Ranganaik KaaNpatheppO ? : Part 3-slOkam 1

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs :

 

On this PramAthi Marghazhi maasa piRappu day ,

let us offer our deep salutations to Sri Godhai and

start with the first of the six slOkams of Sri RanganAtha

SthOthram of ParAsara Bhattar in this posting :

 

" Saptha prAkAra madhyE sarasija mukuLOthbhAsamAnE vimAnE

KaavErI madhya dEsE mrudhuthara paNirADD bhOga paryanga bhAgE

nidhrAmudhrAbhirAmam kaDini kaDasira: paarsva vinyastha hastham

PadhmAdhAthrI karAbhyAm parichitha charaNam RangarAjam bhajEham "

 

(Meaning): In the middle of the island formed by the two

CauvErys , in the center of the seven ramparts (PrAkArams),

inside the lotus bud-like vimAnam known as Sriranga VimAnam

(PraNavAkruthi VimAnam ), the beautiful Lord RanganAthA

rests in YoganidhrA with His right hand near His crown and

the left hand at the left side in kaDi bhantham . At his

Paadha Kamalam is seen Sri RanganAyaki pressing

the tender feet of Her dear consort . AdiyEn salutes this

auspicious subhAsrayam of Sri RanganAthan at Srirangam.

 

Comments(1):

 

These six slOkams along with two Muktaga slOkams

form the set of eight slOkAs of Sri RanganAtha-

SthOthram that is connected with the days of exile of

Bhattar at ThirukkOttiUr . Bhattar returned

later to Srirangam and poured his heart out to

the Dhivya Dampathis of Srirangam through

the 232 slOkams of Sri RangarAja Sthavam and

the moving slOkams of GuNarathna KOsam eulogizing

Sri RanganAyaki ThAyAr as the young SitA Piratti

at the budding stage of Her youth (i-e)the prAyam

some where between saisavam ( infancy )and

Youvanam ( kumAri dasai).

 

Bhattar saluted the "iLamkumaran ", Sri KasthUri-

Rangan , as the beautiful Young Raaman in his

ThirunedumthANDakam nirvAham of stanza 21

( maivaNNa naRumkunji kuzhal pin thAzha--) and

connected that Sri RangarAman with His divine

consort SitA in his famous commentary on

the anubhavam of Kaliyan's solloli .

 

The sorrowful exile at ThirukkOttiUr and

the the AadhAra Sthuthi (Sri RangarAja SthOthram)

provided the AadhAra sruthi for the later works of

Bhattar eulogizing his "parents" , the dhivya Dampathis of

Srirangam .

 

AdiyEn will link the passages of Sri RangarAja Sthavam

and GuNarathna Kosam ,wherever appropriate to

illustrate the enduring bhagavath anubhavam

of Bhattar for the " nithyOtsava SamAyukthar "

of Srirangam .The first 62 verses of SrirangarAja

Sthavam (the poorva KhANDam of Dhvyam ) where Bhattar

approaches the Sriranga VimAnam and the Lord resting

in His Garbha Graham are the most important for us

in this context.

 

Comments(2):

 

Line 1 of the first slOkam is : " Saptha prAkAra-

madhyE , sarisajamukuLOthbhAsamAnE VimAnE " .

 

2.1: Saptha PrAkAra madhyE : without counting

the adaya VaLainthAn ( that which bent and circled

to reach Him ) veedhi -- the eighth outter courtyard

or rampart circling the others -- there are seven (saptha)

inner PrAkarams . That is what Bhattar refers to here

and connects it to the seven lOkams :(1) BhU lOkam

(2) Thruvikraman Veedhi/ Bhuvar LOkam (3)KiLIcchOzhan

AkaLankan SuRRU/Svarga lOkam (4)Thirumangai Mannan

veedhi/Makara lOkam (5)KulasEkaran Veedhi/jana lOkam

(6) Raaja mahEndran PrAkAram /TapO lOkam (7) Dharma

Varman suRRu/Sathya lOkam . In the middle of these

seven prAkArams symbolizing the seven worlds ,

Sri RanganAthan rests on AdhisEshan .The seven

NaacchiyArs of SriranganAthan is connected to

His seven prAkArams . SlOkam 36 of SrirangarAja

Sthavam is pertinent here.

 

In the 247 paasurams of AzhwArs on Sri RangarAjan ,

we come often across the salutations to the beautiful

aspects of Sriranga raajadhAni including the amthiLs

of Srirangam and the CauvEry river .Swamy Desikan also

pays tribute to Sriranga kshEthra darsanam in

his Kaavyam , Hamsa SandhEsam .

 

2.2:Sarasija mukuLOthbhAsamaanE vimAne: Sarasija

mukuLam means an unique and beautiful bud of Lotus that

has not yet opened up.. He is that lotus bud (Taamarai

mottu) in the lotus pond of Srirangam . The radiance

of that lotus bud is making the Sriranga VimAnam

effulgent (BhAsamAnE vimAnE). That bud is the AadhAra

JyOthi , Svayam JyOthi and Param JyOthi saluted in

the Upanishads .The description of the Sriranga VimAnam

is provided by Bhattar in his Sthavam and there he describes

the VimAnam as the replica of Parama Padham (Sri VaikunTam or

aparAjitha Nagaram or AyOdhyA nagaram ). Bhattar pays

special attention in one of his sthavam slOkams to

the Nrusimha Moorthy presiding over the Sriranga

VimAnam . AdiyEn wrote last year in the 18 article series

on Sriranga Vaibhavam on the Vedic sambhandham

of the Sriranga VimAnam and its kalasams.

 

(To be continued)

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan