Sri Ranganatha PadhukhA Sahasram--part 5

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Dear Members of the Prapatthi group :

 

In this posting , I will cover the Third and Fourth

Paddhathis of RPS named PrabhAva and SamarpaNa

Paddhathis by Swami Desikan .

 

In the first Paddhathi , he announced the creation of

the Sthothram on the sacred sandals of the Lord of

Srirangam . In the second Paddhathi , he discussed

the significance of the name of " Satakopan " and related it

to the paadhukhAs of the Lord . In the seventy slokAs of

the third Paddhathi , he focused on the glories of the sandals

of the Lord of Srirangam .

 

***** THIRD PADDHATHI : PRABHAAVA PADDHATHI

 

In the very first slokam , Swami Desikan sets the tone

for the celebration of the glories of the Paadhukais of

the Lord . He says :

 

vandE tadhranganAthasya mAnyam padhukayOryugam I

unnathAnAmavanathi: nathAnAm yathra chOnnathi : II

 

(menaing ) : I salute the celebrated PaadhukhAs of Sri RanganAthA,

which makes the tall become small (humble ) and the small become

tall. Swami Desikan points out that those , who stand tall with their

display of ego are reduced in rank and humbled by the PaadhukhAs;

similarly , those who humbly worship them get elevated and receive

the blessings of Sri RanganAthA . Even the Lord Himself becomes

taller , when He wears the PaadhukhAs and becomes shorter , when

He steps down from them !

 

In the second verse of this paddhathi , Swami Desikan states that

it is impossible to write about the limitless auspicious attributes

of Sri RanganAtha PaadhukhAs . Even if the entire sky is made into

the paper for writing , even if the seas are made to serve as the ink ,

even if the thousand-headed MahA Purushan (Adhi Seshan ) is appointed

to become a writer , it is doubtful that one can complete adequately

the task of writing on the immeasurable , auspicious attributes

of the Lord's PaadhukhAs .

 

In the third verse , Swami Desikan points out that the glories of the PaadhukhAs

have their basis in the VedAs . That basis is elaborated by Sage Valmiki in

Srimadh RamAyaNam and by Vyasa BahgavAn in Srimadh Bahgavatham .

Swami says here that the works of Sages Valmiki and Vyaasa serve as the two

eyes to experience the glory of the PaadhukhAs . Sage Valmiki describes with

reverence the glory of Sri Rama PaadhukhAs being worshipped by BharathA .

In Srimadh Bhagavatham , Vyasa BhagavAn describes the story of Uddavar ,

who received the instructions directly from Lord KrishNa on Moksha Dharmam ;

after that , Uddavar carried Lord KrishNa's paadhukhAs on his head and

worshipped them at BadarikAsramam . In many other PurANAs also , Vyasa

BhagavAn has extolled the greatness of the Lord's PaadhukhAs .

 

In the seventy seventh slokam , Swami says that there is no limit

to PaadhukhA's glories and his countless sins

are clearly dispelled by the power and the golries of the PaadhukhAs.

The inner meaning is that even if one is a great sinner , the prabhAvam

of the AchAryAs banishes the sins of those , who perform prapatthi

at the sacred feet of their AchAryAs .

 

***** FOURHT PADDHATHI : SAMARPANA PADDHATHI

 

There are 20 verses in this paddhathi. The central theme

is the presentatioN (SamarpaNam ) of the PaadhukhAs by

Sri Ramabhadran to his younger brother , BharathA . Latter

begged and pressed Sri RamA to return to AyodhyA and

Sri RamA had no interest in returning there . At that time ,

the Kula Guru VasishtA recommended that Sri RamA

present his PaadhukhAs to BharathA instead of him returning

in person to AyodhyA .

 

Swami Desikan observes playfully that Sri Rama performed

parasthAnam with his PaadhukhAs . ParasthAnam is typically

done , when one can not start on a planned journey on an

auspicious day due to unexpected developments. On that day ,

ParasthAnam is performed by placing the baggage to be taken

on the planned journey at a place other than one's own.

Similarly , Sri RamA could not journey back to AyodhyA on the

day that BahrathA requested him at Chithrakutam . Therefore

Swami Desikan says that Sri RamA performed parasthAnam

at Nandigramam with his paadhukhAs.

 

The inner meaning is that Jeevan begs Sriman NarAyanA to come to

it or asks the Lord to invite it to His parama padham with great

intensity and desire . The Lord is not ready to accede to that request

and blesses the Jeevan with a SadhAcharyan , who is deeply attached

to His lotus feet . When the Jeevan follows the instructions of that

sadhAcharyan and receives that Acharyan's complete blessings , then the

Lord joins the Jeevan with Him at Parama Padham . This inner meaning

suggests that one can not be united with the Lord without the paripurNa

anugraham of a sadhAcharyan .

 

The slokam pregnant with these meanings is :

 

bhajAma: padhukhE yAbhyAm bahrathasyAgrajastadhA I

prAya: prathiprAyANAya prAsthanikamakalpayath II

 

In the second verse , Swami Desikan points out the meaning

behind Sri Rama taking his PadhukhAs with him instead of

all other material things , when he left on his exile to

the forest . Swami points out that PadhukhAs must be

one of the most precious objects to him for taking them alone on

this journey . The inner meaning is that

Sriman NarAyaNA in Sri Vaikuntam worries about the Bhaddha

Jeevans in the prakruthi mandalam . He places the AchAryAs

(His Nitya Suris ) as ParasthAnam on His earth to redeem the

Jeevans bound in the snares of SamsAram .

 

In the seventh verse , Swami Desikan asks a rhetorical

question : Who would have consoled and helped the citizens

of Kosala Desam , if the PadhukhAs had joined Rama along

with His brother and wife on the journey to the forest ?

The PadhukhAs returned to AyodhyA to save the people from their

sorrows .Here the inner meaning is that we would not have

any Acharya paramparai to speak of had Sriman NaarAyaNA

not blessed Natha Muni with his Paadhukhas ( SatAri Suri )

as his AcharyA in the form of NammAzhwAr.

 

In the sixteenth slokam , Swami Desikan makes an interesting

observation related to the Srimadh RamAyaNa passage

that refers to BahrathA's request for Sri Rama to step on the

PaadhukhAs before giving them to him ( AdhirOhArya PaadhAbhyAm ).

Swami Desikan states that Sri RamachandrA did not step on

the PadhukhAs to empower them , since the PadhukhAs had

unmatchable power of their own . Instead , he ascended them

to receive the portion of their power to overcome the pains of

travelling in the forest floor strewn with sharp stones and thorns.

 

Thus Swami Desikan celebrates the prabhAvam of the sacred

PadhukhAs during the occasion of the presentation of them

to BahrathAzhwan by Sri Ramachandra at Chitrakutam .

 

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam .

 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan