Sri RanganAtha PaadhukhA Sahasram(RPS): Naadha Paddhathi--Part 14.3

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Dear Members of the Prapatthi Group :

 

I will cover the slokams 21 to 25 of the Naadha Paddhathi

in this posting . With this posting , we would have reached

the first quartile of the Naadha Paddhathi .

 

Verse 21/401

 

In this slokam , Swami Desikan refers to the challenge

to compose this epic work of eulogising the PaadukhAs

of the Lord of Srirangam during the course of one night .

Here, our AcharyA salutes the PaadhukhAs for their

anugraham to complete this kaavyam through him .

 

Our Acharya states : " O PaadhukhE ! You have made me

a pledge to help me compose thousand verses

on your vaibhavam celebrated by the Vedaas . You are describing

your own limitless qualities through me . I am just an instrument

in your hands to complete this daunting task . You seem to count

the number of steps your Lord takes with you to determine and

fix the length of each of the thirty two paddhathis of this grantham ".

 

Swami Desikan reminds the padhukhAs that they prodded him

to accept the challenge in front of the assembly

of great scholars at Srirangam( PrakhyAthAnAm parishadhi

sathAm KAARAYITHVAA Prathij~nAm ) to compose this kaavyam .

He points out that the PaadhukhAs are now helping him

through estabishing the structure for the Kaavyam and

keeping count on the number of Slokams to be included in each of

the 32 Paddhathis corresponding to the steps of Sri Rangapathi .

 

Verse 22/402

 

Swmi Desikan referred to the pledge made by the PaadhukhAs

in the previous verse to compose the PaadhukhA Sahasram

through him. Here, he describes another pledge made by

the PaadukhAs in this context to establish the unquestionable

supermacy of VishNu through thier unique Naadha patterns.

 

He says : " O PadhukhE ! You do a great service through your

pledge to help the dim-witted understand the supermacy of

VishNu through your own direct service to Him. You articulate

that message through your Naadham arising from the movement of

the bells and gems decorating you . Your clear message is that

the lotus feet of VishNu are the essence of sruthis. You explain

that the different methodologies adopted by the Vedas such as

SaamAnyam , Visesham , Yogam , Roodi , aparyavasAna vritthi ,

lakshaNai and GowNai , CONVERGE at the feet of your Lord. You

repeatedly remind people of all levels of jnAnam that the VedAs

sing in unison about the paramountcy of our Lord . You intrepret

this supreme truth through Naadha YogA for the unsophisticated

populace " .

 

The inner meaning of this slokam is that AzhwAr Thiruvaimozhi

reveals that the subject of adoration by the Upanishadsand VedAs

is that Sriman NaaRAyaNA is the one and only supreme Tattvam .

 

 

Verse 23/403

 

Swami Desikan refers in this slokam refers to another service

rendered by the sacred PaadhukhAs of the Lord of Srirangam .

 

He says : " O Madhusudhana PaadhukhE ! VedAs praise

the auspicious attributes of your Lord , who has been revered

by them as the paramount priniciple. Scholars use the Veda manthrAs

to offer homage to your Lord . During such efforts , they stumble

inspite of their Vedic scholarship . They falter , when

their affection for you overpowers them . These lapses in their concentration

(vide : Thirumozhisai Vaibhavam at Perumpuliyoor )

result in mistakes in MaatrAs ( prosodial or syllabic aspects defining

pronunciation

of the Veda manthrAs ) . Those mistakes in turn alters the meaning of

the individual manthrAs . At these times , your Naadham comes to their

rescue and corrects these mistakes in a manner , which makes one wonder

whether you are instructing them about the rules of SikshA , the science of

euphony ( the proper pronunciation of the words and the laws dealing with them

).

 

Reference here is to the composition of the Thiruvaimozhi

by NammAzhwAr in the form of Tamil Vedams and the help of

PaadhukhAs during those eforts .

 

It has been said that NammAzhwAr started singing about

the Vaibhavam of Sriman NaarAyaNA through his Thiruvaimozhi.

When he reached the 23rd verse of his first patthu , he fainted over the

thought of the Lord being tied up by YasodhA to an Ural

(Wodden mortar ) , when she caught her " son " in the act of stealing

butter. Until this verse , NammAzhwAr was singing about

the supermacy of the Lord . He was in full control of

his anubhavam and was tendering advise

to others about the pre-eminent stature of the Lord in his(AzhwAr"s ) role as

the compassionate AchArya. When he reached the 23rd paasuram of

Thiruvaimozhi dealing with the Sowlabhyam of the Lord , which dealt

with the Lord submeging His Parathvam and allowing Himself to be tied

and threatened by YasOdhA , he (AzhwAr ) could not hold himself together.

He is said to have fainted and remained in a state of unconsciousness

for six months over the thought of the Lord"s YeLimai

( Yetthiram UralinOdhu INainthirindhu yEngiya YeLivE --

Thiruvaimozhi 1.3.1) .

 

There is yet another intrepretation of the meaning of this slokam .

According to this version , it is the VedAs themselves that are

overcome by the thought of the glories of the PadhukhAs and

make mistakes in the middle of their adhyayanam regarding

the different mathrAs (Hrasvam, dheergam et al ) . They are

overcome by the thoughts about the anantha KalyANa guNams of

the PaadhukhAs and falter in their mAthrAs. It is at those times ,

the PaddhukhAs through their Sunaadham correct the mistakes

of the Vedams ( ---MaatrAdheeni manjubhi : svai : ninAdhai :

svayam sikshayasyEva) . This is the intrepretation of Srimadh

Andavan Aasramam . The earlier intrepretation is associated

with Utaamoor SwamigaL .

 

Verse 24 of Naadha Paddathi and the 404 of RPS

 

In the previous verse , Swami Desikan explained the vyaamoham

of the scholars and the VedAs for Sri RanganAthA . Here , he states that

the sweet and enchanting Naadham emanating from

the Lord's PaadhukhAs kindles the desire of the maidens of

Srirangam .

 

Swami says : " O Ranganaatha PaadhukhE !

The eternally youthful Lord of yours is carried by you around the streets

of Srirangam . The young girls of Srirangam flock to see your Lord

during those occasions of His uthsavams. At those times ,

the sweet Naadham arising from your sanchaaram drowns out the

sound made by the bow chord of ManmathA and makes the maiden fall

immediately in love with your Lord. At the same time , RanganAthA , who is

beyond the influence of ManmathA's arrows falls in love with the maidens

(Gopis ) of Srirangam due to the amorous powers of your Naadham.

 

The inner meaning of this slokam is that those who hear the

naadham of the Thiruvaimozhi recitation at the time of the Lord's

bhavani on the Raja Veedhis of Srirangam on the back of the

PaadhukhAs are pulled towards the Lord , forget whatever

they were doing and run with Him all the way back to

the Vaahana Mantapam . They do not want to return back

to their houses and continue their mundane activities .

 

Verse 25 of Naadha Paddhathi & 425th of RPS

 

This slokam is a beautiful one visualizing the sanchAram

of the Lord on His PaadhukhAs :

 

RangAdheesE saha KamalayA saadharam yAyajukai :

saaram divyam savana havishAm bhokthum aahuyamAnE I

nedheeyObhir nigama vachasAm nithyam amha pradheepai :

pratyAlaabham disathi bhavathi paadhukhE ! sinjithai: svai : II

 

Swami Desikan visulaizes the occasion of the offering of Havis

for the Divya Dampathis during Yajnams . He says : O PaadhukhE !

When the YajamAnAs performing the YajnAs call(Aalapam ) for your Lord

and His consort to come and receive their offerings(Havis ) ,

your Naadham appears to be the resoponse(PratyAlApam ) to their invitations.

Through your sacred Naadham identical to the soundings of

the VedAs, you seem to respond and advise the yajamAnAs

that the divya Dampathis are on their way to accept the Havis

offered by them .

 

BhakthAmrutham viswa janAnumodhanam

sarvArthatham Sri Satakopa Vaangmayam I

sahasra SaakOpanishadh samAgamam

namAmyaham Draavida Vedha Saagaram

 

Sriman SatAri Suri ! Thubhyam Namo Nama:

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan