Thiruvaheendhrapuram RathnAngi Kaimkaryam: Part 202: Desika Prabhandham : Adaikkala Patthu Paasurams

[Guest guest]

 

 

 

 

 

Adaikkalap patthu

V.Sadagopan

SeerAr Thuppal ThiruvEnakatamudayAn ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam Swami Desikan was moved to perform SaraNAgathi at the Thiruvadi of Lord VaradarAjan of Kaanchipuram . After the unmatched nectar-like experience of tasting the subhAsrayam and the anantha kalyANa guNams of Lord VaradarAjA presiding over Hasthigiri , Swamy Desikan described the examples of KaakAsuran , VibhIsaNan and others who performed SaraNAgathy at the sacred feet of the Lord and gained the Lord's anugraham . Swamy Desikan explained next the five angams of Prapatthi and the four kinds of Prapatthi .The duties after Prapatthi are covered next . Finally , Swamy Desikan performed Prapatthi at the lotus feet of Lord VaradarAjan and concluded this Prabhnadham. He used the Tamil metre of KocchahakkalippA to direct the flow of his emotion , which rushed forth as the gushing water from a dam that broke . 237) AdhikAram for Prapatthi : Aakinchanyam

Bhakthi MudalAmavaRRilpathi yenakku koodAmal

yetthiasayum uzhanrOdi iLayitthu vizhum kaakam pOl

mutthi tarum nakar yEzhil mukkiyamAm Kacchi tanil

Atthigiri AruLALarkku adaikkalam nAnn puhunthEnE.....Paasuram 1

I surrender my soul at the sacred feet of PeraruLALan , who resides at the most important of the seven cities that bless their residents with Moksham . I have come to the realization that I am powerless to attain moksham through the difficult-to-practise Bhakthi yOgam as upAyam . I have hence chosen Prapatthi at the lotus feet of Varadhan as the saving grace for me and am performing saraNAgathi . This act of mine (performance of SaraNAgathi at the Lord's feet as the helpless one with no other recourse ) is like the deed of the evil-minded KaakAsuran , who committed grave apachArams to the Lord's consort and was yet saved by the Lord , when he fell at the feet of the Lord as a SaraNAgathan without any other recourse .

238) AdhikAram for Prapatthi: Ananyagathithvam

Sadai-mudiyan chathumukhan yrnRu ivar mudhalAm taram yellAm

adaya vinaip-payan aahi azhinthuvidum padi kaNDu

KadimalarAL piriyAtha Kacchi nagar Atthigiri

idam udaya AruLALar iNai adikaL adaynthEnE......Paasuram 2

Here again aakinchanyam / ananya gathithvam is celebrated in another way . SWamy Desikan says:" I am offering my prapatthi at the sacred feet of PeraruLALan while fully cognizant of the fact that the power and wealth of even BrahmA and SivA are evanascent and transitory and are fully dictated by their karma visEshams . Once their accumulated puNyams are over , their status as powerful demi-gods disappear . Knowing their alpa sukhams fully well, I am not enamoured of such status and power . I seek therefore the lasting bliss of moksham and nithya kaimkaryam in the Lord's Sri Vaikuntam through my prapatthi.".

239: Every One is eligible to perform Prapatthi tantirangaL vERu inRi t-tamathu vazhi azhiyAthu manthirangaL tammAlum maRRum uLa urayAlum antharam kaNDu adi paNivAr anaivarkkum aruL puriyum Sindhura veRppu IRayavanAr SEELAM alathu aRiyEnE.....Paasuram 3 Here , Swami Desikan points out that all are eligible to perform Prapatthi at the lotus feet of the Lord of Kaanchi and receive the boon of Moksham from that act of self-surrendeer . The word " Seelam " in this paasuram refers to Souseelya GuNam of the Lord , which permits Him to mingle with people of all status. I meditate on the glorious attribute of VaradarAjAn , who blesses all without discrimination , when they perform prapatthi unto Him . These are the virtuous ones , who understand the difficulties of practising Bhakthi yOgam and understand well the equal qualifications of all to perform prapatthi to gain the boon of Moksham . They do not seek any other means than prapatthi and observe their varNAsrama dharmams without slipping . They utter thereafter the prapatthi manthram (svanishtai ) or follow the utterances of their AchAryAs ( AchArya Nishtai ) and perform their prapatthi to the Lord , who accepts it with joy and rewards them with the boon of mOksham . 240) Prapatthi has the power to confer all desired boons

Kaakam IirAkkathan Mannar Kaathali Katthirabhandhu

nAkam aran ayan mudalA nAganaharAr tamakkum

bhOgam uyar veedu peRap-ponnaruL seythamai kaNDu

naagamalai NaayakanAr nalladippOthu adainthEnE.....4th Paasuram

Here the reference is to Maha Viswasam that leads to the fruition of one's prapatthi . Swamy Desikan says:" I offer my prapatthi at the holy feet of VaradarAjan inspired by the thought that He granted the boons of samsAra bhOgam AND Moksham as desired by them to the offending crow , VibhishAnAN , Drowpathi , Kshathrabhandhu , GajEndran , KaaLiyan , Sivan , BrahmA and all the dEvAs" .

241) The Five angams of Prapatthi

uhakkumavai uhanthu uhavA anaitthum ozhinthu uRavu guNam

mihatthuNivu peRa uNarnthu viyan kaavalyena varitthu

sahatthil oru puhal9um) illA tavam aRiyEn Mathtkkacchi

nagar k-KaruNai NaaTanai nall-adaikkalamAi adainthEnE.....Paasuram 5

Here , Swami Desikan reveals that he has performed the prapatthi at the Lord's feet in the proper manner with the five angAs of Prapatthi .The words of the prabhandham connected to the five angams are :

uhakkum avai uhanthu -- AanukUlya Sankalpam : vow to do only what pleases the Lord uhavA anaitthum ozhindhu--PrAthikUlya Varjanam : rejecting all that would mkae Lord unhappymihat-thuNivu peRa uNarndhu-- mahA visvAsam /full faith in Lord's power to protect kAvalena varitthu-- gopthruva VaraNam /choosing the Lord to stand in place of diifficult yOgamspuhalum illAt-tavam aRiyEn -- kArpaNyam/prayer & NamaskArams in a state of meekness With these words , Swami Desikan points out that he has performed aathma samarpaNam with its five limbs at the sacred feet of Lord VaradarAjan , the embodiment of DayA . 242) The Four Kinds of Prapatthi aLavudayAr adainthArkkum athan urayE koNDavarkkum vaLavyrai tanthavan aruLE manniya maatavatthOrkkum

kaLavu ozhivAr yemar yenna iainthavarkkum kAvalarAm ThuLavamudi aruL Varadhar tuvakkil yenai vaitthEnE....Paasuram 6 Here, Swami Deikan refers to the four kinds of Prapatthi : Svanishtai , Ukthi nishtai, AchArya nishtai and BhAgavatha nishtai. Swami says that he has performed prapatthi at the lotus feet of Varadhan , who grants the boon of Moksham to one and all , who has performed any one of the four kinds of Prapatthi . Ukthi Nishtai is the SaranAgathy performed directly by One , who has clear comprehension of the doctrine of SaraNaAgathy ( angi) and its five angams. Very few people are qualified to perfrom Svanishtai . Ukthi Nishtai is the SaraNAgathy perofrmed through the repetition of the Prapatthi vAkyams uttered by one's AchAryan. The third kind of nishtai is AchArya nishtai , where one takes refuge in the SaraNAgathy performed by chAryan .The fourth type of observance of SaraNAgathy js BhAgavatha Nishtai, where one rests under the SaraNAgathy performed by a Parama BhAgavatha PoorNAdhikAri .

243) Prapatthi to be performed only once

umathu adikaL adaihinREn yenRu orukkAl uraitthavarai

amayum ini yenbavar pOl anjalyenak-karam vaitthum

Tamathu anaitthum avar tamakku vazhankiyum ThAmm miha viLangum

amaivudaya AruLALar adi iNayai adainthEnE....Paasuram 7

The meaning of the Abhaya MudrA of Varadhan is ceelbrated here . The Lord is resplendent at the sight of the prapannan and blesses him to enjoy all of His Isvaryam and looks at the prapannA with great compassion and reveals through the gesture of Abhaya MudrA that Prapannan's one-time praaptthi alone is sufficient to enjoy all of that bliss . I surrender my aathmA to that glorious and merciful Lord , who grants such matchless boons .

244) The way of conductance after performing Prapathti TiNmai kuRayAmaikkum niRaihaikkum theevinayAl uNmai maRavAmaikkum uLa mathiyil uhakkaikkum taNami kazhiyAmaikkum tarikkaikkum taNihaikkum vaNmayudai AruLALar vachakangaL maRavEnE.....Paasuram 8 The conductance of one's life in the post-prapatthi period is described here by our aramAchAryA . I repeately reflect on the meaning of the Lord's Charama slOkam and the assurances given by Him there to the one , who has performed prapatthi . I remind myself that as a prapannan , I must have unshakable faith in the assured fruits of my prapatthi . I pray for the further enhancement of my bhakthi and Jnaanam . I shall never forget my utter servititude to You and You alone. I shall stay in a happy and tranquil mood with the knowledge of the essence of the rahasyArthAs . I will bear my days on the earth without agitation over the delay in realizing moksham . I will forget the sorrows of SamsAram that is inevitable during the days on earth after performing my prapatthi at Your sacred feet . This way , I will spend my post-prapatthi life . 245) The responsibilities/duties after Performing Prapatthi

Sruthi ninaivu ivai aRiyum thuNivu udayAr thUmozhikaL

parithi mathi aasiriyar paasuram sErnthu arukkaNangaL

karuthi oru teLivAl klaakkam aRutthu Athtigirip-

parithi mathi nayanam udaip-Paraman adip-paNinthEnE.....Paasuram 9

As a prapannA , I worship always the Lotus feet of PeraruLALan with a tranquil mind calmed by the clear understanding of the meanings of Sruthis , Smruthis , AzhwAr's Sri Sookthis , AchAryA's Sri Sookthis that deal with the sookshmArthams of VedAntham .

Swamy Desikan's Aathma SamarpaNam at the Sacred feet of Kaanchi VaradharAjan

ThirumahaLum Thiruvadivum Thiru aruLum teLL aRivum

arumai ilAmayum uRavum aLappariya adi arasum

karumamum azhippum aLippum amayppum kalakkamilA vahai ninRa

aruL Varadhar nilai ilakkil ampu yena nAnn amizhnthEnE.....(10)

I have joined without fail the majestic and glorious feet of the Lord , who is never separated from His beloved consort. He has the most bewitching beauty. He is an ocean of mercy . His dayA for His devotees is unmatched. He is omniscient . He is easy of access to His devotees . He has the chEthanAs and achEthanams as His body . He is the supreme Lord of all of this universe .He is the one , who creates , protects and destroys all of this world and its beings . These auspicious attributes will never part company with the Lord . I have now joined with out seperation from this PeraruLALan of such anantha kalyANa guNa vaibhavams .

247) Phala sruthi for Adaikkala Patthu Prabhandham

aaRu payan vERu illA adiyavarkaL anaivarkkum

aaRum athan payanum ivai oru kaalum pala kaalum

aaRu payan yenavE kaNDu AruLALar adiyanai mEl

kooRiya naRR-guNa uraykaL ivai patthum kOthilavE....Paasuram 11

These ten verses dealing with my SaraNAgathi at the sacred feet of the Lord of Kanchi will shine without any faults forever. BhagavathAs seek the Lord as upAyam and phalan . They observe prapatthi at His feet once . The fruits of that one time prapatthi however lasts forever and is most enjoyable . With clear Understanding of the above truths and the significance of such a prapatthi , I have performed my own prapatthi at the matchless feet of Lord VaradarAjA and sung about them in a blemishless manner .

Sri PerumdEvi ThAyAr Sametha Sri Varadaraaja ParabrahmaNE Nama :

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan

4