Saint ThyagarAjA's Gowlai Pancharathnam : part 3(? )

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Bhakthi group :

 

On this Eswara samvathsara , Iypaasi PourNamasai

day , I will restart the postings on the Nirveda-

pancharathnam of Saint ThyagarAjA set in Gowlai

Raagam . Over the week end , I heard

Sangeetha VidwAn Sri Ravi Kiran play this krithi

on Chithra VeeNai movingly and that gave me another

impetus to continue these postings .

 

I also want to " clear the decks " as it were

to focus on a major topic connecting

Sri AparyApthaamrutha sOpanam of

Thirukkudanthai Desikan , Sawami Desikan 's

Bhagavadh DhyAna sOpanam , His Muni Vaahana

Bhogam and ThiruppANAzhwAr's sacred anubhavam

of Sri RanganAthA that led to all the other derivative

and inspiring anubhavams of Swami Desikan

and his aparAvathAram at Thirukkudanthai . Hence ,

I will stay on course and try to complete the Gowlai Pancha

Rathnam related posting(s) , prior to branching off

towards AarAvamudhan ( amudhinai kanda kaNNgaL )

who is one of the pancha Rangans resting on the banks

of Cauveri . A brief comment on the Five Rangans

may be appropriate here .

 

AarAvamudhan is the Hema Rangan of the five Rangans

worshipped by Mother Cauveri . The Aadhi Rangan is the

Murthy resting at Seringapattam Or Sriranga PattiNam .

The next one is madhya Rangan at Tiru Anbil

( vadivazhagiya nambhi ) ; THiruppErnagar

Emperuman ( AppakudatthAn could also be considered

alternatively as Madhya Rangan . The third Rangan

is the KasthUri Rangan of Srirangam ( Azhagiya

MaNavALan celebrated as AmalanAdhipirAn ) .

The fourth Rangan is the Hema Rangan of

Thirukkudanthai . The fifth Rangan is the parimaLa

rangan of Thiru IndaLUr , who witnesses Cauveri ,

who did susrushai to Him all along , rushing towards

her husband (samudra raajan ) at this kshEthram

known for the celebration of TulA snAnam .

At IndaLur , The Lord is known as anthima Rangan ,

who is fragrant with Sruthi ParimaLam

and hence known also as ParimaLa Rangan .

 

Our revered Saint ThyagarAja , who sang a separate set

of pancha rathna krithis on KasthUri Rangan of

Srirangam sat on the banks of Cauveri at ThiruvayAru

and sang about his ArAdhana Murthy and begged Him

to come to his rescue . This Araadhana mUrthy is none

other than Sri AyOddhi Raaman , who performed daily

aarAdhanam to his kula dhaivam , Kasthuri Rangan

duirng His VibhavAvathAram as the Dorai mahan

( Chakravarthi Thirumahan ) .

 

Third CharaNam of GowLai Pancharathnam

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

 

In the second charaNam , our Sadhguru saluted

the " Sarvagatha: prathi vasthu pUrNa " Sri Ramachandran

as the in-dweller (antharyAmi Brahmam ) of all jeevarAsis .

 

In this third charaNam , our Sadhguru chastises

himself for not understanding the sarvAntharyAmithvam

of the Lord and engaging as a result in vithandA vivAdhams

from childhood . The charaNa vaakyams are as follows :

 

chirutha prAyamulunAdE bhajanAmrutha rasa viheena

kutharkuDaina ( DuDuku gala )

 

O Lord , I engaged like a wise one on fruitless debates

based on ignorance about Your antharyAmithvam from

my childhood days . Now , Which Dorai mahan is going

to rush to my rescue to save me from my miserable

state ? I did not drink deep the nectar of singing about

your sahasra nAmAs . Instead I engaged in Vaadha -

prathivAdhams and have wasted the days of my life .

 

Meanwhile , Oh RaghunandanA ! RamabhadrA !

Jaanaki PrANanAthA ! Sarvachaithanya rUpA !

Sriman NaarAyaNA ! I did not engage in the bhajanam

of your thousand names ! As the AzhwAr described ,

You stand as the inner force of the pancha bhUthams ,

Lord SivA and Brahma dEvan :

 

neerAi nilanAi theeyAi kaalAi neduvAnAi

seerAr sudargaLirandAi SivanAi Ayanaai --

 

Thou art aapa: ( water ) ; Thou art BhUmi ( Prithvee) ;

Thou art fire ( Agni ) ; Thou art Time( kaalam ) ;

Thou art wind ( Vaayu ) ; Thou art the Sky ( AkAsam ) .

 

You remove the inner and outter darkness as

Suryan . You nourish Your creations after pervading them

as the cool Chandran . You are residing inside Lord Siva ,

who is the J~nAna dhAthA about Your anantha

kalyANa guNams and is also responsible for

samhAram . You are the antharyAmi inside BrahmA

aswell and empower him to engage in srishti .

 

I did not understand these fundamental truths and

considered myself as a scholar , who understood everything

and dared to engage in leading others thru debates .

O RaamA ! as requested by another AzhwAr , I cry :

" vinaiyEn vinai theer marundhE " . O RaamA , the never-

failing medicine for the diseases of Vanity (ahanthai )

and sarva paapams ! " kUrArAzhi veNN sankEndhi

kodiyEn paal vaarAi " . Please rush to my rescue

instantly and protect me !

 

I did not know the efficacy of Moksha maargam .

I wasted my time away . I engaged in kutharka

vaadham and tried to show the way for salvation .

I engaged in durAchArams and failed to recite

Your sacred names . O Yaaga SamrakshaNa

mUrthy ! Please save me in the spirit of

KulasEkharA's profound plea to You :

 

Sriman naama prOchya NaarAyaNAkhyam

kE na prAphur vaanchitham paapi nOpi I

haa na: pUrvam vaak pravrutthA na tasmin

tEna prAptham garbhavAsAdhi dukkam II

 

Here , Sri KulasEkharA explains the efficacy

of BhajanAmrutha rasanam and the plight

of the bhajanAmrutha rassana viheenan

as ThyagaraajA described himself in this

charaNam .

 

Sri KulasekharA says : " Which mahA pApi

did not attain desired boons and salvation

by the bhajanam of the names of Sriman

NaarAyanA ? Our tongues did not engage in

that naamrutha bhajanam and as a direct

result has led to the debilitating anubhavams

such as garbhavaasam and narakAnubhavam ".

 

Saint ThyagarAjA's third charaNam is thus a

resounding echo of KulasEkara's Mukundha

maalai slOkam .

 

AzhwAr , AchAryAL thiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Sri Ramachandra parabrahmaNE Nama:

 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan