You are here: SriPedia - SriRangaSri - Archives - Sep 2006

SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00116 Sep 2006

 
Sep 2006 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


Embodiment of Sri 


CHENNAI : The Padukas (sandals) of the Lord are
considered as the manifestation of the Divine Mother,
Sri, in the Srivaishnava tradition. The Paduka is also
the embodiment of the preceptor who mediates between
man and the Lord during the performance of
Self-surrender (Saranagati, Prapatti) to Him for
liberation. It is to the Ramayana that the tradition
of worshipping the Paduka is traced, the context being
Bharata accepting Rama's sandals when He refused to
return to Ayodhya and installing them on the throne at
Nandigrama. Bharata had declared to Rama then that he
would not brook any delay after the 14-year exile was
over. 

In his discourse, Sri M.V. Ananthapadmanabhachariar
said Rama remembered Bharata's ultimatum when
Vibhishana requested Him to accept his hospitality
after his coronation in Lanka. Rama turned down his
invitation with the camaraderie born of friendship but
on His return journey to Ayodhya Rama could not do the
same when Sage Bharadwaja wished to entertain Rama and
His entire entourage. Anxious that this would delay
His journey, Rama instructed Hanuman to convey the
news of His return to Bharata. The Kamba Ramayanam
offers insight into the gravity of the situation as
similar to when Hanuman was earlier despatched with
the mission of locating Sita in Lanka. Sita had
decided to end Her life having given up all hopes of
Her rescue when Hanuman found Her in the Ashoka grove
and gently conveyed Rama's message by relating His
life and later established his identity as His
messenger by handing over His signet-ring. 

Once again Hanuman was chosen for the task of saving
Bharata's life when he had sunk to the depths of
despondency. Kamban says that when Bharata was
offering worship to the fire, before immolating
himself while all tried to dissuade him, Hanuman
arrived and told him, "Our leader Rama has returned.
If you sacrifice your life which is the embodiment of
truth, will Rama sustain his life and live?" Hanuman
then showed Rama's ring to Bharata. To Bharata and the
people of Ayodhya gathered there the sight of Rama's
ring was like the nectar of immortality. Vedanta
Desika in his hymn Paduka Sahasram notes that Hanuman
offered the ring to Rama's Paduka (as being the
embodiment of Sri, She had been separated from Him for
14 years).


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com 





 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:SriRangaSri-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
    mailto:SriRangaSri-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    SriRangaSri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list