Divya Dampathi's ThirukkalyANam : Part 7.4

[Guest guest]

>Dear Sri RanganAtha PrEmis :

>

>In the old times , weddings went on for four days

>in contrast to today's one day affair . There were

>opportunities to conduct all aspects of a Vaidhika VivAham

>in a leisurely manner . The only ArchA mUrthy , who was in a hurry

>to get married was the Lord of the Divya Desam ,

>Thiru Idaventhai , Sri Nithya KalyANar . He had promised

>to marry the 360 daughters of Kaalava Maharshi one per day .

>The VimAnam of Thiruvidaventhai is aptly known as KalyANa

>VimAnam . At the end of His marriages spread over the year ,

>He united all His wives into one and named Her Akilavalli

>NaacchiyAr and our Yenthai /EmperumAn placed Her

on His left ( Idathu Pakkam ) . Thus arose the name of

Thiruvidaventhai for this Divya Desam .

>This is the divya desam that Sri Venkatesh Ilayavalli

>of our prapatthi group visited recently . Welcome Back ,

>Sri Elayavalli and thank you very much for your Kaimkaryam

>to maintain the SaraNAgathi List Archives upto date .

>

>Returning to our narration of the happenings a t

Sri VillipputthUr , Sri RanganAthA was in no hurry to

>rush His wedding with ANDAL . He was going to settle down

>at His wife's birth place anyway . Hence , the MappiLLai Swami

>took his time and conducted the PradhAna Homam, Graha PravEsam ,

>Pravisya Homam and Sesha Homam without any hurry .

>

>PradhAna Homam

>****************

>

>After Sapthapathi , the newly married dampathis

>sat on the western side of the sacred fire . ANDAL

>placed Her right hand on the left thigh of Sri RangarAjan ,

>while He performed the PradhAna homam . There are ten

Homa manthrams and 16 AhUthis . At the end of each of

the manthram >ending with SvAhA , a ladle of ghee was poured

into >the sacred fire.Let us examine the 16 AhUthi manthrams :

>

>First Manthram :

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

sOmAya janivithE svAhA ( This ladle of

>ghee is offered to Agni BhagavAn for transmittal to

>Soman for his pleasure in recognition of his help to

>the Kannikai earlier.

>

>Second manthram :

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

GandharvAya JanivithE svAhA ( This

>ladle of ghee /AhUthi is offered to Gandharvan via Agni

>to please him in recognition of his blessings to

>the kannikai after Soman .

>

>Third Manthram :

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

AgnayE janivithE SvAhA ( This particlar

>ladle of Ghee is presented to Agni to recognize his

anugraham to the kannikai after Gandharvan .

>

>DevathA Sambhandham of the kannikai referred to above

>******************************************************

>

>Before Maangalya DhAraNam , there are two manthrams

>that are recited , which describe the association of

>Soman , Gandharvan and Agni with the Kannikai prior

>to marrying a human being as her husband . That shows

>the daivAmsam of the Kannikai .Those manthrams are :

>

>Soma: PrathamO vividhE GandharvO vividha uttara:

>trutheeyO AgnishtE pathi:I

>thureeyasthE manushayajA : II

>

>SomO (a)dhath GandharvAya , GandharvO (a)dhath AgnayE

>rayincha puthrAgumsccha adhAth Agnir MahyamathO ImAm

>

>( Meaning ) : Soman became her first husband .

>Gandharvan was her next husband. Agni was the third

>husband of this Kannikai .The one born as a human being

>is the fourth and final husband. Soman handed you over to

>Gandharvan ; He inturn gave you to Agni . Latter blessed

>you with wealth and progeny and gave you finally to me for

>my sukham .

>

>The inner meaning is that Chandran ( Soman ) gave you strength ,

>Gandharvan blessed you with beauty and Agni gave you the boon

>of youth ( Youvvanam ) and then Agni BhagavAn gave you to me ,

>the human being ,as a present for my sukham . Thus , You have

>come to me as DaivAmsam .

 

The Kaanikai's glories are celebrated through these

two manthrAs . The First three pradhAna Homa manthrams

>are connected to this conception . You might recall ALavanthAr's

>defeating the arrogant scholar at the royal court based on

this Vedic reference .

>

>Fourth Manthram

>****************

>

>kanyalA pithrubhyO yathee pathilOkam avadheekshAmathAstha svAhA

>( Meaning ) : I pour this ladle of ghee in the Agni as Homam

>for the kannikai leaving behind the blemishes as she leaves

>her father's home to join her husband's home .

>

>Fifth manthram

>**************

>

>prEtho munchAthi naamuthas supatthA mamu taskarath

>ythEyameendhra meetvas suputhrA subhagAsathi

>

>(Meaning ) : O Indra , who blesses us with rain !

>Please release this kannikai from her father's house.

>Please make sure that she does not leave her husband's house.

>Please bless her to have deep attachment to her husband's

>home.Please bless her to be attached to her new home .

>Please bless her to have auspicious progeny ( suputhrA : ) .

>Please bless her to have al soubhAgyams in her new home .

>

>Sixth Manthram

>***************

>

>imAm tvamindhra meetva saputhrAgum subhagAm kuru

>dasAsyAm puthrAnAdehi pathim EkAdasam kruthi

>

>( Meaning ) : O Indra , the king of rains and Subhiksham!

>I pray to you to make this kannikai full of

>auspicious progeney and wealth . May she be blessed

>to bear ten sons and make me her eleventh one .

>

>Seventh manthram

>*****************

>

>agnirEthu prathamO devAnAgum sOsyai prajAm

>munchathumruthyupAsAth I

>tathayagum RaajA VaruNO anumnayathAm yathEyagum

>shtree pouthramakam na rhOdhAth II

>

>( meaning ) : May the first among DevAs , Agni

>BhagavAn come here ! May he release her children

>from the noose of Yama devA ( akAla MaraNam ) .

May Lord VaruNA >do what is needful to make her

not cry over her sons or daughters .

>

>Eighth Manthram

>****************

>

>imAm Agnis tayathAm gArhapathya: prajAmasyai

>nayathu dheerghamAyu : I

>asUnyOpasatthA jeevathAmasthu mAthA pouthramAnandhamapi

>prabuddhyathAmiyam II

>

>( Meaning ) : May Lord Agni closely associated

>with the Grahasthan protect her ( kannikai ) .

>May he grant long life to her children !

>may she never be infertile and may she be the mother

>of live children ! May she wake up to the joy

>of having children !

>

>Ninth manthram

>***************

>

>maa thE gruhE nisi ghOsha uddhAtanyathra tvathrutatyas

>samvisanthu I

>maa tvam vikEsyura aavathishtA jeevapathnee pathilOkE

>virAja pasyanthee prajAgum sumansyamAnAm II

>

>( Meaning ) KaanikE ! May there not be any loud noises in

>your house at night ! may any anger & sorrows behind those loud

>arguments go elsewhere ! May thou not sprad your hair

>in despair and beat your breasts in sorrow ! May there be

>no occasion for such despair ! may thou shine in your

>husband's house with good will and take good care of

>your children !

>

>Tenth manthram

>***************

>

>dhyousthE prushtagagum rakshathu , VaayurUrU ,

>asvinou cha sthanam , dayanthagum SavithAbhi rakshathu I

>avAsasa: paridhAnAth Bruhaspathir vivE dEvO

>abhirakshanthu pascchAth II

>

>(Meaning ) : May the AkAsa devathA (dhyou ) protect

your rear ! May Vaayu dEvan protect your two thighs !

>May AsvinI dEvAs protect your chest region !

>May SavithA ( sooryan ) protect your baby

>nourished by your milk ! may Brahaspathi protect

>you until your wear your pudavai .Afterwards , May

>VisvEdEvAs protect you ( THis manthram is a kavacham

>for the protection of the kannikai's body ) .

>

>Eleventh manthram

>******************

>

>aprajasthAm pouthramruthyum pApmAnamudhavAkam I

>seershNa: srajamivOnmuchya dhvishdbhya:prathimunchAmi paasam II

>

>( meaning) : I (the Kannikai) leave with my enemies

amnagaLams like infertility ,premature death of children ,

other sins and sorrows just as I take the used flower

garland from my tresses .This way I remove the noose of

inauspiciousnes of the above four kinds that may bind me .

>

>Twelfth Manthram ( Part of Saayam SandhyAvandhanam /Yajur Vedam )

>*****************************************************************

>

>Imam VaruNa srudheehavamadhyA cha mruDyA tvAmavasyurAchakE

>(Meaning ): Oh Lord VaruNA !Please hear my sthOthram

>and make me happy right away !I salute you with

the intent of being protected by you !

>

>Thirteenth manthram ( Saayam SandhyA vandhana Manthrams)

>********************************************************

>

>tattvAyAmi brahmaNA vandhanAnastadhAsAsthE yajamAnO havirbhi: I

>ahEDamAnO VaruNEha bhOdhi urusagum samAna aayu: pramOshi II

>

>(Meaning ) : O VaruNA ! O supreme Lord ! I take refuge in your

>protection by singing your glory through recitation of Veda manthrams .

>It is for this type of protection by You , the kings make sacrificial

>offerings to Agni to reach You . Oh VaruNa dEva! please grant

>the protection that I am seeking now without getting angry .

>Oh Lord of praise worthy attributes ! Please do not snatch

>away my life with your VaruNa paasam in a mood of anger !

>Please spare my life !

>

>Fourteenth Manthram

>*********************

>

>tvannO AgnE VaruNasya VidhvAn Devasya hEDO avayAsi seeshtA I

>yajishtO Vahnitham sOsusAnO visvA dvEshAgumsi pramumulthyasmath II

>

>(Meaning) : O Agni DevA !May Thou as the omniscient one ,

>intercede with the splendorous VaruNan and reduce his anger

>at us ! O Agni DevA ! You are the most praiseworthy and

>You carry all Havis to the DevAs from us in your resplendent

>form . May Thou remove all kinds of enimiites between us

>fully !

>

>Fifteenth manthram

>*******************

>

>sathvannO AgnE avamO bhavOthee nEthishtO asyA UshasO vyushtou I

>avakshvanO VaruNagum rarANO veehi mruteekagum suhavO na yEthi II

>

>( Meaning ) : O Lord Agni of above auspicious attributes !

>You stand in the front row of DevAs . Please come close to

>us to protect us at the time , when the dawn's rays have

>receded . Please stand next to us and save us from the anger

>of Lord VaruNA for our misdeeds . Please bless us with

>saamagriyAs and accept from us , what pleases you . Please

>be a supporter of our work in this world .

>

>Sixteenth Manthram

>*******************

>

>tvamagnE ayAsyayAsann mansaa hitha:

>ayAsann havya mUhishE ayAnO dEhi BhEshajam II

>

>( Meaning ) : O Agni DevA ! You have us as Your

>servants ! For us , You serve as the object of

>meditation and goal to atain . You are accessible to us

>and carry our Havis to the other DevAs and the Lord .

>Please grant us what is beneficial to us just as

>the appropriate medicine for a patient .

>

>With these manthrams , PradhAna ( Primary ) homam

>was completed by Sri RanganAthA as a bridegroom .

>

>Bride Standing on top of a Pestle ( Ammi )

>*******************************************

>

>The next ceremony was the Ammi mithitthal .

>This ceremony with its accompanying manthram

>is performed to pray for the resoluteness of

>the bride to stand firmly against any upsets

>in married life .

>

>Sri RanganAtha held the toe of the right foot

>of ANDAL and lifted her foot to rest on the ammi

(grinding stone) placed on the right side of

the sacred fire .He recited the following

manthram at that time :

>

>aathishtEmam asmAnam asmEva dheevagum sthirA bahva I

>apithishtta bhruthanyatha: sahasva bhruthanAyatha : II

>

>( Meaning ) : My dear ANDAL ! May Thou stand on this

>rock of a grinding stone firmly . In your married life ,

>oppose those , who oppose you without flinching or

>wavering . May Thou bear with your enemies .Oh My dear

>Wife ! When the violent winds blow during our married

>life , Please stand firmly like you are standing on

>this firm pestle and chase away those , who wish

>to cause harm to You .Please stand firm until these

>violent winds blow away . Have courage and patience

>to stand up to these unplesant and disturbing events .

>Please bear with those , who committ aparAdhams to You .

>

>ANDAL herself has sung about Her experience of Ammi Mitthitthal

>ceremony assisted by Sri RanganAthA . We come across it in

>the 8th verse of Decad 10.6 of NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi :

>

>Immaikkum yEzhEzh piRavikkum paRRAvAn

>nammai udayavan NaarAyaNan nambi

>Semmai udaya ThirukkaiyAl thALL paRRi

>AMMI MITHIKKAK kanAk kantEn thOzhi naan

>

>ANDAL housed this description as the 8th

>paasuram to celebrate the Lord of AshtAkshara

>Manthram ( MUla manthram ) . This is a profound

>paasuram and is a grand summary of the relationship

>between sEshi and sEshan just as " ChiRRam siru kAlE

>Vanthunnai sEvitthu -- " paasuram of ThiruppAvai .

>There ANDAL declares majestically , " yeRRaikkum

>yEzhEzh piRavikkum unthannOdu uRROmE aavOm ,

>unakkE naamAtcheyvOM , maRRai namm kaamangaL

>mARRElOrempAvAI " . In the Ammi mithitthal

>paasuram , she reminds us of the same profound and

>central truth ( SaraNAgathi sAsthram ) with almost

>the same words that are like echos to her Thiruppaavai

>paasuram . Here she says : " Immaikkum yEzhEzh

>piRavikkum , nammai udayavan NaarAyaNan nambi

>paRRAvAn " .The usage of " nammai udayavan " is

another thundering revelation . We can now understand why

Sri RanganAthA gave the title of "Udayavar " to

Sri RaamAnujA .

>

>ANDAL declares here that the relationship between

>NaarAyaNan and us is " ozhikka ozhiyAthu " ( a relationship

>that lasts forever and can not be broken by any means ) .

>In this world ( Immai ) during the septads of births

>and also in the other world ( MaRumai ) , he is the ONE

>to lean on as UpAyam and UpEyam to get MokshAnugraham .

ANDAL reminded the sleeping Nanda GopAlan of His duties

in this context ( paarArthyam ) in Her ThiruppAvai paasurams

and woke Him up to perform those duties ( EmperumAn

NandagOpAlA YezhunthirAi ; umbar kOmAnE , urangAthezhundirAi).

>

>ANDAL was born as the daughter of PeriyAzhwAr ,

>who declared , " yEzhAtkAAlum PazhippilOm--

ThirumAlE! naanumunakku PazhavadiyEn ".

>She performed MangaLAsAsanam for Her Lord in

the ammi mitthitthal paasuram ( nammai udayavan

NaarAyaNa nambi ) and reminded us that Sri RanganAthan

is sarva lOka >SaraNyan and Sarva sEshi .

That primary principle ,Sri RanganAtha touched

Her toe with His lotus soft hands

>and lifted it along with the foot and placed it on

>the Ammi ( semmai udaya thirukkaiyAl thALL paRRi

>ammi mithikka kanak kantEn ) .

>

>Laaja Homam (Offer of parched rice to Agni )

>********************************************

>

>The next ceremony is Laaja homam . This is the occasion ,

>when ANDAL like other brides prays for the state of

>auspiciousnes for Her Lord Sri RanganAthan and seeks

>Her Lord's aaseervAdhams .

 

In the ninth paasuram of VaraNamAyiram , ANDAL

describes the laaja homam ceremony :

 

--- arimuhan achyuthan kaim mEl yennkai vaitthu

poRimuham tattakk kanAk kantEn thOzhi naan

>

>When the bride enacts lAja homam , she cups her hand

>and the brothers of the bride place a handful of parched rice

>( poRi ) . Then bridegroom adds few drops of ghee to that

>parched rice . The bride and bridegroom together

>perform then the laaja homam and throw

>the ghee-moistened popped rice into the fire as

>aahUthi with the following manthram :

>

>iyam naaree upabhruthE kulpAthyAvapanthikA I

>dheerghAyurasthu mEh pathir jeevAthu saradas satham II

>

>( Meaning ) : O Agni ! My wife is praying for

>long life to me. She prays for me to have hundreds

>of years of life as her husband .

>

>After the Laaja homam , the dampathis went around

>the fire thrice to the accompaniment of three more

>Veda manthrams .These manthrams house prayers for

>long married life , suprajAs and strength to bear

>with all difficulties that one might come across

>in married life .

>

>Another Ammi mitthitthal and three laaja homams are

>conducted with appropriate veda manthrams.One of

>the laaja homa manthram prays to Agni to release

>the wedded kannikai to be released from the grip

>of her household of birth and appeals for firm

>links to the house of the husband .The other laaja homa

>manthram is addressed to AryamA and prays for unison

>in thought and action among the dampathis in

>their married life .

>

>Release of VaruNa paasam as the concluding act of marriage

>**********************************************************

>

>Now , the darbhaa rope tied around the bride's waist is

removed with the recitation of two manthrAs . The meaning

of these manthrAs are : " Oh My dear wife! I release you

now from the paasam tied by Lord VaruNA of benevolent

disposition . I will strive to create a happy home for you

in the land , where puNyasAlis live in this world created

by BrahmA .

 

The graha PravEsam ceremony follows and the bride

travels to her husband's home to become the queen of

that household . In the Rg vedam , there are elaborate

manthrams of the dampathis travelling with HomAgni

on a canopied cart to the groom's house .These are

beautiful and powerful manthrams that seek auspiciousness

in married life .We will be hard pressed in time to cover them

here . We will include the tenth paasuram describing

the happy state of mind of ANDAL , when she as the bride of

Si RanganAtha goes around the thiruveethis ( streets ) of

Sri VilliputthUr on the back of a well caparisoned

elephant and concludes her dream of marriage to

Her Lord in the manner prescribed by the ancient VedAs :

 

kumkumam appik kuLir sAntham mattitthu

mangala veethi valam seythu maNa neer

angavanOdumudan senRu angAnai mEl

manjanamAttak kanAk kantEn thOzhi naan

 

In Her palasruthi paasuram , ANDAL informs us

that those , who recite Her VaraNamAyiram paasurams

dealing with Her marriage to Sri RanganAthan

with Bhakthi would have suprajAs in this world .

 

" thUya Tamizh maalai eerainthum vallavar

vaayunan makkaLaip peRRu mahizhvarE "

 

At the end of NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi , she points

out that those , who recite Her prabhandham with

devotion would get some thing superior to just

getting suprajAs , (Viz., ) the refuge at the sacred

feet of Her Lord Himself :

 

" ----Godhai sol , marunthAmenru tamm manatthE vaitthuk

kondu vAzhvArgaL , PerumthALudaya pirAnadik keezh

piriyAthu yenrum IruppArE "

 

ANDAL out of Her love for us as Her dear children

reveals that Her Prabhandham is like"Marunthu" for us

suffering from the disease of SamsAram ( marunthAm yenru

manatthE vaitthuk kondu vAzhvArgaL ) . She elaborats further

the fruits of such observance : " perumthALudaya

PirAn adik keezh piriyAthu YENRUM iruppArE . The shade

of the Lord's gigantic feet/ perumthAL ( Thiruvadi Nizhal )

is the fruit ( palan and prasAdham).ANDAL states that

the BhaagyasAlis , who recite Her Prabhandham with Bhakthi ,

will remain united with the comforting shade of Her Lord

Thrivikraman's sacred feet and will never ever br separated

from them ( anthamil pErinbam adaivAr ) .

 

May the divya karuNA katAksham of

the newly married divya dampathis

( nithya kalyANa mUrthys )of Srirangam

fall on ALL of us to permit the performance

of Graha pravEsam for them in their

new home at Pomona , New York before

too long .

 

Meanwhile , May I recommend that you browse

the Sri RanganAthA temple home page

( url --http://www.geocities.com/~ahobilam/ranga.html )

and get acquainted with the excellent information

assembled there and join in this mahA kaimkaryam .

 

DaasAnu Daasan ,

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan