Pomona Sri Ranganatha Temple Fund Raising Kaimkaryam : Special articles on JitanthE StOtram : Part VI

[Guest guest]

Sri:

 

Dear SrI Ranganatha BhakthAs :

 

Today , we will study the 17th SlOkam

of the First Jitante .

 

SlOkam 17

*************

ahankArTakAmEshu preethiradhyaiva nasyathu

ThvAm prapannasya mE dEva vardhathAm SrImathy Thvayi

 

(Meaning) : Oh Lord ! May the ahankAram , MamakAram ,

attachment to wealth and worldly desires perish instantaneously

in me , who has sought Your sacred feet as my sole rakshaNa

vasthu . May bhakthi blended with love for You grow abundantly

in me !

 

Commentary : In the previous slOkam , Sounakar dwelt on

the expiatory rites to nullify the sins accumulaed consciously

or otherwise by a Prapannan . Here , the prayer is to wipe out

those causative factors ( ego , sense of possession , pursuit of

worldly pleasures et al) that result in the accumulation of

the sins . Afraid of the impact of poorva janma VaasanAs

( residual impressions ) that propell one to engage in pursuit of

undesirable karmAs that sets one back , Sounakar prays to

the Lord to overcome all these deleterious temptations

once and for all .VairAgyam can not arise unless the worldly

wants fuelled by ahamkAra-mamakArams are not chased away .

Once the detatchment from worldly desires is attained ,

the intense devotion to our Lord will take root . This welcome

development can happen only with the Krupaa of the Lord

and hence this prayer is addressed to Him .

 

The importance of Prapatthi and the ideal mind set of

a Prapannan are dealt with here . Our Lord is the sole

recourse for crossing over the Prakruthi ( MaamEva

yE prapathyanthE MaayAm yEtham taranthi tE---GitA 7.14) .

 

GeethAchAryan Himself prescribes the recipe for crossing

the delusions caused by the Maayaa of His : " TamEva

SaraNam gaccha sarva bhAvEna BhAratha " and

" Sarva dharmAn Parithyajya MaamEkam SaraNam vraja

aham thvaa sarva pApEbhyO mOkshayishyAmi maa sucha:".

 

VishNu PurANa slOkam (1.9.73) describes the futility in

the gaining of the fruits of Prapatthi until one totally surrenders

at the sacred feet of the Lord , who destroys all the sins

through that observance . Until that SaraNAgathy with

the five angams is completed , all the VaasanAs ( latent

impressions from the KarmAs ) will persist and obstruct

the progress towards Moksha Siddhi. Until that SaraNAgathy

is performed , the sorrows from the loss of wealth (madheeyam) ,

the hankering for riches , the moham for worldly pleasures ,

the anger over inability to gain those lOka sukhams will

blind one's path to spiritual advancement by SaraNAgathy .

It is suggested that SaraNAgathy is the only route for

attaining the highest PurushArTam for all the four kinds

of adhikAris: AarTan , ArTArthi, Kaivalya Nishtan and

Bhagavath PrApthi Kaaman .

NamO SrI Ranganathaya ,

Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan

 

P.S: Dear SrI Ranganatha BhakthAs : We are making

progress in finding living quaters for our Temple staff

( 5 Priests and one Cook) close to the temple premises .

We would like to unite them with their families as soon

as Possible .

 

We need all of Your help to realize this goal . Please go to

our temple web site and send your contributions online :

 

http://www.Ranganatha.org

 

Thank You all for your valued support .