SrI :
Dear Sri Ranganatha BhakthAs
:
On April 9 , Sri Ranganatha Temple celebrated Nava Kalasa Thirumanjanam
for Lord RanganAtha with the recitation for the first time of Swamy
Parasara
Bhattar's Thirumanjana Kattiyam for Lord RanganAtha.
adiyEn and Sriman AMR Kannan took part in reciting the Thirumanjana
Kattiyam
in front of the Lord as He enjoyed the sanathana Kaappu and before
the Sahasra
Taarai abhishEkam . It was a wonderfully
fulfilling experience for us .
The genius of Swamy ParAsara Bhattar
****************************************************
Swamy Paraasara Bhattar was a genius with proficency in many areas
of VedAntham
and Saasthrams including JyOthisham . He was a poet ( Aasu and
Vara Kavi) , debater , intrepreter of Ubhaya VedAntham and an
authoritative figure . The best role for him was
that of serving the Lord as the PurOhithar of Lord
RanganAtha for Veda ViNNappam , PurANa Patanam and being at the
front of all Vaidhika anushtAnams ( PourOhithyam ) for the Lord's daily
AarAdhanam and uthsavam related functions .
The sources for the
postings
*******************************
We shall make reference to three important sources of reference to
compose
this series of postings on the Thirumanjana Katiyams of Swamy
ParAsara Bhattar :
(1) Swamy ParAsara Bhattar's own commentary on these Muktaka
slOkams(Stray verses)
composed on different Thirumanjanam days of Lord RanganAtha by
Bhattar .
(2) Thirumanjana Kattiyams by Sri ParAsara Bhattar , Publisher :
Sri VaishNava SrI
A. KrishNamAchAr Swamy , 1999 .
(3) Parasara Bhatta : His Contribution to VisishtAdhvaitha ,
Dr.S.Padmanabhan ;
Publisher : Sri VisishtAdhvaitha Research Centre , Chennai , 1995
The First SlOkam of
Thirumanjana Kattiyam
*******************************************************
Amrutha-prabhavam
prabhAprabhAva
prahatadhvAntalasadh vilAsajAtham
sakalam
sakalAnumOdhahEthum
Sasinam ThvAm kalaymi RangarAja
The moving Sevai of the Lord
enjoying
Thirumanjanam was such
a delight to ParAsara Bhattar
that he compared Lord Ranganathan
to the Moon . The concept of
Chandra Saamyam was explored by
Bhattar here . Dr.
Padmanabhan comments: " The Moon is a source of amruta
(nectar) .The Moon dispels
the darkness of the world by its rays and
pleases the people , who are
in love . Moon (Chandran) has (sixteen) parts
(Sakala)
and is the source
of happiness for all . The Lord , in turn , is also
the source
of immortality (
amruta). He , by
His glory dispels the inner darkness
(ignorance)
and gladdens the
ever-liberated beings . He is the abode of all
the sixty-four
fine arts (Sakala)
and is a source of happiness for one and all " .
Additional Thoughts on
Amruta Prabhavam :
************************************************************
The word " Prabhava" means
excellent , distinguished , Source and origin .
When "Prabhava" comes at
the end of a group
of words like here in " amruta
prabhavam " , then it
means arising
or originating from or derived from .
" Prabhava "
is also an epithet
for VishNu
( RanganAthan here ).
Excerpts from Bhattar's
ManipravALa commentary:
*****************************************************************
Chandran ( Moon)
is SudhA nidhi (
treasure of nectar) . Chandran is the source
( birth place)
for amrutam ,
which is deva bhOgyam . Bhagavaan is amruta
sabdhavAchyan as well . He is the sEthu
(aNai) for
that nectar , Himself :
" amrutasyaisha sEthu: ".
He is the means (
UpAyam) and the
goal ( UpEyam /
PrApyam ) . He is therefore
amruta prabhavan
as Chandran . RanganAthan
(amruta Prabhavan) is also
the nirvAhakar (
supreme director ) of that amruta
sabdha vaachya
Moksham and is hence recognized as amruta sabdha
vaachyan . Therefore ,
it is said that
anyone seeking
Moksham should approach
only JanArdhanan
( VishNu) : "
Moksham icchEth
JanArdhanAth " . He alone
is the grantor
of Moksham ( Veedu) : " VeedAmteLi taru nilamaiya thozhivilan " .
His occupation
is to grant
Moksham . Thus
both ( Moon and the Lord) are
"amruta prabhava " roopa
sampannAL although Lord RanganAthan
far excels the Moon in areas
of BhOgyathvam and Moksham granting power .
The Moon's sakalam ( Kalais )
will wax and wane . Lord's kalais never undergoes
any change (vikAram )
Additional Thoughts on "
PrabAprabhAva prahatadhvAntha lasath vilAsa Jaatham " :
**********************************************************************************************************
Chandran through his cool and
comforting beams drives away darkness all
around the world :
" pani vaLar
senkOl iruL veeRRirunthathu paar muzhuthum " .
The power to drive away tamas
(darkness and taapam ) through the vaibhavam of
Chandrikaa ( cool Moon beams)
is also referred to this way : " rundhE sarva disAm
niranthara tamas-tantrALuthAm
Chandramaa " .
Oh RanganAtha ! You are also
a dispeller of darkness with Your JyOthi (tEjas) .
This power has been
saluted as: " sObhayan DaNDakAraNyam dheeptEna
Sva tEjasaa " and the
salutation : " nilavum sudar soozh oLi Moorthy" . With
Your
dhivya MangaLa vigraha
prabhai and svaroopa ( intrinsic) prabhai known as
Sankalpam , Oh Lord
RanganAtha , You discard the internal external darkness
for those who
seek You as their
sole refuge .
Additional Thoughts on "
Sakalam "
********************************************
Sakalam for Moon is the
shOdasa (16) kalaas . ShOdasa kalaa sahithan
is Chandran , the
Sa+kalan . Bhagavan is also Sa+kalan for two
profound
reasons :
(1) He is with
Kalaa sabdha Vaachyai , MahA Lakshmi (2) He is
with the Kalaa sabdha
Vaachyams of Vedams . There is the samyam
between them and both are
Sakalans .
Additional thoughts on "
SakalaanumOdha hEthu: "
******************************************************************
Chandra Saamyam is again
examined by the great poet , Bhattar here .
Chnadran is the cause for joy
(aanandha hethu ) . He is " sakala anumOdha
hEthu" as revealed by : thrijagadhAm aanandha naadindhama: " For
all
the three worlds , Chandran
is the cause for aanandham . Lord Ranganaathan
is also celebrated as
"SakalaanumOdha hEthu " since He is recognized as
"Sarva jana sammOdha KaaraNa
bhUthar" . For those , who stay rooted in
adhyAthma saasthrams , He is
the aanandha hEthu bhUthar .
Additional Thoughts on "
Sasinam ThvAm kalayAmi RangarAja "
************************************************************************************
RanganAthan is enjoyed by
Jn~Anis as " Idham Ranga Chandra: " .
As the Chandran generates
huge tides , Oh Lord , You make the waves
of aanandham rise from Your
sEvai . Just as the Moon's rays become
the nourishing nectar
for ChakOra Pakshis , we as sEvamAna jana lochana
chakOrams thrive on You as
our nectar .
Saamyam and Vaishamyam
betwwen Moon and the Lord
**************************************************************************
The saamyams (Similarities)
were covered in the above analysis.
RanganAthan as the Lord of
MahAlakshmi has unique qualities ,
where He is uniquely
different :
(1) PadhmOllAsakarathvam :
ability to make the Lotus bloom
or gladden the heart of
Padhma . The Moon unlike the Lord can not
make the lotus bloom . Only lillies bloom in moon light . In the case
of
RanganAthan , He is PadhmOllAsakaran for another reason : bringer of
joy to the heart of RanganAyaki ( PadhmA ).
(2) adhOshakarathvam : freedom from dhOshams
. The Moon has
kaLangam . Bhagavaan in contrast is adhOshan
, akaLangan .
(3) RaTAnga Priyathvam : RaTAngam is both
ChakravAkam and Sudarsanar .
Moon is a friend of ChakOram and not ChakravAkam .
Lord is the dear friend of
His mighty ChakrAyudham ( RaTAngan) .
Thus there are vaishmyams ( differences
) between the Lord and the Moon
althought they have many similarites
.
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