Search:
Bhakti List Archives

Re: thiru viNNagarath thEn - part 2 - viNNAppath"thEn" by Sri S.Rengarajan and additional comments by Sri M.Rangaswamy of the Vedic connotation of the word "Madhu": Part I .

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • July 3, 2001 


Dear BhakthAs:

Sri Rengarajan(SR) has written beautifully about 
the "thEn "/Honey aspects of ThiruviNnagarappan.
We look forward to reading his additional posts
on How ThiruviNnagarappan is enjoyed as the divine
Honey.

Sri Murali Rangaswamy(MR) had a follow up on these 
postings of SR , which linked the content with 
Madhu VidhyA of ChAndhOgya Upanishad ,MahA NaarAyaNa-
Upanishad ,Madhusoodhana Tatthvam .Here are two excerpts 
from MR's excellent follow up:
 
>> Aditya (Lord Narayana resident in the Sun's orbit) is the 
>>honey of the Gods. 

>>Madhu is glorified in the Mahanarayana Upanishad Rk "MaDhuvAtA 
>>ruthAyathE maDhaksharanthi sinDhava: mAdhvIrNasanthoUshadhi: 
>>maDhunakthamuthOshasi maDhuna: pArthivam vraja: maDhudhyOrasthuna: 
>>pithA maDhumAnnO vanaspathi: maDhumAnasthu sUrya: mAjIrGhAvO 
>>Bhavanthuna:" 


In this posting , adiyEn will focus on the Veda Manthrams
that elaborate on the "Madhu"/ThEn tatthvam of the Supreme
Being . Rg Vedam is the oldest of the Vedhams and in
that Vedham , there are 8 Rks that start with " madhu".
One of them is the one quoted above by MR , which has been 
incorporated in the MahA NaarAyaNOpanishad .adiyEn 
will refer to these manthrams , describe their meanings 
and link those meanings to the Para Brahmam ( OppilA Appan/
Matchless Lord).

Manthram 1:
***********
Towards the end of the first canto of Rg Vedam 
(I.90.9) is a Saanthi Manthram that follows the three
Rks ( I.90.6-8). That well-known Saanthi Manthram is:

sam nO Mithra: sam varuna: Sam nO BhavathvaryamA 
Sam na IndhrO Bruhaspathi: Sam nO VishNurukrama:
Rg. Vedham : I.90.9

The simple translation of this saaanthi Manthram is 
as Follows: " May the One , dedicated to the Society ,
be gracious to us. may the One, most virtuous , 
be gracious to us. may the Law giver be gracious to us.
May the Supreme head be gracious to us. May the High
Priest be gracious to us. May the Preserver of great
courage be gracious to us."

Vedic SamhithA commentators have pointed out that
the references to Mithra, VaruNA , Aryaman , Indhran,
Brahaspathi , VishNu and Urukrama are all about
the One and the same Supreme Brahman (Sriman 
NaarAyaNan) , in sofar as these epithets are 
saluting Him as the benoevolent teacher , leader 
and instructor . 

That Supreme One is saluted five times with
the word "Sam". Vedhic commentators have explained 
that this word has the following five representations:

(1) SukhakAri/Bliss-giver (2) Saanthiprahda:/
Peace-giver(3)Isvarya Soukhyaprdha:/Wealth giver
(4)AarOgyapradha:/Health-giver (5) VidhyA-vyApthiprahda:/
Enlightenment giver.

This Supreme being is the object of Madhu VidhyA 
( the Lord resident in the center of Soorya MaNDalam,
the honey of Gods worshipped at each sandhi by Gayathri
Devi). 

With this background , we can study the three Rks 
preceding this Saanthi Manthram:

Madhu VaathA ruthAyathE Madhu ksharanthi sindhava:
MaardhvIrna: santhvOshadhee: ( Rg Vedham : I.90.6)

(Meaning): With the power of the Lord , " the wind 
blows sweetly , the rivers glide on sweetly. The herbs
yield sweetness to us".

Madhu nakthamuthOshasO MadhumatpArTivam raja:
Madhu dhyourasthu na: pithA(Rg Vedham : I.90.7)

(Meaning): The Lord is visualized here as 
the SarvanthAryAmithvam of the Lord in all
of His creations in a sweet way. The prayer is:
" May the night be sweet, so also the dawn.
May the dust of the earth be full of sweetness.
may the celestial region be sweet to us. "

MadhumAn nO vanaspathir madhumAgum asthu Soorya:
MaadhvIrgAvO bhavanthu na:( Rg Vedham: I.90.8)

(meaning): Visualization of the Lord in all His
creations in a sweet (Madhu/honey/thEn ) form 
is attempted here: " may the Trees be sweet ;
May the Sun be imbued with sweetness. May our 
milch-kline be sweet to us".

In Rg Vedham I.13.3, the reference to Madhu
is made with the invocation of the antharyAmi
of Agni as " madhujihvam":

naraasamamiha priyam asmin yaj~nA upa hvayE
MADHUJIHVAM Havishkrutham

(Meaning): " I invoke the most adorable Lord ,
the One praised by all people, the Sweet-tongued,
completely dedicated , and the giver of nature's
gifts."

Niruktham defines JihvA (tongue)as arising from 
(johuva) , as the One , who calls out again and 
again (with seven tongues ). Mundaka Upanishad
describes these seven tongues (of Agni)as KaaLi(Black) ,
KarALi( Terrible), ManOjavA ( thought-swift) ,
SulOhithA (Blood-red) , SudhUmravarNA ( smoke-hued),
Sphulingini (Scattering Sparks) and VisvarUpi (all-
encompassing). This MadhujihvA empowering Agni
is our Lord , the Madhu of Gods, ThiruviNNagrappan 
aka AakAsa NagarIsan .

We will cover four more Rg Veda Manthrams
containing the Madhu Sabdham in the concluding 
posting of this two part series.

(To Be continued)
Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam 
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan 

        



--------------------------------------------------------------
           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
To Post a message, send it to:   bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com
Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/
 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/