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GodhA Sthuthi: Part II

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • July 4, 2000 


Dear BhakthAs :

Let us start this posting with a tribute in Tamil 
paid by Azhahiya MaNavALa PerumAL NaayaNAr ,which 
summarizes the essence of what Godhai taught us:

" yettezhutthin iNaipporuLum iraNdin(?) poruLum
  iyal valitthEr Arucchunanakku Iraivar tammaith-
  tottu vaittha maRai iRuthipporuL yellAm tonRum vahai
  PuduvairkkOn Godhai kavi paadal poruL teriya-kAttinALE"

(meaning ): Godhai ,The daughter of the seer of 
SrivillipputthUr (VishNu-Chitthar)revealed to us 
clearly through Her paasurams , the esoteric and Vedic 
meanings (rahasyArthams) of the AshtAkshari, Dhvayam
and finally , Charama SlOkam given by the most merciful
Lord( PaarthasArathy )to the great warrior ArjunA 
on the battle field of KurukshEthram .

(Comments ) "Yettezhutthu" is Thirumanthiram or
ashtAkshari ; "iraNdin" is the manthra rathnam ,
dhvayam with 25 letters and "iRuthipporuL" is 
the Charama slOkam of 32 letters blessed to us 
by GeethAchAryan using His dear sishyan and friend 
Arjunan as a vyAjam (excuse ). This taniyan identifies 
the Charama slOkam with its 32 letters  as " MaRai-
iRuthipporuL " or the quintessence of Sruthi 
( Vedam and the 32 Brahma VidhyAs of the Upanishads) .
The word "iRuthi" really means "last "or final .
This Taniyan points out that Godhai , the daughter of 
PeriyAzhwAr of SrivilliputthUr perfromed  upadEsams 
for us through Her two prabhandhams in a way through 
which the deep and profound meanings of the three 
VaishNava manthrams and artha panchakam can be 
understood clearly by us , Her children ( iRuthip poruL 
yellAm thOnRum vahai PuduvairkkOn Godhai kavi paadal 
poruL teriya-kaattinALE ).

Our ThAyAr has grave concerns about our limitations in
comprehending the deeper meanings of the the three 
manthrams& artha panchakam  because of our inadequate 
intellectual capabilities and imperfect anushtAnam .
She knows that the SaasthrArtha-nirUpanam ( the full 
comprehension of the meanings of the Saasthrams)
will escape our meager intellects and therefore 
as the most compassionate Mother intersted in our 
parama-hitham chose the method of UpadEsam in 
the time honored and proven way :

"saasthra Jn~Anam Bahu-klEsam 
 buddhEscchalana kaaraNam
 upadesaath Harim buddhva 
 viramEth sarva karmasu"

(Meaning) : It is very difficult for most of us , 
whose minds are easily influenced by many distractions 
( Chanchala Buddhi) to learn about the true meanings of 
saasthrArthams. Therefore , One should have upadEsam from 
a SadAchAryan to comprehend clearly the tattvams 
like Isvaran , Jeevan , prakruthi and their relationships. 
One should stay away from the futile efforts of learning 
Saasthrams by ourselves as a route to understanding  "
adhyAtham-saasthra-artha- visEshams "( the saarArthams/
the essential meanings of the sacred lore and the three 
rahasyams ). Only incorrect and distorted grasp 
(ViparItha Jn~Anam )of the tattvams will result from 
such foolish efforts.

Regarding the AchArya paramparai in our SampradhAyam,
PerumAL is our "prathama pravarthakan" or the First 
AchAryan. Our ThAyAr (ANDAL)is our second AchAryan 
followed by VishvaksEnar and Swamy NammAzhwAr. Therefore,
the Direct Upadesam from ANDAL through Her prabhandhams 
to us is one of the greatest of blessings. MahA Lakshmi,
BhU devi , NeeLA devi are the consorts of our Lord with
specific functions . AndAl is considered the avathaaram
of BhU Devi , who realized the VarAha Charama slOkam
from Her Lord .Hence the UpsdEsam from AndaaL /BhU Devi
is extremely important to us and these upadEsams are
enshrined in Her ThiruppAvai . That is why the understanding
of the sookshmArthams (subtle meanings )of the verses of
ThiruppAvai with the help of a Scholar like U.Ve.
Sri PerukkaraNai Swamy is very important for us. 
He is the nephew of U.Ve.Abhinava Desika Sri UttamUr
Swamy and is currently an AasthAna VidhvAn of Ahobila
Matam . His scholarship arising from his deep learning
at the feet of many sadAchAryALs is exceptional .
We will stand to benefit from the release of his 500 page 
manuscript in Tamil  on ThiruppAvai during the occasion
of Vikrama Aadip Pooram day (Augst 2) or soon thereafter .

Two  BhagavathAs have suggested the need to translate this 
manuscript into English and make it available to a wider
set of BhagavathAs , who may not be able to read Tamil or
maNipravALam . This is a very good idea .adiyen welcomes
it and we will seek the help of Sri VaishNavite Scholars 
like Dr.V.N.VedAntha Desikan , Sri Thirumanjanam Sundara-
Rajan Swamy , Dr.S.M.S.Chary and other volunteers to 
get the English version ready AFTER the release of
the Tamil Manuscript.AdiyEn will volunteer to help
as the Editor of this special effort .

We have $1,1968 sofar with the matching funds
for this project. Once we assemble the remaining $ 872 , 
we can commission the printing of the manuscript in 
Chennai. Please help and let me know of your 
interests in supporting this kaimkaryam.

>From here on , we will focus on the individual
slOkams of Swami Desikan's GodhA sthuthi . We
will start with the first slOkam , " Sri VishNuchittha-
Kula nandhana kalpavallIm --" in our next posting .


AdiyEn will continue with the rest of the slOkams 
on return from the current overseas trip on July 22.

AndaaL ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Daasan,V.SatakOpan  
 
  





        


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