAyaar"s benevolent glances to fall on that burning City so that it can flourish again under the rulership of the good VibhishaNan. Therefore, He addresses His consort as VisAlAkshi and directs Her glances on the City .

As the VimAnam turns northwards and passes over the Sethu dam built by NaLan , Sri RaamA once again addresses His Broad-eyed consort as VisAlAkshi and mentions to her that He had the naLa sEthu built to enable Him to cross over to retreive SitA PirAtti from Her prison in AshOka Vanam and bring Her home :

tavahEthO: VisAlakshi naLa sEthu : sudhushkaram
pasya Saagaram akshObhyam VaidEhi VaruNAlayam

Here , Sri RamA wants VaidEhi to bless all of those , who took part in that "impossible " task of building a dam over the Ocean with sticks and stones .

These four references to the KatAksha Mahimai of SitA PirAtti are positioned in very special places of Srimadh RaamAyaNam .Srimath Andavan identified these occasions for us.

In my effort to summarize the One hour UpanyAsam of the revered AchAryan , I have taken the liberty of providing Text and Context for a fuller appreciation of this extraordinarily rich feast. All the errors in understanding and comprehension are mine and seek the revered AchAryan's KshamA for any incorrect recordings of his thought process.

P.S: Many thoughts raced against my mind as the AchAryan referred to different doctrines related to the unique role of Sri Devi in our SampradhAyam. I will just record one wave of thought on the specialty and power of ThAyAr's KaruNA KatAkshams and conclude this series of postings.

The memory waves were about Sri Parasara Bhattar's SriguNa Rathna Kosam slOkams . Sri Bhattar , who was deeply moved by the Sri Sthavam of his father and the ChathusslOki of ALavandhAr and the SaraNAgathi Gadhyam of AchArya RaamAnujA had a special reverence for Sri Devi . To Him as Sri RangEsa purOhithar , Sri RanganAyaki ThAyar was none other than SitA PirAtti . He identifies himself as a resident of Mithilai and salutes the parama soundharyam of Sri SitA pirAtti ( Sri RanganAyaki ) as an adolescent girl at the border of childhood and youth stages (saisava - Youana - VyathikaraNam) married to the Nithya YuvA ( iLam Kumaran/ Sri RanganAthan ). With great vinayam , Bhattar salutes the SitA pirAtti of Srirangam as the treasure house of forbearance (KshAnthi) , magnAnimity ( OudhAryam ) , compassion ( dayA ) and other KalyANa guNAs that anticipate Swami Desikan"s Sri Sthuthi . He praises the unique qualities of SitA piratti , the VisAlAkshi , such as mruDimA (softness of Heart ), prabhu paarAdhyam ( obedience to Her Lord ) , apAra KaruNA ( Limitless compassion for us , Her children ) ,prIthi (affection for her erring children). She rejects the milky ocean, Her father's home as well as Sri Vaikuntam, the celestial abode to be near us , Her children and makes Srirangam Her home .

In the 17th slOkam of SrigNa Rathna Kosam , Bhattar points out that wherever the KatAksham of this VisAlAkshi falls , the wealth , bliss , jn~Anam , success , courage and eloquence rush .He designates the Lord as Para Brahman because of the profuse glances falling on Sri RanganAthan ; others receiving one or two glances become minor gods like IndrA et al.Parasara Bhattar is overpowerd by the thoughts of the greatness of Sriranga-SitA devi ( Sri RanganAyaki ) and points out that the infinite greatness of the Lord is due to the imprints of the Lotus feet of Sri Devi on His chest (Vakshasthala-Vaasini ).

Parasara Bhattar rushes quickly to decribe the unique relationship between the saraNya dampathis and suggests their relationship is one of SamyukthAsrayaNam. He engages in His cosmic sports just to please Her . Bhattar calls Sri RanganAyaki as our SitA and that She is the Mother , Father and sarva Vidha BHandhu . He assures us that we are saved as long as we have Her grace and karuNa KatAksham falls on us . Such is the greatness of this VisAlAshi celebrated by Srimath Andavan !

AchAryan , AzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Sri Rangapura VihAra , Jaya KoDhaNda RaamA !

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