ANDAL's Thirunakshathra Uthsavam: salutations on Aadi Poora Dinam : Part I

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

On this sacred day , let us pay our tribute to

Andal , who is the amsam of BhUmi devi.

 

Today Srimans Madhavakannan , Murali Rangaswamy

and Srimathi Sumitra Varadan have posted articles

about Her Vaibhavam.

 

Archival Material on ANDAL

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

For the benefit of those , who joined the Vaishnava lists

recently , there is a huge amount of information

dealing with Andal's avathAra Sthalam of SrIvilliputthur ,

Her two dhivya Prabhandhams , Sthuthi by Swamy Desikan

on Her composed at SrIvilliputthUr during his pilgrimage

to this dhivya dEsam some seven hundred years ago :

 

1) One should start with a visit to the SrivilliputthUr

home pages maintained by SrI Venkat Iyengar , a native

son of NaacchiyAr's AvathAra sthalam :

 

a) http://www.geocities.com/athens.troy/7673

b) http://www.geocities.com/athens/troy/7673/picst.html

 

The darsana SoubhAgyam of Soodikkoduttha NaacchiyAr

with Her divine consort , SrI Rangamannar should not be

missed. There are a huge assembly of SrIVilliputthUr

related information here.

 

2) Detailed commentaries on ThiruppAvai from 1996-2001

are available in the following Bhakthi List related URLs:

 

a) http://www.ramanuja.org/new/tp96/pavai96.html

b) http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/alvars/andal/index.html

c) http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/alvars/andal/thoughts.html

d) Bhakthi archives starting from December 15 , 2000 to

January 13,2001 contain highlights of Maha Vidvan

PerukkAranai Swamy's scholarly commentary on ThiruppAvai

in 26 parts. Musical Rendition of the individual ThiruppAvai

paasurams have been added by SrIman M.K.Krishnaswamy in

his home pages: http://home.comcast.net/~ayyamkk

 

3) SrImathi Kalyani Krishnamachari has posted a comparitive

study of the anubhavams of many AchAryAs (PeriyavAcchAn

PiLLai, UtthamUr Swamy, P.B.AnnangarAcchAr Swamy

and others) on each of the 143 NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi

Paasurams . It took her nearly five years to complete

this monumental task. These postings are available

also at the SrivilliputthUr home pages as well as

in the Bhakthi archives.

 

4. Swamy Desikan's GodhA Sthuthi: The Bhakthi archives

postings during the month of July 2000 house Swamy

Desikan's anubhavam of Andal.

 

Today , adiyEn will cover the Bhu and NeeLA Sookthams

in the context of Andal's avathAram as the amsam of

BhUmi Piratti.

 

Vedic Salutations to Bhu VarAhan

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

Whenever Vedam salutes the Lord (Yaj~na VarAhan)

through Yaj~nams ,His Dharma Pathni of BhUmi Devi

is sitting next to Him recieving the offered havis

along with Her Lord. He is also called BhU Varaahan

for that same reason since He is associated with

Her always and He blessed His consort with the famous

VarAha Charama SlOkam to lift us up from the SamsAric

Ocean with a laghu upAyam .

 

When BhU Sooktham salutes Her as :

 

" mahO DharaNee mahOadhyathishtA:

SrungE SrungE Yaj~nE yaj~nE vibheeshiNee"

 

and " Maheem Deveem VishNupathneem ajUryAm

pratheechimEnAgum havishA yajAma:

 

this Sooktham recognizes Her role in Yaj~nam

of SaraNAgatha RakshaNam with Her Lord .

 

Two Examples of Veda Manthrams saluting the Divine couple

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

The salutations to BhUmi Devi is incorparated

in many Veda Manthrams . An example of such a manthram

used in Yaj~nams found in all the Four Vedams is:

 

TvAmiddhi havAmahE sAthau vAjasya kArava:

Tvaam vrutthrEshvindra sathpathim narasthvAm kAshtAsvarvata:

 

--Saama Vedam : 809 ; Rg Vedam VI.46.1 ;

Yajur Vedam: XXVII.38; Atharva Vedam: XX.98.1

 

(meaning): Oh Resplendent Lord! We the austere

Tapasvis sing Your praise as poets and appeal

to You to bless us with nourishing food (vide:

the first manthram of NeeLA Sooktham specifically

invoking BhUmi DEvi for such blessings).You are known

as the preserver and protector of Your BhagavathAs .

We as Mumukshus invoke Your glories from all directions

to empower us to overcome all the obstacles and the conflicts

that we encounter in this life.

 

Another manthram addressed in Soma Yaagams , which is

also seen in its entirety in Rg and Atharva Vedam is:

 

abhi pra va: surAdhasamindramarca yathA vidE

yO jaritrubhyO maghavA purUvasu: sahasrENEva skshathi

 

--Saama Vedam: 811; Rg Vedam: VIII.49.1;Atharva Vedam: XX.51.1

 

In this Yaj~nam , the Lord is saluted as the possessor

of unlimited , matchless wealth (Ubhaya VibhUthi) and

grantor of all those riches (bhOgams) to those , who

serve Him with single minded devotion. The Lord is

visualized as helping those , who serve Him with suddha Bhakthi

(and seek His refuge) with thousandfold treasures. This

is the BhUvarAhan , who presides over the Yaj~nams as

Yaj~na VarAhan with His Devi.

 

BhU Sooktham ( From TaittirIya Samhithai)

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

The echos of this Sooktham can be heard in

VedAnthAchAryA's GodhA Sthuthi.

 

Hari: Om BhUmir BhUmnA dhayour variNA

anthariksham mahithvA

upasTE tE dEvyaditE agnim

annAdam annAdhyAyAdhatE --(1)

 

(Meaning): Oh BhUmi DEvi! Thou art pervasive through

Your breadth and circumference; Thou art relished by

every one through Your effulgence;Though Your lofty and

auspicious attributes , You have a high status.Oh BhU

Devi, who can not be cut asunder by anyone ! I perform

the ceremony of aadhAnam (invocation) of Agni, who

is the producer of annam through his consumption of

the offered Havis ! (The indweller of Agni is

the ultimate consumer of the Havis and all the DevAs

including Agni recieve their shares from the Lord ,

who is thier antharyAmi).

 

Aayam gou: prusnirakmmeedh asanan mAtharam puna:

pitharam cha prayan suva: --(2)

 

(Meaning):The radiant Sun with his thousand rays

comes near us and blesses us with nourishing

food like a Mother and ascends up and blesses us like

a protecting father through the timely rains.

He pervades heaven and earth through these

activities.

 

Thrigumsath dhAma virAjathi vaak pathangAya sisiriyE

prathyasya vaha dhyubhi: ---(3)

 

(meaning): This world is shining during the entire thirty

naazhikais through its sanchAram . May my eulogy taking

the form of Veda Vaak fly up and approach You ,the fast moving

Sun , during Your sanchAram. Oh SooryA! May Thou dispell

all of our limitations and deficiencies with Your

radiance ! May Thou accept our Havis through Your jwAlai!

 

asya prANAth apAnatyantha: charathi rOchana

vyakhyan mahisha: suva: ---(4)

 

(Meaning): His (Sooryan's) lustre spreads between

heaven and Earth from morning to evening.He points out

Svargam to His devotees.

 

yath ThvA kruddha: parO vapa manyunA yadhavarthyA

sukalpamagnE tath tava punasthvOdhdheepayAmasi ---(5)

 

(meaning): Oh Soorya! Due to anger and frustration

arising from poverty , we may fail to worship You.

We will eulogize You from here on . Please accept our

AarAdhanam as one that is performed with sincere devotion!

 

yath tE manyuparOpthasya pruTiveemanu dhadhvasE

AadhithyA visvE tadh dEvA vasavasccha samAbharan --(6)

 

(Meaning): May the Vasu-Rudra-AadhithyAs restore

the Bhagaavth Bhakthi , which I threw away out of

my anger !

 

Now comes a string of NaamAs expressed in adoration of

BhUmi DEvi , many of which have been incorporated in

BhU Sthuthi by NigamAntha MahA Desikan. We will just cite

the manthrams now and take up their meanings in

the next posting:

 

Medhini dEvi VasundharA syAdh VasudhA dEvi Vaasavi

brahmavarchasa: pithruNAm srOthram chakshurmana:

 

Devi HiraNyagarbhiNi Devi prasoovaree

 

rasanE sathyAyanE seedha , Samudravathee

Saavithree ha nO Devee mahyangee

 

MahO DharaNee mahOadhyathishtA:

SrungE SrungE Yaj~nE Yaj~nE vibhishiNee

 

Indhrapathnee VyApinee Surasaridhiha

Vaayumathee Jalasayanee SriyandhA

 

RaajA sathyandhO ParimEdhinee svO paridhattham gAya

 

VishNupathneem maheem dEveem Madhaveem MaadhavapriyAm

Lakshmee Priyaskeem dEveem namAmacchyutha-vallabhAm

 

Om dhanurdharAyai vidhmahE Sarvasiddhyai cha dheemahi

tannO DharA prachOdhyAth

 

Maheem Deveem VishNupathnamajooryAm

pratheechimEnAgumhavishA yajAma:

thrEdhA VishnururugAyO vichakramE

Maheem dhivapruTveemanthariksham

 

tacchrONaithisrava icchamAnA

PuNya: slOkamyajamAnAya kruNvathee, Hari: Om

 

ANDAL ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam,

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan

SubhAnu Aadi Pooram

[Guest guest]

Other than the URLs suggested by Sri.Sadagopan I found

http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/aug99/0143.html

also useful

Regards,

Srimathi Venkatachari Raghavan