Padhuka Sahasram: 301-308 (Additional Comments by Sri V. Sadagopan Swamin
From the Bhakti List Archives
• December 8, 2000
Sri:
SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,
Translation by U.Ve. Dr. V.N. Vedanta Desikan Swamin:
Sri Ranganatha PaadhukA Sahsram SlOkams ( 301-308)
301. sharadhupagamakAlE santhyajan yOganidhrAm
sharaNamupagathAnAm thrANahEthO: prayAsyan
jalaDhidhuhithurankAnmandhamAdhAya dhEvi!
thvayi Khalu nidhaDhAthi svam padham ranganAtha:
Oh Paaduka Devi! At the advent of autumn, Lord Ranganatha leaves off
his yoganidra, starts on His mission of protecting His dear ones. He
gently withdraws His foot from Mahalakshmi. And then does He not place
the Feet on You? You are the saviour to all.
302. sprushasi padhasarOjam pAdhukE! nirviGhAtham
pravishasi cha samasthAm dhevi! shuDdhAnthakakshyAm
aparamapi murArE: pUrvamABhIrakanyA-
svaBhisaraNaviDhInAmagrimA sAkshiNI thvam
Oh Paaduka! You have contact with the Lord's Feet, without a
hindrance. You can enter all the
areas in the harem freely. Furthermore, You were the standing witness
to the Lord's freely
mixing with the gopa damsels, in games you liked.
303. prathiBhavanamananyE pAdhukE! thvathpraBhAvAth
viviDhavapuShi dhEvE viBhramadhyUthakAlE
aBhilaShithasapathnIgEhayAthrAviGhAtham
glahayathi rahasi thvAm ShOdashasthrIsahasram
Oh Paaduka! I recall an instance to establish Your greatness. Krishna
took myriad forms;
each one spent his time with one Gopa damsel; while doing so, he did
not ever think of any one
else; there were sixteen thousand damsels engaged by Krishna in as
many identical forms; each
would like to prevent Krishna from going out to another, when a game
of dice was being gone
through. Each in every home demanded You as the stake against Krishna
leaving in the midst.
This, in secret!
304. thataBhuvi yamunAyAshChannavrutthoU mukundE
muhuraDhigamahEthOrmuhyathAm yoUvathAnAm
shamayithumalamAsIcChankachakrAdhichinhA
prathipadhavichikithsAm pAdhukE! paDdhatisthE
Oh Paaduka! During Krishna's sport with the Gopa damsels on the banks
of the river Yamuna, He
used to hide himself; the disappointed women would search for Him,
tracing the imprints of
the Paaduka on the sands; then the emblems of the Chakra, Sankha,
etc., would suffice to betray
the Lord's hideout!
305. aDhigathabahushAKhAn manjuvAcha: shukAdhIn
sarasijanilayAyA: prIthayE sangrahIthum
prakatithaguNajAlam pAdhukE! rangabanDhO:
upaniShadhatavIShu krIditham thvathsanATham
Oh Paaduka! Lord Ranganatha plays a live game with You; He catches
parrots sitting on many
branches, talking sweetlyto present to Mahalakshmi to please her. For
this He casts nets of
yarn in the forests.
(The Lord is found in the Upanishads. He catches Suka and other sages
who revel in Vedas, by
attracting them by His charming gunas; He gets their company which
pleases Mahalakshmi)
306. munipariShadhigItham goUthamIrakshaNam thE
muhuranukalayanthO manjuvAcha: shakunthA:
uShasi nijakulAyAdhutthithA dhandakEShu
svayamapi padharakshE! svaIramAmrEdayanthi
Oh Paaduka! The miracle that You showed in protecting Ahalya, which,
once repeatedly spoken
of in assemblies of sages in Dandaka forest has become popular among
birds, which repeat it
many times, even to-day, when they wake up in their nests, in sweet
chorus, but as they like,
that is, in their own way.
307. yamaniyamavishuDdhairyam na pashyanthi chitthai:
shruthiShu chuLakamAthram dhrushyathE yasya BhUmA
sulaBhaniKhilaBhAvam mAmsadhruShtErjanasya
svayamupaharasi thvam pAdhukE! tham pumAmsam
Oh Paaduka! What a great achievement for You! You bring to the doors
of ordinary men, to be
visible to these physical eyes, in all His splendour to be palpable,
the GREAT LORD, WHOM the
Yogis, with a clear and clean mind, perfected by the five Yama
exercises (Brahmacharyam, Ahimsa,
truthfulness, non-stealing, and non-accumulation of wealth) and the
five Niyama exercises
(Veda-abhyasa, pure habits, contentment, tapas of observing fast etc.,
and god-remembrance) are
unable to comprehend
and
WHOSE greatness is attempted to catch by the Vedas but only as a
handful in magnitude-only to
that extent the Vedas could see His greatness. This You do of Your own
accord.
308. niDhimiva nirapAyam thvAmanAdhruthya mOhA-
dhahamiva mama dOSham BhAvayan kshudhramarTham
mayi sathi karuNAyA: pUrNapAthrE thvayA kim
paramupagamanIya: pAdhukE! ranganAtha:
Oh Paaduka! Will it be proper for you to take the Lord to any one
else, when I am here? Yes,
I have disregarded You, You, who must prove a great flawless treasure
for me. MY mind wandered
behind vulgar rewards like artha, kama, aishwarya, etc. The Lord too
might cogitate on my
deficiency as I am myself doing. But then it itself makes me the
perfect recipient for the
Lord's Grace. Who else needs His grace more? None indeed! Hence, may
you be pleased to enable me
to receive the Lord in His transit to my home?
Namo Narayana,
SriMuralidhara Dasan
Special Notes by V.Sadagopan (V.S): SlOkam 301:
********************************************
(1) Sri Abhinava Desika UtthamUr Swamy's anubhavam :
Oh PaadhukE! The asurAs are deluded in their thinking ,
when they assume that the sleeping Lord will neither break
His yoga-nidhrA nor move His feet from the lap of MahA-
Lakshmi , where they rest . The asurAs are proven wrong in
their assumptions , when RanganAthA wakes up during
the autumn season and gently lifts His feet from His Devi's
lap and places them on You to start His journey to protect
the afflicted . He moves His feet from one Devi and places
them on another Devi (Yourself) for sanchAram to protect
His devotees.
(2) H.H Srimath Andavan's anubhavam: During the rainy
season , Lord RanganAthA engages in Yoga nidhrA resting
His holy feet on Sri RanganAyaki's lap . He wakes up at
autumn to come to the rescue of His devotees , who sought
His protection. At that time , He places His feet inside
You after lifting them from His Devi's lap to take care of
His sworn duties to ward of the sorrows of His bhakthA
janam .
(3) The scene described by Swamy Desikan in this slOkam
is a tender one. Lord Of Srirangam engages in His Yoga-
nidhrai , during which He is thinking about how He can
help
the suffering chEthanams , who have placed their faith in
Him
as their SaraNyan. His consort places Her Lord's feet on
Her lap
and presses them gently to comfort Him during this occasion
..
At the end of rainy season , Our Lord gives up the pleasure
and
comfort of His Devi's lap , slowly gets up and places His feet
slowly inside PaadhukA Devi , His other consort ( RanganAtha:
svam-padham Jaladhi-dhuhithu: angAth mandham aadhAya , tvayi khalu
nidhadhAthi ) to commence His sanchAram)Â…(V.S)
SlOkam 302:
***********
(1) Abhinava Desika Sri UtthamUr Swamy's anubhavam:
Oh , PaadhukE ! You touch the lotus feet of the Lord without
any hesitation . You take the Lord to His inner apartemnts
Of His palace for reunion with His consorts. There is another
kaimkaryam that You perform . You transport Your Lord , when
He goes on His secret trysts with the young girls of Gokulam .
Through such kaimkaryam , You have become the first witness
to such plays of Your Lord. You not only help Your Lord
to rush to the side of those , who seek refuge in Him , but also
help Him to get closer to those ladies , who are very dear to Him.
(2) HH Srimath Andavan's anubhavam: Oh PaadhukE ! You
are in contact with Your Lord's feet at all times . You travel
to the far corners of the Lord's inner chambers. You were
the first one to be present , when He had His union with
the Gopis during His KrishNAvathAram days.
(3) Oh PaadhukE ! You are in contact with Your Lord's
lotus-soft feet without any hesitancy ( MurArE: Padha-
sarOjam nirvighAtham sprsasi ) . " NirvighAdham" means
without obstacles , hindrance or interruption . The salukai
of the Paadhukais arises from the unique affection that
Lord RanganAthA has for His PaadhukAs ( Swamy
NammAzhwAr). Not only does the Paadhukai transport
the Lord to every section of His antha: puram (Samasthaam KakshyAm
pravisasi ) but it also has been the first witness
(agrimA SaakshiNI ) to His secret visits to the chambers of
the girls of Gokulam during His avathAram as KrishNan .
Swamy uses a special name to describe the GoPis here:
AabhIra kanyA: ( Cowherd maiden ) . AabhIra Pallee
means the abode of the Cowherdesses . AbhisArakan is
a lover , who goes to a secret rendezvous . Lord KrishNA's
many trysts on the banks of YamunA river described in
Geetha Govindham are referred to here . The SrungAra- BhOgam of the
Lord (SuprItha PithAmbharan) was
all the more interesting to Him because , He had to
travel secretly with His dear Paadhukais to the thicketson the banks
of YamunA as an abhisAraka Naayakan .
SlOkam 303:
************
(1) Abinava Desika UtthamUr Swamy's anubhavam:
Oh PaadhukE ! During His stage of life as a married man
( grahasthA) , KrishNA took 16,000 forms and stayed in
each of the house of His 16,000 wives. They all believed that
He was with them and with them alone . They got His pledge
that He will not leave them to travel to the houses of His
Other wives. He observed His dharmA as GrahasthA and
played with every one of His wives at their houses. The Devis
bet on You to prevent the Lord from leaving their presence
in favor of others. If You could not take 16,000 forms and
stayed at each one of those houses of Your Lord's consorts ,
Your Lord could not have succeeded in spreading Himself at
each of those residences. Oh PaadhukE ! such is Your
Unlimited glory !
(2) Srimath Andavan's anubhavam: PerumAL took many
AvathArams since the Paadhukai was capable of taking
many avathArams . It is not possible for a single person
to be the AchAryan for the whole world . Therefore , PerumAL makes use
of many SadhAchAryAs to grant
Moksha Siddhi to many prapannAs.
(3) During KrishNavathAram , our Lord defeated NarakAsuran
and released the 16,000 women(shOdasa-sthree Sahasram ) held in prison
by him . On their release from the prison , the young women begged
KrishnA to marry them and the Lord acceded to their prayerful request
.. He brought them to DwArakai , married them there according to Vedic
rites and housed them in individual houses and observed GrahasthA's
dharmams with each one of them by taking 16,000 forms of Himself . He
was playing games of chance (rolling dice) with them for entertainment
, where money or material is laid out as a bet . The wives at each of
the house bet on the Lord's Paadhukai in the hope of winning it and
thereby preventing the Lord to leave their houses to enjoy Himself
with the other wives. The Paadhukais took 16,000 forms and stayed at
each one of the 16,000 houses with the Lord and His wives there
for that purpose. Our Lord had Vividha Vapu ( many clones)
and the wives did not want the Lord to leave them for
sapathni grahams (sakkaLatthi houses) and therefore used
the ruse of placing the Paadhukai of the Lord as the wager
to prevent the Lord from leaving their sides at each of
these houses. This happened at every house , when the Lord
played with them ( prathi bhavanam rahasi thvAm glahayathi) . Their
hope was to win the Paadhukai and
cause obstruction for the Lord's travel elsewhere ( sapathni
gEha yAthrA vigAtham thvAm glahayathi)Â….V. S
SlOkam 304 :
************
(1) Abhinava Desika Sri UtthamUr Swamy's anubhavam:
In the previous verse , Swamy Desikan referred to the services
rendered by the PaadhukAs to His 16,000 wives to retain Him
in their houses. Here, He describes the service rendered by
Paadhukais to find where He was , when He escaped from
their midst. Swamy Says: " Oh PaadhukE! Your path is
marked by the signs of Conch , Disc , Flag , Kalpaka tree
and other divine marks associated with the Lord's Thiruvadi.
When he travels on Your back during the occasion of those
trysts , He does not want other gopis to know where He is .
The suffering young gopis left behind follow Your divine
marks on ground at the banks of YamunA and have no
difficulty in tracking down Your Lord and reunite with Him.
(2) Srimath Andavan's anubhavam : The inner meaning is
that people , who are unable to comprehend the Lord
follow the steps of SadAchAryAs and attain Him .
(3) Swamy Desikan shifts here from what happened at
DhwAraki and recalls the incidents that happened
earlier at BrindhAvanam . KrishNan used to escape
from the Gopis and hide at the banks of Yamunai
(YamunAyA: TaDa-bhuvi channavruthou sathi) .
The Gopis were distraught over separation from Him
and looked for clues on His hiding places
everywhere
to unite with Him ( Adhigama hEthO: muhu: muhyathAm
youvathAnAm ) . The Paadhukais came to their
rescue
since it left behind the "sankha chakrAdhi
chihnams "
for the Gopis to track their Lord down . They
followed
those VishNu PaadhukA chihnams and located
KrishNaa
and enjoyed HimÂ…V.S
SlOkam 305:
************
(1) Abhinava Desika Sri UtthamUr Swamy's anubhavam:
Oh PaadhukE ! Just as He roamed with Your help on
the banks of YamunA to gather Gopis in His net of
love ,
He collected other birds as well through His hunts in
nearby forests , while being transported by You. The
net for
these bird hunts was made up of the ropes , which are
nothing
but His kalyANa GuNAs . He roamed in Your company with
this net and collected birds like VyAsa , SukA ,
VaalmIki ,
SounakA and others in the forest of VedAnthA ; He
captured
birds like Naatha Muni, YaamunAchAryA and RaamAnujA
in the forest of Tamizh Vedam . Oh PaadhukE ! He
enlists
You for co-operation in these adventures to please
His
consort , MahA Lakshmi . You readily help him in these
endeavours of Your Lord .
(2) Srimath Andavan's anubhavam: Oh PaadhukE !
Periya PerumAL roams in the forests of Upanidhads
to gather the great sages like Sukhar ,
VyAsar , who
are authorities on VedAs and SaasthrAs for
gladdening
the heart of MahA Lakshmi . He attracts the sages
through His radaint KalyANa GuNams .
(3) " Sarasija nilayA: PreethayE Ranga Bhandhu:
manjuvAcha: SukhAdhIn sangrahIthum " icchasi
( For pleasing MahA lakshmi , RanganAthan collects
the assembly of sages like SukhA , who are known
for
their auspicous speech . How does He do it ? He
enlists
the help of the PaadhukAs to roam in the forests
of
Upanishads for that reason (Upanishad-aDavishu
Tvath-sanATam kreeDitham) ; further , the Lord
enhances the radiance Of His kalyANa guNams
to enchant the great sages to get them in his
"net" as
"present " for His dearest Consort , MahA Lakshmi
..
SlOkam 306:
************
(1) Abhinava Desika Sri UtthamUr Swamy's anubhavam:
Oh PaadhukE ! In the DandakA forest ,Your Lord
performed
a miracle with Your help. He dispelled the curse of
AhalyA
and brought her back from the state of bring a stone
to her
former self as a beautiful woman and reunited her with her
husband. Your intercession on behalf of AhalyA was
praised
by the sages of the DandakA forest. The birds of
that forest
listened to the songs of the sages about Your
magnanimous
act and learnt them by heart . Even today , these
birds
1. wake up at each dawn and sing with their melodious
voices the songs that they had learned earlier about Your
mahimai.
(2) GouthamI RakshaNam ( the saving of AhalyA from her
curse to be a stone ) was sung by Maharishis of
Dandakaa
forest ( Muni parishadhi GouthamI rakshaNam geetham
).
The sweet voiced birds of Dandakaa forest ( manju
vaachA:
sakunthA: DandakEshu ) repeat often what they have
heard about AhalyA Saapa vimOchanam just after
arising at dawn ( Ushasi svayamapi svairam
aamrEDayanthi) . In the previous slOkam , Swamy
described the Rishis populating the VedAnthA forest
as manjuvAcha: SukhAdhIn ; here , Swamy describes
the sweet tongued birds of DandakA as "manjuvAcha:
sakunthA: ". Both are "manju vaacha: "Â…V. S
SlOkam 307:
**************
(1) Abhinava Desika Sri UtthamUr Swamy's anubhavam:
Oh PaadhukE ! You transport and bring before our human eyes
that Supreme One , who can not be easily seen through either
strict observance of celibacy , penance or studies of the
sacred
VedAs . Infact , VedAs hardly succeed in describing His
mahimai.
We recognize the valiant attempts of the VedAs to describe
Him .
Their effort is like seeing the small amount of water in
one's
cupped hands , while trying to take a measure of the
vastness
of the ocean . You make it easy however to see Him and
receive
His anugraham in this human life itself. Swamy Desikan is
referring here to RanganAthA's procession through the
streets
Of Srirangam on the back of His PaadhukAs.
(2) Srimath Andavn's anubhavam: Oh PaadhukE ! Even with
a mind controlled by ashtAnga yOgam , saadhakAs have
difficulty in comprehending the Lord. When one understands
the mahimai of the Lord through Vedhams , even then , one
gets an insignificant appreciation of the full dimension of
the Lord's glory . Such is the profound nature of the Lord
that defies comprehension by YogaabhyAsam or VedAdhyayanam.
That difficult to comprehend Lord and His glories are made
easy to enjoy by people through Your MahOpakAram , when
You bring Him for sanchAram on Your back to the streets of
Srirangam . The people are able to see with their own maamsa-
Chakshus ( fleshy eyes ) the Lord , who is not easily grasped
..
The inner meaning is that the achArya SahAyam (help)
permits one to comprehend the Isvara tatthvams clearly
and quickly . It is the kalyANa guNAs of AchAryAs as
compassion for the samsAri , forbearance , reverence for
the Lord and His BhaagavathAs that permit them to help
us comprehend the glories of our Lord efficently and fully.
(3) "Yogina: na pasyanthi ; Tamm PumAmsam thvam
maamsa dhrushtE: janasya savyam sulabham upaharasi"
are Swamy Desikan's summation about the glories of
the Lord's Paadhukai . Yogis possess minds that are
made still by practise of Yamam , Niyamam et al and yet
they do not comprehend the Lord readily. The VedhAs
have a palm-full of the Lord's glories housed in them
( Yasya BhUmA Sruthishu chuLaka-mAthram ) . Hence ,
those , who use the Vedhic studies as a route to
comprehend
the Lord fail in their efforts (Tamm PumsAm na
dhrusyathE) .
Oh PaadhukE ! You make it easy however for all these
SaadhakAs and simple people to comprehend Your Lord and
His nithya KalyANa gunams by making them see Him with
their own physical eyes by bringing Him in front of
them Â…V.S
SlOkam 308:
************
(1) Abhinava Desika Sri UtthamUr Swamy's anubhavam:
Oh PaadhukE ! People say that the Lord's lotus feet are
the most desirable objective for human beings. I consider
however that You are even more desirable. Even if I do not
pay attention to the Lord or His devotees (BhagavathAs) ,
You still are my cherished treasure. I have been derelict
in
paying attention to You due to my preoccupations
with perishable worldly pleasures . This is unpardonable.
You
should not abandon me , who is unable to overcome my
defects. You should not reject me in favor of others , who
do not have as many defects that I have. When You bring
Your
Lord to me , He will take pity on me , when he sizes
the magnitude of my sins and will make me the subject of
His
grace . Please therefore do not ignore me inspite of my
misdeeds so far . Please make me the fitting object of
Your
Lord's compassion . There is no one , who deserves Your
Lord's DayA than myself, the mahA aparAdhi.
(2)Srimath Andavan's anubhavam: Oh PaadhukE ! You
are like a treasure . adiyEn does not think about You and
yet think about all inauspicious matters. Even the most
compassionate and omniscient Lord is only looking at my
aparAdhams instead of rescuing me. At this important
juncture , adiyEn is counting on You to bring the Lord
before me as a compassionate AchAryan . The inner meaning
is : adiyEn has a tendency to commit the aparAdhams of
not thinking about PerumAL and AchAryAs . It is my
prayer that the SadAchAryan , whose DayA exceeds
even that of PerumAL , should place my aathmA at
the lotus feet of the Lord , whose property it is.
(2) Swamy Desikan speaks for us , when he says:
" ThvAm anAdhruthya mOhAth kshudhram arTam
bhaavayan aham " ( Ignoring You due to my ignorance
and performing all deeds with insignificant phalans ,
adiyEn carries on ) . AdiyEn is the most appropriate
(fittest) one for Your Lord's daya because of my total
insufficencies ( KaruNayA poornapAthrE mayi sathi)
and yet He only focuses on my deficiencies ( Mama
dhOsham bhAvayan). Therefore You should bring the Lord
before me for my salvation Â…V.S
--------------------------------------------------------------
- SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
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