Sri AparyApthAmrutha Dhyana sOpAnam : Slokam 4

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs of Sri AparyAptha Para Brahmam :

 

Thirukkdanthai Desikan enjoyed the beauty of

the ankles of the Lord in the third slOkam .

In the fourth slokam , Our AchAryA's eyes

shifted their gaze further upward from the ankles

and rested at the beautiful thighs of the Lord .

The text of the fourth slOkam is as follows :

 

dEvArAma prabhava kadaLee sthambha sambhAvya sObham

Sri BhU dEvi prabhruthi mahishee prArthyamAnOpadhAnam I

kAnchi niryath kiraNa ruchiram peetha kousEya jushtam

chitthE lagnam bhavathu mama tacchArnga dhanvOru yugmam II

 

Thirukkudanthai Desikan is recognized as

the aparAvathAram of our Guru Saarvabhouman,

Swami Sri Vedantha Desikan . Hence it is most

interesting to compare Swami Sri Desikan 's enjoyment

of the beautiful pair of thighs of the reclining Sri RanganaathA

in his Sri Bhagavadh DhyAna sOpAnam . As we meditate

on Swami Sri Desikan"s slOkam , we can recognize

the unmistakable echos in Thirukkudanthai Desikan's

slokam celebrating the beauty of the thighs of

AarAvamudhan . The original fourth slOkam of

Sri Bhagavadh DhyAna sOpAnam of Swami Desikan

is as follows :

 

kaamArAmA sthira kadhali sthambha sambhAvaneeyam

kshoumAslishtam kimapi KamalA Bhumi NeeLopadhAnam I

nyanchath kAnchee kiraNa ruchiramnirvisathyUrugmam

lAvaNyaugadhvayamiva mathirmAmikA Ranga Yoona: II

 

The comparisons of the words used in the two salutations

about the beautiful thighs of Hemarangan ( ArAvamudhan

of Kudanthai ) and Kasthurirangan of Srirangam

by Thirukkudanthai dEsikan and Swami dEsikan

respectively are proof to their own relationships

across centuries . Thirukudanthai Desikan's chosen words ,

their meaning and that of Swami Desikan's ( In paranthesis )

are sometimes identical and at other times very , very close.

Here are some examples of individual pasages from

their eulogies :

 

1 . dEva ArAma ( Kama ArAma ) = devA's garden

( Manmathan's garden )

 

2 . prabhava kadali sthambha sambhAvya sobham

( sthira kadalikA sthambha sambhavaneeyam ) =

like the Vaazhai plant / plantain tree with remarkable

lustre ( like the firm Vaazhai plant that is not easy to

forget because of its notable beauty )

 

3. Sri BhU dEvi prabrudhi mahishee prArhtyamAna

upadhAnam ( Bhumi NeeLA upadhAnam ) =

like the most desired pillow for the heads of Bhumi

Devi and other consorts of the Lord ( serving as

the pillow for the heads of Sri Devi , BhU Devi

and NeeLA devi )

 

4. kanchee niryath kiraNa ruchiram peetha kousEya

jushtam tath ( nyanchth kAnchee kiraNa ruchiram,

kshouma aaslishtam ) = Those beautiful thighs ,

which are adorned by the yellow silk dress

and whose beauty is enhanced by the lustre of

the golden waist belt { Those (beautiful ) pair of thighs

beautified further by the golden raiment ( PeethAmbharam )

and whose beauty is enhanced even more by the golden rays

originating from the gem-studded , golden waist band )

 

5. Saarnga dhanva Uru yugmam mama chitthE

lagnam bhavathu ( lAvaNya Ogadhvayam iva

kimapi Uru yugmam maamikA mathi nirvisathi ) =

May that ( most beautiful ) pair of thighs of the Lord

wielding the bow revered as Saarngam get connected

to my mind { My mind enjoys the pair of thighs of the youth

known as Sri RanganAthan , which resemble the two

branches of a beautiful river in flood stage ).

 

ThiruppANAzhwAr expressed the way in which his mind

got entrapped in the beauty of the red peethAmbharam

that covered the thigh region of Sri RanganaathA :

 

---kadiyAr pozhil arangatthammAn ,

araicchivantha Adayin mEl senRathAm yenn chinthayE

 

AzhwAr did not make specific mention of the beautiful

thighs of Sri RanganAthA . He was too absorbed with

the beauty of the red silk garment that covered those

thighs . Both Thirukkudanthai Desikan and Swami

Desikan chose to admire the beauty of the pair of thighs

resembling the tapering trunk of the banana plant .

 

Swami Desikan's celebration of the beauty of the Lord's thighs

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Manmathan is the Symbol of beauty . He is the son of the Lord

and is beauty personified. He has a nandavanam or play garden .

There , he plants with his own hands two banana saplings.

They grow tall , stand up to the wind and rain and are beautiful

to look at . Swami Desikan compares these two Vazhai marams

( Plantain/Banana trees ) to the Lord's thighs . Just as the Vazhai

trunks taper upward and narrow down in a symmetric and beautiful

manner , the Lord's thighs branch down from the waist in to a pair

and taper down to the knees . The consorts of the Lord - Sri , Bhu

and NeeLA devis choose those strong and beautiful thighs as

pillows , when they rest from the exertion of pressing His lotus feet .

The rays of light from the gems adorning the waist band ( OttiyANam )

fall on the peethAmbharam ( the yellow silk garment ) that is wrapped

around the thighs and add more lustre to the thighs . In Swami Desikan's

anubhavam , the beautiful , strong thighs branching from the waist

of the Lord are like the powerful streams of flood flowing in two

symmetric branches brimming with soundharyam .Those strong

thighs belong to the forever youthful RanganAthA ( Ranga Yoona : ) .

 

Thirukkudanthai Desikan"s Anubhavam of ArAvamudhan's lovely thighs

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Swami Desikan referred to Kaama aarAmam ( Manmathan's

sport garden ) . Thirukkudanthai Desikan referred to Deva

aarAmam ( The sport garden of DevAs ) as the place , where two

divine and beautiful Vaazhai marams stand . They celebrate the

beauty of the Lord's thighs , which beat them in the contest for

beauty and thus have won the top prize ( Prabhava Kadalee

sthambha sambhAvya sObham ) . Swami Desikan's words are

" sthira kadhaLikA sthambha Sambhavaneeyam ) .

 

Thiose beautiful and strong thighs are sought after pillows

( prarthyamana UpadhAnam ) for Bhu Devi and other two

consorts of the Lord . Thirukkudanthai Desikan refers to

Bhu Devi and others ( Bhu Devi prabruthi mahishee ) .

Swami Desikan spells out the names of those consorts

with the passage in his slOkam as " Kamalaa Bhumi NeeLA

upAdhAnam " and qualifies those pillows as " Kshouma

Aaslishtam " ( adorning the peethAmbharam ) . Thirukkudanthai

Desikan enjoys the beauty of the very same peethAmbharam

with the following words : " Kaanchee niryath kiraNa ruchiram

peetha kousEya jushtam " . He adds another contributor to

the enhancement of the beauty of the Lord's thighs adorned

with the yellow silk garment ( viz., ) the rays of multicolored

light originating from the gems of the navarathna waist belt .

The BhakthA of ArAvamudhan is at a loss for words to describe

this integrated soundharyam . He just describes that beauty

as " Tath " ( That ) and stops . Swami Desikan is also overcome by

that profound beauty and stops by saying " Kimapi LAvaNyam " .

The effort to adequately describe the total beauty of

the Lord's thighs esacpes both the Desikans . One attempts

to describe the beauty of the thighs of SaarngapANI

" Saarnga Dhanva: Uru Yugmam ) and the Thuppul Desikan

attempted to describe the soundharyam of the forever-youthful

RanganAthA's pair of thighs ( Ranga Yoona : Uru Yugmam ) .

 

Thirukkudanthai Desikan prayed for permanent association

of his mind with those pair of beautiful thighs ( Mama chitthE

lagnam bhavathu ) ; Swami Desikan declared that the pair of

thighs are implanted in his mind already and that his mind

is enjoying their beauty ( MaamikA mathi: nirvisathi ) .

 

Additional Observations :

 

In RaamAvathAram , Both RaamA and SithA

took turns to rest their heads on each other's thighs , while they

got tired during their journey thru the forest . The famous KaakAsurA

incident happened on one of those occasions , when the Lord

was resting on SithA piratti's thigh and sleeping . In the distant

Ashoka vanam , SitA Piratti misses those supporting , strong

thighs and cries out , " Katham Uru : " . With Her deep love for

Her Lord , she reflects on the beauty of those strong thighs

and laments about Her separation from them . In YaadhavAbhudayam ,

which is Swami Desikan's salute to Lord KrishNA , we come across

the concept of those powerful and beautiful thighs of SaarangapANi

becoming the playful pillow for KOmaLavalli

( Bhavishyatasccha Saarnga bhruthasthUrU

leelOpadhAnE kimathO digEna ) . The similie of the Thighs

with the pillows ( UpAdhAnam ) is referred to here again .

 

The close association of the Golden Yellow peethAmbharam

of the Lord with His thighs is often saluted by AzhwArs

and AchAryAs. The specific references by the Lord's consort ,

ANDAL In NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi is appropriate to recall here :

 

" PerumAn arayil peethaka vaNNa aadai kondu yennai

vAttam taNiya veeseerE " ( Wont you worried about me bring

the peethAmbharam worn by my Lord and use it as a fan

to waft it across my body to remove my sufferings of

sepaeration from Him ? ) ".

 

" Peethaka Vaadai udai thAzhap perumkAr mehak kanrE pOl

veedhiyAra varuvAnai vrundhAvanatthE kanDOmE ( We have

now enjoyed the darsanam of the Lord of blue hue moving around

the streets of BrindhAvanam like a strong cloud of the rainy season

with His lovely peethAmbharam flowing all the way down

to His ankles ) .

 

That is the celebration of the PeethAmbharam

covering His beautiful thighs . AzhwArs have always

celebrated Thirukkudanthai AarAvamudhan as

GopAlan ( kOlAl nirai mEyttha AayanAik Kudanthai

kidantha kudamAdi ) and hence the reference to

BrindhAvana Charan as SaarangapANi is very

appropriate .

 

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Thirukkudanthai Desikaaya Nama:

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan