Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 7:52
PM
Subject: Re: [Oppiliappan] seethaa raama
kalyaanam 3
Dear Sirs,
forgive me for this e-mail.
Seetha Devi is Maha Lakshmi herself, how then is she the
avatharam of Bhumi Devi ??
Very sorry, for this question .
adiyen
RESPONSE:
Dear SrI Venkat : These confusions arise
from our attempts
to reconcile PurANams , IthihAsams (
UpabrahmaNams)
with Sruthi and Aagamam
.
Let me assemble some thoughts on Mahaa
Lakshmi ,
BhUmi DEvi , SithA Piratti and other
divine consorts
of the Lord :
The theological and ontological
relationships of Goddess
Sri and othe Devis of the Lord need some
comments in
this context of potential confusion
.
For Swami Desika SampradhAyam
, Mahaa Lakshmi
is on a par with Her Lord , VishNu & enjoys equal status
with Him and is
a Vibhu ( commented in detail
in SrI Sthuthi
and also in his commentaries on SrI Sthavam
by Swami Desikan ) .
PaancharAthra Agamam ( Lakshmi Tantram)
points
out that Sri Devi is different from
BhU Devi and
NeeLA DEvi saluted in BhU Sooktham and
NeeLaa Sooktam ; Purusha
Sooktham and
Hari Vamsa ( appendix of Mahaa BhArathA
)
again point out that BhU DEvi is distinct
from
SrI DEvi .
The questions arising are
:
1) Are both of them consorts of the Lord
?
2) What is the ontological status of Bhu
devi
with respect to Sri DEvi
?
PurANa , ithihAsa , Sruthi pramANams
assert
that both are VishNu Pathnis . Swamy
Desikan has
composed seperate sthOthrams for them as
well
as for GodhA Piratti to indcate that they
are distinct
consorts of the Lord
.
From the ontological point of view ,
BhU Devi and
NeeLaa DEvi are regarded as
two ASPECTS ( AMSAAS)
OF VISHNU
SAKTHI , WHICH ACCORDING TO
PaancharAthra
Aagamam is the VERY GODDESS
LAKSHMI .
BhU Devi is the aspect of
Kshamaa /tolerance of
Lakshmi and is worshipped
with latter as Ubhaya
NaacchiyAr without
affecting the unitary character of
Mahaa Lakshmi as the
inseperable consort ( anapAyini)
of the Lord enjoying the
same status as Her Lord
( yEka Seshithva Yogam , as
the means and the goal) .
VishvaksEna samhithai
points out that BhU and NeeLA
DEvis are not Vibhus like
Mahaa Lakshmi and yet both
are dear to Sriman narayaNa
and are His consorts .
Ashta Lakshmis are also
considered secondary manifestations
of Mahaa lakshmi presiding over 8 sources of
wealth .
SithA Piraati and AndaL were ayOnijais ( not
born out of
human womb) but were discovered by Janakar and
PeriyAzhwAr
at the end of their furrows( SithA ) when
they were ploughing
the land . According to Srimad RamAyaNam , SithA
came out of
the Earth ( Bhu Devi) and returned to Her Mother
Earth at
the end of Her avathAra Kaaryam . BhU devi is
also the Mother of
NarakAsura in our PurANams (Srimadh BhAgavatham)
and
SathyabhAma is considered an amsam of
BhU DEvi . RukmiNi
is Mahaa Lakshmi in KrishNAvathAram
.
In summary , BhU devi and SrI Devi are both the
dear wives
of the Lord . One is reminded of the
IsAvAsyOpanishad
passage ( PoorNasya PoorNamAdhaya
poorNamEvAvaSishyathE)
and Upanishad BhAshyakArar's commentary passage
:
" svaroopathO dharmathO vaa anyaTAthvam gacchath
bhOgya - bhOkthru roopam vasthu jjatham " .
The PoorNathvam
of Mahaa Lakshmi and BhOgya roopam of NeeLA DEvi
can be
understood from here . One can visualize a
similar ontological
status for BhUmi DEvi as an amsam of Mahaa
Lakshmi ,
while both are the dear consorts of Lord VishNu
.
Mahaa Lakshmi has three different roles in a
VishNu Temple ;
She has Her own Sannidhi( TanikkOil
NaacchiyAr as Sri RanganAyaki)
or stays on the side of the Lord as one of the
Ubhaya NaacchiyAr or
stays on His chest as Vakshasthala Lakshmi
.
As TanikkOil NaachiyAr without Her Lord and is
known
as AdhikAra
archai . We pray to Her First before we go
in to offer worship to Her Lord .
As BhOga
Archai , She is by the side of Her Lord
as Jaanaki at MadhurAnthakam , BhUmi Devi at
Oppiliappan Sannidhi , VanjuLavalli at NaacchiyAr
Koil or at most of the Sannidhis as one of the
Ubhaya
NaaccimAr .
As LayArcha Moorthy , She stays on the chest of
the Lord to
plead for Her children , who anger Her Lord thru
their satha kOti
aparAdhams .
Swamy ParAsara Bhattar identified Sri RanganAyaki
with
SithA PirAtti and took Her side ( Vide : GuNa
Rathna Kosa
SlOkams : Sundarasimham e-book 38 :
Tathtvam are housed in Swamy Desikan's commentary
on
ChathusslOki and KurEsar's SrI Sthavam .These are
also
archived in SundaraSimham.org e-books reelased
last year .
SrI RanaganAyakai NamO Nama:
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan
consoidered