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From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • May 29, 1999 


Dear Sri SrimahAvishNu :

You had asked a question about the individual 
Sookthams that add up to five among 
the Pancha Sookthams.I will attempt to answer 
your question . 

Although one could count the six sookthams listed 
by you as independent ones , the pancha sooktham 
count includes NaarAyaanuvAkam , it telescopes/folds into 
Purusha sooktham . AnuvAkaam has to be differentiated
for this purpose from Sookthams. All of these are veda 
manthrams and the NaarAyaNAnuvAkam houses Sri NaaraayaNa
Gayathri and is thus very sacred .

As a preface to the intrepretations of 
the Sookthams and anuvAkams, let us explore
the meanings of the two words .

AnuvAkam can be split into anu+vaakam ; anu means that
which follows; Vaakam means uttering or speech .
Praise of Sriman NaarAyaNA following the great 
Purusha sooktham , which makes the profound
statement about the Veda Purushan ,
" Naanya: panthA ayanAya vidhyathE"
is the NaarAyaNAnuvAkam . Indeed there is no other 
path than Veda NaarAyaNan for Moksham as 
Purusha Sooktham  thunders for our benefit .

Coming back to the word "Sooktham " it is made up
of the Vedic letter , sU: , which means well, good ,
auspicious . sU:+Uktham can be one way of understanding
the meaning of Sooktham . In this context , the word Sooktham 
means speaking well or good recitation of speech or
more appropriately auspicious Vedic speech . In non-vedic use ,
" sU " means to bring forth , produce ,yield . The Vedic
meaning  of "sU " is however more relevant here to understand
the word , Sooktham .

In summary , the pancha sookthams count would be :

1.Purusha Sooktham + NaarAyaNAnuvAkam
2.VishNu Sooktham
3.Sri Sooktham
4.BhU Sooktham
5.NeeLA Sooktham 

If one studies /recites the Pancha Sookthams
as well as the PerumAL , NaacchiyAr , AzhwAr , AchArya 
sambhAvanA manthrams , which are 8 in number , great
soubhAgyams will come their way .

On this Day of AchArya Saarvabhouman , NammAzhwAr 's
birth day , I will start writing on the above 8 SambhAvanA 
manthrams .

NammAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan   

  
>   One more doubt is regarding the panchasUktas.Any PanchasUkta cassette
>has in fact six sUktas (purusha,nArAyaNa,vishNu,SrI,bhU,nIlA) and all
>these six are chanted in temple rituals also (if I am right). So what are
>the "panchasUkta"s out of these six? Also each of these six sUktas is from
>which vEdam? 
>                                                       dAsan
>                                                  V.Srimahavishnu
>
>
>