Bhagavad Ramanuja Vaibhavam- 1.21- PrathamAchAryan- BhU Varaaha murthy's glories

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dearest all,

 

Today Chithrai UtthirattAdhi- Varaaha avathAram. Prathamacharyan Sriman

Narayanan took birth mahA pOtri... Huge Boar (Varaaha).

 

In Thiruppavai, MAAYANAI MANNU (verse 5) Andal explains how when one surrenders

to the Lord all impediments get destroyed. In this verse, AndAl instructs a very

important aspect- Saranagathi.

 

We will just dwell upon first word Maayan:

 

Oh friends! When one surrenders to Sri Krishnan, all karmas (Sanchitha karma and

Praarabdha karma) get extinguished- All the Sanchita Karmas( Accumulated ) and

Praarabdha Karmas (started to yield) will be completely finished like the straw

dirt being burnt by fire- within no time.

 

By going to Him with pure heart (thooyOmaay vandhu)

THOO MALAR THOOVI THOZHUDU, VAAYINAAL PAADI, MANATHINAAL SINDHIKKA Worship by

body, Speech and Mind (Mano, Vak, Kaayam)

 

[bhUmAdEvi was submerged in the ocean by an asura called Hiranyaksha. Lord

Sriman nArAyana took the incarnation of a big boar (varAha avtaar) and went into

The ocean to uplift up BhUmAdevi. She was lifted up and made sit in the lap of

the Lord. Still bhUmAdEvi was shivering. When the Lord asked her for the reason.

She replied politely : " Oh! my nAthA! You have protected me. But still our

children in the samsArA are helpless and suffering. They cannot practice the

uninterrupted meditation in Bhakti yoga as preached by you in the vedas with

their limited knowledge. So you must be kind enough to show them a simpler way

to reach you " The Lord understood the affection of bhUmAdEvi towards her

children and gave a fitting reply: The simplest way to reach me is in stable

state of mind, [with all three organs of senses (karanam) viz. manas, vAk and

kAyam (speech, action and thought)]-surrender to Me.

 

Think only about him, act only for pUja [ArAdhana] to Him, and speak only in

praise of Him. Immediately bhUmi piratti grasped this easy means of Saranagathi

to reach the Lord and thought it fit to be preached to us in this samsAra. Thus

came ThiruppAvai and this line in particular.

 

ANDAL as an avathAram of BhUmi Devi and in this context remember Her appeal to

Her Lord on His duties to come to the help of the suffering Chethanams.

 

Earlier , Bhumi Devi had a similar concern for Her suffering children and asked

Her Lord , Aadhi VarAhan to reveal a laghu upAyam for helping them from the

terrors of samsAram and to make them eligible for Her Lord's anugaham .

 

Our DayAsvarUpi , BhU Varaahan responded positively to His dear Consort's

request and blessed us with the Revered SlOkams known as VarAha Charama SlOkams

and revealed His depth of affection for His children Varaha PuraNam has the

pancha lakshanam of a standard PuraNam,

(Viz)., Cantos (Sargam ), their subdivisions ( Prathisargam ),

dynasties (vamsam ) and the periods of time known as

manvanthrAs and the charithram associated with that period .

SrI Satakopan Swami writes:

 

The central message for us is the rich meanings of

the VarAha Charama SlOkam as explained by Swami Desikan .

 

BhU devi's sthuthi and the manthram that She uses to

worship Yaj~na VarAha mUrthy are found in Srimadh

BhAgavatham ( 5.18.39 and 35 respectively ) .

Her prayer takes on this form :

 

pramathya dhaithyam prathivAraNam mrughE

yO maam rasayaa JagadhAdhisUkara: I

kruthvOgra dhamshtrE niragAdhudanvatha:

kreetan nivEpa: praNathAsmi tham vibhum II

 

I salute that Yaj~na VarAha Moorthy , who is the cause of this Universe , who

took the form of a Boar and lifted me up from the waters

of pralayam and placed me on His tusk and came out of the waters like a powerful

elephant and killed the offending enemy (HiraNyAkshan )

like destroying an opposing elephant as though it was an effortless sport . To

that Omnipotent Lord are my salutations .

 

The Manthram for Yajna VarAha mUrthy used by BhUmi dEvi is :

 

Om Namo BhagavathE manthralingAya

yaj~na krathavE mahAdhvarAvayyavAya

mahA purushAya nama:karma sukhlAya

thriyugAya namasthE

 

To Thee My Lord , who is OmkAra SvarUpi , One who is revealed by the Veda

ManthrAs ,One who is the form of Yaj~nam and Krathu , One who has all the

Yaj~nAs as limbs of Your sareeram ,One who is karma suddhar , One who is of the

form of the three yugAs , to that ONE who is Bhagavaan ,

my profound salutations .

 

The special appreciation for the VarAha Charama slOkam can be obtained from a

reply that Bhagavan gave to Sage Narada in Brahma PurANam . The great NaarAyaNa

PaarAyaNaa , Sage Naradar asked the Lord :

" prANa prayANa samayE ka : (tvam ) smarthum saktha: syAth " ? Bhagvan gave a

bland answer , which did not have the precision of VarAha Charama SlOkam and the

One found in Bhagavadh GitA . In Brahama PurANam ,

Bhagavan held out the stakes high and said :

 

" He who thinks of me always , will certainly cross this vast and frightening

ocean of SamsArA filled with waters of greed and avarice " .

 

" yO maam smarathi NITYASA : " is Bhagavaan's words . Dhruva Smrithi(ceaseless

rememberance ) is not with in easy reach of all .The discipline needed , the

dharmams to be followed , the Yogams to be practised are ardous for many .That

is why Krishna said in GitA :

 

" sarva dharmAn.. maa sucha : "

 

and removed the bheethi and klEsam of the SaraNAgathan .

 

In VarAha Charama slOkam , the Varaha Bhagavaan went many steps beyond that

position stated by Lord KrishNa in GitA and MadhusUdhana " s statement about

dhruva smrithi in Brahma PurANam . What He said to Bhumi Devi in response to the

request for a Laghu UpAyam was :

 

" The Man/woman , who , when his/her mind in its normal condiiton ,

when his/her body is not shattered , and when the elementary constituents

(DhAthus ) are in perfect equipoise , meditates on Me , who has the world as My

body and (meditates )on Me , who is not subject to births due to KarmA when

that man/woman lies like a log of wood or a piece of stone

in his/her dying moments , then I think of (him/her ) ,

My bhakthan/Bhakthai and lead him/her to My supreme abode " .

 

The conditions that this parama DayALu lays on the humans

fully cognizant of their helplessness in their last moments

is so driven by His limitless compassion to His Bhakthan .

 

The AzhwAr's plea , appOthukkippOthE solli vaitthEn " now

comes into focus. Varaha BhagavAn's outright , unambiguous statement

of His declared intent to rush to the side of such BhakthAL

and then leading them by hand as it were to His parama padham

has in my opinion no match anywhere .

 

** Sri VishNu sahasra Naamam salutes this avathAram as

" MahA VarAhO GovindhO -- " . It is intersting to see the

juxtaposition of Govindha Naamam after MahA VarAha nAmam .

In one approach Govindha is the One , the One , who rescued

Mother Earth ( Go=Earth , VindA = rescuer ). It is as MahA

VarAham that BhagavAN rescued His consort and acquired

the name of Govindhan .

 

Niruktham also endorses this intrepretation based

on the texts from MahA Bhaaratham and VishNu purAnam :

 

tatha: samuthikshipya DharAm sva dhamshtrayA

maha VarAha: sputa padma lOchana: -- Vishnu PurAnam:1.4.26

 

nashtAm cha DharaNIm purvamavindham cha guhaagatham

Govindha ithi tEnAham -- BhAratham Saanthi parvam 343.41

 

Rahasya sikhAmaNi:

 

Rahasya SikhAmaNi is one of the chillarai Rahasyams

created by Swami Sri Desikan . It celebrates and

explains the deeper meanings of the two slOkams that

constitute the unit known as varaha charama SlOkam .

 

The esoteric meanings for every word of these two

slOkams are provided by Swami Sri Desikan in this

powerful gantham . Here are some comments that might provide

an introduction .

 

Swami Desikan's Tribute to the Lord:

 

Swami Sri Desikan's salutation to the gigantic

form of the VarAha PerumAn in this rahasyam is

as follows :

 

kkApi kalpaanthavEsanthE kuradhagnE samruddhathAm

vahathE mEdhinimusthAm mahathE POthriNE nama :

 

(Meaning ) : The deep ocean of the ocean during

the MahA PraLyam times was equal to the dimension of

one hoof of the gigantic Varaha PerumAn , who lifted BhUmi

Piraati out of that Ocean like lifting a tuber ( kOraik Kizhangu )

from those waters and placed Her on His immense tusk .

I salute that BhUmiVarAhan , the MahA POthrin .

 

The Context of the Varaaha Charama Slokam

 

VarAha Sarama SlOkam arose because of the immense

compassion of Our ThAyAr , who is Omniscient and

yet asked Her Lord to bless the unfortunate chEthanams

( Her children ) with a Laghu UpAyam to overcome the

sufferings of SamsAram and to reach His Lotus feet .

 

She rightfully recognized us as asaktha adhikhAris unable to

practise the Guru upAyam ( Difficult to practise means)

like Bhakthi Yogam . She felt that route would be the

equivalent of tying a panam kaai ( big palmyra Fruit )

around the neck of a sparrow , which surely will

ground it forever .She knew that we will not be able

to think of the Lord during the last moments of

our life on this earth , when we are overpowered by

blocked throat and memory loss et al . Our Mind will struggle

with every matter other than the thoughts about Lord

at that time. She prayed to Her Lord therefore to

have mercy on us and begged Him to

bless us with a laghu upAyam (simple and unfailing

means ) of salvation . She wanted that laghu UpAyam

to be free from the burdens of svarUpa parikArams

( structure and limbs /angams ) . BhU VarAhan agreed

to His dear consort's request and revealed to Her

for our benefit a supreme message of Hope that

would remove our fears at the worst time of our

suffering as our Jeevan is about to part from the

cage of body .

 

The message contained in these two slOkams is

the essence of Jn~Ana Yaj~nam , (viz ), Prapatthi .

As elaborated by nammAzhwAr's Thiruvaimozhi 3.7.7 ,

He revealed the steps that He takes to place the Jeevan

at His sacred feet at parama padham after revealing

their natural nithyAnandha svarUpam .This He does

by descending on this earth in Vibhava avathArams ,

protecting His adiyArs and then lifting them upto

His celestial abode at the end of their dEha yaathrAis .

 

These two slOkams support the pUrva -utthara sections

of Dhvayam and charama slOkam of Lord KrishNA and

the ahalahillEn paasuram of NammAzhwAr .

 

Thus the VarAha Sarama slOkams are anyOnya UpakArams

(mutually supportive of each other in thought )for

the latter rahasyams like Dhvayam and Charama SlOkam of

ParthasArathy .

 

These two sacred VarAha Sarama SlOkams , the subject matter of

the elaborate commentary , Rahasya SikhAmaNi are :

 

sthithE manasi .. aham smarAmi madh bhaktham nayAmi paramAm gathim

 

(Meaning ) :Oh Bhumi Devi ! The entire universe is

my body (sarIram ) . I do not have births or deaths .

When my bhakthAs with mahA visvAsam surrender to me,

while they are still in a state of tranquil mind and healthy

body and reflect about Me as as SarvAdharan ( root cause

of all) , NiyanthA ( one who commands from within )

sarva sEshi ( the ultimate ), aasrayaNeeyan ( one who

is fit to be worshipped ) , Sarva VyApthan (all-

pervasive ) and Nithya sannihithan ( One who is always

near ) , THEN I think of them at their last moments,

when they are totally unconscious like a log or a stone

and lead them by archirAdhi maargam to My parama padham

and bless them to have nithya kaimkarya bhAgyam to Me there .

 

Concluding prayer of Swami Desikan to BhU VarAhan:

Swami Desikan concludes his elaborate commentary with a

moving prayer:

 

kaalE prApthE karaNavilayAth kaashta paashaNa kalpAn

Naatha: POthrI nayathu krupayaa naathitha: kam padham na:

 

(meaning ) : When the time of physical death approaches ,

and when our limbs have lost their power and when we are

in a state of unconsciousness equal to that of a stone or

a log , then may Lord VarAhan in response to our earlier

saraNAgathi have mercy on us and lead us to His Parama Padham .

 

Jn~anap Piraan ThgiruvdigaLE SaraNam

Bhumi Devi ThAyAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Acharyan ThoruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards

namo narayana

dAsan