SrI:
Dear BhakthAs :
Before Sunrise , adiyEn completed the morning anushtAnams
and headed for Lord RanganAthan's ThirukkOil with my nephew ,
SrikAnth .
" TuLavat-thoNDAya tol seert-ThoNDaradippodi soll"
( ThiruppaLLiyezucchi and ThriumAlai) was very much on mind
as we advanced through the quite streets of Srirangam in
the early morning .
Swamy Desikan's MangaLAsAsanam of Srirangam Koil
and its many splendoured Vaibhavam of Swamy Desikan
in Desika Prabhandham was going thru adiyEn's mind :
" AaarAtha amudham pothintha Koil
ambhuyatthOn AyOddhi mannaRkk-aLittha koil
tOlAtha tani Veeran thozhutha kOil
thuNayAna VibhIDaNaRkku thuNayAna Koil
sErAtha PayanellAm sErkkum Koil
SezhumaRayin mudhal yezhutthucch_chErntha Koil
theerAtha vinai anaitthum theerkkum Koil
THIRUVARANGAM yenat-thihazhum Koil thaanE "
Sriranga SthAna VisEsham is celebrated by
Swamy Desikan here :
He regonizes Srirangam as the abode of the insatiable
nectar , Sri RanganAthan ; He identifies this Koil as
the One gifted by Brahma DEvan to the kings of AyOddhi;
He salutes this Koil as the One where the aparAjithan ,
Sri Ramachandran worshipped and acquired the name as
Periya PerumAL ; He refers to this Koil as
the indispensable protection for VibhIshaNan , who
stood by the Lord's side during RaamAvathAram ;
Swamy Desikan recognizes this Koil as the One
that brings together all hard-to-unite purushArTams
effortlessly ; our AchAryan identifies this Koil
as the One united with the first letter of the Vedam ,
PraNavam , through its PraNavAkAra vimAnam ; this Koil
is further saluted as the one banishing all anAdhi karmAs
and shining radiantly as Thiruvarangam .
adiyEn reflected on ThOnDardippodi approaching
the inner sanctum thru the seven prAkArams
with freshly strung garlands of
TuLasi and multicolored flowers :
TamEva MatthvA ParavAsudEvam
RangEsayam rAjavadharhaNeeyam
prabhOdhakeem yO' krutha SookthimAlAm
BhakthAngri rENum BhagavanthameeDE
(Meaning ) : adiyEn prostrates before ThoNDaradippodi
( the dust particle of the Thiruvadi of the Lord's BhAgavathAs).
He blessed us with the ten Paasurams of ThiruppaLLyezucchi
to awaken Lord RanganAthan resting on Adhi Seshan
enjoying His yOga Nidhrai at His matchless temple
at Srirangam . He is the One and Only Supreme Lord
( Para VaasudEvan) who is qualified to recieve
the loftiest of adorations as the RaajAthi Raajan
of this entire Universe .
adiyEn reflected on the ten moving paasurams of
ThiruppaLLiyEzucchi that weaves in the thoughts of
ANDAL at SrivillipputthuR as She went around the streets
of that dhivya dEsam during "SiRRam SiRu Kaalai "
to awaken Her friends to join in the Govindha Naama
Sankeerthanam and to remind the Lord about the indissoluable
relationship between the Jeevans and ParamAthmA and to
instruct us on how to seek eternal Kaimkarya prApthi
at Parama Padham .
ThoNdaradippodi AzhwAr's description of the Sun rise at
the top of the eastern quarter ( guNa disai) , the disappearance
of the darkness of the night in favor of the spreading day light ,
the blossoming of the fragrant flowers , the arrival of the dEvAs ,
the tumult of the drums , the sound of MangaLa Vaadhyams like
VeeNai in front of Lord RanganAthA's garbhagraham are enshrined in
the First Paasuram .
In the second Paasuram , ThoNDaradippodi wakes up
the Lord of Rangam and reminds Him about the approaching
signs of the morning : gentle breeze from the East pregnant with
the fragrance of Jasmine flowers and the sound of the awakening of
the Swans from their lotus beds and shaking off the dew drops
from their broad and beautiful wings .
In the next three paasurams , AzhwAr notes the advancing
signs of the dawn and reminds the Lord that it is time for
Him to awaken and bless the ones assembled in front of
His Sannidhi : (1) the spreading of the morning light and
the diming of the stars , the gentle morning breeze
blowing with the sweet fragrance of open areca nut
flowers (2) rhythmic noise from the buffaloes moving toward
their pastures (3) the jingling naadham of the bells from
the necks of the cows as they go about grazing (4) the reenkAram
of honey bees in the rice fields as they leave their hives for
performing Hari Naama Sankeerthanam (5) the stirring of the birds
in their nests and their chirping to comfort their little hungry ones
(6) the distant sound of the waves breaking in the eastern ocean
( " Pulambina putkkaLum poompozhilhaLin vaay ,
pOyiRRuk-kangul puhanthathu pulari , kalanthathu
guNa disai kanaik-kadal aravam , kaLivaNDu--mizhaRRiya
kalambakam punaintha - - -" 5th Paasuram Excerpts ) .
By this time , the AzhwAr with His Flower garland container
has arrived in front of the Sannidhi of the Lord of Srirangam
and describes the scene that he sees there ( Paaurams 6-10):
There is an immense assembly of many gods with offerings
in their hands ; there is the auspicious cow , Kapilai ; there is
the GajEndhran bleating RangA , RangA ; the great maharishis like
Naarahdar along with Thumbhuru are seen their playing on
their VeeNAs ; the KinnarAs , GarudAs , GhandharvAs ,
chAraNaas , YakshAs and SiddhAs jostle for optimal
positions to have the best view of the Lord's Thiruvadi
as He awakens and blesses them ;the eleven RudrAs ,
the twelve adithyAs , SubramaNya , the ashta Vasus ,
the Maruths and other DEvAs are seen there . Lord
VishvaksEna is seen there with His cane to create
some order among the huge assembly of SEvArthees.
Now ThoNdardippodi standing amidst the company of
DEvAs and the AzhwArs that preceded him . He appeals to
the Lord of Srirangam this way in his final paasuram :
" Soozhpunal ArangA ! ----
todaiyattha tuLavamum koodayaum polinthu
thOnRiya thOL ThoNDardippodi Yennum
adiyEnai , aLiyan yenRu aruLi unnadiyArk-
kAdpadutthAi ! PaLLI yezhuntharuLAyE !
(Meaning ): Oh Lord of Srirangam surrounded by
the sacred waters of River KaavEri ( SahyarAja
Kanyai ) ! This is adiyEn's earnest appeal and
prayer to You during this day break ! Oh Lord of
Lords ! RanganAthA ! Please awaken and bless
adiyEn , Your humble bhakthan , to grow in Kaimkarya
SrI to Your BhaagavathAs and BhakthAs . Let me remind
You ( although You are omniscient ) that I am Your ardent
bhakthan with the name of ThoNDardippodi ( one who delights in
covering himself with the dust form the sacred feet of
Your BhakthAs ) , whose radiant shoulders always
carry the flower basket holding fragrant garlands and
fresh TuLasi leaves for Your alankAram and aarAdhanam!
May those offerings from Your nandhavanam please You
for Your adornment and enjoyment !
" adiyEnai , aLiyan yenRu aruLi UnnadiyArkku
aadpadutthAi " is the fervent prayer of the AzhwAr ,
who described himself as the BhakthAngri rENu .
AzhwAr reminds us of the utmost importance of
BhAgavatha SEvai in Sri VaishNavite tradition here .
The importance of "VaishNavAngri rajas Subham "
( auspicious dust from the feet of Sri VaishNavAs )
is considered as the Parama prAyascchittham for
all heinous sins ( " Samastha PaapAnAm prAyascchittham
Bhagavath-bhaktha PaadhOdaka nishEvaNam " )
The partaking of the Bhaagavatha Sri Paadha Theertham
is referred to here as sarva Paapa samanam .
Swamy NammAzhwAr reminds us of the sure cure of
the removal of all asuubhams through this practise :
" Maayan Tamar adi neeru aNiya muyalin maRRillai
KaNDeer " . " Mayan tamar " are the BhAgavathAs
and " adi neeRu " is the dust from their sacred feet .
Swamy NammAzhwAr states that there is nothing
equivalent to their glory in gaining all PurushArTams .
PeriyAzhwAr reminds us that the association of
the dust of the BhAgavathA's paadhAngri rENu
makes this universe filled with parama bhAgyam
(" naathanai Narasinganai navinRu yEthtuvArkaL
uzhakkiya Padha thULi paduthalAl , ivvulaham
bhAkkiyam seythathE " ).
As one stood at this sacred site during the spreading
dawn under the shade of the PraNAvAkara VimAnam
in the company of BhakthAs and listened to the gentle
sounds of the yEkAntha VeeNA SEvai echoing in
the Garbha graham made eternally sacred by
our PoorvAchAryAs and the AzhwArs and as one
reflected on ThiruppANar and ANDAL walking from
that site to merge with Lord RanganAtha , adiyEn
considered myself as a Bhaagyasaali to be there .
Soon after , the curtains parted and adiyEn had the sevai
of the splendourous Lord in all His majesty and KaaruNyam
along with His dhivya MaNi Paadhukais . Archakar invited adiyEn
inside the gate and asked me to enjoy without hurry the Lord's
dhivya MangaLa Vigraham . As adiyEn was about to leave , adiyEn's
utthareeyam got caught in the rails of the gate .The message
that adiyEn got from Sri RanganAthA seemed to be : " What is Your hurry ?
Where are you rushing to ? " . adiyEn stopped and had additional
blessed time in front of the Lord of Lords reclining mightily
on His soft bed of Aadhi Seshan .
NamO Sri RanganAthAya ,
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan
Srimate Sri Laksminrisimha Divya Paduka Sevaka
Srivan Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/XUWolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Oppiliappan-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
oppiliappan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |