Padhuka Sahasram-904

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Sri:

 

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

 

Translation by U.Ve. Dr. V.N. Vedanta Desikan Swamin:

 

904. shrIrangEndhOscharaNakamalam thAdhrusham DhArayanthI

kAlE kAlE saha kamalayA klrupthayAthrOthsavashrI:

gathvAgathvA svayamanugrahadhvAramunnidhranAdhA

poUrAnnithyam kimapi kushalam pAdhukE! prucChasIva

 

Oh Paaduka! You bear the Lotus Feet of the Lord, of such a great

reputation as to be resorted to by all worlds as the sole resort for

rescue! You move about in every procession, making Lord Ranganatha

walk through streets, along with His consort. You pause at every

doorstep and emit a melodious note. Is it that You enquire of the

occupants, in Your great concern, 'Are You all right! Hope there is

no problem'.

 

Namo Narayana,

 

SriMuralidhara Dasan

 

 

Special Notes by V.Sadagopan (V.S ):

 

SlOkam 904

 

1. UtthamUr Swamy's anubhavam: Oh PaadhukE ! The Lord of Srirangam,

who makes everyone's heart joyous travels around Srirangam with His

consort and is supported by You during those festive occasions . You

are exhilirated by the act of bearing His lotus feet and You enter

each house on His route and through Your delectable naadham inquire

after the well being of the residents of those houses .

 

2. SrImath Andavan's anubhavam: This slOkam is based on SrImad

RaamAyaNam, where Lord Raamachandra during His Raama Raajyam

stopped at all the houses of citizens to inquire about their Yoga

KshEmams after His temporary absences from His RaajadhAni (samgramAth

punarAgathya kusalam pariprucchathi). After each sanchAram for

dhushta nigraham and sishta paripAlanam as well as Uthsavams, Lord

RanganAtha stops at the houses of the citizens of SrIrangam and

inquires about their well being and accepts their upachArams. This is

a manifestation of His matchless Dayaa and is enabled by the

PaadhukAis, which transport Him on these rounds of travel.

 

3. The sacred Paadhukais engaged in a noble mission of assisting its

Lord are introduced as the glorious Ones facilitating the kusala

prasnam of Lord RanganAtha at each of the houses of the citizens of

Srirangam during the annual, Monthly uthsavam times and other

sanchArams.

 

The padha prayOgams of Swamy Desikan here are exceptionally

meaningful. This is brought about brilliantly by SrImad AakkUr

AaNDavan in His commentaries :

 

(a) " SrI RangEndhu: " : SrI RangarAjan is qualified with the " Indhu "

sabdham to remind us of His cool , nectarine DayA Svaroopam .He

creates aanandham in us through His darsana prApthi.

 

(b) " ThAdhrusam " : This word is used to refer to the Paadhukais of

such glories as celebrated in the VedAs. Bhagavan " s glories (Roopam,

GuNam, Vaibhavam, Supermacy/Parathvam) are well documented by the

Veda manthrams. Paadhukais are the accompaniment and anuroopam of the

Lord of such vaibhavam (ThAdhrusam Vaibhavam) and share His many

glories as His SadAchAryan.

 

© " KamalayA saha kluptha-YaathrOthsava SrI: " : The Lord's

Paadhukais (SadAchAryAs) and MahA Lakshmi are aj~nAtha nigraha

Svaroopis (Those who are not known for their anger or punishment in

contrast to their Lord, who can get quite angry over the trespasses

of the rules of His SaasthrAs). They are eager to rush to protect the

offending jeevans from their Lord's anger as avasara pradheekshars.

They travel with Their Lord to create an excuse (VyAjamAthra

saapEkshathvam ) to protect the bhaddha jeevan from the wrath of

Their Lord .

 

(d) " Gathva GathvA " : Their ( Paadhukai's) Vaathsalyam and

KaaruNeekathvam propels it to take Their Lord from house to house for

the chEthanams to recieve Lord RanganAthA's blessings and KaDAksha

anugraham. Normally, it should be the other way around and the

ChEthanams are expected to rush to the Lord's side to recieve His

blessings. The concern and the display of the sense of urgency

by the Padhukais brings the Lord to the house fronts of the citizens

of SrIrangam.

 

(e) " unnidhra-naadhA " : Customized kusala pracchnam is made instead

of the general purpose inquiry about the welfare and kshEmam of the

citizens .

 

(f) Svayam: Instead of sending some one else in its place to enquire

about the well being of the citizens , the Paadhukais comes in

person and inquires after their yOga KshEmam.