GodhA Sthuthi: Part XIII--SlOkams 19,22,23

[Guest guest]

Namo Narayanaya

 

Dear BhakthAs : In this posting we will cover

the above three slOkams and complete this Kaimkaryam

dedicated to Aadi Pooram with the coverage of

the remaining four SlOkams ( 25, 26,28 and 29).

 

SlOkam 19 :

***********

 

tungairaruthrima gira: svyamutthamAngai:

ym sarvagandha ithi saadharam udhvahanthi

AmOdham anyam adhigacchathi maalikAbhi:

sOapi tvadhIya kuDila aLaka vaasithAbhi:

 

Here Swami Desikan describes how RanganAthan

adorned the SooDikkoduttha Maalais and

gained a wonderful kind of fragrance .

 

(meaning):GodhE ! The apourushEya VedAs declare

reverentially through their siras ( head =Upanishads)

that Your Lord is the possessor of a divine

fragrance that surpasses any thing found in

Prakruthi maNdalam ( sarva Gandhan ). That Lord

adorns the garlands that drew their fragrance from

Your curly , dark hair and enhances His

sarva gandhathvam. He becomes joyous over

the enrichment of His own divine fragrance

through the association with Your SooDikkoduttha

Maalai. How can one therefore describe adequately

the power of the garlands worn by You first and

then presented to Your Lord ?

 

SevA SwamigaL points out that VedAs unlike

Kaavyams and Naatakams created by humans

is akruthrimam. The apourushEya Veda Vaaks are

never untruthful , they do not exaggerate or

suppress truth and perform krithrimams ( devious

and dubious deeds)like Naatakam and Kaavyams.

 

Godhai Herself is the giver of Veda Vaak.

She is a veritable Vedam .Her Siras is

equal to the Upanishads in that context.

The garlands worn on Her siras are therefore

akruthrima GirA:

 

Vedas praise the Lord as " Sarva Gandha:

Sarvarasa: SathyakAma: Sathya Sankalpa: " .

In this slOkam , the enhancement of this

Sarva gandhathvam through association with

Godhai's SooDikkoDuttha Maalai is saluted.

 

SlOkam 22:

 

Swami Desikan states here that the ThirumEni

of Sri RanganAthan gains a rare multi-hued

state similar to the neck of a peacock due to

the proximity of Godhai and Sri Devi.

 

DhUrvAdhaLa prahtimayA tava dEha kaanthyA

gOrOchanA ruchirayaa cha ruchEndhirAyA:

aasIdhanujjitha sikhAvaLa kaNDDa sObham

MaangaLyatham praNamathAm Madhuvairi gAthram

 

(Meaning): Oh GodhE! The darsanam of Your Lord's

SubhAsrayam (ThirumEni) confers on all His adiyArs

sarva mangaLams ( madhuvairi Gaathram praNamathAm

MaangaLyatham).That SubhAsrayam has the bluish hue of

dark rainy clouds. When You stand next to Him, Your

light green hue ( like aruham pul ) reflects on Him.

MahA Lakshmi has HiraNya VarNai (Golden hue).She

is resident on Your Lord's chest (ahalahillEn YenRu).

When His own dark bluish hue has the confluence with

the green hue of Your ThirumEni and the golden hue of

Periya PirAtti's ThirumEni,His ThirumEni achieves

a rare multi-hued effulgence like the beautiful

neck region of the peacock. It is a rare and

unforgettable sight.

 

In the previous slOkam, the exchange of garlands

between RanganAthan and Godhai as dampathis

was described. Godhai is now standing next

to Him and MahA Lakshmi is sitting on His chest.

SevA SwamigaL visualizes the performance of

MangaLa haaratthi for the newly wedded couple,

who had just exchanged garlands. The jyOthi from

that hAratthi falls on the Lord's ThirumEni

and integrates the light green color of Godhai

(dhUrvA daLa prathimai) and the golden yellow color

of MahA Lakshmi ( gOrOchana Prathimai) and

creates an integrated , eyefilling spectacle of

a multihued ThirumEni reminiscent of the neck

of a peacock.

 

SlOkam 23:

 

In the previous slOkam , Swami Deikan described

the presence of Godhai right next to Her Lord .

He pointed out that Sevai would confer limitless

auspicousness on the SaraNAgathAs. He recognized

the transformation in the color of the ThirumEni

of the Lord. Here, Swami Desikan covers the aspect

of Godhai attaining archA nilai.

 

archyam samarchaya niyamai: nigama prasUmai:

Naatham thvayA KamalayA cha samEyivAmsam

Matha: chiram niravisan nijamAdhirAjyam

MaanyA Manu: prabruthayOapi maHIkshithasthE

 

(Meaning): Oh Loka MaathA GodhE ! How did

the great kings like Manu and MaandhAthA

rule their kingdoms with joy for many , many years ?

It was possible because of Your grace. You are

the amsam of BhUmi Devi. RanganAthan stands in

union with You and Sri Devi. These kings worshipped

well RanganAthan with both of His consorts (ubhaya-

NaacchimAr ) with various niyamams and attained

the boon of long life as emperors .

 

SevA SwamigaL's insightful observations are

very enchanting. We will hence follow his

commentary for that reason entirely.

 

First Paadham: archyam samarchaya niyamai:

nigama prasUnai:

 

With the first word of this slOkam, " archyam " ,

Swami Desikan hints at the soulabhyam of

Archai among the five states of the Lord

and ANDAL joining in that archA state .

" archithO dEva: priyathAm mE Janardhana: "

is the saying. Archanam of the Lord with

His devis is the recommended route to

please the Lord.This archanam has to be

samarchanam ( superior and saasthrEic

archanam with true devotion and niyamams ).

That is why Swami Desikan says: " Archyam

samarchaya niyamai: "

 

Next Swami Desikan refers to " Nigama prasoonai:

niyamai: samarchaya " . Nigama prasoonai: means

flowers prescribed by the aagamAs . It could

also be SvarNa pushpams or the eight aathma

guNa pushpams ((ahimsA, indriya nigraham et al).

Such a proper worship of the Lord with His

ubhaya NaacchimAr will confer emperorship

over the land for a very long time.

 

Second Paadham : Naatham thvayA KamalayA

cha samEyivAmsAm

 

Here Swami addresses Godhai with the word

" thvyaa " . He recognizes the Lord as " ThvayA

samEyivAmsAm " ( YOur Lord accompanied by You).

Then Swami includes Sri Devi : " ThvayA KamalayA

cha samEyivAmsAm Naatham " ( Your Lord associated

with You and with Sri Devi as well). Such a Lord

with His two consorts needs to be worshipped

for long soverignity over the kingdom . Swami

Desikan gives prAdhAnyam (significance ) to Godhai

over Sri Devi here , when he refers to the Lord,

who is generally known as Sriya:pathi to indicate

the importance of Periya PirAtti. Swamy Desikan

follows the directions given by Purusha Sooktham here:

" Hreesccha tE LakshmIsccha pathnyou " . Bhumi Piratti

comes first here . Godhai is the amsam of Bhumi Devi

and hence She is given prAdhAnyam over Kamalaa (Lakshmi)

in Swamy Desikan's salutation.

 

Third Paadham: Maatha: chiram niravisan nijam

aadhirAjyam

 

Swami says here that Manu and others enjoyed

long term rulership as Kings by worshipping

GodhA Naathan with niyamam .He hints that

the stability of that long term state of

emperorship is only possible with the grace

of Godhai , who is almost like the DayA devi.

SevA SwamigaL reminds us of the AadhirAjyam

(rulership) mentioned by Swamy Desikan

in dayA sathakam in this context . There Swamy

Desikan says that dayA devi's anugraham

was instrumental in realizing a different

kind of emperorship for long times :

 

anithara SaraNAnAm AadhirAjyE abhishinjEth

samitha vimatha PakshA Saarnga dhanvAnukampA " .

 

In the next slOkam , Swamy Desikan describes

how Godhai intercedes with Her Lord to forgive

the trespasses of their Children and protects

them .

 

Godhai ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam,

Daasan, Oppilaippan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan