Padhuka Sahasram-395

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Sri:

 

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

 

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

 

395. dhEvi!dhaIthyadhamanAya sathvaram

prasThithasya maNipAdhukE! praBhO:

vishvamangaLavishEShasUchakam

shAkunam Bhavathi thAvakam rutham

 

Oh Manipaaduka Devi! Your musical sound serves as a good omen

foretelling all-round victory to the Lord when He starts on His

speedy mission to quell asuras.

 

Namo Narayana,

 

SriMuralidhara Dasan

 

Special Notes by V.Sadagopan (V.S): Slokam 395

 

(1) Sri UtthamUr Swamy's anubhavam: Oh Devi PaadhukE!

Oh gem-bedecked queen! Lord considers Your naadham as

an auspicious omen , when he starts on His mission to destroy

the asurAs. Your naadham becomes equivalent to the auspicious

omens such as the sound of GarudA and musical instruments

associated with joyous festivals.

 

(2) Srimath Andavan's anubhavam: When the Lord leaves in

hurry to destroy the asurAs , the naadham generated by the Paadhukais

sound like auspicious omens. The inner meaning is that the sound of

AzhwAr's Sri Sookthis enhance the hope of the Lord , when He strives

hard to remove the dhOshams of the jeevans .

 

(3) The naadham of the Paadhukai is described by Swamy Desikan

here as Rutham instead of SvanA: . The hurried rush of the Lord

(sathvaram prasthithasya) on His Paadhukais to destroy asurAs

(asura dhamanam )is conveyed to us here . That rutham is equated to

auspicious omens of a special kind ( Visvamangala visEsha soochakam

saakunam rutham) such as the dhvani of Garudan…(V.S).

[Guest guest]

Sri:

 

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

 

Dear Bhaktas,

 

This post is intended to highlight the commonalities between Garuda

and the Padhukas, which equivalently denote Satari Soori and Swami

NammAzhwar.

 

Veda Swaroopi Garuda is reverentially saluted by Swami Alavandar as

VedAtma VihageshwarO. Swami Desikan blesses us with rare insights

into the following Vedic associations of Garuda. Specifically,

Sthoman is the Sama Vedic passage dealing with Saaman itself. This

Sthoman is the Atma of Garuda. Garuda's head denotes the Trivruth

Saman, while his body denotes the Vamadevya Saman. Garuda's eyes

denote the Gayathri Saman. The wings of Garuda denote the Bruhat

Saman and Radantara Saman respectively. Garuda's name denotes the

Yajur Veda, while his limbs denote the Gayathri Chandas. The

overwhelming Sama Vedam association of Garuda assigns Garuda an

elevated place in the context of his Kaimkaryam to Lord Narayana.

This can be gleaned from Lord Krishna's Bhagavad-Gita

declarations " VedAnAm sAmavEdOsmi " and " VainathEyasya pakshiNAm " .

The Mahanarayana upanishad contains the following Gayathri for

Garuda " Tath PurushAya vidhmahE swarNa pakshAya Dheemahi tannO garuda

prachOdayAth " .

 

The Vedas embody Dharma and where there is Dharma, there there is

victory. Since Garuda is a personification of the Vedas, He is seen

announcing the Lord's victory over His enemies. Thus, the victorious

Lord himself comes to be known as Garudadhwaja. Therefore, the sight

and sound of Garuda are extremely auspicious. This is in keeping with

the Rg Vedam declaration " Bhadram KarNeBhi:... " . Garuda's dhwani

sound is the condensed essence of the Rks from the Samavedam and thus

is the sum total of all Mangalavadyams put together.

 

Swami Desikan establishes in the Padhuka Sahasram that

Swami NammAzhwar and the Padhukas are verily the crown jewels that

adorn the head of the Shruti Shiras, i.e., the upanishads. Also

Swami NammAzhwar's Sri Sookthis contain the essence of the

four Vedas with significant emphasis on the Saama Vedam. It is

important to note that the Azhwar devotes 1102 verses to eloquently

convey the import of Saama Vedam-specifically the Gayathri Saman

through his formal SharaNagati at the Lotus feet of the Lord of Seven

Hills in the famous " Ahala illEn " Pasuram.

 

The uniqueness of Gayathri Saman lies in the fact that it extols the

Lotus Feet of Lord Narayana to the exclusion of all else. Since

Garuda's eyes denote the Gayathri Saman, he is constantly beholding

the Lotus feet of Lord Narayana as seen in the Vishnu sooktam

salutation " Tad VishNO: paramam padagam sadA pashyanthi soorayaha "

 

Just as the arrival of Garuda spells doom for the Asuras, so too the

contact of one's head with the Padhukas (denoting Swami NammAzhwar

and Sadhacharyas in his line) ruthlessly destroys all sins caused by

the ten headed asura denoted by the Karma indriyas and jnAna indriyas

and paves the way for Moksha through the margam of SharaNagati.

 

Namo Narayana,

 

SriMuralidhara Dasan