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GodhA Sthuthi: Part XIII--SlOkams 19,22,23

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Sadagopan • July 31, 2000 


Namo Narayanaya

Dear BhakthAs : In this posting we will cover 
the above three slOkams and complete this Kaimkaryam
dedicated to Aadi Pooram  with the coverage of 
the remaining four SlOkams ( 25, 26,28 and 29).

SlOkam 19 :
***********

tungairaruthrima gira: svyamutthamAngai:
   ym sarvagandha ithi saadharam udhvahanthi
AmOdham anyam adhigacchathi maalikAbhi:
   sOapi tvadhIya kuDila aLaka vaasithAbhi:

Here Swami Desikan describes how RanganAthan
adorned the SooDikkoduttha Maalais and
gained a wonderful kind of fragrance .

(meaning):GodhE ! The apourushEya VedAs declare 
reverentially through their siras ( head =Upanishads) 
that Your Lord is the possessor of a divine
fragrance that surpasses any thing found in
Prakruthi maNdalam ( sarva Gandhan ). That Lord
adorns the garlands that drew their fragrance from 
Your curly , dark hair and enhances His
sarva gandhathvam. He becomes joyous over 
the enrichment of His own divine fragrance
through the association with Your SooDikkoduttha
Maalai. How can one therefore describe adequately 
the power of the garlands worn by You first and 
then presented to Your Lord ?

SevA SwamigaL points out that VedAs unlike 
Kaavyams and Naatakams created by humans
is akruthrimam. The apourushEya Veda Vaaks are 
never untruthful , they do not exaggerate or
suppress truth and perform krithrimams ( devious
and dubious deeds)like Naatakam and Kaavyams.

Godhai Herself is the giver of Veda Vaak. 
She is a veritable Vedam .Her Siras is
equal to the Upanishads in that context.
The garlands worn on Her siras are therefore
akruthrima GirA: 

Vedas praise the Lord as "Sarva Gandha:
Sarvarasa: SathyakAma: Sathya Sankalpa:".
In this slOkam , the enhancement of this 
Sarva gandhathvam through association with
Godhai's SooDikkoDuttha Maalai is saluted.

SlOkam 22:

Swami Desikan states here that the ThirumEni
of Sri RanganAthan gains a rare multi-hued
state similar to the neck of a peacock due to 
the proximity of Godhai and Sri Devi.

DhUrvAdhaLa prahtimayA tava dEha kaanthyA
   gOrOchanA ruchirayaa cha ruchEndhirAyA:
aasIdhanujjitha sikhAvaLa kaNDDa sObham
   MaangaLyatham praNamathAm Madhuvairi gAthram

(Meaning): Oh GodhE! The darsanam of Your Lord's 
SubhAsrayam (ThirumEni) confers on all His adiyArs 
sarva mangaLams ( madhuvairi Gaathram praNamathAm
MaangaLyatham).That SubhAsrayam has the bluish hue of 
dark rainy clouds. When You stand next to Him, Your 
light green hue ( like aruham pul ) reflects on Him.
MahA Lakshmi has HiraNya VarNai (Golden hue).She 
is resident on Your Lord's chest (ahalahillEn YenRu).
When His own dark bluish hue has the confluence with 
the green hue of Your ThirumEni and the golden hue of 
Periya PirAtti's ThirumEni,His ThirumEni achieves
a rare multi-hued effulgence like the beautiful
neck region of the peacock. It is a rare and 
unforgettable sight.

In the previous slOkam, the exchange of garlands 
between RanganAthan and Godhai as dampathis
was described. Godhai is now standing next 
to Him and MahA Lakshmi is sitting on His chest.
SevA SwamigaL visualizes the performance of
MangaLa haaratthi for the newly wedded couple,
who had just exchanged garlands. The jyOthi from 
that hAratthi falls on the Lord's ThirumEni
and integrates the light green color of Godhai
(dhUrvA daLa prathimai) and the golden yellow color 
of MahA Lakshmi ( gOrOchana Prathimai) and
creates an integrated , eyefilling spectacle of 
a multihued ThirumEni reminiscent of the neck
of a peacock. 

SlOkam 23:

In the previous slOkam , Swami Deikan described
the presence of Godhai right next to Her Lord .
He pointed out that Sevai would confer limitless
auspicousness on the SaraNAgathAs. He recognized
the transformation in the color of the ThirumEni
of the Lord. Here, Swami Desikan covers the aspect
of Godhai attaining archA nilai. 

archyam samarchaya niyamai: nigama prasUmai:
  Naatham thvayA KamalayA cha samEyivAmsam
Matha: chiram niravisan nijamAdhirAjyam
  MaanyA Manu: prabruthayOapi maHIkshithasthE

(Meaning): Oh Loka MaathA GodhE ! How did 
the great kings like Manu and MaandhAthA  
rule their kingdoms with joy for many , many years ?
It was possible because of Your grace. You are
the amsam of BhUmi Devi. RanganAthan stands in 
union with You and Sri Devi. These kings worshipped
well RanganAthan with both of His consorts (ubhaya-
NaacchimAr ) with various niyamams and attained 
the boon of long life as emperors . 

SevA SwamigaL's insightful observations are
very enchanting. We will hence follow his 
commentary for that reason entirely.

First Paadham: archyam samarchaya niyamai:
nigama prasUnai: 

With the first word of this slOkam, "archyam" ,
Swami Desikan hints at the soulabhyam of
Archai among the five states of the Lord
and ANDAL joining in that archA state .
"archithO dEva: priyathAm mE Janardhana:"
is the saying. Archanam of the Lord with
His devis is the recommended route to
please the Lord.This archanam has to be 
samarchanam ( superior and saasthrEic 
archanam with true devotion and niyamams ).
That is why Swami Desikan says: " Archyam
samarchaya niyamai:"

Next Swami Desikan refers to " Nigama prasoonai: 
niyamai: samarchaya ". Nigama prasoonai: means 
flowers prescribed by the aagamAs . It could
also be SvarNa pushpams or the eight aathma 
guNa pushpams ((ahimsA, indriya nigraham et al).
Such a proper worship of the Lord with His
ubhaya NaacchimAr will confer emperorship
over the land for a very long time.

Second Paadham : Naatham thvayA KamalayA
cha samEyivAmsAm

Here Swami addresses Godhai with the word
"thvyaa" . He recognizes the Lord as " ThvayA
samEyivAmsAm " ( YOur Lord accompanied by You).
Then Swami includes Sri Devi : "ThvayA KamalayA
cha samEyivAmsAm Naatham" ( Your Lord associated
with You and with Sri Devi as well). Such a Lord
with His two consorts needs to be worshipped
for long soverignity over the kingdom . Swami
Desikan gives prAdhAnyam (significance ) to Godhai
over Sri Devi here , when he refers to the Lord,
who is generally known as Sriya:pathi to indicate
the importance of Periya PirAtti. Swamy Desikan
follows the directions given by Purusha Sooktham here:
"Hreesccha tE LakshmIsccha pathnyou ". Bhumi Piratti
comes first here . Godhai is the amsam of Bhumi Devi
and hence She is given prAdhAnyam over Kamalaa (Lakshmi)
in Swamy Desikan's  salutation.

Third Paadham: Maatha: chiram niravisan nijam
aadhirAjyam

Swami says here that Manu and others enjoyed
long term rulership as Kings by worshipping
GodhA Naathan with niyamam .He hints that 
the stability of that long term state of
emperorship is only possible with the grace 
of Godhai , who is almost like the DayA devi.
SevA SwamigaL reminds us of the AadhirAjyam
(rulership) mentioned  by Swamy Desikan 
in dayA sathakam in this context . There Swamy 
Desikan says that dayA devi's anugraham 
was instrumental in realizing a different
kind of emperorship for long times :

anithara SaraNAnAm AadhirAjyE abhishinjEth 
samitha vimatha PakshA Saarnga dhanvAnukampA ".

In the next slOkam , Swamy Desikan describes 
how Godhai intercedes with Her Lord to forgive
the trespasses of their Children and protects 
them .

Godhai ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam,
Daasan, Oppilaippan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan
      
    

  


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