Fw: BAGHAVADGEETHA 18-32TO 18-36---SRI VELUKKUDI KRISHNANS PODHIGAI KANNANIN AARAMUDHU

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HARE RAAMA HARE RAAMA RAAMA RAAMA HARE HARE HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE ENGLISH TRANSLATION courtesy http//www.saranathantg.blogspot.comThursday, September 10, 2009

 

 

 

BG 18.36

 

 

Alwars' lively words dipped in Bhakti are collectively known as Nalayira Divya Prabhandam. Kshetrams mentioned in it, are called Divya Desams and are 108 in number. In them Tirupparkadal or Ksheerabdi is 107th Divya Desam. Earlier we noted that the Fifth ocean is Ksheerabdi. The Lord there, is called Sri Ksheerabdi Natha or Sri Vyuha Vasudeva. Ashtanga Vimanam is here. Sri Kadal Magal Nacchiyar is gracing and in the midst of Amrut

Teertham, the Lord is gracing. Excepting Tiruppan Alwar, all Alwars have praised the Lord here. Poet Pillai Perumal Ayyangar, in his 108 Tiruppati Andhadhi, has described this Kshetram. We will see description of Ksheerabdi in Pancharatra. We will first see at least one pasuram of each Alwar on this Kshetram. There are 147 pasurams on this Kshetram. Before that we will see what is described in 108 Tiruppati Andhadhi. In 'thozhum vayanan..',

the poet says that if one holds on to the feet of the devotees of

Ksheerabdi Natha, one's problems would be solved. Let us now see one pasuram of each Alwar:Poigai Alwar: The Lord is reclining in Ksheerabdi, to protect us.

Boothatalwar: The Lord is in Ksheerabdi as Destroyer [sankarshana] during pralayam, Creator [Pradyumna] after pralayam and Sustainer [Aniruddha].

Peyalwar: The Lord on Ananta [Adisesha] comes to our mind and rescues.Tirumazhisai Alwar: Oh! Adideva [Originator]! He is One in Paramapadam, Three and Four in Ksheerabdi, innumerous as Avatars and as Ksheerabdi Natha in Ksheerabdi and as Divya Mangala Murtys in all Kshetrams.

Nammalwar: Hearing that the luminous Lord is reclining in Ksheerabdi, makes one's mind melt and body stagger.Kulasekara Alwar: The Lord is mad of devotees and so He is at Ksheerabdi.

Periyalwar: Sacrificing Vaikuntam and Ksheerabdi, the Lord found comfort in Alwar's mind.

Sri Andal: The Lord is the seed, in Ksheerabdi [origin of creation].Tondaradipodi Alwar: The waves of Ksheerabdi, sprinkle droplets on the Lotus eyed Lord.

Tirumangai Alwar: The Lord is reclining in Ksheerabdi, where even ships are moving.All these Five days we have seen in detail about Vyuham. With this [if we count Dwaraka also], we have worshiped the Lord in 107 Divya Desams. Then, only Sri Vaikuntam, ultimate destination of all of us, remains. Now, we will see sloka 44 of Chapter 18. In the First line, the Lord tells what the karmas of Vaishyas:

kṛṣigauraká¹£yavÄṇijyaṃ vaiÅ›yakarma svabhÄvajam paricaryÄtmakaṃ karma śūdrasyÄpi svabhÄvajam 18.44

Krsi = farming or cultivation, gauraksya = taking care of cows, vanijyam = commercial activities, vaisya karma = [these] are duties of Vaishya.

They have to own lands and cultivate and supply food grains to the

world. Cows have to be properly maintained and milk and milk products

have to be distributed. Sri Krishna was playing in Brindavan, with

thousands of Gopis and lakhs of cows and calves. If the Lord was asked to choose between being Lord of Nityasuris at Vaikuntam and being Sri Gopala, playing with Gopis and cows, He would prefer the latter! It seems Yasoda used to churn curd daily three times. Swami

Periyavacchan Pillai in his commentary, asks why the wife of the Leader

of Gokulam, should do the churning? Could she not ask her servants to

do that? He then answers that though she could be in such exalted

position, could she forsake her swayam dharma

or own duties? Can a rich man ask his servant to prostrate before God,

on his behalf?! One has to do one's own duty. Even Lord Sri Krishna

never abandoned His duties! That is why in the war He decided to

maintain Arjuna's horses and be a mere driver! We can worship the Lord

as Sri Gopala in Mannargudi or in Therazhundur. Business is also their

duty. Transactions from selling commodities and paying tax to the

rulers, are also their duties. In the next line, the Lord mentions the

duties of Shudras, who are like pillars for the society and thus are very important. The other Three persons of other varnas, perform their duties properly, because of Shudras. Everyone has to perform their duties and reach the Lord.

 

 

 

 

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Wednesday, September 9, 2009

 

 

 

BG 18.35

 

 

The Vyuha Murtys Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, further sub-divide Themselves into Three Murtys each. Thus the Lord appears in 4X3 = 12 Murtys. They are Kesava, etc., Dwadasa Nama Murtys

[Kesava, Narayana, Madhava, Govinda, Vishnu, Madhusudana, Trivikrama,

Vamana, Sridhara, Hrishikesa, Padmanabha and Damodara]. Each of these

12 Murtys have different

colors, weapons, reside in different parts of our body, have different

months, represented by different Adityas, etc. This way the Lord

protects all of us, by dividing Himself into 12 Murtys, from 12 different directions. We will see all these in the table given below. First Vasudeva is sub-divided into Keasava, Narayana and Madhava. Sankarshana is sub-divided into Govinda, Vishnu and Madhsudana. Pradyumna is sub-divided into Trivikrama, Vamana and Sridhara. Finally, Aniruddha is sub-divided into Hrishikesa, Padmanabha and Damodara.

 

MURTY

WEAPON IN ALL FOUR ARMS COLOR

PART OF OUR BODY DIRECTION TAMIL MONTH

REP. BY ADITYA SRI THAYAR

DIVYADESAM OF SRI THAYAR WITH HER NAME THERE KESAVA

DISCUS GOLDEN FOREHEAD

EAST MARGAZHI ANTA

SRI: SRI RANGANAYAKI, SRIRANGAM

NARAYANA CONCH BLUE

CENTRAL STOMACH WEST THAI

BAGA AMRUTOTBHAVA SRI AMRUTAPALAVALLI, SHOLINGUR

MADHAVA MACE

LIGHT BLUE CHEST FROM TOP

MASI TVASHTA KAMALA

SRI KAMALAVALLI WORAYUR GOVINDA

BOW MOONLIGHT CENTRAL NECK

SOUTH PANGUNI VISHNU

CHANDRA SHOBHINI SRI PARIMALA RANGANAYAKI TIRU INDALUR.

VISHNU PLOUGH

YELLOW [POLLEN OF LOTUS] RIGHT STOMACH NORTH

CHITTIRAI BASA VISHNUPATNI

SRI VANJULAVALLI NACCHIARKOIL.

MADUSUDANA PESTLE LOTUS

RIGHT SHOULDER SOUTH EAST

VAIKASI ARYAMA VAISHNAVI

SRI YADUGIRI, MELKOTE. TRIVIKRAMA

SWORD FLAME RIGHT NECK

SOUTH WEST AANI MITRA

VARAROHA SRI VARAMANGAI, VANAMAMALAI.

VAMANA VAJRAM RISING SUN

LEFT STOMACH NORTH WEST AADI

VARUNA HARIVALLABHA SRI ANDAL, SRIVILLIPUTTHUR

SRIDHARA SPEAR

WHITE LOTUS LEFT SHOULDER NORTH EAST

AAVANI INDRA SARNGINI

SRI KOMALAVALLI, KUMBAKONAM HRISHIKESA

HAMMER LIGHTNING LEFT NECK

FROM BOTTOM PURATTASI VIVASWAN

DEVADEVIKA SRI PERUNDEVI, KANCHI.

PADMANABHA ALL THE FIVE WEAPONS SUN

BOTTOM BACK FROM HEART AIPPASI

POOSHA MAHALAKSHMI SRI PADMAVATI, TIRUCCHANUR

DAMODARA ROPE

BUTTERFLY BACK OF NECK FROM INSIDE AND OUTSIDE

KARTHIKAI PARJANYA LOKASUNDARI

SRI SOUNDARAVALLI, NAGAI.

 

 

 

 

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Tuesday, September 8, 2009

 

 

 

BG 18.34

 

 

Among Sri Vaishnava Acharyas, Swami Vatsya Varadacharya, more popularly known as Swami Nadadur Ammal, lived long back. He has composed Paratvati Panchakam stotram. In that he describes Vyuham as below:

Amode bhuvane pramoda uta sam.mode ca sankars.an.am.pradyumnam.ca tath¯aniruddhamapi t¯an sr.s.t.i sthit¯ı c¯apyayam |

kurv¯an.¯an matimukhya s.ad.gun.avaraih.yukt¯am.striyugm¯atmakaih.vy¯uh¯adhis.t.hitav¯asudevamapi tam.ks.¯ır¯abdhin¯atham.bhaje ||

"

bow to Ksheerabdinatha. He has evolved Sankarshana, Pradyumna and

Aniruddha, for creation, sustenance and destruction. Their residences

are amodam, pramodam and sammodam

". Modham means happiness. There are four stages in happiness. First we

grasp the real nature of a matter. This is First stage, perception.

When we attain that, it is second stage. Third stage is enjoying that

matter. Fourth stage is the continuation of this enjoyment. These are

the Four stages of happiness expressed as amodam, pramodam, sammodam and anandam. To indicate these four stages we have to imagine Visaka Yupa Sthambam. This is a tall pillar in Vaikuntam. It has four stages, with different names. We have four stages called Jagrata dasha [awakened], Swapa dasha [dreaming stage], Sushupti dasha [deep sleep] and Turiya dasha [fainted]. In the first dasha, we see everything and this is perception. In the second dasha, outside matter are not visible, but dreams are felt. This is attainment. In the third dasha it is deep sleep, without even dreams. Fourth dasha, turiya means like fainting. All these four indicate the four stages of happiness. We have to imagine this tall pillar.. First we see Jagrata stage, where like four branches, Sankarshana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Vasudeva Murtys are there. Next is, Swapna stage, again with Four Murtys like four branches. Next is, Sushupti stage with Four Murtys. Finally, we see Turiya stage with Four Murtys. Vasudeva Murty in Eastern direction; Sankarshana in South; Pradyumna in Western direction; and, Aniruddha in North. A devotee has to perform upasana or devotion, starting from the lowest, Jagrata stage and raise every stage. This is why, the Lord is gracing in Ksheerabdi, in Vyuha form, dividing Himself into Four Murtys. We will see more about Ksheerabdi in the coming days. Now we will see sloka 43:

Å›auryaṃ tejo dhá¹›tir dÄká¹£yaṃ yuddhe cÄpy apalÄyanamdÄnam Ä«Å›varabhÄvaÅ› ca ká¹£Ätraṃ karma svabhÄvajam 18.43

Ksatram karma = duties of Kshatriya or rulers [are these]. Sauryam = bravery [not perturbed by opponent's army and bravely facing. Person with sauryam is soora], tejo = courage [unconquerable], dhriti = determination [unperturbed at any obstacle and remaining steadfast], daksyam = capability to complete [task undertaken], yuddhe = in battles, apalayanam =

never withdrawing at defeat [even if, to face death]. Thus a ruler has

to protect his kingdom, with his strength. Earlier, the Lord told the

qualifications for Brahmins. Kshatriyas have to have the following characteristics also. Danam

= bountiful or charity. Sri Rama donated so much. We saw while visiting

Sarayu river, an incident in Sri Rama's life, when He gave away cows

and other wealth. When Sri Krishna was born, His father Vasudeva gave

Thousands of cows, covered by costly robes and decorated with golden

horn caps and with Thousand gold coins in gold plates! Donation is a

nature of rulers. Isvarabhava =

commandership or leadership. Manu has prescribed that rulers have to

worshiped like God. Rulers protect weaker sections from mightier

persons. These are all characteristics of Kshatriya.

All these qualities could be seen in Sri Rama. His ancestors were all

great kings and Sri Rama was like the peak among them. He bravely

encountered Rakshasa army, with mere army of monkeys. Valmiki at the start of Srimad Ramayanam epic, asks Narada, 'kascha veeryavan?'

[who is such great brave person?]. He could destroy the opponent army

and make them to run away. He was never perturbed at the appearance of

army of Ravana. When Vibheeshana caught hold of spies of Ravana, saying

that they had come to report to Ravana about the strength and

strategies of Sri Rama, Sri Rama asked Vibheeshana to let them go, as

their report would not cause in any way defeat to Sri Rama. Such was

His determination and courage! He fought relentlessly and every missile

He shot reached the targets as burning rockets. Sri Rama faced all

obstacles bravely and with determination. His opponents like Ravana,

Kumbakarna and Indrajit were very great warriors; yet, Sri Rama was

never perturbed. When He was bound by Nagastra or when Lakshmana was hit or when Maya Sita's head was chopped, Sri Rama remained steadfast. Arjuna also should face battle like that, advises Sri Krishna. Leader or Iswara means Sri Rama only.

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Monday, September 7, 2009

BG 18.33

The Lord in Ksheerabdi, is in Vyuha form. Neither Alwars nor Rishis have described this as a single form. Vyuham means division. The Lord at Vaikuntam has divided Himself, into Four Murtys in Vyuha form. In Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam, in sloka 15, it is said:

'Chaturatma chaturvyuha chaturdamshtra chaturbhuja:....'The Four [chatur] mentioned here pertains to the Four Murtys of Vyuham. The Four Murtys are Vyuha Vasudeva, Sankarshana,Pradyumna and Aniruddha. These are the Four Murtys, the Lord has divided Himself. This is like the Gita sloka we

have been seeing.. The Lord said that He had divided the people of this

world into Four categories according to their character and duties. He

mentions what each category had to cultivate and what are the benefits

of each category to the society. All the Four categories are equal,

just like the Lord has divided Himself into Four Murtys, with each having equal glory and fame. In the following table, Vasudeva is mentioned at the end to understand. He is Vyuha Vasudeva and is in between Para Vasudeva and Vyuha Murtys Shankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. It is like a transition stage and can be compared to the intermediate stage between milk and curd. Para Vasudva is going to divide Himself into Three Murtys and Vyuha Vasudeva is intermediate stage. Para Vasudeva becomes Vyuha Vasudeva and

the gets divided as Shankarhana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.

The weapons held by each of them are different; their characters are

different; their duties are different; their names, their adhishtanams are all different. In Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam, Bheeshma lists the Divine names of Para Vasudeva or Sri Vaikuntanatha, from 1 to 122. Divine names from 123 to 128 indicate various characters of each of the Three Vyuha Murtys,

as in the Table below. In the Divine names from 129, the knowledge

possessed by each of Them is indicated, upto Divine name 146. Thus 24

Divine names indicate Three Vyuha Murtys. Next, each Vyuha Murty guides an entity and it is called Adishtanam. These are indicated in the table.

SHANKARSHANA PRADYUMNA ANIRUDDHA VYUHA VASUDEVA

RESIDENCE IN KSHEERABDI AMODHAM PRAMODHAM SAMMODHAM

ANANDAM COLOR IN VARIOUS YUG KRUTA: RED

TRETA: GREEN DWAPARA: BLACK KALI: WHITE GREEN

BLACK WHITE RED BLACK

WHITE RED GREEN WHITE

RED GREEN BLACK WEAPONS

UPPER RIGHTHAND CONCH: UPPER LEFT HAND:LOTUS LOWER RIGHT HAND:MACE

LOWER LEFT HAND: DISCUS CONCH MACE DISCUS

LOTUS MACE LOTUS DISCUS

CONCH DUTIES DESTRUCTION

CREATION SUSTENANCE ALL THREE CHARACTERS

GYANA & BALA AISWARYAM & VEERTAM SHAKTI & TEJAS

SVS DIVINE NAMES 123. MAHATAPA 124.SARVAGA: 125. SARVAVID 126.BHANU:

127.VISHVAKSENA 128.JANARDHANA: KNOWLEDGE AS IN SVS DIVINE NAMES

GRANTS VEDAS MAINTAINS VEDAS. CREATES TATVA GYANA AND RESTORES VEDAS.

ADISHTANAM JEEVATMAN MANAS

AHANKARAM Thus we can see the variants in the Murtys divided by the Lord Himself. Now we will have to see how our characters and duties are divided, in sloka 42:

Å›amo damas tapaḥ Å›aucaṃ ká¹£Äntir Ärjavam eva cajñÄnaṃ vijñÄnam Ästikyaṃ brahmakarma svabhÄvajam 18.42

Brahmins perform these duties with these characters. Sama = controlling external sense organs, like eyes, ears, etc. Dama = control of mind, tapa = undergoing sufferings [like fasting, in Karmas permitted by Vedas]. This is like observing Ekadasi or performing Tarpanam for deceased ancestors. Saucam = cleaning [of body, to qualify to perform a karma], ksanti = observing patience [even when circumstances provoke], arjavam = honesty [mind should think good and speech and action to follow mind], jnanam = [real] knowledge [about the Lord or Brahmam], vijnanam = special knowledge [about the Lord's all features, powers, capacity, etc.], astikyam = belief [that Lord is Most Supreme, Vedas are basic reference, atman and body are different, atman is servant to Paramatman, He is the controller and commander of Universe, He is good to all, His Divine feet are the only asylum for atman, etc. He believes in each of them as opposed to Nastikyam, saying 'not' for all above], all these are, brahmakarma = those involved in serving Brahmam [or Brahmins' duties], svabhavajam = characteretics.

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Sunday, September 6, 2009

BG 18.32

Esha narayana sriman ksheerarnava niketana: |nagaparyanka udrushya hyakatom maturam purim ||From this sloka in Purana, we understand Three important states of Sriman Narayana. In Sri Vaikuntam, He is gracing, seated. In Ksheerabdi or Milk ocean, He is reclining on Adisesha. The Lord also takes Avatars like Sri Rama and Sri Krishna, in this world. Besides, we have so far worshiped the Lord in 105 Divya Desams. For the next few days, we will listen to the description of the Lord in Ksheerabdi, which is the place where He is reclining. Swami Pillai Lokacharya calls it 'kooppidoo ketkumidam [கூபà¯à®ªà¯€à®Ÿà¯ கேடà¯à®•à¯à®•à¯à®®à®¿à®Ÿà®®à¯]' - place where [the Lord] listens to complaints. That is whenever, Brahma and Devas face problems from Asuras

and others, this is the place they arrive and complain to the Lord to

get relief. Here, the Lord is praised and prayed. The Lord is reclining

on His bed of Adisesha. Sri Sridevi and Sri Bhudevi Nacchiyars, massage His Divine feet. In Pancharatra Agama, the glory of Ksheerabdi

is described in detail. We had seen the routes to reach places like

Srirangam, Badarikshram, Salagramam, etc. What is the route for Ksheerabdi? Many Kings were born in this Earth. Before all of them, lord Brahma created Swayambhu Manu. It is the start of creations by Brahma, described in Vishnu Puranam and other scriptures. Swayambhu Manu

had Two sons, Priyavrata and Utthanapada. Utthanapada's son was Druva,

whose story of obtaining the grace of the Lord, after very hard tapas, is well known. Swayambhu Manu

asked Priyavrata to rule the entire Universe. Priyavrata had Ten sons.

Three of them declined to rule as Kings. To the remaining Seven sons,

Priyavrata desired to partition the Kingdom, for them to rule. He ran

his chariot to carve out one area, surrounded by a large trench. It

became an island. The chariot again made another round and another isle

was formed. Like this seven isles were formed. Wherever his chariot ran

and the wheels made dents, they became oceans. Thus we come across

Seven Dweepams [islands] and Sapta Samudrams [oceans]. Of these the Fifth ocean is Ksheera Sagar. We are all in Jambu Dweepam, which we mention in our sankalpam, before commencing any religious ceremony. Jambu Dweepam is a large island of 100,000 yojana [one yojana

is about 10 miles], diameter. What we see is perhaps Japan in the East

and California in the West! The land between these alone is not Jambu Dweepam, but much more. We will see each Dweepam and surrounding ocean in the following table:

Sl.no ISLAND

DIAMETER [in YOJANAS] SURROUNDING OCEAN LENGTH OF OCEAN [in YOJANAS]

1 JAMBU 100,000 SALT WATER

100.000 2 PLAKSHA 200.000

CANE JUICE 200,000 3.

SHALMALI 400,000 ARRACK 400,000 4

KUSHA 800,000 GHEE 800,000 5

KRAUNCHA 1,600,000 MILK 1,600,000 6

SHAKA 3,200,000 CURD 3,200,000

7 PUSHKARA 6,400,000 PURE WATER

6,400,000 From this we can infer that the pure water ocean is the largest. Sri Andal mentions about Milk ocean in the second pasuram [vaiyatthu வையதà¯à®¤à¯] of Tiruppavai. There the Lord is having Yoga Nidra. All the Alwars, excepting Tiruppanalwar, have mentioned about Ksheerabdi in their pasurams.

We will now proceed to see slokas 40 and 41 of Chapter 18. First, sloka 40:na tad asti pá¹›thivyÄṃ vÄ divi deveá¹£u vÄ punaḥ

sattvaṃ praká¹›tijair muktaṃ yad ebhiḥ syÄt tribhir guṇaiḥ 18.40Sri Krishna has been telling about Satvam, Rajas and Tamas

qualities, their influence, their identities and the result of

possessing those qualities. He has not completed their description. The

essence of today's [7th September 2009] sloka is

that starting from lord Brahma to a tiny germ, everyone is affected by

these qualities.. In other words [excepting the Lord and others in Vaikuntam], none is not influenced by these Three qualities. Everyone is affected by these qualities; but we should strive to reduce Rajo and Tamo qualites. As Satva quality grows, we should try to cross that also. Person, who is beyond these Three qualities, is Mukta atman or the liberated soul. Prithivyam va = among those existing [humans and others] in this Universe, divi devesu va puna = or, also, Devas and others [like Gandharvas, Kinnaras, etc.] in the sky, sattvam = any living being, yad ebhi = all these, tribhir gunai = these Three qualities, prakrtijai = of this prakruti, muktam = liberated, na tad asti =

nothing exists. There is no person either on this Universe or in the

sky above, who are free from the [effect of] the Three qualities, which

have originated from Prakruti. Lord Brahma is in Satya Lok

and he is creating this world and who has a very long life. Is he also

affected by these Three qualities? Yes. Because, the Lord had told,

earlier also, that these Three qualities were originating from Prakruti. We had seen earlier that Prakruti is the basic material for creation. Prakruti is a part of Lord's body. The quality of raw material will be seen in the end product also. Our body is a product of Prakruti. Since these Three qualities are properties of Prakruti, all bodies of all living beings also have those properties.

Lord Brahma and all living beings are all product of Prakruti. Beyond Prakruti is river Viraja and crossing that, one reaches Vaikuntam. Sri Vaikuntam is also known as Aprakrutha mandalam or place not formed from Prakruti. Persons in Vaikuntam are free from all these Three qualities. In the next sloka, the Lord says how each of these qualities is influencing them and their way of life. Sloka 41:

brÄhmaṇaká¹£atriyaviÅ›Äṃ śūdrÄṇÄṃ ca paraṃtapakarmÄṇi pravibhaktÄni svabhÄvaprabhavair guṇaiḥ 18.41

Svabhavaprahavair gunai = the influence of these qualities [over infinite births], pravibhaktani = their actions or duties, way of life, make them as Brahmana, Kshtriya, Vaisya and Shudra.

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