ThiruvahIndhrapuram RathnAngi Series: Part 66/SrI DevanAyaka PanchAsath : SlOkma 17

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

The 17th slOkam of SrI DevanAyaka PanchAsath is

the second of the thirty slOkams saluting the specific

beauty of each limb of the Lord and Aabharanams

found there.

 

The Seventeenth SlOkam of SrI DevanAyaka PanchAsath

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Mugdha-smithAmrutha subhEna mukhEndhunA tE

sangamya samsarana samjvara sAnthayE na:

sampadhyathE VibhudhanATa samAdhi yOgyA

sarvaryasou kuDila kunthala kAnthi roopA

 

Meaning of the slOkam :

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

Oh Dhaiva NaayakA! The moonlight shining during

the night has the power to quell the mental afflictions

of the people. Your beautiful face(Thirumukha MaNDalam)

is the cool orbit of the Moon ( Chandra BhimBham). When

You welcome the chEthanams with Your beautiful smile,

that becomes the cool moonshine (nilavu) to enhnace

the beauty of Your moon-like face.The dark and curly

black tresses of Yours remind us of the dark night ,

where the Moon is shining beautifully and spreading

its cool rays. When we meditate on the lustre of Your

beautiful face and the dark hue of Your curly , black

tresses , our joy from that aanandha anubhavam multiplies

many fold. Our scorching samsAric afflictions (Taapams)

and the unbearable fever are quenched by that meditation.

Indescribable indeed is the beauty and the vaibhavam of

Your dark and curly hair !

 

Additional Comments:

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Lord DhaivanAyakan has a beautiful smile on His face

(mugdha smitha Mukham). That nectar-like beauty of

the Lord's smile corresponds to the cool and rejuvenating

Moon ( Mugdha smitha amrutha subhEna tE mukha indhu

sampadhyathE). That Moon (Your smile bearing face)

mingles with the assembly of the curly and dark locks

of Your lustrous hair resembling the dark night

( tE mukha IndhunA kuDila kunthaLa kAnthi roopA

asou sarvarI sangamya ). That union of the nectar of

Your smiling face (Moon) with the dark hued and curly

hair ( dark Night) becomes appropriate for our meditation

(sangamya samAdhi yOgyA sampadhyathE). That combimed meditation

of the Moon of Your face with Your dark locks of Kesam

becomes a fit medicine to banish the terrible fever of

SamsAram( na: samsarana samjvara sAnthayE sampadhyathE).

 

The dark, curly locks and the Face of the Lord a la Kuresar

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In his 31st SlOakm of SrI VaradarAja Sthavam , KurEsar

compares the Lord's radiant face to the Sun and the dark

locks of hair to the moonless night :

 

" gamithA Tava vakthra chithrabhAnO:

parabhAgam nanu kounthalI tamisrA "

 

Here , KurEsar suggests the unlikely presence of

darkness and brightness at one place adds to

each other's separate beauties ( parabhAgam).With this

reference, KurEsar provides the inspiration for Swamy Desikan

to compare the Lord's smile-adorning face to the Moon

instead of the Sun (a la Kuresar).

 

The mingling of that lustre from the Face (Moon) with

the dark tresses ( dark night) does not have the need

for parabhAgam. SrIvathsAngAcchAr Swamy covers the ParabhAgam

aspect , which refers to the union of darkness and Light

at the same time . This is agaDitha gaDanam for the Lord.

Swamy Desikan develops this theme in His sthuthi of

the Lord of Kaanchipuram, whose name is DevarAjan.

 

In SrI VaradarAja PanchAsath , Swamy Desikan develops

the above description of KurEsar and has an extraordinary

poetic vision of the unison of the Crown of the Lord with

the black tresses and His cool Moon-like face :

 

Mukha chandra mouLi dinakara

madhyasTithastava chikura bhArAndhakAra:

agaDitha gaDanA sakthim

sathyam sTApayathi Daasasatya samagrAm

--SrI Achyutha sathakam : 34th slOkam

 

(Meaning): Oh The Lord true to His devotees! Your bright

and beautiful face ( Thirumukha MaNDalam) is like the cool

and comforting (full) Moon.The radiance of Your crown

is reminiscent of the bright Sun. The dark assembly of

hair in between Your Crown and the Thirumukha MaNDalam

is dense and dark like (a moonless) night. It is rare

indeed for some one to experience the bright Sun and

the cool Moon together.The sight of both of them , when

having Your Sevai a testament to Your agaDitha gaDanA

Sakthi( power to unite things and principles , which

can not be experienced together normally).

 

Mukha Chandran (Moon) , Dinakaran(Sun) and andhakAram

( Darkness of the night) are united here by Swamy Desikan.

 

What Swamy Desikan referred to in the 17th slOkam of

SrI DhiavanAyaka PanchAsath as the union of the dark night

( black tresses of the Lord) with the Moon of the Thirumukha

manDalam (Face of the Lord) and the blessings derived from

that union ( destruction of the fever of SamsAram) is taken up

one step further in the 34th slOkam of the Achyutha Sathakam ,

which was composed by Swamy Desikan after SrI DevanAyaka PanchAsath.

Both of them have roots thus in Swamy KurEsar's 31st SlOkam of

SrI VaradarAja Sthavam , which was composed in front of

Lord VaradarAja of Kaanchi at the request of

Bhagavath RaamAnujA .

 

The next slOkam (18th) of Sri DhiavanAyaka PanchAsath is one of

adiyEn's favorite slOkam and it salutes the dhivya soundharyam

of the auspicious face 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 134 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?