Sri Raga Pancharathnam : Part 6 --Sri Raagam , Sri Devi & Sri Sthuthi

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs and NadhOpAsakAs :

 

As Sri Murali Rangaswamy is nearing completion of

his postings on Sri Sthuthi of Swami Desikan , It is an appropriate

time to offer additional salutations to the SrEyO Murthy ,

Sri MahA Lakshmi , who is closely associated with Sri Raagam .

 

AlavandhAr , Acharya RaamAnujA , KurEsa , Parasara Bhattar

celebrated the Vaibhavam of Sri Devi .Swami Desikan , who

closely followed their tracks offered his own deeply moving

tribute to the Sakala Bhuvana PrArhtanA KamadhEnu .

 

He composed the Sri Sthuthi with 25 slOkams . The question

arises as to why he chose 25 slOkams . The aksharam " Maa "

is the 25th aksharam in the sanskrit alphabet . That Aksharam

is the EkAksharam for MahA Lakshmi . The Lord derives his name

Maadhavan from there . He becomes SrinivAsan as a result .

Hence Our Guru Saarvabhouman chose 25 slOkams to symbolize

the Lakshmi Tanthram and the Lakshmi Vaachaka YekhAksharam

( Maa) .

 

In Bhagavdh DhyAna sOpAnam , Swami Desikan saluted

the Lord as " Dhaivatham dhaivathAnAm " . Here , in his salutation

of the pavithrANAm pavithram , Sri Devi , he chose the words

" mangaLAnAm MangaLam " in the very first slOkam . She is

Sarva MangaLaa . Therefore , Amara kOsam salutes Her as

" RamA MangLa DevathA " . Sri Raagam associated with this

MangaLa mUrthy is therefore one of the most MangaLa rAgams .

 

It is no surprise that Purandara Daasar begs Her benovolent glances

to fall on him in his Sri raaga krithi : " BhAgyatha Lakshmi BaarammA ,

Nammamma nee SowbhAghyatha Lakshmi Baaramma " .

He salutes Her nithya SowmAngalyathvam in Sri Raagam

and offers his salutation : " kumkumAngitha pankaja

lOchana VenkataramaNa na PattatharANi , Baarammaa " .

This " nithya mahOthsava nithya SumangaLa ,

dinakara kOti tEjavu hoLayutha MahA lakshmi "

is clebrated in Sri Raagam by Daasar .

 

Swami Desikan offers his saraNAgathi in the very first slOkam:

" SrEyO mUrthim SriyamacharaNa : tvAm SaraNyAm prapathyE " .

Among SrEyas ( that confers auspiciousness ) and PrEyas

( that makes one the recipient of what one desires ) , She is

the SrEyOmUrthy first of all . Her name " Sri " has been

elaborated with six different and distinct meanings to

salute Her six roles symbolized by this Vaidhika Naamam .

Elsewhere in MummaNik kOvai , Swami Desikan explains

these six roles of this DayA mUrthy :

 

venduraik kEttu , meendavaik kEtpitthu ,

yeendiya vinaikal maandida muayanru .

tannadi sErntha tamarunai aNuha

ninnudan sErnthu niRku ninn ThruvE

 

The six different roles are : sruNOthi ,

srAvayathi , sruNAthi , sreeyathE ,

sreeNAthi and srayathE . She is shining

with these extraordinary auspicious attributes

( YasasA Jvalantheem ) .

 

Swami Desikan used 25 slOkams to salute

in krama pAtam her glories :

 

SlOkam 1 : MaanAtheetha-- SaraNAgathi

Slokam 2: AavirbhAva :--- SvAsakthi -Her greatness

that escapes eulogy

SlOkam 3 : sthOthavyathvam -- pala prApthi

 

The next 7 slOkams ( 4 to 10 ) deal with Her SvarUpam

 

SlOkams 4 to 10 : YathsankalpAth -- , Nishprathyuha --,

UddEsyathvam-- , Pasyantheeshu -- ,

asyEsAnA --, tvAmEvAhU-- ,

AapannArthi --

 

The subsequent 4 ( 11 to 14 ) slOkams deal with Her athiadhbutha rUpa

LaavaNyam .

 

SlOkam 11 -14 : dhatthE sObhaam -- , AasamsAram --

agrE bharthu:-- , AalOkya tvAm

 

The remaining 11 slOkams ( 15-25) are salutations

to Her GuNam , Vibhavam and Isvaryam .

 

This is the Vishaya VailakshaNyam that Sri MuraLi Rangaswamy

covered as intrepreted by our PoorvAchAryAs .

 

In the 24th slOkam , Swami Desikan recognizes Her as

being seated on the chest of His AarAdhya Devan ,

Sri Hayagreevan giving Him the name

of Sri Lakshmi Hayagrrevan :

 

Sampath divyA Madhuvijayina: ---- SaishA dEvi

sakala bhuvana prArhtanA KaamadhEnu :

 

The Madhuvijiyana : is none other than Sri Hayagreevan ,

who destroyed the asuran , Madhu ( Madhusoodhanan ) .

 

He is the Maadhavan sanctified by the presence of

Maa , the aadhara mUrthy for Sri Raagam .

 

We will continue with the glory of Sri Raagam as celebrated

by Saint ThyagaraajA for " Naama KusumAnjali " in the next

posting .

 

Sri SadhguravE nama:

Sri Lakshmi Hayagreeva ParabrahmaNe nama:

Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha ParabrahmaNE nama:

Sri Lakshmi NaarAyaNa ParabrahmaNE nama :

 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan