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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00561 Jun 2001

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Sri:

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

Dear Bhaktas,

This post is intended to highlight the commonalities between Garuda 
and the Padhukas, which equivalently denote Satari Soori and Swami 
NammAzhwar. 

Veda Swaroopi Garuda is reverentially saluted by Swami Alavandar as 
VedAtma VihageshwarO. Swami Desikan blesses us with rare insights 
into the following Vedic associations of Garuda. Specifically, 
Sthoman is the Sama Vedic passage dealing with Saaman itself. This 
Sthoman is the Atma of Garuda. Garuda's head denotes the Trivruth 
Saman, while his body denotes the Vamadevya Saman. Garuda's eyes 
denote the Gayathri Saman. The wings of Garuda denote the Bruhat 
Saman and Radantara Saman respectively. Garuda's name denotes the 
Yajur Veda, while his limbs denote the Gayathri Chandas. The 
overwhelming Sama Vedam association of Garuda assigns Garuda an 
elevated place in the context of his Kaimkaryam to Lord Narayana. 
This can be gleaned from Lord Krishna's Bhagavad-Gita 
declarations "VedAnAm sAmavEdOsmi" and "VainathEyasya pakshiNAm". 
The Mahanarayana upanishad contains the following Gayathri for 
Garuda "Tath PurushAya vidhmahE swarNa pakshAya Dheemahi tannO garuda 
prachOdayAth".

The Vedas embody Dharma and where there is Dharma, there there is 
victory. Since Garuda is a personification of the Vedas, He is seen 
announcing the Lord's victory over His enemies. Thus, the victorious 
Lord himself comes to be known as Garudadhwaja. Therefore, the sight 
and sound of Garuda are extremely auspicious. This is in keeping with 
the Rg Vedam declaration "Bhadram KarNeBhi:...". Garuda's dhwani 
sound is the condensed essence of the Rks from the Samavedam and thus 
is the sum total of all Mangalavadyams put together. 

Swami Desikan establishes in the Padhuka Sahasram that 
Swami NammAzhwar and the Padhukas are verily the crown jewels that 
adorn the head of the Shruti Shiras, i.e., the upanishads. Also 
Swami NammAzhwar's Sri Sookthis contain the essence of the 
four Vedas with significant emphasis on the Saama Vedam. It is 
important to note that the Azhwar devotes 1102 verses to eloquently 
convey the import of Saama Vedam-specifically the Gayathri Saman 
through his formal SharaNagati at the Lotus feet of the Lord of Seven 
Hills in the famous "Ahala illEn" Pasuram. 

The uniqueness of Gayathri Saman lies in the fact that it extols the 
Lotus Feet of Lord Narayana to the exclusion of all else. Since 
Garuda's eyes denote the Gayathri Saman, he is constantly beholding 
the Lotus feet of Lord Narayana as seen in the Vishnu sooktam 
salutation "Tad VishNO: paramam padagam sadA pashyanthi soorayaha"

Just as the arrival of Garuda spells doom for the Asuras, so too the 
contact of one's head with the Padhukas (denoting Swami NammAzhwar 
and Sadhacharyas in his line) ruthlessly destroys all sins caused by 
the ten headed asura denoted by the Karma indriyas and jnAna indriyas 
and paves the way for Moksha through the margam of SharaNagati.

Namo Narayana,

SriMuralidhara Dasan









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