Sri AparyApthAmrutha DhyAna sOpAnam: SlOkam 6

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs of Sri AparyAptha Para Brahmam :

 

Thirukkudanthai Desikan focuses here on the NaabhI

of Sri PadmanAbhan resting in Thirukkudanthai

as AparyAothAmruthan .The slOkam is as follows :

 

kvachithkAlE svAntharnihitha chidhachitthtattva vithathi:

bahUnAm dhAthrUNAm prabhava karanIbhUtha kamalA I

gabIrA ksheerAbdhE : gurutara mahAvartha subhagA

subhA nAbhI samyag lasathu hrudhi mE SaarngiNa iyam II

 

Anvaya Kramam: kvachith kaalE svAnthar nihitha

chidhachith tattva vithathi:bahUnAm dhAthrUNAm

prabhava karaNI bhUta kamalA gabIrA kshIrAbdhE :

gurutara mahAvartha subhagA SaarngiNa: SubhA iyam

nAbhI mE hrudhi samyag lasathu

 

Before we comment on the meanings of the words

chosen by Thirukkudanthai Desikan to celebrate

his enjoyment of the naabhI desam of Sri AarAvamudhan ,

( Hema Rangan )let us reflect upon the enjoyment of

the naabhI desam of Sri RanganAthA ( KasthUri Rangan )

by Swami Desikan in Sri Bhagavadh DhyAna sOpAnam

and ThiruppANAzhwAr in AmalanAdhipirAn paasurams .

 

In his pUrvAvathAram as Swami Desikan , this AchAryA

stood before Sri RanganathA and described his anubhavam

of the beauty of the Thiruvunthi ( NaabhI desam ) of

the Lord :

 

samprINAthi prathikalamasou maanasam mE sujAthA

gambheerathvAth kvachana samayE gUtanikshiptha visvA I

nAleekEna spurtiha rajasa vEdhasO nirmimANA

ramyAvartha dhyuthi sahacharI RanganAthasya Naabhi: II

 

Swami Desikan assesses that Naabhi as " kvachana samayE

gUta nikshiptha visvA " ( At one time , that nAbhI

hid the whole worlds inside it ) . Thirukkudanhtai

Desikan echos that train of thought with the choice

of words , " kvachith kAlE svantharnihitha chidh achith

tattva vithathi: "( on a special time -praLayam -

AarAvamudhan kept inside the nAbhi the whole

collection of the sentients and the insentients of

the Universe and protected them ).The overlap of

words , " kvachana samayE/kavachith kaalE ,

gUta nikshiptha visvA/svantharnihitha chidh achith

tattva vithathi: " can only be understood as

the Thirukkudanthai Desikan's relation to Swami

Desikan as his aparAvathAram .

 

Comments on " Kvachith kAlE --Vithathi:

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

 

NammAzhwAr described the Lord as " yellA ulahum

udaya oru mUrthy " to salute the Lord who protected

the chEthanAchEthanAthmaka prapancham of His during

the ferocity of the time of deluge ( mahA PraLayam ) .

 

Thirumangai described the kvachith kaalam and

the kavachana samayam in his paasuram on

Thirukkudanthai perumAn this way :

 

aNdatthin muhadazhundha alai munneer

thirai tathumpa aa aa yenru , tondarkkum

amararkkum munivarkkum taan aruLi , ulahamEzhum

undottha ThiruvayiRRinahampatiyil vaitthummai

konda , KONDAL KAI MANIVANNAN TANN KUDANTHAI

nahar paadi aadeergaLE

 

The water has risen to the edge of aNdam ( brahmAndam )

at the time of PraLayam.The giant waves are striking

and sweeping away every thing in its way. The thondars

ogf the Lord , devAs and the sages are crying out

for help of the aasritha rakshakan .The ever-compassionate

aapath bhAndavan comes to their rescue and places them all

in the safe abode of His naabhi and floats safely

on those praLayA waters on top of a pupil leaf as

Vata pathra sAyee. The quality of the rakshathvam

of the Naabhi of the Parama dayALu is saluted here.

 

Next, Thirukkudanthai Aandavan salutes the other

happenings at the sacred nAbhi of the PadmanAbhan :

 

" bahUnAm dhAthrUNAm prabhavakaraNI bhUtha kamalA "

 

He recognizes the nAbhi as the place of birth of

limitless BrahmAs during the numerous kalpAs . The time

span and its unimaginable sweep is indicated by

Thirumangai in one of his KazhicchIrAma ViNNagara

paasurams : " naanmuhan nALL mihat tarukkai irukku

vaymai nalamihisIromasanAl naviRRu " . Once ,

a BrahmA got very proud about his longevity. The Lord

wanted that BrahmA to gain a perspective on his

mortality and longevity . He pointed BrahmA to

a great sage by the name of Romasar . When one hair

fell of Romasar's body , the age of one BrahmA was over.

That is the life span of BrahmA . It was very

educational for BrahmA and he became huumble .

 

At this nAbhi , countless BrahmAs( BahUnAm

dhAthruNAm ) are created ( prabhava karaNI bhUtha)

and engage in the act of creation at the command

of the Lord .The creation of BrahmAs in His naabhi

is saluted by Thirumangai in the special prabhandham

he created for Thirukkudanthai AparyApthAmruthan

( ThiruvEzhukURRirukkai ):

 

" oru pErunthi iru malart-tavisil ,

oru muRai ayanai InrAnai " .

 

Swami Desikan salutes the creation of BrahmA on top of

the beautiful Lotus flower arising out of the naabhi desam

of the Lord as : " spuritha rajasA nAleekEna vedasa:

nirmimANA " .That lotus wiht its multitude of

pollen dust produces the many BrahmAs over aeons

according to NigamAntha mahA desikan .ThiruppANAzhwaar

wonders about that aspect of creation of many

BrahmAs this way : "ayanai padaitthathOr

yezhil unthi mElanRO adiyEn uLLatthin yuirE ".

 

That naabhi is deep ( gabhirA )to hold all that

chethanAchEthanams and is auspicious (subhA )

because it engages in the subha kaaryam of creation

of the BrahmA and thru him , the myriad sentients

and the insentients of the Lord's universe .Swami

Desikan uses the word "gambheeram " to desribe the

depth and profound nature of the nAbhi of

Sri RanganAthA .Thirukkudanthai Desikan chose

the word "GabhIrA" to reflect the same sense of wonder .

 

Next , The two Desikans focus on the shape of the

naabhi desam , which reminds them of a mighty whirlpool

in the milky ocean ( Suzhal ) .Swami Desikan

describes it as : RamyAvartha dhyuthi sahachari

( the beautiful naabhi characterized by the many

delightful swirls of the deep ocean ) . Thirukkudanthai

Desikan goes one step further and describes the

mighty suzhal (whirlpool ) as : KshIrAbdhE :

gurutara mahAvartha subhagA ( that mighty

swirl seen in the milky ocean , which is

most enjoyable to look at ) .

 

Both Desikans and ThiruppANAzhwAr confess that

their mind melts over the sight(darsanam ) of

the most beautiful nAbhi desam of the Lord

reclining on AdhisEshA along the banks of

the river Cauveri .Their words are :

 

unti mElanRo adiyEN uLLatthin uyirE-- ThiruppaaNar

 

asou naabhi: --prathikalam mE maanasam

sampreeNAthi-- Swami Desikan, Bhagavdh DhyANa

sOpAnam

 

SaarngiNa : subhA iyam naabhI mE hrudhi samyak

lasathu : --Thirukkudanthai Desikan on AarAvamuthan

 

Both the Desikans were inspired by the anubhavam

of ThiruppANAzhwAr , who described his experience

as the life of his mind ( uLLatthin uyirE ) .

 

Swami Desikan stated that this anubhavam

melts his heart every minute ( prathikalam

mE maanasam sampreeNAthi ) .

 

Thirukkudanthai Desikan prayed for

that experience to last forever

and well ( samyag lasathu ).

 

Swami Desikan himself in his Muni vAhana

BhOgam quotes a slOkam from Sri VishNU tattvam

to explain the root cause of such profound anubhavam :

 

" svOjjIvanEcchA yadhi tE

svasatthAyAm spruhA yadhi

AATHMA DAASYAM HARE: SWAMYAM

SVABHAVAM CHA SADHA SMARA "

 

( Meaning ) :If you are intersted in your salvation ,

please remind yourself always of your nature

as an eternal servitor ( daasA )of the Lord , who is

the undisputed Swami and your indissoluble

relationship as the sEshan of the sarva sEshI .

 

The slokam refers to the Ujjeevanam and

the ujjeevana icchA ( the escape from

SamsArA and the desire for cutting asunder

the cycles of the endless births and deaths ).

The slOkam reminds one to constantly remember

the uRavu /the relationship ) that is indissoluble

( ozhikka ozhiyAthu ) as the jeevan's role

as a servant to the Lord for all times to come .

 

ThiruppANar and the two Desikans became

svabhAva dAsya PrathibhOdhakAs ( those who

understood the natural and unalterable

relationship between the Lord and themselves as

the Master and servants ) . This awareness

and chinthanA happened because of the parama

kAruNIka katAksham (the most merciful and

compassionate glances of the Lord ) falling on them .

Not only did they acheive Ujjeevanam , but they

also gave us upadEsam about how we can ralize

ujjeevanam by Bhagavadh Anubhavam in the manner

suggested by GeethAchAryan :

 

macchitthA madhgathaprANA

bhOdhayantha: parasparam I

kathayanthasccha maam nithyam

tushyanthi cha ramanthi cha II

--- Srimadh Bhagavadh GeethA : 10.9

 

( meaning : These paramaikAnthis and

Jn~Anis fix their minds in Me , they

root their jeevans in Me and live for Me,

they recite My divya charithram for the benefit

of one another , they accept the words of

fellow bhagavathAs as the true one and consider

those upadEsams as the fruit of their lives

and stay immersed in that blissful state .

 

With their minds wholly fixed in Me ,

with their senses deeply absorbed in Me ,

enlightening one another , and always

speaking of Me , they are satisfied

and delighted . They are BudhAs and

BhAva samanvithA : according to the Lord .

 

In the next slOkam , GeethAchaaryan

states how He blesses such BhakthAs :

" dadhAmi Bhuddhi yOgam " . To them ,

ever steadfast and serving me with

affection , I give that Buddhi Yogam by

which they come unto Me. Buddhi Yogam

is devotion of right knowledge thru

dhyANam ( Bhagavdh DhyAna sOpANam ,

AparyApthaamrutha DhyAna sOpAnam ) .

They climb the steps ( sOpAnam )of

Buddhi yOgam and enjoy the Lord

at paramapadham .

 

Sri Thirukkudanthai Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

DaasAnu Daasan ,

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan