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Kuresa & Sri Sthavam--4.2(Final Part)

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • February 14, 1996 


Dear Members of the Prapatti group:

We will focus now on the vesrses 6 to 11 of Sri Stavam.

Verse 6: O, Ranganayaki! It is said that wealth is of two kinds. 
One is that , which is experienced here on earth (Eihikam) and the other 
experienced in Sri Vaikuntam by Mukthas and Nitya Suris(Aamushmikam). 
Both these types of wealth are enjoyed by a fortunate few as a result of 
the anugraham of your merciful glances falling on them.
The beneficial  impact of those glances do not surprise us one bit ! 
The reason for our belief is that we know already that Your Lord ,who is 
His Own Master ,considers Himself Kruthaarthan (one , who achieved 
the purpose of his mission) ,when your glances fall on Him. Kuresa 
summarizes the special blessed atatus of Sriman Narayana this way:

" JAGANNATHA: ATMESWARA: NARAYANOPI
TAVA EEKSHANAATH SVAATMAANAM DHANYAM MANYATEH "

Verse 7: O, Consort of Ranganatha! Whatever blessings  a Chetana possesses
 as Wealth, Beauty ,goodness and auspiciousness in this world , ALL  of these
result from You. It is Your (Lakshmi ) sambhandam that makes them qualified
in the above manner. Some of them become auspicious by SAAKSHAAT Lakshmi
Vachaka Sabdham and the others by Lakshmi VISISHTA  Vaachaka Sabdham. 
Kuresa refers in this verse to two types of auspiciousness thru association with

SRI SABDHAM. One is " SRIRITI ABHEDHENA PRATAAM ASNUTEH ". By the 
very attchment of the Sabdham "SRI" , they attain auspiciousness. Thiru Pathi,
Thiru Mangai, Thiru Maalikai , Thiru ViLakku, Sri Kuresa  are examples
of the Sakshaat Sabdham. Visishta Vaachaka Sabdhams are  illustrated by
Srimad Bhagavatam,Srimad Ramaayanam , Srimad Anantha Saras et al. 

Verse 8: Devi ! Even Your Lord does not comprehend fully the limits of your 
Kalyana Gunaas. For that matter, You Yourself do not know the full extent of
Your own auspicious qualities. This lack of awareness does not in any way
cause harm to Your title as SARVAJNAI or as the one, who understands every 
aspect of knowledge. The reason for my view is as follows: Some think that one
is a
Sarvajnan ,when one possesses knowledge about nonexisting things (e.g) horn of a
hare, 
Lotus growing in the sky, mirage in the desert . One , who prides themselves
about 
knowledge of those nonreal things would be at the head of a group of deluded
ones.
In Your case, however , The limit to Your Mahima is an unreal thing (i-e), there
is no
such limit. It is understandable therefore that You do not know about   an
unreal,
nonexisting thing. Hence , there is no dispute on Your Sarvajnatvam.
Your "unawareness (Ajnanam)" Is Yataartha Jnanaparaaya Ajnanam and is not 
a Sarvatvabanjaka Ajnanam. The essence of this verse is that Maha Lakshmi"s
auspicious qualities do not have any limit (i-e) they are limitless.

Verse 9& 10: These two slokas end with the Saranagati statement:" Devadeva
Mahishim SRIYAM Aasrayaama: ". In the ninth verse, Kuresa states that those,who
offer Saranagati at the lotus feet of Maha Lakshmi will be blessed with great
scholarship or Vak Samrutti. Kuresa explains that by pointing out that the
Goddess 
of Learning, Saraswati is a Kinkari (Servant ) Of Maha Lakshmi .Therefore, She
will bless the Prapannas of Her Mistress with her own blessings .In the tenth
verse, 
Kuresa refers to a happening at the time of the Universal Deluge(Pralayam ). At
that
time , there is no Lakshmi Kataksham on this world. Hence, all chetanas and
achetanas
are anemic and  famished and are in a state resembling death.When Maha Lakshmi 
took pity on the state of the Universe and thought about casting Her glance at
the suffering
Universe, that very thought of Her gave new life to the chetanas and achetanas.
 They became invigourated with energy and strength. Life came back all over.
Kuresa
sought refuge at Her holy feet , which is the embodiment of Compassion. 

Verse 11: Kuresa concludes the Sri Sthavam by describing the power of that
merciful
glance of Ranganayaki. He begs Her to enrich him by casting Her glance on him.
In this verse, he reveals that even a second's rest of Her glance on one will
result in the 
acquisition of riches of the kind that have no comparison . That Eiswaryam
blessed 
by Ranganayaki is not the ordinary wealth that disappears with time. It is the
unalloyed
bliss of Moksham and residence in Sri Vaikuntam  as a Muktha Jivan in the
company 
of Divya Dampathis and the Nitya Suris. Kuresa prays for  the wealth of
Kainkarya Sampat
from Sri Devi in this Sthavam. 

Swami Desikan elaborated on the brief prayer of Kuresa in his SRI STHUTI . There
are
25 verses in Swami Desikan"s Sthuti. The first 12 and the last 12 of them pay
tribute to 
Sri Devi"s Kalyana Gunaas and reveal the Saastric truths about Her EKASESHITVAM.
In the epicenter of this sthuti , in the 13th verse, Swami Desikan celebrates
the Pattabhishekam of  Maha Lakshmi , when She appeared out of the milky ocean
during the time of its churning and became the consort of Maha Vishnu and
thereby 
gave Him the title of Sriya: Pathi. 

Swami Desikan like Kuresa recognized Her as "Mangalaanaanam Mangalam" and 
"Sreyo Murthi: ". He reveals that She is the auspiciousness behind all
auspiciousness 
and that She is the embodiment of Benevolence . He points out that in the Yajna
of 
Prapatti, The Jivan, the property of the Divya dampathis , has to be presented
as 
Havis to them  in recognition of their role as EKASESHIS. Swami salutes the
divine 
couple , who are inseperable this way: " Dampathee Yuvaanam Na: Daivatham ".
He salutes them as equals in the spirit of the Vedas. He adds that the Atman has
to
be presented as Havis to both of them to conclude one's Prapatti and to receive
thereafter the fruit of Moksham through that offering to the Divine Couple.
Swami 
says that the blessed -ones are single- minded about getting Sevaadhikaaram to
the 
Divine Couple practising Ekaseshitva Yogam. Such Prapannas according to Swami
treat the other riches of the world as worthless as the blades of Grass. 

I will conclude this posting on Sri Sthavam with the Dhyana Slokam of the Sri
Sthuti
of Swami Desikan, who drew his inspiration from the former. Here Swami sums up 
the Kalyana Gunaas of Maha Lakshmi in the manner celebrated by Alawanddar in
Chatussloki, Ramanuja in Sriranga Gadhyam, Kuresa in Sri Sthavam
and Parasara Bhattar in Guna Ratna Kosam . The Dhyana Slokam is as follows:

KALYANAANAAM AVIKALA NIDIHI: KAAPI KAARUNYASEEMAA
NITYAAMODHAA NIGAMAVACHASAAM MOWLIMANDAARA MAALAA  I
SAMPAT DIVYAA MADHUVIJAINA: SAMNIDATTAAM SADHAA MEH
SYSHAA DEVI SAKALA BHUVANA PRAARTHANAA  KAMADHENU:  II

Here, Swami Desikan recognizes Maha Lakshmi as the Auspiciousness (Mangalam ) 
behind ALL auspicious objects and Tattvaas. He understands Her as the 
boundary of Mercy .He sees Her as  a Mandara garland adorning the head of 
the fragrant Veda Mantraas .He salutes Her as the most precious wealth 
of the Lord. He points out to us that She is the boon-granting , wish-yielding
Kamadhenu for all the worlds. Swami Desikan prays that Maha Lakshmi of such
attributes should always reside in his mind. Kuresa prayed for the glances of 
Maha Lakshmi to fall on him and thereby sanctify him. 

I conclude this posting with a prayer to Maha Lakshmi to bless  us all .

Aazhwaar, Aachaaryaal Thiruvadigaleh Saranam,

Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan 
Yuva Year, Maasi Month , First Day.