VAISHNAVA PARIBHASHA

 VAISHNAVA TERMINOLOGY

   

A list of common terms used in vaishNava parlance.

emperumAn எம்பெருமான் - Lord, Lord NArAyaNa, Our Lord

emperumATTi எம்பெருமாட்டி - Lordess, Lordess ShreedEvi, Our Lordess

panchamOpAyam - Fifth path, which involves treating Guru as God. Madhurakavi AzhvAr considered his Guru NammAzhvAr as his God. Synonyms - AchArya niShTha, antima niShTha, charama parva niShTha.

pirAn -  Lord, God

pirATTi - Lordess,Goddess

aDiyEn - The servant of Lord NArAyaNa, Used to denote the subordinate self without the ego 'I', Having surrendered to Shreeman nArAyaNa seeking his feet as the sole refuge, vaishNavas say 'aDiyEn' instead of 'I'.

dAsan - servant, servitor of Lord NArAyaNa, Synonyms - aDiyEn

charanam - foot, charanou - feet

divyadEsam - A VishNu temple which is one among the 108 temples praised by one or more of the AzhvArs in their divyaprabandham; The108  temples for which AzhvArs have performed mangaLAshAsanams.

perumAL - Lord NArAyaNa, VishNu idol

periya perumAl - Shree RanganAtha

periya kOyil - Shreerangam

tAyAr - Lordess, Mother, Lordess Lakshmi, Mother ShreedEvi

kOyil, kOvil - temple, also refers to Shreerangam Shree RanganAtha temple.

mangaLAshasanam - Poems that glorify vishNu deity in temples (sung by AzhvArs and AchAryas)

divya prabandhams - 4000 hymns sung by AzhvArs, also called "AzhvArin aruLi-cheyal"

pAsuram - A hymn or verse from the 4000 divyaprabandhams.

taniyan - A laudatory verse recited in the beginning of the poem or prose. Example: rAmAnuja dayApAtram gyAna vairAgya bhooshaNam.......

phala shruti - A verse of a poem or shloka, usually the last one, that mentions the benefits of reciting the shloka.

aDivaravu - A key word or phrase made by joining the first word of every verse of a poem or shloka.  The key phrase is memorized in order to recollect the sequence of the whole shloka.

tirumAl - Lord VishNu

maNmagaL - Lordess Bhoomi dEvi, bhoodEvi, Goddess of earth, consort of vishnu

tirumagaL - Lordess Lakshmi, ShreedEvi, consort of vishnu

Ayar maDagaL - Nappinnai, the innocent cowherd consort of krishna, incarnation of neeladevi

nAchchiyAr - the wife (Aychchi) of Lord nArAyaNa (Acchchi + nArAyaNa), tefers to female AzhvAr ANDAL, ref: nAchhiyAr tirumozhi.

ubhaya nAchchiyAr - The two consorts of Lord VishNu namely shreedEvi and bhoodEvi.

neelA devi- the third consort of vishNu, the embodiment of love and generosity

kOdai, kOdai nAchchiyAr - ANDAL, daughter of VishNuchittan/PeriyAzhvAr, consort of Lord RanganAtha into whom she merged due to her pure devotion. 

nityavibhooti - VaikunTh, the permanent abode of Lord NArAyaNa, Paramapadam, veeDu (in tamizh)

leelA vibhooti - Lord vishNu's universe and his avatAras.

upAyam - path taken to achieve the goal/moksha, Synonyms - prApakam, hita

upEyam -  the goal to be attained, Synonyms - prApyam, purushArtha

pravRitti mArga - 'bhakti yOga' - the path to be followed strictly and continuously without mistake, in order to attain Lord Naaraayana. 

nivRitti mARga - 'prapatti yOga' which needs to be done only once, its realtively easy because all responsibilities and egos are surrendered to Shreeman nArAyaNa once for all.

SAYANAMS OF LORD VISHNU

Ten sleeping postures of Lord VishNu

1. Jala Sayanam - Reclining on water

2. tala sayanam - 

3. Bhujanga sayanam - Sleeping on Adisesha

4. uddhyoga sayanam - Sleeping and weilding the chakra

5. veera sayanam - 

6. bhOga sayanam -

7. darbha sayanam - Sleeping on darbha grass - TiruppullAni

8. patra sayanam - Sleeping on banyan leaf - Srivilliputtoor

8. mAnikka sayanam - 

10. utthAna sayanam - Sleepin but just preparing to get up

sharaNAgati - surrender, Synonyms - prapatti, nyAsa, bharaNyAsa, AtmasamarpaNa, nikshEpa, prapadana

sharaNyan - The one to whom we surrender, Shreeman nArAyaNa

sharaNAgata  - The one who surrenders, the devotee.

........many more......coming sooooooon