Adaikkalap patthu
V.Sadagopan
SeerAr Thuppal ThiruvEnakatamudayAn ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Swami Desikan was moved to perform SaraNAgathi at the Thiruvadi of Lord
VaradarAjan of Kaanchipuram . After the unmatched nectar-like experience of
tasting the subhAsrayam and the anantha kalyANa guNams of Lord VaradarAjA
presiding over Hasthigiri , Swamy Desikan described the examples of
KaakAsuran , VibhIsaNan and others who performed SaraNAgathy at the sacred
feet of the Lord and gained the Lord's anugraham . Swamy Desikan
explained next the five angams of Prapatthi and the four kinds of Prapatthi
.The duties after Prapatthi are covered next . Finally , Swamy Desikan
performed Prapatthi at the lotus feet of Lord VaradarAjan and concluded this
Prabhnadham. He used the Tamil metre of KocchahakkalippA to direct the flow of
his emotion , which rushed forth as the gushing water from a dam
that broke .
237) AdhikAram for Prapatthi : Aakinchanyam
Bhakthi MudalAmavaRRilpathi yenakku koodAmal
yetthiasayum uzhanrOdi iLayitthu vizhum kaakam
pOl
mutthi tarum nakar yEzhil mukkiyamAm Kacchi
tanil
Atthigiri AruLALarkku adaikkalam nAnn
puhunthEnE.....Paasuram 1
I surrender my soul at the sacred feet of PeraruLALan , who resides at the
most important of the seven cities that bless their residents with Moksham . I
have come to the realization that I am powerless to attain moksham through the
difficult-to-practise Bhakthi yOgam as upAyam . I have hence chosen Prapatthi
at the lotus feet of Varadhan as the saving grace for me and am performing
saraNAgathi . This act of mine (performance of SaraNAgathi at the Lord's feet
as the helpless one with no other recourse ) is like the deed of the
evil-minded KaakAsuran , who committed grave apachArams to the Lord's consort
and was yet saved by the Lord , when he fell at the feet of the Lord as a
SaraNAgathan without any other recourse .
238) AdhikAram for Prapatthi: Ananyagathithvam
Sadai-mudiyan chathumukhan yrnRu ivar mudhalAm
taram yellAm
adaya vinaip-payan aahi azhinthuvidum padi
kaNDu
KadimalarAL piriyAtha Kacchi nagar
Atthigiri
idam udaya AruLALar iNai adikaL
adaynthEnE......Paasuram 2
Here again aakinchanyam / ananya gathithvam is celebrated in another way .
SWamy Desikan says:
" I am offering my prapatthi at the sacred feet
of PeraruLALan while fully cognizant of the fact that the power and wealth of
even BrahmA and SivA are evanascent and transitory and are fully dictated by
their karma visEshams . Once their accumulated puNyams are over , their status
as powerful demi-gods disappear . Knowing their alpa sukhams fully well, I am
not enamoured of such status and power . I seek therefore the lasting bliss of
moksham and nithya kaimkaryam in the Lord's Sri Vaikuntam through my
prapatthi.".
239: Every One is eligible to perform
Prapatthi
tantirangaL vERu inRi t-tamathu vazhi
azhiyAthu
manthirangaL tammAlum maRRum uLa urayAlum
antharam kaNDu adi paNivAr anaivarkkum aruL
puriyum
Sindhura veRppu IRayavanAr SEELAM alathu
aRiyEnE.....Paasuram 3
Here , Swami Desikan points out that all are eligible to perform Prapatthi
at the lotus feet of the Lord of Kaanchi and receive the boon of Moksham from
that act of self-surrendeer . The word " Seelam " in this paasuram refers to
Souseelya GuNam of the Lord , which permits Him to mingle with people of all
status.
I meditate on the glorious attribute of VaradarAjAn , who blesses all
without discrimination , when they perform prapatthi unto Him . These are the
virtuous ones , who understand the difficulties of practising Bhakthi yOgam
and understand well the equal qualifications of all to perform prapatthi to
gain the boon of Moksham . They do not seek any other means than prapatthi and
observe their varNAsrama dharmams without slipping . They utter thereafter the
prapatthi manthram (svanishtai ) or follow the utterances of their AchAryAs (
AchArya Nishtai ) and perform their prapatthi to the Lord , who accepts it
with joy and rewards them with the boon of mOksham .
240) Prapatthi has the power to confer all desired
boons
Kaakam IirAkkathan Mannar Kaathali
Katthirabhandhu
nAkam aran ayan mudalA nAganaharAr
tamakkum
bhOgam uyar veedu peRap-ponnaruL seythamai
kaNDu
naagamalai NaayakanAr nalladippOthu
adainthEnE.....4th Paasuram
Here the reference is to Maha Viswasam
that leads to the fruition of one's prapatthi . Swamy Desikan says:
" I
offer my prapatthi at the holy feet of VaradarAjan inspired by the thought
that He granted the boons of samsAra bhOgam AND Moksham as desired by
them to the offending crow , VibhishAnAN , Drowpathi , Kshathrabhandhu ,
GajEndran , KaaLiyan , Sivan , BrahmA and all the dEvAs" .
241) The Five angams of Prapatthi
uhakkumavai uhanthu uhavA anaitthum ozhinthu uRavu
guNam
mihatthuNivu peRa uNarnthu viyan kaavalyena
varitthu
sahatthil oru puhal9um) illA tavam aRiyEn
Mathtkkacchi
nagar k-KaruNai NaaTanai nall-adaikkalamAi
adainthEnE.....Paasuram 5
Here , Swami Desikan reveals that he has performed the prapatthi at the
Lord's feet in the proper manner with the five angAs of Prapatthi .The words
of the prabhandham connected to the five angams are :
uhakkum avai uhanthu -- AanukUlya Sankalpam : vow to do only what
pleases the Lord
uhavA anaitthum ozhindhu--PrAthikUlya Varjanam :
rejecting all that would mkae Lord unhappy
mihat-thuNivu peRa uNarndhu--
mahA visvAsam /full faith in Lord's power to protect
kAvalena varitthu--
gopthruva VaraNam /choosing the Lord to stand in place of diifficult
yOgams
puhalum illAt-tavam aRiyEn -- kArpaNyam/prayer& NamaskArams
in a state of meekness
With these words , Swami Desikan points out
that he has performed aathma samarpaNam with its five limbs at the sacred feet
of Lord VaradarAjan , the embodiment of DayA .
242) The Four Kinds of Prapatthi
aLavudayAr adainthArkkum athan urayE
koNDavarkkum
vaLavyrai tanthavan aruLE manniya maatavatthOrkkum
kaLavu ozhivAr yemar yenna iainthavarkkum
kAvalarAm
ThuLavamudi aruL Varadhar tuvakkil yenai
vaitthEnE....Paasuram 6
Here, Swami Deikan refers to the four kinds of Prapatthi : Svanishtai ,
Ukthi nishtai, AchArya nishtai and BhAgavatha nishtai. Swami says that he has
performed prapatthi at the lotus feet of Varadhan , who grants the boon of
Moksham to one and all , who has performed any one of the four kinds of
Prapatthi .
Ukthi Nishtai is the SaranAgathy performed directly by One , who has clear
comprehension of the doctrine of SaraNaAgathy ( angi) and its five angams.
Very few people are qualified to perfrom Svanishtai . Ukthi Nishtai is the
SaraNAgathy perofrmed through the repetition of the Prapatthi
vAkyams uttered by one's AchAryan. The third kind of nishtai is AchArya
nishtai , where one takes refuge in the SaraNAgathy performed by chAryan .The
fourth type of observance of SaraNAgathy js BhAgavatha Nishtai, where one
rests under the SaraNAgathy performed by a Parama BhAgavatha PoorNAdhikAri
.
243) Prapatthi to be performed only once
umathu adikaL adaihinREn yenRu orukkAl
uraitthavarai
amayum ini yenbavar pOl anjalyenak-karam vaitthum
Tamathu anaitthum avar tamakku vazhankiyum ThAmm
miha viLangum
amaivudaya AruLALar adi iNayai
adainthEnE....Paasuram 7
The meaning of the Abhaya MudrA of Varadhan is ceelbrated here .
The Lord is resplendent at the sight of the prapannan and blesses him to
enjoy all of His Isvaryam and looks at the prapannA with great compassion and
reveals through the gesture of Abhaya MudrA that Prapannan's
one-time praaptthi alone is sufficient to enjoy all of that bliss . I
surrender my aathmA to that glorious and merciful Lord , who grants such
matchless boons .
244) The way of conductance after performing Prapathti
TiNmai kuRayAmaikkum niRaihaikkum
theevinayAl
uNmai maRavAmaikkum uLa mathiyil uhakkaikkum
taNami kazhiyAmaikkum tarikkaikkum
taNihaikkum
vaNmayudai AruLALar vachakangaL
maRavEnE.....Paasuram 8
The conductance of one's life in the post-prapatthi period is described
here by our aramAchAryA . I repeately reflect on the meaning
of the Lord's Charama slOkam and the assurances given by Him there to the one
, who has performed prapatthi . I remind myself that as a prapannan , I must
have unshakable faith in the assured fruits of my prapatthi .
I pray for the further enhancement of my bhakthi and Jnaanam . I shall
never forget my utter servititude to You and You alone. I shall stay in a
happy and tranquil mood with the knowledge of the essence of the rahasyArthAs
. I will bear my days on the earth without agitation over the delay in
realizing moksham . I will forget the sorrows of SamsAram that is inevitable
during the days on earth after performing my prapatthi at Your sacred feet .
This way , I will spend my post-prapatthi life .
245) The responsibilities/duties after Performing
Prapatthi
Sruthi ninaivu ivai aRiyum thuNivu udayAr
thUmozhikaL
parithi mathi aasiriyar paasuram sErnthu
arukkaNangaL
karuthi oru teLivAl klaakkam aRutthu
Athtigirip-
parithi mathi nayanam udaip-Paraman
adip-paNinthEnE.....Paasuram 9
As a prapannA , I worship always the Lotus feet of PeraruLALan with a
tranquil mind calmed by the clear understanding of the meanings of Sruthis ,
Smruthis , AzhwAr's Sri Sookthis , AchAryA's Sri Sookthis that deal with the
sookshmArthams of VedAntham .
Swamy Desikan's Aathma SamarpaNam at the
Sacred feet of Kaanchi VaradharAjan
ThirumahaLum Thiruvadivum Thiru aruLum teLL
aRivum
arumai ilAmayum uRavum aLappariya adi
arasum
karumamum azhippum aLippum amayppum kalakkamilA
vahai ninRa
aruL Varadhar nilai ilakkil ampu yena nAnn
amizhnthEnE.....(10)
I have joined without fail the majestic and glorious feet of the Lord , who
is never separated from His beloved consort. He has the most bewitching
beauty. He is an ocean of mercy . His dayA for His devotees is unmatched. He
is omniscient . He is easy of access to His devotees . He has the chEthanAs
and achEthanams as His body . He is the supreme Lord of all of this universe
.He is the one , who creates , protects and destroys all of this world and its
beings . These auspicious attributes will never part company with the Lord . I
have now joined with out seperation from this PeraruLALan of such anantha
kalyANa guNa vaibhavams .
247) Phala sruthi for Adaikkala Patthu Prabhandham
aaRu payan vERu illA adiyavarkaL anaivarkkum
aaRum athan payanum ivai oru kaalum pala kaalum
aaRu payan yenavE kaNDu AruLALar adiyanai mEl
kooRiya naRR-guNa uraykaL ivai patthum kOthilavE....Paasuram 11
These ten verses dealing with my SaraNAgathi at the sacred feet of the Lord
of Kanchi will shine without any faults forever. BhagavathAs seek the Lord as
upAyam and phalan . They observe prapatthi at His feet once . The fruits
of that one time prapatthi however lasts forever and is most enjoyable . With
clear Understanding of the above truths and the significance of such a
prapatthi , I have performed my own prapatthi at the matchless feet of Lord
VaradarAjA and sung about them in a blemishless manner .
Sri PerumdEvi ThAyAr Sametha Sri Varadaraaja ParabrahmaNE Nama :
Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari
Sadagopan
4