Ramanuja Vaibhavam : 8 : Meeting with Tirukkotiyur Nambigal

After reforming his former teacher Yadava Prakashar to Vaishnavism and giving him the name of Govinda Yati, Swami Ramanujar remembered his cousin Govindan who had saved his life years ago. Govinda Yati tells Swami Ramanujar that his cousin was now known as Ulangai Kulindha Naayanaar and was serving Lord Shiva as an Advaiti at Kalahasti. Ulangai Kulindha Naayanaar used to serve Lord Shiva who was in the form of Bana Lingam. He used to apply sandalwood paste to the lingam, perform pushpa-kainkaryam, and perform aaradhanam to Lord Shiva. At Swami Ramanujar's request, Sri Saila Purna who was Swami Ramanujar's uncle reformed Ulangai Kulindha Naayanaar to Vaishnavism and gave him the name of Embaar. Embaar took his formal leave from Lord Shiva and went to Sri Rangam to stay by the side of Swami Ramanujar. Soon a time came when Swami Ramanujar wished to learn the three rahasyams or secrets of Sri Vaishnava Philosophy which are :

1. Tirumantram or the Asthaaksharam.

2. The Dwaya Mantram.

3. The Charama Shlokam.

Swami Ramanujar traveled to Tirukkotiyur to meet Tirukkotiyur Nambigal to learn the rahasyams. When Swami Ramanujar arrived in Tirukkotiyur, he first met Tirukkotiyur Nambigal who asked Swami Ramanujar to return the following day. Swami Ramanujar went back to Sri Rangam and returned the next day. When Swami Ramanujar met Tirukkotiyur Nambigal the following day he again requested Swami Ramanujar to return the next day. Tirukkotiyur Nambigal repeated the same exercise seventeen times. Each of the seventeen times, Swami Ramanujar was sent back were an indication of a true student to return after he had gained or overcome the following to gain knowledge of the rahasyams :

1. A student must be bereft of worldly desires.

2. A student must not possess any kind of arrogance, ego, and self-centered attitude.

3. A student must possess the knowledge of behavior and nature of the aathma.

4. Lose the impression that the body and asthma are the same.

5. Lose the attitude of wanting to cheat anyone for money.

6. Lose the attitude of seeking a second opinion concerning the Lord and His Bhagvath Vishayam.

7. Find a sense of love in the Lord and His Bhagavth Vishayam.

8. Realize the actions committed in anger and desire have repercussions and act accordingly.

9. Realize that we are dependent on the Lord to live.

10. Realize the meaning of compassion( Sri Vaishnavathvam).

11. Learn to realize and enjoy the nature of Sattva Gunam.

12. Learn to converse with a person at the first meeting.

13. Learn upon seeing the Lord that our thoughts must not waver and our thoughts must solely be focused on Him through immense bhakti.

14. Learn that we as human beings are all equals and if there is anyone that we cannot equate ourselves to, that is the Lord.

15. Learn that the greatest boon that the Lord offers us is moksham, and we must accept it with open arms without the desire for anything else.

16. Learn that performing sharanagathi beyond all the difficulties of our life will see us through to safety and ensure the Lord's grace upon us.

17. A student must find a capable Acharya who can guide and teach him all of the above.

18. When one satisfies all of the above is when the Tirumantram, Dwayam, and Charama Shlokams come into effect in one's life.

When Swami Ramanujar returned to Tirukkotiyur Nambigal for the eighteenth time, he told Swami Ramanujar the eighteen reasons and told him that he did not doubt in his mind that Swami Ramanujar possessed the above qualities but he conducted this exercise as this was how Swami Ramanujar was to test his disciples before giving them the knowledge of the three great secrets. Tirukkotiyur Nambigal agrees to give Swami Ramanujar the knowledge of the rahasyams and calls him to enter a room. As Swami Ramanujar entered, Tirukkotiyur Nambigal noticed that with Swami Ramanujar entered Nadathoor Azhwan, Embaar, and Modhali Aandaan who were Swami Ramanujar's foremost disciples. Tirukkotiyur Nambigal questions Swami Ramanujar as to how his disciples entered the room along with him. Swami Ramanujar then tells Tirukkotiyur Nambigal that the three of them are like the tridandam he holds and the pavithram he wears. They are inseparable for a sanyasi. Similarly, his three disciples are inseparable from him. They had made the same journey as Swami Ramannujar had made over the past seventeen days and they were worthy of receiving the rahasyams. Tirukkotiyur Nambigal agreed with Swami Ramanujar and gave them the three rahasyams and their meaning. The meaning of the three rahasyams are as follows: Ashtaaksharam: This mantram consists of the Pranavam followed by Namo Narayanaya. the mantra and meaning for which can be found in the Vedas and interpreted in the following way :

The meaning of the mantram can be understood in the following way. Pranavam is split into a-u-m. Where a-kaaram represents Bhagavan Mahavishnu, m-kaaram representing the jeevaathma, and u-kaaram represents Mahalakshmi. Thus after uttering the Pranavam, when Namaha is said, one must have the feeling of no self-centeredness and a sense of total unconditional surrender. Finally while uttering the Lord's name Narayana, the person must whole-heartedly think of the path of reaching Him. Thus the Tirumantram can be understood as the way to Sharanagati. Dwaya Mantram: This mantram consists of two halves. The first half acts as a means to ask the Lord and Mahalakshmi to accept our Sharanagati. The second half acts as a means to ask the Lord and Mahalakshmi to constantly shower their grace upon us. Charama Shlokam: This shloka is the means to Prapatti as given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna wherein Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that He is the Ultimate Truth. He tells Arjuna to surrender and put all of his faith solely in Him and he would relieve him from the cycle of birth and death and offer moksham.

Tirukkotiyur Nambigal explains the rahasyams and their meanings to Swami Ramanujar and tells him that he is to propagate this knowledge only to disciples who possessed the eighteen qualities that he had previously informed Swami Ramanujar about. Swami Ramanujar steps out of the closed quarters of Tirukkotiyur Nambigal and briefly thinks for a while and decides that he must do something before leaving Tirukkotiyur. Swami Ramanujar races up to the top of Ashtanga Vimanam of the Sowmya Narayana Perumal Temple and tells everyone who wished to listen that if they wished to be relieved from the cycle of life and death, they had to perform Sharanagati by the means of an Acharya. A few people who heard Swami Ramanujar asked him what was the means of obtaining this divine gift. Swami Ramanujar told them to seek his refuge and he would perform panchasamskaaram and reveal the divine secrets to obtain moksham. After saying this, he started to descend from the Vimanam. In this brief moment that Swami Ramanujar was descending from the Vimanam, word reached Tirukkotiyur Nambigal of what Swami Ramanujar had done in revealing the divine secrets to the general public. Tirukkotiyur Nambigal in a fury rushed to the temple and confronted Swami Ramanujar saying he had betrayed his guru by revealing the divine secrets and as punishment, he would certainly go to hell for the treason. Swami Ramanujar prostrated his guru and told Tirukkotiyur Nambigal that he was more than ready to go to hell if he could provide the means to go to Vaikuntham for so many people.