Sri AparyApthAmrutha DhyAna sOpAnam : Slokam 2

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs of THirukkudanthai AarAvamudhan :

 

The second slOkam of Thirukkudanthai dEsikan is as follows :

 

SvarNAmbhoja prathimamanagam SridharA veekhshaNAnAm

 

pEyam thtupthEravathirahitham yOginAm chittha lagnam I

 

dheenAnaatha vysana samanam SaarngiNa: paadha yugmam

 

chitthE bhAyAdh akhila hrudhayAnandha kantham sadhAmE II

 

( Anvaya Kramam ) : svarNAmbhOja prathimam, anagam ,

Shree DharA veekshaNAnAm pEyam , yoginAm chittha lagnam ,

dheena anAtha vyasana samanam , akhila hrudhya aanandha

kantham , SaarngiNa: Paadha Yugmam , mE chitthE sadhA bhAyAdh .

 

( Condensed Meaning ) : May the pair of sacred feet of Saarnga rAjA

shine in my mind always ! They are like a golden lotus and blemishless.

Their beauty is drunk without satiety by the eyes of MahA Lakshmi

and BhUmi dEvi . They are linked to the minds of the sages and

are the tuber of Anandham that is experienced by all the people .

These are the ones with the indomitable power to banish the sorrows

of those without means of protection and helpless in every way .

 

In the previous slOkam , Thirukudanthai Desikan enjoyed the

integrated essence of the beauty of the Lord of Thirukkudanthai .

Here , he starts to focus on the lotus feet of the Lord in the spirit

of PaadhAthi kEsAntha celebration /enjoyment . His enjoyment

proceeds like ThiruppANAzhwAr from the sacred feet on top

of the AadhAra peetam to the crown .

 

ThiruppANAzhwar's first glance on entering the sanctum

sanctorium and opening of his eyes fell automatically on

the " Kamala Paadham " ( neeLarangatthammAn

Thirukkamala paadham vanthen kaNkaLinuuLna---- ) .

 

ANDAL celebrated those golden feet in her ThiruppAvai

and begged in the early hours of the morning for Him

to listen to what those golden feet meant to her ( poRRAmaRai

adiyE pORRum poruL kELAI ) . Her father , PeriyAzhwAr celebrated

in the very first verse of ThiruppallANdu those

beautiful lotus feet and their red hue ( sEvadi sevvi ).

 

Another Azhwar reminisced about those ponnadis

as " thAmaranna ponnAradi " . NammAzhwAr was concerned

about those feet of matchless beauty being compared to

the beauty of mere lotuses and pointed out that it is a futile effort

( Katturaikkl ThAmarai ninn kaNN paadham kai ovvA ) . Vedam

describes Him as sarva SvarNa mayan ( ApraNakAth sarva yeva

svarNa: ) . Hence , it is no wonder that the lustre of his feet are

compared to the brilliance of Golden lotus

( SvarNAmbhoja prathimam ) by Thirukkudanthai Desikan .

 

Those lotus feet are saluted next as "Anagam " by the AchAryan .

Anagam means blemishless . They are " pavithrANAm pavithram" ,

the most sacred of all sacred principles . WhY ? Because , they are

the ones that measured the Universe and sanctified the earth

and the sky ( " Theerthan ulahaLantha sEvadi " ) . The water that

washed those blemishless , sacred feet are worn on His head

by Lord Siva to attain the highest state of purity ( kasya paadhOdakEna

sa Siva: sva sirOdhruthEna --sivO bhavathi ) NammAzhwAr thinks

of those sacred feet-free of any defect- and begs for their protection

and MokshAnugraham ( thariyEn ini yunn SaraNam thanthu

yenn sanmam kaLayAyE ) . Elsewhere , NammAzhwAr shouts

joyously about the glory of these blemishless pair of feet and points

them out as " kazhalkaL avayE " . Those are the feet for one's succor

and release from samsAric sorrows . They are the means and

they are the end for us .

 

Next , Thirukkudanthai dEsikan refers to the anubhavam of

Sri and BhU devis : " Shri DharA veekshaNAnAm pEyam thrupthE :

avathi rahitham " . Those lotus-soft feet are being pressed by

Shri dEvi and BhU dEvi and their beauty is being drunk without

satiety by the eyes of MahA lakshmi and Bhoomi pirAtti .

 

As enjoyed by the AzhwArs , those soft feet pressed gently by

the two consorts ( vadiviNai illA MalarmagaL maRRai nila magaL

pidikkum melladi ) are the most beautiful to experience like

the taste of the nectar ( KaNNAR parhuvO minnamudha

madhiyOminRE ) . This is not just nectar ( amudhu ) , but

insatiable nectar ( AarAvamudhu ) .

 

Thirukkudanthai dEsikan invites us to enjoy this scene

like YasOdhA pirAtti invited the Gopis to participate

in the enjoyment of the beauty of those blemishless

lotus feet ( paadhak kamalangaL kANeerE ) .

 

Thirumangai has placed those lotus feet

pressed by Shri dEvi and BhU dEvi on top of the ratham

that he constructed for AarAvamudhan in ThiruvEzhukURRirukkai

and saluted them : " sundara nARROL munneer VaNNa !

ninneeradi onriya manatthAl , oru madhi muhatthu

mangairuvarumalarena , ankail muppozhudhum varuda ".

Here Thirumangai enjoys the sight of the divine consorts

pressing gently the lotus feet of the Lord with great love .

Thirukkudanthai dEsikan refers to the drinking of the beauty

without satiety by the dEvis as " thrupthE : avathi

rahitham pEyam ".

 

Our AchAryan indicates to us next as to where those sacred

"kamala paadhams " are seen .He says , "YoginAm chittha

lagnam " . They are found to be housed in the minds of

parama yOgis ( hrudhayEna udhvahan Harim ) . ANDAL

also explains to us about the Yogis treasuring the Lord's

sacred feet in their minds ( ULLatthuk kondu munivargaLum

yOgihaLum meLLavezhundhu --) . Through dhyAnam , yOgis

invoke and hold those lotus feet of the Lord in their minds

( yOgi Hrudh dhyAna gamyam ) .

 

The anubhava parivAham of the AzhwAr's enjoying the Lord

in their mind temples is etched in many of their paasura vakhyams :

 

" manatthuLLAn VenkatatthAN " , " ManatthuLLAn

maakadal neeruLLAn " , " Ninrathum irunthathum

kidanthathum yennunjuLLE " , " nenjinuLLE thonrumen

sOthi Nambee" , " vanthen nenjidam kondAn ".

 

BhuthatthAzhwAr specifically pointed out the Lord of

Thirukkudanthai is resident in Yogi Hrudhayams

( tamaruLLam -- mathiL Kudanthai ) . PeyAzhwAr

noted : " sErntha ThirumAl kadal Kudanthai

vEnkatam nErnthaven chinthai " . Thirumangai

confided , " Vanthennijadam kondAn " , VandhAi yenn

manatthE -- Kudanthaii kiadanthuhanda MaindhA " .

These many thoughts emerged as " YOginAm

chittha lagnam " in AparyApthAmrutha sOpAnam .

 

The next qualifier of those sacred feet is that they

are , " dheenA anAthA vyasana samanam (SaarngiNa :

paadha yugmam) " . Sri SarangapANi's pair of feet

are saluted with the very same words used by

Swami Desikan in Bhagavadh DhyAna sOPaanam

( dheenA nAtha vyasana samanam ) by the aparAvathAram of

ThUppul kula maNi . The sacred feet

of the Lord of Thirukkudanthai is slauted as the succor

for the the akinchanaas and anAthais . The dheena

rakshakathvam and anAtha rakshakthvam of those

sacred feet are celebrated here .

 

Thirukkudanthai dEsikan concludes this slOkam with

a prayer , May those lotus feet shine in my mind always ! " .

That kizhangu ( tuber ) of universal aanandham ,

the root cause of all joy ( akhila hrudhaya aanandha

kantham ) are invoked to take residence in our AchAryan's

mind and stay there in their resplendent state for all times

to come ( sadhA mE chitthE bhAyAth ) . The choice of the word

akhila here has been pointed out by the commentator as

very meaningful . Kila means alpam or limited ( paryAptham ) .

Akhila means entire , limitless ( AparyAptham ) . This nectar ,

this aanandham is then aparyApthAmrutham .

 

KomaLavalli SamEtha AparyApthamrutha SwaminE nama:

Thirukkudanthai Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan