SrI PaadhukA Sahasra agra maNi mAlA sthOthram: Part I

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SrImathE NigamAntha MahA DesikAya nama:

SrImathE RaamAnujAya Nama:

SrI RanganAyakyai nama:

SrI RanganATa ParabrahmaNE nama:

SrI RanganATa Dhivya maNi PaadhukAbhyAm nama:

 

SrIman VenkatanATArya: kavitArkika kEsarI

VedAnthAchAryavaryO mE sannidhatthAm sadhA hrudhi

 

SrI RanganAtha PaadhukA Sahasram has 32 Paddhathis or

chapters. At the beginning of each of the Paddhathis ,

Swamy composed a slOkam in the simple but beautiful

anushtup metre to set the tone for the individual paddhathis.

These 32 slOkams are strung together in a garalnd recognized as

SrI PaadhukA-Sahasra Agra MaNi Maala . The recitation of these

32 slOkams with dhyAnam of Swamy NammAzhwAr , the Paadhukai of

Lord RanganAthA will confer sakala soubhAgyams to the reciter.

 

adiyEn will give the title of the Paddhathi and provide

the short meanings for the slOkams on this sacred Nrusimha

Jayanthi day of SvabhAnu Chitthirai month. Please refer to

the ongoing series of postings in the Oppiliappan List

for additional details on these slOkams .The translations follow

mostly the VyAkyAnam of SrI U.Ve. Vaikunta Vaasi UtthamUr Swamy .

 

1. PrasthAva Paddhathi

 

Santha: SrIranga-PruTveesa CharanathrANa sEkharA:

Jayanthi Bhuvana-thrANa padhapankaja-rENava:

 

The dust from the feet of those great ones who carry

with joy the Paadhukais of Lord RanganAtha as

the decoration for their heads protects all

the worlds and their beings. These fortunate ones

are superior to all the others.The inner meaning is

that such bhAgyasAlis , who celebrate NammAzhwAr

(SatAri Soori) not only attain a superior status(gathi)

but bless all the others with supreme goals (Parama

PurushArtham).

 

2. SamAkhyA Paddhathi

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

VandhE VishNu-padhAsaktham tamrishim tAmm cha PaadhukAm

yaTArTA SaThajith-samj~nA macchittha vijayAdhyayO:

 

adiyEn salutes both the sage whose mind was deeply

attached to the Lord's feet and the Paadukais

that are firmly associated with the Lord's ThiruvadikaL.

Both bear the name of SaThAri . They are appropriately

called SaThAri, the conqueror of SaTha Vaayu

(Swamy NammAazhwAr) and the Paadhukai of the Lord ,

the conqueror of a SaThan (dushtan with Aasuric tendencies)

like me.

 

3. PrabhAva Paddhathi

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

 

VandhE Tadh-RanganATasya mAnyam paadhukAyOryugam

unnathAnAmavanathi: nathAnAm yathra chOnnathi:

 

adiyEn bows before the twin Paadhukais (of the Lord

of SrIrangam) which transforms the tall( haughty one)

to become small (humble)and the humble become tall ( glorious).

Swamy Desikan means that those who stand tall with their

display of ego are reduced in rank and are humbled by

the powerful Paadhukais. Similarly, those humble ones

worshipping the Padhukais with fervour are elevated to

a higher status and become beneficiaries of the Lord " s

paramAnugraham. Even SrI RanganAtha Himself becomes taller,

when He adorns the Padhukais and becomes shorter, when He

steps down from them.

 

4. SamarpaNa Paddhathi

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

 

BhajAma: PaadhukE yAbhyAm BharathasyAkrajastadhA

prAya: prathi-prayANAya prAsTAnikamakalpayath

 

We meditate on the Lord's Paadhukais.At the time of

His journey to the forest to fulfill the vow made to

His father, Raama seems to have observed ParasthAnam

through sending of His Paadhukais to AyOdhyA with Bharathan

in anticipation of His return there some fourteen years later.

(The practise of parasthAnam is observed by a person,

who can not start his journey on an auspicious time.

He sends one or more of his property ahead of time

at a subha muhUrtham to assure safe journey later).

 

5. PrathiprasTAna Paddhathi

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

 

prasasthE Raama-paadhAbhyAm paadhukE paryupAsmahE

aanrusamsyam yayOrAseeth aasrithEshvanavagraham

 

We meditate on the Lord's Paadhukais , whose protection of

those seeking their refuge is absolute and unquestioned.

They are unfailing in their power to bless their devotees.

In this regard, they are slightly superior to the Lord's

sacred feet themselves . This is evident from the fact that

BharathA got the anugraham of RaamA's feet only after

fourteen years , while His PaadhukAs offered their

protection unceasingly.

 

6. AdhikAra Parigraha Paddhathi

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

 

adhIshDE PaadhukA saa mE YasyA: SaakEtha-vaasibhi:

anvaya-vyathirEkhAbhyAm anvameeyatha vaibhavam

 

Swamy Desikan is celebrated as KavithArkika Simham

or the lion among poets and logicians. In this verse,

he uses the logic known as anvayam ( natural orders of

words in a sentence) and vyathirEkam ( dissimilarity)

to establish the greatness of the Paadhukais. Swamy Desikan

states that the very same paadhukAs , whose glory was inferred

by the citizens as both anvayam and VyathirEkam are also

his supreme goddess. When the Paadukais were in AyOdhya

(before Vana Vaasam), the city had mahOthsavam(anvayam).

When it left for the forest with the Lord , the sorrow

at AyOdhya was unberable (vyathirEkam).When Lord completed

His vana Vaasam and reentered AyOdhyA , then the spirit of

MahOthsavam (anvyam) returned to AyOdhyA.

 

7. AbhishEka Paddhathi

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

pAhi na: PaadhukE YasyA: vidhArayannabhishEchanam

abhishEchanikam bhANDam chakrE Raama: pradakshiNam

 

Oh PaadhukE! Raama did not want to have coronation bath

for Himself , but He wanted You to have that auspicious

bath. Therefore , He made a prathakshiNam of all the material

assembled for His coronation bath on Your behalf . Oh PaadhukE!

May Thou who is held in the highest esteem by Your Lord

protect us !

 

8. NiryAtanA Paddhathi

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

 

abhishOthsavath Tasmath YasyA niyAtanOthsavath

athyarichyatha ThAmm vandhE BhavyAm Bharatha DevathAm

 

adiyEn bows before the Paadhukais --the object of worship

of Bharatha-- whose reunion with the Lord's feet was even

more worthy of celebration than its coronation festival.

Here, Swamy Desikan begins to celebrate the union of

the Paadhukais with the Lord's holy feet as a great

festival. He hints that the Paadhukais were longing for

such a union to resume its traditional role of transporting

the Lord.

 

9. VaithALika Paddhathi

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

NamsthE PaadhukE! pumsAm samsArArNava-sEthavE

yadhArOhasya vEdAnthA: vandhi-VaithALikA: svayam

 

Oh PaadhukE! You are the bridge to cross the Ocean of

SamsAra (worldly ills).adiyEn's salutation are to You

for serving as such and helping the suffering populace.

The Upanishads themselves assume the form of court singers /

eulogists to announce the different times and divisions of

the day and night for Your Lord to adorn You for

the performance of His duties. They serve as reminders of

the time and occasion for RanganAtha to travel on You

to protect His devotees and punish their enemies.

 

10. SrungAra Paddhathi

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

 

SourE: srungAra-chEshtAnAm prasoothim PaadhukAm bhajE

yAmEsha brungthE suddhAnthAth poorvam pascchAdhapi Prabhu:

 

We meditate on the PaadhukA Devi , whom RanganAtha

enjoys through union before and after His visits to

the inner chambers of His consorts. The same PaadhukA Devi

is the root cause of His erotic plays with His consorts.

( Swamy Desikan suggests that RanganAtha as the Master

takes the role of DakshiNan, anukoolan et al to enjoy

PaadhukA Devi, while She takes on the role of vallabhA ,

VaasakA , SajjikA et al).In erotic play (SrungAram) ,

the Master and the Mistress take on different roles

to enhance the enjoyment of their union. Swamy Desikan

states here that the inspiration for the Lord's various

erotic plays with His consorts originate from His playful

involvement with PaadhukA Devi.

 

11. SanchAra Paddhathi

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

agratasthE gamishyAmi mrudhnanthI kusa-kaNDakAn

ithi SeethApi yadhvrutthim iyEsha praNamAmi ThAmm

 

Oh PaadhukE! In Your kaimkaryam for the Lord , You step on

sharp grass and thorns and thereby protect the Lord's soft

feet from them. It appears as though You say that You will

go ahead and remove the obstacles that confront the Lord's feet

during His travels in the forest. You step on the thorns and

crush the sharp blades of grass to protect Your Lord's tender feet.

Oh PaadhukE! I bow before You , whose occupation of protecting

the Lord's feet was desired by SitA Devi Herself .

 

12. Pushpa Paddhathi

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

SourE: sanchAra-kAlEshu pushpavrushtirdhivaschyuthA

paryavasyathi yathraiva prapadhyE ThAm padhAvaneem

 

adiyEn seeks the refuge of the holy PaadhukAs of Lord

RanganAtha , which recieve the showers of flowers during

the times of the Lord's travels. (The DevAs and humans

shower flowers on RanganAtha as a mark of their homage

to Him. After touching the upper limbs of the Lord ,

those flowers come to rst at His holy feet , where

the PaadhukAs are situated. It appears therefore that

the showers of flowers were indeed for the PaadhukAs.

The end stage of the worship of BhagavAn has been identified

as the worship of His BhAgavathAsin GitA. Lord welcomes that

final step. PaadhukA archanA resembles the BhAgavatha archanA).

 

13. ParAgaPaddhathi

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

pAnthu va: PadhmanAbhasya PaadhukA-kElipAmsava:

AhalyA dEha nirmANa paryAya paramANava:

 

The Paraga means the pollen of a flower or a speck of

dust.Swamy Desikan composed thirty slOkams to celebrate

the mystery and holiness of the specks of dust associated

with the Lord's Paadhukais.

 

May the specks of dust associated with PadmanAbhA's feet

protect us! They were the ones responsible for reconstructing

AhalyA's body back in to her original form as the wife of Sage

Gautama from its erstwhile status as a lifeless stone.

(She was thus released from the curse of her husband

to be turned in to a stone for her misbehavior and

that transformation was realized through the power of

the dust from the Lord's PaadhukAs).

 

14. Naadha paddhathi

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

SrutheenAm BhUshaNAnAm tE SankE RangEndra PaadhukE

miTa: sangarsha-sanjAtham raja: kimpi sinjitham

 

(Swamy Desikan composed one hundred verses to celebrate

the uniqueness of the holy Naadham generated by

the PaadhukAs during the Lord's sanchAram).

 

In this slOkam Swamy Desikan says: " Oh RanganAtha

PaadhukE! When I hear Your melodious sounds, I conclude

that it is generated by the vigorous rubbing together

of the VedAs , which serve as Your jewelery. During their

efforts to compete with each other to praise You , they

seem to generate the notes that form the melody associated

with Your movement.(Lord RanganAthA's PaadhukAs have many

gems and jewels as decorative objects . Swamy Desikan

equates them to the branches of the four VrdAs).

 

15. RathnasAmAnya Paddhathi

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

udharchishastE RangEndra-padhAvani! bahirmaNIn

antharmaNiravam sruthvA manyE rOmAnchithAkrutheen

 

(In this paddhathi consisting of 50 sLOkams, Swamy Desikan

dwells on the Vaibhavam of the many multi-hued gems that

decorate the external surfaces of the Paadhukais. In this

Paddhathi, Sawmy Desikan did not elaborate on the color

of the gems on PaadhukAs but focussed only on their brillance).

 

Here , Swamy Desikan says: " Oh RanganAtha PaadhukE!

The gems adorning Your exterior hear the sweet music

inside your body and attain a state of horripilation .

It appears as though the hair of the exterior gems

stand on their ends due to amazement.

 

16. Bahurathna Paddhathi

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

mukha BaahUrupAdhEbhyO varNAn srushtavatha: prabhO:

prapadhyE PaadhukAm rathnai: vyaktha-varna vyavasTithim

 

(In this paddhathi containing 50 slOkams , Swamy Desikan

describes the many colorful gems that adorn the Paadhukais of

the Lord of SrIrangam).

 

Oh PaadhukE! As celebrated in the Purusha SookthA , Your Lord's

face ,hands , thighs and feet created the four categories of

people. adiyEn surrenders at Your feet, which reflect the lustre

of the gem-like limbs of the Lord on the different portions of

Your body.

 

 

(To Be continued)

 

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

P.S: SrI RanganAtha PaadhukA Sahasram Home Pages:

http://Swamydesika.tripod.com/Padhuka/index1.html#top