Naama Mahimaa--Part 4: Gowali pancha rathnam charaNams

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs of Sri RaghurAmA ,

 

In the first of the ten charaNams , Saint ThyagarAjA

hails Sri Ramachandran as " Thiruvukkum ThiruvAhiya

selvan " in the manner of Thirumangai Mannan .

 

He salutes SithA pirAtti as MahA Lakshmi and hails

Sri RamA as the Chandran that makes the Kumudha

pushpam ( a type of Alli pushpam that blossoms at

night ) of SithA's heart blossom with joy.

The charaNa vAkhyams are as follows :

 

Sree VanithA hrudh kumudhaabhja

vAnghmAnasa Gochara ( Duduku gala nannE )

 

Sree VanithA is the Srimathi , MahA Lakshmi .

Her heart kumudham blososms at the sight of

the chandran of Sri RamA .

 

The Saint appeals for the protection of Sri Ramachandran

in this first charaNam this way :

 

Oh ChandrA that makes the heart lilly of MahA Lakshmi

( SithA dEvi ) blososm with joy ! You are beyond the power

of speech and mind as the VedAs have declared ( VaachamA-

gocharan ) . " YathO vaachA nivarthanthE , aprApya manasa

saha " is how the siras of Vedam declares about You .

Who else is there besides You to save me ? You must

therefore come to my rescue and put my fears at rest .

 

In the first charaNam , the Saint follows ancient

practise of Sri VaishNavAs in performing SaraNAgathi .

When they observe prapatthi this way , they become

blessed with the lOka maathA's vaathsalyam and

Vallabhyam . They know that She as the most compassionate

mother and will come to their rescue and intercede with Her

Lord regarding them , who are frightened to approach Him .

 

Out of Her limitless affection for Her erring children ,

She intercedes and acts as a mediatrix with Her consort

and succeeds in persuading Him to forgive the errant ones .

She has sambhandham , vyApthi and Isvaryam

( AakAra trayam ) and uses them all to advantage

in Her mission to help the PrapannAs . She uses

Her selvAkku effectively . Thus the first upAyam

to get the Lord's anugraham is MahA Lakshmi's

aruL .

 

Parasara Muni in his VishNu PurANam has

recognized Mahaa Lakshmi as the Lord's

omnipresent mangaLam ( pervasive/

vyApthi ) and as the Parabrahma SvarUpiNi

known for Her Vaathsalyam ( affection for Her

vatsalAs/dear ones ) , Vallabhyam ( Sri Vallabhai with

the power to make things happen ) and Purusha-

kAram ( power of effective sipaarisu / intercession ) .

 

NadAthUr ammAL has described in few slOkams

of Prapanna Paarijaatham all these three unique

attributes of Sri Devi :

 

aparAdhaika sakthAnAm anarhANAm chiram nruNAm I

BharthrurAsryaNE pUrvam svayam PurushakArathAm II

 

vAllabhyEna anuthishtantheem vatsalyAdhyupabrhamiNAm I

upAya samayE Bharthu: J~nAna sakthyAdhi vardhineem II

 

mukthAnAm bhoga vrudhyartham sowndharyAdhi vivardhineem I

AakAra thraya sampannAm aravindha nivAsineem II

asEsha Jagadheesithreem vandEh Varadha vallabhAm II

 

Here , NadAthUr ammAL points out that MahA Lakshmi

secures Mukthi ( Moksham ) for the chEthanAs from Her

consort by enhancing Her Lord's J~nAnam and anugraham

at the time of prapatthi by Her children . Her prAdhAnyam

and essential role is saluted here . Saint ThyagarAjA as

a parama VaishNavA was deeply aware of this central

doctrine and followed the traditional practise by offering

His prapatthi through MahA Lakshmi ( Sri VanithA ) .

 

What NadAthUr ammAL observed is an echo of

Sri RamAnujA' s SaraNAgathi on that memorable

Panguni Uttharam day , when MahA Lakshmi

( Sri RanganAyaki ) was sititng together on yEka

peetam with Her Lord , Sri RanganaathA at Srirangam .

Acharya RaamAnujA grasped the significance of

the special occasion and offered his SaraNAgathi

starting with MahA Lakshmi ( Sri RangadhAmEswari )

thru the first choorNikai of Sri Ranga Gadhyam :

 

" Bhagavan NaarAyaNa abhimatha anurUpa svarUpa

rUpa guNa vibhava eisvarya seela aadhi anavadhika

adhisaya asankyEya kalyANa guNa gaNAm padma-

vana aalayAm Bhagavatheem Sriyam dEveem

nithyAnapAyineem niravadhyAm deva deva dhivya-

mahisheem AKHILA JAGANMAATHARAM ASMAN-

MAATHARAM ASARANYA SARANYAAM ANANYA-

SARANA:SARANAM AHAM PRAPADHYE ".

 

Acharya RaamAnujA declares that he has no other

recourse/refuge (asaraNya: ) and is seeking

the protection of the lOka mAthA , while performing

His prapatthi ( saraNam prapadhyE ) .

 

Our AchAryAs often remind us that MahA Lakshmi"s

greatness is not understood fully ,

even by Her Lord . According to AlavandhAr ,

 

yasyAs thE mahimAnam aathmana iva tvadh VallabhOpi prabhu:

naalam maathum iyatthayA niravdhim nithyAnukUlam savatha:

-- ChathusslOki :

SlOkam 2 portion

 

Sri kUrEsa in his Sree Sthavam acknowledges this inability

of the Lord to comprehend fully the limits of the sarva kalyANa

guNAs of His consort :

 

dEvi tvannmahimAvadhir na HariNA naapi tvayA j~nayathE

 

Speaking of Her kalyANa guNAs being outside the powers

of description by mind and speech , Sri kUratthAzhwAn says

in another slOkam of his Sree Sthavam :

 

" yE vAchAm manasaam cha dhurgrahatayA

khyAthA guNAs taavakA : "

 

In the very first slOkam of Sree sthavam ,

kUrEsA acknowledges the power of

Sree dEVi over her Lord :

 

yasyA veekshya mukham tadhingitha

parAdheenO vidhatthE akhilam

 

(meaning ) : The Lord glances at the beautiful

face of MahA Lakshmi and reads the intricate

signs associated with the knitting of Her brows

and follows the commands implied there and

engages in the acts of the creation and protection

of the world . He is understood as Her ingitha

(samg~yai/hints/body language ) parAdheenan

( subservient one ) .

 

Swami Desikan refers to Sree Devi's PurushakAram

in one of the slOkams of GodhA sthuthi this way :

 

aardhrAparAdhini janEpya abhirakshaNArtham

Rangesvarasya RamayA vinivEdhyamAnE

 

Swami Desikan states that She does viNNappam

to He rLord on behalf of the aparAdhis like us

to seek our protection from her Lord .

 

Hence , Swami Desiakn performed his saraNAgathi

to Her in the very first slOkam of Sree Sthuthi :

 

prahtyakshAnusravika mahima prArthaneenAm prajAnAm

SrEyOmUrthim Sriyam asaraNa: tvAm SaraNyam prapadhyE

 

This prapatthi vaakhyams are an echo of Acharya RaamAnujA's

saraNAgathi housed in the first chUrNikA of SaraNAgathi

gadhyam that we will refer to later in this posting .

 

Swami Desikan states in the seventh slOkam of Sree sthuthi

that the divya dampathis play an intricate game of chess

( dhyUtha Vritthi ) between themselves and are sensitive

to each other's point of view and as such are to be

approached as a united entity ( yEka sEshithva yOgam )

for SaraNAgathi purposes . Following this thought , Swami

declares , " yuvAm Dampathi Daivatham na: " . Both of You

as the Husband and Wife are our daivatham .

 

Their unity of thought in following each other in helping

those in distress is saluted again by Swami Desikan

this way in Sree sthuthi

 

aapannArthi prasamana vidhou

bhaddha deekshasya VishNO :

aachakhyusthvAm priya sahachareem

eiykamathyOpapannAm

 

In the 18th slOkam of Sree sthuthi ,

Swami Desikan addresses the Loka mAthA

as VishNu kaanthE and reveals that the prapannAs

( vimala manasA : ) totally depend on Her

dayA , vAthsalyam , vallabhyam and PurushakAram

to get the mokshAnugraham from her Lord .

 

As a result of Her krupA and PurushakAram ,

the dhanyAs leave their body and reach

Sri Vaikuntam via the ArchirAdhi

maargam according to Swami Desikan :

 

yasmin yeeshannamitha sirasO

yApayithvA sareeram

varthishyanthE vithamasi

padhE VaasudEvasya dhanyA :

 

(Meaning ) : The puNyasAlis prostrate at Your

lotus feet and these blessed souls leave

their physical bodies , attain suddha sathva

sareeram and join the residence of Your Lord

and Yourself ( Sri vaikuntam ) , which is devoid of

prakruthi sambhandham .

 

The parama VaishNava , Saint ThyagarAjA read

Srimadh RaamAyaNam and Srimadh Bhagavatham

daily and was fully familiar with the above central

doctrines of Sri VaishNava SaraNAgathi and

performed the sampradhAyic prapatthi starting

with the self-surrender at Sree VanithA's sacred feet .

 

Sri Raamachandra Para BrahmaNE Nama:

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan