ThiruviNNagarappan as Veda NaarAyaNan: part 3

[Guest guest]

6.THIRUVINNAGARAPPAN IS VISVATHOMUKAN

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

>

>ThiruviNNagarappan recognized by Thirumangai

>as His one and Only Lord ( MaRROr dhaivam piRithaRiyEn )

>is SarvathOmukan ( Omnippresent ). That Parabrahmam with

>garlands on His crown made up of just blossomed flowers

>( pOthalar nedumudip puNNiyan ) , who is the sweet naadham

>in the Veda manthrams is saluted by the ancient Rg Veda manthram

>as follows :

>

>tvamhi visvathOmuka visvatha : paribhUrasi , apa:

>na sOsuchadhagam

>

>(Meaning ) : O veda NaarAyaNA ! O ChandhOgA

>( celebrated by the Saama Veda Upanishad, ChAndhOgyam ) !

>O PouzhiyA ( Saluted by Rg Vedam )!, O TaittiriyA

>( adored by Yajur Veda manthrams) !, O lord of ThiruviNNagar!

>Thou art the all pervading , Omnipresent , Omniscient One!

>Please remove our sins in its entirety .

>

>O TannoppArillappA ! Thou art the One , who consumed

>the seven oceans, seven kula parvathams and the seven

>Universes and kept them safely in Your stomach during

>the destructive time of PraLayam ( kaarkezhu kadalkaLum

>malaikaLumAyErkezhu ulahamumAhinavan) ; during those

>times of MahA praLayam , You devoured the Sun , the moon and

>the stars and kept them in Your stomach ( as amithAsanan ,

>You became then , " nilavodu veyil nilavirusudarum ulahamumuyir-

>kalum unDavan ") . After this miraculous feat , You shone

>as the YekAksharan ( PraNava mUrthy/ aarkexhu vayiRRiniladakki

>ninRangOrezutthOru uruvAnAi ).In the spirit of Yajur Vedam's

>salutation ,

>

>Brahma yaj~AnAm prathamam purasthAdhvi

>seematha: suruchO vEna aava:

>sa budhnyA upamA asya vishtA :

>sathascha yOnimasathascha vi va:

>

>(Meaning ) : O Veda NaarAyaNA ! Thou created ,

>protected and consumed all of these sentients

>and the insentients . Thus Thou shineth as

>SarvOtthaman , Parama Poojyan and shine as

>the indweller (antharyAmi Brahmam )and direct

>them . You are recognized therefore as Sarvaj~nan

>and Param JyOthi .

>

>7. FOREVER RESPLENDENT MANIVANNAN SHINING EVERYWHERE

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

>

>O ThiruviNNagarappA ! Yajur Vedam recognizes You as

>the power behind the Agni through Your Svayam JyOthi ,

>incandescent Suryan's power to warm , the pervasive

>wind (as Vaayu) the energy principle behind the cooling

>rays of the Moon , the aadhAram for the purity of Sukran

>the gigantic principle understood as Brahman and the

>protecting doctrine supporting PrajApathi . Thus Thou art

>forever resplendent based on the Yajur Veda Manthram:

>

>tadhEvAgnis tadhAdhithyas tadhvAyus tadhu chandramA :

>tadhEva sukram tadh Brahma thaa aapa: sa PrajApathi :

>

>Thou art sarvakaala svarUpi. All divisions of Time

>spring from Thee, the resplendent paripUrNan . No one

>hath comprehended Thee from aboveor across or in the middle.

>

>Yet another Yajur Veda Manthram says:

>

>sa nO bhandhurjanithA sa vidhAthA

>dhAmAni Veda bhuvanAni VisvA

>

>(Meaning ): He is our only relative ; He is our

>protective Father; He is the great One , who generated

>us; He is the One , who understnds every one and

>every thing ( Sarva~Jnan).

>

>Another Yajur Manthram points out that He is the One,

>who blessed us with the differnet Vedams and revealed

>their esoteric meanings and became Veda NaarAyaNan :

>

>ruchO naamAmsi yajugumshi naamAsmi

>saamAni naamAmsi

>

>8. ALL PERVASIVE GOLDEN LORD (PONNAPPAN )

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

>

>The Lord of ThiruviNNagar , who is present every where

>as " palavahaiyum Paranatha PerumAn " is witness to

>all happenings ( Sarva Saakshi ). Atharva Vedam salutes

>His Sarva Saakshithvam as follows :

>

>aa pasyathi prathi pasyathi parA pasyathi pasyathi

>divamantharikshamAdh bhUmim sarvam tadh dEvi pasyathi

>

>(Meaning) : He sees every thing in front ; He sees

>everything behind Him ; He sees everything far and wide;

>He sees all that is in AkAsam , BhUmi and anathariksham .

>

>The AzhwArs recognize ThiruviNNagarappan as the essence

>of the four VedAs ( Veda NaarAyaNan )and plead with Him for

>the boon of nithya kaimkaryam in His Parama Padhasm and

>to banish the two kinds of vinais ( paapams and puNyams ).

>The Atharva Veda Manthram containing these thoughts is :

>

>yaj~nam bhrUmO yajamAnamrucha: sAmAni bhEshajA

>yajUgumshi hothrA bhrUmastE nO munchanthvamhasa:

>

>(Meaning ) : We recite with svaram , the Rg veda manthrams

>for eulogizing , Saama veda manthrams for singing about

>Your glories , Atharva veda manthrams for removing

>all kinds of afflictions , physical and mental ,

>and Yajur veda manthrams for the performance of

>YaagAs and pray to You to banish all of our

>accumulated karmAs .

>

>Yet another Atharva veda manthram prays to the omnipotent

>(sarva sakthan ) Lord of AkAsanagaram to bless the supplicants

>with undiminishing wealth of nithya kaimkarya soubhAgyam

>as the Creator, protector and dissolver of this Universe

>and its chEthanams and achEthanams :

>

>Vrushabham vAjinam vayam pourNamAsam yajAmahE

>sa nO dadhAthvakshithAm rayimanupadhasvatheem

>

>9. SALUTATIONS TO MUTTHAPPAN

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

>

>At the end of the Atharva vedam , there is a manthram

>that begs the Lord to make the supplicant's dhyAnam ,

>upAsanai and Kaimkaryam fruitful by standing on

>their side as a friend and guide them :

>

>yogE yogE tavastaram vAjE vAjE havAmahE

>sakhAya IndrammUtayE

>

>AzhwArs as supplicants placed all of their Bhakthi-laden

>paasurams at the sacred feet of their Lord . In the rahsyArtham ,

>mutthukkaL (pearls) refer to AzhwAr's paasurams . Bhagavan of

>ThiruviNNagar accepts these pearls strung together as

>pearl garlands and earned the name of Mutthappan . These

>garlands are known as MukthAvaLis .They shine at His

>chest , neck and at His ankles as nUpura AbharaNam .

>There , they stay shining and with their sacred lustre

>remove the Kali dhOshams of all chEthanams , who bow unto

>these lotus feet of the Lord .Swami Desikan refers

>to the power of the mukthAvaLis in banishing all

>the accumulated karmAs this way in one of the slokams

>of the MukthA paddhathi of Sri Ranganatha divya PaadhukA

>sahasram :

>

>prachurakiraNapUrA: PaadhukhE ! samsrithAnAm

>kali kalushamasEsham kshALayanthiva mukthA :

>

>The Lord at ThiruviNNagar blesses us with His sevai

>as Mutthappan wearing the mukthAvaLis of AzhwArs

>on His subha Tanu and grants MokshAnugraham

>to those , who seek His sacred feet as their

>sole refuge.

>

>10. THIRUVINNAGARAPPAN IS JAGADHAADHARAN

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

>

>The most sacred part of the four Vedams is

>Purusha Sooktham . The key passage in Purusha

>Sooktham is " Purusha yEvadhagum SARVAM " .

>He is the One , who pervades every chEthanam and

>AchEthanam both inside and outside . ThiruviNNagarAn

>has the combination of Bruhathva-BrumhaNathva attributes.

>He is the grandest and the largest in svarUpam (bruhathvam).

>Through His anantha kalyANa guNams , He has

>BrumhaNathvam .He is filled with endless glories .

>He is the One , who empowered BrahmA with the powers of

>creation .He is the supreme jyOthi (ParamjyOthi),

>the light of lights . He is worshipped as ParadEvathai

>by all the DevAs as thier supreme Lord.He is the most sacred

>of sacred doctrines ( pavithrANAm pavithram ) and

>the most auspicious among auspicious entities ( mangaLAnAM

>cha MangaLam ). He is the One with the unmmatchable

>glories of sacred feet pointed to us by the Mantra

>rathnam , the Dhvaya Manthram . As revealed to us

>by the Mutthakam of AchArya RaamAnujA ( anathikramaNeeyam

>hi charaNa grahaNam ) , when we hold firmly His sacred

>feet , He will not shake us and run away from us because

>of His infinite DayA for us .The limitless compassion

>that He ahs for us is summed up by the last Saaman of

>Saama vedam :

>

>svasthi na IndrO vruddhasravA : svasthi na

>PooshA Visva vEdA , Svasthi nasthArkshyO ArishtanEmi:

>svasthi nO Bruhaspathir dadhAdhAthu , svasthi nO

>Bruhaspathir dadhAdhAthu

>

>(Meaning ) : May the Master of vast knowledge,

>May mighty God bless us with prosperity ! May

>the nourisher of All , the author of All vedAs

>bless us with prosperity ! May he , the giver of All

>comforts like the horse and cattles bless us with

>prosperity ! May Veda NaarAyaNan , the Lord of All

>elements of nature vouchsafe us prosperity ! May

>the same Veda NaarAyaNan standing as ThiruviNNagarAn ,

>the Lord of All the elements of nature vouchsafe us

>prosperity !

>

>11. BHUMI NAATHAN IS THE BHUMAN OF UPANISHADS

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

>

>The ChAndhOgya Upanishad passage saluting the blissful

>svarUpa visEsham of the Parabrahmam recognizes Him

>as the Infinite Bliss principle underlying His creations .

>This revelatory passage of ChAndhOgya Upanishad is :

>

>yO vai BhUmA tath sukham naalpE sukamasthi

>Bhumaiva sukam BhumA tvEva vijigyAsithavya

>ithi BhUmAnam BhagavO vijigyAsa ithi

>

>The above passage from the Upanishad of

>the Upanishads states that " the Brahman

>(Infinite ) is bliss . There can not be any

>bliss in something other than that is in

>this Infinite Brahman . This Infinite Brahman

>should be the sole goal of our serious learning .

>Rest of them are all bhinna vasthus and can not

>lead to bliss " .

>

>Rg Vedam salutes this Infinite Brahman standing

>as ArchA at ThiruviNNagar at His leelA vibhUthi

>and as Parama Padha Naathan at His divine abode

>this way :

>

>sam bAhubhyAM dhamathi sam pathatrairdhyAvA

>BhumI janayan DEVA YEKA:-- VISVASYA BHUVANASYA

>RAAJAA ---

>

>This sole and supreme Lord of Lords is our

>SaraNyan , Our father , Mother , Bhandhu

>at ThiruviNNagar and everything . He is anaadhi

>as explained by the Upanishad : " sa yEva saumya

>idam agrE aasith ".By knowing Him , " yena asrutham

>srutham bhavathi" . This is purushArtha vivEkam

>that leads us to " sUri tulya svAtanthryam ".

>

>12. SUMMARY OF THE FRUITS OF THIRUVINNAGARAAN'S SEVAI

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

>

>The last slOkam of Swami Desikan's Parama Padha sOpAnam

>summarizes beautifully the fruits of the enjoyment of

>ArchAi and the anubhavam of the Sri Sookthis of AzhwArs

>and AchAryAs on ThiruviNNagarAn . This slOkam is :

>

>balAdh aakarshidhbhi: bahubhi: aparAdhai: vihitayA

>parAvrutthyA nithya bhava jaladhi pankE nipatathAm I

>prathimnA sampannA Bhagavadhanukampaika vapushA

>pratheechee dhrushDEyam Paramapadha sOpAna padhavee II

>

>(Meaning ) : For us , who are pulled powerfully

>by the many of our aparAdhams and turn us away from BhagavAn

>and land us deep in the mud of samsAram , the glory of

>His KrupA pulls us out of these miseries and aligns

>us to climb the steps of the ladder of His Parama

>Padham . This has been asserted by the Veda PramANams

>as the Truth .

>

>May we offer our soulful prayers to Sri Bhumi Devi

>SamEtha ThiruviNNagarappan with all humility on

>the occasion of this AbharaNa samarpaNa Kaimkaryam

>and seek the blessings of the SaraNya Dampathis

>to lead us to Their Parama Padham !

>

>

>

>

>

>