The Sacred Panguni Uttharam Day : Reflections on Selected Veda Manthrams : Part I

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs of SrI RanganAyaki:

 

Today is one of the most sacred days for SrI VaishNavAs.

This is the special day , when AchArya RaamAnujA performed

SaraNAgathy before the Dhivya Dampathis of SrIrangam .

 

"Sriyam samarchayEth DevIm svEtha-Padhmair VisEshatha:"

says the VaikAnasa Aagamam. Our Mother SrI RanganAyaki

is together with her Lord on this special day to bless

Her children. She should be worshipped at this time

with white lotuses says the Aagamam. She is "VishNOr

anapAyini".She never leaves Her Lord's side .

On this day after Lord RanganAthA's dalliance at URayUr ,

the dhivya dampathis of SrIrangam have PraNaya Kalaham

and the mood of "Oodal " is dominant .Swamy NammAzhwAr

intervenes and serves successfully as the peace maker .

TheDhivya Dampathis listen to SaThAri Soori's counsel

and then They join together in a spirit of great Joy

and bless us with their "sErthi sEvai" at their Panguni Utthara

MaNTapam . They continue with Their Visva RakshaNa VyApAram .

At this time , The divine sound of AchArya RaamAnujA's

foot steps are heard and the majestic sound of SaraNAgathi gadhyam

resonates at that Mantapam and all over Srirangam

and the world. The Dhivya Dampathis listen with great

interest to what Their son , AchArya RaamAnujA has to say ,

dialog with him , bless him and accept his prayers for

being granted the boon of SaraNAgathi at Their ThiruvadigaL.

 

Let us explore selected Veda Manthrams in the context of

SaraNAgathi/Prapatthi/Aathma Samarpanam at the Thiruvadis

of the Dhivya dampathis of SrIrangam.The resaon for seeking

Vedic authority for prapatthi is in recognition of the fact

that SaraNAgathy is " an intrinsic truth of the VedAs and

is never an outside growth ".The sacred VedAs ordain that

one should evolve a life of devotion and Godliness for

an upward evolution .Unshakable faith in Divine guidance is

implicit in the entire mass of the holy texts.Man has realized

his smallness(helplessness) and inability to achieve his

goal of life (pursushArtam) and so he has prayed sincerely

to the All-knowing God to lead him on safely to the highest

aspiration ( parama purushArTam/Moksham )."

 

Some one sent me 48 pages from a monograph (a chapter)

dealing with Prapatthi many months ago . The chapter is

named "The Philosophy of Saadhanaa in VisistAdvaitha .

It is an elaboration of the sections of Srimath Rahasya

Thraya Saaram of Swamy VedAntha Desikan in English .

I am not sure as to who is the author of the monograph.

I forgot who sent this manuscript to me as well. I thank

this aasthikA , who blessed me with this informative

and insightful source literature.

 

This chapter sent to me on prapatthi cites briefly various

Veda Manthrams connected with Prapatthi, but does not

elaborate on them .I thought it will be a good exercise

to study these Veda Manthrams to understand the mood

with which one has to approach the Dhivya Dampathis

as AchArya RaamAnujA demonstrated to us on that most

meaningful Panguni Uttharam day at SrIrangam .

 

The first Veda Manthram is from the ancient Rg Vedam

(X.4.4). Infact that X.4 section of Rg Vedam and all

of its seven manthrams housed there are a treasure house

of visvAsa-poorvaka prarTanai to the Supreme Lord.

The Rk (manthram ) X.4.4 in particular acknowledges that

fallible man is very insignificant and can not realize

the truth ( That the Lord is the sarva Seshi and

Sarva lOka SaraNyan) without the assistance

and guidance of the Lord :

 

mUrA amUra na vayam chikithvO mahithvam agnE tvam anga vitsE

sayE vavris charathi jihvayAdan rErihyatE yuvatim vispathi:sann

--Rg.Vedam : X.4.4

 

(Extended meaning): Oh Most adorable Lord Divine ! Thou art

totally free from errors and blemishes . We of limited intellect

(fools ) can not comprehend Your limitless grandeur and

anantha kalyANa guNams.Verily , You know our limitations

and incapacities. You pervade all forms as VishNu (anthar-

bhaisccha tath sarvam vyApya NaarayaNO Hari:).You arrive

at our aathma samarpana yaj~nam as the house Lord (Visva pathi)

and taste the offerings and accept the Havis of aathmA ,

Your property. Here manthram compares the Lord ,who accepts

the Havis of AathmA as the owner of the House , who kisses

the youthful bride . In our siddhAntham , all aathmAs are

feminine and the Lord is the only masculine being

and aathma samarpaNam is considered a wedding of

the aathmA with the owner , our Divine Lord.

 

VedAs describe the essentilaity of the Lord in

the life of a human being.The manthrams point out that

a human being's progress depends totally on the Lord's grace.

The Lord is SrIman NaarAyaNan invoked thru the powerful

Dhvaya Manthram . The Rg veda manthrams "are pregnant with

feelings of devotion and SELF-SURRENDER". He alone is recognized

as the protector of man from the cruel ocean of samsAram .

He is consdiered a dear friend and bhandhu , who strives to

bring peace and contentment in our agitated lives. He is recognized

as a Universal saviour , whom no one can obstruct ( Thvayi Rakshathi--).

He is compared by the Veda manthrams as an eternal thirst quenching

spring of pristine water in the middle of a parching desert .

We will elaborate on seven more Rg veda manthrams housing these

thoughts in the next posting on the Vedic PramANams for SaraNAgathy.

 

SrI RanganAyaki SamEtha SrI RanganAtha ParabrahmaNE Nama:

RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan