Sri Vaikunta EkAdasi day

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs :

 

on this holiest of holy days , it is a bhAgyam to reflect

on Sri SampathkumAran's question for "men folk" as to

what they should be doing in the month of Marghazhi

in addition to Thiruppaavai study .The short answer

is to recognize this day as the day of birth of

Githai and perform GithA paarAyaNam . If all the 700

slOkams are hard to recite , atleast the 18th chapter housing

the Charama slOkam should be recited.If that is too long ,

one should ( Men and Women) recite and reflect upon

the Charama slOkam itself and derive comfort from

the Lord's assurance given there . If one has more time ,

one can read the magnificient commentaries of

the AchAryAs of their own sampradhAyams on

the Charama slOkam . One can start with GithArtha

Sangraham of AlavandhAr , move on to the GitA BhAshyam

of AchArya RaamAnujA , Swamy Desikan's many commentaries

in Desika Prabhandham , Chillarai Rahasyams and

Srimath Rahasya Thraya Saaram ,Taathparya Chandrikai

and PiLLai LokacchAr's rahasya granthams dealing with

Charama slOkam . That would be a magnificient

way to spend the day to compliment the daily

anushtAnams .

 

Coming back to the question of Sri Sampath Kumar ,

Sri Krishna Kalale seems to have anticipated this question

and has asked us to do GitA paarAyaNam today on this Fourth

day of Thiruppaavai Nonbu month .Our most compassionate

ThaayAr has already hinted through the Paasuram of the day ,

as to whom we should pray to on this day .She starts Her

Fourth paasuram of ThiruppAvai with the words :

 

"Aazhimazhaik KaNNA -- " and gives us the clue.

 

She concludes this paasuram with a request on behalf of

all of us to Her most compassionate Lord :

 

"Vaazha ulahinil peythidAi, naangaLum

Maargazhi neerAda mahinzhthElOrempaavAi".

 

The object of Her prayer is Aazhi Mazhail KaNNan,

our GithAchAryan . The boon She seeks from the author

of GithOpanishad in Her GodhOpanishad is the subiksham

( auspiciousness ) of the world and its beings through

His aruL mazhai and assurance , " Maa Sucha:". That

is the central message of " NeerAdal " for us .

 

Regarding who is the one that we pray to for the life-

giving rains , GitAchAryan ,as pointed out by our

poorvAchAryAs, has already indicated in His upadEsam

to Arjunan that He is THE nirvAhakan (Commnader,

Ordainer) of the life giving Rains and thereby

Namm Vaazhvu :

 

" tapAmyahamaham varsham nigruNaamuthsrujAmi cha" .

 

In this fourth ThiruppAvai paasuram , Andal also

salutes three of the five aayudhams of PadhmanAbhan and

seeks His protection in the context of asking

for the blessings of the three rains during

the month :

 

"PaRpanAbhan kaiyyil AAZHI pOl minni ,

VALAMPURI pOl ninRathirnthu , ThAzhAthE

SAARNGAM uthaittha sara mazhai pOl

Vaazha ulahinil peythidAi--"

 

The essence of the prayers of PanchAyudha

SthOthram and Sri Dwaadasa Naama panchara

SthOthram is the removal of one's fears

and worries (Maa Sucha:). That message seems

to be housed in this ThiruppAvai Paasuram.

 

The resplendent disc(Sudarsanam ,the Chakram

of the VishNu) , the Valampuri Sanghu ( Sasi kOti

thulyam Paanchajanyam ) and the Saarngam

( the mighty KodhaNDam of the Lord , which

drives away the fear of prapannAs immediately/

SurANAm chEthAmsi nirmuktha bhayAni sadhya:)

are invoked here. These Aayudhams serve the Lord

and obey His command to banish the fear of

the Bhaktha Janams .

 

When one thinks of the Lord's charama slOkam ,

the ArchA murthys of two divya dEsam come to my

mind immediately : (1) ThiruviNNagarappan of

Oppiliappan Koil , where NammAzhwAr peformed

his Prapatthi ; here , the Lord standing tall

displays the words from His charama slOkam:

" MaamEkam SaraNam vraja". on His varadha Hastham

(2) Lord VaradarAjan of Atthigiri , who displays on

His right hand , the other important message for

our Vaazhvu ,"Maa Sucha:" . he seems to say: "Please

seek a sadAchAryan and perform prapatthi through

him to Me and be rid of all your Bharams (burdens)".

 

AdiyEn will conclude this Sri Vaikunta EkAdasi related

posting during this Brahma muhUrtham with a response to

another query from a dear BhakthA . His question was ,

" Why Bhagavaan gives His sevai to us in Mohini alankAram ?".

This is also related to "Maa Sucha:" aspect of

His upadEsam . Arayar sEvai on the 8th day of pahal

patthu uthsavam seems to support the tatthvam behind

this Mohini alankAram . The purANic episode enacted by

the Arayars going back to the time of Thiruvarangap-

PerumAL Arayar, the son of AlavandhAr , is amrutha

mathanam or churning of the Milky Ocean ( ThiruppARkkadal/

KshIrAbdhi) to get nectar for the devAs and distracting

the asurAs thru Mohini alnakAram .The asurAs lost out

due to their precoccupaton with the feminine beauty of

the Lord as Mohini , the enchantress .

 

The tatthuvam behind the Mohini alankAram is

the importance of removing three kinds of

desires for a mumukshu ( one desiring Moksham ):

maNNAsai , PonnAsai and PeNNAsai( the hankering

for land/property , wealth and women). AzhwArs

were men , with the exception of GodhA PirAtti .

Her Kaamam was for Her Lord , GitAchAryan. She prays

for us , when She says: "MaRRai namm KaamangaL

MaaRRElOrempAvAi". AzhwArs like Thirumangai,

ThoNDaraDippodi have been tempted by one

or more of the above three desires and

particularly by PeNNAsai (SiRRinbam).That is why,

we hear at the very beginning of Kaliyan's Periya

Thirumozhi (VaadinEn) , his regrets of having wasted

his time on amorous pursuits and then being saved from

ultimate destruction thru the upadEsam of AshtAksharam from

the Lord Himself.In Periya Thirumozhi paasurams on

Badari( PTM 1.3) , Kaliyan gives us his upadEsam again

on the perils of chasing SiRRinbam. In the NaimichAraNyam

paasurams(PTM 1.6) , this thought persists in the mind

of kaliyan . He reverts to the concept of wasted days

chasing SiRRinbam in the Thiruvenkatam paasurams( PTM 1.9.2)

and states movingly , " theriyEn BaalakanAi pala

theemaikaL seythumittEn". At the end of the decad

of PTM 1.10 , Kaliyan is grateful for the blessings

of the Lord of Thirumalai , which banished the three

kinds of virOdhis for MokshAnubhavam , MaNNAsai,

PonnAsai and PeNNAsai . Kaliyan declares hence

with a with a great sense of relief:

 

" vandhaai yenn manam puhunthAi manni ninRAi

nandhAtha kozhum suDarE yengaL NampI

ChinthAmaNiyE ThiruvEnkatam mEya-

YenthAi ,ini yaann unnai YenRum VidEnE "

Periya Thirumozhi: 1.10.9

 

Our Lord's sevai in Mohini alankAram is

not only to delight us with His LaavaNyam

but also to remind us of the lot of asurAs

and their immense loss due to their hankerings

after femenine beauty during the time of

the distribution of the nectar of Moksham .

Our Lord gave the DevAs the nectar to partake

and for Himself enjoyed the PeNNamudhu , the other

feminine nectar that arose from the milky Ocean,

Sri MahA Lakshmi ThiruviNNagarappan Paasuram

of kaliyan : "amuthi varum PeNnamudhuNda vempirAnE

:PTM 6.1.2). The beautiful details of

amrutha mathanam , MahA Lakshmi's appearance

out of the Milky ocean , Her abhishEkam prior

to marrying the Lord are described in the eighth

canto of Srimath BhAgavatham and summarized in

the 13th slOkam of Sri Sthuthi of Swamy Desikan.

 

On the Sri Vaikunta EkAdasi day , NamperumAl through

His Mohini alankAram is also reminding us about

His consort as the essential nature of upAyam and UpEyam

since She shares equally His Vibhuthvam ,Isvarathvam ,

Bhagavath Seshathvam and Paaratantryam .We will conclude

this special posting for Sri Vaikunta EkAdasi day

with a prayer to the " Sakala Bhuvana prArthanA

Kaamadhenu ", Our ThAyAr , MahA Lakshmi:

 

" maanAthITha praThitha vibhavAm MangaLam MangaLAnAm

vaksha: peeDim MadhuvijayinO BhUshayanthIm svakAnthyA

prathyakshaanusrvitha MahimA PrArta nInAm PrajAnAm

SrEyOmUrthim SRIYAM ASARANA : THVAAM SARANYAAM PRAPADHYE "

 

Sri Sthuthi of Swami Deikan: slOkam 1

 

Vasumathi SamEtha ThiruviNNagarappan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Daasan ,Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

Pramaathi Sri Vaikunta EkAdasi dinam .