Sri Raga pancharathnam : Part 3 --AchAryA's celebration of BhagavahtAs

[Guest guest]

Dear NadhOpAsakAs and Rama BhakthAs :

 

In this posting , I will cover the AcharyA's salutations

of the BhagavathAs as MahAnubhAvAs

worthy of a degree of respect even greater than

that is accorded to the Lord. I will focus mostly

on Swami Sri Desikan 's upadEsams in support

of Bhagavatha Nishtai as one of the four modes of

SaraNAgathi .

 

Our AchAryA's prayer to the Lord of Srirangam

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

 

Swami Sri Desikan has dwelled on the unique glory

of the BhagavathAs , the special grandeur of their

assembly and the BhagavathA's unwavering devotion

to Bhagavadh Kaimkaryam in many of his sthOthrams

and prabhandhams . Towards the very end of Sri Abheethi

Sthavam , Swami Sri Desikan confesses to the Lord of

Srirangam that there is only one thing that he needs during

the rest of his life . He appeals to Sri RanganathA to grant

him that sole boon :

 

nirastharipusambhavE kvachana RangamukhyE vibhO I

PARASPARA HITHAISHINAAM parisarEshu maam varthaya II

 

( Meaning ) : Oh Sri RanganAthA ! param iha Kshamam prArthayE !

There is only one boon that You can give me ! I bessech You to

grant me this most important boon . That is this : Please bless me

to spend my remaining years in divya desams like Srirangam

enjoying the company of BhagabvathAs of Yours , who care a

great deal about each other's KshEmam . Please bless me

with their sathsangam. They are deeply immersed in Bhakthi

Yogam and Kaimkarya SaamrAjyam . Please bless me to be

near them until my last moments .

 

I wonder whether the command of Sri RanganAthA to

his paramAchAryA , Sri RaamAnujA , went through the mind

of Swami Desikan during the occasion of beseeching

the above boon . Sri RanganathA responded to the appeal

for SaraNAgathi by Sri RaamAnujA On a Panguni Uttaram

day , accepted the SaraNAgathi prayer enshrined in the illustrious

SaraNAgathi Gadhyam and directed Sri RamAnujA to be

next to Him right there at Srirangam until his last breath

( athraiva SukhamAsva ) amidst all the other BhagavathAs

performing kaimkaryam to Him and His consort .

 

Sadhguru ThyagarAjA's celebration of Hari DaasAs

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

 

Saint ThyagarAjA echoed Swami Sri Desikan's prayer in his

Suddha BangaLA Raaga Krithi , " Toli nE jEsina pUjA palamu " .

Here he said : " HaridAsa rahitha puramuna vEsithrijUpakunduka

ThyagarAjArchitha " . Our Sadhguru reminds Sri RaamA here about

the importance of the association with HaridAsAs for obtaining the

bhAgyam of Moksham . Our Sadhguru pointed out the spiritual

poverty of places devoid of HaridAsAs and complains to the Lord

about condemning him to live in Hari Daasa Rahitha Purams ( Places

devoid of Hari DaasAs ) . This way , Our sadhguru , who was later

going to dedicate a whole pancharathnam to celebrate the glories

of BhagavathAs reminded us not to settle in places not having

BhagavathAs .

 

Other tributes by Swami Sri Desikan to the BhagavathAs

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

 

Swami Sri Desikan celebrated elsewhere the greatness

of BhagavathAs , who have performed Prapatthi and chosen

Daasa Maargam to devote their entire life to Bhagavadh

Kaimkaryam and concluded that the rest of us can never ever

attain even one hundredth of a millionth part of the BhagavathAs'

glories through our other " achievements " in the worldly stage :

 

nAtha tvadheeya charanou saraNam gathAnAm I

naiva ayutha ayutha kalA api aparai: avApyA : II

 

Here Swami Sri Desikan subtly unites the SaraNAgathi

dharmam and Bhagavatha Dharmam . He compares the ideal

Bhagavahta PrapannAs with those of the populace , which

stays away from them and points out the the glory of

the BhagavathAs is crores of times greater than

the non-BhagavathAs .

 

Bhagavatha Paaratantryam of the Lord

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

 

The Lord is beholden to His BhagavathAs and BhakthAs .

Therefore , He has a special benevolent relationship to them .

Because of this unique closeness of the BhagavathAs to

the Lord , those who get close to the BhagavathAs also

become eligible to the Lord's grace . Swami Sri Desikan

explains the derivative blessings that one attains from

the worship of BhagavathAs this way :

 

bhakthEshu thE VaraguNArNava pAratantryam I

dAsyam bhajanthi vipaNi vyavahAra yOgyam II

 

( anvaya Kramam) : VaraguNArNava ! BhakthEshu thE

pAra tantryAth vyapaNi vyavahAra yOgyam daasyam

bhajanthi .

 

Here , Swami states that the BhagavAthAs take refuge

at the Lord's lotus feet , since they comprehend well

the the greatness of His auspicious attributes .

 

The genearl populace can indirectly secure the blessings

of the Lord by associating with and performing SaraNAgathi

to the BhagavathAs as a result of their clear understanding

of the sway that the BhagavathAs have over the Lord . Swami suggests

that if we with poor kaimkarya Sri could become objects

of the Lord's karuNA KatAkshams , if we revere the BhagavathAs ,

who are dear to Him . BhagavathAs are DaasAs to the Lord and

if we tie ourselves to the BhagavathAs , we become part of that

chain of blessing and attain mokshAnugraham from the Lord .

 

Swami states here that the people "sell " themselves to

the BhagavathAs (i-e) , they become objects of worth to

the BhagavathAs through their devotion just as ordinary

people sell their jewelery to the gold smith to increase

their wealth . Swami extends here BhagavAn"s Bhaktha

Paara tantryam ( YathOktha Kaarithvam ) to include those ,

who become dear to His BhagavathAs . As a result ,the Lord

blesses those , who take as refuge the sacred feet of His

BhagavathAs to cross the fearsome ocean of SamsAram

and reach His supreme abode , Sri Vaikuntam :

 

dhee samskruhtAn vidhadhthAmiha karma bhEdhAn

suddham jithE manasi chinthayathAm svamEkam I

tvath karma saktha manasAmapi chAparEshAm

sUthE palAnyabhimathAni BHavAn prasanna: II

 

Swami Sri Desikan acknowledges here that the Lord

grants all the boons not only to the BhagavathAs,

who delight in performing Kaimkaryam to Him , but also

to those , who take refuge at the feet of the BhagavathAs .

 

Those PaamarAs , who develop that reverential relationship to

the Lord's BahgavathAs get elevated to new heights of

spirituality and become qualified through their association

with BhagavathAs for the Lord's special blessings .

Thus , those who practise BhagavathAsrayaNam

( Bhagavatha Nishtai ) also join the rank of MahAnubhAvAs .

 

BhagavathA's greatness celebrated in Sri Desika Prabhandham

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

In his Tamil and MaNipravALam prabhandhams , Swami Sri Desikan

has time and again saluted the greatnes of Thondars of the Lord

and the need for us to revere them . I will quote few such passages :

 

thUmaRai soodum thuzhAi mudiyARkkilai otthana

Avan paadham paNinthavark keNNuthaRkkE

--- Amritha Ranjani : 6th verse

 

( Meaning ) : Poets compare the greatness of the Lord to

a waveless ocean of Nectar , the Cloud that took in the entire

Ocean, priceless Indra neela mountain , the day where the Sun

and the Moon shine together and similar other asambhAvitha

comparisons . But , there are no comparisons that we can

think of to describe the greatness of the BhagavathAs , whose

every moment is dedicated to the Kaimkaryam for the Lord .

Swami hints therefore that the glories of the BhagavahtAs are

greater than even than that of the Lord Himself .

 

--avan nal adiyArkku aadharamikka adimai isainthu

azhiyA maRai nool niruttha nilai kulayAvahai ninRanam

----- AdhikAra Sangraham : Verse 23

 

( Meaning ) : We engage in kaimkaryam to the great ones ,

who are dear to the Lord and thus follow the sAsthrAs and lead

our lives in harmony .Here , Swami Desikan points out that

Bhagavatha Kaimkaryam is the boundary of PurushArthams .

 

In the 26th verse of AdhikAra Sangraham , Swami points out that

the kshEthram , where BhagavathAs reside has the integrated

holiness of himAlyAs , Gangai river , divya desams and

parama Padham . The sthAna visEshAdhikAram of

the places of residences of BhagavathAs is celebrated here

and recommended as places of preferred residence for us .

 

IN Rahasya SikhAmaNi , Swami Desikan desribes the

different Kaimkaryams of BhagaavthAs that endear them

to Him as SammArjana ( Cleaning the temple prAkarams with

the broom ) , UpalEpana ( applying water over the cleaned ground ) ,

chUrNa chithra ( drawing kolams ) , Maalaa karaNa ( weaving

flower garlands ) , dheepArOpaNa ( Offering dheepams to the Lord ) ,

havirnivEdhana ( Offering naivEdhyam/TaLigai SamarPaNam ) ,

nandana -vana-karaNa ( constructing flower gardens for use by

the Lord ) , VimAna nirmANa ( Construction of garbha grahams

for the Lord ) , PradhakshiNa ( Circumambulation of the Lord's

temple) , PraNAma ( Salutations /Prostrations ) , kathA sravaNa

( hearing of the Lord's stories ) , sthuthi ( eulogy ) , Sankeerthana

( singing of the Lord's glories ) , GuNa Kathana ( recitation of

the thousand names of the Lord ) , Geetha nruttha ( singing and dancing

in joy ) , dhAraNa ( dhyAnam and retention of the Lord in their minds ) ,

DhyAnAdhi visEsha Dharmams .

 

Those parama BhagavathAs engaged in such visEsha dharmams

are the true Sri VaishNavas leading a sarVothkrushta visEsha

prAchuryavAns :

 

sarvEshAmEva dharmANAm uttamO VaishNavO vidhi:

 

The Lord states thus in AnusAsana Parvam of Maha Bharatham

that He protects such BhagavathAs like His own body . AsrayaNam

of such dear ones gives us paramAm gathi . This is the greatness

that the Sri Raaga Pancha rathnam celebrates .

 

Sri SadhguravE Nama:

Sri Ramachandra ParabrahmaNE Nama:

Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan