SrI:
SrI:
Dear AasthikAs :
I am delighted to forward a note
from
Sriman Muralidhar Rangaswamy
,
a Saama Vedhin himself on the first posting
on Deva-Rishi-Pithru TarpaNam
.
I welcome his insightful
inputs
and I ams ure you will enjoy
them
as well .
V.Sadagopan
Moderator
Sri:
SrimatE Gopaladesika
MahadesikAya Namaha, Dear Sriman Sadagopan
Swamin, Thanks a lot for your
wonderful kaimkaryam in summarizing the significance of the Deva-Rishi-Pithru
TarpaNams pertaining to the Sama Veda Upakarma. As you rightly noted, the first
tarpaNam is for Agni in keeping with the Vedic dictum- agniravama: viShNu:
parama: Paramapadavasi
Mahavidwan U.Ve. Sri Mukkur Lakshminarasimhachariar Swamin beautifully expounds
on the importance of agni karyam in his Srimad Bhgavatam upanyasam as "The term
agni means agram nayathIthyagni:, i.e., that which elevates us from our present
state to a higher state is known as agni. How is this related to emperumAn? The
answer lies in the Narayana Sooktam rk "thasya madhyE mahAnagnir vishvAkshir
vishvaThOmuKha:" and the vedic salutation in Ghanam form agnEr mahAn mahAn agnEr
agnEr mahan. The term mahan denotes one who is not deficient in any respect and
therefore, the Vedic tributes are unmistakably directed to Lord Narayana alone
and none else. The Rg Veda Mantram agnEnaya supathArAyE asmAn vishvAni dhEva
vayunAni vidvAn yuyOdhyasmajjurANamEna: BhUyiShtAnthE nama ukthim viDhEma
glorifies Lord Narayana in the form of Agni. This is also the concluding mantram
of the Isavasya Upanishad, which majestically highlights the loftiness of Lord
Narayana in the process of SharaNagati. SushtupathA supathA means the
right path. The opening part of this mantram declares: Oh Agni! You who elevates
us from our present state to an exalted state know everything about everything
in the universe (jathAni sarvANi vethIthi jAthavEdha: and vEthIthi vidvan)! I am
incapable of discerning the right path from the incorrect path. My pile of sins
precludes me from realizing this. Therefore, please lead me on the correct path
by destroying my sin pile and elevate me. For this great upakAram of yours I who
am rooted in penury can offer nothing in return except repeatedly submitting
with folded hands the vedic salutation nama:" Elsewhere Sri Mukkur
Swamin notes: "Swami Desikan comments on the significance of the salutation
nama: in Srimad RahasyatrayasAram as thAram pUrvam thadhanuhrudhayam, which
summarizes the import of nama: as the performance of sharaNagati. A second
meaning of nama: is also provided by Swami Desikan as "na mama", i.e., not
mine-who then does this belong to? The atma is irrevocably the property of
EmperumAn, at whose feet it is being rightfully restored. Consequently, bereft
of ahamkaram and mamakaram (the sense of I and my), the jivatma places
everything sentient and insentient at its disposal for the sole purpose of
performing Kaimkaryam to Lord Narayana." Sri Mukkur Swamin
continued: "Another important
vedic prayer for agni is anEthEjasvin thejasvithvam dhEvEShuBhUyasthEjasvantham
mA Ayushvantham varchasvantham manuShyEShu kuru, which means Oh Agni! Just as
you are resplendent, luster-filled, and possessed of great strength among the
dhEvas so too please bless me to be filled with radiance, strength and long life
among mortals. Reciting this prayer , one must perform agni karyam. This agni
arises from Samidh samidhBi: indhathaithi sAmiDhEni. Vedam has mantrams
including sAmiDhEni in clusters of 15, 17 etc panchadhasha sAmiDhEniranvA:
sapthadhasha sAmiDhEniranvA:, ekavigamshathigam sAmiDhEniranvA:" Sri Swamin
rendered an agni upasana mantram in Ghanam form (which takes nearly 15 minutes
to render, extremely complicated with sandhis and is the passage of choice for
examiners when students of the Vedam appear for Ghana
parikshai)." Focussing on agni
itself a little more helps illustrate the connection to Lord Narayana. The first
aksharam of agni is "a". This is also the opening aksharam of PraNavam, which
unambiguously declares the supremacy of Lord Narayana. Next, it is extremely
auspicious. The fact that the Rg samhita and Sama samhita commence with "a" bear
eloquent testimony to this fact. Also, it is the aksharam with which all Vedic
renditions begin and that which is the subject of enquiry by all Vedanta (the
concluding portion of the Vedas or the Upanishads) "yadhvEdhAthO svaraprOkthO
vedhAnthEcha prathiShTithoU" Not to be outdone, the Brahma Sutras too
commence with "athAthO brahma jignyAsA" (May we begin our enquiry of Brahman).
The Bhakti sUtras of Narada too recognize the importance of "a" in the opening
salutation "anirvachanIyam Bhakthi svarUpam". Also "a" is that aksharam of the
Devanagari alphabet without which no consonant can exist. In a like fashion
nothing in the universe exists without the support of Paramatma (anthar bahischa
thath sarvam vyApya nArAyaNasthitha:) . Lord KrishNa too declares his fondness
for the aksharam "a" in the Bhagavadgita salutation "aksharANAm akArOsmi" (among
the aksharas I denote "a"). Keeping these facts in mind, Tiruppan Azhwar
commences his amalaNAdhipirAn with the aksharam "a". Swami nammAzhwar commences
his SharaNagati to the Lord of the Seven Hills with the aksharam "a" in the
famous ahalaillEn pasuram. Sri Bhashyakarar follows the lead of the Azhwars by
commencing the SriBhashyam with the salutation "aKhila Bhuvana janma" further
emphasizing the connection of the aksharam "a" to Lord Narayana. Finally, Swami
Desikan commences four of his sotrams with the aksharam "a" (Bhagavadh DhyAna
Sopanam, nyAsa dashakam, aBhIthi sthavam, and Garuda panchashath) as well as his
munivahana Bhogam commentary with the aksharam "a" in keeping with the lead of
the Vedas, Bhagavad Gita, Brahma sUthras, Azhwar Prabandham, and Sri Bhashyam.
Therefore, the connection to Lord Narayana comes through with amazing clarity in
the opening aksharam of agni itself. Namo
Narayana, SriMuralidhara
Dasan From:
SrI: YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
__,_._,___ |
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
oppiliappan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |