MM"s YRV : Part 4

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhakthi Group members :

 

I will cover the fourth slokam in this posting .

The slokam is as follows :

 

nityam Yatheendhra ! divya vapu: smruthou mE

saktham manO bhavathu vaak guNa keerthanEsou I

kruthyam dAsyakaraNam thu kara dvayasya

vruthantharEsthu vimukam karaNa trayam cha II

 

(meaning ) : O Emperor of Yathis ! May my mind be blessed to

meditate on your beautiful body (divya MangaLa vigraham) !

May my speech be engaged always in talking about your

auspicious attributes ! May the two hands of mine be always

engaged in serving you as your dAsA ! May my three karaNAs

( manas , Vaak and Kaayam ) be diverted from any other activities !

 

This slokam is the essence of the three paasurams ( 100-102)

of AmudanAr's RaamAnusa NooRandhadhi . In the first of the above

three paasurams , AmudanAr talks about his mind being engaged

in the enjoyment of the auspicious attributes of his AchAryA . Here , he

also prays for the boon of freedom from other distractions . In the second

of the triad , AmudanAr seeks the boon for his toungue to be engaged

in talking about the Vaibhavam of his AchaaryA . This is uttama kalpam for

a devoted disciple . In the third paasuram of this group , AmudanAr

moves from manas , Vaak to the kaayam ( hands , eyes et al ) .

Amudanaar says :

 

naiyum^manam un^ guNangaLai unni yenn naa irundhuem^--

iyyan RaamAnusan yenru azhaikkum aruvinayEn

kaiyum^thozhum kaNN^karuthidum kaaNakkadal pudai soozh

vaiyaam^idanil uhn vanmai yenn paal unn vaLarnthathuvE

 

(meaning ) : My mind melts with joy over the contemplation

of your kalyANa GuNAs ( Naiyum^ manam un^ gunangaLai unni ) .

My tongue has stablized itself and performs naama sankeerthanam

by calling , " O my Swami , RamAnujA " ( yenn naa irundhu yemm

Iyan RaamAnusan yenru azhaikkum ) . My sinful hands unite in

anjali mudrA to salute you (aruvinayEn kaium tuozhum ) . My eyes

search for your presence . AmudanAr concludes this paasuram

by pointing out that his Manas ,Vaak, hands and eyes are blessed

to be involved with his AchaaryA because of the jnAnam that his

AcharyA blessed him with . Elsewhere , AmudanAr prays to his

Acharya for the blessings of distraction-free devotion at his lotus feet.

 

MM prays here in the manner of AaNdAL ( MaRRai nam kaamangaL

mARRElOrempaavaai ) and AmudanAr . MM's prayer to have the blessings

of the chintanA of the beautiful body of AchArya RaamAnujA reminds

one of the celebration of Swami Desikan about the anga Sowndharyam

of the Yatheendhrar in his 11th verse of YathirAja Sapthadhi :

 

upaveedhinam oordhva pundravantham

trijagadh puNya palam thridhanda hastham I

saraNAgatha saartha vaaham eedE

sikhayA sekariNam pathim yatheenAm II

 

(meaning ) : I salute the emperor of SanyAsis , RaamAnujA ,

who is resplendent in his appearanace wearing the sacred

thread, urdhva Pundrams and beautiful tuft made up of dense black

tresses . He is holding the thri dhandam in his hands

as a result of the puNyams accumulated by the three worlds and

is leading the prapannAs to moksha saamrAjyam . In yet another

slokam , Swami Desikan celebrated the beauty of Sri RamAnujA's

hand holding the JnAna mudhrA .

 

EmbAr has also painted a memorable word picture of the majestic

beauty of RaamAnujA in his SanyAsa Aasramam :

 

" parpamenatthihazh painkazhalunran pallavamE viralum

paavanamAhiya painthuvaraadai pathintha marunkazhahum

muppuri noolodu munkailEndhiya mukkOl tannazhahum

munnavar tandhidu mozhikaL niranithidu muruval nilAvazhahum

karpakamE vizhi karunai pozhinthidu kamalkkaNNazhahum

kaarisu tan kazhal soodiya mudiyum kana naRRsihai mudiyum

yeppozhudhum yethiraasan VADIVAZHAHU yeenidhayatthuLathAl

ILLAI YENAKKU YETHIR ILLAI YENAKKU YETHIRILLAI YENAKKETHIRE "

 

Those who have had the darsana bhaagyam of the majestic

beauty of the divya mangaLa vigraham of Acharya RaamAnuja at

Sri Perumbhoodhoor and Melkote can relate to the celebration of

Embaar"s paasuram in Tamil and its echo in Sanskrit by

Swami Desikan . The depth of enjoyment of EmbAr , Swami

Desikan and MaNavALa Maamuni arise form their profound

AcharyA anubhavam .

 

Embar's anubhavam of RamAnujA's lotus feet ,

tender fingers reminding one of the creepers ,

sacred ochre robe , auspicious yagnOpaveedham ,

thridandam , smile laden with dayA , eyes reminiscent of

wish yielding kalpakA tree , tuft formed by abundant tresses

is simply beautiful . EmbAr states that there is no one equal to him

in all the worlds because of his enshrinement of Sri RamAnuja

of such great beauty and sacredness in his heart lotus .

 

MM has also celebrated in his Aarhti Prabhandham

the lotus feet of YathirAjar and his sacred ochre robe

symbolizing his achAryA's uttamAsramam :

 

" seerArumethirAsar thiruvadigaL vaazhi ,

thiruvarayil saatthiya senthuvarAdai Vaazhi "

 

Like Mathura Kavi saluting his AchaaryA , EmbAr ,

Swami Desikan and MM offered their own profound

homage to the king of sanyAsis , RaamAnujA . I will

conclude this posting with a quotation from Upadesa Ratna Maalai,

where MM slautes the dayA guNam of YathirAjar and

puts that in perspective to his poorvAchAryAs . in this 37th

Upadesa Ratna Maalai pasuram , MM makes the distinction

between the anuvrutthi prasannAchAryAs( poorvAchAryAs)

and the KrupAmAtra PrasannAchArya like RamAnujA :

 

" OrANvazhiyAyupadesitthAr munnOr

yerArethirAsarinnaruLAl , paarulahil

aasai udayOrkkellAm aariyargAL koorumentu

pesi varambaRutthAr pinn " .

 

AzhwAr , AchAryaaL ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan