Sri Ranganaathar Temple construction/ Sri Ranganaatha Mahimai : part 3

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Dear Sriranga KshEthra AbhimAnis :

 

In this posting , I will cover the masterly

salutation of Sri Mutthuswamy Dikshithar to

Sri RanganAthA in raagam , BrindhAvana SaarangA .

 

BrindhAvana charan's beauty's embodiment is the raagam

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Swami Desikan saluted the heart throb of the gopis

roaming in the forest of BrindhAvanam as " VandhE

BrindhAvanacharam vallavee jana vallabham " in his

GOpAla Vimsathi . The insatiable nectar ( AparyApthAmrutha-

SaarangapANi) ,of the beauty of the Hema Rangan moving

around the thickets and winding paths of BrindhAvanam

is saluted by the raagam aptly named as BrindhAvana SaarangA .

 

ANDAL enjoyed the divine vENu ghAnam of the blemishless Lord

(kuRaivonRumillAtha Govindhan )in the forest with the Gopis

and experienced the rain of svarams falling all around Her as

the showers of fast moving arrows from the bow of the Lord

named Saarangam . ANDAL addressed that SaarangapANi in

one of Her ThiruppAvai paasuram this way and prayed for

auspiciousness : " thAzhAthE saarngam uthaittha sara mazhai

pOl --vaazha ulahanil peythitAi " . BrindhAvana Saarnga

raagam is thus a raagam closely associated with SaarangapANI ,

the Naadha Brahmam of BrindAvanam .He is the sound and light

( oLi and oli ) of BrindhAvanam .Instead of the rain of

arrows from HIs Saarangam , the rain of svarams emanated

from His flute and rejuvenated the world .

 

Sri Rangapura VihAra Krithi in BrindhAvana SaarangA rAgam

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This beautiful rAgam is a janya rAgam of Harihara PriyA

( Karahara PriyA ) , the 22nd mELa raagam , which has

the connection to Veda chakram and BhU PrasthAram .

It has also the feminine name of BrindhAvani in the

North Indian classical music tradition .It is a dhaivatha

svara varjitha rAgam with chathusruthi rishabham ,

sAdhAraNa ghAndhAram , kaisiki nishAdham and suddha

madyama svarams . It has the ArohaNa -avarOhaNa kramam of

" sa ga ri ma ni ss -ss ni pa ma ga ri sa " .

 

Pallavi of this Krithi

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The pallavi "Rangapura vihAra Jaya kOdhanDa RaamAvathAra

Raghuveera ( Sri ) " packs a wealth of meanings and

allusions . Swami Desikan saw Sri RanganAthA

as a radiant effulgence in the middle of Srirangam

and experienced that parabrahmam as the the One ,

who is readily accessible God of Gods , who banishes

the sorrows of the suffering and orphaned humanity

through the granting of the boon of mOksham ( chinthArathnam

sulabamiha na: siddhi mOkshAnurUpam , dheenAnAtha

vyasana samanam , Dhaivatham DhaivathAnAm , divyam

chakshu: parishathAm dhrusyathE RangamadhyE ) .

In the middle of the rangam / stage of BrindAvanam

( verdant groves on the banks of KaavEri river ),

that jyOthi is seen as the eye of the VedAs and as

the ChinthAmaNi gem that grants the wishes that one

wants fulfilled .

 

Just as Lord GovindhA roamed in the Brindhavanam ,

Lord RanganAtha roamed in Rangapuri ( Rangapura Vihaaran ) .

Sri RamachandrA's roaming was done in DandakAraNyam .

That was His stage ( rangam ) . He was with Jaanaki MaathA

( Sri ) for part of the time and made it Sri Rangam .

Deekshitahr visualizes that KodhanDa Raaman as

the Raghu Veeran and recognizes Him as the RaamAvathAram

of Srimann NaarAyaNan . Sri Deekshithar hails hence that

" KodhanDa RaamAvathAra , Raghuveera RangapuravihAran " in

the pallavi as " Rangapura VihAra Jaya KodhanDa-

RaamAvathAra Raghuveera ( Sri ) " . By invoking

the naamam of Raghuveeran , Deekshithar reminds us

immediately of the beautiful mangaLAsAsanam of the valour

of Raghu Veran by Swami Desikan in his

incomparable Raghuveera Gadhyam .

 

There is also a very famous sannidhi for KodhanDa Raaman

in Sri Rangam near the Chandra PushkariNi . With the

KodhanDam in His hand , the Raghuveeran there must have

inspired Deekshithar to compose this krithi

on the IshvAku Kula dhaivam that Veeraraaghavan Himself

worshipped at AyOdhyA with the VisAlakshi , SitA piratti .

 

Anupallavi of BribdhAvana SaarangA krithi

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Here , Deekishithar places the raaga mudrai

cleverly and salutes the VaradarAja svarUpa

visEsham of the Lord of Srirangam . The anupallavi

vAkhyams are :

 

angaja janaka dEva gaja bhrundhAvana sArngEndhra

Varadha RamAntharanga syAmaLAnga vihanga turanga

sadayApAnka sathsanga ( Sri RangapuravihAra Jaya)

 

We will analyze the word by word meanings of the

anupallavi vAkhyams now.

 

1)Angaja janaka dEva: This group of words are chosen

by the nAdhOpAsaka to reveal that He is the father

of ManmathA , the beautiful one . Lord RanganAthA

is more beautiful than Manmathan and a portion of

His beauty took the form of Manmathan , the love god .

 

2)Gaja BhrundAvana SaarngEndra :This salutation refers

to Sri RanganAthA's role as Gajendra Varadan . He arrived

in great haste to the lotus pond on the back of

Garudan , when he heard the moving plea for rescue

by GajEndran , who was being tormented by the crocodoyle .

That AdhimUlam saved the king of elephants and

blessed the helpless herd of other elephants ,

which stood by the bank of the pond worrying about

their king .Gaja Bhrundham means the herd of elephants.

SaarngEndran is the GajEndra Varadhan .BhrindA vanam

means the herd of trees or dense forest .

 

3)Varadha ShyAmaLAnga : Here , Deekshithar salutes

the avyAja karuNA mUrthy , who grants desired

boons to His bhakthAs as VaradarAjan . He is

shyAmaLAngan , because He rose out of the agni

kuntam of BhramA's yaj~nam on Hasthigiri .

The smoke and the fire gave him the shyAMaLa mEni.

Swami Desikan salutes the shyAmaLa mEni appearing

amidst the flames of the AsvamEdha Yaaga kuntam

in the first slOkam of Sri Varadha Raaja PanchAsath

this way : "--thuraga savanavEdhyAm ShyAmaLO havyavAha : "

 

4)RamAntharanga : That avyAja vathsalan is the foremost

among those , who protects the saraNAgatha janams .

That pEraruLALan is bound to the antharanga visvAsam

of PerumdEvi ThAyAr , who is none other than RamA .

Therefore , He becomes RamAntharangan .In his Sri sthuthi

slOkam , Swami Desikan stood in front of Sri RanganAyaki

and saluted Her with the following slOkam to illustrate

the RamAntharanga RangarAja tattvam . Some think that

Sri Sthuthi was composed in front of PerumdEvi ThAyAr

of Kaanchipuram :

 

nishprathyUha praNaya gaDitham dEvi nithyAnapAyam I

VishNusthvam chEthyanavadhiguNam dhvandhvamanyOnya lakshyam II

 

( Meaning ) : Oh , RamA !Both You and Your consort

never are without each other and both of You are

bound by the bonds of love for each other . Each of You

can only be understood through the other . That is

the antharangam ( indwelling rahasyam )saluted as

"RamAntharangam" by Deekshithar , who saw Sri RanganAthA

as Sri VaradharAjan for a moment . This anubhavam

is common to Thirumangai , who will have the vision

of the ArchA mUrthys of other divya desams,

when he performs mangaLAsAsanam to the archA mUrthy

of one divya dEsam .

 

5)Vihanga turanga : The Lord has Garudan as His

vAhanam .Garudan is Veda svarUpi as indicatd by

the following salutation of Swami Desikan

( sruthi satha sikhara abhishtutha aathmA asou

GaruthmAn ) . Bruhath and Rathanthara Saamams

are his wings and Gaayathra Saamans are his eyes .

Thrivruth Saaman is his siras . Garudan had won the boon

from the Lord to carry Him ( yO yam dhatthE svanishtam

VAHANAMAPI VARA : ). Such a sapthasvara gathi ( The home

of the Saama vedam made of seven svarAs ) is the

Vihangan and is the turangam( vaahanma ) for Sri RanganAthA .

 

6) sadayApAnaka: Swami DEsikan salutes the KaaruNyam and

unparalleled DayA of BhagavAN in one of his sthOthrams as :

 

kalasa jaladhi kanyA vallaree kalpasAkhee

kalayathu kusalam na: kOapi KAARUNARAASI :

 

Here Swami Desikan states that KsheerAbdhinAthan ,

the KalpakA tree , is covered by the tender creeper

known as MahA Lakshmi and appears like the embodiment

of DayA /KaruNai .Swami Desikan has created hundred

verses on the subject of the unique and limitless

DayA of the Lord to illustrate the meaning behind

the word : " SadayApAnka : " .

 

7) Sathsanga: This choice of word , Sathsanga: ,

means at one level that Sri RanganAtha enjoys

the company of Saadhus , amala chittha bhakthAs .

At another level , it refers to the meaning

provided by the fifteenth slOkam of Sri VaradarAja

PanchAsath( sadhAdhi sabdhA : , SivAdhi VaachA :

NaarAyaNE tvayi ikakanTyam ):

 

sAmAnya buddhi janakAsccha SADHAADHI SABDHA :

tattvAnthara bramakruthasccha SivAdhivAchA : I

NaarAyaNE tvayi Kareesa vahanthyananyam

anvartha vrutthi parikalpitham ikakanTyam II

 

( Meaning ): O Lord of Kaanchi ! Upanishads call

the object behind the Universe as "Sath " ,

AathmA " , " Brahman " . These are general names

and may cause confusion that they are some thing

other than Yourself . Similarly , the sabdhams

such as SivA , IndrA , BrahmmA might appear to

elevate them as independent beings with their

own power .When we examine these superficial

statements appropriately , it becomes clear

that they have no independent source of power

and that all of them derive their power and reason

for existence from You and You alone .For instance ,

the word Sath means that which exists by itself

without any dependence . Brahman refers to You alone

under rigorous analysis . AathmA refers to You , who has

all the others as Your body . The word Sivan means

the one who is the most auspicious , Yourself .

You are the one , who is mangaLAnAm manngaLam

( sivAnAm Sivam , Parama Sivam ).Indran refers to

the most wealthy One ,Yourself . With unified voice ,

all these " sadhAdhi sabdhams " refer to no one but

Your majestic self as Sriman NaarAyaNan .

 

When Deekshithar salutes Sri RanganAthA in his

BrindhAvana SaarangA krtihi as " Sadhsanga " ,

he means like Swami Desikan that NaarAyaNa

sabdham . That Sri Ranganathan with Sri RanganAyaki

ThAyAr is coming to take their residence amidst us

to bless us . Hence , Please support the Sri RanganAthA

temple construction project to the best of your ability .

 

I will cover the charaNa vAkhyams of this krithi

in the next posting and will also suggest a method

of support for the Kaimkaryam , which is tax free .

BhagavAn"s Revathi ( Janma nakshthram ) , ThaayAr's

Panguni Utthiram , Sri Rama Navami , AchArya RaamAnuja

Jayanthi are all coming to remind us soon . The sacredness

of this ancient temple that is central to our tradition

is beyond description .Hence , Please consider support

for this kaimkaryam and be blessed by the SaraNYa dampathis .

 

ParAnkusa Daasan ,

Oppiliappan Sannidhi VaradAchAri SadagOpan