Kuresa & Sri Sthavam--4.2(Final Part)

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Dear Members of the Prapatti group:

 

We will focus now on the vesrses 6 to 11 of Sri Stavam.

 

Verse 6: O, Ranganayaki! It is said that wealth is of two kinds.

One is that , which is experienced here on earth (Eihikam) and the other

experienced in Sri Vaikuntam by Mukthas and Nitya Suris(Aamushmikam).

Both these types of wealth are enjoyed by a fortunate few as a result of

the anugraham of your merciful glances falling on them.

The beneficial impact of those glances do not surprise us one bit !

The reason for our belief is that we know already that Your Lord ,who is

His Own Master ,considers Himself Kruthaarthan (one , who achieved

the purpose of his mission) ,when your glances fall on Him. Kuresa

summarizes the special blessed atatus of Sriman Narayana this way:

 

" JAGANNATHA: ATMESWARA: NARAYANOPI

TAVA EEKSHANAATH SVAATMAANAM DHANYAM MANYATEH "

 

Verse 7: O, Consort of Ranganatha! Whatever blessings a Chetana possesses

as Wealth, Beauty ,goodness and auspiciousness in this world , ALL of these

result from You. It is Your (Lakshmi ) sambhandam that makes them qualified

in the above manner. Some of them become auspicious by SAAKSHAAT Lakshmi

Vachaka Sabdham and the others by Lakshmi VISISHTA Vaachaka Sabdham.

Kuresa refers in this verse to two types of auspiciousness thru association with

 

SRI SABDHAM. One is " SRIRITI ABHEDHENA PRATAAM ASNUTEH ". By the

very attchment of the Sabdham "SRI" , they attain auspiciousness. Thiru Pathi,

Thiru Mangai, Thiru Maalikai , Thiru ViLakku, Sri Kuresa are examples

of the Sakshaat Sabdham. Visishta Vaachaka Sabdhams are illustrated by

Srimad Bhagavatam,Srimad Ramaayanam , Srimad Anantha Saras et al.

 

Verse 8: Devi ! Even Your Lord does not comprehend fully the limits of your

Kalyana Gunaas. For that matter, You Yourself do not know the full extent of

Your own auspicious qualities. This lack of awareness does not in any way

cause harm to Your title as SARVAJNAI or as the one, who understands every

aspect of knowledge. The reason for my view is as follows: Some think that one

is a

Sarvajnan ,when one possesses knowledge about nonexisting things (e.g) horn of a

hare,

Lotus growing in the sky, mirage in the desert . One , who prides themselves

about

knowledge of those nonreal things would be at the head of a group of deluded

ones.

In Your case, however , The limit to Your Mahima is an unreal thing (i-e), there

is no

such limit. It is understandable therefore that You do not know about an

unreal,

nonexisting thing. Hence , there is no dispute on Your Sarvajnatvam.

Your "unawareness (Ajnanam)" Is Yataartha Jnanaparaaya Ajnanam and is not

a Sarvatvabanjaka Ajnanam. The essence of this verse is that Maha Lakshmi"s

auspicious qualities do not have any limit (i-e) they are limitless.

 

Verse 9& 10: These two slokas end with the Saranagati statement:" Devadeva

Mahishim SRIYAM Aasrayaama: ". In the ninth verse, Kuresa states that those,who

offer Saranagati at the lotus feet of Maha Lakshmi will be blessed with great

scholarship or Vak Samrutti. Kuresa explains that by pointing out that the

Goddess

of Learning, Saraswati is a Kinkari (Servant ) Of Maha Lakshmi .Therefore, She

will bless the Prapannas of Her Mistress with her own blessings .In the tenth

verse,

Kuresa refers to a happening at the time of the Universal Deluge(Pralayam ). At

that

time , there is no Lakshmi Kataksham on this world. Hence, all chetanas and

achetanas

are anemic and famished and are in a state resembling death.When Maha Lakshmi

took pity on the state of the Universe and thought about casting Her glance at

the suffering

Universe, that very thought of Her gave new life to the chetanas and achetanas.

They became invigourated with energy and strength. Life came back all over.

Kuresa

sought refuge at Her holy feet , which is the embodiment of Compassion.

 

Verse 11: Kuresa concludes the Sri Sthavam by describing the power of that

merciful

glance of Ranganayaki. He begs Her to enrich him by casting Her glance on him.

In this verse, he reveals that even a second's rest of Her glance on one will

result in the

acquisition of riches of the kind that have no comparison . That Eiswaryam

blessed

by Ranganayaki is not the ordinary wealth that disappears with time. It is the

unalloyed

bliss of Moksham and residence in Sri Vaikuntam as a Muktha Jivan in the

company

of Divya Dampathis and the Nitya Suris. Kuresa prays for the wealth of

Kainkarya Sampat

from Sri Devi in this Sthavam.

 

Swami Desikan elaborated on the brief prayer of Kuresa in his SRI STHUTI . There

are

25 verses in Swami Desikan"s Sthuti. The first 12 and the last 12 of them pay

tribute to

Sri Devi"s Kalyana Gunaas and reveal the Saastric truths about Her EKASESHITVAM.

In the epicenter of this sthuti , in the 13th verse, Swami Desikan celebrates

the Pattabhishekam of Maha Lakshmi , when She appeared out of the milky ocean

during the time of its churning and became the consort of Maha Vishnu and

thereby

gave Him the title of Sriya: Pathi.

 

Swami Desikan like Kuresa recognized Her as "Mangalaanaanam Mangalam" and

"Sreyo Murthi: ". He reveals that She is the auspiciousness behind all

auspiciousness

and that She is the embodiment of Benevolence . He points out that in the Yajna

of

Prapatti, The Jivan, the property of the Divya dampathis , has to be presented

as

Havis to them in recognition of their role as EKASESHIS. Swami salutes the

divine

couple , who are inseperable this way: " Dampathee Yuvaanam Na: Daivatham ".

He salutes them as equals in the spirit of the Vedas. He adds that the Atman has

to

be presented as Havis to both of them to conclude one's Prapatti and to receive

thereafter the fruit of Moksham through that offering to the Divine Couple.

Swami

says that the blessed -ones are single- minded about getting Sevaadhikaaram to

the

Divine Couple practising Ekaseshitva Yogam. Such Prapannas according to Swami

treat the other riches of the world as worthless as the blades of Grass.

 

I will conclude this posting on Sri Sthavam with the Dhyana Slokam of the Sri

Sthuti

of Swami Desikan, who drew his inspiration from the former. Here Swami sums up

the Kalyana Gunaas of Maha Lakshmi in the manner celebrated by Alawanddar in

Chatussloki, Ramanuja in Sriranga Gadhyam, Kuresa in Sri Sthavam

and Parasara Bhattar in Guna Ratna Kosam . The Dhyana Slokam is as follows:

 

KALYANAANAAM AVIKALA NIDIHI: KAAPI KAARUNYASEEMAA

NITYAAMODHAA NIGAMAVACHASAAM MOWLIMANDAARA MAALAA I

SAMPAT DIVYAA MADHUVIJAINA: SAMNIDATTAAM SADHAA MEH

SYSHAA DEVI SAKALA BHUVANA PRAARTHANAA KAMADHENU: II

 

Here, Swami Desikan recognizes Maha Lakshmi as the Auspiciousness (Mangalam )

behind ALL auspicious objects and Tattvaas. He understands Her as the

boundary of Mercy .He sees Her as a Mandara garland adorning the head of

the fragrant Veda Mantraas .He salutes Her as the most precious wealth

of the Lord. He points out to us that She is the boon-granting , wish-yielding

Kamadhenu for all the worlds. Swami Desikan prays that Maha Lakshmi of such

attributes should always reside in his mind. Kuresa prayed for the glances of

Maha Lakshmi to fall on him and thereby sanctify him.

 

I conclude this posting with a prayer to Maha Lakshmi to bless us all .

 

Aazhwaar, Aachaaryaal Thiruvadigaleh Saranam,

 

Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan

Yuva Year, Maasi Month , First Day.