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Sri RanganAthar Temple construction : Part 4 - Deekshithar's krithi

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • April 3, 1998 


Dear BhakthAs of Sri RanganAthA : 

I will cover the charaNa vAkhyams of this
powerful krithi of Sri Deekshithar in this 
posting .

CharaNa Vaakhyams of the BrindhAvana SaarangA krithi
****************************************************

The charaNam is a big one and runs as follows :

pankajAptha kula jala nidhi sOma 
vara pankaja mukha PattabhirAma 
padha pankaja jitha kaama RaghurAma
VaamAnga gatha SitA vara vEsha sEshAnga sayana 
Bhaktha Santhosha yENAnga Ravi nayana 
mrudhutara bhAsha akaLanga darpaNa
VEnkataramaNa Mukhundha SankarshaNa
mUlakandha Sankara GuruguhAnandha ( Sri Rangapura-
Vihara Jaya) 

These charaNa vAkhyams can be split as follows :

1. PankajAptha kula jalanidhi sOma Jaya Jaya ! 

Sri Ramachandra belongs to SUrya vamsam ( kulam ) .
SUryan is the friend of pankajam ( lotus) . The lotus
blossoms on the sight of the rising Sun . Hence , He 
is PankajApthan and His kulam is DinamaNi Vamsam
or SUrya Kulam . Sri RaamA was one of the scions of 
that kulam ( PankajAptha Kulam) .

If the Surya Vamsam is equated to an Ocean ( Jalanidhi),
then Sri RaamA is like the moon to that Ocean .
He makes that Ocean of Surya Kulam  rise with Joy , 
just as the sea has high tides on full moon days 
( PankajAptha kula JALANIDHI SOMAA) .

It is remarkable that Saint ThyagarAjaa in his 
Brindhavana Saarangaa Raaga Krithi on Sri RaamA 
used the same analogy : " KamalAptha KalasAbdhi 
Chandra " . The minds of Raama chaithanyAs seem
to run alike in their devotion . Their minds rose in joy 
like the Ocean experiencing the PourNami Chandran .
 
2. Vara Pankaja mukha PattabhirAma Jaya Jaya !

In this second set of salutations , Deekshithar ,
who composed another moving krithi on Pattabhi Raaman
in the Raagam MaNirangu experiences fondly the Lord
who sat in DarbAr in VeerAsanam with Sri JanakI mAthaa
as PattAbhirAman . Our Lord was beaming with Joy 
at the sight of His dear wife next to Him , His brothers
and bhakthAs all around His throne . His face was 
resplendent in lustre like a fully blossomed special lotus
( Vara Pankaja Mukha PatbhirAMan ) . This great scene 
elaborated by Sri Deekshithar in his maNirangu krithi
is as follows :

chathra sAmara kara dhrutha Bharatha LakshmaNa
Sathrugna VibheeshaNa Sugreeva pramukAthi sEvitha 
Adhri VasishTAdhyanugraha paathra Dasaratha Puthra 
MaNirangavalyAlankrutha nava rathna mantapE vichithra
maNimaya SimhAsanE SeethayA saha samsthitha sucharithra 
parama pavithra Guruguha mithra Pankaja mithra vamsa 
sudhAmbhudhi Chandra mEdhini pAla Raamachandra ( Maamava
PattabhirAmA ) 

In his own exquisite Sanskrit diction , Sri Deekshithar
explains the scene at the DarbAr of Sri PattAbhirAman and 
the reason for His joy , which reminded him of the fully
blossomed Lotus flower  . The poet in Sri Deekshithar 
saw that " neela SarOja kOmaLa ruchi , Raaman " as the 
one , who was joyously seated on the gem-studded throne
on the day of His coronation .

3. " Padha Pankaja jitha kAma RaghurAma Jaya Jaya " is 
the third salutation . The nirmala guNAkara Raaman's
beauty is of the kind that drove away the ego of 
Manmathan known for his beauty ( Kandharpa tarppa hara 
Sundara Divya mUrthy ) .By the beauty of His lotus feet
alone , Sri RanganAthA defeated the claims for the beauty
of Manmathan .

In Sri Bhagavadh DhyAna sOPAnam , Swami Desikan goes
one step further in praising the lotus feet of the Lord 
as not only defeating Manmathan in their beauty , but also
as being forever fragrant with the Veda manthrams and 
adorning the siras of His son, Brahma dEvan .They are 
the ones that are pressed gently by His dear consorts ,
while He rests on the bank of CAuvEry river at Srirangam .

4." VaamAnga gatha SitA vara vEsha Jaya Jaya " is 
the fourth pallaNDu of Sri Deekshithar . He was reminded
of the passage in Raama dhyAnam ( VaamE BhUmi suthA ) 
and chose the above matching words to hail PattaabhirAman .

5. " sEshAnga sayana Bhaktha SanthOsha Jaya Jaya " is the next
salutation . While that SithA Raaman rests under the Veda
Srunga VimAnam at Srirangam , he takes note of the 
managaLAsAsanam of His bhakthAs like Naatha Muni, ALavanthAr ,
RaamAnujA , ParAsara Bhattar , PiLLai LOkAcchAr and Swami
Desikan and a host of others and is filled with SanthOsham .

6. " yENAnga Ravi Nayana Jaya Jaya " follows as the next
namaskAram . That the Lord's two eyes are the Sun and 
the Moon is a taatuvam that is commonly referred to 
in SaasthrAs .

7-8 . Mrudhutara Bhaasha Jaya  Jaya , akaLanga DarpaNa jaya
jaya are the next two salutations . Sri RanganAthA's 
sweet speech and the shining cheeks of His without 
any blemishes and reminding one of a spotless mirror
is referred to here . 

"9. VenkataramaNa Mukhundha SankarshaNa mUlakantha 
jaya Jaya " are the series of dovetailed salutaions here . 
Sri RanganAthA is recognized here as the destroyer of 
our sins ( VenaktaramaNan ),who sports on top of 
the saptha giris ; He is also remembered with gratitude as 
the one , who confers the boon of Moksham ( Mukhundan ) .
He is Vyuha mUrthi.Hence , SankarshaNa svarUpam is invoked 
next . ArchA , Para , VyUha rUpams are saluted so far . 
That Sri RanganAthA as para VaasudEvan standing guard 
on the PraNavAkruthi , Veda Srungha VimAnam with its 
four kalasams of the four Vedams  is recognized here 
as the root cause of all of the above three and 
two more forms ( antharyAmi and Vibhavam ) . 

10." GuruguhAnandha Sri Rangapura VihAra Jaya " is 
the final salutation of the charaNa vAkhyams . Here 
Sri Deekshithar introduces his nAma mudrai and 
recognizes Sri RanganAthA as the uncle , who gladdens
the heart of His nephew , Guhan ( SubramaNyan ) . 

Sri Deekshithar was so fascinated by the BrindhAvana
SaarangA raagam he chose to eulogize Sri RanganAtha , 
that he stayed with the same raagam to show His VishNu
bhakthi by selecting once again this raagam to salute
another ArchA mUrthy nearby  at Thiru Naahai ( naaga
pattiNam ) saluted by the Sri VaishNavite Community 
as Soundara Raajan ( Soundara Raajam aasrayE ).

Sri RanganAyikA samEtha Sri Ranganaatha SwaminE Nama :
Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan