Sri Lakshmi Sahasram 17.5

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear MahA Lakshmi BhakthAs :

 

On this PaarTiva Panguni Utthiram day , when our SaamrAjya DhAyini ,

Sri Ranga NaacchiyAr reigns supreme in yEkAsanam with Her Lord

in the kalyANa MaNTapam at Srirangam , let us study the next slOkam

of Lakshmi Sahasram :

 

AamnAya-dugdha-jaladhEramrutham madhamBha

nithyadhvishAm praharaNE druhiNAsthramanthra:

NaarAyaNasya kila nithyajapas-thvadheeyam

nAma prakalbhatamam abhyudhayam tanOthu

 

Anvaya Kramam( Prose Order) : MadhamBha ! (Tava Naama:) AamnAya-dugdha-

jaladhE: amrutham , nithyadhvishAm praharaNE dhruiNAsthramanthra:, NaarayaNasya

kila nithyajapa: , prakalpatamam Thvadheeyam nAma: abhyudhayam tanOthu .

 

(Meaning): Oh My dear Mother ! Your names are glorious in many ways. They are

the essence of the four Vedams just like the nectar is the auspoicious essence of

the milky ocean . Your nAmAs destroy utterly the eternal enemies of ours like

Kaamam , anger(krOdham ) , jealousy et al. Your nAmAs are like the never failing

BrahmAsthram in destroying these ancient and persistent enemies . Your namAs

are very dear to Your Lord for His own Japam . May Your auspicious nAmAs spread

srEyas ( MangaLam) everywhere !

 

The key prayer in this slOkam is : " Madhambha! Pragalbhatamam Thvadheeyam nAma: abhyudhayam tanOthu " ( Oh My Mother ! May Your sacred and most powerful nAmAs of

Yours spread everywhere srEyas that grants long life , freedom from diseases ,

strength , tranquility , freedom from fear of every kind , destruction of the six enemies

such as Kaamam , Madham , KrOdham , lObham , Moham and Maatsaryam !).

 

Commentray on the words and Passages of the slOkam

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AamnAya dugdha jaladhE: amrutham: Your nAmAs are the nectar arising from

the milky ocean constituted by the four Vedhams . That nectar arose from

the "AamnAya dugdha jaladhi " ( Vedams in the form of the milky ocean) .

The churning of that ocean yielded the essence of the Vedams : Your nAmAs.

 

Vedam and the oceans have these items in common: (1) Both are

deep , broad , expansive and " shoreless " . (2) Milky Ocean has

precious gems like Kousthubham , where as the Vedams have

priceless Mantra rathnams. (3) Our Lord rests in both the milky

ocean and the Vedams . The quintessence of Vedams is Your

nAmAs just as the amrutham is the essence of the milky ocean.

 

amrutham: Amrutham is delectable to taste , gives longevity , strength and

nourishment (Aayus , AarOggyam , Pushti and Balam). Similarly , recitation of

Your delectable nAmAs blesses us with all of the above anugrahams.Hence

it is appropriate to name Your nAmAs as Veda Saara amrutham .

 

nithya dhvishAm praharaNE dhruhiNAsthra mantra: Our ever present enemies

are six fold : desire , anger at not getting what we desire , greed to assemble

worthless things , arrogance about kulam , education , wealth , jealousy and

delusion resulting from the poor understanding of the Tatthva Thrayam . These

six eternal enemies hold us back from making any progress in our sAdhanAs .

They are Moksha VirOdhis. Your nAmAs have the same unfailing effect such as

BrahmAsthram , which destroys anything against which it is aimed at ( the eye of

KaakAsuran , RaavaNa Vadham etc) . Your nAmAs have the same power in destroying

thoroughly our six ancient enemies that set traps for us constantly . Both Your nAmAs

and BrahmAsthram never fail in their missions .

 

NaarAyaNasya kila nithya japa: ( Thvadheeya nAma:) = Your sacred nAmAs are

the objects of the unceasing meditation by Your Lord. Recitation of Your nAmAs have

the same effect as the recitation of Your Lord's names for us. We recite Your names

out of reverence for You as our dear Mother. Your Lord recites Your names out of

Vaathsalyam ( deep affection ) for You .Our goal in reciting Your nAmAs is for sva-rakshai

( self-protection ) . This we do during the Urdhva PUNDra dhAraNam by invoking

Your Lord's nAmAs ( KesavAdhi dhvAdasa nAmAs ) with Yours starting from " Sriyai

nama: to MahA Lakshmyai nama:" Your Lord recites Your nAmAs for invigorating

Him in the sport of protecting the world that He created . Thus , such recitations become

"nithya japam" for Him . There are three kinds of Japams: "Nithya , Naimitthika and

Kaamya Japams" . The kind that Your Lord performs is of the category of Nithya Japam

or must do category like sandhyA vandhanam for us .

 

Pragalbatamam: The ascending degrees of superiority are indicated by Pragalpam ,

Pragalpataram and Pragalpatamam . Your nAmAs are in the category of Pragalpatamam

or the most powerful and benovolent. Just as nectar is the most superior among the entities

of food , just as BrahmAsthram is the most invincible among the categories of weapons ,

just as the love for the Lord is the best among the categories of hitham , Your nAmAs are

the most powerful since they combine the aspects of amrutham , BrahmAsthram and

Bhagavath preethi . That is why they are the best among the bests.

 

abhyudhayam tanOthu: May those auspicious nAmAs of Yours confer on the reciter

sarva mangaLams ( Aayus , AarOgyam , dhruDa gAthram , Pushti , Saanthy , abheethi ,

dhaivAnugraham and Bhagavath Preethi !

 

Panguni Utthram day : sErthi dinam at Srirangam !

NamO Sri RanganAyaki samEtha SriranganATAya Nama:

RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan