Sri Anand's postings of his extraordinary anubhavams

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs : What a pleasure it is to enjoy

even vicariously the anubhavams of Sri Anand

prior to his Prapatthi at the sacred feet of

His Holiness Sriman NaarAyaNa Yatheendhra

MahA Desikan !

 

AdhyAthma sampradhAyam (the tradition of

upadEsa kramam on the relationship

between JeevAthmA and ParamaathmA passed on

thru our AchArya paramparA ) is well nurtured

and passed on in the Ahobila Mutt for the past 600

years as dheepa -pradheepam ( one lamp lit from

another lamp) . It is wonderful that Sri Ananad

( Sri Anantha Padmanabhan ,the grandson of

Abhinava Desikan Sri UttamUr Swamy on his mother's side )

became particularly blessed in the krama fashion

with Divya Desa yAthrA , exposure to the favorite

slOkam of the Parama Pada Vaasi H.H. Sri InjimEttu

Azhagiya Singar ;latter was the AchArya for my grandfather

and I assume for Chi.Anand's grandfather on the paternal side ,

Sri GopalAcchAr Swamy , who devoted his entire life to

the adhyApAka Kaimkaryam of the Lord of ThiruveLLUr .

 

Reading Sri Anand's postings bring a flood of memories .

 

First , I am reminded of the precise description of

Swami Desikan in his thirty second and final

chapter of Srimadh Rahasya Traya Saaram/RTS

( NigmanAdhikAram ) , where he sums up

the entire RTS . In his first slOkam of this

superb adhikAram (chapter ) , Swami Desikan

in his inimitable style elaborates on the blessings

enjoyed by a PrapannA , who has had the AchArya

sambhandham/anugraham that led to BaranyAsam .

 

Swami Desikan says :

 

kara bhadaritha visva: kascchidh AchArya dhrushtyA

mushitha nikhila mOhO mUla manthrAdhi bhOga: I

saguNa vishaya siddhou sampradhAyam prayacchan

sucharitha silahAri sUri brundhAbhinandha : II

 

FIRST LINE OF THIS SLoKAM

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

 

This adhikAri is a Kascchidh bhAgyasAli , who is

immensely blessed to have performed the noblest

and the most auspicious act of Prapatthi .

 

He has been blessed with AchArya Dhrushti , which

is the most benovolent . Once that AchArya dhrushti

or KatAksham falls on this adhikAri ( one who

is qualified to peform prapatthi ) , then every

thing else becomes crystal clear or easy to comprehend

like the Ilandaik Kani ( badari fruit ) resting

in one's hand in front of his dhrushti .ULLankai

nellikkani is the usual analogy for some thing

that is readily recognized and comprehended .Swami Desikan

choose deliberately Badari fruit in one's plam in

recognition of the Nara-NaarAyaNa sambhandham

at BadarikAsramam .

 

Swami Desikan is going to refer to mUla manthram

in the second paadham (line) of this slOkam .

Hence he hints at what noble manthram is coming

into view by referring to Ilandaik Kani ( Kara Bhadari)

and implicitly refers to BadarikAsrama divya desam .

 

Sriman NaarAyaNA is the Rishi for Thirumanthiram .

This thiruppathi of BadarikAsramam is the Thiruppathi

of the Manthra devathai , who redeemed Thirumangai

thru manthrOpadEsam .

 

Thirumangai had pointed out earlier the significance

of BadarikAsrama divya dEsam this way :

 

vaippum nangaL vAzhvumAnAn vadari vaNankuthumE

 

Meaning :The Lord of BadarikAsramam is both the upAyam and

UpEyam for us , who do not covet anything else in

this universe . For such kascchidh bhaagyasAlis ,

He becomes the Vaippu (upAyam-Nidhi) and Vaazhvu

(prApya rUpa pirAn).

 

Therefore , Thirumangai rationalized why we salute

BadarikAsramam known in ancient days for the forest

of Badari ( Ilanthai ) trees . Swami Desikan rationalized

the substitution of Badari fruit on one's plam for

the ULLankai nellik kani .

 

SECOND LINE OF THIS SLOKAM

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

 

mushitha nikhila mOhO mUla manthrAdhi bhOga:

 

As a result of the merciful katAksham of the Acharyan,

who is param kAruNeekan , the one performing

the prapatthi is rid of all aj~nAnams and viparItha

Jn~Anams . The entire inventory of mOhaas ( nikhila

mOha: ) takes flight ( mushitha: ) .

 

The PrapannA relishes the brhmAnandha bhOgam

of the taste of the recitation of the mUla manthram

of BadarinAthan . The arthAnusandhAna anubhavam

reaches its peak .

 

THIRD LINE OF THIS SLOKAM

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

 

saguNa vishaya siddhou sampradhAyam prayacchan

 

Thanks to the magnificient blessings of obtaining

the sadAchAryA (saguNa vishaya siddhou) , the blessed

BhAgyasAli instructs others on the ancient and

time-tested sampradhAyam ( SampradhAyam prayacchan )

of Tattvam , Hitham and PurushArhtam and carries on

the tradition of recognizing and saluting Sriman

NaarAyaNan as ParamaathmA as instructed by his or her

AchAryan .

 

FOURTH LINE OF THIS SLOKAM

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

 

sucharitha silahArI sUri brundhAbhinandhya :

 

That kascchidh bhAgyasAlee harvests the spilled

grains (anushtAnams) from the fertile fields travelled by

the great mahAns ( PoorvAchAryAs ) and becomes

the object of adoration (abhinandhya: ) of

the assembly ( brindha ) of sUris ( nithyasUris ) .

That is the magnificence of SadAchArya sambhandham that

Swami Desikan celebrated in the first chapter of RTS

( upOddhAdhikAram ) as a key to the clear understanding

of the Tattva Hitha PurushArthams .

 

Second set of memories

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

 

JayAkhya Samhithai slokam refers to the Lord taking

the body of a human as In Raama -KrishNAvathArams and

redeeming the prapannAs with the hand of Saasthram

and lifting the jeevans struggling in the flood waters

of SamsAram this way :

 

SaakshAth NaarAyaNo deava: kruthvA marthyamayeem Tanum

magnAn uddharathE lOkAn kaarunYAth Saasthra PaaNinA

 

This " peethavAdaip pirAnAr Brahma guruvAhi vanthu"

initiated Thirumangai in the river bed near ThiruvAli

and gave darsanam to the dying Bheeshmar .The more

peaceful vision of the Lord as ParthasArathy engaged

in His task of leading the chariot of ArjunA before

BheeshmA is visualized by Sri Leelasukhar , one of

the early KrishNa prEmis .

 

This great poet/BhakthA salutes the Lord as

Dhananjaya RathAbharaNam ( the AbharaNam decorating

the Chariot of ArjunA ) in the battle field .

After choosing this " marthyamayeem Tanu " ,

He shows all the signs of exertion typical

of humans engaged in their tasks , although

His subha tanu is of Suddha Satthvam as

described by Vyaasa and experienced by

H.H. The InjimEttu Jeeyar of Ahbila Mutt .

 

The Lord's palms are reddened by the friction of the whip

( saatai) that He is holding to direct the horses tied to

ArjunA's chariot ( aathAmra paaNi kamala praNya

pramOdham ). Due to the rapid movement of the chariot

under His direction , His naavarathna haaram adorning

His chest and His gem-studded kirItam , His ear ornaments and

His waist band are in disarray and are moving

from hither to thither( aalOla hAra maNi kundala

hEma sUthram ) . Due to the exertion of the intense

effort of directing the chariot's movement between

the armies , His beautiful blue forehead is adorned

with a band of sweat beads ( aavisrama ambhu gaNam

ambhudha neelam ) . Sri Leela Sukhar prays to this

delectable vision and prime JyOthi of the Lord

at work to protect him ( Dhanajaya rathAbharaNam

aadhyam maha: na: avyAth ) .

 

This " nidhim lAvaNyAnAm nikhila jagadhAsccharya

nilayam " is visualized as a ParthasArathy with

compassion for all janthus including the horses

that drove the chariot of Arjuna . It is day's end

of the war in the 18 day war . In those days , there were

defined intervals to fight unlike today .

 

Sri Vijaya Saarathy had a busy day in the field

lightening the load of BhUmi devi by eliminating

the dushtAs in the battle field without taking a weapon .

He leads the horses to a river near by . He gives

the tired horses a bath every evening and rubs them well to

relieve their bodily aches . He pours water over them

with cupped hands (anajlisthai payObhi: ) to remove

the dirt and dust resulting from their battle field

movements . He has tied his upper garment

around His head to get it out of the way ,while

engaged in washing the horses.He is holding the metal

fixture ( kativAlam ) between His beautiful

white teeth to reduce the movenment of the horse .

 

This visulaization of this Devaki PuNyarAsi at work

throws Sri LeelAsukhar into a great and deep anubhavam

of the Lord engaged in performing his duties as

the charioteer of DhananjayA as an ordinary human being

and he etches that immortal anubhavam for us to share :

 

naka niyamitha kanDUn PaaNdava syanthana asvAn

anudhinam abhishinchan anjalisthai payObhi:

avathu vithatha gAthra: thOthra nishtUyatha mowLi :

darsana vidhrutha rasmi: Devaki PuNyarAsi :

 

 

What a beautiful vision of the Lord as a human being

hard at work !The beneficiaries are the horses of

ArjunA's ratham ( Paandava syandhana asvA:) . Who

is attending to their bodily pain from the day's

exertions ? The Devaki PuNyarAsi is atending to the task

at hand . How does He look like during this strenous

work assignment ? The ropes tied to the neck of

the horse is tucked inside His head dress ,talaip paahai

( thOthra nishtUyatha mowLi) . He is holding the kativALam

between His teeth to minimize their movement (dasana

vidhrutha rasmi ). His upper garment has become His

head dress and thus His upper torso and its soundharyam

is exposed to the world to enjoy ( vithatha gAthra: ).

He is removing the fatigue of the horses with a deep

massage with the pressure of His nails ( naka niyamitha

kanDUn ) . He performed this duty of bathing the horses

and massaging them as the charioteer of ArjunA

every one of the 18 days ( anudhinam abhishinchan )

of the great war . The vision of the Lord , who melts

before the anjali (folded hands ) of His bahkthAs

has now formed an anjali (cupping of His own hands )

to collect and hold the water needed for performing

the abhishEkam of the horses of ArjunA ( Anjalisthai:

payObhi: anudinam abhishinchan ) . How blessed are

these horses to receive the Lord's attentive service !

 

Sri LeelA sukhar's anubhavams are the most beautiful

as a KrishNa bhakthA and it is no wonder his prayer is

" Nivasathu mama chittham tathpadhAyattha vruttham ).

He seeks the boon of his mind following the profession

of meditation without interruption on the lotus feet of

the Lord , which stood in the river stream washing the

horses of ArjunA in His self-assigned role as ParthasArathy .

 

Sri RukmiNI sametha Sri ParthasArathy swaminE Nama :

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan