Fifth Day of the trip: Following AchArya RaamAnujA's sacred steps : Trips to SriperumbhUdhUr and Kanchipuram, Feb 9 ,2000: Part III

[Guest guest]

Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha ParabrahmaNE Nama:

 

Sri MalOla PaadhulA Sevaka Sri NaarAyaNa

YathIndhra MahA DesikAya Nama:

 

Dear BhakthAs :

 

It is adiyEn's humble opinion that there is no match

to Swamy Desikan in the understanding of

Sri VaradarAja Tattvam . His choice of words to address

the Lord , his appeals to the Lord of Hasthigiri in

his many Sri Sookthis in Tamil and Sanskrit

are marvels depicting the bhAndhavyam ( uRavu)

between Swamy Desikan and His Sarva Seshi .

 

We will illustrate their unique relationship

to serve as a model for us , when we stand before

Lord VaradarAjan and His divine consort .These are

some of the thoughts that flashed across adiyEn's mind

during the sEvai of the KarumANikka PerumAL of Kaanchi.

With two days after adiyEn's own SaraNAgathi at

the sacred feet of asmath AchAryan , it is no wonder

that the Bhara SamarpaNam related passages of

Swamy Desikan's Sri Sookthis were very much

on my mind.Here are a few thoughts :.

 

(1)Sri VairAgya Panchakam

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" Naasthi pithrArjitham kimchith na mayA kimchithArjitham

asthi mE HasthisailAgrE VASTHU PAITHAAMAHAM DHANAM "

 

(meaning ): adiyEn does not hold claim to any wealth

bequeathed to me by my father. adiyEn however has

in my posession the greatest of wealth bequeathed

to me by my great grand father ( BrahmA ).That is

the incomparable and priceless wealth revered as

PeraruLALan , who stands on top of Hasthigiri.

Why then would adiyEn need any vanishing wealth ?

 

This upadEsam of Swamy Desikan kept ringing in my

head as adiyEn stood before the boon-conferring

Lord known for His bewitching smile .

 

(2)Adaikkala Patthu

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Swamy Desikan's performance of SaraNAgathi at

the sacred feet of Lord VaradarAjan through

the ten beautiful paasurams of Desika Prabhandham

made adiyEn stand in awe at the Lord's sannidhi.

 

The very last paasuram , the quintessence of

the Vedic rk ( PraNavO dhanu: --tanmayO bhavEth)

cited below reminded one of the unquestioned

supermacy of the dhivya dampathis and our

ultimate goal in life (viz)., the performance of

our Prapatthi :

 

" ThirumahaLUm Thiruvadivum ThiruvaruLum TeLLaRivum

arumai ilAmayaum uRavum aLappu ariya adi arasum

karumamum aLippum amaippum kalakkam ilA vahai ninRa

aruL Varadhar nilai ilakkil ampena naann amizhinthEnE "

 

(Meaning): PeraruLALap PerumAl never leaves the side

of His PirAtti even for a fraction of a second. He has

the subha tanu and dhivya soundharyam ( physical beauty)

that enchants every one . He has limitless mercy for

those , who seek refuge in Him . He is all knowing .

He is easy of access to those , who worship Him.

He has the chEthanams and achEthanams as His body

(sarIram ).He has no beginning and rules justly over

His universe . He is the creator as well as the destroyer

of every thing in this Universe. These attributes

never ever leave Him. AdiyEn performs Bhara SamarpaNam

(Prapatthi) at the sacred feet of such an illustrious One.

 

(3)NyAsa Dasakam :

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

 

In this moving echo of Adaikkala Patthu in Sanskrit ,

Swamy Desikan showed us the way to perform

SaraNAgathi at the lotus feet of the Lord of Kaanchi.

Swamy declared loud and clear : " Srimann ! abhIshta Varadha !

thvaam asmi SaraNam gatha: " ( Oh Lord never separated

from Your PirAtti ! Oh Boon-giving Lord ! adiyEn

is seeking refuge at Your sacred feet ).

 

AdiyEn is totally committed in servitude

to You ( thvath sEsahthvE sthira dhiya ;

adiyEn considers the sole purpose of my

life is to enjoy Your beauty and limitless

kalyANa guNams ( thvath prApthi yEka prayOjanam ).

 

" maam madhIyam cha --sva kaimkarya upakaraNam

sveekuru " ( Oh VaradhA ! Please accept through

Your sankalpam adiyEn's aathmA , possesions and

every thing as instruments for serving You ).

 

" nithyam niraparAdhEshu kaimkaryEshu niyunkshva maam "

( Please command adiyEn to be engaged always in

blemishless kaimkaryam to You ). " Kshamasva nikhilam

dEva PraNathArthihara PrabhO " ( Oh Lord, who destroys

the sufferings of any one , who prostrates before You !

Please forgive all my trespasses and bless me !).

 

In the last slOkma , Swamy Desikan states that

the KaaruNAmoorthy Varadharaajan executed through His

own sankalpam adiyEn's Bhara SamarpaNam at His holy feet.

As a result , adiyEn is totally free from any

worries and fear about my protection from here on .

 

(4)Aruttha Panchakam

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In this Tamil Prabhandham , Lord VaradarAjan

becomes the object of adoration for Swamy Desikan .

Swamy salutes the pancha GuNams of the Lord of

Hasthigiri as (1) Sathyathvam (2) Jn~Anathvam

(3) Ananthathvam (4) Aanandhathvam and (5) Amalathvam

in the spirit of the Upanishads : " sathyam jn~Anam

anantham BrahmA " .

 

In every one of the ten paasurams , Swamy Desikan

salutes Lord VaradarAjan as the inseperable consort

of PerumdEvi ThAyAr .The examples of such moving

salutations to the dhivya dampathis are :

 

" Kamalai udan arasALum Karigiri mERk Kaavalan "

( The protector of Atthigiri , who rules over

the universe with His divine Consort )..Paasuram 1

 

" ThiruvudanE VaLLal AruLALar yenum vAraNa

veRRpu IrayavanE " ( The Lord with His divine

consort standing on top of Hasthigiri as

the most generous boon giver )...Paasuram 2

 

" --Kamalai udan kaNDu uhanthu ViLayADum

thEn yeduttha sOlaikaL soozh Thiru AtthiUrAnE "

( Oh the auspicious Lord of Hasthi Giri ,who

has the leelA rasaam to enjoy with Your Divine

Consort , the games of the Jeevan enjoying

its karmAs !).. Paasuram 3

 

" ThirumAl Vezhamalai mEyavanE " ( OH Lord of

Atthigiri, who is enchanted by the beauty

of Your divine consort , PerumdEvi !)..Paasuram 5

 

" ThirumAl Thiruvatthi NaharAnE " ( Sriya: Pathi

presiding over Thiru AtthiUr )..Paasuram 6

 

" AmbhuyatthAL AaravamudhE " ( Oh insatiable nectar

of the Lotus Lady , PerumdEvi !)..Paasuram 7

 

" PankayatthAL ahalahilEn yenRu uRayum Atthigiri

aruL muhilE ! " ( Oh the DayA-soaked cloud on top

of Atthigiri , who declares that He is incapable

of being seperated from Your dear consort , PerumdEvi)

... Paasuram 8

 

" ThiruvODu uyar AtthigiriyAnE " ( Oh Lord united with

Your dear consort matching You in every aspect of

Isvaryam and KalyANa guNams and standing tall on

Hasthigiri ! )...Paasuram 9

 

After the series of salutations excelling each other

in their depth of Bhakthi and Bhagavath anubhavam ,

Swamy Desikan summarizes in the tenth paasuram

the blessings resulting from the Prapatthi accepted

by the Dhivya Dampathis of Hasthigiri:

 

The great PeraruLALan ruling over the bliss-filled

Srivaikuuntam with PerumdEvi PirAtti

as the embodiment of Aanandham unites

the Jeevan-- that performed prapatthi at their

feet-- with the nithyAs and MukthAs and blesses

the Jeevan to engage in nithya Kaimkaryam , which

was interrupted until then because of Karma sambhandham .

 

This thrilling message for us all from

Swami Desikan's own anubhavam of Prapatthi

at the SaraNya Dhampathi's sacred feet at

Hasthigiri can not but uplift us and hasten

us to our AchAryan's holy feet .

 

(5)Thirucchinna Maalai

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The glories of Lord VaradarAjA during

His processions is saluted here with

great feeling . The choice words selected

by Swamy Desikan are the most moving ,

when it comes to Bhagavath anubhavam .

Some examples are :

 

" Vyyaham VaazhvitthAr vandhAr " ( the One who

brought life to this earth has arrived ).

 

" vaNmai udan Varam taruvAr vandhAr "

(The One , who showers us with the most

generous boons has arrived ).

 

" VaanERa Vazhi tanthAr vandhAr thaamE "

( The Lord , who showed us the way /

revealed the upAyam to Srivaikuntam through

His Charama slOkam has indeed arrived ).

 

In celebrating the meaning of NaarAyaNa sabdham ,

Swamy Desikan describes the Lord's arrival here

as:

 

" Ulahu udampAit ThAmm UyirAi ninRAr vandhAr "

yellArkkum gati aanAr vandhAr thAmE "

 

(Meaning ): The Lord , who has all the chEthanams and

the achEthanams as His body has arrived ;

the Lord , who is the upAyam and upEyam/Phalan

for all has indeed arrived .

 

The chantham of this prabhandham and the deep meanings

enshrined in every line of these Tamil ashtakams

are without parallel in Bhagavath anubhavam .

 

(6)Panniru Naamam

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In this Tamil Prabhandham , Swamy Desikan

points out that the twelve Naamams (PunDrams)

worn on the body of a Sri VaishNavan are

representations of the sacred feet of

Lord VaradarAjan . The twelve murthys --

Kesavan ,NaarAyaNan , Maadhavan , Govindhan ,

VishNu ,Madhusoodhanan , Thrivikraman , Vaamaan ,

Sridharan HrishIkEsan , PadmanAbhan and

DaamOdharan-- are invoked in specific places

of the upper torso of a Sri VaishNavan daily

and recognized as living there in the form

of PuNDram . This is another beautiful

prabhandham brimming with the affection

of Swami Desikan for Lord VaradarAjan .

 

adiyEn will conclude this series on the visit

to Lord VaradarAjan's temple at Kaanchi with

one more post based on the anubhavam of

the Lord enshrined in Sri VaradarAja PanchAsath .

 

Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan