Acharya vaibhavam - 19- Divya Dampathi is our Master; They are the Way and the Goal...

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika Mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dearest all,

 

We were enjoying the greatness of Sri Mahalakshmi...

let us continue to enjoy the vaibhavam of our Mother..

 

It is Sriya: Pathih and VishNu pathnI- the Divya

Dampathi who " is " our SaraNyam and Praapyam. There is

NONE or any recourse for us except Them -who is our

means and the End; the way and the Goal.

 

pEyAzhwAr says beautifully in his first pAsuram of

moonRaam Thiruvandhaadhi " ,

 

" thirukkaNedEn ponmEni kaNdEn- thigazhum/

arukkan aNi niRamum kaNdEn- serukkiLarum/

ponnAzhi kaNdEn puri sangham kai kaNdEn/

ennaazhi vaNNan paal ninRu.

 

Look at the lovely words. Firstly, AzhwAr starts off

with Thiru kaNdEn. I saw Lakshmi PiraaTTi. - where did

he see? " en aazhi vaNNan paal in my dark coloured

Emperumaan's ThirumEni (Divine body).

 

Pon mEni kaNdEn.

 

the colour of the Mother is Golden (hiraNya varNaam

hariNIm..) the Golden colour and the dark hued

Emperumaan's colour are so nicely superimposed so that

it appears like that of Sun's rays on lustrous

Maragatha Mani (rays of the lustrous Sun on Emerald

stone..) Sri Periyavaacchaan PiLLai says " this is

like that of light warm Sun's ray on a rainy season

" iLa veyyil.. " .

 

pEyAzhwAr further says in the last paasuram " saarvu

namakku enRum chakkaratthaan.. thEn amarum poomEl

Thiru " . The Goddess who sits on the Honey dripping

Lotus Flower- periya PiraaTTi - is the Saarvu

(meaning: SaraNyam as well as Praapyam)- She is the

upaayam and the upEyam as well. the Means as well as

the End.

 

ALavandhAr in the first verse of chathusslOkI,

establishes the equal status of PiraaTTi with Her

consort. She enjoys an equal status and rules the

physical and the transcendental universe. She

possesses like Her Lord, Svarupam , Rupam, GuNam and

Vibhavam . She shares in equal measure the six

auspicious GuNAs of Her consort (Bhagawan) - JnAnam ,

Bhalam , Iswaryam , Veeryam, Sakthi , and Tejas . This

Nitya Sri surpasses in some regards Her Lord as a

result of Her motherly qualities such as DayA

(Compassion), KshamA (forgivenness ) , Vaatsalya

(affection and love ) just as a mother has for her

children . She showers us with Her blessings

(anugrahams ) and grants us Aiswaryam , Kaivalyam and

Moksham.

 

Ramanujacharya, too requests the Mother in SaraNAgathy

Gadyam, addressing Her with Her all auspicious

qualities with which she surpasses Her Consort even.

Ramanujacharya surrenders to this Supreme Divine

Mother (Deva Deva Divya Mahishi), as the Mother of the

Universe (akilajaganmaathaa) ; but immediately adds..

``my Mother'' (asmad maatharam). Indeed, her

compassion is unlimited. Ramanujacharya pleads to the

Mother for the bhakti / devotion that draws to the

Supreme (Para Bhakti), the wisdom or jnAnam that the

Lord grants (Para JnAnam) and the inability to move

away from that Divine Glorious Vision (Parama Bhakti)

and Ramanujacharya prays that this togetherness be

ever in him always (``avirathaasthu me''). The Mother

looks at Ramanuja with affection and speaks: ``asthu

the.. . tayaiva sarvam sampasyathe'' Let that be so.-

All your pleas be fulfilled- let all those who belong

to you be blessed with them too! " . What a merciful

Mother!

 

It is our most merciful Mother Sri Mahalakshmi, Sri

Sadagopan Iyengar Swami writes, whom we have to thank

for our being fortunate enough to attain a human

birth, for if She had not so willed, we would still be

indistinguishably bundled up with non-sentient beings,

in a state of semi-existence that follows every

pralaya (achit avisishtAn pralayE jantoon " -Sri Daya

Satakam). That this world of sentient and non-sentient

beings would not have been born at all, but for the

enlivening glance of Piratti, is brought out by Sri

Alavandar in ChatusslOki- " eeshat tvat karuNA

nirIkshaNa sudhA sandhukshanAt rakshyatE- nashtam prAk

tat alAbhata: tribhuvanam samprati anantOdayam " .

 

We have been used to thinking that Emperuman creates

this world out of infinite mercy, to enable jeevatmas

to endeavour for liberation by adopting a suitable

strategy therefor. Wrong, says Sri Parasara Bhattar.

Much as a new groom flaunts His prowess before his

bride, the Lord too indulges in Creation to " show off "

to Piratti. This is akin to a peacock unfurling all

its glorious feathers, in a bid to impress its mate.

Sri Bhattar makes fun of the Lord in the following

sloka from Sri GunaratnakOsam-

 

" PraLaya samaya suptam svam sareera EkadEsam

Varada chitachit Akhyam vistruNAna:

 

Kachitam iva kalApam chitram Adadya dhoonvan

Anusikhini sikhIva krIdasi SrI samaksham " .

 

If further proof were needed of the Lord's abject

surrender, it is provided by His making His in-laws'

house His permanent residence. Emperuman resides with

pleasure in the Milky Ocean (TiruppArkadal), which is

after all the birthplace of Mahalakhmi ( " KshIrOdajE "

" Samudra tanayAm " etc). And He is so enamored of His

bride that He can hardly let Her out of His sight, and

insists on Her staying extremely close to Him, in fact

on His chest ( " agalakillEn irayum endru alarmEl mangai

urai marba " ). These provide a clear indication of who

calls the shots in the Divine Household.

 

It is thus not surprising to learn that Emperuman's

identity, as the Supreme Lord, is itself proved only

through His association with Piratti ( " SvarUpa

nirUpaka dharmam " ). It is for this reason that

Azhwars address Him tirelessly and variously as

follows-

 

" TirumagaL sEr mArban "

" Tirumangai nindraruLum deivam "

" Tiruvudai adigaL "

" Tirumangai tannOdum tigazhgindra TirumAlAr "

" MalarAL maNavALan " etc. etc.

 

Conversely, deities like Brahma and Shiva, though

powerful by themselves, do not enjoy the Supremacy and

glory of Sriman Narayana, as they are not associated

with Piratti, and, as such, are not to be venerated,

says Sri Tirumazhsai Azhwar- " Tiru illA dEvarai

tErElmin dEvu " . All of Emperuman's glory is due to His

being the husband of Piratti, says Srimad Ramayana(

" SitAyA: charitam mahat " )-

 

" apramEyam hi tat tEjO yasya sA JanakAtmaja " [Thanks

to Sri Sadagopan Iyengar swami for his wonderful write

up on PiraaTTi).

 

She along with PerumAL is the Parathvam and the Eka

sEshi for us. Eka Seshitvam refers to both Sri Devi

and Bhagawan together as the means and the goal

(upAyam and Upeyam )

Regards

asmadhAchArya paryanthAm vandhE GuruparamparAm

namo narayana

dAsan

 

 

 

 

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