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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00168 Oct 2004

 
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SrI:
SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:
Dearest Srivaishnavas,

Lord asks: The mother without even anticipating the
infant?s cries, takes the baby and feeds the same. I
am not like that. I am the mother for all and hence
can not grant you just like that and will be blamed
for being partial. 

Alavandhar says: When a mother has two or three
children, she feeds the crying little one(helpless)
first and I am like that crying- and performing
Saranagathi. So give me first. Prapatti (Saranagathi)
is bhooyishtaam thE nama ukthim vidhEma- with a small
step or effort of Self surrender, it grants the
biggest. However, in addition to asking by words, it
would be greater if folded hand performing Anjali
(folded palms) as the token of my reverence and
affection. Let me do that? 

This does not mean that the Saranagathi performed in
22nd verse is now null and void. This is only a
supplement to declare his mahaaviswAsam and
unconditional faith on Him. 

tvat anghrim uddisya kadApi kEnachit yathA tathApi
sakrit krita anjali:
tadaivam mushNAti asubhAni asEshata: subhAni pushNAti
na jAtu heeyatE [28]

To Your Lotus Feet- [Or contemplation on Your Lotus
Feet]- whoever-  whenever- however or whatever time or
manner- once- if he or she has performed the Anjali
[paying obeisance with two folded palms], at that
moment itself, the act removes all his sorrows and
miseries and does him or her good and well-being  with
all auspiciousness [mangaLam] and it grows further and
further. In addition, that Anjali stands firm
resplendently (meaning: wondering what else can we
grant to the person who is doing?as this is not even
adequate for the performance of Anjali- the Lord is so
merciful ]
 
Each word of this verse is pregnant with meaning.
[given below is an extract from sri Sadagopan Iyengar
article posted few years ago on this anjlai ? quoting
this sthothra- thanks to him for granting permission]

"Tvat anghrim uddisya"-This gesture is meaningful only
if addressed to the Lord. Anjali to all and sundry
human beings or to lesser deities would not bring us
any lasting benefit.

"kadApi"-There is no time specification for anjali.
Unlike sandhyavandanam which can be performed only at
the confluence of the three sandhIs, unlike Mantra
japam which requires purity of body and soul, unlike
yAgAs and yagyAs which too are time-specific, this
gesture of folded palms can be adopted any time, with
absolutely no  restriction. Night or day, summer or
winter, full moon or new moon, makes no difference for
joining our palms in supplication to the Lord. We can
do it the moment we develop the urge.

"kEnachit"-Performing sacrifices is the prerogative of
the traivarNikAs. BrahmachArIs alone can perform
SamidAdAnam. Only males of the aforesaid group can
imbibe and propagate the Vedas. Unlike all these
restriction-bound deeds which are subject to
constraints of VarNa, Ashrama etc., anjali falls
within the domain of everyone, irrespective of cast,
creed, colour, age or sex.

"yathA tathA vApi"-Most of the karmAs which earn us
merit have to be performed in a particular fashion.
Doing them otherwise would not only deny us of the
intended fruit, but would also prove
counter-productive. We thus hear of TvashtA begetting
a son who would be killed by Indra, while his actual
prayer was for an offspring who would end Indra's
life, all because Tvashta erred in the intonation of a
Veda mantra. We hear of Brahmins turning into
BrahmarAkshasAs due to shortcomings in the performance
of sacrifices. Unlike all these rule-bound deeds, an
anjali can be executed in any fashion.

"Sakrit krita:"-While most of the meritorious deeds
require repetitive
performance, a single performance of anjali destroys
all inauspiciousness and builds up all that is good
for us.


ommAcchI, kai kooppu" is what our parents told us to
do, in our childhood. And it is what their parents
told them to, when they in turn were children. Thus,
as a tradition, we have been taught to fold our palms
in supplication, when standing before the Lord. What
exactly does this gesture, which has been in vogue
from time immemorial and is being passed on from one
generation to another, actually mean? Is it based on
some scriptural authority or is it just an empty
mannerism which, rightly or wrongly like so many
others of its ilk, has somehow survived the test of
time?

Scripture refers to this gesture of supplication with
folded palms,
as "anjali". And references to this anjali are
numerous and adulatory, be it in Srimad Ramayana, Sri
Mahabharata, Puranas or Acharya sreesooktis. The
greatness and glory of this simple gesture are so vast
that Swami Desikan thought it fit to author a separate
work on the same, titled "anjali Vaibhavam". Sri
Alavandar has enshrined the significance of this
gesture in his Stotra Ratnam, while other
Acharyas too are not lacking in glorifying the
greatness of anjali.
If we look into the etymological structure of this
word, we find it to be extremely significant-"am
jalayati iti anjali:"-this tells us that the
apparently simple folding of palms is so potent that
it completely floors the Lord and melts Him down,
making Him abandon all idea of awarding commensurate
penalty for our innumerable misdeeds. "am" in the
aforesaid sentence refers to the Lord, who is
represented by the letter "A" ("akArArtthO VishNu:"). 

Sage BharadvAja tells us that this anjali is the best
of all gestures and secures for us the favours of the
Lord , with all expedition-"anjali: paramA mudrA,
kshipram dEva prasAdinI". There are any number of good
deeds which earn us merit and ultimately afford us
liberation from this mundane morass-cleaning up the
Lord's temple, adorning it with floral designs,
fashioning garlands for Emperuman out of fragrant
blooms, lighting up the Lord's abode with lamps lit
with ghee, 
gingerly oil etc., circumambulation of His sannidhi,
prostrating before Him in such a way that all eight
parts of the body touch the ground ("sAshtAnga
praNAmam"), constant contemplation on esoteric
formulations incorporating His hallowed names (Mantra
japam), engaging in melodious exposition of His
praises and so on. If the ultimate aim of all these
endeavours is to please the Lord, then one need not
resort to all these at all, and could confine himself
to a mere anjali, which is more powerful than all the
aforesaid in earning us the Lord's pleasure. 

Whatever merits the other kainkaryams listed above
might earn
us in course of time, a single gesture of folded palms
secures for us in a trice, says Sri
Bharadvaja-"Kshipram dEva prasAdinI".

Why is this simple gesture touted to be such an
effective instrument in
accomplishing such exalted goals? Because it signifies
the surrender of one's soul, the absolutely priceless
offering which is relished by Emperuman. If we
consider the "anjali" mudrA, the palms folded together
resemble a lotus bud, which is also the shape of our
heart (Hridaya Kamalam)-"Padma kOsa prateekAsam
hridayam chApi adhO mukham" says the Narayana
anuvAkam. Just as the lotus is the best of flowers one
can offer the Lord, our heart and the soul resident
therein, are indubitably the most valuable of tributes
that we can submit at His feet. It is thus that the
anjali pleases Emperuman no end, signifying, as it
does, the ultimate offering that can be submitted by
anyone. And a tip here about the folded palm, learnt
from elders-the palms should not be pressed flat
together, but held loosely together with the tips of
the fingers touching one another, so that the joined
palms resemble a lotus.

A further beauty of the anjali mudrA is that while it
represents a gesture of surrender to the arcchA
murtthi we stand before at the Sannidhi, it
simultaneously envisages obeisance to the Inner
Dweller, the antaryAmi, who is forever resident in our
hearts and souls. The position of the palms in this
mudrA is such that it is in line with our chest,
inside which is situated our heart, in which is
enshrined the Lord, in His form as the "HArda" or the
Inner Dweller.

We might adorn the Lord at temples with any number of
the most brilliant of gems and jewels made of the most
precious of metals, but the ornament the Lord likes
the most is our "anjali", the simple gesture of folded
palms with an accompanying attitude of self-surrender,
says Sri Nammazhwar-

"dEsamAna aNikalanum en kai kooppu seigayE".

Just as a diamond's brilliance is enhanced by a
glittering gold setting, so too the efficacy of the
anjali is heightened by certain accompaniments, says
Sri KulasekharAzhwar. The palms folded in obeisance
should be accompanied by a head bowed in devotion,
hairs standing erect with the intensity of Bhagavath
anubhavam, a voice made extremely shaky with emotion,
eyes full of tears occasioned by depth of feeling for
the Paramatma and so on, all of which cumulatively
take us to unimaginable heights of sublime spiritual
experience. It is those who have all these external
signs of devotion, whose constant company
we should crave for, says Azhwar. Here is the
beautiful sloka from Sri Mukunda MAlA-

"baddhEna anjalinA natEna shirasA gAtraischa
rOmOdgamai:
kanttEna svara gadgadEna nayanEna utkeerNa bAshpAmbunA
nityam tvat charaNAravinda yugaLa dhyAna amruta
AsvAdinAm asmAkam SaraseeruhAksha! satatam sampadyatAm
jeevitam".

Swami Desikan in one of his chillarai Rahasyam named
Anjali Vaibhavam describes the power of Anjali as  "
Praarthanaa  poorvaka bharanyaasam of the Akinchanan "
(the saraNaagathi done  with the folded hands as a
first  step for the helpless to seek the Lord's
succour and protection. 

Swami Desikan goes on to describe Anjali mudrai as
Phala visesha vyanjaka mudrai "(the gesture that
symbolizes special fruits to be obtained from the Lord
). Swami quotes the slokam of VishNu DharmOtthamam
which states unambiguously that the anjali made in
front of the Lord quickly helps one to receive the
Lord's immediate attention 
and lets one become the object of his Daya..

Alavandhar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Regards
Namo Narayana
dAsan


                
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