Sri Vilakkoli Perumal, Thoopul/ThirutthaNkA dhivya Desam: Nithya AarAdhana Kaimkaryam for VilakkoLi PerumAL and Swamy Desikan : Part XXXVI: Thirty Third SlOkam

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

Today , adiyEn will cover the Thirty third slOkam

of Sri SaraNAgathi DhIpikai , where Swamy Desikan

refers to the dear devotees of SrI DhIpa PrakAsan

who strictly observe the varNAsram Dharmams and

gladden the heart of the Lord of ThirutthaNkA

through aarAdhanams done following the rules

laid out in the Lord's saasthrAs :

 

VarNasramAdhi niyatha krama soothra bhaddhA

BhakthyA yaTArha vinivEsitha pathra pushpA

maalEva kaala-vihithaa hrudhayangama ThvAm

aamOdhayathyanuparAga dhiyAm saparyA

 

--SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai: SlOkam 33

 

Meaning:

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Oh ViLakkoLi PerumALE ! The dearest BhaagavathAs of Yours

reject the phalans from their kaimkaryams , disassociate

themselves from material gains and devote their lives to perform

AarAdhanam for You . During their worships , these virakthAs

do not violate the ancient rules of VarNAsrama dharmams,

which define the duties of VarNAs like Brahmin , KshathriyAs,

VaisyAs and SUdrAs and the Aasramams like Brahmachari ,

Grahasthan , Vaanaprasthan and SanyAsi. They follow

the dirctions of their particular Soothram like Aapasthambham,

BhOdhAyanam et al in the performance of worship to You .

They gather and present ThuLasi and fragrant Flowers according

to their abilities. They perform the PanchakAla prakriyAs

set by the AchAryas in their nithya granthams. Their strict

adherence to the rules set by Your SaasthrAs pleases Your

heart and enchants the minds of others. Their poojAs please

You like the fragrant VanamAlai that adorns Your chest.That

VanamAlai is made up of different wild flowers of exquisite

fragrance and is bound together with the binding threads from

plants. In that garland , there are specific places for the sacred

basil (ThuLasi) and the different flowers held together by

the threads to produce the most asthetic appearance. When it is

adorned by You , this garland acquires additional special fragrance

because You are Sarvagandhan.Just as that fragrant garland

pleases You , the aarAdhanam performed by Your devotees

in the saasthraic manner pleases You immensely.

 

Additional Comments (V.S):

*************************

The worship of the ParamaikAnthis following strictly

the rules of VarNAsrama dharmam is referred to here

( " VarNa-aasramadhi niyatha krama soothra " bhaddhEnA

krutha " SaparyA ThvAm AamOdhayathi " ). That worship

by the devotees without any other desires about seeking

worldly pleasures pleases Your heart ( " anuparAga DhiyA:

SaparyA ThvAm AamOdhayathi) " .That worship by these BhakthAs,

who are solely devoted to You is like a garland strung

together with uniquely positioned fragrant flowers and

ThuLasi leaves enchants Your heart just like the wild

flower garland (Vyjaynthi VanamAlai) adorning Your chest

(YaTArha vinivEsitha Pathra Pushpa MaalA iva ThvAm

aamOdhayathi). Their aarAdhanam is done with pure

Bhakthi and at the prescribed times of the day and

that endears them to You and You become very happy

with them ( BhakthyA kaala vihithA saparyA ThvAM

Tava MaalA iva aamOdhayathi). This aarAdhanam/upacharams

done by these virakthAs (paramaikAnthis) enchants Your

heart ( AnuparAga dhiyAm hrudayangamaa saparyA ThvAm

Tava MaalA iva aamOdhayathi).

 

Using the analogy of the multi-colored and uniquely

fragrant garland adorned by the Lord with pleasure ,

Swamy Desikan points out that the blemishless aaraadhanam

performed by the ones disassociated from worldly pleasures

are accepted with joy by the Lord. Those aarAdhanams (SaparyA)

are endearing to the Lord of ThirutthaNkA because , they have

the following unique features about them:

 

1) VarNAsramAdhi niyatha Krama soothra bhaddam : It is

strung together with the threads defined by the SaasthrAs

of the Lord .

 

2) BhakthyA (krutham SaparyA ): These aarAdhanams are performed

with great Bhakthi .

 

3) Kaala VihithA saparyA : They are conducted at the times

designated by the Nithya granthams and the Lord's Saasthrams.

 

4) HrudayangamA SaparyA : They are enchanting because of

the hrudhaya bhAvam of these paramaikAnthis with no interest

in the fruits of their aarAdhanams . They perform Phala ThyAgam

at the end of the AarAdhanam .

 

The pleasure that the Lord gets from such aarAdhanam by

these MahAthmAs is equal to the pleasure that He enjoys

from the fragrance of the Vana Maalai adorning His chest.

 

In the previous slOkam , Swamy Desikan focussed on

the aarAdhanam done with one of the two VaishNava aagamams

by the fortunate ones ( dhanyA: ThvAm preethya PaancharAthrika-

nayEna , aTa vaa VaikhAnasa PaTA cha samarchayantha: dhinAni

Phalavantha: nayanthi). Here Swamy Desikan referred to

the joy derived by the worshippers of the Lord either

through PaancharAthra or VaikhAnasa Aagamams.The emphasis

was on the performer of the AarAdhanam and His joyous

state of mind . In the 33rd slOkam , Swamy Desikan

shifts his attention to the Lord , who is the recipient of

that properly conducted aarAdhanam and states that such

an aarAdhanam pleases the Lord immensely and He accepts

that aarAdhanam with great joy.

 

SrImath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

SrI Lakshmi Nrusimha ParabrahmaNE Nama:

 

NigamAntha MahA Desikaaya NamO Nama:

SrI Maragathavalli SamEtha SrI DhIpa PrakAsa ParabrahmaNE nama:

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan/SaThakOpan

 

P.S: Please do not forget to support the NithyArAdhana

Kaimkaryam for Swamy Vedantha Desikan at ThUppul and

Sri ViLakkoLi PerumAL at ThUppul/ThirutthaNkA dhivya desam.

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adiyEn's thnaks to the three bhakthAs , who contributed

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