The three manthras continued-2. dhvayamanthra

[Guest guest]

Dhvayamanthra- SrimannaaraayaNacharaNou SaraNam prapadhye; Srimathe naaraayaNaaya namaH

 

The word `namo' in the thirumanthra denotes that the only means, upaya, of attainment of the goal is prapatthi or surrender. The goal is the Lord Himself indicated by the next word in the thiirumanthra, `narayanaya.' These two are explained further in the dhvayamanthra.

 

The dhvaya manthra is so called because it deals with upaaya, the means and upeya, the goal.

 

The first part.- SrimannarayaNacharNou saraNam prapadhye

 

SrimannaaraayaNa- refers to the Lord who is with Sri, Lakshmi when He becomes the saviour as She is the krpaa of the Lord which is why she is said to reside in his heart.

 

The adjective `sriman' is used for Narayana to show why He is the upaaya, means of attaining Himself. The qualification required for a saviour or redeemer is shown by the epithet `sriman,.' which means that He is associated with Lakshmi.. The word Sri has six interpretations.

1.Sriyathe- being resorted to by the devotees.

2. Srayathe- resorts to the Lord herself to act as a mediator.

3. SrNothi-listens to the prayers of the devotees.

4.sraavayathi- .makes Him listen.

5.SrNathi- removes all hindrances of those who have adopted the upaya.

6. SreeNaathi- She makes those who surrender ripe enough to render service to the Lord.

 

Thus the association with Lakshmi ensures that He is the upaya because He possesses the necessary attributes for it. These are, vaathsalyam, affection like that of the cow to the calf, soulabhyam, easy accessibility, souSeelyam, closeness towards prapannas, swamithvam, over-lordship which includes His omniscience, omnipotence etc.

 

CharaNou- denotes the divinely auspicious form of the Lord, who is the supreme reality beyond name and form but due to compassion appears in the divine form whose feet are to be resorted to.

 

Saranam- denotes that he is the sole upaya to attain Him.

 

Prapdhye-means total surrender placing the burden of protection at the feet of the Lord.

 

The nature and the requisites of prapatthi, that is surrender will be elucidated in the explanation of the charama sloka, the third manthra.

 

The second part- Srmathe naaraayaNaaya namah

 

The second part of the manthra answers the question what is the goal for which prapatthi should be performed.

 

Srimathe naaraayaNaaya- The word Srimathe in dative denotes that both Narayana and Lakshmi are the recipients of the offering of the self through surrender. Yet the word naaraayana in naaraayaNaaya shows that the Lord who is the seshi to whom all beings are seshas and the attainment of seshathva or service to Him is the goal of surrender.

 

namaH-.This word is to be taken in the sense of `na mah' not mine, which means shedding of the concept of ` I and Mine' in total surrender with the feeling that one belongs to Him alone.

 

Thus the dhvaya manthra denotes that one has to attain Him through Him only or in other word, the Lord is both the means and the end, upaaya and upeya.

 

 

 

..