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Slokam 28
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Today , adiyEn will cover the Twenty eighth slOkam
of Sri SaraNAgathi DhIpikai , where Swamy Desikan
describes the JOy of the Lord in welcoming the MahAns,
who have performed Prapatthi at His feet with
unshakable faith in the fruition of that Prapatthi
(UpAya anushtAanam):
arTAntharEshu vimukhAn adhikAra haanE:
sraddhA-dhanAn Thvadh anubhUthi viLambha-bhIthAn
DhIpaprakAsa labhasE suchirAth kruthIva
nyasthAthmana: Tava padhE nibruthAn PrapannAn
-SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai: SlOkam 28
Meaning:
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Oh ViLakkoLi PerumALE! There are many great ones , who are eager
to perform nithya kaimkaryam at Your holy feet at Sri Vaikuntam
after gaining Moksham . They conclude that they do not have
the capabilities to practise Bhakthi yOgam. They are also afraid that
Bhakthi yOgam will take too long to bear fruit . They are realistic
about the many obstacles in completing successfuly Bhakthi yOgam
to gain moksha siddhi. Therefore they stay away from the anushtAnam
of Bhakthi yOgam and opt for the simpler and surer route of Prapatthi
yOgam. They have unshakable faith in the power of prapathti to gurantee
them mOksham and place their aathmA at Your holy feet thru the enactment
of BharanyAsam. After that , they live a care free life since they are
confident that thier prapatthi will surely bear fruit. Oh Lord ! You
have been quite eager to acquire such mahAthmAs . Now that You have
succeeded in acquiring them , You consider Yourself as the most
fortunate One !
Additional Comments :
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Swamy Desikan pays tribute to the MahAns , who elect to perform
Prapatthi at the holy feet of the Lord instead of pursuing Bhakthi
yOgam for gaining Moksham. Swamy Desikan points out that these
great and wise ones know that they do not have the wherewithall
to practise Bhakthi yOgam ( adhikAra HaanE:). Such wise ones with
discriminating intellect are therefore not intersted in pursuing
upAyams other than Prapatthi.They look away from all the upAyams
other than Prapatthi ( arTAntharEshu vimukhA:) . They posses
the unique wealth of MahA VisvAsam in Prapatthi as the upAyAm
that will grant them mOksham without fail ( SraddhA dhanA:).
Having that frame of mind , they are afraid to lose any time
through pursuit of upAyAms that take inordinately long time to
gain mOksha sukham and ParipoorNa nithya kaimkaryam to the Lord
at Sri Vaikuntam. Therefore , these PrapannAs hasten to place
their aathmAs at His sacred feet and become tranquil threafter
( Tava padhE nyastha aathmana: nibhruthAn bhavathi). Our Lord has
been patiently waiting for them to complete Prapatthi . He becomes
elated now over gaining them as PrapannAs and considers Himself as
the most fortunate one ( NibruthAn prapannAn suchirAth kruthIva
labhasE).
Through the utterance of "nama-ukthi" , the mumukshu ( one who
desires Moksham ) becomes a Prapannan . Our Lord , who is both
the PrApakan and PrApyan ( the means and the goal) lifts up
the prapannan and embraces that prapannan with joy .
The prapannan has now becoem " Brahma Samsthan" and attains
immortality as celebrated by ChAndhOgya Upanishad
(Brahma-samsthOamruthatatvamEthi). Mundaka Upanishad points out
that the Prapannan is like a flying arrow towards the target of
the Lord through the enactment of Prapatthi. Lord is immensely
pleased with the prapannan , who has heeded all the instructions
that He gave through Veda manthrams and Upanishad manthrams
and in Smruthi ( TamEva SaraNam gaccha sarva bhaavEna Bhaaratha,
Sarva DharmAn parithyajya MaamEkam saraNam vraja). Our Lord's
joy knows no bounds . He feels like the happy farmer , who toiled
hard to plant and watch over crops . The grand harvest is now in
and the Lord feels like a MahA BhAgyasaali ( KruthI iva jvalathi).
His vaathsalyam for the Prapannan flows like a dam that has broken
its sluices and drenches the Prapannan with the nectar of
ParipoorNa BrhmAnandham.