Lakshmi Shobane -Part 2

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Hare Srinivasa ! dinagala kaleva janarE sujanru vanajanAbhana dasara samAgamadiMda dinagala kaleva .... Contemplating on and singing the works of the great saints is like having thier words in our midst which is in turn like having their presence in our midst. Let us pay our obesiances to Guru Sarvabhouma Sri Vadirajaru and proceed with the next two padyas. lakShmInArAyaNara charaNakke sharaNeMbe pakShivAhannageraguve pakShivAhannageraguve anudina rakShisali namma vadhU-varara ||1||After declaring the auspiciousness of the Lord in the first verse, Vadirajaru is offering his obesiances at the feet of the Lord LakshminArAyaNa and His consort Sri Lakshmi.One may ask why should we take both of them here and not just the Lord ? For this: He is using the plural - LakshminArAyaNara implying that it is for both of them and is givng a hint that even though he is going to describe the kalyana of Lakshmi and nArayana , one should never think of them as seperate from each other, but that they are always together. This is made clear by observing the next word. In the next adjective for the Lord-garuDavahana', Vadirajaru uses only the singular. This implies that the address

LakshminArAyaNara is used not just for showing respect but to indicate plural. The Lord is very close to His devotee and can be called by singular like 'pakshivahanna" instead of 'pakshivahanara" . Here the nityatva of Laskhmi Devi with Narayana devuru is highlighted first and surrendering to the feet of Lakshmi Narayana is emphasised. Why should one surrender at the feet of Lord LakshminArAyaNa ? A similar question is answered by Sage Suka in the Bhagavatham. In the Bhagavatham Sage Suka explains to King Parikshit about the reason why the Deva's got amrutha ,the nectar of immortality and the daityas did not get it .He says "evam surAsuragaNAH samadeshasakAlahetvartayOgagatayOpi phale vikalpAHtatrAmritham suragaNAH phalamaMjarApuryatpAdapaMkajaH shrayaNAnna daityAH"During the churning of the ocean the devas and demons commanding similar means, the same place, the same time of curdling, the rope(Vasuki) moving in unision with their relavant strength , with a common

purpose of obtaining amrutha acheived different and dissimilar fruits. Why? The disparity lies in the fact that the devas took refuge in the holy dust of the lotus feet of Lord Narayana while the demons, His steadfast and perpetual haters failed to secure it. Sri Vadirajaru himself gives the answer to the above question in one sulAdhi.haripada nevaMge narakada bhayavillaharipada nenvaMge mAyeya bhayavillaharipada nenevaMge vishada bhayavillaharipada nenevaMge arigala bhayavillaharipada nenevaMge bhavada bhayavillaharipada nenevaMge jananada bhayavillaharipada nenevaMge maraNada bhayavillabariya mAtalla akutObhayaneMduvarada hayavadanana pada padumava naMbu" One who contemplates on the lotus feet of the Lord Hari, has no fear of naraka, no fear of illusion which gives rise to wrong knowledge, no fear of poison which causes the body to perish and which causes the soul to be battered by confusion, no fear of enemies for the body-jara(old age), vyAdi(disease), for the mind- kAma krOdha, lObha,mOha, mada, matsarya, no fear of being thrown into samsaara, no fear of endless births, no fear of death. Vadirajaru very nicely associates all the fears that are possible for a living entity into one package linked together and then finally says,"These are not just mere words, but they are the powerful weapons against any kind of fear which sri Hayavadana will weild to protect the devotee who takes shelter in

His lotus feet."Vadirajaru's famous swapna pada also opens with the thoughts of the lotus feet of Lord Narayana. neneve nArAyaNana pAdavaneneve nArAyaNana charaNavaVadirajaru is bringing the attention of the gathered people to the fact that seeking the Grace of the Lord with devotion to the lotus feet of the Lord never goes in vain, whereas lack of devotion can never garner results. He is exhorting the devotees to seek the refuge of the lotus feet of the Lord and rest assured that He

will disburse accordingly. He is the Lord who bestowed amrutha on the devas who had surrendered at His lotus feet . In a similar way He will shower His Grace on the bride and groom .Narayana means one who is full of auspicious attributes. So the opening verse which spoke of shuba has a continuity here . " I fall at the feet of the Lord with infinite auspicious attributes and devoid of defects and seek His protection ."PakshivAhannageraguve - Vadirajaru says,"Oh Lord who has the Garuda as His vehicle, I fall at your feet and beg for protection. " The word

"yeragu" which shows an action word, signifies that Vadirajaru is immersed in worshipping the Lord's lotus feet inside his heart lotus and is prostrating at His feet in the course of his manasa puja. He is seeking the Lord's all encompassing protection for the bride and groom. By seeking the grace of the guru we should try to implement sincerity in everything we do and perform the actions with full concentration with the desire to please the Lord, mindful of the presence of the Lord at all times.The Lord looks on all the beings of the world alike and treats them according to their desserts. It is the disparity in the sadhanas of the sadhakas that leads to dissimilar fruits. The grace of the Lord is attained in accordance with the staunch service rendered to the Master maker, who is ever ready to bestow fruits like the "Kalpa Vriksha". The only

condition is the service and devotion should be of the highest order possible for that soul. This is told by Bhakta prahlada in the Bhagavatham to show that the Lord bestows the fruits based on the sincerity in devotion." naishA prAvaramatirbhavatO nanu syAjajaMtOryathAtmasuhrudO jagatastathApisamsevayO suranrOriva teprasAdaH sevAnurUpa udayO na prAvaratvam ||Vadirajaru is entreating Lord Vishnu who flew on Garuda's back to the aid of his devotee Gajaraja . When Gajaraja was attacked by the crocodile in the pond, at first he did not seek the Lord's protection but instead called to his friends and

relatives. But finally he realises his folly and understands that only the Lord is the original source of everything and that if He wills He can definitely protect Him . So Gajaraja implores to the Lord, the Lord immediately flys using Garuda His divine vehicle to come at top speed. Such is the vivid description in the Bhagavatham. Gopala Dasaru in his devaranama 'vArija layapathi, vArijanAbhane...." makes fun of the Lord's urgency to come to His devotees aid. He says, You were in such a hurry you did not even tell Your wife!"'maDadige hElade duDuduDune baMdu hiDidu nakrana bAya kaDidu biDisidane"Purandara Dasaru says 'It is as if you were just waiting for Gajendra to call and immediately you set off to help him. Isn't it Your

immense compassion that You go to Your devotee's aid the moment they seek Your shelter?""nee dayAparano ninnavara sadhanvOmadakariyu sarasiyOl makaribAdege silukipadumAksha padumEsha padumanAbhapadumasambhavanaiyya pAhi pAhi yenaluodagi rakshisidi tava dayavO sadhanavO"Please come and shower Your grace on our bride and groom.Vadirajaru is telling the Lord in a very submissive way by repeating the words 'pakshivAhannageraguve'. "I am seeking shelter and trust you completely , so please protect the bride and groom !" pAlasAgaravannu lIleyali kaDeyalu bAle mahAlakShumi udisidaLu bAle mahAlakShumi udisiLAdevi pAlisali namma vadhU-varara

||2||The word LIleyali tells us that the samudra mathana was yet another leela of the Lord. On this occasion we get to contemplate on the Lord's different rupas - kUrmA, ajitha,Narayana, Mohini, Dhanvantri. Each of them is equally beautiful and equally powerful in innumerable ways. The Lord is present at the base holding the Mandara mountain steady on His back-kUrma avatara. The Lord is holding on to the tail of Vasuki as the head of the devas being thier king in His form as Ajitha. Lord Narayana is standing witnessing the entire event being unaffected by the ongoing events. The Lord takes the Mohini avatara to beguile the asuras and deprive them of partaking in the nectar for which they were not eligibe. Then the Lord comes in His Dhavantari roopa as a hope to the sick people. He brings the amritha kalisha for distribution as well as the ancient science of AyurvEda which gives a

cure for diseases ailing the body and mind to those who repose faith in its ability.Here itself Vadirajaru is extolling the greatness of the Lord with the word 'Lilleyali' to show that all the happennings are controlled by the Lord with just one wish. He does not need to exert Himself to accomplish anything. He does the entire creation with just one word -ichchA mAtram prabhO srishTi". Next Vadirajaru is extolling Lakshmi's greatness and is saying -'bAle and then mahalakShmi' which is contradictory , in the sense that 'bAle' talks about a young child/girl who has no experience of the world and who is yet to acquire wisdom. Whereas mahAlakShumi is an address which describes Lakshmi as a mahAn meaning that she is great and has the knowledge of all things and is the most worthy and wise entity next to the Lord. So this

shows that even though mother Laskhmi makes it appear as if she is manifesting afresh from the ocean, she is actually the eternal consort of the Lord and she is very great(mahA). She is great in knowledge being the abimAni of the Vedas, she is great in wealth being the diety of wealth.One who has knowledge is powerful and one who has wealth is also powerful . But she has both so she is extremely powerful. Vadirajaru is clearly indicating to people not to assume Lakshmi as someone who is just newly manifested and therefore ignorant of everything. The fact that MahalakShmi is powerful and knowledgable enhances her ability to distinguish the abilities of each diety present there and establish the supremacy of the Lord. In general in the world if someone powerful says something then everyone will beleive that person, not so if some unknown person says. The person who says, plays an important role in

the acceptance of the content said. So here bAle means one who is just manifested only. No other negative attributes of bAle(ignorance,necessity to search for a groom etc) should be imposed on mother Lakshmi , so immediately Vadirajaru address Her as MahalakShmi.He then goes on to say 'That Devi manifested in the ocean as part of the leela of the Lord." She is the Lord's eternal companion in all His leelas inlcuding sriSTi, sthiti, pralaya." Here that Devi refers to the devi who is both a bAle as well as a mahAn. The Devi word is apt to show that she is worshippable by all . Here the all excludes Sriman Narayana .In this padya Vadirajaru is saying 'pAlisali' and in the previous it is 'rakshisali'In the first part the entreatment is addressed to "pakshivAhana" - the Lord whose vehicle is itself swift, strong and agile. There are necessary qualities in anyone/anything who wants to be the mode of transport to one who offers protection. The Lord who sits and controls such a one must have infinitely more such powers as He is the source of any kind of power and none of the devas get an inkling of His infinite power. He Himself declares this in the BG.10.2na me viduhu suragaNAH prabhavam na maharshyayaHaham Adirhi devAnAm maharshInAM cha sarvashaH ||Here the word prabhavam denotes supremely divine appearance denoting the splendourous

glory of Lord Krishna as the source of all creation and the origin of all beings. So it is self evident that all others came into existence only after He initiated creation and hence they could never know infinite nature of the Lord's attributes.So it becomes clear that the Lord who is extrememly capacble of protection is being entreated rightfully by Sri Vadirajaru to protect the bride and groom.It would also be relavant to note that the Lord is like the father to one who accepts Him and seeks His shelter and hence He will automatically protect His devotees just as the father protects his children.In the BG 11.46 Arjuna tells Krihsna "pitAsi lokasya"- "You are the father of this existence of the animate and

inanimate......"Now taking the word pAlisali which is addressed to Sri MahalakShmi. Palana means to care for the one who is under one's protection. The mother cares for baby intuitively without any prompts . Similarly Vadirajaru is asking for 'palane' from Mahalaskshmi who is the mother. Sri Vadirajaru in his work -Sarasa Bharathi Vilasa explains the glory of MahalakShmi and says "Our mother Lakshmi has neither birth nor deathIs ever free from all bondageAnd never gets confused 3.4Sri Lakshmi is the mother of the present VidhataWas also the mother of Brahma In the past Kalpa and she isEver eternal, knowing nopangs of births and deaths. 3.5Vadirajaru who has true knowledge about the might of the Lord LakshminArAyaNa and SrimahAlakshmi is entreating them rightfully to protect the bride and

groom. to be continued ...... by the grace of the Lord Sri Hari Sri KrishnArpaNamastu I am not the doer, Lord Hari is the doer Whatever He makes me do is His worhsip by His grace R.Parimala

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