Sri Alavandhaar's SthOthra Rathnam- verse 6- I commence my praise and offer my sthOthras to those Lotus feet

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:

 

Dearest Srivaisnavas,

 

After having bowed down to Acharya Sriman nAthamuni

and also the Sage Paraasarar, SrI NammAzhwAr,

obtaining their Blessings, Sri Alavandhar begins his

sthOthrams. Vedaantha artthams [upanishadic truths]

are to be housed in these verses.

 

yan moordhni mE sruthi sirassu cha bhaati yasmin

asman manOratha patha: sakalas samEti:

sthOshyAmi na: kuladhanam kuladaivatham

tat paadhaaravindham aravindha vilOchanasya

 

The lotus Feet- which is on my head; and on the head

of Vedas; at which pair, all our desires, thoughts in

our mind congregate; - to that lotus feet of the Lord-

who is the greatest treasures of our lineage; who is

Kula deivam [the Lord of our Kulam]- I commence my

praise and offer my sthOthras to those Lotus feet

hereby.

 

By bowing down to the acharyas, sages, azhwArs,

studying, analysing and realising along with

recitation of Vedas and Upanishads (which were better

understood with the AzhwAr, Acharya SrI Sookthis], I

am blessed to find that I am eternally a sEsha bhUthan

to the red lotus eyed Lord Sriya: Pathi Sriman

Narayanan and thus bow down to His Lotus feet. Having

considered Him thus as sEshi [Master] at all times, I

have adorned my head with His Lotus Feet to declare my

sEshathvam to Him;

 

Alavandhar enjoys: aahaaa.. what a sowlabhyam!

[stooping down so low to adorn my head] as His Lotus

Feet are the object of the highest Truths- Upanishads

and Vedas; His Feet are there in those greatest Vedas

and Unpaishads and also are on my head; This is

similar to ‘namakkum poovin misai nangaikkum inban –

by nammAzhwAr.. Thus my siras [head] is equal to

Vedas and Upanishads; He was found in Vedas; stood

clearly first in Upanishads only to come to my head

and stand; Thus my head is even better than

Upanishads- SrI UttamUr Swamu enjoys. Because I had

learnt the Upanishadic truths along with the AzhwAr,

Acharya srI sookthis and UpabrahmaNams.. And hence

grander; also who is my head; My Acharya and hence it

is definitely greater;

 

Vedas can utter and mention; But can not enjoy Him; my

head can not only adorn His feet; it can enjoy the

glories and beauty of Lotus feet. Now after having

come to my feet, I am able to enjoy Him and His lotus

feet.. where all the thoughts went before, in what all

directions; now all of them have converged due to the

blessings of Sriman nAThamuni and of my mAtha, pithaa…

the feet of NammAzhwAr. Hence, all my desires now have

been fulfilled and Now I am blessed to have all my

thoughts converged into the lotus feet of the Lord.

Now my thoughts would not jump anywhere else; Not only

for me; for everyone [after being blessed by

NammAzhwAr]; Thus to get to these Lotus Feet- the

wealth, what is the way? What is the means? The Lotus

Feet themselves; It is the treasure for our Kulam;

Sriman Narayanan alone is the Kula dhanam for us; He

is the Kula deivam; the Lord of our Kulam [Vaishnava

kulam]; Hence He is the upAyam; One who has wealth

enjoys; We are blessed with the greatest treasure and

thus we always enjoy; one can get anything from

wealth; But to get to Paramadham, one needs to pray to

Deivam [the Lord]; Even that Lord is He; Thus He is

the dhanam as well as the Deivam; He has been our Lord

for the entire kulam of ours. He grants Himself to us;

thannitthandha kaRpakam; He is the bhOgyam; Parama

bhOgyam; Beuacse He is aravidham; He is the forest of

all lotus flowers; His eyes are lotus; His face is

lotus ; His hands [palms] are lotus; His navel is

lotus; His feet are lotus; The bees hum and reach Him

thinking that He is the lotus pond.

 

The moment my words of praise reach His Feet, His red

lotus eyes should bloom slowly like a fresh flower; I

am going to fill the sthOthras with all proof and

pramANams; I am placing His Feet on my head – and as a

prapannan I am composing these sthOthraas; I had sang

PiraaTTi sthothram [chathuslokI] ‘ prapanna ithi cha

sthOshyaami’. Similarly here, I perform Saranagathi at

His Feet, keeping His feet on my head- in order to

complete this sthOthras which I am commencing. He

needs to accept the same gracefully. Why I am not

worhsipping Him and instead praying to His Feet?- one

may wonder. It is identical to AzhwAr’s declaring in

the very first verse- thuyar aRu sudar adi thozhudhu

yezhu… [The feet that would remove the affliction- bow

down to Them – the pair of feet] Paramanadi paadi… He

is Swami; we are His dAsars; Thus starting the

sthOthras at His Feet; Though I am going to describe

and enjoy Him fully in this sthOthra, this sthOthra is

to His Feet as He is my Swami…

 

Alavandhar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo Narayana

dAsan