Sri Vilakkoli Perumal, Thoopul/ThirutthaNkA dhivya Desa NithyA AarAdhana Kaimkaryam : SrI saraNAgathi DhIpikai SlOkam 28

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SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

Today , adiyEn will cover the Twenty eighth slOkam

of Sri SaraNAgathi DhIpikai , where Swamy Desikan

describes the JOy of the Lord in welcoming the MahAns,

who have performed Prapatthi at His feet with

unshakable faith in the fruition of that Prapatthi

(UpAya anushtAanam):

 

arTAntharEshu vimukhAn adhikAra haanE:

sraddhA-dhanAn Thvadh anubhUthi viLambha-bhIthAn

DhIpaprakAsa labhasE suchirAth kruthIva

nyasthAthmana: Tava padhE nibruthAn PrapannAn

 

-SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai: SlOkam 28

 

Meaning:

********

 

Oh ViLakkoLi PerumALE! There are many great ones , who are eager

to perform nithya kaimkaryam at Your holy feet at Sri Vaikuntam

after gaining Moksham . They conclude that they do not have

the capabilities to practise Bhakthi yOgam. They are also afraid that

Bhakthi yOgam will take too long to bear fruit . They are realistic

about the many obstacles in completing successfuly Bhakthi yOgam

to gain moksha siddhi. Therefore they stay away from the anushtAnam

of Bhakthi yOgam and opt for the simpler and surer route of Prapatthi

yOgam. They have unshakable faith in the power of prapathti to gurantee

them mOksham and place their aathmA at Your holy feet thru the enactment

of BharanyAsam. After that , they live a care free life since they are

confident that thier prapatthi will surely bear fruit. Oh Lord ! You

have been quite eager to acquire such mahAthmAs . Now that You have

succeeded in acquiring them , You consider Yourself as the most

fortunate One !

 

Additional Comments :

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Swamy Desikan pays tribute to the MahAns , who elect to perform

Prapatthi at the holy feet of the Lord instead of pursuing Bhakthi

yOgam for gaining Moksham. Swamy Desikan points out that these

great and wise ones know that they do not have the wherewithall

to practise Bhakthi yOgam ( adhikAra HaanE:). Such wise ones with

discriminating intellect are therefore not intersted in pursuing

upAyams other than Prapatthi.They look away from all the upAyams

other than Prapatthi ( arTAntharEshu vimukhA:) . They posses

the unique wealth of MahA VisvAsam in Prapatthi as the upAyAm

that will grant them mOksham without fail ( SraddhA dhanA:).

Having that frame of mind , they are afraid to lose any time

through pursuit of upAyAms that take inordinately long time to

gain mOksha sukham and ParipoorNa nithya kaimkaryam to the Lord

at Sri Vaikuntam. Therefore , these PrapannAs hasten to place

their aathmAs at His sacred feet and become tranquil threafter

( Tava padhE nyastha aathmana: nibhruthAn bhavathi). Our Lord has

been patiently waiting for them to complete Prapatthi . He becomes

elated now over gaining them as PrapannAs and considers Himself as

the most fortunate one ( NibruthAn prapannAn suchirAth kruthIva

labhasE).

 

Through the utterance of " nama-ukthi " , the mumukshu ( one who

desires Moksham ) becomes a Prapannan . Our Lord , who is both

the PrApakan and PrApyan ( the means and the goal) lifts up

the prapannan and embraces that prapannan with joy .

The prapannan has now becoem " Brahma Samsthan " and attains

immortality as celebrated by ChAndhOgya Upanishad

(Brahma-samsthOamruthatatvamEthi). Mundaka Upanishad points out

that the Prapannan is like a flying arrow towards the target of

the Lord through the enactment of Prapatthi. Lord is immensely

pleased with the prapannan , who has heeded all the instructions

that He gave through Veda manthrams and Upanishad manthrams

and in Smruthi ( TamEva SaraNam gaccha sarva bhaavEna Bhaaratha,

Sarva DharmAn parithyajya MaamEkam saraNam vraja). Our Lord's

joy knows no bounds . He feels like the happy farmer , who toiled

hard to plant and watch over crops . The grand harvest is now in

and the Lord feels like a MahA BhAgyasaali ( KruthI iva jvalathi).

His vaathsalyam for the Prapannan flows like a dam that has broken

its sluices and drenches the Prapannan with the nectar of

ParipoorNa BrhmAnandham.

 

SrI Maragathavalli SamEtha Sri DhIpa PrakAsa parabrahmaNE Nama:

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAcAri SaThakOpan/Sadagopan