Divya nakha pankti

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta

Desika yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

Divya

Nakha Pankthi

 

Every part of EmperumAn’s

thirumEni has its own beauty , being aprAkritA (not

madeup of worldly matter). Azhwars and Acharyas have

vied with one another in describing vividly the

overwhelming soundarya of Sria:pati. The beauty of

each part of His divine form is so captivating that

it does not permit the beholder to take his eyes off

and proceed further to enjoy the other parts of His

divya mangala vigrahA. “ThOL kandAr thOLE kandAr “says

KambanAttazhwAn. In this piece, adiyen would

like to highlight the divya sookthis of Azhwars and

Acharyas, dealing with Emperuman’s divya

nakhAs{nails}.One might wonder as to what could

possibly be said about nails, which are perhaps the

most insignificant part of the body –but please do

read on.

 

We start our journey with Swami

Desikan’s Sri DevanAyaka Panchasat. Referring to the

diamond-like splendour of the nails on Sri

DevanathA’s charanAravindA, Swami Desikan says that

the diya nakha ratna pankthi,( to which the holy

Garuda nadhi owes its origins), by its glittering

waves of light, cleanses the darkest of sins ,which

ensnare us like mud. Further, all the dEvAs pay

obeisance to Sri Devanatha by sAshtAnga pranAmA,and

when their heads touch the lotus feet of Adiyavarkku

Meyyan, the glow of their crowns is enhanced by the

brilliance of His nails.

PankAni asou mama nihanti

mahastarangai:

GangAdhikAm vidadhatee garuda

sravantheem.

NakoukasAm mani kireeta ganai :

upAsyA

Natha tvadeeya padayor nakha

ratna pankti :

Of course, the maximum references to His nails occur

with relation to the NrsimhAvatAram, where the Lord,

to honour the boon obtained by Hiranyakasipu that he

should not be killed by any AyudhAs, used His nails

for slaying the asurA. Sri ParakAlA is so struck by

the nakhAs that in the Periya Thirumozhi patthu on Sri

Ahobilam , he refers time and again to the terrible

nails that Emperuman sported during this instantaneous

avatAram-“avunan Agam vaLLugirAl pozhntha

punithan”,”avunan kolaikkayAlan nejidantha

koorugirAlan”, etc. Again, in the patthu dedicated

to ThirunAngoor Vaikunta Vinnagaram, Sri Kaliyan makes

a similar reference to “Iraniyanai naNNi avan

mArvagalatthu ugir maduttha nAthan”.

 

The most graphic description

of nails occurs in Sri KamAsikAshtakam, where Swami

Desikan says that Sri NrsimhA’s nails assumed a

viswaroopa of their own and, powerful as the

VajrAyudhA, tore open Hiranyakasipu’s chest. The blood

which gushed out made the Lord’s hands appear red as

the twilight skies.

“vikaswara nakha swarukshatha hiranya

vakshastthalee

nirargala vinirgalath rudhira sindhu

sandhyAyitA.

Avantu mada nAsikA manuja pancha

vaktrasya mAm

Aham pratamika mita : prakatita aahavA

bAhava : «

Incidentally, one of the most beautiful slokas on

EmperumAn’s rakshakatvam follows the aforesaid sloka-

“tvayi rakshati rakshakai:imanyai:

twayicha arakshati rakshakai:kimanyai:”

Supplying the rationale for the virtue of

ananyagatitvam, Sri NigamAntha Guru says that if the

Lord decides to save somebody,there is no need to look

to other lesser gods for protection; similarly, once

He makes up his mind not to protect someone, no other

person can save him( refer to the kAkAsura

episode).Hence in both cases, there is no point in

looking to others as saviours.

Another poorvAchArya sookti, Sri

NrsimhAshtakam, also mentions His nails – “thunga

nakha pankti dalitAsura varAsrik

Panka nava kumkuma

vipankila mahOra:

Pandita nidhAna

kamalAlaya namstE

Pankaja nishanna

Narasimha Narasimha

 

And there is of course the famous DasAvatAra stotra

srisookthi

“pratyadishta purAtana praharana grAma:kshanam

pAnijai:

avyAt treeNi jaganti akunta mahimA vaikunta

kanteerava:

yat prAdurbhavanAth avandya jatarA yadricchikat

vedhasAm

yA kAchit sahasA mahAsura griha stooNa pithAmahi

abhooth”

During Sri NrismhAvatAram, the Lord forsook all his

divyAyudhas for his nails-He was supremely confident

that the nails could ably substitute the various

weapons he constantly sports for sAdhu paritrAnam (

pAtu pranata rakshAyAm vilambam asahanniva-sadA

panchAyudhee bibhrat sa na:Sri Ranga nAyaka:).

 

The reddish brilliance of the

nails on Sri TrivikramA’s upraised lotus feet(during

VamanAvataram) casts its glow afar in the heavens,

making it appear as though He has created a

new,well-lit path through the skies for the Mudal

AzhwArs to ascend to Sri VaikuntA.This is portrayed in

the following Sri Dehaleesa Stuti slokA:

“kreedaparENa bhavatA vihitOparodhan

ArAdhakAn anuparOdham

udanchayishyan.

TAmrENa pAda nakharENa tadA

andamadhyE

GhantApadam kamapi noonam

avartayastvam.”

 

But it is the PadukA Sahasram that takes the pride of

place for its copious references to the Lord’s nails.

Just a few for a sample-

In sanchAra paddhati, Swam Desikan points out to the

substitution of nails for ayudhAs in Sri NrsimhAvatAra

and says that similar substitution is not possible in

the case of the PadukA,when Bhagwan leaves on

sanchAram. That is to say, while even the divyAudhAs

can be dispensed with, the PadukA is indispensable.

“pAdAvani kvachana vikramaNE bhujAnAm

panchAyudhee kararuhai : bhajatE

vikalpam.

Nityam tvamEva niyatA padayOr MurArE :

TEnAsi noonam avikalpa samAdhi yOgyA”

Similarly in Bahuratna padhati, while enjoying the

beauty of Sri RanganAtha at AstAnam after sanchAram,

Tooppul Pillai describes the admixture of brilliance

from the various ratnAs adorning the pAdukA, with the

natural brilliance of the nails in NamperumAl’s

hastham-

“janayasi padAvani tvam muktAsoNa mani

sakraneela ruchA.

Nakha ruchi santati ruchirAm nandaka

nistrimsa sampadam sourE:”

The pleasingly white nails in Sri

RanganAtA’s tiruvadi are compared to the Moon and the

pearls adorning the pAdukA, to the stars come to pay

their respects to their pati , ChandrA. This slOka is

from the MuktA paddhati-

Tava ranga chandra tapaneeya pAdukE

VimalA samudvahati mouktikAvali :

CharanAravinda nakha chandramandala

PranayOpayAta nava tAraka ruchim «

The ShAstrarttha that nectar flows from the

nails of EmperumAn’s left tiruvadi and it is this

nectar that is responsible for destroying the endless

sins of the bhaktAs, is highlighted in the following

slokam,again from the MuktA paddhati-

“vaikunta pAda nakha vAsanayEva nityam

pAdAvani prasuvatE tava mouktikAni.

Acchinna tApa samanAya samAsritAnAm

AlOka mandalamishAt amruta pravAham »

There are several other beautiful slOkAs in

the Bimba pratibimba paddhati,indraneela

paddhati,maradaga paddhati,etc, with brilliantly

poetic descriptions of the nails in relation to the

pAdukA,in Kavi Simham’s inimitable style.

With apologies for this inordinately long

posting, dasan, sadagopan.

Srimate Srivan Satakopa Sree lakshminrsimha divya

paduka sevaka

Sri Narayana Yateendra maha esikaya nama:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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