As Sri Vaishnavas we are blessed to have so many wonderful literatures to read for a lifetime. Artha Panchakam is one of the gems of Sri Vaishnava literatures. The book says something that both a layman & Sri Vaishnava alike would yearn to know. Similarly the book would be equally engaging for learned Sri Vaishnavas also. So what does the book say about? It answers the basic but important questions every person who believes in God would ask himself every now and then.
- Who are we? (Sva-svarupa)
- Who is the Lord? (Para-svarupa)
- What’s our goal? (Purusaartha-svarupa)
- The ways to attain the goal. (Upaya-svarupa)
- The hindrances in attaining our Goal. (Virodhi-svarupa)
The above points might seem simple, but if we think deeply we realise that these carry answers to a lot of spiritual questions one might have. Also in these points, lie the answer to why and how to escape this vicious cycle of life & death. For a layman it answers questions like What is birth & death, Who created him and What is he?
Artha Panchakam is also mentioned in Nammalwar’s Thiruvaimozhi. Swami Pillai Lokacharya has also written about Artha Panchakam. These are known as the 5 basic truths every Sri Vaishnava should know.
A simple english translation of Artha Panchakam Sri A. Govindacarya Swami can be downloaded here. Sri Chinna Jeeyar swami’s discourse on Artha Panchakam in Telugu can be found here – chinnajeeyar.org/Downloads/ArthaPanchakamPravachans.aspx.
Sri Vaishnavam 
what is meant by Bharanyasam?
A wonderful explanation about Bharanyasam can be found in ramanuja.org site.
Adiyean.
Bharanyasam is prapatti or saranagati.
sir thankyou for your reply.and i want to know more about vaishnava shastramand samradhayam.which book will be usefull for that.
Sir, I request you to give us the Sanskrit version of artha panchakam.
namsakaram
Sanskrit Version of Artha Panchakam can be found here – bit.ly/works-of-acharyas
Adiyean Dasan.
Hi there,
It is sad to know the way one section of people conduct themselves when it comes to another section of people re: religious practises, forgetting the fact that there is a greater doom looming over both the groups of people, namely conversion into foreign religions.
I went to the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Pondicherry. This temple is close to the tourist spot which seems to be a park with work on rocks. It was a peaceful darshan but when I came out, I saw people urinating in front of the temple facing a wall that was high and enclosing the temple. It seemed to me they were urinating within the compuound wall of the temple. I asked the flower sellers at the front door of the temple if they talked to the people who urinated in front of the temple. They told me that they talked to them but they(the flower sellers) could not do anything to stop the practice. How could they? They are poor. The sight of men standing and urinating right in front of the temple drove me into the depths of depression.
What can we all do to stop this practice? I doubt if the government will help us. Where are the volunteers?
Kausalya Sankaran
HI there!
There are flower sellers to try and stop men from urinating in front of the temple. Where are the others?
Hi men who use a temple’s premise to urinate: The wall between you and the road, pedestrians, motorists and others block you so road users cannot see what you are doing. How about the Deity behind you? Have you ever turned to look at Him? There is no wall between and the deity. He is watching you – there is no obstruction between you and HIM.
paritrAnAya sadhunAm vinAshaya dushkritam…..
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