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Sri Azhagiya Singhar's Third UpanyAsam on Feb 7 , 1999 : PART 2

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • February 16, 1999 


Introduction for part II
*************************
In celebration of the glory of the fruits of 
SaraNAgathi and the immense dayA of our Lord ,
H.H. The Jeeyar reminded us of the anubhavam 
of Thirumazhisai and his MahA VisvAsam in 
the Lord's rakshakathvam . That is the moving
115th Paasuram of Thirumazhisai AzhwAr (B) .

Next , he referred to AlavandhAr's nirvEdham (C)
and reminded us of Swami Desikan's NyAsa Tilaka
slOkam (D)in this context to pacify the worrying mind  
and linked it all together with the beautiful 
commentary of maNavALa Maa Muni on the 115th
Paasuram of Thirumazhisai. We will cover all of these
aspects relating to the glory of performing SaraNAgathi
at the holy feet of a SadAchAryan in this posting . 

B. The 115th Paasuram of Thirumazhisaip PirAn 
**********************************************

   atthanAhi annaiAhi aaLUM EmpirAnumAi
   otthavavvAtha pal piRappozhitthu nammai AatkoLvAn
   MutthanAr MukunthanAr puhunthu nammuLL mEvinAr
   yetthinAl iDark kadal kiDatthi yEzhai nenjamE 

(Meaning): The Lord enters our heart and resides
there in splendour and protects us as the Father, Mother ,
and the ruling supreme Master and gives us the boon of
freedom from the cycles of births and deaths and 
protects us .Oh My poor Mind ! why do you worry ?

Next , H.H. The Jeeyar referred to the soul-stirring 
slOkam of AlavandhAr about his worries in his SthOthra Rathnam ,
where his nirvEdham (despondency ) over wasted
life pours out . Great AchAryAs were not guilty of 
these sins , but described themselves as sinners 
to help us . Here is that slOkam . Once again ,
we see AlavandhAr addressing  his appeal to MukundhanAr 
just as Thirumazhisai did in his 115th paasuram . 
This is because Mukundhan is the Moksha DhAyakan
( grantor of Moksha siddhi ) in our sampradhAyam . 

C. AaLavandhAr's NirvEdha Slokam from SthOthra rathnam ( 23rd )
***************************************************************

   na nindhitham karma tathasthi lOkhE
   sahasrasO yann na mayA vyadhAi
   sOham vibhAgavasarE Mukhundha 
   KranthAmi samprathyagathis tavAgrE 

(meaning): Oh MukhundhA !There is not a sin
that I have not committed in this world ! More
over, I have committed these sins thousands of times .
At this juncture , when all the fruits of these paapams
have ripened and are going to impact me with fearsome 
consequences , I stand before you without any
means of protection and scream aloud seeking
Your grace to lift me up from my sea of worries 
and save me .

Like AlavandhAr , Swami Desikan was worried 
about being "aparAdha chakravarthi" or the emperor
of all aparAdhams (trespasses ) . He however consoled 
his mind in the 24th slOkam of NyAsa Tilakam , 
a SarNAgathi grantham , presented before Sri RanganAthan .
H.H. The Jeeyar quoted and explained the purport
of that slOkam next . 

D. Maanasa SambhOdanam of Swami Desikan : Nyaasa Tilakam
*********************************************************

yAvath jeevam Jagathi niyatham dEhayAthrA bhavithrI
   thyakthA: sarvE thri chathura dina ghlAna bhOgA nabhOgA:
dhatthE RangE nijamapi padham desika aadEsa kaankshi
   kim thE chinthE param abhimatham kidhyasE yath puna: thvam 

(Extended Meaning): Oh My Mind ! It appears that you 
continue to harbor worries . Is that about continuing 
to bear your body as a prapannA until the Jeevan leaves it. 
You know however that deha yAthrai ( life on earth after 
Prapatthi)will continue as determined by per your karmAs .
Therefore ,please do not worry about that. Oh My Mind ! 
Let me ask you one more thing . Are you thinking about 
the joys in the after-life such as svargam and 
other sukhAnubhavams ? I say to you in this context 
that this kind of bliss is only for an extremely short 
span of time ( three to four days ) and hence you 
should stop worrying about these anithya sukhams.

May be you are worried about some thing else ! I wonder
whether you worry whether you will really receive the boon
of Moksham .Thou shall not worry about that at all . Our Lord
Ranganathan grants without fail Moksham to those , who are 
recommended by SadAchAryALs . He follows closely their 
recommendations. Oh My Mind ! Now that you have received 
the AchArya anugraham and your prapatthi has been 
accepted by the most merciful AchAryA , Sri RanganAthan 
will most defenitely grant you the place in His Sri Vaikuntam.
Therefore , please do not be distracted by any worries 
and stay free from anxieties and sorrows in your life
here as a druptha Prapannan . 

The words Swami Desikan chose in this slOkam 
are most meaningful and assertive about the weight
that Sri RanganAthA gives to the AchAryan's recommendations . 
" RangI dEsika aadhEsa kaankshI nijam padham api dhatthE "
is a key passage here. Lord RanganathA awaits the commands 
of the SadAchAryan and grants the place in Sri Vaikuntam
for those recommended by the sadAchAryan . Swami Desikan 
than asks his mind : Puna: thvam yath kidhyasE ? ". Oh My 
Mind ! what else is there for you to worry about again ?

Thirumazhisai AzhwAr talked to his own wavering mind 
and comforted it and pointed out that our Lord is 
anxiously waiting for us to fall at the feet of
a SadAcharyan and perform SaraNAgathi so that He can
bless the chEthanan recommended by the SadAcharyan
and grant that chEthanan Moksham and Sri Vaikunta Vaasam 
( tadh VishNo: paramam padham ).

E. MaNavALa Maa Muni's commentary on the 115th paasuram
********************************************************   

H.H. The Jeeyar used an effective analogy to illustrate
the worries of a PrapannA that are not appropriate (asthAnam ).
He used MaNavALa Maa Muni's vykhyAnam for the Thirumazhisai
Paasuram section ( YetthinAl Idark Kadal kidatthi ? ) . 
Here Thirumazhisai reminds us of the special and 
unique " Ozhikka OzhiyA uRavu" .

Sri MaNavALa Maa Muni's vykhyAnam deals with a worried , 
newly married girl . Her father found a great match for her 
and married her to that bridegroom . Instead of being happy
about her good fortune , she worried so  much about 
the Jn~Anam, Sakthi ,wisdom of her husband and wondered
about the protective capabilities of that husband . Sri 
MaNavALa Maamuni says : He is Sarva~jnan , Sarva sakthan , 
PrApakan .You can not protect yourself and He ( ParamAthmA )
has the right and power to protect you (the Jeevan ) . The 
need for MahA VisvAsam , an important angam of Prapatthi
is being emphasized here . Thirumazhisai's Paasuram ,
Swami Desikan's slOkam relate to the same subject .

In the concluding post tomorrow , I will cover 
the inspiration for a famous slOkam used by
Swami Desikan from KaaLi DaasA's Saakunthalam 
and Raghu Vamsam . That slOkma is found both 
in Sarama SlOkAdhikhAram of Srimath Rahasya 
Thraya Saaram and Taathparya Chandrikai of
Swami Desikan . H.H. The Jeeyar concluded
this one hour thought provoking UpanyAsam 
on SaraNAgathi as Parama Hitham with additional
quotations from NyAsa Dasakam and Deva Naayaka
PanchAsath . We will dwell on these PramANams
next .

Azhagiya Singhar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Oppilaippan Koil VaradachAri SadagOpan