archives of SrI GuNa Ratna Kosam (SGRK): SlOkams 56-58

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

For some reason , the earlier postigns on

the above three slOakms in the series on

SrI GuNa Ratna Kosam never got archived in

the Lists. Hence , I have written a new set of

commentaries . SrIman Krishnaswamy of California,

who is doing yeoman service in archiving this and other

multipart postings ahs added them now to the other

postings( SlOkam 1-55). The remaing three slOakms

(59, 60 and 61) will be added soon and the site will

be complete. I thank SrIman Krishnaswamy for his

great help. The URL is:

 

http://home.comcast.net/~ayyamkk/GunaRatnaKosam

 

This SrI Sookthi of Swamy ParAsara Bhattar deals

with the unique role of SrI Devi in our SrI SampradhAyam.

 

May SrI RanganAyaki ThAyAr bless us all !

 

Daasan, V.Sadagopan

 

SlOkam 56:

 

dhugdhArNavam Janana bhuvana preethyA BahumanyasE

Janani dayitha prEmNA pushNAsi tathparamam padham

udhathi parama vyOmnOr-vismruthya mAdhrusa-rakshaNa-

kshamamithi dhiyA bhUya:SrIranga dhAmani mOdhasE

 

Meaning according to Dr.V.N.Vedantha Desikan:

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

This shrine is called SREERANGAM in the sense that

it is the court-hall for Your sport and dance ,

where in SHREE sabdham refers to You. Because You

have chosen this dais for Your purpose of ensuring

the well being of all creatures , which are but Your

children , all like me , knowing nothing about

Your unmatched vaibhavam and yet deserving Your

Motherly grace, You enjoy this location; evidently You

have spurned Your birth-place ( the milky ocean)

and Your husband's perrenial abode(Sree Vaikuntam)

in favour of Sreerangam to be near us.

 

Special Notes: Oh Sarva Loka MaathA! Your birth home

(PiRantha aham) is the Milky Ocean and naturally You

are very much attached to it. Your husband's home

(Puhuntha aham) is the famous location praised by

the Vedams as " Tadh VishNO: Paramam Padham " .

As the bride joining Your husband's home ,

You are very fond of this home too , since You

adore Your husband .

 

Your Janana Bhavana preethi (Fondness for

Your birth place ) makes You consider

the Milky Ocean with great affection ;

because of Your love for Your husband

( Dayitha PrEmai), You adore Your Pukkaham

(Your husband's abode) celebrated in the Vedams

as " Tadh VishNO: Paramam padham " .You have set

aside those special and meaningful abodes and

chosen however SREERANGAM as Your most preferred

place of residence to save us helpless ones

(akinchana janams).Since You chose residence in SrIrangam

over the other two sites dear to You as the most

auspicious place (Sree) for Your sport (Rangam)

of protecting us.This is Your Ranga BhUmi and Sriya:

Rangam and is not Sriyutham Rangam ( auspicious

place , a term used for UpachAram purposes).Maadhrusa

RakshaNam ( protection of helpless ones like us) is

Your motivation to minimize the importance of

Your birth place and SrI Vaikuntam as Pukkaham

and choose Sreerangam for the express purpose of

protecting us. SrIranga dhAmani mOdhasE ( You revel

at this abode of SrIrangam )now. This is the wonder

(adhisayathvam ) of the archAvathAram of SrI RanganAyaki

at Sreerangam according to Swamy ParAsara Bhattar.

 

SlOkam 57:

 

OudhArya KaaruNikathAsritha vathsalathva-

poorvEshu sarvamathisayithamathra Maatha:

SrIrangadhAmni yadhutAnyadh udhAharanthi

SeethAvathAramukham yEthath amushya yOgyam

 

(Meaning according to Dr.V.N.Vedanatha Desikan):

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

Oh Mother! all Your traits as bounteousness ,

mercy, sympathy for the surrendered one, and the like,

shine in Your station at SrIrangam, with great lustre.

Evidently, these qualities were also reckoned in

avathArAs such as SeethA, that You took;this is no wonder

since, as I percieve , all Your avathArAs were only rehearsal

acts for this final portrayal as Sree Ranga nAyaki.

 

Additional comments:

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

Oh Mother SrIranga Naayaki! The boundless generosity,

the overflowing DayA towards Your children , affection

and concern for Your erring children are abundantly

experienced at Your residence at SrIrangam as ArchA Moorthy.

All what IthihAsa-PurAnams salute about these auspicious

attributes of Yours displayed during Your Vibhava avathArAms

as SeethA PirAtti and the like appear to be rehearsals

to gain perfection during Your archAvathAram as

SrI Ranga Naayaki.All of these MangaLa guNams have

attained a state of perfection for the benefit of

the suffering samsAris.ArchAvathAram unlike

VibhaavathArams is for the benefit of all and is

for enjoyment at all times .VibhavAthaaram is limited to

a certain time and place. Therefore , whatever outstanding

attributes that You displayed as SeethA PirAtti during

Your VibhavAvathAram seems to be a dress rehearsal

for the full display during Your current archAvathAram

as SrI Ranga Naayaki.

 

OudhAryam is svArTa nairapEkshaNyam according to

the VasurAsi commentary of SrI VeerarAghavAchArya.

It is not svayam prayOjanam. KaaruNyam is Para dukkha

sahishNuthvam ( empathy for the sufferings of others).

Aasritha Vaathsalyam is aasritha dhOsha BhOgyathvam

( Overlooking one's defects and yet having affection

for the one, who has sought refuge).These parama slAgya

guNams displayed as KshamA (Forbearance ), DayA (Compassion

even towards those who offend) were displayed in Vibhava

avathArams such as the SeethAvathAram. All of those

displays seem to be abhyAsam(rehearsals) for the ArchAvathAram

as Sree Ranga Naayaki, when they reach their peak.

 

SlOkam 58:

***********

Isvaryam akshara gathim paramam padham vaa

kasmaichidh-anjalibharam vahathE vitheerya

asmai na kinchith-uchitham krutham-ithyaTAmBha

Thvam lajjasE kaTaya kOyam udhArabhAva:

 

Meaning according to Dr.V.N.VedAntha Desikan:

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

Oh Mother! Let anyone supplicate his hands in

anjali form before You. Enough .You will in Your

extreme kindliness agree to give him all affluence,

even Kaivalya and even (more)Vaikuntam in return for

that anjali; what is more, You would later on feel

a certain bashfulnes--that is indeed ever evidnet

in Your smile even now!--that You had not done enough

for him, equal to the laborious exercise he had exerted

himself in folding his palms in supplication!

 

What is this extreme bounteousness? Why? Please

explain (this) to me.

 

Additional Comments:

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

This slOkam is the one quoted by Swamy Desikan

in the SiddhOpAya SOthanAdhikAram of SrImath

Rahasya Thraya Saaram to explain the meaning of

the doctrine of " UdhAraam " associated with

SrI DEvi. Dr.VedAntha Desikan refers to the passage

in SrI Sooktham's " DEvajushtAm UdhArAm " to salute

the unique bounteousness and generosity of

SrI Devi(SrI RanganAyaki).

 

The very last manthram of IsAvAsyOpanishad

ends with the passage: " bhUyishtAm tE NAMA

UKTHIM vidhEma " . When one folds one's palms

and raise them in salutation with the utterance of

the word , " Nama: " , it signifies self-surrender.

They become " nama ithyEva Vaadhina: " . All the sins

are destroyed and SrI Devi's oudhAryan flows towards

the one, who performed anjali to the accompaniment of

Nama: sabdham. The unmatched oudhAryam and Vaathsalyam

induces Her to grant sakala soubhAgyams, Kaivalyam

and even Vaikunta Vaasam .Even after granting all these

boons , She feels that She has not done enough for

Her devotee , who just performed nama ukthi with

anjali bhaddha hastham. Swamy NammAzhwAr refers to

this Bhara samarpaNam (laying down of the burden/Sumai)

as " athu sumanthArkatkkE " in ThiruvAimozhi III.3.6.

 

The Nama: sabdham destroys three kinds of VirOdhis:

sEshathva svaroopa VirOdhi, PurushArTa kaimkarya

VirOdhi and UpAyAnushtAna VirOdhi.When that Powerful

Nama: sabdham is accompanied by the equally powerful

gesture (Mudhrai) of Anjali ,then there is no limit to

what it can achieve. The deepest springs of OudhAryam,

Vaathsalyam and DayA of SrI RanganAyaki are released

and the chEthanan becomes the beneficiary of

the ParamAnugraham of the Empress of SrIrangam.

 

The vaibhavam of Anjali Mudhrai is celebrated by

Swamy Desikan in his chillaRai rahasyam of " Anjali

Vaibhavam " .When one folds one's palms and says " namAmi " ,

the Lord says " nayAmi " .I will lead that special one,

who has performed SaraNAgathy to Me in this manner

all the way to My Parama Padham (nayAmi ParamAm gathim).

That ParamAm gathi is not kshudhra Phalans like

Isvaryam , AathmAnubhavam et al but Parama PurushArTam

of Moksham.Both Our Lord and His Consort are " MukthAnAm

ParamA gathi " .

 

The power of anjali is summed up by Swamy AlavanthAr

in the 28th slOkam of His SthOthra rathanm.Swamy Desikan

has belessed us with a commentary for this SrI Sookthi.

In that commentary, Swamy Desikan points out that

there are no time restrictions about performing

Anjali, which melts the heart of the Lord . Anjali

is a common (pothu ) dharmaam and can be practised by

all.Anjali is known as the best among dharmAs relating to

the Lord.In contrast to other dharmAs , anjali gives

immediate results.It destroys the PuNyams and Paapams

of a Jeevan.

 

There have been legitimate questions/doubts about

the power of Anjali to grant even Moksham. Here ,

AzhwArs, AchAryans based on Sruthi pramANam have

pointed out that anjali yielding these great boons

(up to Moksham ) is not the simple folding of one's

palms , but the elevated form of Anjali incorporating

SaranAgaty inside it: Prapatthi garbhathvam

( BhUyishtAm nama ukthim vidhEma). Anjali is

the chinham(adayALam/mark)of BharanyAsam.

If the ChEthanan's chinham is Anjali , the Lord's

responding chinham is Abhaya Hastham.Anjali done

by a prapannan yields boons at all levels and

Lord assures that quick granting of the boons

through His abhya hastham (anjali paramA mudhrA

kshipram dEva prasAdhini).

 

Anjali yields " satthva unmEsham " (birth and growth

of Satthva guNam ) and Samyak Jn~Anam ( clear wisdom

about Tatthvams) , which lead on to Moksham .Once again,

this anjali has no restrictions of Kaalam, dEsam ,

VarNAsrama adhikAra niyamam, prakAra ( way of doing )

niyamam, aavrutthi ( number of repetitions) niyamam.

 

This anjali done by a Mumukshu with Prapatthi garbha,

prArTanA poorvaka anjali has many prabhAvams(glories)

as revealed to us by Swamy Desikan :

 

(1) aasu kaarithvam ( Quick to yield Phalans)

(2) asEsha dhOsha nivarthakathvam( destruction of all sins)

(3) asEsha kalyANa kAranathvam( harbinger of all auspiciousness)

(4) anubandhi rakshakathvam( protection of all linked to them)

(5) akshaya phala pradhathvam( yielding permanent phalans)

 

Such indeed is the anjali Vaibhavam that makes even

SrI RanganAyaki bless that She has not done enough for

one , who holds anjali mudhrA in front of Her.

 

SrI RanganAyaki ThAyAr ThiruvadigaLE Saranam

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan