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Padhuka Sahasram-315

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Muralidhar Rangaswamy • December 20, 2000 


Sri:

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

Translation by U.Ve. Dr. V.N. Vedanta Desikan Swamin:

315. AsamskArAth dhvijapariShadhA nithyamaBhyasyamAnA
     shrEyOhEthu: shirasi jagatha: sThAyinI svEna BhUmnA
     rangADhIshE svayamudhayini kshEpthumanDham thamisram
     gAyathrIva thrichaturapadhA gaNyasE pAdhukE! thvam

Oh Paaduka! Lord Ranganatha is on a procession; He is like the rising 
sun. He takes three or four steps before receiving homage at each 
house. You are honoured at each asana in Aradhana. Aradhana is done by 
those who have received purification, like Upanayana and Pancha 
Samskara. They know the value of homgae to You in each stage. 
You are potent in conferring rewards. You are at the top of the world 
because of Your greatness. You are like Gayatri; it has three or four 
parts. It is at the hill top. It refers to Soorya-centre Moorthi. It 
also protects chanters (You are Ga-aya-tri too,
by reason of protecting by going and coming)

Namo Narayana,

SriMuralidhara Dasan

*************************
Special Notes by V.Sadagopan (V.S):

(1)Here, Swami Desikan describes the travels of the Padhukais 
during the day , after referring to His nocturnal travel in
the previous slOkam. In this verse, Sawmi equates Gayathri
Devi to PaadhukA Devi. A comparison between Gaayathri
AarAdhanam and PaadhukA ArAdhanam is made to 
demonstrate the overall features that are common to both
kinds of worship. On that basis , Swami concludes that 
those , who were busy worshipping the PaadhukAs of 
the Lord can console themselves that it is equivalent to
Gayathri worship during the different sandhis (junctions) 
of the day such as dawn , noon and dusk. Swami says: " Oh PaadhukE ! 
You are worshipped by members of three varNAs always for acquiring 
auspicousness. They wear You on their heads and sing Your praise .
During those occasions , You shine like the Gayathri 
manthram recited at sandhis to destroy ignorance about 
               the true nature of Your Lord. You take three or four 
               foot steps and resemble Gayathri's metric form during
               the occasions , when Your devotees throng to worship
               You ". When the Lord travels around the streets of
               Srirangam , the procession has to be stopped at every 
               three or four feet , similar to the practice with 
               the Gayathri  manthram recitation. The procession is 
               stopped  often to permit the householders to receive
               the Lord's Paadhukais on their heads. Gaayathri 
manthram 
               has three or four feet (metric stops ) depending on 
whether
               it has turIya paadham (fourth padham ) or not. Hence ,
               the comparison between the PaadukA's procession and
              Gayathri recitation is appropriate according to Swami .
              One can receive the PaadhukAs independent  of their
              age or VarNA , whereas the Gayathri manthram recitation
              is restricted to those , who have completed their  
sacred
              thread wearing ceremony. In this regard , PaadhukA
              AarAdhanam can be considered even superior to
              Gaayathri AarAdhanam.
     
               (2) Srimath Andavan's anubhavam: Oh PaadhukE ! 
                 Sri VaishNavAs , who have had pancha samskAram ,
                 present You to the Lord at the time of their 
AarAdhanam. You confer on them all auspiciousness. Because of Your 
                 limitless glories , they adorn You on their heads 
with reverence . PrumAL wears You and has His sanchAram 
                 on the streets of Srirangam to remove the sins of the 
people. He stops every three or four steps to have them receive You
                 On the heads of people . 
 
                 (3)The two key thoughts in this slOkam are : " hE 
PaadhukE 
                  thvam Sreya: hEthu ; thvam svEna bhUmnA jagatha: 
                  Sirasi sthAyinI ( Oh PaadhukE ! You are the root 
cause
                  of all KshEmams; because of Your mahimai , You are
                  placed on the utthamAngams (heads )  of people to 
chase
                  away their sins. " hE paadhukE ! thvam GaayathrIva 
                  thri-chathura padhA gaNayasE " ( Like the GayathrI 
                  with its three or four paadhams  recited to chase 
away
                  the darkness at dawn , You are counted as the One 
with
                  three or four steps around the streets of Srirangam 
 to
                  chase away the sins of people )Â…V.S    
   




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           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
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