SWAMY KURESAR'S ATHIMAANUSHA STHAVAM :PART 2/ SlOkmas 2-5 on Lord RanganAtha .

[Guest guest]

SrI :

 

Dear Bhakthas : In this posting , we will study the four

slOkams( 2- 5) , where KurEsar salutes Lord RanganAtha

as the ultimate athi-mAnusha ChEstithan .

 

At Srirangam , it is well known that Moola BhEram is DhAmOdhara

KrishNan and the Uthsavar ( Processional deity ) is Lord

Raamachandran . Hence it is not surpriisng to see KurEsar

devoting four slOkams at the beginning of AthimAnusha Stavam

to SrI RanganAtha as the integrated essence of Raama-KrishNa

avathArams .

 

SlOkam 2

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SrEya: kiranthu kiraNA : charaNAravindha

nishpandhamAna makarandha rasouga dEsyA:

tajjA: sruthErmadhuna uthsa ithi pratheepA :

Mangalya Ranga-nilasya Parasya dhAmna:

 

( Meaning) : May the radiant rays emanating from the lotus feet of

the Lord of Thiruvarangam resting under the Sriranga Vimaanam ,

known for its goal to bless all with auspicousness , confer mangaLams

also on us ! Vedam declares that the Supreme JyOthi of the lotus feet

of the Lord generates the delectable flood of honey ( VishNO: padhE

ParamE madhva uthsa: ) . May those fast flowing flood of honey drench us

in its swetness and grant us all soubhAgyams !

 

( Commentary ) : In this sthavam focussed on the celebration of

Vibhava avathArams , KurEsar stops to salute the archAvathAra

Moorthy at SrIrangam first . This is consistent with the anubhavam of

AzhwArs , who switch often from Vibhava Moothys to ArchAvathAra

Moorthys . An example is provided by ThiruppANa AzhwAr : " KOvalanAi

VeNNai uNDa vAyan yenn uLLam kavarnthAnai aNDarkOn ANiyaranganai " .

If we recognize Moolavar as DhAmOdhara KrishNan , who was tied upto

a rice husking mortar in Vibhava avathAram and Uthsavar to Lord Raamachandra,

the links of these two vibhavAvathArams to archAvathAram becomes evident .

 

VishNu Sooktham found in Rg Vedam states that Lord Thrivikraman from

whose sacred feet Ganga ( honey ) flows as Sri Paadha Theertham in

the form of a brook fulfilling the desires of men , who wish to attain the status

of dEvAs and that EmperumAn is our Sarva vidha Bhandhu :

 

tadhasya priyamapi paaTO asyAm narO yathra dEvayavO madhanthi

urukramasya Sa hi BhandhuritthA VishNO: padhE madhva uthsa:

 

The second slOkam is thus connected to the above Rg Veda Manthram .

Sri RanganAthan is recognized as that Supreme JyOthi ( Mangalya Ranga--

nilayasya Parasya dhAmnA ) . His charaNAravindhams are the source of

ever flowing stream of delectable honey ( CharaNAravindha nishpandhamAna

makarandha rasa Oga dEsyA: madhuna uthsa: ) . KurEsar prays for the rays

emanating out of those lotus feet to bless us with SrEyas .

 

SlOkam 3

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Srimath ParAnkusa muneendhra manO nivAsAth

tajja anurAgarasa manjanam ajn~asApya

adhyApi anAratha tadhutthiTa rAgayOgam

SrirangarAja charaNAmbhujam unnayAma :

 

( Meaning) : We carry on our heads the lotus feet of the Lord of

Srirangam with His divine consort ; those sacred feet have recieved

the abhishEkam from the water of love from the mind of Swamy

NammAzhwAr of blemishless bhakthi and Kaimkarya SrI . Lord RanganAtha

resides in the heart lotus of Swamy NammAzhwAr and the cool abhishEkam

that the Lord has recieved makes the hue of His lotus feet even a shade redder

than usual . We bear on our heads with affection those lotus red feet of the Lord .

 

(Commentary ) : The sacred feet of the Lord of Srirangam are red in color .

KurEsar inquires about the cause behind that red hue and concludes that

the origin of that color is from the permanent residence of the Lord in

the heart lotus of Swamy NammAzhwAr . Poets have a tradition of describing

the love for a dear one having a red hue (Rakthou cha Raagou ) . This is not

uncommon . Swamy NammAzhwAr's prEmai for the Lord of Srirangam is

famous : AzhwAr's Sriranga Paasurams of "Kangum Pahalum " are abundant

proofs of such pure love . The prEmai of Swamy NammAzhwAr leads him to perform

abhishEkam for the Lord resting inside his heart and the end result of the enjoyment

of that kaimkaryam by Lord RangaAtha is the further reddening of His already red feet

caused by the pressing of them by Sri RanganAyaki ( " Malar MahaL kai varuda

malar pOthiR sivanthana " ) .

 

SlOkam 4

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Vajra-dhvajAnkusa SudhA kalasAthapathra

pankEruhAnka parikarma pareethamantha:

aapAdha-pankaja visrungala dheepra-mouLE

SrirangiNa: SaraNayOr yugam aasrayAma:

 

(Meaning) : We seek the refuge of the sacred feet of the Lord of

Srirangam , the soles of which are adorned with VajrAyudham ,

Flag of Garudan , elephant goad , Conch , Disc , white umbrella ,

pot of nectar in the form of lines ( rEkhAs) to indicate Sri RanganAthA's

soverignity as the Emperor of all universes . The radiance from the gems

on Sri RanganAyaki samEtha Sri RanganAthan's tall crown spreads

without interruption all the way down to His sacred , lotus-soft feet .

 

(Comments) : The Parama Purusha LakshaNam of the Lord is described

here . The radiance of the gems from the Lord's crown spreading all the way

down to His lotus feet has been saluted by the AzhwAr to provide the inspiration

for KurEsar : " Kathir Aayiram Iravi kalantheritthAl ottha neeL mudi " .

 

SlOkam 5

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SrI RangarAja charaNou praNumOn yayO: khalu

yEkas Thrivikramavidhou vasudhAm asEshAm

vyakramstha saachala kulAmapi viprakeerNa-

sToola avalagna sikathAm iva nirnathOccham

 

(Meaning) : We eulogize the gigantic growing feet of Lord RanganAtha , which

measured the wide and enormous world during the time of His avathAram

as Thrivikraman to seek three steps of earth from emperor MahA Bali .

At that time , the worlds with the huge KulAchalams of the Universes

stuck to His growing feet like little grains of sand and the Lord's Thiruvadi

sambhandham was realized by every entity in the universe without distinction

about their loftiness or insignificance .

 

(Commentary ) : The seven KulAchalams known for their mighty size are :

HimavAn , Vindhyam , PaariyAthram , Nishadham , Sahyam , Malayam ,

MahEndhram and Dhardhuram . As Thrivikrama-RanganAthan took one

step to measure all of the earth , these seven KulAchalams looked like

little grains of sands sticking to that right foot , while the left foot shot

upward to the sky . The greatness of that " thaaLL parappi maNN thAviya

Thiruvadi of Thrivikraman" sanctified all chEthanams and achEthanams

through contact with it through Thiruvadi Sambhandham ( UnnathAnAm

avanathi: nathAnAm yathra cha unnathi: ) . Rg Vedam celebrates this noble

act of the Lord and His Thiruvadi as " samooDamasya paagumsurE ".

In view of the extended celebration of ThrivikramAvathAram in

the VedAs , KurEsar pays special attention to that avathAram in

the context of offering his salutations to Lord RanganAtha.

 

Swamy KurEsar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

MalOla PaadhukA Sevaka SrImath Azhagiya Singar Thiruvadi