AparyApthAmrutha DhyAna sOpAnam : SlOkam 9

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Dear BhakthAs :

 

In this posting ,adiyEn will summarize the anubhavam

of Thirukkudanthai Desikan as he shifts his attenton

from the enjoyment of the soundharyam and significance of

the two mighty arms of Sri SaarangapANi of Thirukkudanthai .

The great AchAryan now focuses on the Thirumukha Mandalam

(divine face ) of the Lord of insatiable beauty .

 

The Ninth SlOkam

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mugdham vakthram tuhina kiraNasparddhi laavaNya gEham

klayAmbhOja praNayi nayanam karna seemAthi langhi I

Oshta dhvandhvam sthitham anupamam kunthaLam SaarngapANE :

dhrushtvA dhrushtvA bhajathi na cha mE lOchanam trupthi lEsam II

 

What a beautiful anubhavam of the mukhAravindham of

the AparyApthAmrutha para brahmam and the incomparable

soundharyam of the eyes , ears ,lips and the black and

curly tresses of the Lord's kEsa bhAram !

 

Tender echos of Swami Desikan's 8th slOkam of

Sri Bhagavadh dhyAna sOpAnam are heard here. That

8th slOkam housing deep meanings of the smile

adorning the face of Sri Ranganaathan is a very

dear one to all of us :

 

saabhiprAya smitha vikasitham chAru bimbhAdharOshtam

dukkApAya praNayini janE dhUradattAbhimukhyam I

kaantham vakthram kanaka tilakAlankrutham Rangabirtthu :

svAnthE gADam mama vilagathi svAgathOdhAra nEthram II

 

Swami Desikan confessed here that the sweet experience of

of enjoying the beauty of the welcoming eyes , the Kovai

fruit like lips and the meaningful smile of the Lord of

Srirangam is deeply etched in his heart ( svAnthE gAdam

mama vilagathi ).

 

Thirukkudanthai Desikan followed forth and recorded

that the enjoyment of the beauty of the AparyApthamrutha

Para Brahmam's mukhAravindham is insatiable and that

his eyes never say enough even after enjoying

that incomparable beauty time and again ( dhrushtvA-

dhrushtvA bhajathi na mE lOchanam trupthi lEsam ).

 

Thirukkudanthai starts describing his anubhavam with

the matchless face( vakthram ) of Lord SaarngapANi :

"Mugdham vakthram tuhina kiraNa sparddhi laavaNya gEham".

Our AchAryan states that the coolness of the Lord's glances

originating from His face defeats the coolness of

the rays of the Full Moon . Thirukkudanthai Desikan

qualifies further the beauty of that face of the Lord

with two more information points : "LaavaNya gEham and

Mugdham". He says the Lord's vakthram is the abode

of beauty ( laavaNya gEham ) and that it is most

delectable (mugdham )to experience .

 

The samudhAya soundharyam ( integrated beauty ) of

the face of Lord AarAvamudhan has been celebrated

extensively by AzhwArs and AchAryAs earlier :

 

" Soundharyam KudamUkkilE prasiddham ( the beauty of

the Lord is well known at KumbhakONam )".

 

" kaLai KaNaRRArai urukkum maadhuryam KudamUkkilE

pravahikkum ( That soundharyam of the Lord would melt

the hearts of BhakthAs as attested by NammAzhwAr

in his first paasuram )".Even AdhisEshan with

his 1,000 tongues can not adequately describe

the soundharyam of his Lord as he gazes from above .

 

PeriyAzhwAr explained to us that the Lord's beauty

intoxicates the mind of the Ladies (Gopis with the

faces matching the beauty of the full moon ) :

"madamkoLL madhi muhatthArai maal seyya valla vem

myndhA " .

 

NammAzhwAr followed suit and explained his own

experience : " AarAvamudhE adiyEn udalm neerai

alainthu karaya urukkuhinRa NedumAlE ".

 

Such is the beauty of the Lord's face at Thirukkudanthai.

 

Tirukkudanthai Desikan develops the theme further and

explains to us the four features of that face of the Lord

which rivetted his attention : (1) KarNa seemAthi langhi

nayanam (2) KalyAmbhOja Pranayi nayanam (3)anupamam sthitham

Oshta Dhvandhvam and (4) KunthaLam .

 

In that singularly beautiful face of the Lord are

housed :

 

(1) the eyes that extend up to His ears

(karNa seemAthi langhi ) , which fit with one of

the SaamudhrikhA lakshaNams of the Lord .

 

The effect of those eyes extending almost upto His

ears and adorned by dark , long eye lashes has been

described by one AzhwAr this way :

 

" kariyavAhi puDai paranthu miLirnthu sevvariyOdi

neeNDavap periyavAya kaNNkaL " tammai pEthami seythna .

 

(2)KalyAmhOja PraNayi nayanam : these welcoming eyes

(svAgadhOdhAra nEthram ) have a great friendship

with the just blossoming lotus at aruNOdhayam (dawn ).

We may wonder why the Lord's eyes express such friendship

with the just blossoming lotus .It is because the Lotus

is the flower , which is very dear to His dEvi ,

Sri KomaLavalli ( padhma priyE padmini padma hasthE

padmAlayE padma daLAyathAkshi ---).At Thirukkudanthai ,

we have the darsana soubhAgyam of the ArchA-mUrthy of

KomaLavalli as being seated on a huge Lotus flower .

 

3.anupamam sthitham Oshta dhvandhvam : In that face

of incomparable beauty of the Lord , Thirukkudanthai

Desikan comes across the matchless pair of lips

(the upper and the lower ) .Swami Desikan decribed

their beauty at Srirangam as " chAru bimbhAdharOshtam " .

 

4.KunthaLam : The curly dark tresses of the Lord's hair

captivates next the mind of Thirukkudanthai Desikan .

Here , the naamam of Kesavan is being saluted . Kesavan means

the one with the most beautiful hair (kesam ) .NammAzhwAr

paid His tribute to Sri AarAvamudhan as Kesavan :

yenkEsavan Kudanthaiyenk Kovalan ".

 

Thirukkudanthai Desikan conceded that his eyes are

never satisfied or satiated by the drinking in of

the beauty of the Lord's face , however much they try .

He could not satisfy his thirst for the enjoyment of

the beauty of the Lord's face .Suvaikka suvaikka thihattAthathu.

That is the nature of the depth of beauty of the Lord's

Thirumukha Mandalam and fits with the AzhwAr's anubhavam ,

" Taamaraik KaNkaLOdum senkani vAi onRinOdum

selhinRathen nenjamE ".

 

After enjoying with intensity , the avayavams

on the fce of the Lord ,Thirukkudanthai Desikan

lifts up his gaze to the dazzling , bejewelled crown

( divya KirItam ) of Amudhan and describes its

beauty in the next(tenth ) slOkam .

 

Sri KomaLavalli SamEtha Sri AarAvamudhan ThiruvadigalE SaraNam ,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan