PurushakAram: Part II

June 6, 2004

Dear SrImathi Jayasree Saranathan :

You had asked a detailed question about PurushakAram

and the roots for the word and the formation of the word

thru the union of two words ( Purusha and AakAaram ).

I had written a note for the Bhakthi list in Feb 1996 ,

which has bearing on the subject .

SrI Devi serving as a mediatrix and providing SipArsu

fro the transgressing jeevans and interceding successfully

on behalf of the Jeevans to gain the good will of Her Lord to

protect them and grant them the parama parushArTam of

Moksham is he display of PURUSHAKAARAM by PirAtti.

The Sanskrit adage is :

" yEvam purushakArENa vinA dhaivam na siddhyathi "

Without our Mother's intercession , the Lord is not attainable.

He turns the other way unless the sipArsu for anugraham

comes from the "AaakAra Thraya Sampannai " , His Devi .

AakAram means a mine , a rich , undiminishing source of

anything .AakAram also means form or category . She is

knownm for three kinds of undiminishing Isvaryam ( Aakaara

Thrayam) :

AakAra-thraya sampannAm Aravindha-nivAsineem

asEsha jagadhesithreem vandhE Varadha vallabhAm

--Prapanna PaarijAtha slOkam

The three aakArams linked to Her that saves the sinning

jeevans are furhter elaborated by NadAthUr AmmAl in

His SrI Sookthi of Prapanna PaarijAtham based on

Lakshmi Tanthram:

" aparAdhaikasakthAnAm anarhANAm chiram nruNAm

Bharthrur-AasrayaNE poorvam svayam PURUSHAKAARATHAAM

VaalabhyEna-anuthishtantheem VaathsalyAth-upabrhmaNeem

upAya samayE Bharthu: Jn~Ana-sakthyAdhivardhineem

mukthAnAm bhOgaBrudhyayyarTam soundaryAdhi-vivardhineem

(Meaning): " I salute the consort of the bestower of boons

(Varadha VallabhA ), who by being the beloved of the Lord ,

previous to their (Sinning Jeevan's) having recourse to Her Lord ,

occupies of Her own accord , the position of mediatrix to men --

tomen who are solely addicted to sinful deeds and are for a long time

unworthy of attention by Her Lord and promotes affection , mercy

and such other fellings in her Lord , who at the time of His becoming

the means (upAyam) , fosters knowledge , energy and other

auspicious attributes in Him , who for the enhancement of the enjoyments

of the freed (muktha jeevans) augemnts the qualities of beauty etc .

She is endowed with the three capacities (aakArams) of being the means

(UpAyathvam) , being the goal/end( upEyathvam ) and PurushakArathvam

(being a Mediatrix) .She dwells inn the lotus (aravindha nivAsini) and is

the ruler of the whole world .

Thus PurushakAram is one of the three roles that She plays

and helps us gain Moksham .She is thus the AakAra Thraya

Sampannai.

The six meanings of the SrI Sabdham given to us by our

AchAryAs gores in to detail about the three AakArams

including the PurushakAram ( second of the six meanings:

SrayathE ). She approaches Her Lord for us. In this context ,

PurushakAram The PirAtti elected as the upAyam by

the chEthanam desiring Moksham to gain access to Her Lord

becomes PurushakAram .In the worldly context , when a purushan

desiring a phalan approaches another one to gain access to

the one who can grant him his wish makes use of PurushakAram .

Te One who intercedes on behalf of the desiree with the one who can

fulfil the wish is recognized as displaying PurushakAram.

There are six pramANams for the bhAvam of PurushakAram:

(1) arTa svabhAvam (2) anushtAnam (3) lOka dhrushti

(4) GurUkthi (5) Sruthi and Smruthi .

In the dhvaya manthram , the first "SrI " sabdham in the poorva

BhAgam stands for the PurushakAram exercised by PirAtti

to join the erring jeevan with the sacred feet of Her Lord .

Thus She becomes PurushakAram and UpAyam.The SrI

sabdham in the Utthara bhAgam of the Dhvya manthram

relates to Her accepting the SaraNAgathy of the Jeevan

as the havis with Her Lord and displaying yEka sEshithvam

as a MiTunam ( Divine couple).

I will stop here since the posting has already grown long.

SrIman NaarAyaNAya Nama:

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

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The Greatness of Mahalakshmi

V. Sadagopan (75041.3037_at_CompuServe.COM)Fri Sep 13 1996 - 19:08:12 PDT

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Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] [ attachment ] Dear Members of the Prapatthi group :

Few months ago , I wrote about the Mahalakshmi Krithis

of Sri Mutthuswamy Dikshithar . I just came across an article

that I had prepared even earlier that I could not find at that time . You may find it interesting and Useful .Here it is :

********** THE GREATNESS OF SRI MAHALAKSHMI *************

In the PancharAtra smahitA , Maha Vishnu explains to his senior disciple VishvaksenA ,the nature and attributes of His consort , Sri Mahalakshmi . He states that She is the resting place of all Gurus ,ruler of all worlds , eternal and imperishable. He elaborates further on their relationship:" Just as the Universe is pervaded by me

both in essence and quality , all this is pervaded by Her also . Therefore,

She is the disposer and ruler of all.... She is pervaded by me and similarly ,I , the Lord am also pervaded by Her. The difference between me and Her is that She, who is the ruler of all is subservient to me .

To Her as well as the Universe that I am the Lord ,is well known in Vedas.

In the same PancharAtra SamhitA , Sri Mahalakshmi herself has explained Herself and Her consort , their pervasion and rulership. Sri Vatsya Varada Guru , the author of the illustrious work on SaranAgathi known as Prapanna ParijAtha has elaborated on the relationship between the divine couple as follows : " That supreme energy of Brahman , which is as is lustre to the moon,

is the Goddess Lakshmi , who is coexistent with Brahman in all His conditions , and who is in His own nature and is indestructible. "

The sage Parasara , author of Vishnu PurAnam explains further the nature and significance of Sri Mahalakshmi : "She is eternal, the mother of the universe , the glory of Vishnu and imperishable. Just

as Vishnu is all pervading so also is She-- among Gods, animals

and humans , the glorious Hari is the masculine name and Lakshmi

is the feminine name. O MaitreyA ! There is nothing higher than these (two)..... I salute that consort of the bestower of boons (Varadavallabha ) ,

who of Her own accord , occupies the position of mediatrix to men (and women) prior to their surrender to Her Lord; these men (and

women ) are solely addicted to sinful deeds and are for a long time unworthy of salvation. She promotes affection , mercy and such other feelings for these sinners in Her Lord .She fosters knowledge , energy

and other attributes in them at the time of His becoming the means of their salvation. She is endowed with the threecapcities of UPAYATVA

(being the means) ,UPEYATVA ( being the end) and PURUSHAKAARA

( being the mediatrix) --and is the ruler of the whole world .

Sri Mahalakshmi tatvam (concept ) is central to Sri Vaishnavism.

To the Sri VaishnavAs , She is known as SRI DEVI and She never leaves the side of Her consort. Ancient Gurus of Sri Vaishnavite tenet have recognized the centrality and significance of Her role in granting

salvation to the erring jeevans. They have praised in superb verses

Her qualities of mercy and compassion for Her suffering children , Her

intercession on our behalf with Her Lord , Her incarnations with Him , the redeeming power of Her glance ,and Her other myriad Kalyana

GunAs. Foremost among the celebrations of Sri Devi's auspicious attributes is the Kila rk of the Rig Vedam known as Sri Sooktham. Upanishads , Puranams and Ithihaasas have also saluted Her. Illustrious Acharyas such as Yamuna Muni ( Chathusloki ) , Ramanuja (Saranagathi Gadhyam ) , Kuresa (Sri Sthavam ) , Parasara Bhattar

( GuNarathna Kosam ) , Vedantha Desika ( Sri Sthuthi ) and Adi Sankara

(Kanaka Taraa Sthtram ) have offered their humble salutations and received Her blessings .

**** THE MEANING OF THE WORD SRI ****

The word Sri is a profound word with deep meanings .

Six different and yet complimentary meanings are indicated

by this word "SRI " according to Swami Desikan . Following the tradition of his preceptors , he has made it clear that Prapatthi

to Her precedes the one at the feet of Her Lord to attain freedom from the cycles of deaths and births. Let us now dwell on the six different meanings of the celebrated word SRI . The first meaning is based on the intrepretation that

She makes Her Lord listen to our pleas . This quality confers the attribute , SrAvayathi . Our Acharya states in this context that Her consort , Sriman Narayana will not go against Her request and therefore will listen to the appeal of Prapannas .

Before She makes Her consort listen to us , She has to listen first

to our plaintive cries. This aspect of Her listening to our appeals is described a sthe guna of Srunothi , which serves as the second

meaning. After listening to our cries for help , She makes us fit for recommendation to Her Lord. This act is described as Sreenaathi , the third meaning of Her name. By blessing us with Bahgavat

Anubhava Poorthi (Completion of the enjoyment of Her Lord's attributes) and Kaimkarya Poorthi (Completion of service to Him on this earth ) , She exercises the Sreenaathi Quality. In view of Her intensive compassionate listening and preparing us for recommendation , She is very much sought after as a refuge by the PrapannAs . This aspect of becoming sought refuge gives the fourth meaning of Her name as Sreeyathe. After listening to us and after preparing us for Her Lord's attention , She beseeches Her consort for our protection.

By this act, She demonstrates the attribute of the fifth meaning ,

Sraayathi of Sri Sabdham. By making Her Lord listen to and accept Her recommendations on our behalf ,she dispels our difficulties and earns as a result the sixth meaning Srunaathi for Her name .

Thus Her name of Sri carries the six complimentary meanings -- SREEYATHI, SRAAYATHI , SRUNOTHI , SRUNAATHI ,

SRAAVAYATHI AND SREENAATHI--and these explain Her paramount role in conferring us the supreme bliss of Moksham .

Sri Devyai Nama:

Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan