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Re: Selected excerpts from MahA VidvAn Sri U.Ve. PerukkAraNai Swamy's ThiruppAvai Monograph: Part XXIII-> Fifteenth day : ellE iLankiLiyE Dinam

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Sadagopan • December 31, 2000 


Srimathyai GodhAyai Nama:
SrimathE RaamAnujAya Nama:

Dear BhakthAs: The ten girls symbolizing " the pancha-
Laksham gOpis" of Gokulam are awakened now and proceed 
together to NandagOpan's palace to awaken the residents of 
that mansion. They start with the awakening of the guards
at the flag-staff gate first. Here is the literal meaning 
of this paasuram according to Dr.V.K.N.S.Raghavan:

" Oh the guard at the entrance of the mansion of our overlord
NandagOpan! Oh the guard at the flag-staff decorated with 
festoons ! May you please release and open the lever bolt 
of the bejewelled doors with bells ! (let us submit to you
that ) the Lord , Sri KrishNA --who is very charming with
the color of blue-sapphire gem (maNi vaNNan) , and who is
of mysterious deeds (Maayan)-- has assured us even yesterday 
that He would give the announcing drum ( paRai) to us , 
the young maidens of the cow-herd clan (gOpis of Gokulam ).
We , who are pure in heart and soul , have come here to sing
in praise of , and awaken , the Lord.Please , Oh Mother-like
compassionate guard , for the first time (munnam munnam) 
without refusing , kindly open the giant-like heavy doors
(and grant us entry).

Upanishada BhAshyakAra Swamy sets the scene for this paasuram
in the following way : " SarvA gOpakanyA udhbhOdhya 
milithA: , sadhyO Nanda bhavana dhvAram aagathya , dhouvArikam
yAchanthE ".( after having woken up all the gOpa KannikaikaL ,
and with that assembly , they arrive at the front gate of
NandagOpan's mansion and appeal to the gate keepers to open
the door and to let them in ) .

The awakening of the ten gOpis is Upalakshanam for
awakening the gOpis of the five lak ( Pancha Laksham ) 
house holds of Gokulam. 

The Inner Meanings of Paasuram by PerukkAraNai Swamy
*****************************************************
PramANam , PramEyam and PramAthA are of three kinds. Vedam ,
Smruthi , PurANam , IthihAsam , dhivya prabhnadhams , Brahma 
soothram are PramANams. Lord Sriman NaarAyaNan in Parama padham,
vyUham , Vibhavam , Archai and antharyAmi are PramEyams.
AchAryAs lie Naathamuni are PramAthAs. Similarly , Rahasya-
Thrayams ( The three manthrams) are PramANams; PerumAL is
PramEyam;the AchAryan initiating us into these manthrams is
PramAthA. 

In the context of this Paasuram , " Koil KaappAnE" denotes
Moola manthram; "kodit thOnRum --vaasal KaappAnE " refers to
Dhvayam; nennalE vaai nErnthAn " stands in for Charama slOkam
of the Lord. The Gopis describe themselves as the ones that
have arrived with MukkaraNa suddhi ( Vaak, Manas , Kaayam) at
the Lord's door . MukkaraNa Suddhi here also refers to that 
they have come with paripoorNa visvAsam in the holy triad--
Manthram , Devathai and AchAryan-- forliberation from the deep
sleep of SamsAram and to gain MokshAnandham.

There are two sections to the door defended by the guards : 
One door of Moola Manthram is made up of the two linked 
doors of (1)"praNavam and Nama:" and (2) NaarAyaNAya .
The two doors of Dhvayam in this connection are: 
(1) Sriman NaarAyana --PrapadhyE and (2) srimathE--Nama: 
These are the poorva and utthara KaanDams. The charama slOkam 
is also constituted by its two doors of PoorvArtham 
(Sarva DharmAn--SaraNam vraja and aham thvA -- maa sucha:). 
These twin doors of each of the three manthrams/rahsyams 
reveal the Lord with affection(nEsamudan)to us. 
Thus manthram , EmperumAn and AchAryan are 
covered in this paasuram as PramANam , PramEyam 
and PramAthA respectively. 

Inner Meanings of Padha Vaakyams
*********************************

NaayakanAi ninRa       Of the Lord , who is the Swamy for all

NandagOpanuadya        Of the Lord , who is the embodiment of 
                       Aanndham and who protects us (the cows/
                       pasus) as a Cowherd

Kovil KaappOnE         Oh protector (of the gate) of the Lord's
                       Sri Vaikuntam and who initiate us into
                       the Moola manthram that reveals the Lord
                       to us .Oh MahOpakAri who bless us with
                       the gift of AshtAksharam and its meanings!

Kodit thOnRum          Oh initiator of Dhvaya manthram that grants
ThOraNa Vaasal         us Sri Vaikuntam with festoons, thOraNams  
KaappAnE !             and gates(vaasal).

MaNik Kathavam         Please perform upadEsam for us about 
ThALL thiRavAi         the meanings of these manthrams , which
                       are like powerful doors.

Aayar siRumiyOmukku    For us without discriminating Knowledge ,
Maayan MaNivaNNan      the Lord who has performed many adhisaya-
                       seyalkaL (many avathArams) befitting His 
                       name as MaayAvi

nennalE                at the ocean side as Raamachandran
                       and on the front of ArjunA's chariot as
                       ParthasArathy has assured us that He will
                       will protect one and all , who seek His
                       RakshaNam

aRai paRai vaai        ( He has ) performed with joy this UpadEsam
nErnthAn               of Charama SlOkam such a  long time ago!

Thuyilezha              singing about His mahimai to get release
paaduvAn                from the deep sleep of SamsAram

thUyOmAI vanthOm        we have arrived here with thrikaraNa
                        suddhi

VaayAl munna munnam     Oh Most merciful AchAryan! Please do n't
mARRAthEyammA           turn us back from our quest through 
                        rigorous tests to ascertain our 
                        qualifications as proper adhikAris 
                        to receive such upadesams.We are simple
                        cowherd folks , who are standing in front
                        of You with thrikaraNa suddhi .

nee nEsa nilai          (Oh AchAryAs) please initiate us into    
Kathavam neekku          the myriad and powerful meanings of
                         the rahasyams , which are like the doors 
                         that describe the DayA Saagaran, our Lord !

Sri UtthamUr Swamy's anubhavam:
*******************************
Abhinava Desikan has correlated the awakening of the ten 
Gopis to the different steps constituting the Saasthram-
prescribed pancha Kaala Prakriyai of a Sri Vaishnavan .
Swamy Desikan in his VaishNava Dinasari following 
that of the nithya grantham of AchArya RaamAnujA has
blessed us with a Sri Sookthi , which describes step by 
step the five assigned ways of dividing the day of
a Sri VaishNavan. adiyEn has posted two articles 
in the Bahkthi list ( July 25,1999) on these five
divisions of time: Abhigamanam , UpAdhAnam ,
Ijyai , SvAdhyAyam and Yogam . Abhinava Desikan 
maps this slOkam with the activities of a VaishNavan, 
who after UpAdhAna Kaalam performs his snAnam and 
gets ready to perform Ijyai (AarAdhanam).

Abhinava Desikan has also commented that the awakening
of the ten Gopis to the dialog with ten Indhriyams 
( Five karmEndhriyams and Five Jn~AnEndhriyams). 
He identifies this paasuram to that of the eleventh
indhriyam : Manas; latter is the most important 
among Indhriyams since , it is the reason (Kaaranam)
behind bondage as a SamsAri and release as a Mumukshu
( Mana yEva manushyANAm kaaraNam Bhandha-mOkshayO:). 
IsAvAsyOpanishad states that the Manas is like 
a golden vessel , which is hidden with a shroud 
of ajn~Anam (Rajas and Tamas ), which prevents it (manas)
from enjoying the Lord. ChEthanan's (dharma BhUtha)
Jn~Anam is prevented by this aj~nam from experiencing
the SaakshAthkAram of the Lord.The Upanishad prays for 
the removal  of the shroud of aj~nanam to reveal 
Mukhya Jn~Anam .

Abhinava Desikan reminds us that our hrudhaya 
pundarIkam as the temple of the Lord ( BrahmapurE 
dhaharam PundarIkam vEsma-ChAndhOgyam) . Manas protects
that temple. The Upanishad establishes five dhvArams
in the heart and describes their connections to 
the five PrANans , Five Indhriyams and the associated
devathais and recommends the UpAsanai of the dhvAra-
paalakAs there for BrahmOpAsanam. This thought is 
associated with the identification of Manas with
this Paasuram.We pray to the Lord resident at the heart
lotus to intervene on our behalf and bless us 
as prescribed by the Upanishad.

"Maayan MaNivaNNan nennalE Vaai nErnthAn" : The moment
one seeks the AchAryan's feet and receives the UpadEsam 
from Him , Lord committs to protect us. 

" nEsa nilaik Kathavam " :nEsam means snEham and Bhakthi. 
" nilai " means the one that grows without interruption.

"neeku": please remove all that stands in the way of 
ever growing "preethi roopApanna smruthi sandhathi"
( dhruva Smruthi /uninterrupted smaraNam of 
the Lord through banishment of all other vishayams
that keep us tied to samsAram ). 

Illustrative Examples of padha Vaakhyams
*****************************************
"kOil KaapAn and Vaasal KaappAn":Two kinds of gate keepers
(DhvAra PaalakAs) are referred to here as SaamAnya 
and VisEshAdhikAris guarding the gates of the Lord's
temple. Bhattar refers to the way in which one has to
seek the permission of the two kinds of gate keepers 
( KshEthrAdhipathi and dhvAra adhyakshAdhipathi)to enter 
the temple to worship the Lord in Srirangaraaja Sthavam .
These (seeking the permission of the dhvAra PaalakAs)
are the commands of Saasthram .

At Srirangam, Chanda-Prachandar guard the eastern temple
gate; at the southern gate, Bhadra-Subhadrars preside.
at the western gate, Jaya-VijayAs have guard duty.
The Northern gate is protected by DhAthA-VidhAthAs.
This called "TadhIya puraskaaram " before  Bhagavath
Sevai . The gate keepers permit entry by "anukoolars"
and turn away the "prathikoolars".Seeking permission 
from them is an important step to enter devAlayams .

ANDAL , Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE saraNam
RaamAnuja Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan 


   

                       


    


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