ThiruvahIndhrapuram RathnAngi Kaimkaryam :Part XXII/SrI Raama Navami series for ChithrabhAnu Year: Abhaya PradhAna Saaram :III

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear SrI Raama BhakthAs:

 

There are three most brilliant Sanskrit slOkams and two Tamil

Paasurams at the beginning of Abhaya pradhAna Saaram.Let us

enjoy them first before plunging into the main text .

 

SlOkam 1. About The Supermacy of Lord Raamachandran

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This is the same slOkam that we find at the beginning of

SrI Raghuveera Gadhyam:

 

Jayathi aasritha santhrAsa dhvAntha vidhvamsana udhaya:

PrabhAvAn Seethayaa DhEvyA Parama-vyOma BhAskara:

 

Lord Raamachandran has incarnated as the son of DasaraTA

to destroy the darkness of fear from those , who have

sought His refuge . He is aasritha santhrAsa (fear)

dhvAntha vidhvamsanan( destroyer of the darkness

constituted by fear ). He is like the Sun , which

chases away the physical darkness. Similarly ,Lord

Raamabhadran has incarnated to banish the mental

darkness caused by fear of samsAric afflictions for those,

who have sought His protection .He is the Sun (Bhaaskaran)

shining in the Supreme space ( paramAkAsam ) of SrI Vaikuntam.

Such a Sun shining in SrI Vaikuntam is radiant with

His Svayam JyOthi( Parama vyOma Bhaskara:) and is

victorious (Jayathi) . Just as the lustre (Prabhaa)

never parts with the Sun ,SeethA pirAtti never leaves

the side of Her Lord and makes His glories supremely

radiant ( SeethayA dhEvyA PrabhAvAn Parama VyOma Bhaskara:

Jayathi).

 

Deep aspects of SrI tatthvam is referred to here.

Lord Raamachandran and His Devi enjoy nithya yOgam .

They are never separated from one another (Nithya SrI

and anapAyinee). Their nithya sambhandham is celebrated

here , when She is likened to the PrabhA of the BhAskaran.

Without that grand lustre (PrabhA), the Sun will not

amout to any thing.SrImad RaamAyaNam also refers to

this Tatthvam as : " BhAskarENa PrabhA YathA " , when it

salutes the inseperable relationship between

the dhivya dampathis.Unlike other PrabhAs , the PrabhA

of Sooryan spreads everywhere and illumines everything.

Joined with the PrabhA , the BhAskaran destoys

the long and dark night of SamsAram.One can not say

that Bhaskaran alone (devoid of His prabhA)

drives the darknes (grants mOksham). Thus PirAtti's

UpAyathvam for Moksham is asserted with this analogy.

This is the Parama tAthparyam (deep meaning) of the analogy of

Raamabhadran and SeethA Piratti as the Sun and its PrabhA.

 

SlOkam 2: The significance of the Abhaya Hastham of the Lord

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prAya: prapadhanE pumsAm pouna: punyam nivArayan

hastha: Srirangabharthrur-mAmavyAdhabhayamudritha:

 

(meaning): The right hand of Uthsavar RanganAthar ( Lord

Raamachandran) holds the abhaya mudhrai to assure the PrapannAs

that they do not need to be afraid of any thing.When one

reflects on that abhaya mudhrai, it appears as though

the Lord is saying : " Oh prapannAs ! Stop ! It is enough

that you have performed prapatthi once. You should not perform

Prapatthi again " . That abhaya mudrai seems to be a reminder

to the PrapannAs that Prapatthi needs to be performed only

once . Swamy Desikan prays here for the protection by that

abhya hastham of the Lord .

 

SlOkam 3:The glory of the Prapatthi yOgam

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In this third slOkam , Swamy Desikan reminds us of

the vow of the Lord to hasten to protect the Prapannan,

who sought His protection. This prapatthi yOgam is

easy to perform and does not have all the difficult

steps of Bhakthi yOgam to gain mOksham.

 

namastasmai kasmaichana bhavathu nishkinchanajana-

svyam-rakshA-dhIkshaa samadhika-samidhAna-yasasE

surAdhIsasvairakshaNa kupitha-saapAyudhavashU-

dhrashtthAdhurjAtha-prasamana padhAmbhOja rajasE

 

The glory of the SaraNAgatha Rakshakan, Raamachandran

keeps growing forever. His glory is limitless. DevEndran

misbehaved with AhalyA , the wife of Sage Gouthamaa.

The Sage got angry at Indhran and his wife and cursed

them both. Ahalyai got transformed into a stone and

lay by the wayside. The speck of dust from Lord RaamA's

Thiruvadi fell on AhalyA , who had ben transformed into

a stone .The redeeming power of even the dust speck from

the Lord's feet restored Ahalya back to her human form

and united her with her husband. adiyEn offers my

praNAmams to that matchless Raamachandran.

 

Paasuram 1: Lord is the UpAyam for Moksham

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sOham tavirkkum suruthi poruL onRu solluhinROm

nAkam tanakkum irAkkatharkkum namakkum saraNam

aakaNDalan mahanAhiya aavalippERiyathOr

kaaham pizhaitthida kaNNazhivE seytha KaakutthanE

 

(meaning): Lord Kaakusthan (Raamachandran) , who

spared the life of the egotistic son of Indhran

( appearing in the form of the crow) after

he performed SaraNAgathy and limited His anger with

the destruction of just one eye inspite of the extraordinary

offense that he committed against His Devi. He is

the Lord , who is the means(UpAyam) for protection of

the DevAs, RaakshasAs and us. This is the deep meaning of

the VedAs and His glory as the SaraNAgatha Rakshakan

removes firmly all of our sorrows and fears.

 

The prANa PradhAnam ( sparing the life) to the offending

KaakAsuran is an importnat event celebrated in SrImad

RaamAyaNam .The KaakAsuran chased by RaamA's BrahmAsthram

(empowered in a blade of grass ) could not find anyone to

save him . Finally , that crow fell at the feet of

the Lord after traversing all the three worlds looking

for some one to save him ( ThrIn-lOkAn samparikramya

TamEva SaraNam gatha:). Out of His infinite mercy and

the vow of offering protection to any one (even an aparAdhi)

who sought His protection, Raamachandran spared the life of

that Kaakam :

 

sa tamm nipathitham bhUmou SaraNya: saraNAgatham

vadhArhamapi KaakutsTa: krupayA paryapAlayath

--Sundara KaaNDam: 38.34 (Words of HanumAn )

 

Even if the crow deserved to be killed, Lord Raamachandran

spared its life because it had performed SaraNAgathy at His

sacred feet.

 

Paasuram 2: Lord's Abhaya pradhAnam is Veda Saaram

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orukkAlE SaraNAha adaihinRARkkum

Unakkadimai aahinREn yenkiRArkkum

arukkAthE yanaivarkkumanaivarAlum

anjElenRu aruL koduppan , ithuthAnOthum

irukkAlumezhil munivar ninaivinAlum

ivaiaRivArseyaludanennisaivinAlum

nerukkAtha neeLvirathamenakkonRennum

neRi uraitthAr nilai uNarnthu nilai peRROmE

 

(meaning): Lord Raghu Raaman shared His thoughts

before VibhIshaNan at the time of accepting his

SaraNAgathy request : " It is my vow to grant freedom

from fear (abhaya pradhAnam) for any one(janthu) ,

who performs saraNagathy to Me even once and states

that he is My daasan . For that janthu which practised

SaraNAgathy , I will take the full responsibility so that

no harm comes to it.This is My sacred vow based on

the essence of Vedam -Smruthi and SadAchAram " .

 

Swamy Desikan states here that his mind was filled with

peace / joy , when he reflected on this magnanimous statement

by the Lord about His SaraNAgatha RakshaNa vratham(neRi).

 

Next , we will cover the first two chapters of

Abhaya pradhAna Saaram : (1) Prabhandha avathAram

(2)Para Tatthva NirNayam .

 

SrI Raamachandra ParabrahmaNE Nama:

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan