ThiruvahIndhrapuram RathnAngi Series: Part 65/SrI DevanAyaka PanchAsath : SlOkma 16

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

The 16th slOkam of SrI DevanAyaka PanchAsath is

the first of the thirty slOkams saluting the specific

beauty of each limb of the Lord and Aabharanams

found there. The salutations start from the Head of

the Lord and concludes with the toe nails of the great

One presiding over the dhivya desam of ThiruvahIdhrapuram.

The 16th slOkam deals with the radiant Crown found

on the Lord's head (Siras) to announce Him as

the Lord of the Universe (Sarveswaran).

 

The Sixteenth SlOkam of SrI DevanAyaka PanchAsath

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

DevEswarathvam iha darsayithum kshamastE

Naata ThvayAapi sirasA vidhrutha: KireeDa:

yEkikrutha dhyumaNi BhimBha sahasra dheepthi:

nirmoolayan manasi mE niBhiDam tamisram

 

Meaning of the slOkam :

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

Oh Dhaiva NaayakA! The great kings of the world

adorn crowns on their heads to indicate their

role as the kings of their subjects. You adorn

a crown that is matchless in its radiance as

the Emperor of all Emperors and as the Supreme

Lord of all created entities . That crown of Yours

outshines the radiance of thousands of Suns. When adiyEn

witnesses Your supremely radiant Crown , all the dense

darkness in my mind associated with nescience (ajn~Anam)

is destroyed completely (swept away).This glorious

Crown of Yours alone would be sufficent to broadcast

to the world about Your SarvEswarathvam (Supreme Lordship).

 

Additional Comments:

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

The description of the Lord's soundharyam starts

from the Crown on the head. This is called kesAdhi

PaadhAntha VarNanam method. Swamy Desikan adopts that

tradition here . He will descend down from the crown on the head

to the curly black tresses under the crown and then focus

on the beautiful face; next , he will move on to

the description of the forehead, Urdhva PuNDram there,

the lovely ears of the Lord , the ear rings there (KuNDalam) ,

the beautiful brows , the bewitching eyes, the powerful

glances (KaDAkshams), the elegant nose,the charming lips,

the delicate neck , the powerful hands, the Chakrams and

the Sankhu found on those hands, the abhaya hastham

assuring freedom from fear , the broad chest ,the forest

flower garland(VanamAlai) there , the most compassionate

mind , the beautiful waist region , the navel , the waist belt,

the strong thighs, the powerful knees,the well shaped

ankles, the shapely and sacred feet , the delicate

fingers on those feet , the radiant nails on the fingers

of the feet and the sacred dust associated with those

feet . By this time, Swamy Desikan has arrived at

the 45th slOkam and is getting ready to surrender

his aathmA at the holy feet of the Lord. KesAdhi

PaadhAntha VarNanam/vandhanam is a preparatory step

to salute the Lord to whom Swamy Desikan was going

to surrender (Aathma nivEdhanam).

 

The 16th slOkam celebrating the radiant crown

that banishes the darkness of aj~nAnam is reminiscent of

the 18th slOkam of SrI VaradarAja PanchAsath , where

Swamy Desikan refers to the radiance of the Lord's

ThirumEni, which serves as the thousand rayed Sun to

banish aj~nAnam . The only difference between the Lord's

radiance and that of the Sun is that , the Sun can only remove

external darkness and it can only perform this task during

the day. The Sun's radiance is derived from the Lord .

The radiance of the Lord is different in the sense

that (1) it is Svyam JyOthi (2) it removes internal

darkness (nescience)(3) It operates at all times ,

day or night(4) It is unobstructed by any thing

and grows on and on. The Sun's radiance can be blocked

by the clouds .The radiance of the Sun is totally

dimmed in front of the radiance of the Lord's ThirumEni.

It is almost like darkness compard to the Lord's matchless

tEjas as Param JyOthi. The VaradarAja PanchAsath

slOkam reminiscent of the 16th SlOakm of SrI Dhaiva

Naayaka PanchAsath takes this form:

 

mOhAnthakAra vivarthana jaagarookE

dhOshA dhivAapi niravaraha mEgamAnE

Thvath tEjasi Dhviradha saila pathE vimrushTE

slAgyEtha samtamasa parva sahsra bhAnO:

 

That tEjas of the Lord like His radiant crown

is MohAnthakAra Vivarthanam ( banisher of the dark

and dense nescience of humans).

 

Swamy KurEsar , who engaged in the kESAdhi-PaadhAntha

VarNanam of Lord VaradarAja in his SrI VaradarAja

Sthavam has a wonderful slOkam about the supreme

radiance of the Crown of the Lord as SarvEswaran:

 

AadhirAjyam adhikam bhuvanAnAm

Isa! tE pisunayan kila mouLi:

chUlikAmaNi sahasramarIchE:

HasthibhUshaNa! bhavathudhayAdhri:

 

Oh JagadhIsA! Oh the Supreme AabharaNam for

Hasthigiri! Your radiant crown demonstrates

effortlessly Your unquestioned soverignity

over all the Worlds ( " kirIDAthva yOgAth

SarvEsvarathva VyApakam). As DEvarAjan ,

He demonstrates DevEsvarathvam both at Hasthigiri

and ThiruvahIndhrapuram by adorning the supremely

radiant crown , which has no match.

 

In the next slOkam , Swamy Desikan describes

the power of the dark and curly tresses and

forelocks of Lord DevanAthan .

 

SrI DevanAtha Para BrahmaNE nama:

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan

 

P.S: adiyEn invites Your participation in the RathnAngi

Kaimkaryam for SrI DhaivanAyakan of ThiruvahIndhrapuram

with anjali-bhaddha hastham . It is scheduled for poorthi

with His anugraha sankalpam on October 5, 2003

(PurattAsi SravaNam day).We are but little instruments

in His hands.

 

There are just 135 days left before the planned samarpaNam of

the RathnAngi for the Lord. Wont You please join in this

kaimkaryam , support it and recieve the paripoorNa

anugraham of Lord DevanAthan and SrI HemAbhja Valli ThAyAr?