Lord RanganAthA's Thirumanjana Kattiyam bySwamyParAsaraBhattar:Part VI/SlOkam5

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SrI :

 

Dear BhakthAs of Periya PerumAL :

 

In this 6th slOkam , Swamy ParAsara Bhattar compares Lord

RangnAtha to a beautiful , busy Honey Bee known for its

shyAmaLa ( Bluish-black) niRam (hue) and vinOdha sanchAram:

 

antha: sTithas-sumanasAm amarEsa-rathna

cchAyA vikalpitharuchi: nayanAbhirAmam

aapAthitasmaraguNa: praTithaprachAra:

saakhAsu Ranganrupathir-madhupO vibhAthi

 

(Meaning according to Dr.S.Padmanabhan ) : In this verse , Bhattar identifies

Lord Ranganatha with a bee . Both of them stay in Sumanas ( in the hearts of

good people and flowers) ; they are both dark in colour like the indhraneela

gem (amarEsa rathnacchAyaa) and are pleasing to the eye (nayanAbhirAmam) ;

they both are popular and all pervasive ( praTitha prachAra: ) among the Sakhaa's

( The Vedic rescensions and the branches of the trees) . Again Rangaraja possesses

the quality of love for His consort (smaraguNa) whereas the bee is set on ManmathA's

bow as its string ( smaraguNa).

 

Excerpts from the VyAkhyAnam of Swamy ParAsara Bhattar : NaayantE !

Your sEvai during the Tirumanjanam with Sandal paste and saffron reminds

adiyEn of Your current state of being similar to that of a madhukaram( Honey Bee ) .

 

antha! sTitas-sumanasAm: NaayantE ! The Bee ( Madhukaram) will enter in to

flower bunches in groves and will stay inside them (antasTitham) .Oh Lord ,

You in turn enter in to the minds of pious ones and stay there ( " anthaNar

tamm chinthayAn ") . You stay inside their anthakaraNams (SumanasAm antha:

sTitham) .

 

amarEsa ratnacchAyaa vikalpitha ruchi: NaayantE ! The Bee will have the hue of

Indhraneelam (Bluish-Black) .Oh Lord RanganAtha ! You also have the ShyAmaLa

niRam (hue) as the AzhwAr celelbrated : " Saamatthin niRam koNDa ThADALan " .

 

nayanAbhirAmam: The Madhukaram will be a delight to enjoy with our eyes

( spruhAspadham) . Oh Lord RanganAtha ! Your beauty is such that great

desire wells in our minds and the eyes long to experience Your dhivya

soundharyam (nayanAbhirAmam) . One AzhwAr gave evidence to this longing

to enjoy You with his eyes: " Unnaik-kaaNa virumbhum yenn kaNNkaL " .

 

AapAthitha-smaraguNa: NaayintE ! The bees served as the connecting chord

for the bow of Manmathan ( " MadhukaramAnanthu Kaaman Kaarmukatthukku

guNa bhUthamAi irunthathu ") . Kaarmukam is the bow and GuNam is the connecting

chord ( naaNN) in that bow . Oh Lord RanganAthA saluted as " Kaamani payantha

KaaLai " ( One who created Manmathan as Your son ) ! You made the bodiless

Manmathan (anangan) regain body and become angi ( Having a body with the limbs)

through Your anugraham of guNa dhAnam ( granting the attributes/GuNams) .

The word GuNam and its double meaning is used adroitly by Bhattar in making

a comparison between the black bee and the Lord of Srirangam .

 

PraTitha prachAra: saakhAsu: The Madhukaram ( the bee) because of its fondeness

for the honey (madhu) will be roaming from flower to flower in the blossomed tree

branches (SaakhAsu praTitha prachAra: ) . Oh Lord RanganAtha ! You enjoy a vinOdha,

vividha (pala vahayAna) sanchArams amidst the branches of the Veda SaakhAs .

 

Ranga Nrupathi: madhupO vibhAthi : With all these similarities , Oh Lord of Srirangam ,

Your beautiful appearance during Your Thirumanjanam reminds us of Swamy

NammAzhwAr's aruL vaakku : " thUviyam puLLudai Dhaiva VaNDu " .

 

In the next Thirumanjana Kattiyam slOkam , Bhattar celelbrates SravaNam ,

the VishNu Nakshathram and relates its significance to Lord RanganAtha .

 

SrI RanganAtha ParabrahmaNE Nama:

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

http://www.sadagopan.org