NavarAthri celebrations at Kaanchipuram : PerumAL-ThAyAr SErthi sEvai for 10 days: Part III (Conclusion)

[Guest guest]

October 14 ,2002

 

SrI:

 

SrI MahA Devi SamEtha Sri VaradarAja ParabrahmaNE nama:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

Today is the MahA Navami day of the NavarAthri Uthsavam

at Kanchipuram.

 

This is the day that the Lord blessed Sarasvathi at

ThiruvehhA , where She stands at the Thiruvdai of

the Lord as a repentant daughter-in-law ; There the Lord

stopped the angry Sarasvathi rushing as the river Vegavathi

by stopping Her from doing any damage to the Yaj~nam

in progress on top of Hasthigiri by Her husband ,

Chathurnukha Brahma .The Lord became a SEthu(dam) and blocked

Sarasvathi's flow . Chathurmukha Brahma completed successfully

the AsvamEdha Yaagam and the Lord appeared as VaradarAjan

from the agni kuntam with PuNyakOti VimAnam and blesses us all

every day .

 

Our Lord also empowered Sarasvathi to be worshipped

as " The Goddess Of Learning " . The seventh slOkam of

SrI HayagrIva sthOthram refers to the blessing of

the Lord for Sarasvathi: " Devi SarOja-aasana dharma pathnI,

---sphuranthi SarvE TAVA SAKTHI-LESAI: " That wife of Brahma

(Sarasvathi) , whose seat is a Lotus flower has gained

a high status as " The Goddess of Learning " due to

the miniscule part of Your power of anugraham

as HyagrIva Varadhan .

 

Another reference to the Lord blessing Sarasvathi

to become appropriate for worship as " The Goddess

of Learning " is found in the second slOkam of

SrI Gopala Vimsathi :

 

" VaachAm nijAngarasikAm prasamIkshamANa:

vakthrAravindha vinivEsitha Paanchajanya:

varNa thrikONa ruchirE vara puNDarIkE

bhaddhAsanE jayathi vallava chakravathI "

 

This slOkam based on Manthra Saasthram refers

to the Lord as HayagrIva-GopAlan sitting in the middle of

an eight petalled lotus flower containing a triangular

shaped yanthram and blessing Sarasvathi Devi seated on His lap.

He places His divine sankham in His mouth at that time

in His lotus-soft lips to remind Her of the Jn~Anam granting

power of Paanchajanyam. Sarasvathi is blessed to play

Her role as " the Goddess of Learning " and She is celebrated

on this MahA navami day. The Lord is undoubtedly the source

behind Her power and that is why in VaishNavA homes ,

this day is considered special for SrI HayagrIva AarAdhanam.

 

On the morning of the ninth day , during the early hours ,

Visva Roopa sEvai takes place for both Lord VaradharAjan

and MahA Devi at the Mirror Room , where they had rested

during the night before.

 

The entrance to the Temple , the hundred pillar maNtapam

as well as the special MaNtapam in front of SrI PerumdEvi

ThAyaar Sannidhi are specially decorated with flags, festoons

and ThOraNams made up of leaves from the Mango tree.

 

Around 10 A.M ,The Lord starts the puraPPAdu from the abhishEka

mantapam near the mirror hall (KaNNAdi arai) with His divine

consort , who is adorning Souri , Jadai Saram , Raakadi , Naaga

aabharaNam etc .She shines as SarvAbharaNa BhUshithai.

Lord VaradarAjan presents Himself to the assembly of devotees

without flowers or many flower garlands as is wont.

Our Lord's PeethAmbharam and His weapons are clearly

visible and their beauty is enjoyed by the assembly of

bhakthAs thristing for such a sEvai of His ThirumEni

with the dhivyAyudhams .The dhivya dampathis adorn only

one slender flower garland strung from of the same flower.

The athi-adhbhutha soundaryam (lAvaNyam ) of the Dhivya Damapthis

sparkles during this EkAntha sEvai. With majestic gait ,

the divine couple go clockwise around their Dhvaja Sthambham

to please VinathA Suthan and arrive at the KiLI ManTapa Vaahana

kidangu mEDu.Next they arrive at the location that is

important to our SampradhAyam: SrI ALavanthAr MuRRam.

Here Periya Mudali (SrI ALavanthAr) cast his first

glances on RaamAnujA studying with YaadhavaprakAsa and

prayed to Lord VaradarAjan to bless RaamAnujA to become

the glorious pravarthakar of SrI VaishNava sampradhAyam.

The PuRappAdu continues via the prAkAram adjascent to

the MadaipaLLI and halts at the ThAyAr Sannidhi. Both Lord

Vardhan and SrI PerumdEvi ThAyAr face the garbhagraham now

and kaRpoora Haaratthi takes place and the curtain is

drawn thereafter to prepare for a rare event associated

with MahA Navami celebrations .

 

There is a beautiful MaNtapam in front of ThAyAr Sannidhi

with powerful pillars and superstructure . The divine couple

are now seated in the center of this Mantapam to enjoy

the rare, once a year alankAra Thirumanjanam in yEkAsanam.

The sanctifying sound of Upanishads, Thirumanjana Kattiyam ,

Purusha Sooktham , SrI Sooktham , PeriyAzhwAr's neerAtta

Paasurams fill the air and mesmerize the assembled bhakthAs.

 

After Thirumanjanam , the dhivya dampathis are adorned

with special aabharaNams , Vasthrams and garlands. They

present their EkAsana sEvai for their children ,

who have come from far and near. Throngs of bhakthAs

enjoy this sErthi sEvai without blinking their eyes.

 

Lord Varadhan has the visEsha alankAram of white

sikkuthAdu as ThiruvabhishEkam .The multicolored flower

garlands spread their fragrance all around. They stay

at this Mantapam for a while and as evening approaches

start for their Kolu at the 100 pillar Mantapam as

in previous days.

 

This 100 pillar Mantapam was built by Adhi VaNN saThakOpa

Jeeyar at the niyamanam of Lord VaradarAjan on the banks of

the PushkaraNi, Anantha Saras.There was no specail maNtapams

until this time for celebrating the Visesha Uthsavams .

There are beautiful sculptures in this Mantapam. The wealthy

sishyan who helped to complete the construction of

this 100 pillar mantapam sculpted the image of

LakshmI Nrusimhan in one of the pillars and in the pillar

opposite carved the image of Adhi VaNN SaThakOpa Jeeyar.

In that mantapam , the founder of SrI Matam , Adhi VaNN

SathakOpa Jeeyar conducted a visEsha Uthsavam and

set the scene for future frequent use of that Mantapam.

 

From ThAyAr Sannadhi VaradarAja PerumAL enjoys Padi yERRam

while His dharma Pathni stands behind to let Her Lord

go ahead of Her . The Paatham thAngis of ThAyar gently sway

and wait so that She can take in the sarvAngha Soundharyam of

Her Lord (AlankAra Priyan) from all angles.Next She joins Him

and both proceed towars the 100 pillar maNtapam via

the abhishEka MaNtapam from which they started the day's

festival earlier.

 

A beautiful Oonjal is set up in the Mantapa muhappu (front).

The divine couple have their seat there and the AarAdhanam

commences with Manthra Pushpam and the subsequent steps.

NaivEdhyam is presented and ghOshti theertha-prasAdha

viniyOgam takes place at the end of the AarAdhanam. Now,

the divine couple climb the steps of the 100 pillar

MaNtapam and arrive at the inner elevated maNtapam (peetam).

There instead of the cloth vidhAnam of previous days ,

one finds a big white umbrella (VeNN koRRa Kudai)

representing the yEka chakrAdhipathyam of the divine couple.

This eka sEshithva yOgam is celebrated by Swamy Desikan

in His SrI Sthuthi slOkam passage:

 

UddhEsyathvam Janani bhajathO ujjithOpAdhigandham

PRATHYAK ROOPE HAVISHI YUVAYO: YEKASESHITHVA YOGAM

 

--First half of SlOkam 6

 

Here Swami Desikan celebrates the dhivya miTunam

(divine couple ) as UpEyam in the Yaj~nam of

samarpaNam of the Jeevan as havis (during Prapatthi).

Swamy Desikan points out that both the Lord and His

divine consort as Yeka ChakrAdhipathis recieve

the Havis of Aathma samarpaNam together.Both of

Them are sEshis and UddEsyars . There are not two

separate Seshis but in their state of inseperable

union , they serve as yEka sEshi and practise

yEka sEshithva yOgam. That is the significance

of that one big white umbrella inside the 100 pillar

maNtapam on the MahA navami day. Elsewhere in

SrI Sthuthi, Swamy Desikan identifies the union

of mind of the dhivya dampathis as :

 

AapannArthi prasamana vidhou Bhaddha dhIkshasya VishNO:

aachakhyus-ThvAm priyasahacharIm EikamadhyOpapannAm

 

Lord Varadhan as PraNatha-arthi-Haran (destroyer of

the sufferings of His bhakthAs) has the dhIkshai

to remove the samsAric sufferings of His devotees.

With unified mind as His SahadharmachArINi . SrI PerumdEvi

Thaayar joins Him with unified mind to fulfill His

Yaj~na dhIkshai. Seated under the single white umbrella

in the 100 pillar maNtapam , they remind us of their

role to bless the world through yEka ChakrAdhipathyam:

 

" AadhirAjyam adhikam bhuvanAnAm pisunayan " .

 

Lord Varadhan is Deva Raajan ( ImayOr talaivan)

and She is His Empress (Chakravartini).

 

After blessing their children during their Kolu (DharbAr),

the divine couple travel back leisurely to the Mirror

Hall to rest together. Next morning , the Lord and

His divine consort return to their individual sannidhis.

BhakthAs look forward to the next year's NavarAthri

Uthsavam in general and the MahA Navami celebrations

in particular.

 

NavarAthri Ninth day , October 14

SrI HayagrIva Pooja /Sarsavathi anugraha day as YathOktha Kaari

 

SrI MahA Devi samEtha Sri HasthigirIsAya namO nama:

 

PrapadhyE niravadhyAnAm nishadhyAm guNa-sampadhAm

SaraNam bhava-bhIthAnAm SaThakOpa MunIsvaram

 

KesavArya KrupA-pAthram dhIsamAdhi-guNArNavam

SrI SaThAri yathIsAnadEsikEndhram aham bhajE

 

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan