Why do vaishNavas wear kamala gatta mAla?
yE kaNta lagna thuLasi nalinAksha mAlA; yE bAhu mUla parichinnita sankha chakrA; ye vA lalAta phalakE lasadh Urdhva puNdrA; thE vaishNavA bhuvanam Asu pavithrayanthi.
This purANa SlOkam explains who a vaishNava is from a physical appearance perspective and what he does to the place where he lives.
One who wears mAlas (necklace) that is made out of thuLasi and lotus stems (also includes pavithra mAlai which was adorned by perumAL, thAyArs, AzhwArs, AchAryas),
One whose shoulders are decorated with the unique symbols of SrIman nArAyaNa – sankham and chakram (as part of the pancha samskAram process),
One whose forehead is decorated with Urdhva puNdram (an authorized symbol applied by mixing the clay that is found in holy pilgrimages and that represents the holy feet of SrIman nArAyaNa) – while it talks about forehead specifically, our pUrvAchAryas always applied 12 Urdhva puNdrams at various places of the body as per SAsthram,
That vaishNava quickly purifies the world (the place where he is present).
Can SrIvaishNavas worship dhaththAthrEya avathAram of bhagavAn?
dhaththAthrEya avathAram is an AvESa avathAram. AvESa avathArams of bhagavAn are not meant for worship for mumukshus.
Is there any grantham in which complete process of pancha samskAram / samASrayaNam with steps and details is mentioned?
SrI pAncharAthra Agama, parASara dharma SAsthram etc explains about it.
In what context are AzhwArs and bhagavAn so connected?
bhagavAn blessed AzhwArs to be his pure devotees and because of that they were totally dedicated to him only. Our pUrvAchAryas gave greater importance to AzhwArs than perumAL, because they are the ones who showed perumAL to us.
In our sampradhAyam we worship SrIman nArAyaNa in aiSvarya bhAvam. Shall we worship Him or different avathArams?
Different AzhwArs have enjoyed SrIman nArAyaNa in different bhAvam. For example:
nammAzhwAr, thirumangai AzhwAr et al – mAdhurya bhAvam;
periyAzhwAr – vAthsalya bhAvam.
So, yes, bhagavAn can be enjoyed in different moods.
As a SrIvaishNava, are we allowed to observe the new year?
Yes – but it varies from region to region. Generally, chithrai month (starting around April 15th in gregorian calendar) is considered as the first month in our native calendar.
The way new year is celebrated can be seen from one incident in bhagavath rAmAnujar’s life. Once when SrI rAmAnujAchArya was informed about new year, he became joyous and told “We are getting closer to reaching bhagavAn as we have shed one more year in our life”.
vaishNavas don’t consume onion, garlic, mushrooms, etc. But can we consume drugs/remedies that contain them?
We can try our best to avoid such medicines also. But if we have to take medicines for survival, we may not have any other choice.
In SrIvaishNava sampradhAyam, is thuLasi vivAham performed?
Such practice is not found in our granthams or pUrvAchArya anushtAnams.
While offering thAmbUlam and sambhAshanam should we say ‘adiyEn dhAsan’ or abhivAdhanam?
Saying ‘adiyEn dhAsan’ is the norm.
Please tell us what to do on samASrayaNam day. Should we celebrate the date or same star? What are the proceedings on samAsrayaNam day?
That day can be considered as the real birth star and one can show gratitude to one’s acharya for making that happen. Please see – https://ponnadi.blogspot.com/2015/12/simple-guide-to-srivaishnavam-pancha-samskaram.html
For a prapanna new year begins only in aippasi thiruvONam. Please explain.
Yes – this is said considering the appearance of first AzhwAr happened on that day as it dawned a new era for us, SrIvaishNavas.
Is sUrya dhEvar the avathAram of perumAL according to SrIvaishNavas?
Not specifically. But sUrya maNdalam is said to be a special abode of nArAyaNa – he is known as sUrya nArAyaNa in that place.
Is samASrayaNam still valid if it is done to children who don’t know what it means?
It is certainly valid – but as they grow up, they should be taught about its significance.
To get an overview of our sampradhAyam and philosophy, can we study books of scholars/researchers/philosophers?
If you want to understand our SrIvaishNava sampradhAyam and our philosophy, it is better to study books by our sampradhAya people. You can see our publications in books.koyil.org.
As devotees following SrI vaishNava sampradhAyam, is it correct to pray sarasvathi dhEvi for education, since sarasvathi dhEvi herself named swAmy rAmAnujar as ‘SrI bhAshyakArar’?
No – we should not be praying to anyone else for anything. sarasvathi dhEvi was inspired by bhagavath rAmAnuja’s work – just because she did that, we need not worship her. Our prayers should only be to bhagavAn for eternal kainkaryam as the only benefit.
Sometimes we are getting confused due to other sampradhAyams’ philosophies. What is the remedy for this? Many of us didn’t have direct association of our sampradhAyam in the past.
Only if we stop listening to other sampradhAyam people, we will start getting clarity. If we keep comparing, it will only lead to constant confusion. When our AchAryas have given everything, why should we seek other sampradhAyams? Different sampradhAyams will have different concepts, personalities, etc. – we will not have explanation for everything. We have to understand and accept that certain things are beyond us, and let it be. If we focus on our sampradhAyam alone, then we can be learning in a more focussed manner.
We need to know what is important and what is not from our sampradhAyam perspective. It will take time. Years of continuous study is required. Everything cannot be learnt just like that. Now that we have some association, we should take time and slowly go through the available resources one by one. Patience and perseverance are the key for learning.
How should SrIvaishNavas spend their time in a day?
Ideally, we should make sure that the following aspects are done everyday
* Wake up early in the morning (around 4.30 AM)
* Remember guruparamparai, rahasya thrayam and chant ‘hari’ 7 times
* Complete our early morning activities
* Perform some dhyAnam on guruparamparai and dhvayam
* Take bath, apply thirumaN/SrIchUrNam, if applicable, perform sandhyAvandhanam
* Learn some pAsurams, SlOkams. Listen to lectures for some time
* Perform thiruvArAdhanam
* Visit to temple, AchArya’s mutt/thirumALigai if possible
* Accept prasAdham (meals)
* Studying AzhwAr/AchAryas works, under the guidance of an AchArya
* Evening sandhyAvandhanam, thiruvArAdhanam
* Spend some time together with family on devotional aspects
* Sleep early (maximum by 10 PM)
Are prapannas not supposed to take thIrtha prasAdham from dhivya dhEsams which have anya dhEvatha sannidhis as well?
If our sannidhis are managed by SrIvaishNavas – then there is no issue. The other dhEvathAs’ sannidhis can be avoided.
Please explain how EkAdhasi is not an upAyam for SrIvaishNavas.
For SrIvaishNavas, EkAdhaSi is not a means to attain something. Because in SAsthram, it is emphasised as an authentic vratham, we observe it as a kainkaryam. The goal of EkAdhaSi is to maximise our time in bhagavath vishayam. We try to avoid cooking which needs elaborate efforts. But if someone is unable to fast, each person can see how best he can limit his food consumption and keep it minimum. Sincere effort should be there – but if we are unable to do full fasting, it’s not going to be an issue for us.
Some people have this fear in mind that if we don’t worship other sampradhAyam AchAryas and perumAL will be upset on us.
No need to fear at all. When bhagavAn is there to protect us, why would he punish us for doing what is ordained for us to do?
Which purANams are recommended by our pUrvAchAryas to read?
SrI vishNu purANam is the main one.
What are some of the SrIvaishNava paribhAshai for cooked items?
offered cooked rice – prasAdham
ghee – neyyamudhu
sAmbhAr – nezhi kaRiyamudhu
vegetable – kaRiyamudhu
kootu – koottu, kaRiyamudhu
appalam – appalam
vadai – thiruppaNiyAram
rasam – sARRamudhu
pAyasam – thirukkannal amudhu (thirukkaNNAmudhu)
curd – thayiramudhu
pickle – (thiru)UrugAy
Can ‘harE rAma…’ be chanted before taking samASrayaNam?
Before samASrayaNam – yes. But it would be good to recite ‘SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:’ and continuously pray to bhagavath rAmAnuja, for the samASrayaNam to happen.