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Sri AparyApthAmrutha DhyAna sOpAnam : Slokam 2

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • January 23, 1998 


Dear BhakthAs of THirukkudanthai AarAvamudhan :

The second slOkam of Thirukkudanthai dEsikan is as follows :

SvarNAmbhoja prathimamanagam SridharA veekhshaNAnAm 

pEyam thtupthEravathirahitham  yOginAm chittha lagnam  I

dheenAnaatha vysana samanam SaarngiNa: paadha yugmam

chitthE bhAyAdh akhila hrudhayAnandha kantham sadhAmE II

( Anvaya Kramam ) : svarNAmbhOja prathimam,  anagam ,
Shree DharA veekshaNAnAm pEyam , yoginAm chittha lagnam ,
dheena anAtha vyasana samanam , akhila hrudhya aanandha 
kantham , SaarngiNa: Paadha Yugmam , mE chitthE sadhA bhAyAdh .

( Condensed Meaning ) : May  the pair of sacred feet of Saarnga rAjA 
shine in my mind always !  They are like a golden lotus and blemishless.
Their beauty is drunk without satiety by the eyes of MahA Lakshmi
and BhUmi dEvi . They are linked to the minds of the sages and 
are the  tuber of Anandham that is experienced by all the people . 
These are the ones with the indomitable power to banish the sorrows  
of those without means of protection and helpless in every way . 

In the previous slOkam , Thirukudanthai Desikan enjoyed the 
integrated essence of the beauty of the Lord of Thirukkudanthai . 
Here , he starts to focus on the lotus feet of the Lord in the spirit 
of PaadhAthi kEsAntha celebration /enjoyment . His enjoyment
proceeds like ThiruppANAzhwAr from the sacred feet on top 
of the AadhAra peetam to the crown .

ThiruppANAzhwar's first glance on entering the sanctum 
sanctorium and opening of his eyes fell automatically on
the " Kamala Paadham " (  neeLarangatthammAn 
Thirukkamala paadham vanthen kaNkaLinuuLna---- ) . 

ANDAL celebrated those golden feet in her ThiruppAvai 
and begged in the  early hours of the morning for Him 
to listen to what those golden feet meant  to her ( poRRAmaRai
adiyE pORRum poruL kELAI ) . Her father , PeriyAzhwAr celebrated
in the very first verse of ThiruppallANdu those 
beautiful lotus feet and their red hue ( sEvadi sevvi ).

Another Azhwar reminisced about those ponnadis 
as " thAmaranna ponnAradi " . NammAzhwAr was concerned
about those feet of matchless beauty being compared to 
the beauty of mere lotuses and pointed out that it is a futile effort
( Katturaikkl ThAmarai ninn kaNN paadham kai ovvA ) . Vedam
describes Him as sarva SvarNa mayan ( ApraNakAth sarva yeva
svarNa: ) . Hence , it is no wonder that the lustre of his feet are 
compared to the brilliance of Golden lotus  
( SvarNAmbhoja prathimam ) by Thirukkudanthai Desikan . 

Those lotus feet are saluted next as "Anagam " by the AchAryan .
Anagam means blemishless . They are " pavithrANAm pavithram" ,
the most sacred of all sacred principles . WhY ? Because , they are 
the ones that measured the Universe and sanctified the earth 
and the sky ( " Theerthan ulahaLantha sEvadi " ) . The water that 
washed those blemishless , sacred feet are worn on His head 
by Lord Siva to attain the highest state of purity ( kasya paadhOdakEna
sa Siva: sva sirOdhruthEna --sivO bhavathi ) NammAzhwAr thinks
of those sacred feet-free of any defect- and begs for their protection 
and MokshAnugraham ( thariyEn ini yunn SaraNam thanthu 
yenn sanmam kaLayAyE ) . Elsewhere , NammAzhwAr shouts 
joyously about the glory of these blemishless pair of feet and points 
them out as " kazhalkaL avayE " . Those are the feet for one's succor 
and release from samsAric sorrows . They are the means and 
they are the end for us . 

Next , Thirukkudanthai dEsikan refers to the anubhavam of 
Sri and BhU devis : " Shri DharA veekshaNAnAm pEyam thrupthE :
avathi rahitham " . Those lotus-soft feet are being pressed by
Shri dEvi and BhU dEvi and their beauty is being drunk without
satiety by the eyes of MahA lakshmi and Bhoomi pirAtti . 

As enjoyed by the AzhwArs , those soft feet pressed gently by
the two consorts ( vadiviNai illA MalarmagaL maRRai nila magaL
pidikkum melladi ) are the most beautiful to experience like
the taste of the nectar ( KaNNAR parhuvO minnamudha 
madhiyOminRE ) . This is not just nectar ( amudhu ) , but
insatiable nectar ( AarAvamudhu ) . 

Thirukkudanthai dEsikan invites us to enjoy this scene 
like YasOdhA pirAtti invited the Gopis to participate 
in the enjoyment of the beauty of those blemishless 
lotus feet ( paadhak kamalangaL kANeerE ) . 

Thirumangai has placed those lotus feet 
pressed by Shri dEvi and BhU dEvi on top of the ratham 
that he constructed for AarAvamudhan in ThiruvEzhukURRirukkai 
and saluted them : " sundara nARROL munneer VaNNa ! 
ninneeradi onriya manatthAl , oru madhi muhatthu 
mangairuvarumalarena , ankail muppozhudhum varuda ".
Here Thirumangai enjoys the sight of the divine consorts 
pressing gently the lotus feet of the Lord with great love . 
Thirukkudanthai dEsikan refers to the drinking of the beauty
without satiety by the dEvis as " thrupthE : avathi 
rahitham pEyam ". 

Our AchAryan indicates to us next as to where those sacred
"kamala paadhams " are seen .He says , "YoginAm chittha 
lagnam " . They are found to be housed in the minds of
parama yOgis ( hrudhayEna udhvahan Harim ) . ANDAL
also explains to us about the Yogis treasuring the Lord's
sacred feet in their minds ( ULLatthuk kondu munivargaLum
yOgihaLum meLLavezhundhu --) . Through dhyAnam , yOgis
invoke and hold those lotus feet of the Lord in their minds 
( yOgi Hrudh dhyAna gamyam ) . 

The anubhava parivAham of the AzhwAr's enjoying the Lord 
in their mind temples is etched in many of their paasura vakhyams :

" manatthuLLAn VenkatatthAN " , " ManatthuLLAn
maakadal neeruLLAn " , " Ninrathum irunthathum 
kidanthathum  yennunjuLLE " , " nenjinuLLE thonrumen
sOthi Nambee" ,  " vanthen nenjidam kondAn ".

BhuthatthAzhwAr specifically pointed out the Lord of
Thirukkudanthai is resident in Yogi Hrudhayams
( tamaruLLam -- mathiL Kudanthai ) . PeyAzhwAr 
noted : " sErntha ThirumAl kadal Kudanthai 
vEnkatam nErnthaven chinthai " . Thirumangai 
confided , " Vanthennijadam kondAn " , VandhAi yenn 
manatthE -- Kudanthaii kiadanthuhanda MaindhA " . 
These many thoughts emerged as " YOginAm 
chittha lagnam " in AparyApthAmrutha sOpAnam . 

The next qualifier of those sacred feet is that they
are , " dheenA anAthA vyasana samanam (SaarngiNa :
paadha yugmam) " . Sri SarangapANi's pair of feet 
are saluted with the very same words used by 
Swami Desikan in Bhagavadh DhyAna sOPaanam 
( dheenA nAtha vyasana samanam ) by the aparAvathAram of 
ThUppul kula maNi . The sacred feet
of the Lord of Thirukkudanthai is slauted as the succor
for the the akinchanaas and anAthais . The dheena 
rakshakathvam and anAtha rakshakthvam of those
sacred feet are celebrated here . 

Thirukkudanthai dEsikan concludes this slOkam with 
a prayer , May those lotus feet shine in my mind always ! " .
That kizhangu ( tuber ) of universal aanandham ,
the root cause of all joy ( akhila hrudhaya aanandha 
kantham ) are invoked to take residence in our AchAryan's
mind and stay there in their resplendent state for all times
to come ( sadhA mE chitthE bhAyAth ) . The choice of the word
akhila here has been pointed out by the commentator as 
very meaningful . Kila means alpam or limited ( paryAptham ) .
Akhila means entire , limitless ( AparyAptham ) . This nectar ,
this aanandham is then aparyApthAmrutham . 

KomaLavalli SamEtha AparyApthamrutha SwaminE nama:
Thirukkudanthai Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam 
Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan