Padhuka Sahasram-315

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Sri:

 

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

 

Translation by U.Ve. Dr. V.N. Vedanta Desikan Swamin:

 

315. AsamskArAth dhvijapariShadhA nithyamaBhyasyamAnA

shrEyOhEthu: shirasi jagatha: sThAyinI svEna BhUmnA

rangADhIshE svayamudhayini kshEpthumanDham thamisram

gAyathrIva thrichaturapadhA gaNyasE pAdhukE! thvam

 

Oh Paaduka! Lord Ranganatha is on a procession; He is like the rising

sun. He takes three or four steps before receiving homage at each

house. You are honoured at each asana in Aradhana. Aradhana is done by

those who have received purification, like Upanayana and Pancha

Samskara. They know the value of homgae to You in each stage.

You are potent in conferring rewards. You are at the top of the world

because of Your greatness. You are like Gayatri; it has three or four

parts. It is at the hill top. It refers to Soorya-centre Moorthi. It

also protects chanters (You are Ga-aya-tri too,

by reason of protecting by going and coming)

 

Namo Narayana,

 

SriMuralidhara Dasan

 

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Special Notes by V.Sadagopan (V.S):

 

(1)Here, Swami Desikan describes the travels of the Padhukais

during the day , after referring to His nocturnal travel in

the previous slOkam. In this verse, Sawmi equates Gayathri

Devi to PaadhukA Devi. A comparison between Gaayathri

AarAdhanam and PaadhukA ArAdhanam is made to

demonstrate the overall features that are common to both

kinds of worship. On that basis , Swami concludes that

those , who were busy worshipping the PaadhukAs of

the Lord can console themselves that it is equivalent to

Gayathri worship during the different sandhis (junctions)

of the day such as dawn , noon and dusk. Swami says: " Oh PaadhukE !

You are worshipped by members of three varNAs always for acquiring

auspicousness. They wear You on their heads and sing Your praise .

During those occasions , You shine like the Gayathri

manthram recited at sandhis to destroy ignorance about

the true nature of Your Lord. You take three or four

foot steps and resemble Gayathri's metric form during

the occasions , when Your devotees throng to worship

You " . When the Lord travels around the streets of

Srirangam , the procession has to be stopped at every

three or four feet , similar to the practice with

the Gayathri manthram recitation. The procession is

stopped often to permit the householders to receive

the Lord's Paadhukais on their heads. Gaayathri

manthram

has three or four feet (metric stops ) depending on

whether

it has turIya paadham (fourth padham ) or not. Hence ,

the comparison between the PaadukA's procession and

Gayathri recitation is appropriate according to Swami .

One can receive the PaadhukAs independent of their

age or VarNA , whereas the Gayathri manthram recitation

is restricted to those , who have completed their

sacred

thread wearing ceremony. In this regard , PaadhukA

AarAdhanam can be considered even superior to

Gaayathri AarAdhanam.

 

(2) Srimath Andavan's anubhavam: Oh PaadhukE !

Sri VaishNavAs , who have had pancha samskAram ,

present You to the Lord at the time of their

AarAdhanam. You confer on them all auspiciousness. Because of Your

limitless glories , they adorn You on their heads

with reverence . PrumAL wears You and has His sanchAram

on the streets of Srirangam to remove the sins of the

people. He stops every three or four steps to have them receive You

On the heads of people .

 

(3)The two key thoughts in this slOkam are : " hE

PaadhukE

thvam Sreya: hEthu ; thvam svEna bhUmnA jagatha:

Sirasi sthAyinI ( Oh PaadhukE ! You are the root

cause

of all KshEmams; because of Your mahimai , You are

placed on the utthamAngams (heads ) of people to

chase

away their sins. " hE paadhukE ! thvam GaayathrIva

thri-chathura padhA gaNayasE " ( Like the GayathrI

with its three or four paadhams recited to chase

away

the darkness at dawn , You are counted as the One

with

three or four steps around the streets of Srirangam

to

chase away the sins of people )…V.S