०० गुरुपरम्परा-सारः

Guruparampara Sara

At the very commencement of this great work, we find a chapter devoted to the fact of deep devotion towards the preceptor. This section has the subject matter of T44TT 45174 or obeisance unto the line of teachers and in the conclusion it is mentioned ‘गुरुपरम्परासारः संपूर्णः ।’ This chapter is not included in the 32 chapters that are components of Sri Rahasyatraya Sara. Therefore, a doubt is raised about the inclusion of this chapter in this great work of Rahasyatraya Sara. In this connection, the following points are raised : 1. This cannot be considered as an integral part of the

introductory chapter being of the form of मङ्गलाचरणम् because the Upodghatha Adhikara commences with a Mangala beginning with the verse ‘3740197: stai

अनघां आचार्यसन्ततिं वन्दें । There are introductory verses and concluding verses for this chapter of Guruparampara Sara and so is an

independent chapter altogether. 3. In the conclusion also, there is no mention in the

colophon “Sri Rahasyatraya sare Guruparampara Sarah” On the other hand, it is mentioned as ‘Guruparampara

Sarah Sampoornah’. 4. It is expressly mentioned that Rahasyatraya Sara

comprises of 32 chapters as “Muppachirandivai”. 5. In the Anushasana Bhaga and in the Nigamanadhikara

there is no reference to this section. 6.

In the verses of Adhikara Sangraha, “Ennuyir tandalittavarai saranampukku” is not included in the scheme of ‘Andadi’.

On account of all these points, it is argued that this chapter of Guruparampara Sara is not an integral part of Rahasyatraya Sara. But, on the other hand, it is pointed out that though it is found like that, it is necessarily included in the Rahasyatraya Saram and goes together with the introductory chapter. The reasons are as follows : 1. In all manuscripts of Rahasyatraya Saram,

Guruparampara Sara has been included as a part of the

great work. 2. It is not separated from Rahasyatraya Sara, as some

other compositions like Sampradaya Parishuddhi and others. All preceptors teach Rahasyatraya Saram necessarily

commencing with Guruparampara Saram. 4. This chapter expounds that all profound truths of

vedantha are known from the teachings of the mystic Alwars. The term ‘Dampathi Jagathampathi’ found in the invocatory verse (that it is devoted to the divine couple) is also found in the concluding verse of this great composition “Sharanya Dampathi Vidam Sammatah Samagruhyata” and this also indicates that the composition begins with Guruparampara Sara and concludes with Nigamana.

The Mangalacharanam found in the Guruparampara Saram is continued and extended in the verse आभगवत्तः प्रथितां अनघां आचार्यसन्ततिं वन्दे’ in the Upodgatha

Guruparampara Sara

Adhikara and so it is to be understood that this section is introduced for profusely performing Mangalam, and there is no contradiction there.

It may be considered that the chapter “Guruparampara Sara” is also of the form of a Mangalagrantha for the commencement and completion of the study of the great composition - Rahasyatraya Sara.

The first invocatory verse of this section viz. Guru parampara Sara offers respectful salutations to the preceptors and seeks the grace of the Divine couple, who are verily the primeval Acharyas. “We utter words of obeisance to our Acharyas and their Acharyas upto the Supreme Lord, who is the Principal Acharya, and we choose the divine couple Sri Mahalakshmi and Sriman Narayana who are the Masters of this universe, as our Supreme object of attainment and means”. The first term ‘Gurubyah’ relates to the immediate Acharya of the aspirant ‘स्व अव्यवहित आचार्य’. The second termagns’ signifies the Acharya of his Acharya, and beginning from there and going higher and higher, upto the Supreme Lord who is the Paramacharya. It is ordained in the “Shastras” that one should pay obeisance to Acharya Vamsha F a rfan :’, “one should know the lineage of one’s acharya”, ‘315lyfr than :’, “The Acharyas should be meditated upon as such and such upto the Supreme Bhagavan”. The first word Gurubyah is used in plural for showing respect. The term Namah itself would suffice but 3ft 37 ’ is meant for surrendering oneself unto the preceptor, EHTE: 3THdcarefu’. From this, it is evident that one should have deep devotion towards the line of one’s own Acharya. The term 37 signifies that this kind of devotion to the Lord is something which is prescribed in the shastras and in the absence of such performance of devotion, it would lead to great ‘Prathyavaya’ or offence. ‘qui ’ means, “we choose the divine couple as our Prapya and Prapaka”. Here, there is no eventuality of Srira as the Supreme Lord is characterised by Goddess Mahalakshmi inseparably. She is a 49 of the Lord. The dual number here used signifies that both the Lord and the Mother are the object of attainment and means and that self surrender is related to both of them. This verse is meant for indicating that the first section called Guruparampara Sara is having “the worship of the line of acharyas” as its subject matter.

The second half of this verse indicates that the ultimate benefit of liberation from ‘samsara’ can be attained only through surrender unto the Lord. Thus by the invocatory verse Deshika indicates that surrender unto the preceptor leads to the attainment of the desired knowledge. 1. Sadacharya Sambandha is absolutely necessary :

In this section, Dehsika affirms first of all that it is absolutely necessary to have 370p Haru or the grace of the Acharya for all the aspirants after liberation. It is never one’s merit only that is responsible for attainment of Moksha. Similarly, one’s sins will not be an obstruction to Moksha. It is only the relationship with the Acharyas and the benign grace of the Acharyas that is responsible for liberation. Kshatrabandhu was the worst sinner but he gained Moksha on account of the grace of his Acharya. Pundarika was a

Guruparampara Sara

‘Punyavan’ but he gained liberation only on account of the grace of the Acharya.

पापिष्ठः क्षत्रबन्धुश्च पुण्डरीकश्च पुण्यकृत् ।

आचार्यवत्तया मुक्तौ तस्मादाचार्यवान् भवेत् ॥

The Upanishad says that one should himself go to the Acharya alone for gaining the knowledge of Brahman.

afzated Teheran (9.3 -7-87)

The Smruthis affirm that धर्मज्ञसमय is प्रमाणं indicating that all aspirants of liberation should seek an Acharya’s teaching. By one’s own Punya and effort, one cannot gain Moksha. By this, it becomes established that other efforts for liberation or performance of meritorious deeds or study of spiritual texts without Guru Bhajanam will not be capable of granting liberation. On account of one’s association and dedication to the Acharya one gains the essential spiritual knowledge helpful for adopting

helpful for adopting the Mokshopaya, enhancement of the Mokshopayuktha Jnana and accomplishment of the necessary ‘Sheela’ and ‘Vritha’. The Swethaswathara Upanishat ordains that one should have supreme devotion towards the Acharya as one will have towards the Supreme Lord and only such a dedicated person would imbibe the spiritual truth. II. Acharya-Parampara-Anusandhana should be done upto

Paramamman ___ This आचार्यपरम्परानुसन्धानम् or dedication to the lineage of Acharya, should culminate and become fulfilled upto the Supreme Paramatman who is the Paramacharya. The dedication here signifies that one should remember lovingly

Essence of Srimad Rahasyacraya Saram

the line of Acharyas beginning with his own Acharya with reverence, gratitude and devotion.

‘ध्यायेत् जपेत् नमेत् भक्त्या भजेदभ्यर्चयेत् मुदा’ । ‘गुरुपादाम्बुजं ध्यायेत्’ ।

The Sruthi also ordains thus स च आचार्य वंशो ज्ञेयः’ “one should meditate with devotion upon the Preceptor. One should repeat his holy names, prostrate, worship and praise with delight the guru”. “One should worship the lotus feet of the Acharya”.

III. The Supreme Lord is the Supreme Acharya

The Supreme Paramatman is declared as Paramacharya who taught the supreme truth out of compassion to Hiranyagarbha, by whom it was taught to others and whenever this supreme wisdom was somewhat less illumined or almost lost, He incarnated himself on this carth and taught those truths that were somewhat forgotten and established the same truth to shine out brilliantly. It is only by the grace of the Lord that the unbroken tradition of the spiritual wisdom is established through great masters like Narada, Parasara, Vyasa, Shuka, Shounaka and other sages

The dismal darkness of ignorance that enveloped the universe was dispelled by the Lord and the 344 HUGRI was promulgated without any cessation in the world. The Lord is therefore the supreme guru on account of the Shasthra Pravarthana, directly and indirectly.

‘तमिमं सर्वसंपन्नं आचार्य पितरं गुरुम्’ । ‘ममाप्यखिलजन्तूनां गुरुः नारायणो हरिः’ ‘गुरुरसि गतिश्चासि जगताम्’ ।

Guruparampara Sara

साक्षात् नारायणो देवः कृत्वा मर्त्यमयीं तनम् । मग्नानुद्धरते लोकान् कारुण्याच्छास्त्रपाणिना ॥

This Supreme Lord who is characterised with all auspicious qualities, who is an Acharya, guru, father and everything, Sriman Narayana, is verily the Guru. ‘Thou art the preceptor of this universe, you are verily the goal.’ IV. The Alwars such as Nammalwar and others are in a

way incarnations of the Lord Himself

Desika establishes that the great Alwars are incarnations of the Supreme Paramatman himself for the ultimate purposes of promulgation of the supreme truths of tatwa, hita and purushartha. The compassion of the Lord manifests in many ways for establishing this Parama Dharma in this world through various measures. In the very first instance, he taught the supreme truth to the four-faced-Brahma; when he lost it due to his inadvertence, the Lord re-taught him and endowed him with the knowledge of all shasthras. Through the Chaturmukha Brahma, this supreme knowledge was handed over to many sages like Narada and others. He himself came on earth to establish this Dharma and He himself taught the Pancharathra Agama and he fulfilled his will to spread this knowledge in this world through the Alwars such as Parankusha, Parakala and others by manifesting Himself in them ‘Huary

44:’ “The Lord Achyuta fulfills His desired will by entering into those that are already born.”

Desika points out that the Lord himself incarnated in ten forms like Parankusha and Parakala and promulgated the age old truths of the Vedas in a new form through the medium of a language understandable to all just as the clouds absorb the salt waters of the ocean and rain them as sweet water easily used by all. V. An aspirant should reflect upon the Guruparampara

with deep depotion

Vedantha Deshika has traced here the significant masters of yore who come in the series of Acharyas beginning with the celebrated Nathamuni. The Acharya Parampara carlier to Nathamuni is not known. Our reckoning of the ‘Munitraya’ viz. Nathamuni, Yamunamuni and Ramanuja Muni, commences with Nathamuni. Desika establishes here that Nathamuni gained the spiritual knowledge directly in a trance of yoga from Nammalwar, and promulgated that wisdom amongst his disciples. Amongst the previous Acharyas Desika mentions that the wisdom of the Alwars was transmitted through Madhurakavi and other disciples. Nathamuni therefore is here described as a master par excellence who gained the wisdom of the upanishadic thought and the wisdom of the inspired teachings of the Alwars. We may note here that the various masters such as Nathamuni, Alavandar and Sri Ramanuja, their works, the names of their disciples, are all chronologically recorded here. Desika has mentioned the names of the works of the several Acharyas, as they were available to him at that time and this is an authenticated statement and from this we understand that Ramanuja has written nine works and three ‘Gadyas’ were the authenticated works of the Acharya.

After describing the greatness of the Poorvacharyas, Desika suggests that the Sampradaya Parampara of the post

Guruparampara Sara

Ramanuja period may be grasped according to their Acharya Parampara. It is to be noted that the followers of Ramanuja, though have different Acharya Parampara, are all related to the three Great Masters that established this Sampradaya on solid foundation.

Desika points out that it is the primary duty of a disciple to glorify his Acharya and to keep secret the manta that is taught to him

गुरुं प्रकाशयेद्धीमान् मन्त्रं यत्नेन गोपयेत् । अप्रकाशप्रकाशाभ्यां हीयेते संपदायुषी ॥

A virtuous person should highlight his preceptor and jealously guard the mantra taught to him. If he does the contrary his wealth and longevity of life get lost. This gurubhakthi is not limited to his direct Acharya only but to the Paramacharyas also.

Thus, in this section, Guruparampara Sara, Desika emphasises the importance of the “guru” in spiritual sadhana. The Guru is a guide who initiates the process of spiritual discipline, watches the progress of the disciple, sets him right whenever he fails and ultimately leads him to the achievement of the goal. The benefactions of the Guru to Humanity is so great that it cannot be described in words. It is apt that Desika commences his great work, with this Guruparampara Sara, which is an obeisance at the feet of the Gurus for the successful completion of this work.