Indra neela paddhathi of RPS : 20th paddhathi

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Dear Sri RanganAtha PaadhukhA SevakAs :

 

Swami Desikan composed 30 verses in praise of the blue

sapphires decorating Sri Ranganatha paadhukhAs . With this

paddhathi , our AchAryA concludes his focus on the individual

gems of the Lord's PaadhukhAs . We will focus on six slokAs

of this paddhathi in this posting on RPS.

 

Slokam 1 :

 

HariNA harineelaisccha prathiyathnavatheem sadhA I

ayathna labhya nirvANAm aasrayE MaNipaadhukhAm II

 

The Lord's hue is that of Indraneelam ( Neelamegha shyAmaLan ) .

That Lord of sky blue hue is resting His sacred feet on the sandals

adorned with IndraneelA stones. Therefore , the paadhukhAs are

blessed to have as decoration , the Lord and the IndraneelA stones.

Sawmi Desikan points out that those , who surrender to the PaadhukhAs

( AacharyAs ) will gain the boon of Moksham effortlessly .

 

In this context , Swami Desikan says : " I surrender unto

the PaadhukhAs of the Lord , which confer the blessings of Moksham

without any previous effort on my part. I surender unto those

PaadhukhAs , which have the Lord and the IndraneelA stones as

their decoration . Those sacred paadhukhAs confer many kinds

of blessings on the debvotees , who approach them " .

 

Swami Desikan recognizes the PaadhukhAs as NammAzhwAr

and the Achaarya paramparai that follows him . AachAryAs intervene

with the Lord to get the blessings of MokshA for the prapannAs ,

who performed prapatthi to them . Hence , the prapannA does not

need to do anything extra . If on the otherhand , a seeker of Moksham

approached the Lord directly , he has to take the ardous route of Bhakthi

or the easier route of Prapatthi to atain Moksham . Surrendering to the Lord's

PaadhukhAs obviates the need for any such special efforts for gaining Moksham .

 

Slokam 5 :

 

charaNAvani bhaathi sahyakanyA

harineela dhyuthibhi : tavAnuviddhA I

VasudEvasuthasya RangavrutthE :

YamunEva svayamAgathA sameepam II

 

O PaadhukhE ! Cauveri river originating from the SahyA mountain

in the west blends at Srirangam with the blue rays of your sapphire

gems and takes on the hue of the dark blue stream of Yamuna river

of the north flowing near Brindhaavanam .

 

Swami Desikan recognizes Sri RanganaathA , who incarnated

as KrishNa in BrindAvanam and played on the banks of the river

YamunA . He suggests that yamunA has come to Srirangam in

the form of Cauveri to be near her Lord , who had jala kreetA

in her and also played on her banks and sands .

 

Slokam 7 :

 

nethrEshu pumsAm tava paadharakshE !

neelAsmabhaasA nihithAnjanEshu I

Sriyaa samam samsritharangakOsa:

nidhi: svayam vyathim upaithi nityam II

 

O PaadhukhE ! when the blue rays from your sapphire fall

on the eyes of your devotees , they serve as the collyrium

or bluish-black pigmnet (anjanam ) used to paint the eye lashes of

the women . Your magical bluish-black collyrium through its

divine power is able to make transparent Sri RanganAthA

with Sri Devi resting under His Ranga VimAnam at Srirangam .

 

Swami Desikan points out here that the blue rays of the sapphire

on the Lord's paadhukhAs travel over considerable distances and reach

the eyes of those , who wish to undertake a journey to Srirangam .

Immediately , the blue anjanam (rays ) reveal Sri RanganaathA

with His consort at Srirangam like a magical ointment that

reveals the hidden treasures to those , who wear it on their eyelids .

 

The inner meaning of the slokam is that the Lord appears

effortlessly before the eyes of those , who understand the true

doctrines incorporated in the paasurams of NammAzhwAr just as

the one , who wears the magical ointment detects the hidden

treasures (pudhayals ) readily .

 

Slokam 9:

 

jeevathyamruthavarshiNi prajaa :

taavaki dhanujavairi paadhukhE ! I

ghOrasamsaraNa karmanaasinee

kALikEva Harineela paddhathi : II

 

O PaadhukhE ! The gift one receives after entering

the Moksha SaamrAjyam is the taste of nectar .

Your rows of deep blue sapphire are like rain-laden clouds

that shower life-perpetuating nectar on the people blessed by you

to banish their samsaaric afflictions . Through these life giving showers ,

prapannAs surendering to you get relief from the scorching

heat of the summer of samsArA .

 

The inner meaning of this slokam is that the sorrow of samsArA

is destroyed for those , who understand the true meanings

of the paasurams of NammAzhwAr .

 

Slokam 21 :

 

tvayi vinihithamEthath kEpi pasyanthi mandhA :

sathamakamaNijaalam SaarngiNa: paadarakshE ! I

vayamidhamiha vidhma: prANinaam bhAvukAnaam

hrudhayagruhaguhAbhya: peethamandham tamisram II

 

O PaadhukhAs of SaarangapANi ! some dim-witted people

see your sapphires as the cluster of blue rays of a precious gem .

We on the contrary recognize them as the destroyer of the darkness

in the heart caves of those , who meditate on your Lord.

For us, the blue rays of your sapphire banish the darkness

present in the heart caves and reveal the location of your Lord

residing there .

 

Slokam 30 :

 

namathAm nijEndra neelaprabhavEna

MukhundhapaadhukhE ! bhavathi I

tamasA nirasyathi tama:

kantakamiva kantakEnEva II

 

O Mukhundha PaadhukhE ! Through the dark lustre emanating

from your sapphires , you remove the dark guNam ( TamO guNam)

of the people of this earth , who bow before you . In this respect ,

you act like a thorn that is used to remove another thorn

from one's flesh .

 

The inner meaning is that AzhwAr is the Paadhukai .

The blue rays of the sapphire are the paasurams that were

born out of the AzhwAr's sorrow over separation from the Lord .

Those , who understand the meaning of these paasurams

lose their sorrows associated with samsAra taapam .

When such a person reflects over his loss on not getting

closer to the Lord , his sorrows melt away as in the case of

the AzhwAr .

 

Sri Ranganaatha Divya MaNi paadhukhE ! Thubhyam nama:

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan Kovil VaradAchAri Sadagopan