Meaning of the DhyAna SlOkam of Mula Manthram

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Jaganathan & Fellow BhakthAs :

 

I am happy to venture to write about the meaning of the mUla manthra

DhyAna SlOkam . There were some minor errors in transliteration

of this important slOkam. Hence , I have taken the liberty of

correcting them . Here is the corrected version :

 

savyam pAdham prasArya srithadurithaharam dakshinam kunchayithvA

jAnUnyAdhAya savyEtharamithara bujam nAgabhoghE nidhAya I

pascchAth baahudhvayEna prathipatasamanE dhArayan sankha chakram

dEvIbhushAdhijushtO janayathu jagathAm sarma VaikuntanAtha: II

 

The vision of Sri VaikuntanathAn is invoked here for dhyAnam .

 

Line 1 :

*******

He has his left leg extended on his seat of AdhisEshA . Savyam (left )

pAdham (foot ) is extended (prasArya ) from the left knee down . The

right ( dakshiNam ) paadham is bent ( kunchayithvA ) at the knee and

is resting on the seat of AdhisEshA . That anugraha paadham is the

one , which removes the samsaric ills of prapannAs quickly

( sritha duritha haram ) .

 

Line 2 :

********

 

The left hand is resting on the left knee ( jAnUnyAdhAya savyE bhujam ) .

The other hand is resting on the body (seat ) of AdhisEshA ( Ithara bhujam

nAga bhOghE nidhAya ) .

 

Line 3 :

********

 

Further in his upper hands , he is adorning the Divine Conch

( Paanchajanyam ) and the mighty disc ( Chakram ){ pascchAth

bAhu dhvayEna dhArayan Sankha chakrE } .

 

What is the purpose of these two divYaayudhams that he is

sporting on his upper hands ? He adorns them to quell the

arrogance of His enemies -- AsurAs and

enemies of SadhjanAs -- { prathipata samanE dhArayan }

and to conquer / destroy them .

 

Line 4 :

*******

 

That Lord seated on AdhisEshA as paramapadha nAthan

with sankha -chakrams with one leg dangling and the other

resting in a bent manner on His seat is addressed here for

conferring prosperity and auspicousnes on all the inhabitants

of His world . It is pointed out that He is seated on

AdisEshA with His divya Aayudhams and AabharaNams .

He is seen with His two dEvIs on his two sides . He takes great

pleasure in being accompanied by His dEvIs and Aayudhams .

We meditate on Him as Sri VaikuntanAthan in this joyous

mood .

 

VaikuntanAtha: jagathAm sarma janayathu ( May the Lord of

Sri Vaikuntam bless the worlds with sarva mangaLam ) .

VaikuntanAtha: dEvIbhUshAdhijushta : ( The Lord of

ThiruviNNagar/ Parama Padham is extremely delighted to

be in the company of His Consorts and His weapons ) . May

that happy Lord of Sri Vaikuntam bless us with auspiciousness

and prosperity ! May He blesss us as we are about to perform

japam of His mUla manthram !

 

The Vaikunta Gadhyam of Sri RaamAnujA and Sri Vaikunta

sthavam of KurEsaa has to be invoked for an appreciation of

the full grandeur of the sevai of the Paramapadha Naathan

in Sri Vaikuntam . Some AzhwArs have at the conclusion of

their prabhandhams described their anubhavam of the sevai

of Sri VaikuntanAthan at parama padham .

 

Thirumazhisai's anubhavam

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

 

For instance , Thriumazhisai AzhwAr at the very end

of Naanmukan ThiruvandhAthi states with great joy

the blessings that he received to have the darsanam

of Sri VaikuntanAthan :

 

yEnREn adimaiyizhindhEn piRappiDumbai

AanREn amararkku amarAmai --AanREn

kadanAdum maNNAdum kai vittu mElai

yidanAdu kANavini

--- Naanmukan ThiruvandhAthi: Paasuram : 95

 

After describing his samsAric sufferings and repeated

births due to his accumulated karmAs , AzhwAr states that

his mind , speech and limbs focussed on the service to

the Lord and as a result , he was blessed to leave behind

the karma bhUmi and become the beneficiary of a boon

that is not easily obtained even by the dEvAs and BrahmA .

He reveals that his special boon arising from his uninterrupted

kaimkaryam to the Lord was His darsanam as Sri VaikuntanAthan

at Parama Padham .

 

NammAzhwAr"s anubhavam of Sri Vaikuntam

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

The whole of Thiruvaimozhi is a dramatic progression

of AzhwAr's deep desire for ascension to Sri Vaikuntam

for the darsana sowbhAgyam of Sri VaikuntanAthan .

 

He describes Sri Vaikuntam as " teLi visumpu thirunAdu " .

" nalamandhamillathOr naadu " and states that his mind

is focussing day and night over the boon of the sEvai

of Sri VaikuntanAthan ( Vaikuntham kANbatharkku

yen manam yEkameNNUm irAppahalinriyE ) .

 

He comforts himself and us with the statement :

" Vaikuntham puhuvathu maNNavar vidhiyE "

( it is the blessed lot ofthe humans to enter

Sri Vaikunthm and serve the Lord ) .

 

In the 10.9 decad of Thiruvaimozhi ( Soozh visumpu ) ,

AzhwAr describes his extraordinary journey by

archirAdhi maargam to Sri Vaikuntam and the

Lord waiting to greet him there with longing :

 

" vandhavar yethir koLLa maamaNi mantapatthu

anthamil pErinbatthu adiyOrudu iruanthami "

 

AchArya RaamAnujA's blessed experience of Sri Vaikuntam

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

and the Lord of Sri Vaikuntam :

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

Acharya RaamAnujA in his Sri Vaikunta Gadhyam visualizes

and expeiences the bliss of Sri Vaikuntam and the Lord's

adhiadhbhutha darsanam there on sEsha talpam

with His consort and divyAyudhams and AabharaNams .

 

He describes the DayA svarUpam , Bhaktha DaakshiNyam of

Sri Vaikunta Naathan in the way referred to in one compound

word in the DhyAna SlOkam ( srithadhuritha haram )

and salutes His charaNAravindhams with these words :

 

akhila sathva dayaika sAgarasya ( being the ocean of

mercy for all of His creations )

 

anAlOchitha guNaaguNa akanda janAnukUla amaryAdha

seelavatha : ( Being of limitless auspicious attributes ,

He does not engage in the examination of the guNa dhOshams

of the sakala janams and blesses them out of His natural

compassion )

 

svaabhAvikAnavadhikaadhisaya guNavatthayA dEva tiryangh

manushyAdhi akhila jana hrudhayAnandhasya ( being of

natural auspicious attributes , He gladdens the hearts of

the dEvAs , animals and humans )

 

aasritha vaatsalyaika JaladhE : ( being of the nature of

the ocean of Mercy towards his prapannAs )

 

bhaktha jana samslEshaika bhOgasya ( Being of the nature of

considering His company with bhaktha janAs as the greatest

of His joy )

 

tasyaiva BhagavadhO NaarAyaNasya Srimadh

charanAravindha yugaLam saraNam anuvrajEth

(One should come to the determination that refuge at

the lotus feet of that Lord , Sriman NaarAyaNA is

the sole means for mOksham ) .

 

AchAryA RaamAnujA's description of the sEvai of Sri VaikuntanAthan

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

 

Srimathee VaikuntE divya lokhE ---mahathi

divya bhOga paryankhE anatha bhOgini ,

 

Srimadh Vaikunta aisvaryAthi divya lokham visvam

aathma kaanthyA aapyAyayanthyA ,

 

sEsha sEshaasanAdhi sarva parijanam Bhagavatha :

tatthavasthOchitha paricharyAm a~jnApayanthyA seela

rUpa guNa vilAsAdhibhi: aathmAnurUpayA

SriyA saha aaseenam

 

---- tath kshaNa unmeelitha

pundareeka sadhrusa charaNa yugaLam ------

 

sankha chakra gadhA asi saarngAdhi divyAudhai:

sEvyamAnam ---

 

divya amala kOmaLa avalOkanEna

visvam aahlAdhayantham ---

 

dhyAna yOgEna dhrushtvA --

 

kadhAham Bhagavantham NaarAyaNam

mama kulanAtham mama kula daivatham

mama bhOgyam mama maathram mama

pitharam mama SARVAM saakshAth karavANi

chakshushA ?

 

kadhAham bhagavadh paadhAmbhuja DHVAYAM

sirasA sangraheeshyAmi ?

 

kadhAham Bhagavadh paadhAmbhuja DHVAYA

paricharyayA --- tadh paadhAmbhuja dhvayam

pravEkshyAmi ?

 

In all these gadhya vaakhyams , Achaarya RaamAnujA

visualizes thru dhyAna yOgam the vision of

Sri VaikuntanAthan seated on AdhisEshan with

His beloved consort and adorning His divya aayudhAs

and being eulogized by the Nitya sUris and MukthAs .

 

Sri RaamAnujA inquires longingly as to when he will

have the realization of his prayers for feasting his

eyes on the aprAkruthic beauty of the Lord , who is

his father , his mother , his entire wealth , his sole

enjoyemnt . He asks as to when he will get the fulfilment of

his kaimkaryam and thus banish the samsaric ills and

have the good fortune of holding the Lord's sacred feet

on his head ; he asks about the auspicious moment ,

when the Lord is going to cast His glances on him

and command him to enter His kaimkaryam .

 

Sri RaamAnujA approaches the Lord and recites the mUla

manthram , prostrates again and again at His lotus feet

and stands with great reverence and shyness in front

of the Lord . He utters the mUla manthram and begs for

the boon of nithya kaimkaryam in Sri Vaikuntam .

 

In the final chUrNikA of Sri Vaikunta gadhyam ,

AchArya RaamAnujA describes the Lord's granting

of the requested boon and is filled with the joy of

the Lord's blessings . He completes his dhyAnAnubhavam

with the vision of Sri VaikuntanAthan casting His

rejuvenating nectar-like glances on him with smile

and inviting him to come near His sEshAsanam and

then placing His sacred feet on Achaarya RaamAnujA's

head and blessing him with sakala purushArthams .

Achaarya RaamAnujA is thrilled with this paramaanandha

anubhavam and feels fulfilled .

 

Thus ends the extraordinary vision of Sri RaamAnujA

on a Panguni Uttharam day at Srirangam ,

when he had the anugraham of darsanam

of the divya dampathis in sErthi .

 

SrimathE RaamAnujAya NamO nama:

 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan