Sri Poundarikapuram Andavan"s UpanyAsam : Part 3

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs :

 

In this third of the four postings , I will

cover the next theme that Srimath Andavan covered :

The superiority of ArchA rUpam among Sriman NarAyaNA's

pancha rUpams ( param , VyUham , Vibhavam , antharyAmi

and ArchA ).

 

Parama padham , where the Lord is resident as

Parama padha nAthan is surrounded by the aNDams and

the aavaraNam waters (Oceans ) . It is not of easy access

to us residing on earth . We can not travel there even to

get a vessel filled with aavaranam waters .It is too far away .

Hence param and parama padham can not be enjoyed with

our sthUla sarIram . Only as a muktha Jivan possesing

Sookshma sarIram , one can enter and enjoy the anthamil

pErinbham there .

 

The second rUpam of the Lord is as Sesha saayee in

the middle of the milky ocean .Here He is presenting

Himself as KshIrAbhdhi nAthan to DevAs and maharishis .

Again , this is beyond our reach with SthUla sarIram .

hence , it is not of much use either for us to see

and enjoy .

 

The Third rUpam of the Lord is what has been

celebrated as Raama , KrishNAvathArams . These Vinhava

avathArams were enjoyed by those who were contemproaries .

Today , it is histroy and we can not enjoy Lord KrishNA as

Gopis and AkrUrar did . Thus this rUpam is in the past

like last year's river water , which is no longer available

to quench our thirst ( dried up river bed ).

 

The fourth rUpam is antharyAmi savrUpam . It is likened

to OoRRu jalam . You have to dig in the river bed sand and

access the water under . Through the difficult JNa~na Yogam ,

one can visualize this svarUpam of the Divya dampathis

seated in our heart cavities . Very few have the power

to succeed in such efforts and thus , this svarUpam is

also not within reach of ordinary folks on this earth .

 

The fifth rUpam is the One that Sriman NaarAyaNan

took to make Himself easily available to one and all

and to enjoy Him with our own sthUla sarIram and

Maamsa chakshus . No divya dhrushti as

needed by ArjunA is a must to see the VisvarUpam of

the Lord ." angu vaitthu , inghE piRanthathu " is

the celebration of this ArchAvathAram by Eedu grantham .

 

Srimath Andavan went on to describe the five

rUpams celebrated by Vedams in the manthram

in the manner of tamizh maRai :

 

ambhasya paarE bhuvanasya madhyE

naakasya prushtE mahathO mahIyAn

sukrENa jyOthIgumshi samanupravishta:

PrajApathisccharathi garbhE antha :

-- TaittirIya AaraNyakam : III.13.3

 

In ParAvathAram , the Lord is in Sri Vaikuntam

as para VaasudEvan enjoying the Saama ghAnam .

Therefore it is described as Paattu kEtkumidam .

It is not accessible to us ; we can not hear this

music with our Maamsa karnams .

 

In VyUham , Lord rests on the serpent bed

enjoying His yOga NidhrA .He is rudely awakned

by all the terror stricken devAs , who seek

His interventiion and complain about the terrors

inflicted on them by the asurAs . He has to come to

help after listeing to their fear-laden prayers

( muRaidal iDam ). This far off place is also

inaccessible to us .We can not get there to appeal

to Him to intervene and help us from our afflictions.

Therefore Vyuha Moorthy is off limits for us.

 

Vibahva avathArams are known as kuthittha iDam .

Lord NarasimhA jumped out of the pillar and

performed His avathAra Kaaryam and can no longer

be seen in His original vibhava form .

 

AntharyAmi svarUpam is known as OottumiDam .

It is a svarUpam exclusively seen by those ,

who have succeeded in their Jn~ana Yoga saadhanais.

It is again out of reach for us .

 

ArchA SvarUpam is known as VaLaittha iDam .

Here , the Lord ahs become very accessible to us

and rests at Srirangam suggestign that He would not

leave us until all of our Paapams are removed .

He patiently waits for us to get SadAchArya Sambhandham

and come to Him . AzhwArs and AchAryAs enjoyed the ArchA

mUrthys at the various divya desams and stated unequivocally

that it is their prefeered choice among the five prakAra

rUpams of Sriman NaarAyaNan .

 

It is interesting to note that para VaasudEvan

gives us sEvai on the PraNava VimAnam

at Srirangam , VyUha Moorthy is seen

as Archai at Srirangam , Anbil , Thirukkudanthai

et al , Vibhava Moorthys are present in

the ArchA form at ThiruevuLL ( Sri Veera Raaghavan ),

Dwarakai ( KrishNan ), AhObilam ( Narasimhan ) et al.

 

AzhwArs and AchAryAl's assertion of their

preference for the archA form of the Lord

over all the other Four forms are abundant .

Srimath Andavan quoted a few of them .

I have added a few moreto illustrate his point :

 

icchuvai taviRa yaan pOy Indira lokamALum

achuvai peRinum vENDEn Arangamaa naharuLAnE

-- ThirumAlai of ThindaradipoDi : 2nd Paasuram

 

aNdavANanarangan , van pEy mulai

uNDa vAyanRanunmatthan kANminE

-- KulasEkharar : PerumAL Thirumozhi:3.4

 

sempavaLa vaayan ThiruvEnkatamennum

EmperumAn Ponn malai mEl yEthEnum aavEnE

--- Kulasekharar : PerumAL Thirumozhi : 4.10

 

AanDAi unaik KaaNpathOr aruLenaakaruLithiyEl

vENDEn manai vAzhkhayai ViNNagar MEyavanE

-- Thirumangai's Paasuram on ThiruviNNagarAn

Manai means here Sri Vaikuntam .

 

athraiva sukhamAsva

-- Sri RanganAthA's instruction to AchArya RaamAnujA

 

nirantharam nirvisatha : tvadhIyam

asprushta chinthA padham aapirupyam

satyam sapE Vaarana sailanAtha

vaikunta vaasEpi na mEabhilAsha :

--Swaami Desikan , Sri VaradharAja-

PanchAsath: 49th slOkam

 

Here Swami Desikan that he has no desire

to reside in Sri Vaikuntam since he has the bhAgyam

to enjoy the unparalleled beauty of Sri

VaradarAjan right here in His archA form on top of

Hasthigiri .He swears that he prefers

Kaanchi Vaasam to have the Sevai of Lord VaradarAjA

over residence in Sri VaikuntanAthan .

 

That is the glory of ArchA rUpam for us

as revealed by our AzhwArs and AchAryAs .

 

Lord Ramachandra in His vibhavAvathAram

performed AarAdhanam to Sri RanganAthA

in ArchA form at AyOddhi . That is the

highest form of tribute that one can

come across regarding the celebration of

ArchA rUpam as the most enjoyable by

us on earth among all the five prAkarams

of Sriman NaaraayaNan .

 

AzhwAr AchAryan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan