WRITERS

श्री:
अस्मद् गुरुभ्यो नम: ।

WRITERS

Smt. Malathi Balaji (Editor)
Smt. Seethalakshmi Ramesh
Smt. Vidya Varadhan
Smt. Sukanya Ravichandran
Smt. Vasudha Murali

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Smt. Malathi Balaji 
(Editor, Co-writer and Illustration Artist)

वेदान्त लक्ष्मण मुनीन्द्र कृपात्त बोधम्

तत्पाद युग्मसरसीरुह भृंगराजम् ॥ 
त्रय्यन्त युग्म कृतभूरि परिश्रमं तं
श्रीरङ्ग लक्ष्मण मुनिं शरणं प्रपद्ये ॥

श्रीमद्वॆदान्त रामानुज यतिकृपया रङ्गिणी न्यस्तभारं
तस्सम्प्राप्तागमान्त द्वितयमनुगणं शिष्टतापूर्णमग्र्यम्।
श्रॆष्ठ श्रीरङ्गरामानुजमुनि करुणालब्ध मॊक्षाश्रमं तं
सत्त्वस्थं श्रीवराहं यतिवरमनघं दॆशिकं संश्रयामि॥

Namaskaaras to dear readers!

Adiyen was initiated with samashrayanam and bharanyasam by the divine grace of HH Srimushnam Andavan Swamigal. My forefathers hailed from the quaint town of Velamur, the seat of Samavedam once upon a time. A traceback of my roots revealed that my paternal great grandfather was Shri Chandogena Vidusha Naduvakkarai Velamur Desikacharyar Swami (Author of Samaveda Ahnikam), and my maternal great grandfather Shri Ariyakudi Madabhusi Sowmyavaradan Swami was in Shri Sannidhi kainkaryam of Lord Prahlada Varadan at Ahobilam kshetram. My mother Smt. Ramamani Narayanan has been giving discourses on Shrimad Bhagavatam for 15 years now.

A cost accountant by profession, I had a brief stint at TI Cycles of India, Ambattur and Reliance Township, Jamnagar after which I had taken to full time parenting of my young children. Away from hometown, I accessed literary works on Vaishnava sampradayam online.  My pastime was reading articles and yahoo threads of my grand uncle, Shri Nrusimha Seva Rasikan Oppiliappan Koil Dr. Varadachari Sadagopan Swami, USA who has made available more than 450 ebooks on vaishnava sampradayam at sadagopan.org.

In 2010, under the vision and technological eye of my husband Srivaikuntam Kidambi Shri Balaji Aravamuthan,(Chartered Accountant and CIO), I had the opportunity to curate static and customized contents on nitya karmas and samskaaras for our website samskaaram.com (Available in appstore and playstore).

Since 2020,  I am contributing articles and art work for "AchArya Vruksham", the monthly magazine of Coimbatore Andavan Ashramam, headed by Shri Keezhayur Paravastu Raghavachari Vijayaraghavan Swami.

In February 2020, my friends and I embarked on this humble project of learning Azhvars’ 4000 divya prabandhams online along with their meanings.  We formed a whatsapp group and 250 members joined us with keen interest. We approached renowned Guru Devanarvilagam Smt. Seetha Saranathan and requested her to teach us through audio lessons, and she kindly agreed immediately.   We got started and learnt ten pasurams a day in the traditional ‘santai’ format.

Five of us came together and shared concise English meanings of the daily pasurams with relevant pictures, anecdotes, and illustrations.   Our content was based on the vyakhyanams of our revered poorvacharyas. We pay our humble prostrations at their feet for blessing us with the skill of understanding and translating the pasurams in English language. 

We offer our heartfelt gratitude to Smt. Prabha Senesh, a noted proponent of Vaishnavism, who has been mercifully guiding us throughout our project.  We extend our thanks to Pravachana Ratna Mani Shri Dushyanth Shridhar Swami and Acharya Bhakti Shardhoola Desika Seva Ratnam Shri Tiruvaheendrapuram Shri Urupattur Soundararajan Swami who had blessed us in the beginning of the project with their gracious forewords.  Now it is November 2023 and we have completed the meanings of all the 4000 pasurams. 

Ever indebted, I offer my humble salutations at the lotus feet of our Guru again and again for the marvelous kainkaryam and relentless efforts taken by her for teaching us the huge compendium of 4000 divya prabandhams. It is due to her divine beneficence that we were able to complete our project with no interruption whatsoever in these four years. Our precious Guru shall ever remain glowing in our hearts.  The quick links of her crystal-clear audio lessons can be accessed from this page - DIVYAPRABANDHAM AUDIO LESSONS. 

It has also been my good fortune to facilitate this Divya Prabandham study circle along with co-writers Smt. Seethalakshmi Ramesh, Smt. Vidhya Varadan, Smt. Sukanya Ravichandran and Smt. Vasudha Murali.  My pranaams and congratulations to the writers who have risen above their personal challenges in these four years. Their unstinted interest in AzhvAr’s shreesooktis, and utmost dedication have gone into the devotional pages of this website.   I also extend my thanks to their family members for their silent support to this workshop.  We truly enjoyed working together as a team, day and night, supporting each other in our spiritual journey. It was a divine confluence which I am sure each of us would cherish for lifetime. 

Art which has been my passion since childhood has taken the shape of “Chitropasana’ in this blog.  Azhvars’ picturesque description of the Divyadesams and their engrossing accounts of the superhuman feats of Lord Vishnu provide abundant scope for illustrative drawing. With their implicit stimulation, I was able to contribute more than 300 paintings in my pen name “narayani”.

The enthusiastic contribution of members by way of songs on Azhvar's vazhis, articles, photos, videos and art work are also featured in this blog.

With gratitude towards all the generous blessings conferred on us, we offer our writings as a likhita kainkaryam unto the lotus feet of the Divyadampatis, Azhvars and our Acharyas.

All of this content is now available on this website which I am blessed to present for the benefit of the current and future generations. The interface of our site is intuitive, and readers will be able to navigate easily across the pages. We hope ‘devamrutam’ will be culturally and spiritually enriching for all our readers. While our team has garnered all relevant information on the subject, we are continuously updating the site with more references and lecture links of learned scholars in this space. 

 My humble request to readers to forgive us for errors that you may come across. Please feel free to add your comments below the blog posts or write to us at devamrutam2020@gmail.com and be a part of DEVAMRUTAM.

Jaya Shreeman Narayana.

Adiyen
Smt. Malathi Balaji

21/11/2023

Azhvar Emperumanar Desikan Tiruvadigale Sharanam.

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Smt. Seethalakshmi Ramesh

ASMAD ACHARYA PARYANTAM VANDE GURUPARAMPARAM

Qualifications

- Master’s degree in Nalayira Divya Prabandham from the renowned Shastra University under the tutelage of Dr. M. A. Venkatakrishnan swami and Smt. Dr. Bhooma Venkatakrishnan. 
- Trained Montessori educator 
- Special educator (Dyslexia) - Madras Dyslexia Association (MDA)

Coming under the lineage of imparting education and having great passion towards children and child education, I started a preschool named “Aksharabyas Play School” as the sole proprietrix. With a staff of seven I guided children in the formative years of age 1 to 4 for around 15 years.

Nowadays, I connect with children through my you tube channel *Aksharabyas Story Time*, narrating stories with a touch of science facts.

I am currently appointed as a faculty for "Braintech Learning Center", that teaches phonetics and various other subjects through online coaching for Indian children across the globe.

I am also working on my personal blog for divyaprabandhams named "azhvar-arulamudham.blogspot.com".

During the time of pandemic, a great initiative was started by Smt.Malathi Balaji and she roped in a few people to support the Divya Prabandham Workshop.  Fortunately, I was one among them in this divine endeavor of introducing simple English meanings for “Nalayira Divya Prabandhams” considered as drAvida vEdam.  Under the benevolent blessings of Divyadampatis, Azhvars, AchAryas, and the able guidance of Guru Smt. Seetha Saranathan, and the support of all the luminaries, Smt. Malathi has gone a long way in shaping up this project and taking the blog to a great level. Kudos to her efforts.

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Desikan Tiruvadigale Sharanam

Smt. Seethalakshmi Ramesh

22/11/2023

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Smt. Vidya Varadhan

Adiyen’s humble prostrations to poorvacharyas of Andavan Periyashramam, my AchAryan Srimushnam Andavan and Prakrutam Andavan Sri Varaha Mahadesikan.

I served as a science teacher for 5 years in Jawahar Vidyala, Chennai and as a science and maths teacher for 10 years in Swami Vivekananda School, Chembur, Mumbai. Bharatanatyam has been my interest from childhood. I am a disciple of Guru Shri S.K. RAjaratnam Pillai (Vazhuvoor Dance School), Chennai. 

My grandmother used to sing the 4000 Divyaprabandhams set to various ragas. The childhood period was filled with bhajan classes conducted by my mother. My mother-in-law taught me Tiruppavai and TirumAlai saying that they are important tamizh pasurams to be recited every day. She also taught me Paduka Sahasram of Swami Desikan.

Satsangs matter a lot in our spiritual journey. After shifting to Mumbai, I was blessed to reside close to Ahobila Mutt temple in Chembur and get the association of our Guru mami Smt. Seeta Saranathan. I feel indeed blessed to be introduced to Divya Prabandham through her personal classes first and then through this online workshop. As I slowly imbibed our beautiful sampradayam, I began to read books written by our Acharyas.  The quest for knowledge matured when emperumAn resolved to give me this online platform through Smt. Malati Balaji who invited me to join this likhita kainkaryam of writing concise meanings to divyaprabandham pasurams.  It was immensely enjoyable to read the vast explanations given by our AchAryas. I must thank my family for supporting me in all these endeavors.

With Acharyas grace, I had the great opportunity to complete the kalakshepam on Swami Desikan’s RahasyatrayasAram twice under my kalakshepa AcharyAs U.Ve. Lakshmikumara Tatachariar of Srirangam (Pudukkottai Vasu Swami) and U. Ve. Urupattur SoundararAjan SwAmi. AdiyEn is now attending Bhagavad Vishayam and Geeta Bhashyam kalakshepams under U. Ve. Lakshmi Kumara Tatachariar Swami and the beautiful Drama, Sankalpa Sooryodayam under Shri Ananta Padmanabhaswamy Swami. 

In my free time, I teach Paduka Sahasram with concise meanings.  As part of ‘Nellai Sahasranama Mandali’, Adiyen is teaching Desika stotrams and other shlokas on Lord Narayana.

Adiyen

Smt. Vidya Varadhan

22/11/2023

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Smt. Sukanya Ravichandran

ASMAD GURUBHYO NAMA:|

श्रीमद् वत्सकुलाब्धि कौस्तुभमणे:  ज्ञान प्रभा भासिन:

श्रीमद् वॆङ्कट शॆष दॆशिकमणॆ: सम्प्राप्त सर्वश्रियं ।

श्रीवाणी गुरु विष्णुभक्ति करुणा तेजोध्रुतीनां निधिं

श्रीमद् श्रीनिधि राघवार्यमनघं श्री दॆशिकॆन्द्रं भजॆ ॥

श्रवत्सवंश-कलशोदधि-कौस्तुभस्य श्रीरवासराघवगुरो: तनयं ततश्च ।

विद्या अवाप्य विबुधॊतत्मतां दधानं कुर्वे सदाहृदि गुरुं करुणाकराख्यम् ॥

My humble Namaskarams!

I am Sukanya Ravichandran. I prostrate and pay my pranamams to my Acharyas Shri Shrinidhi Swamy who initiated adiyen with samashrayanam and, Shri U.Ve. Karunakaracharya who performed Bharanyasam for adiyen.  I am fortunate and blessed to be associated in this kainkaryam. 

I was born in Mannargudi, the nice town which is protected by the benign grace of Rajagopalan and Senkamalavalli Tayar.  My grandfather, Shri. A. Srinivasa Iyengar was a philanthropist and contributed towards Veda Samrakshanam. He established the “Annasamy Iyengar Veda Patashala” in Mannargudi. He also instituted the Annaswami Iyengar Vidwat Sadas at the behest of and blessings of Kanchi Maha Periyava, and organised the “Trimatha Vidvat Sadas” where scholars of the three sampradayams viz Vishistadvaitam, Advaitam and Dvaitam participate, debate and give upanyasams. Pariksha in vedam, Pancharatra Agamam and Divyaprabandam are conducted, and certificates are given to the successful vidyarthis. Illustrious stalwarts in the sampradaya have graced the Sadas over all the years. The 75th Sadas just concluded in August 2023.  Having had the good fortune of growing up in such an atmosphere, I was drawn to temples, deities, utsavams and alankarams.

I am a relatively a late entrant into the realms of prabandhams and sampradaya vishayam. I was fortunate to learn “Divyaprabandham santai” and some Desika stotrams from our Guru, Shri U. Ve. Kalyanapuram Aravamudhacharyar. My interest in the Tamizh vEdam was kindled by Swami's vivid description of Periyazhvar’s pasurams in his various Harikatha Kalakshepams. My interest was further honed by listening to and attending upanyasams of Shri. U. Ve. Velukkudi Krishnan Swami. 

I am indebted to Smt. Malathi for giving me this opportunity to do this kainkaryam. I am tempted to conclude with this quote from Ramanuja Noorrandadi.... என்னை புவியில் ஒரு பொருளாக்கி", "இப்பணியை பணித்த  இராமானுசா! நின் பாதம் பணிந்தேன். 

AchAryan tiruvadigalE sharaNam.

Smt. Sukanya Ravichandran

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Smt. Vasudha Murali

Shri Ranganayaki Sametha Ranganatha Parabrahmane Namaha!

Born in the sacred sthalam of Srirangam and hailing from a traditional Tamizh brahmin family of strong values and cultural connections, I have been interested in the Tamizh language, religious texts and sthala puranas from a very young age. Growing up in a joint family under the guidance of my grandfather Sri Sataari Sevaka Sri Krishnaswamy Sarma, Founder, LIFCO,  drew me closer to traditional values, with devotion playing a major role in my life ever since. 

My interest in Tamizh largely grew when I accompanied my father Shri. T.N.C Varadan to LIFCO  every day, as a teenager. In my late 30s, as the Website Editor of his publication house, I gained experience in proofreading, translating, drafting, and editing various Tamizh books and other written works. Exploring further into the ancient language helped me hone my literary skills and I began composing couplets, poems, and short pieces in Sentamizh. I have been fortunate to pen citations for awardees/special guests and compere at ceremonies hosted by the Rotary Club, Smt. Mangalam Ganapathy's Trust, etc. Presently, as a Tamizh tutor to school-going children, I find immense satisfaction in spreading the joy of learning and appreciating Tamizh. 

Special thanks and appreciation to my dear friend Malathi Balaji for introducing me to the world of English translation for Divya Prabandham and for encouraging me to delve deeper. Her sincere efforts to make valuable Tamil texts available in the English language are commendable. 

Saashtaanga namaskaarams to my Divya Prabhandham Guru Smt. Kodhai Srinivasaraghavan and, my Paduka Sahasram Guru Smt. Devaki Seshasayee for their wonderful guidance in the path of religion and spirituality. Their enlightening teachings have deepened my passion for Sat-Saatvika topics, and this motivates me to contribute better to this blog and to my personal writing collection (tamilavali.wordpress.com).

I am happy to be a part of this divine venture and I am thankful to my blog crew, family, and friends for supporting me in this endeavor.

Azhwar Acharyan Thiruvadigale Sharanam!

Smt. Vasudha Murali

19/05/21

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