KurEsar's Sri VaradarAja Sthavam :Part XVI--> SlOkam 5

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs:

 

The fifth SlOkam of Sri VaradarAja Sthavam

takes the following form:

 

yamm parOksham upadEsasthrayee

nEthi nEthi paraparyudhAsatha:

vakthi yastamm aparOksham Ikshayathi

yEsha tamm karigirim samAsrayE

 

(meaning): AdiyEn takes refuge at Hasthigiri , which makes

it possible for every one to see and worship Lord DevAthirajan ,

who is beyond the reach of all human senses (Indhriyams)

according to the VedAs (BruhadhAraNyakOpanishad).

Those VedhAs say according to our poorvAchAryAs that

this Lord of Hasthigiri is not limited to being of

this dimension or form or limited to existing as

the indweller of sentient and insentient forms .

 

SrivatsAnkAcchAr Swamy points out that this slOkam

is linked to MoorthAmoortha BrahmaNam section of

BruhadhAraNyakOpanishad , UpayalingAdhikaraNam of

Sri BhAshyam and the asthra-bhUshaNa-adhyAyayam of

the Upanishad. adiyEn will summarize his comments below:

 

MoorthAmoortha BrAhmaNam section of the Upanishad

explains that the Lord is present in the form of

sentient and insentient objects . The sentient

form with the Jeevan inside is not visible to

the human eye. He is the antharyAmi Brahmam inside

them . The Upanishad goes on to say that as the indweller

of the sentients and insentients , the Supreme Being adorns

a yellow pithAmbharam (silk vasthram). The PramANam is :

"tasya haithasya Purushasya yaTA mahArajanam vaasa:"

This is the opposite of the adhvaithic view , which

stresses that Brahmam is only NirvisEsha Brahmam

(attributeless form).Vedha VyAsaa's views on

Brahma Soothram refute this NirguNa Brahmam aspect.

In the Ubhaya LingAdhikaraNM , Vedha VyAsar states:

 

" prakruthiatAvatthvam hi prathishEdhathim ,

tathO bhraveethi cha bhUya:"( ParyudAsam ).

 

Vedham says in this context : na hi yEtasmAth

ithi na ithi anyath Paramasthi " . This manthram

points out that the Supreme Being does not confine

Himself to MoorthAmoortha Brahma Roopam , but He

exists in many other states.

 

SrivatsAnkAcchAr Swamy pays tribute to KurEsar's

skills in intrepreting the above Upanishad Vaakyams

through incorporation of these insights into this slOkam .

Upanishad seems to say that You can experience

Lord VaradarAjan ( The Supreme Being )in MoorthAmoortha

Roopam . Hasthigiri seems to say , "not so ", You can

see Him on top of me (Hasthigiri) directly adorning

the Sentients and insentients as body and Aayudhams .

Therfore , it is better to see Him with one's own

eyes on top of Hasthigiri instead of feeling agitated

over the inability to see Him with IndhriyAs as mentioned

by the Upanishads.Therefore Kuresar says : " Let us

reach the Hasthigiri to see Him to our heart's content

and to worship Him there ". Hasthigiri makes Him visible for

us ;We are able to see the Lord with our physical eye and experience

Him with our Jn~AnEndhriyams as well. The hill of Hasthigiri

thus makes it possible for us to access and enjoy the SubhAsraya

Dhivya MangaLa Vigraham of Lord VaradarAjan .He becomes

aparOksham ( easily visible to the human eye ) on top of

the Hasthigiri.KurEsar therefore recommends us to reach

that mighty Karigiri and seek that sacred hill as our refuge .

 

Swamy Desikan referred later to Lord VaradarAjan's

aparOksha Sevai on Hasthigiri this way:

 

"Purudan maNivaramAhap ponRAmoolap-

pirakruthi maRuvAha , maan taNDAhat-

theruL maruL vaaL amRaivAha, aangArangaL

Saarngam SankhAha , manam thihiriyAha

irudkamkal Eerainthum sarangaLAha,

irubhUthamAlai vanamAlayAhak-

GarudunurvAm maRayin poruLAm KaNNan

Karigiri mEl ninRanaitthum kaakkinRAnE "

 

AdiyEn will comment further on this exraordinarily subtle

Tamil paasuram of Swamy Desikan dealing with the aparOksha

Sevai of Lord VaradarAjan in the next posting .

 

Srimath Azhagiya Sigar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Daasn , Oppiliappn Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri VaradarAja BhakthAs :

 

Swamy Desikan referred to Lord VaradarAjan's

aparOksha Sevai on Hasthigiri this way:

 

"Purudan maNivaramAhap ponRAmoolap-

pirakruthi maRuvAha , maan taNDAhat-

theruL maruL vaaL amRaivAha, aangArangaL

Saarngam SankhAha , manam thihiriyAha

irudkamkal Eerainthum sarangaLAha,

irubhUthamAlai vanamAlayAhak-

GarudunurvAm maRayin poruLAm KaNNan

Karigiri mEl ninRanaitthum kaakkinRAnE "

 

---AdhikAra Sangraham : Paasuram 41

 

Here, Swamy Desikan describes how all the Tattvams

rest/adorn the ThirumEni of Lord VaradarAjan .

 

First Swamy recognizes Lord VaradarAjan as

" Garudan uruvAm maRayin poruLAm KaNNan ".

Garudan's sarIram is vedam as Swamy Desikan himself

describes in one of the slOkams of Sri Garuda PanchAsath:

 

" nEthram GaayathramUchE thrivrudhithi cha chirO

naamadhEyam yajUmshi

chandhAmsyangAni dhishNyAthmabhirajani sabhair

vigrahO VamadEvyam

Yasya sthOmAthmanOasou bruhadhitara Garuth

tAdhrusAmnaatha puccha:

svAcchanndhyam na: prasUthAm sruthisatha sikhara--

abhishtuthAthmA GaruthmAn

--- Sri Garuda PanchAsath: slOkam 3

 

(meaning): SthOma Saamam is the AathmA for Garudan;

Gaayathra Saamam is His eye;thrivruth Saamam is His

head;Yajur manthrams are His names;the different chandas

(metres) are His limbs like hands;the seats allocated in

DhishNya Yaagam are His hooves;VaamadEva Saamam becomes His

body;The bruhath and rathanthra Saamans become His wings;

the Yaj~nAya~njeeya Saamam becomes His tail. Thus , Upanishads

salute Garudan as Veda Svaroopi. May He bless us to be free from

KarmAs and show us the way to Mukthi.

 

Swamy Desikan salutes Lord VaradarAjan as the meaning behind

the body of Garudan , the Vedams here . VedAs salute the Lord

as the Sakala Tatthva Svaroopi adorning those Tatthvams as His

weapons and jewelery (AabharaNams). The Lord stands there on

the top of Hasthigiri as the lamp with supreme jyOthi wearing

all chEthnams and achEthanams as His Aayudhams (weapons ) and

Jewelery (AabharaNams) to delight all the world and performs

His duties as the protector of the Universe.

 

The links between the AbhAraNams/Aayudhams and the Tatthvams

in Swamy Desikan's paasuram are as follows:

 

(1)Purudan/Jeevan = Jeevan is the MaNi varam /the supreme gem Kousthubham.

Jeevan is Jn~Anadha, amala, aNuthva Svaroopi.It is one of the tatthva

Thrayam or Tatthva triads. The other two are AchEthanam (insentients)

and Isvaran ( the Lord ).

 

(2)PonRA Moola Prakruthi maRu aaha = the eternal Moola Prakruthi

becomes the Sri Vathsam mole.Moola Prakruthi is one of the triads

constituting AchEthanam . The other two are Kaalam and Suddha-

Satthvam .Moola Prakruthi is also referred to as ThriguNa

Dhravyam or three-fold vasthu or Aksharam , Avidhyai and Maayai.

 

(3)maan thaNDu aaha= the Tathtvam known as MahAn becomes

the mace revered as KoumEdhaki in Lord VaradarAjan's body.

MahAn arises from Prakruthi and the three kinds of AhankArams

( Saathvika , Raajasa and Taamasa ahankArams) arise from MahAn.

 

(4)TheruL vALL aaha= Jn~Anam becomes the Lords's sword (Nandhakam).

 

(5)MaruL VaaLL uRayAha= Aj~nAnam becomes the sheath of Nandhakam .

 

(6)aankArankaL Saarngam Sankhu aaha= The Taamasa ahankAram and

Saathvika ahankArams become the Lord's bow (Saarangam ) and

the Conch ( Paanchajanyam).

 

(7)manam thihiri aaha= the Manas Tathtvam , which also arises from

Moola Prakruthi becomes the Lord's rotating Disc (Sudarsanam)

and rests on His upper right hand .

 

(8)irukadikangaL Eerainthum sarankaL aaha= the five JnAnEndhriyams

are : thvak, grANam , rasanaa, chakshus and srOthram that reside

respectively all over the body ; as Thvak, at the nose as grANam,

at the tongue as rasanaa /taste,at the eye as Chakshus and at

the ear holes as SrOthram ) . The five karmEndhriyams are:

Vaak, PaaNi , paadham , paayu and upastham : vaak is present

subtly at eight places like the heart , throat , lower portion of

the tongue ,jaws , teeth, lips , nose and the head ; paaNi

is present as the ten fingers ; paadham are the two feet ; paayu is

aasana dhvAram and upastham is the symbol of men and women).

On Lord VaradarAjan's Body , the five karmEndhriyams and

the five Jn~AnEndhriyams stay as the ten arrows for the bow.

 

(9)irubhootha Maalai VanamAlai aaha= the five tanmathrams

and the five Bhoothams become the VanamAlai adorning

Lord VaradarAjan's chest . The five bhoothams are :

AakAsam , Vaayu, Agni, Appu/Jalam and Pruthvi.

The five tanmAthrams are: Sabdha , Sparsa , Roopa,

Rasa and Ghandha TanmAthrams . The TanmAthrams are in between

the individual Bhoothams . RaajasAhankAram aids the Taamasa

ahankaram to produce Sabdha tanmAthram , which in turn gives

rise to AakAsam . Frim AakAsam sparsa TanmAthram arises.

>From latter tanmAthram arises Vaayu ; From Vaayu arises

roopa tanmAthram , which is the parent of Agni ; from Agni

arises rasa tanmAthram , which givs birth to Appu . From

Appu/Jalam arises Ghandha tanmAthram , which in turn gives

rise to pruthvi. The TanmAthram occurs between two bhUthams

and is the kaaryam for the former bhUtham and the KaaraNam

for the latter BhUtham .

 

Thus all the Tatthvams associated with the ChEthanams and

the AchEthanams are all adorned as the weapons and aabharaNams

by Lord VaradarAjan and these Tatthvams , which are not readily

visible to the eye of a human are made visible in the form of

aayudhams and aabharanams by Lord VaradarAjan , the Isvaran

and the owner of all chEthanams and achEthana Tatthvams.

The SarvEsvaran, Lord VaradharAjan stands as Param JyOthi

on the top of Hasthigiri as SarvAyudha , SarvAbharaNa-

Bhooshithan , very readily visible to human eyes and

receives their worship.

 

Instead of studying Upanshads and getting confused about

the ParOksha savroopam of the Lord , one can climb up

the Hasthigiri and very easily see the Lord as aprOksha

Moorthy discernible to our senses.The glory of making

the Lord easily visible to us belongs to Hasthigiri

according to KurEsar .Therefore , Kuresar salutes

that sacred hill , Hasthigiri.

 

Sri VaradharAja ParabrahmaNE Nama:

Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan