Mahimai of BhUmi Devi & BhUvarAhan of Oppiliappan Sannidhi

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs : Now that we have been blessed to

assemble the funds needed for the Mutthangi Kaimkaryam

for the uthsava divya dampahtis of Oppiliappan Koil ,

I will proceed in a spirit of utter gratefulness to them

offer my tribute to the Mahimai of BhUmi Devi

and her Consort . I will cover the extraordinary

tribute that Swami Desikan paid to BhUmi Devi

of Oppilaippan Koil and link it to the BhUsUktham

of Taittireeya Samhithai and Sage VyasA's Srimadh

Bhaagavatham passages as well as that of Sri NaarAyana

Bhattadhiri . May the most merciful Mother bless us

all in this effort of celebrating her Mahimai .

 

BhUsUktham's majestic tribute

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

 

The first manthram of BhUsUktham starts

majestically and addresses Her with great

awe and wonder this way :

 

BhUmirbhUmnA dhyaur variNA

anthariksham mahithvA I

upasthE thE dEvyadhithE

agnim annAdham annAdhyAyAdhathE II

 

Oh Bhumi PirAtti ! Thou art vast in area and

shine forth in a manner appreciated by all !

Thou art supreme in Your kalyANa guNAs .

Oh Bhumi Devi , who can not be cut asunder

by anyone ! I invoke the Agni devan in Your midst

who can partake the offerd Havis so that we can

enjoy good harvests and nourishing food .

 

The link of Bhumi Devi and Havis in the Yaagam

immediately reminds us of Her dear Consort,

Yajna NaarAyaNan /Yaj~na VarAhan saluted by

the Sri VishNu Sahasra Naamaa Passage :

 

BhUr bhuva: svastaru:thAra: SavithA PrapithAmaha:I

Yaj~nO Yaj~napathir yajvA Yaj~ngO Yaj~na vAhana: II

 

Yaj~na bhruth Yaj~na kruth

Yaj~nee Yaj~na bhugh Yaj~na sAdhana:I

Yaj~nthakruth yaj~na guhya:

annam annAdha yEva cha II

 

It is instructive to see the link betwen

annam ( food as well as the object of enjoyment),

Agni , Yaj~nam and Yaj~na NaarAyaNa mUrthy , the

consort of BhUmi Devi in both the first manthram

of BhU sUktham and the above passage of

Sri VishNu Sahasra nAmam . That YajvA ( the One

who performs the Yaj~nam ) and Yaj~na Vaahanan( One

who helps others to complete their Yaj~nams )

is the Sarva sEshi of all Yaj~nams . He is Yaj~nee

for whose sake the sacrifices have been created .

He accepts and enjoys the Havis offered

at those Yaj~nams as Yajn~a bhukh . He as

the consort of BhUmi Devi is the annam or

the object of enjoyment and is the enjoyer

of those , who enjoy Him as the AnnadAh .

 

The secret behind the Yaj~nam ( Yaj~na guhyam )

is the Lord Himself as stated by the passage :

 

" All the VedAs and all that has to be learnt ,

all the SaasthrAs and all yaj~nAs and and all

worship --ALL are Sri KrishNA ! O Kings !

Those , who know KrishNA corectly in this way ,

may be considered to have completed successfully

all yaj~nAs . "

 

The relation between our Mother BhUmi Devi

and Her consort and our Father is celebrated

in the context of the yaj~nam in the second manthram

of BhU SUktham :

 

aayan gau: pruchnirakmeedh asanan mAtharam puna: I

pitharam cha prayan suva: II

 

Sri Vishnu Sahasra Naamam passage quoted above

saluted the link between Bhu: Bhuva: and Suva:

this way :

 

BhUr Bhuva: svas tharu: tAra: SavithA prapithAmaha:

 

This great grandfather (prapithAmahar ) , this great

producer/creator of every thing (savithA / Surya

NarAyaNan ) , who helps people cross the turbulent

ocean of SamsArA is compared to a Brahma Taru

( Eternal Tree of Brahman ) , the tree for the

beings of all the three worlds : earth ( BhU: ) ,

Sky ( bhuva: ) and heaven ( sva:) . This effulgent

divine tree spreading from Earth to Heaven is both

the Mother , who nourishes us with life-giving food

( BhU Devi ) and the benovolent Father ( Yaj~na

NaarAyaNan ) , who blesses the Earth with rain

to make it ready to produce the nourishing food .

ANDAL , who is none other than BhUmi Devi has

referred to this tatthuvam in the third ThiruppAvai

Paasuram this way :

 

" --theenginiri nAdellAm thingaL mummAri peythu

-- neengAtha selvam nirainthElOrempAvAi "

 

The BhUsUktham concludes with a beautiful

NaamArchanai of BhUmi Devi's anantha KalyANa

GuNAs , which Swami Desikan echos in his

BhU sthuthi . Some of the names used by

the Vedam as salutation to BhU Devi are :

 

mEdhiniee dEvi VasundharA --VasudhA devi Vaasavee I

--- dEvi HiraNyagarbhiNI devi PrasUvaree

--- Samudhravathee Saavithree ha nO devi mahyangee I

--Indrapathnee vyApinee ---

Vaayumahtee jalasayanee sriyandhA

-- VishNupathneem Maheem Deveem Madhaveem

MaadhavapriyAm , Lakshmee Priyasakeem Deveem

namAmyacchutha VallabhAm II

Om DhanurdharAyai VidhmahE

sarvasiddhyasccha dheemahi I

tannO dharA prachOdhayAth II

 

The above pasage of BhUsUktham has to be

compared to the sixth slOkam of Sri BhU sthuthi

of Swami Desikan to apppreciate his anubhavam of

the Mahimai of BhU Devi . In the fifth slOkam ,

he explained to us as how Her grace nourishes

all the worlds ( Visvam Tvadh aasrithathayA

paripOshavanthee ) . This again is a reference to

the nourishing power of BhU devi celebrated

in the Veda manthram . That the Lord Himself

rejuvenates and enhances His well being

thru His assoication with BhU devi is

the conclusion of Swami Desikan ( Maadhavee !Tvadh

SangamAdh Bhavathi labdha pOsha : ) .

 

Such is the greatnes of BhUmi Devi , which we

will explore in greater depth in the subsequent

postings .

 

Subhamasthu .

Sri BhU Vallabhasya charaNou SaraNam prapathyE

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan

Isvara Samvathsara , Maasi maasa , Sukhla Pakhsha

Shashti dinam .