Copy of: Prapanna Parijatham-- Part 2

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhakthi Group Members:

This posting might be of interest to

you all .

V.Sadagopan

 

P.S : On this day after Dipawali

( Amavasyai day ) , the Sri Vaishnavite

tradition follows the practise of

making lamp ( ahal type ) out of

Wheat flour and adding ghee to it

and light it with a wick

and recite Mahalakshmi sthuthis

in front of it . You may also

reflect upon the experience of

the MudalaazhwArs in this context ,

who saw the Divya dampathis

with theri own special lamps

at ThirikkOvalUr .

---------- Forwarded Message ----------

 

V. Sadagopan, 75041,3037

TO: AR, INTERNET:vvijay236

CC: SR, INTERNET:Srengara

DATE: 10/29/97 9:01 PM

 

RE: Copy of: Prapanna Parijatham-- Part 2

 

Sri PraNathArthihara Varadha

Para BrahmaNE Nama:

 

SrimathE RaamAnujAya nama:

 

SrimathE Vaatsya VaradhArya GuravE nama:

 

VandhEham VaradhAryam tham

vathsAbhijana BhUshaNam I

BhAshyAmrutha pradhAnAth

ya: sanjeevayathi maamapi II

 

Dear Fellow Sri VaishNavAs :

 

On the eve of the DeepAvaLi celebration ,

when the Lord banished the anthakAram

that surrounded the world by destroying Narakaasuran ,

it is my bhAgyam to write about Prapanna PaarijAtham

and reflect upon the links between the above grantham

and what happened on that Naraka Chathurthi day

at Indra Lokam and Dwarakai .

 

Let me salute Sri VaasudevA first with the words of

the mother of NarakAsurA , Sri Bhumi Devi :

 

namO BhagavathE thubhyam VaasudEvAya VishNavE I

PurushAya Aadhi bheejAya PurNa bhOdhAya thE nama: II

 

After NarakAsura Vadham , Lord KrishNA went to

Indra"s house and returned the ear-rings of Adithi ,

the mother of IndrA . Narakaasuran had stolen them .

SathyabhAma , who had accompanied and assisted

her Lord in the battle with Narakaasura desired to have

the divine PaaruijAtha tree flourishing in the garden of

Indra . Lord KrishNA uprooted that tree to please

His consort and had it transported to DwarakA on

the back of GarudA . That PaarijAtha tree was

transplanted at the garden of Lord KrishNA

at His city and the honey bees of Vaikuntam ( prapannAs )

shifted their residence to Dwaraka to enjoy the fragrance

of the flowers of the PaaijAthA tree and its nectar ,

which became even more sweeter because of

their proximity to the Lord Himself .

 

This is an appropriate occasion to remember

the Bhaktha ParipAlanam and Dhushta Nigraham

of the Lord as the Prapanna Paarijaatha Vruksham

blessing us all with His auspicious boons .

 

The Grantham of Prapanna PaarijAtham

********************************************

 

Today , Prapanna PaarijAthA(PPA) is an extraordinary

source grantham for us . It was also for Swami Desikan

and other AchAryAs that followed him as well . It has been

pointed out that the topics covered in the ten chapters

of this grantham provided the inspiration for Swami

Desikan's magnum opus , Srimadh Rahasya Thraya

Saaram(RTS) . Thus PPA is considered a " a forerunner

of RTS " . Indeed , Swami Desikan's prAchAryA was none

other than Vaatsya Varada Guru ( NadAdhUr AmmAL ) ,

the author of PPA .

 

The above situation is somewhat similar to the influence of

AlavandhAr's Siddhi ThrayA and Aagama prAmANyA

on the concepts elaborated by Sri RamAnujA later in his

Sri Bhashyam .There , AchArya RaamAnujA elaborated on

the teachings of his prAchAryA ( AlavandhAr )along with

those of his five direct AchAryAs .

 

I will follow closely the commentary of the Late Abhinava

Desika UttamUr VeerarAghavAchAryar , whose centenary

we celebrated this year . He has examined many Sri Kosams

of Prapanna PaarijAtham to bless us with his most valued

commentary .

 

The first six slOkAs of PPA cover salutations to AchAryAs ,

Sri Lakshmi Hayagreevan , BhagavathAs and serve as

prefatory remarks to the content of this grantham .

 

In the first slOkam , the author offers his humble

salutations to his AchArya paramparai consisting of

twelve Gurus (i-e) ., YengaLAzhwAn , Thirukkuruhai pirAn-

piLLAn , BhashyakArar , Periya nambhi , ALavandhAr ,

MaNakkAl nambhi , UyyakkondAr , Natha Muni ,

SatakOpan , VishvaksEnar , Periya PirAtti and Periya

PerumAL .

 

The slOkam is as follows :

 

achAryAryama pAdhEpyO namasyA santhathim dhadhE I

yadhAsanga vasAdh pumsAm mana:padhmam prabhudhyathE II

 

Aryaman means the Sun ; The Acharya aryama or the AchAryA

is equated to the Sun( Aryaman ) for number of reasons .

The meaning of this verse is : " I extend my countless

salutations to the sacred feet of the AchAryAs , who are

the equivalent of many Suns . The contact (sambhandham )

with their charaNams makes the minds of men blossom

forth just as the rays of the lights of the SUN

( Surya KiraNams) make the lotus bud bloom .

 

Sri AmmAL compares the lustre of the revered feet of

the AchAryAs to the rays of Suns because of

their wealth of effulgence ( tEjO Nidhi ) , sacredness

( pAvanathvam ) , capacity to reveal the Supreme One

( paraprakaasam ) , being the embodiment of the VedAs

( Vedamayam ) and residence of the Lord in them

( Bhagavadh adhishtitham ) .

 

AchAryA's role in prapatthi is unique and unparalleled .

Hence it is appropriate that Sri AmmAL starts off with

a glowing tribute to the charaNa kiraNams of the holy

feet of the AchAryAs and compares them to

the benovolent rays of the Sun .

 

Tribute to BhagavAn HayagreevA

************************************

 

The second slOkam is a salutation to

Sri Lakshmi Hayagreevan , as the aadhAram for

all vidhyAs . Here , Sri AmmAL invokes the Lord ,

who is known for bahupradha VadhAnyam

( fluent and munificient speech ) . Later , Swami

Desikan will start off his many works with the salutation

to this Murthy of Para VaasudEva as " Vaagg Isa aakhyA "

( the God of true knowledge ) in the sampradhAyam

set by his PrAchAryA . In the earlier slOkam , Sri AmmAL

compared the holy feet of the AchAryAs to the purifying rays

of the Sun . Here , he refers to the cool and bright rays

arising from the sacred feet of the suddha Spatika varNa

murthy , Hayagreevan , and associates them with those

of the purNa chandran rising in the horizon .

 

The slOkam containg the above thoughts is as follows:

 

abhangura kalaadhaana sthUla lakshthvameeyushE I

ThungAya mahasE tasmai ThurangAya mukhE nama: II

 

The vidhyAs that the Lord with the equine face confers

to His upasakAs are imperishable ( abhangura kalaa

dhAna paramAchAryan ) . Those boons result in

munificient and fluent " Vedic " speech .

 

Salutation to the MatsyAvathAran

************************************

 

In the third slOkam , Sri AmmAL thinks

about the Lord , who took the form of

the giant fish to restore the stolen VedAs

for the benefit of His son , Brahma Devan .

Later , he took Hamsa and HayagreevAvathAram

to instruct the VedAs to His son , who had lost

them .

 

The verse is a beautiful one celebrating

the Eka seshithvam of the Lord and His

inseperability from His consort:

 

Lakshmee Chakshu : anudhyAnAth

tath saarUpyamupEyushE I

namOsthu Meena VapushE

Vedavedhi vipanmushE II

 

(Meaning ) : Salutations to the Lord ,

who by unceasing meditation on

the eyes of MahA Lakshmi has attained

the sameness of form ( SaarUpyam ) and

has thus become fish-bodied ( Meena Vapu: ) .

That MatsyAvathAran freed the knower of VedAs

( Veda vedhi/Brahmaa) from calamities .

 

Fourth Verse

***************

 

Here, Bhagavatha PaadhAngri ReNU's ( Rajas')

effect on the rajO guNam is remembered . At

the very start of his work , Sri NadAthUr ammAL

takes shelter under the dust ( rajas ) of the

sacred feet of BhagavathAs to heal the disease

of ego and passion ( RajO guNa janitha

vipareethams) . " RajO Raja Prasamanam

-- Prapanna PaarijAthAkhya Prabhandham

yathAmahE " is the passage from the fourth verse .

 

Sri AmmAL states here that His grantham will

have the same effect as the sacred dust has

on the controlling of the rajO guNam and

transform the readers to prapannAs .

 

Sri Vaatsya VaradhArya GuravE nama:

 

Oppilaippan Koil VaradachAri SadagOpan