Sri Vilakkoli Perumal, Thoopul/ThirutthaNkA dhivya dEsam: NithyAradhana Kaimkaryam : Part 53 , SlOkam 49

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

Today , adiyEn will cover the Fourty Ninth slOkam

of Sri SaraNAgathi DhIpikai , where Swamy Desikan

reminds the Lord that he deserves to be saved by

Him , since he has performed Prapatthi already:

 

aasthAM prpatthir-iha Desika-saakshikA mE

siddhA tadhukthir-anagA Thvad-avEkshitha-arTA

nyasthasya poorva-nipuNais-Thvayi nanvidhAnIm

poorNE Mukundha punaruktha upAya yEsha:

 

SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai: SlOkam 49

 

Meaning:

********

Oh MukundhA! You are looking at me and asking

why adiyEn is appealing to You to destroy my

sins and thus save me . You are asking me further ,

whether adiyEn has surrenderd totally at Your

Thiruvadi by adopting one of the three methods of

Prapatthi (viz)., Sva-nishtai or Ukthi nishtai or

AchArya nishtai. adiyEn's answer is in the form of

a question to You : Is it n't so that Sva-nishtai is

used as an upAyam (means)by those ,who have learnt

the way of performing it from their AchAryAs correctly

and have the Jn~Anam and Sakthi to complete such

a demanding kind of Prapathti ? Let that be !

 

For those , who are not endowed with such paripoorNa

Jn~Anam and Sakthi , they repeat the Prapatthi vaakyams

that the AchAryA utters . They become fulfilled with

the anushtAnam of this kind of Prapatthi known as

Ukthi nishtai.

 

This Ukthi nishtai shines as blemishless means

to gain mOksham with the guidance of the benovolent

SadAchAryan. Even if adiyEn does not understand

fully the meanings of the manthrams recited by

the AchAryan as the essence of Prapathti , You ,My Lord

certainly understand them and relate to them . Since

adiyEn's poorvAchAryALs have placed me as Your

refuge , adiyEn has chosen AchArya nishtai as

UpAyam .The other two equally effective Prapathti

maargams (Sva-nishtai and Ukthi Nishtai) are

now superflous/redundant to me. Your SaasthrAs

declare that one should perform prapatthi only once.

adiyEn can therefore choose only one of the three

types of Prapatthi.adiyEn has performed AchArya Nishtai.

Therefore You must come to my rescue since adiyEn

has completed my Prapatthi with the grace of my AchAryan.

( Swamy Desikan draws a careful line here between

the three different kinds of Prapatthi without extolling

one as being superior to the other ; He takes pain

to point out that all the three yield the same fruit of

Moksham .He points out that one can do only kind of

prapatthi and therefore other two prapatthis become

superfluous ).

 

Additional Comments

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

In the previous slOkam , Swamy Desikan addressed

the Lord as SaraNAgatha Vathsalan and begged Him

to use His matchless and magnificent sakthi (Power)

to destroy his limitless sins. In this slOkam , he

talks about the three kinds of Prapatthi and that

he has performed one of the three kinds of Prapatthi

prescribed by SaasthrAs and begs the Lord to save him

from samsAric afflictions and grant him Moksham .

He deliberately addresses the Lord here as " Mukundhan "

or the Moksham-granting Lord .

 

SVA-NISHTAI

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

Swamy Desikan starts this slOkam with reference to

Svanishtai : " Iha ( in the matter of destroying my

sins), Desika SaakshikA prapatthi aasthAm ( let

Sva-nishtai realized from SadAchArya UpadEsam be !).

It is not for every one , since it demands complete

and clear Jn~Anam about the relation between angi

(Bhara samarpaNam /Prapatthi) and its five limbs(angaas )

of Prapatthi(Aanukoolya Sankalpam, PrAthikoola

varjanam , MahA visvAsam , KaarpaNyam , gOpthruva

varaNam). All the five angAs should be present in

equal measure for the Prapatthi to be successful.

If anyone of them are missing , then Prappathi

will fail. One perfoms Svanishtai and achieves

the fruits of SaraNAgathi only after gaining clear

grasp of the Angi-angaa relationship and places the

soul at the feet of the Lord.This is known as

SaangAnushtAna Sva-nishtai.

 

UKTHI NISHTAI

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

The second upAyam (means for performing Prapatthi)

is Ukthi nishtai.This is for one , who does not

have the kind of sharp intellect and tapas needed

to perform Sva-nishtai. Ukthi nishtai is blemishless.

It is based on the utterance of the sacred words by

a SadAchAryan and the Mumukshu ( One who desires Moksham)

repeating after his/her SadAchAryan.

 

The Mumukshus , who do not possess special Jn~Anam

about aanukoola sankalpam ( the vow to do only those

acts that please the Lord)place their total faith in

the Lord's power to protect them , when asked for such

protection , perform UKTHI NISHTAI by repeating

the prapatthi manthrams uttered by their AchAryan .

This Nishtai like the other two Nishtais seeks Moksham

at the end of one's life and blemishless kaimkaryam to

SrIman NaarAyaNan , one's AchAryan and the Lord's

BhagavathAs during the remaining days of life on earth.

 

In this slOkam , Swamy Desikan refers to Ukthi Nishtai

this way: " Thvath avEkshitha arTA: anagA tath Ukthi:

SiddhA " ( For some , Ukthi Nishtai encompassing

the blemishless prapatthi manthrams recited by SadAchAryan

and whose meanings are fully familiar to You are the UpAyam/

Means for the realization of the fruits of Prapathti.adiyEn

may not understand the full meanings of these manthrams , but

You do.)

 

ACHAARYA NISHTAI

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

Swamy Desikan says here tha the adopted AchArya Nishtai:

" Thvayi Poorva-nipuNai: nyastha: " . adiyEn has adopted

AchArya Nishtai as a result of my poorvAchAryALs placing

adiyEn at Your sacred feet .That AchAryan of adiyEn , who

blessed me with rahasyArTams has included me in the prapatthi

that he did on my behalf.Svaroopa , Bhara,Phala SamarpaNams

has been done on behalf of adiyEn by my SadAchAryan , Swamy

AppuLLAr.

 

Now that adiyEn has observed AchArya Nishtai , Sva Nishtai and

Ulthi Nishtai become unnecessary . Why? adiyEn can perform

prapatthi only once according to Your saasthrAs.They become

like punarukthi (redundant) now( idhAim yEsha: upAya:

punuruktha nanu?).

 

ACHAARYAA'S AS SAAKSHI

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

AchAryA's anugraham and DayA is present in every one

of these three nishtais. Following slOkams from

KurEsar and ParAsara Bhattar quoted in the AdhikAri-

vibhAgAdhikAram of SrImath Rahasya Thraya Saaram

are pertinent here:

 

paapIyasOapi saraNAgathi sabdhabhAjO

nOpEkshaNam mama TavOchithamIsvarasya

Thvadh Jn~Ana-sakthi-KaruNAsu satheeshu

naiva paapam parAkramithum arhathi mAmakInAm

 

--athimAnusha Sthavam: SlOkam 61

 

(meaning): It is not appropriate for You in Your

role as Isvaran to reject adiyEn, who uttered

the word of SaraNAgathi even if adiyEn is a mighty

sinner.When Your Jn~Anam , Sakthi and KaruNA

guNams are there, my paapams would have no effect.

( This slOkam could be connected to Ukthi Nishtai).

 

saraNa-varaNa Vaagiyam yOdhithA

na bhavathi vatha saa-api dhee-poorvikA

ithi yadhi dayaneeyathA mayyahO Varadha!

Tava BhavEtthatata: prANim

 

(Meaning): Oh Varadha PrabhO! The saraNAgathi

Vaakyams uttered by adiyEn has not arisen from

knowledge-based utterance (buddhi-poorvakam).

Alas ! Please take heed of this deficency

and yet have compassion for me so that adiyEn

will be rescued from SasAram and gain Moksham.

( This slOkam can be connected with Ukthi Nishtai).

 

---SrI VaradharAja Sthavam: SlOkam 84

 

yaTAsi yAvanasi yOasi yadhguNa:

Kareesa! yaadhrugvibhavO yadhingitha:

taTAvidham ThvAhamabhktha-dhurgraham

prapatthee-vaachaiva neerIkshithum vruNE

 

--SrI VaradarAja Sthavam: SlOkam 92

 

(Meaning): adiyEn desires to visualize You,

who has great Vaibhavam and who is out of reach

for those without Bhakthi ;adiyen desires

to visualize You through the utterance of

prapatthi Vaakyams .( This SlOkam may be

connectable to Sva-Nishtai).

 

Tava BharOhamakArishi dhArmikai:

SaraNamithyapi vAchamudairiram

ithi SASAAKSHIKANNIDHAM adhya maam

kuru bharam Tava Ranga-dhurandhara

 

--SrI rangarAja Sthavam: 2-102

 

(Meaning): Oh RanganATA ! adiyEn has been placed

at Your sacred feet for protection by the noble

and righteous AchAryAs of Yours.adiyEn has also

uttered the word " SaraNam " .You must accept

the responsibility for my protection bearing

these two factors as witnesses for this request.

( The reference here could be to either Sva-nishtai

or AchArya Nishtai).

 

Some of the today AchAryAs follow the Ukthi Nishtai.

This is the case with SrI Sannidhi (asmath AchArya

Paramparai of AhObila Matam ). Some others follow

AchArya Nishtai ( Srirangam Andavan and PoundarIkapuram

Andavan Aasrama Yathis) . Sva-nishtai is hardly

followed . One must recognize that anyone of the three

nishtais observed properly will yield exactly the same

Phalan (Moksham ) and should not consider one nishtai

superior to the other. It is all based on the qualifications

of the adhikAri , who seeks Moksham. There are times in

which the Same AchAryan will choose AchArya Nishtai over

Ukthi nishtai due to uniqueness of the circumstances.

AchAryan may be far away and a person may be nearing

the last moments of life. It would be impossible for

the mumukshu to travel to the side of the AchAryan

to utter the Prapatthi Vaakyams recited by the AchAryan.

In such cases , the AchAryan on prayerful request by

relatives performs AchArya Nishtai to enable the soul

to gain Moksha Siddhi. Also in the case of children ,

who may not be able to repeat after the AchAryan

(as in Ukthi nishtai) , the compassionate AchAryan

performs AchArya Nishtai to protect the jeevan

inside the body of that child.

 

This 49th slOkma of SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai

is thus a powerful one containing the essence of

the elaborations of the thoughts found in chapters

7, 8 and 9 of SrImath Rajasya Thraya Saaram .

 

NamO NamO SrI VedAntha DesikAya ,

SrImath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam,

RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan