thiru viNNagarath thEn - part 2 - viNNAppaththEn by Sri S.Rengarajan and additional comments by Sri M.Rangaswamy of the Vedic connotation of the word Madhu: Part I .

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs:

 

Sri Rengarajan(SR) has written beautifully about

the " thEn " /Honey aspects of ThiruviNnagarappan.

We look forward to reading his additional posts

on How ThiruviNnagarappan is enjoyed as the divine

Honey.

 

Sri Murali Rangaswamy(MR) had a follow up on these

postings of SR , which linked the content with

Madhu VidhyA of ChAndhOgya Upanishad ,MahA NaarAyaNa-

Upanishad ,Madhusoodhana Tatthvam .Here are two excerpts

from MR's excellent follow up:

 

>> Aditya (Lord Narayana resident in the Sun's orbit) is the

>>honey of the Gods.

 

>>Madhu is glorified in the Mahanarayana Upanishad Rk " MaDhuvAtA

>>ruthAyathE maDhaksharanthi sinDhava: mAdhvIrNasanthoUshadhi:

>>maDhunakthamuthOshasi maDhuna: pArthivam vraja: maDhudhyOrasthuna:

>>pithA maDhumAnnO vanaspathi: maDhumAnasthu sUrya: mAjIrGhAvO

>>Bhavanthuna: "

 

 

In this posting , adiyEn will focus on the Veda Manthrams

that elaborate on the " Madhu " /ThEn tatthvam of the Supreme

Being . Rg Vedam is the oldest of the Vedhams and in

that Vedham , there are 8 Rks that start with " madhu " .

One of them is the one quoted above by MR , which has been

incorporated in the MahA NaarAyaNOpanishad .adiyEn

will refer to these manthrams , describe their meanings

and link those meanings to the Para Brahmam ( OppilA Appan/

Matchless Lord).

 

Manthram 1:

***********

Towards the end of the first canto of Rg Vedam

(I.90.9) is a Saanthi Manthram that follows the three

Rks ( I.90.6-8). That well-known Saanthi Manthram is:

 

sam nO Mithra: sam varuna: Sam nO BhavathvaryamA

Sam na IndhrO Bruhaspathi: Sam nO VishNurukrama:

Rg. Vedham : I.90.9

 

The simple translation of this saaanthi Manthram is

as Follows: " May the One , dedicated to the Society ,

be gracious to us. may the One, most virtuous ,

be gracious to us. may the Law giver be gracious to us.

May the Supreme head be gracious to us. May the High

Priest be gracious to us. May the Preserver of great

courage be gracious to us. "

 

Vedic SamhithA commentators have pointed out that

the references to Mithra, VaruNA , Aryaman , Indhran,

Brahaspathi , VishNu and Urukrama are all about

the One and the same Supreme Brahman (Sriman

NaarAyaNan) , in sofar as these epithets are

saluting Him as the benoevolent teacher , leader

and instructor .

 

That Supreme One is saluted five times with

the word " Sam " . Vedhic commentators have explained

that this word has the following five representations:

 

(1) SukhakAri/Bliss-giver (2) Saanthiprahda:/

Peace-giver(3)Isvarya Soukhyaprdha:/Wealth giver

(4)AarOgyapradha:/Health-giver (5) VidhyA-vyApthiprahda:/

Enlightenment giver.

 

This Supreme being is the object of Madhu VidhyA

( the Lord resident in the center of Soorya MaNDalam,

the honey of Gods worshipped at each sandhi by Gayathri

Devi).

 

With this background , we can study the three Rks

preceding this Saanthi Manthram:

 

Madhu VaathA ruthAyathE Madhu ksharanthi sindhava:

MaardhvIrna: santhvOshadhee: ( Rg Vedham : I.90.6)

 

(Meaning): With the power of the Lord , " the wind

blows sweetly , the rivers glide on sweetly. The herbs

yield sweetness to us " .

 

Madhu nakthamuthOshasO MadhumatpArTivam raja:

Madhu dhyourasthu na: pithA(Rg Vedham : I.90.7)

 

(Meaning): The Lord is visualized here as

the SarvanthAryAmithvam of the Lord in all

of His creations in a sweet way. The prayer is:

" May the night be sweet, so also the dawn.

May the dust of the earth be full of sweetness.

may the celestial region be sweet to us. "

 

MadhumAn nO vanaspathir madhumAgum asthu Soorya:

MaadhvIrgAvO bhavanthu na:( Rg Vedham: I.90.8)

 

(meaning): Visualization of the Lord in all His

creations in a sweet (Madhu/honey/thEn ) form

is attempted here: " may the Trees be sweet ;

May the Sun be imbued with sweetness. May our

milch-kline be sweet to us " .

 

In Rg Vedham I.13.3, the reference to Madhu

is made with the invocation of the antharyAmi

of Agni as " madhujihvam " :

 

naraasamamiha priyam asmin yaj~nA upa hvayE

MADHUJIHVAM Havishkrutham

 

(Meaning): " I invoke the most adorable Lord ,

the One praised by all people, the Sweet-tongued,

completely dedicated , and the giver of nature's

gifts. "

 

Niruktham defines JihvA (tongue)as arising from

(johuva) , as the One , who calls out again and

again (with seven tongues ). Mundaka Upanishad

describes these seven tongues (of Agni)as KaaLi(Black) ,

KarALi( Terrible), ManOjavA ( thought-swift) ,

SulOhithA (Blood-red) , SudhUmravarNA ( smoke-hued),

Sphulingini (Scattering Sparks) and VisvarUpi (all-

encompassing). This MadhujihvA empowering Agni

is our Lord , the Madhu of Gods, ThiruviNNagrappan

aka AakAsa NagarIsan .

 

We will cover four more Rg Veda Manthrams

containing the Madhu Sabdham in the concluding

posting of this two part series.

 

(To Be continued)

Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan