Sri Lakshmi Sahsram : 17.14 and 17.15

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SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs of MahA Lakshmi:

 

In this 14th slOkam , Sri VenkatAdhri Kavi expresses his (limiting) incapabilities

and concedes that he has chosen for that reason Sri Lakshmi Naama sankeerthanam

alone for his redemption from the ill effects of SamsAram:

 

na hi nanthum AnanathameesmahE

na cha nirmANa-kaTAapi karmaNAm

KamalE kali-bhee nivartanam

kalayAmas-tava nAma keerthanam

 

(Prose Order): Ananatham nanthum na yeesmahE hi ; cha karmANam nirmAna

kaTA api na; KamalE kali bhee nivartanam Tava nAma keerthanam kalayAma:

 

(Meaning): Oh MahA Lakshmi (KamalE ) ! We are unable to offfer our worship to

Your Lord having the name of Ananathan ( the limitless One) . We do not even budge

an inch towards the observanc eof YaagAs or Yaj~nAs. We are only engaged in

the recitation of Your sacred names to chase away the fear caused by this Kali yugam .

 

We have concluded that Karma yOgam and Bhakthi yOgam are difficult to practise

by us. We have therefore stayed away from traveling on these bumpy routes to Moksham .

PurANa vachanam states that the phalans of performing Yaagams and Yaj~nams in

the other Yugams are achieved by the sankeerthanam of Your nAmAs alone in Kali Yugam .

Therefore, we as incompetent ones in performing difficult YaagAs have elected instead

to sing Your NaamAs and eulogize You . Such an act on our part removes the fears of

living in Kali Yugam , where the dharmam is forever on decline.

 

VenkatAdhri Kavi has performed many Yaagams and Yaj~nams and has been honored

with the title of "asthOkAdhvari" . For him , the performance of Yaagams and Yaj~nams

are like a child's play . For us only , such activities are beyond our capabilities. The poet

has us hence in mind , when he refers to the powerless folks and identifies with them

as those engaged in the easy anushtAnam of Naama Sankeerthanam of Lakshmi's nAmAs.

 

SlOkam 17.15 : The powerful nAmAs of Lakshmi that chase away all kinds of tApams

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vividhAni tavAdhunA thu nAma

vyasanAnyaBdhisuthE dhunAthu nAma

api yajjapatha: kalAvahAni

syuramunyajjvaladhee-kalAvahAni

 

( Prose Order): aBdhisuthE ! vividhAni vyasanAni Tava nAma adhunA thu dhunAthu nAma.

api yath japatha: kalou amUni ahAni ujjvala dhee kalA AavahAni syu:

 

(Meaning): Oh Daughter of the Ocean ! May the power of Your sacred nAmAs chase away

immediately the varieties of dangers that we come across and free us of our many bad practises

that we are engaged in ! further , for the reciter of Your dhivya nAmams in this Kali Yugam ,

the days become filled with the lustre of growing true Jn~Anam about Tatthva Thrayams .

 

Oh MahA Lakshmi , the daughter of the Milky Ocean ! By reciting Your nAmAs , all of our

samsAric dukkhams are blown away. Those who recite Your nAmAs with MahA ViswAsam

and Bhakthi are transformed into evolved souls with increasing Jn~Anam about arTa

Panchakam . The various dangers ( Taapa Thrayam) that they are exposed to , are

shaken off . Our medhA expands ( ujjvala dhee: vilAsam ). Our intellects are

purified ( dhiyO yO na: prachOdhayAth) . asankuchitha ( unshrinking) Jn~Anam

obtainable only at Moksha dasai results . All bad habits take flight. The poet says that

all of these bhAgyams are realized by those who recite the nAmAs of Parama Paavana

MahA Lakshmi.

 

In this slOkam , Sriman KaNNan Swamy points out that the Kavi uses

the PrAsam and SlEsham together at two places . SlEsham is pun and

PrAsam is alliteration . These are two figures of speech that are used

in a beautiful manner here .

 

In the first paadham of this slOkam , we come across "adhunA thu nAma" ;

in the second paadham , the word group is " dhunA thu naama" . The meanings

however are different in the two Paadhams but the sound effects are similar.

 

The third and the fourth paadhams end with the same word : " KalAvahAni " .

The meanings however are different based on splitting of this compound word.

"kalAvahAni" can be split as Kalou+ ahAni ( the days in kali yugam ) or kalA + AavahAni

( the acquisition of the various Kalais due to the acquisition of the sharpened

intellect /ujjvala dhee:).

 

Sri VenkatAdhri Kavi 's sense of humor and poetic greatness is evident here

and is recognized as the result of MahA Lakshmi's ParamAnugraham .

 

Sri PadhmAvathy SamEtha Sri SrinivAsa ParabrahmaNE nama:

Daasan , Oppiliappan KOil VaradAchAri Sadagopan