Sri GuNa Rathna KOsam : part VII: Second Slokam (continued)

[Guest guest]

SrimathE RaamAnujAya nama:

 

Dear BhakthAs :

 

On the eve of DheepAvaLi , it is only appropriate to

dwell deep on the glories of Sri MahA Lakshmi , who is

blessing us as the ArchA Moorthy , Sri Ranga NaacchiyAr ,

at SriRangam. May She confer all of Her choicest blessings on

the members of our devout groups on this DipAvaLi day

and the rest of the Year !

 

The Mahimai of Sri RanganAyaki

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

 

MahA Lakshmi Tattvam is gigantic in scope

to comprehend by people of limited intellect

like us .AdiyEn will summarize the thoughts

on Her tattvam from asmath AchAryan's KaalakshEpam

granthams.

 

There are two pramANams that would help us

understand Her glories quickly and clearly :

 

1.She is " Thrividha chEthanarkkum SWAMINEE "

 

She is the one who is the Lordess of

the three kinds of ChEthanmas ( Bhaddha

Jeevans, Muktha Jeevans and Nithya Jeevans).

All the three Jeevans take orders from Her

and recognize Her as their niyAmikai( commander)

and their Isvaree.She can not therefore be

just another Jeevan.

 

2. Sri Lakshmi Sahasra Naamam recognizes Her

as " Sri VaasudEva Mahishi PumprahdAnEsvarEsvari " .

This word " PumpradhAnEsvarEsavri " has profound

meanings and this compound world breaks up into

four individual words :

 

" Pum+PradhAnam+Isvaran+IsvarI " .

 

Here " Pum " stands for the Jeevans (pumAn );

" PradhAnam " stands for Moola prakruthi.

" Isvaran " denotes the Lord . " IsvarI " stands

for MahA Lakshmi , the empress of Jeevans ,

Prakruthi and Isvaran.

 

As PumpradhAnEsvarEsvari , She is understood thus

as the Sarva NiyAmikai ( PumpradhAnEsvarEsvari or

the Isvari of PumpradhAnEsvaran Himself). She is

understood as " sarva-prakAra-abhimatha-anuroopa-

svaroopa -GuNa " -rathna-Kosam . Swamy ParAsara Bhattar

will be developing these themes in the different

slOkams of Sri GuNa Rathna Kosam .

 

She is understood as the " Tadh sadhrusIm Sriyam "

or as the Empress , who matches Her Lord's divine

attributes in every way .

 

" Tadh " here denotes Isvaran (Sriman NaarAyaNan) , who is

the subject matter of the four chapters of Brahma Soothram

( Samanvayam , AvirOdham , Saadhanam and Phalam ).

She is fully matched with that " Tadh " (Sriman

NaarAyaNan , Her Lord). She has antharbhAvam

(inner presence ) in all of His acts. Infact , he

goes about His leelais like creation to please

and amuse Her . He takes the cues from Her ingithams

(signs) originating from Her eye brows in going about

His duties. They are what is revered together

as " Sookshma mithunam " and Yeka Seshis ,

the divine couple with subtle , matching

attributes as Yeka-Seshi dampathis.

 

In Sri RangarAja Sthavam intended expressly

to celebrate the glories of Lord RanganAthA ,

Swamy ParAsara Bhattar can not help pointing out

the " PumpradhAnEsvarEsvaree " aspect of Sri RanganAyaki:

 

" nama: SriranganAyakyai yadh-bhru-vibhrama bhEdhatha:

IsOsithavya-Vishamya -nimnOnaatham idham Jagath "

---Sri Rangarajasthavam: SlOkam 7

 

(Meaning): " I pay obesiance to that Goddess

Sri RanganAyaki , whose brow-rises and lowerings

in turn , has decisive impact in that they will cause

the higher-ups and the lower-downs respectively ,

(i.e)., the peaks and the troughs in the world;

why , it could even make one the Super-Lord or

a servant , She being the all-deciding force. "

 

Parasara Bhattar is going to dwell on the extraordinary

& Special relationship between the divine couple with

an analogy that links the lustre of a gem with the gem

itself as an inseperable principle in one of the SlOkams of

Sri GuNa Rathna Kosam that we will cover later

( Svatha: SrIsthvam VishNO:---)

 

The various poorvAchAryAs , who have commented on

Sri AlavandhAr's ChathusslOki have also agreed on

this matter:

 

The first slOkam of ChathusslOki celebrates

the parathvam (Supermacy ) obtained by MahA

Lakshmi through Sriman NaarAyaNa sambhandham.

 

The second of the four slOkams pays tribute

to her PurushakArathva PrabhAvam (Intercession with

Her Lord on our behalf).

 

The third slOkam reveals that Mahaa Lakshmi known

for such soulabhyam (ease of access) has antharbhAvam

(inner presence and thus involvement ) in jagath-

KaaraNathvam ( origin /creation of the Universe

and its beings).Here the celebration of Her role

as UpAyam is recorded.

 

In the fourth and the final slOkam of ChathusslOki ,

the Phalan resulting from this UpAya anushtAnam

focusing on Her is prooved .

 

MahA Laksmi is the Saha Dharma ChaariNI of

the Lord .As His Saha Dharma ChAriNI , She has

" Hethu Garbha Viseshanam " ..She has a role

thus in all karmAs , which dampathis do together.

EmperumAn creates the Universe .She is with Him then

and is involved as Saha Dharma ChAriNi even

there .They receive the havis of Jeevan together ,

when Prapathti is performed .They thus serve together

as the AathmA for all the Universe and its beings.

 

This is a view that has come to us from Sage ParAsarA

(the author of Sri VishNu PurANam ) , Swamy AlavandhAr,

EmperumAnAr , EmpAr and all the way down to Swamy

ParAsara Bhattar.

 

In the 22nd slOkam of Sri GuNa Rathna KOsam ,

Swamy ParAsara Bhattar acknowledges the Yeka Seshithvam

aspect of the dhivya Dampathis :

 

" hElAyam akhilam charAcharmidham BhOgE VibhUthi: ParA

dhanyAsthE parichAra karmaNi sadha Pasyanthi yE Sooraya:

Sri RangEswara Devi ! Kevala nirvAahya VargE vayam

SeshithvE PumAn ParikarAhyEthE tava spAraNE "

 

(Meaning): Oh Sri RanganAyaki! All the sentients and

the insentients of this Universe are meant for Your play.

The nithya VibhUthi of Sri Vaikuntam is for Your

BhOgam (enjoyemnt) as well . The fortunate Nithya Sooris

are for serving You. Here in Your LeelA VibhUthi ,

We remain as the Ones to be protected by Your Krupai.

Your consort Sri RanganAthan is immensely proud of You ,

while being Your Lord.

 

EmperumAnAr in SaraNAgathi Gadhyam explicitly

states that MahA Lakshmi commands all the parijanams

( nithya sooris)to thier respective assignments.

All of them are Her Sesha BhUthams.

 

Such is the glory of Our ThAyAr , Sri RanganAyaki !

 

adiyEn will take up the commentary on the second slOkam

of Sri GuNa Rathna Kosam , which is known for its Madhura

LakAra prayOgams:

 

ullAsa Pallavitha paalitha SapthalOkI

nirvAha kOrakitha nEma KatAksha LeelAm

Sriranga harmyatala MangaLa dheepa rEkhAm

SrirangarAja MahishIm Sriyam aasrayAma:

 

Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan