Sri GuNa Rathna Kosam: Slokam 10( Part XIX)

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs :

 

In the ninth slOkam , Parasara Bhattar had a challenge

to Sri RanganAthA through his claim that his(Bhattar's)

praise of Sri RanganAyaki would be superior to that of

the Lord Himself .Therefore , He invited Sri RanganAthan

to listen to his sthuthi of His Devi very carefully.

 

In the tenth slOkam , ParAsara Bhattar shifted his

attention from Sri RanganAthan to Sri RanganAyaki and

declared that the ancient rishis (sages) aver that

the apourushEya VedAs are the reposiories for the gem-

like klayaaNa GuNams of Sri Devi (Sri RanganAyaki).

The IthihAsAs , the Smruthi texts and the Saathvika

PurANAs elaborate and clarify the Sri Tatthvam as

adumbrated by the faultless , blemishless VedhAs.

 

The tenth slOkam housing these thoughts is as follows:

 

Devi Sruthim BhagavathIm praTamE pumAmsa:

thvath sadhguNouka maNikOsa gruham gruNanthi

taddhvAra pADana paDUni cha sEthihAsa-

santharkaNa smruthi purANa purassarANi

 

Dr. V.N. Vedaantha Desikan's Translation & Comments:

****************************************************

 

Treatment of a subject , judging the quality , passing

a verdict--all these depend on the basis , scale or

authority , as we may call it, chosen for the purpose.

The correct weight of a material will depend on

the reliability of the weighing scale employed,

of the correctness of weights used for balancing.

In a similar manner ,the scripture chosen as the scale

should be perfect and blemishless. The ONLY ONE of

real absolute infallibility is the VedhAs .Great leaders

of religion like VaalmIki , VyAsa , ParAsara ,Swamy

NammAzhwAr etc ., would treat this infallible

authority , namely , the Sruthi--as the Treasure chest,

keeping Your qualities in a safe spot. The key to that

Treasure chest is the adjuvant authorities , namely ,

the Epics, good logic, the Smrithis and the Saathvika

PurANAs .

 

This present work of Sree GuNa Rathna kOsam is ,what

is revealed on opening , the Treasure chest with

the above key. ( That is, I am going to describe

the qualities of Sree revealed by the VedhAs and

such auxillary works listed above).

 

Sree GuNa Rathna kOsam literally means MahA LakshmI--

great Qualities--Gems--treasure chest; that is the treasure

chest on opening and studying which , the gems of excellent

qualities of MahA lakshmI will be revealed to us.

 

AdiyEn's observations

**********************

Here ParAsara Bhattar states that the treasure chest that

he is going to open is the container of the great gem-like,

resplendent auspicious attributes of Sri RanganAyaki , who is

the archA form of Sree Devi at Srirangam.

 

Sri Bhattar points out that he is just following

the path of the great sages , who went before him

like VyAsar , VaalmIki , the author of Sri VishNu purAnam

( Sage ParAsarar ) , Manu and others, who developed

their PramANams based on the infallible truisms of

the authorless , anaadhi Vedhams. Here , Bhattar

suggests that the Upa-bruhmanams like Smrithis and PurANams

reveal the inner meanings of the VedhAs to elaborate on

the anantha kalyANa guNams of Sree Devi just as Purusha

Sooktham describes the limitles auspicious attributes

of Her Lord .

 

Bhattar states that the key to open the treasure chest

housing the GuNa Rathnams of Sri RanganAyaki is

the UpabruhmaNams. His sthuthi helps to appreciate

the GuNa Rathanams locked inside the jewel box of

VedAs and opened by the key made up of Smrithi ,

Saathvika PurANams , Tarkam and IthihAsams.

 

It is fascinating to see that Bhattar weaves in the Vedic

word with the root of " Gru " ( GruNanthi) in this slOkam

extolling the praise of Vedams and their links to Sree Devi.

GruNanthi means to praise, announce , proclaim. The first

two Veda manthrams of NeeLA Sooktham house the words

"GruNAhi " and " GruNanthu ".

 

Bhattar says in this context : "Devi! pumAmsa: (Great ones

like VyAsaa , ParAsarA and others) sruthIm BhagavathIm

tvath sadhguNouka MaNi kOsa Gruham GruNanthi".

 

SruthikkE Adaimozhi is BhagavathI (i-e) the synnonym for

BhagavathI is Sruthi (Vedhams). PumAmsa: (Great Sages)

place these blemishless Vedhams in the first place

( Bhagavthim Sruthim praTamE gruNanthi).Those Vedhams

holding the top spot for adoration are described

as the jewel box housing Your gem-like kalyANa guNams

( Tvath sadh guNa MaNi kOsa gruham).

 

The keys that open the above jewel box ( Tath DhvAra-

pADana-paDUni )are the UpabruhmaNams ( IthihAsams ,

good tarkam/samtarkaNam , Smrithi and Saathvika PurANams ).

These UpabruhmaNams are invauable to intrepret

the inner meanings of the Vedhams housing the anantha

kalyANa guNams of Sri Devi .

 

In the next slOkam , Bhattar describes those , who are not

fortunate to receive Sri Devi's KrupA KatAksham are indeed

fools , who misintrpret VedhArthams and wallow in misery until

the last days of their lives.

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan