Acharya vaibhavam - 23- Sri Mahalakshmi, recommendation role as well as the upaaya, upEya roles

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SraimathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dearest all,

 

Let us enjoy Sri Mahalskhmi’s unmatched and unique

status, Someone enquired me as to how can both be

Paratvam. Here is what I had read and gathered from

Poorvars and other wonderful books.

 

Purushakartvam of Goddess Sri Mahalakshmi- This is

related to the role of Her in the manner of Her

serving as upaayam or the means to those who seek

moksha and also grant moksha. Purushakaratva or

recommendation role attributed to Mahalakshmi is also

described by Swami Desikan in Nyasa thilakam.

 

pirATTi's purushakAratva (recommendation, support,

advocacy): The only thing that is in between us and

SrIviakunTham is the enormous sins that we have

committed. The only prAyaScitta that is available to

most of us for our heaps of sins is prapatti. The

greatness and efficacy of prapatti has been taught to

us by bhagavAn in His rAma and kr*shNa incarnations,

and also by the great sages and AcArya-s. As the

first step in seeking prapatti, we should seek the

protection of our divine Mother, pirATTi, who speaks

for us and pleads for us with bhagavAn –tadArambhe

tasyAh giram avadhAnena manasA akhila nAthasya ekAm

ahishIm tAm Sriyam prapadye (Slokam 3). In lakshmi

tantra, pirATTi's words to us are: " Surrender to Me

when you perform the prAyaScitta for your sins " .

 

" prAyaScitta prasange tu sarva pApa samudbhave

|

mAm ekAm devadevasya mahishIm saraNam Srayet ||

 

As our divine Mother, She takes the responsibility to

plead our case when bhagavAn is vexed with our

enormous sins. Without Her pleading our case, we have

no chance of approaching Him (adhr*shyatvam -

non-approachability - Slokam 4).

 

 

 

SrI D.rAmasvAni aiye~ngAr points out that SrI rAmAnuja

in his SaraNAgati gadyam, also first seeks pirATTi's

Grace, and after obtaining Her blessing, performs

prapatti at the feet of the Lord. SrI deSika follows

SrI rAmAnuja in performing SrI prapatti here. This is

also called purushakAra prapatti.

 

[Thanks to Sri N. Krishnamachari swami for the

reference].

Further, her roles are rakshakatva, upAyathva, moksha

pradathva etc. The two roles are not mutually

contradictory. She can play the role of a mediator and

also serve as upAya for moksha. The Dwaya mantra if

properly interpreted reveals that Sri along with

Sriman Narayana is both upaaya and upEya.

 

As Goddess Lakshmi is on par with VishNu in all

respects and the two together, as inseparably related

constitute like One Reality [aprathak siddhantha

visEshana Vedanta] and that both partake in all the

divine functions including upaayatva and

mokshapradatva. VishNu puraaNa clearly states that

Lakshmi is giver of moksha [vimukti phaladayini]. The

hymns of Nammazhwar using the expressions irumai vinai

kadivare and vEri maaRaadha poo mEliruppAL vinai

theerkkumE.. convey the idea, as explained by PiLLaan,

that the Supreme Lord along with His beloved consort

removes the sins standing as obstacles for attaining

God. The statement pf Vadakku ThiruveedhipiLLai, if

properly interpreted, affirms explicitly that the

divine couple alone is the goal without any

distinction both at the time of approaching [the

Divine Being for Self-Surrender] and also at the tile

of enjoyment [when rendering Divine service in mOksha]

 

 

‘AshrayaNa vaeLaiyOdu bhOga vaeLaiyOdu vaasiaRa oru

mithunamE uddhESyam].

 

Vishnu pathnee and Sriya: Pathi are the means and the

end

asmadhAchArya paryanthAm vandhE GuruparamaparAm

Regards

Namo Narayana

dAsan