Aarthi Prabhandham: Brief Introduction

Arthi Prabandham: brief information

Dr.G.Mohana Charyulu,

Associate Professor, Dept. of English,

KL University, A.P. India

Arthi Prabandham was Manavala Mamunigal’s frolic hymn before he attained Acharyan thiruvadi( an abode of bliss at the lotus of acharya). He instigates this prabandham solely for prapannas, who, when caught in the predicament of samsaric difficulty, find themselves unsuitable for performing complete surrender or sharanagathi. By projecting himself as a jivatma caught in the web of samsaric afflictions, Mamunigal, through this prabandham, immediately smack a chord with the samsaris. He stipulates to them the secret that will help them separate all connections with samsara and accomplish an everlasting place in paramapadham.

The relationship between jivas and emperuman continues from time immemorial. It is for the jivas to realize the everlasting continuity of this relationship with the Supreme Self. During Pancha Samskaram, the jiva gets to know of the nature of this relationship in the form of Thirumanthira upadhesam from one’s immediate Acharyan. However, the theoretical knowledge of this relationship alone doesn’t suffice to gain the candidacy required for performing sharanagathi. The samsaric pulls, which are a result of our previous karma, can at some times be too strong for us to condition and discipline our mind to practically realize the truth learnt through upadhesam. It is here that we need the grace of our Acharyan to cross the river of samsara.

All through Arthi Prabandham, Manavala Mamunigal appeals to the infinite grace of Ramanuja to deliver him from samsara. But why did Mamunigal appeal to Ramanuja instead of seeking the grace of Namperumal or his immediate Acharya Thiruvaimozhippillai? Mamunigal himself answers this question in two of his verses in this prabandham. In order to receive the grace of Namperumal, one needs to obtain the qualifications required of a spiritual seeker. On the other hand, Ramanuja, as a sincere father and a care-taking mother will be tolerant of our inadequacies for we are ultimately his sambandhis. Hence, access to his grace, by means of meditating upon him, and by chanting his holy names in the form of Ramanuja Noottandhaadhi (also called Prapanna Gayathri), is the means that will elevate us to the Lord’s divine abode, Paramapadham.

In addition to driving home the importance of singing the holy names of Ramanuja, Mamunigal also makes passing references to the following topics in this prabandham:

1)   He illustrates at length, the pit stops the soul encounters, as it takes the archirathi route to end the repeated cycles of birth and death;

2)   He eulogizes the scholarly might of Ramanuja that expected the supremacy of Vishishtadvaita Vedanta by defeating the Advaitins, Buddhists, Jains and the preceptors of other religions;

3)   He delves on what constitutes Srivaishnava Lakshanam by emphasizing the need to do service to the devotees of Namperumal and Ramanuja. He also summits out the need to circumvent the company of the non-believers in Ramanuja Sampradayam.

God Sees Devotion but not Caste or colour

God Sees Devotion but not caste or colour: A Study on history of Tiruppani Alwar

Dr.G. Mohana Charyulu,

Associate Professor  &

 Chairman, RPAC,

Dept. of English K L University,

VADDESWARAM- A.P.

gmcharyulu@kluniversity.in

Abstract: devotion needs strong belief and hope for liberation. It never takes into account  colour or caste. There is no distinction of upper or lower caste in the view of Lord’s creation. It is created by only dogmatic petty human beings. It is proved many a times by Lord himself through so many incidents. In spite, there are so many instances that continue to practice the difference of lower and higher caste. The present study titled: God sees devotion but not caste or colour: A Study on  Tiruppaani Alwar” focuses on how the lower caste people are treated before God by upper caste Brahmins and how those who ill treated the lower caste people are punished by Lord. The Lord Ranganadha punished them in such a way that they have to bring the so neglected, ill treated people on their shoulders by praising their selflessness in their devotion to the Sanctum Sanctorium.

Keywords: Devotion, Liberation, discrimination, caste, punishment and selflessness.

In order to get liberation from the physical world and to attain the supreme bliss (Moksha), there are many ways proposed by our ancestors. They proposed nine ways of devotion in the liberation of Physical soul (Jivatma) and to meet with Supreme Soul (Paramatma). The proposed theories and practices lead to the Sampradaya (Practice) in the regular life style of individual. One among them is Sri Vaishnava Sampradayam, the followers who worship Lord Sri Maha Vishnu. They believe in Him as the omniscient, omnipotent and all powerful who is the creator and destroyer of this Universe. In this connection, the devotees who immersed themselves in deep devotion are called Alwars in the Sampradaya terminology.  There 12 Alwars who boasted the practice with atmost devotion and reached an abode of supreme soul                   (Paramapadam). Those 12 are great seers of enlightenment. They preached and practiced the life style of Srivashnava Sampradayam. They showed the people how to reach God through their unconditional devotion. It is believed that each Alwar is an incarnation of a certain part or weapon of Lord Vishnu. So Alwars represent God’s own form in human body. They are bestowed with the duty to preach and practice Truth ( Dharma) and restore spirituality among people. The main concept of their deep devotion is Surrender (Sharanagati). The Alwars who immersed in God with full of Bhakthi and knowledge followed the path of surrender before the Almighty with pure devotion as the only way of attaining Moksha.

The prayer in the lineage of the Alwars is also beautifully described in a poetic stanza designed to pray regularly in all the temples and houses of Sri Vaishnava Devottees.

"Bhutam Sarascha Mahadahvaya Bhattanatha
Sri Bhaktisara Kulasekhara Yogivahan
Bhaktanghrirenu Parakala Yatindra Mishran
srimat Paramkusha munim pranatosmi nityam"

The twelve names according to above verse are as follows:

Sanskrit Name                                                  Dravida  Name

1) Bhuta Yogi                                                 Poothatta Alwar
2) Saro Yogi                                                    Poigai Alwar 
3) Mahadahvaya  Yogi                                   Peyalwar
4) Bhattanatha  (Vishnu Chitta)                      Periyalwar 
5) Sri or Andal (Goda Devi)                            Andal
6) Bhakti Sara                                                  Tirumozhi sayyalwar or Thirumalisai Alvar
7) Kulasekhara                                                Kulasekhara Alwar
8)Yogi Vahana                                                Thiruppani Alwar
9) Bhaktan Ghrirenu (Vipranarayana)              Thondaradippodi Alwar
10)Parakala (Kalivairi)                                     Thirumangai Alwar
11)Mishra Kavi (Madhura Kavi)                     Madhura Kavi 
12)Parankusa (Satakopa)                                  Nammalwar

The Present study deals with Thirupaan Alwar whose devotion moved Lord Ranganadha Himself and cursed those Upper Caste Brahmins to be blind. Surprising thing is that all that Branhmins bring him on their shoulders to sanctum Sanctorium and made the Darshan of Supreme Lord Sri Ranganadha to Tiruppani Alwar. It reveals that the devotion needs no caste or colour but strong belief on Supreme soul. It is not out of context to describe briefly the biographical sketch of Tiruppaani alwar. Thirupaan Alwar was born in Urayoor, a town near Sri Rangam. He was well versed in playing Veena and every day he sang songs in praise of Lord Sri Ranganatha. But since he was from a lower caste, instead of going to Sri Rangam, he used to go to banks of the Cauvery river and used to sing looking in the direction of the Sri Rangam temple.  Sri Ranganatha wanted to show Alwar’s devotion to the world and so played a small drama.

One morning as usual Alwar was singing by sitting  on the banks of Cauvery River. He was too immersed in his Devotion that he did not feel the presence of a priest (Archaka) named Saranga Muni. He was asking Tiruppani Alwar to move way, since he was from a lower caste. The Archaka had come to take water from Kaveri river for regular rituals to Lord Sri Ranganatha. The archaka then takes a small stone  and throws at Alwar, which brings back alwar to consciousness. Alwar immediately moved away from the place to give a  way for archaka. Alwar was afraid that he had committed mistake and had delayed the service to Lord Sri Ranaganatha.

The archaka goes back to temple with the water and He was shocked seeing at Lord Ranganatha. Lord Ranganatha bleeds at the exact place where Archaka  hit Thirupaan Alwar with stone. The archaka is terrified and requests the Lord to tell the reason for his bleeding. Sri Ranganatha says that the one whom he hit with the stone is his devout devotee (baktha). Sri Ranganatha says that He Himself was with Alwar in his songs and goes on saying that he forgets everything by listening to the songs of Alwar. When archaka hit him with stone He too was injured. Sri Ranganatha instructs the archaka to bring alwar on his shoulders. The archaka then goes back to alwar and narrates the entire incident. Alwar objects to be taken on archaka’s shoulder, since he held archakas in a very high regard as they serve the Lord Ranganatha himself daily. But when the archaka says that it is the instruction of Lord Ranganatha to bring him on his shoulders, Finally Alwar accepts.

Saranga Muni along with all other high priest Brahmins starts walking towards Alwar and took him on to their shoulders. Everyone was surprised to see this scene and stood in silence. After reaching the temple, Thiruppan Alwar could not believe his eyes because he was seeing Sri Ranganadha whom he thought that could never see him in his life. He raised his hands above his head and started to sing Psalms (slokas) on Sri Ranganadha. He then started to see the whole body ( thirumeni ) of Sri Ranganadha and he sang a total of ten poems (paasuram)  which explain the beauty of Sri Ranganatha from his foot (thiruvadi)  to head (thirumudi). He explains in his ten paasuram called “Amalanadhipiran”  about the clean saffron cloth which is worn on the body of Ranganatha, his jewels the stomach (thiruvayiru) from where Lord Brahma originated, the broad chest, the red lips and finally the beauty of the two broad eyes. After singing the 10 paasurams Thiruppaani Alwar merges with the Lord Sri Ranganatha.

In the Poems of Amalanaadhipiran, Thiruppaani Alwar explains the exquisite charm of the Lord’s Supernal Form, His boundless wealth etc., in Heaven, the Lord’s transcendental abode (‘Paramapada‘), just sprout, (with just two leaves like beginnings of the infant’s teething) during His Avatars as Rama and Krishna and flourish as a fully-grown fruit bearing tree with numerous branches (corresponding to all the other pilgrim centers) in Srirangam, affording immense satisfaction to the beholders there, of His easily worshippable Form. The Lord is so easily worhippable  in the case of devotees of the caliber of the Alvar Saints unto whom the Lord relaxes the self-imposed constraints of silence, passivity etc., incidental to His iconic manifestation. He displays His innate charm, in super-abundance. It is noteworthy that the Lord did not even wait till He entered the Sanctum to behold and drink in the beatific vision in front. He displayed to him the wealth of His resplendence, step by step, from His lovely pair of feet upwards, lest the devotee be swept off his feet, rather dazed by the dazzling splendour of His Form, when exhibited in full, all at once. The Lord’s feet constitute not merely the rallying point in this mental exercise but also the focal point, the final goal of attainment of the devotee, his sole Refuge. That is why another Alwar Sri Nammalvar also referred to the Lord’s “distress – dispelling – dazzling feet”, right in the opening song of Magnum Opus “Tiruvaymoji”. This is like the new-born baby intuitively sucking the mother’s breast, the source of its sustenance, with no physical aid whatsoever to locate it. The new-born baby is totally devoid of vision which it gains only gradually from the second month onwards.

The aloofness observed by his kinsmen, in terms of their low birth, deterred supreme Lord from treading and defiling the holy precincts of Srirangam.  Even so, he stood daily on the southern bank of river Kaveri, harp in hand, facing the direction of the holy Shrine at Srirangam. He got lost in rapturous laudation of Lord Ranganatha, with a mind, wholly riveted in Him – sight for gods ! The lord, as the unfailing Cognisor, took note of the Alvar’s unique stance, in dire contrast to the ways of the worldlings around, hankering after worldly pleasures, putting Him far away. Therefore, He felt greatly attracted to him. The Lord enabled him to come down to Srirangam and that too, right inside the Sanctum, mounted on the shoulders of a high caste Brahmin, an extraordinary gesture. He was also granted, en route, the vision of His charming person, feet upwards, on a par with direct perception  

“Seperation from you, O, Lord ! even for a split second, of those who

devoutly aspire to have, at least once, a glimpse of Your Supernal Form

 (Divya Mangala Vigrah), is unbearable to you”.  (09)

From the Alvar’s songs, as above, Lord Ranganatha also noted, with immense pleasure, that he saw in Him the aggregate of His other hypostatic forms, ‘Para’, ‘Vyuha’ and ‘Vibhava’ as well as his Iconic manifestations elsewhere which the Alvar has given expression to, in this concluding song, as well –

 “en Aranganaik kanta kankal marronrinaikkanave”

“Nothing is enough to my eyses except the great vision of Lord”

The saint is no more a part of this mundane world is explicit from his songs. He has asserted that his eyes shall not behold anyone else, anymore, having seen Him who alone matters. That he has no name or roots anywhere in the mundane soil and has lost all sense of belonging here, is also patent from the fact that he has not mentioned, in this concluding song, his name and nativity. Such great personalities are being praised by the devotees of Sri vaishnava sampradayam still now in the southern part of India. Out of 12 alwars many of them are outcaste and gets regular prayers by Brahmins in their regular daily rituals. The poems written by these alwars are daily recited by the followers irrespective of caste or colour in the many houses and temples in south India.  

Works cited:

1. B. S., Chandrababu; S., Ganeshram; C., Bhavani (2011). History of People and Their Environments. Bharathi Puthakalayam India

2. Chari, S. M. Srinivasa (1997). Philosophy and Theistic Mysticism of the Āl̲vārs. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. India

3. Dalal, Roshen (2011). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books India.

4. Das, Sisir Kumar; Sāhitya Akādemī (2005). A history of Indian literature, 500-1399: from courtly to the popular. chennai: Sāhitya Akādemi

5. Ramanujan, Attipat Krishnaswami (2005). Hymns for the Drowning: Poems for Vishnu. Penguin Books.

6. Govindāchārya, Aḷkoṇḍavilli (1902). The Holy Lives of the Azhvârs: Or, the Drâvida Saints. Mysore: G. T. A. Press.

oOo

“Grammar Translation Method – an emerging updated Trend in Teaching English

“Grammar Translation Method – an emerging updated Trend in Teaching English”

                                                                        Dr. G. Mohana Charyulu,

                                                                                                                Associate Professor,

Department of English,

K L University, Vaddeswaram

Language Teaching is an ever changing one. It involves many factors and reasoning for changing because language is not a subject, it is a skill. Teaching Language depends on the individual talent. Today the goals of language teaching have transformed from teaching about the language to how to use the language i.e. communicative competence. In search of this comprehensive method, the experts are trying to find the optimal linguistic input on one hand and on the other hand the best techniques to involve the learner in interactive communication to achieve communicative competence.  Grammar Translation method in Teaching English which was an age old one, I feel in my presentation, is the best suited skill for Indian Learners. May this methodology be not a new one but the updated orientation of this method will enhance the skill of the present day English Learner. In my presentation “Grammar Translation Method – an emerging updated Trend in Teaching English”, I focus on this age old method with restructured techniques because this formerly tried out method was based heavily on linguistics as well as the introduction of new methods developed outside the domains of linguistics. I think this psychologically and affectively oriented humanistic method of teaching English is well suited for Indian learners where students have homogeneous linguistic background and where the interactive mode is missed. It has its most positive points in bringing mutual respects from both the teacher and students as well as from the students themselves. 

It is not out of context to place before you a few things about Grammar Translation Method. The Grammar Translation Method is very much based on the written word and texts are widely in evidence. A typical approach would be to present the rules of a particular item of grammar, illustrate its use by including the item several times in a text, and practise using the item through writing sentences and translating it into the mother tongue. The text is often accompanied by a vocabulary list consisting of new lexical items used in the text together with the mother tongue translation. Accurate use of language items is central to this approach. Generally speaking, the medium of instruction is the mother tongue, which is used to explain conceptual problems and to discuss the use of a particular grammatical structure. It all sounds rather dull but it can be argued that the Grammar Translation method has over the years had a remarkable success. Millions of people have successfully learnt foreign languages to a high degree of proficiency and, in numerous cases, without any contact whatsoever with native speakers of the language.

The Grammar Translation method embraces a wide range of approaches but, broadly speaking, foreign language study is seen as a mental discipline, the goal of which may be to read literature in its original form or simply to be a form of intellectual development. The basic approach is to analyze and study the grammatical rules of the language, usually in an order roughly matching the traditional order of the grammar of Latin, and then to practise manipulating grammatical structures through the means of translation both into and from the mother tongue. Without a sound knowledge of the grammatical basis of the language it can be argued that the learner is in possession of nothing more than a selection of communicative phrases which are perfectly adequate for basic communication but which will be found wanting when the learner is required to perform any kind of sophisticated linguistic task. 

At the height of the Communicative Approach to language learning in the 1980s and early 1990s it became fashionable in some quarters to deride so-called "old-fashioned" methods and, in particular, something broadly labelled "Grammar Translation". There were numerous reasons for this but principally it was felt that translation itself was an academic exercise rather than one which would actually help learners to use language, and an overt focus on grammar was to learn about the target language rather than to learn it.  As with many other methods and approaches, Grammar Translation tended to be referred to in the past tense as if it no longer existed and had died out to be replaced world-wide by the fun and motivation of the communicative classroom. If we examine the principal features of Grammar Translation, however, we will see that not only has it not disappeared but that many of its characteristics have been central to language teaching throughout the ages and are still valid today.

There are certain types of learner who respond very positively to a grammatical syllabus as it can give them both a set of clear objectives and a clear sense of achievement. Other learners need the security of the mother tongue and the opportunity to relate grammatical structures to mother tongue equivalents. Above all, this type of approach can give learners a basic foundation upon which they can then build their communicative skills. Applied wholesale of course, it can also be boring for many learners and a quick look at foreign language course books from the 1950s and 1960s, for example, will soon reveal the non-communicative nature of the language used. Using the more enlightened principles of the Communicative Approach, however, and combining these with the systematic approach of Grammar Translation, may well be the perfect combination for many learners. On the one hand they have motivating communicative activities that help to promote their fluency and, on the other, they gradually acquire a sound and accurate basis in the grammar of the language. This combined approach is reflected in many of the EFL course books currently being published and, amongst other things, suggests that the Grammar Translation method, far from being dead, is very much alive and kicking as we enter the 21st century.

References:

1. Richards, Jack C.; Rodgers, Theodore S. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.

2. Rivers, Wilga M. Teaching Foreign Language Skills, 2nd Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.

3. Chellapan, K. (1982). Translanguage, Translation and Second Language Acquisition. In F Eppert (Ed.), Papers on translation: Aspects, Concepts, Implications (pp. 57-63) Singapore: SEMEO Regional Language Center.

4. Ellis, R. (2006). Current issues in the teaching of grammar: an SLA perspective. TESOL Quarterly, 40 (1): 83-107.

5. Richards, J. C., & Schmidt, R. (2002). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. Pearson Education Limited

6. Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (1986). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

7. Shih-Chuan Chang. (2011). A Contrastive Study of Grammar Translation Method and Communicative Approach in Teaching English Grammar. English Language Teaching, Vol. 4, No. 2,pp.15-16.