Sri Vara Vara Muni-2

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Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

Sri Vara Vara MunayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE namaha

 

Dear bhagavatas,

 

Continuing with the meaning of the sloka,

 

“Srimad rangam jayatu paramam dhAma tEjOnidhAnam bhoomA

tasmin bhavatu kushalee kOpibhoomA sahAya I

divyam tasmai dhishatu vibhavam dEsikO dEsikAnAm kAlE kAlE

vara vara muni: kalpayan mangalAni II”

 

paramam dhAma – the highest place (the divine abode of emperuman);

tEjOnidhAnam – filled with energy; This divine place, Srirangam has

the utmost power to win over all the enemies. Can there be enemies

to emperuman? No. Emperuman doesn’t treat them as enemies, but they

consider emperuman as an enemy to them (the same was indicated by Sri

Rama piran when he uttered the words, “maranAnthanthu vairAni”). But

even such nastika vadhis while they have a glance of namperumal and

his beauty they immediately loose themselves to his charm and loving

smile. Slowly they start to learn about the kalyana gunas of

emperuman and then they get trapped totally into the ocean of

bhagavat krupai. Let that high place filled with nithya Sri,

Srirangam remain with prosperity!

 

bhoomA tasmin bhavatu kushalee kOpi bhoomA sahAya: - In that great

place, let the emperuman whose greatness is beyond words stay happily

along with Sridevi and bhoodevi. Who is that lord who has put down

all the energy and descended to Srirangam to uplift the innocent

souls suffering in samsArA? (kOpi?) He is ‘bhoo mA sahAya:’

bhoo-Bhoodevi; mA- Sridevi, Periya pirattiyAr; sahAya: - their

support, Periya perumal. Here a beauty is seen in the ordering of

the words. Generally we say Sridevi, bhoodevi and even according to

Sanskrit grammar it should have been only mA bhoo sahAya: But why

has it been rearranged? It is because emperuman is regarded as

Sriya:pathi, which is a special identification to him. So bhoomi

piratti not wanting to come in between the divine couples took her

position in the front. It is a common saying in our culture that it

is not wise for anyone to stand or sit in between a husband and wife.

That has been followed by bhoodevi, though she is also the consort of

perumal. The same rearranging is seen while we say “ithihAsa

puranangal”. This has been clearly explained by pillai lokacharya in

his Srivachana bhooshana sutra, “evai erandilum vaiththuk kondu

ithihAsam prabhalam; aththAlE adhu murpattadhu”

 

divyam tasmai dhishatu vibhavam dEsikO dEsikAnAm kAlE kAlE vara vara

muni: kalpayan mangalAni : Let the greatest of the acharyas, Vara

Vara muni do mangalasAsanams daily to that great bhagavan and

increase the vaibhavams (greatness) of emperuman multifold. Sri Vara

Vara muni is regarded as greatest of the acharyas since he is the

acharya to Periya perumal himself. Our guruparamparai starts with

“lakshmi nAtha samArambhAm” Sriya:pathi Sriman Narayanan. But that

Narayanan choose manavAla mAmunikal as his acharya and there by the

chain of guruparamparai starts with Narayanan and ends with Periya

perumal. When perumal himself choose mAmunikal as his acharya what

to say about his greatness? (On this masi dwadasi day, namperumal

takes the role of a disciple and as a regard to his acharya, refrains

from having ‘surulamudhu’ (thambhoolam) and takes only the prasadam of

his acharya, mAmunikal as offering) That is why erumbiappa regards him

as “desikO desikAnAm”. It is not enough if jeeyer did mangalAsasanams

one time or twice but he should remain doing the same forever (kAlE

kAlE) so that the Sriranga Sri keeps on growing (“Sriranga Srischa

varthathAm”) so that not only Srirangam but all the divya desams and

the whole world will live with wealth, health and prosperity

(“neekAdha selvan niraindhu” “selvathirumAlAl engum thiruvarul peRRu

enburuvar”).

 

“SrimathE ramyajAmAtru muneendrAya mahAtmanE Sriranga vAsinE bhooyAt nithya sree nithya mangalam”

 

Alwar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam

Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam

 

Adiyen ramanuja dAsee

Sumithra Varadarajan