Lighting of Maa ViLakku on PurattAsi SravaNam days -- Part II

[Guest guest]

SrI :

 

Dear BhakthAs of Saptha GirIsan :

 

In a previous posting , adiyEn focused on the philosophical

background on the Param JyOthi Tatthvam invoked in lighting

the Maa ViLakku as a PrArTanai by the ladies of the house .

Today , Iw ould like to share with you additional thoughts

on the symbolism and significance of Maa ViLakku .

 

There are no specific pramANams to cite from Kalpa Soothrams.

It is a form of Dheepa Poojai practised by some families devoted

to Lord VenkatEsa as the immortal lamp on top of the seven hills .

 

Govindhan as Svayam JyOthi on top of the Seven hills

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On this day , the Govindha Naama sankeerthanam reverberates

on the hills of Venkatam as the sevArthees meditate on the dheepam

and climb the hills to have the sevai of this eternal dheepam .Swamy

Desikan salutes this aprAkrutha JyOthi on the hills as " Jayanthee

sambhavam DHAMA " full of tEjas born on SrI Jayanthee day . That

tEjomaya dhivya MangaLa vigraham is invoked in our houses especailly

on PurattAsi SraaNam days to bless us .This is the beautiful , illuminating

radiance born in aayar kulam ( ThiruppAvai : Paasuram 5 --" Aayar kulatthil

thOnRum aNi ViLakkai ) . This radiance is aprAkrutha Suddha satthvamaya

dhivya JyOthi ( Addhiyam sOthi Uru--Swamy NammAzhwAr). This DhAma sabdham

has been linked to the dhivya MangaLa vigraham of the Lord by commentators.

Vaikunta Vaasi SrIman Anbil GopAlaacchAr Swamy has instructed us

that this "DhAmam " ( incomparable radiance in the form of the radiance )

is the sacred feet of Govindhan with the auspicious marks of Dhvajam , rEkhA

et al ( CharaNa roopa dhAmnA vallavee Jana vallabha thva rahasya

sankeerthanaanupadhamEva). This is " the SvaprakAsa JyOthirmaya

VaasudEva Roopam " according to Dr.V.N.Vedantha Desikan . The sacred feet

which roaed in BrundhAvanam and thos esame feet that landed on

Venkatam hills for the purposes of avathAram comes to our house , when

the Maa ViLakku is lit by pious women folks on PurattAsi Saturdays.

 

AzhwAr's a nubhavam of this JyOthi

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The three Mudhal AzhwArs lit their own lamps in the first verses

of their respective ThiruvanthAdhis and had a cosmic vision of

the Lord with His Devi .

 

Poygai AzhwAr , the first of the three Mudhal AzhwArs is the PaanchajanyAmsar.

This AzhwAr lit a Cosmic Lamp for the Lord with the gigantic Earth as

the container vessel/bowl (ahal) to hold the surrounding seas serving as

the fuel for the lamp and lit the lamp with the hot rayed Sun as the light (ViLakku)

to ban the darkness of ajn~Anam:

 

" Vyaam TahaLiyA Vaar kadalE neyyAha

veyyak--kathirOn viLakkAha ---Seyya

SudarAzhiyAnukke SootinEn sonn maalai

idarAzhi neenguhavEyenRu "

 

When Poygai AzhwAr spoke with the dawning of JN~Anam

that the Lord is the Supreme Master (Sarva Seshi) , the next of

the Mudhal AzhwArs, BhUtham used His Bhakthi as the ahal

to for the Lord and His intense desire to visualize / experience

the Lord as the ghee/fuel for that lamp . The wick in that lamp

was His heart that was racing in anticipation of the bliss of

enjoying the Lord's presence :

 

AnbE tahaLiyA aarvamE neyyAha

inbhuruhu sinthai idu thiriA --nanpuruhi

JN~Anacchudar viLkkERRinEn NaaraNaRkku

Jn~Anat-Tamizh purintha naann

 

pEy AzhwAr with the benefit of Para Jn~Anam joined the other two

AzhwArs to have ParipoorNa SaakshAthkAram of the Lord in the light

(glow) of the lamp lit by the other two and described that anubhavam

of enjoying the Lord with His divine consort and His weapons :

 

"ThirukkaNDEn ponn mEni KaNDEn--Thihazhum

arukkanaNi niRamum kaNDEn --seruuliLarum

ponnAzhi kaNDEn purisankam kai kaNDEn

yennAzhi VaNNan paalinRu"

 

In the third Paasuram of the MoonRAm THiruvandhAthi ,

PeYAzhwAr described the Lord as the permanent cure for

the illness of SamsAram( varu naraham theerkkum marunthu)

and identifies Him with residences in the Milky ocean ,

the breast region of MahA Lakshmi and his heart lotus :

 

" ManatthuLLAn Maakadal neeruLLAn--MalarAL

tanatthuLLAn TaNN thuzhAi Maarbhan -----

varu naraham theerkkum marunthu "

 

PeyAzhwAr declares further that he visualized the Lord's

Sacred feet and announces that he clung to them tight

as the refuge to destroy forever the cycles of future births .

 

AzhwAr explains in the next Paasuram that the dhivya jyOthi

of the Lord's feet are our means for the liberarion from the terrors

of SamsAram and they should be goal and the Supreme object

of enjoyment ( Marunthum poruLum amuthamum thAnE ).

 

The same Jyothi ( Kaarthikai dheepam ) was seen by Thirumangai Mannan

at SrIrangam and Utthama Nambi explained that as the means , goal and

the perrenial , insatiable enjoyment (aarAvamudhu) for us .

 

May the divine JyOthi of the PurattAsi Saturday dheepam shining on

the ahal of Maa ViLakku chase away our darkness of aj~nam and

Vipareetha Jn~Anam and offer us the comforting place in His

Parama Padham at the end of our earthly existence !

 

NamO SrI VenkatEsAya ,

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan KOil Varadachari Sadagopan