Prakrutham Srimath Azhagiya Singar's approaching 79th Thirunakshathram :: Bangalore , Dec 10, 2005 :Tributes to MahA Lakshmi : Part VI

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

PaarTiva Samvathsaram , Kanyaa Maasam ,

KanyA KrishNa PraTamai , MaaLaya Paksha Aarambham

 

Dear BhakthAs of Sri (Senchu) Lakshmi Narasimhan :

 

Today is the last day of ChAthurmAsyam for SanyAsis .

 

Srimath Azhagiya Singar will be commencing His sanchAram

tomorrow for stops at Mangalore , Udippi , Melkote , Bangalore

before arriving at SelayUr Matam (East Tambaram) by the third week

of October , 2005 . Please particpate in the planning of His 79th birthday

celebrations on DEc 10 at Bangalore thru your support .

 

adiyEn will seek Srimath Azhagiya Singar's blessings to release the audio

recording of Purusha Sooktham from 4 Vedams and individual branches

( KrishNa and Sukla Yajur Vedams , three Saama SaakhAs and particularly

in RaaNAyinee SaakhA of Saama vedam ) .

 

Today , we will study the 2nd slOkam of Sri Sthuthi.

 

The Second slOkam of Sri Sthuthi is recited for the abundant flow of

dhivya Vaak blessed by VaaNi , the beloved Devi of Lord HayagrIvan :

 

Sri Sthuthi SlOkam 2

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AavirbhAva: Kalasa-jaladhou adhvarE vaapi YasyA

sTAnam YasyA: sarasijavanam VishNuvaksha: sTalam vaa

bhUmA YasyA: bhuvanamakhilam Devi dhivyam padham vaa

sthOka-praj~nai: anavadhi guNAsthUyasE Saa kaTam ThvAm ?

 

(Meaning) : Oh Mother Perum Devi ! The places of Your avathAram

are the Milky Ocean and the Yaaga SaalA of Janaka Rishi . Your

places of residences are the lotus ponds and Your Lord's chest .

All the worlds (both Nithya VibhUthi and LeelA VibhUthi) are Your wealth .

It is impossible therefore to assess the greatness of Your vast wealth ;

when it is so , how can men of limited intellect attempt to praise Your glories

adequately . It is ofcourse impossible .

 

Extended Observations on the passages of this SlOkam

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(1) The key statement in this slOkam is : " anavadhi guNA Saa Thvam sthOka

praJ~nai: kaTam sthUyasE ? " . This bewilderment is an echo of Swamy

AlavanthAr's statement in the first slOkam of his ChathusslOki : " Bhagavathy !

BhrUma: kaTam ThvAm vayam ? ". PurushOtthaman is Your Consort . The king of

serpents is Your bed . Garudan , whose body is constituted by all the Vedams is

Your transport and throne. Prakruthy , which bewitches the world is serving as

a screen for You. Brahma , Rudhran and the assembly of the DEvathAs are Your

servants(DaasAs) and their wives are Your dAsees . On top of it all , Your name is

SrI . How can we attempt to describe adequately Your limitless glories ? ".

 

Swamy AlavanmthAr indicates our incapabiliites here . Swamy Desikan engages

in such a declaration of unfitness ( sva yOgya kaTanam deficencies ) . Swamy

Desikan implies that Her glories are beyond our power to eulogize .

 

(2) Swamy Desikan's line of logic is : " Oh Perum Devi ! I engage in praising You .

Is it proper for me to evaluate Your vaibhavams ? How lofty is Your place of birth ?

How lofty is Your chosen places of residence ? How immense is the magnitude of

Your wealth ? How great are Your auspicious GuNams ? How can adiyEn think of

coming to terms with them all and venture to sing in praise of Your unlimited

Vaibhavam ? (BhUmA) You took Your avathAram first in the Milky Ocean and

then appeared (aavirbhAvam) in the Yaaga Saalai of King Janaka at MiTilA nagaram .

In both these manifestations , You were self-manifest and did not have to endure

garbha Vaasam like Your husband in Raama-KrishNa avathArams . One place of

Your residence , the Lotus pond , is known for its natural fragrance and purity .

The other place of residence of Yours is the sacred chest of Your Lord . There is

no one who can claim to have those lofty sTAnams ( places of residence ) .

All the wealths of this world ( LeelA VibhUthi) and the Supreme abode ( Nithya

VibhUthi / SrI Vaikuntam ) are under Your rulership . Your anantha KalyANa guNams

are beyond anyone's grasp . Each of these many guNams is difficult to comprehend

and describe . Thus in every aspect , Your matchless glories defy eulogizing .

How can adiyEn of limited intellect attempt to praise adequately Your Vaibhavam

rooted in Your anavadhi guNams ( limitless auspicious attributes ) ?

 

(3) Swamy Desikan identifies himself as a sthOka Praj~nan " or a person of

limited intellect . SthOka means little or small . Praj~nA means intutive wisdom

or gnosis. It is customary for poets to acknowledge their disqualifications

when they engage in sthuthis about BhagavAn and His Devi , MahA Lakshmi .

Sri KurEsar's hesitancy to praise Sri Devi because of his self-percieved limitations

are housed in his Sri Sthavam , a great devotional hymn of 11 verses . He acknowledges

his deficencies and prays to SrI Devi to bless him with the intellect to engage in

such a task . He approaches SrI Devi gingerly and seeks the boon of composing

a sthuthi befitting Her glory .

 

In the first slOkam , KurEsar prays for Her anugraham to engage in eulogizing Her :

" svasthi SrI: diSathAth " ( May SrI Devi confer auspiciousness on me ) . In the second

slOkam , KurEsar reveals that he has a great wish to eulogize Her , the Mother of

all the worlds ( hE SrIrdEvi! samastha lOka Jananee ! ThvAm sthOthum yeehAmahE ).

Therefore , please bless me with appropriate words to praise You ( yukthAm

BhAratheem bhAvaya ) . Oh Sri Devi ! Please expand my intellect and combine it

with deep devotion for You to be successful in this effort of mine ( prEma pradhAnam

dhiyam praguNaya ) . May Thou make this vaachaka kaimkaryam an auspicious

experience ( Bhakthim bhandhaya) . Please accept me as one of Your own dAsans

and make me , who has sought Your protection , happy ( aasritham imam janam

ThAvakam dAsam nandhaya ! ) .

 

In the third slOkam of SrI Sthavam , KurEsar acknowledges the difficulties of even

the Lord of Learning , SrI HayagrIvan , to expand on Her anantha KalyANa guNams

( VaachaspathinA api Sakya rachanA kaTam ? ) . KurEsar implies that even HayagrIvan

will experience difficulties in such an effort because His Devi's keerthi and KalyANa

guNams are like a vast ocean ( Samyak sathya guNAbhivarNanam Bhru: kaTam ? ) .

Those guNams are not graspable by speech and mind ( VaachAm manasA dhurgruham).

 

After confessing that Her glories can not be adequately decribed by anyone and yet

KurEsar admits that he has an uncontrollable urge to eulogize Her while being

fully aware his insufficencies . In the fifth slOkam of Sri Sthavam , KurEsar describes

his plight : Oh Devi ! I am an ignoramus ( aham aj~na: ). Even if I am a lowly one

( KshOdheeyAn api) , even if I have evil buddhi ( dhushta Bhuddhi api) , even if

I have no friendship for You ( nissnEha: api) , I will not hesitate to enjoy singing

about Your fame and glory and wont fear or be shy about such enjoyment

( tE keertthim lihan na cha BhibhEmi , na cha jihrEmi) . That glory of Yours will

not be diminished , spoiled or affected by me , who has no qualifications

to speak about You ( saa keerthi: thu thAvathA na dhushyEth) . KurEsar

compares his status to that of a thirsty dog , which licks the waters of

the sacred GangA river to quench its thirst without shyness or fear .

KurEsar observes that the sacredness of GangA is not diminished

even by an iota by the act of the dog ( BhAgeerathi SunA leeDAapi

na dhushyEth hi ) .

 

It is fascinatiing to study the approaches of KurEsar and Swamy Desikan

in expressing their naichciyam (diffidence) over the subject of their disqualifications

to engage in the sthuthi of SrI Devi and how they take off after their introductions .

 

4) Swamy Desikan chooses the word "BhUmaa " in this slOkam :

" BhUmA yasyA bhuvanam akhilam "

 

BhUma is a word with very rich in meaning from a VedAnthic point of view

( BhUmAdhikaraNam and BhUma VidhyA of ChAndhOgya Upanishad) .

ChAndhOgya Upanishad says : " yO vai BhmA tath sukham ....7.23.1

 

(meaning of this passage): " He who has plentitude is infinite bliss .There is no

happiness in the little. BhUmA alone or that which has the quality of plentitude

is happiness. BhUmA alone is to be known and realized "...Dr.NSA Swamy's

translation. Here , Upanishad BhAshyAkArar says : " BhumA means plentitude but

not in numbers. It is the opposite of alpa or little" . It is not about meaures or units

( itthahayathu ,IvvaLavuLLathu) of wealth but it is about the immensity ( limitless )

auspicious ( KalyANa) guNams : " Vaipulya GuNOthkarsha roopam na thu

parimANa roopam " Vaipulyam means abundance . GuNOthkarsham means

celebrated auspicious qualities . It is about the abundant kalyANa guNams

of Mother Lakshmi and Her BhUmA . Sri Devi is the aasrayam ( abode )

for this abundance( vaipulyam ) . She is therefore " Vaipulyaasraya dharmi ".

 

Such is the glory of Sri DEvi celebrated in the 2nd slOkam of SrI Sthuthi.

( GuNOthkarsha roopam and not PariNAma roopam) .

 

Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan

 

An Appeal to AaasthikAs to support the Kaimkaryam for a Celebrated AchAryan

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Follwing Srimath Azhagiya Singar's niyamanam , adiyEn is cordinating this

Kaimkaryam on Sri HayagrIva Jayanthi ( Sep 14) . We have recieved so far pledges

and matching funds to the tune of $3500 . We have some way to go !

 

adiyEn requests all the sishyAs and abhimAnis of SrI Matam to take part

in this kaimkaryam to honor one of the greatest YathiswarALs to continue with His many

MalOla PaadhukA sevaka kaimkaryams as He approaches His 79th Thirunakshathram .

 

Please let me know of your pledges to the limit of your abilities .You can send

your tax deductible checks to Ahobila Mutt , North America now or at a future

date but not later than the Third week of November 2005 . The Url for address is :

 

http://www.ahobilamutt.org .

 

At this time , adiyEn is mostly interested in learning about your pledges .

Thank you .

 

SrImath Azhaagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Daasan ,Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan