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Indra neela paddhathi of RPS : 20th paddhathi

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • June 1, 1997 


Dear Sri RanganAtha PaadhukhA SevakAs :

Swami Desikan composed 30 verses in praise of the blue
sapphires decorating Sri Ranganatha paadhukhAs . With this 
paddhathi , our AchAryA concludes his focus on the individual
gems of the Lord's PaadhukhAs . We will focus on six slokAs
of this paddhathi in this posting on RPS.

Slokam 1 :

HariNA harineelaisccha prathiyathnavatheem sadhA I
ayathna labhya nirvANAm aasrayE MaNipaadhukhAm II

The Lord's hue is that of Indraneelam ( Neelamegha shyAmaLan ) .
That Lord of sky blue hue is resting His sacred feet on the sandals
adorned with IndraneelA stones. Therefore , the paadhukhAs are
blessed to have as decoration , the Lord and the IndraneelA stones. 
Sawmi Desikan points out that those , who surrender to the PaadhukhAs 
( AacharyAs ) will gain the boon of Moksham effortlessly . 

In this context , Swami Desikan says : " I surrender unto 
the PaadhukhAs of the Lord , which confer the blessings of Moksham 
without any previous effort on my part. I surender unto those 
PaadhukhAs , which have the Lord and the IndraneelA stones as 
their decoration . Those sacred paadhukhAs confer many kinds 
of blessings on the debvotees , who approach them " . 

Swami Desikan recognizes the PaadhukhAs as NammAzhwAr 
and the Achaarya paramparai that follows him . AachAryAs  intervene 
with the Lord to get the blessings of MokshA for the prapannAs ,
who  performed prapatthi to them . Hence , the prapannA does not
need to do anything extra . If on the otherhand , a seeker of Moksham 
approached the Lord directly , he has to take the ardous route of Bhakthi 
or the easier route of Prapatthi to atain Moksham . Surrendering to the Lord's
PaadhukhAs obviates the need for any such special efforts for gaining Moksham .

Slokam 5 : 

charaNAvani bhaathi sahyakanyA 
    harineela dhyuthibhi : tavAnuviddhA I
VasudEvasuthasya RangavrutthE : 
    YamunEva svayamAgathA sameepam II

O PaadhukhE ! Cauveri river originating from the SahyA mountain 
in the west blends at Srirangam with the blue rays of your sapphire
gems and takes on the hue of the dark blue stream of Yamuna river
of the north flowing near Brindhaavanam . 

Swami Desikan recognizes Sri RanganaathA , who incarnated 
as KrishNa in BrindAvanam and played on the banks of the river
YamunA . He suggests that yamunA has come to Srirangam in 
the form of Cauveri to be near her Lord , who had jala kreetA 
in her and also played on her banks and sands . 

Slokam 7 :

nethrEshu pumsAm tava paadharakshE ! 
    neelAsmabhaasA nihithAnjanEshu I
Sriyaa samam samsritharangakOsa: 
    nidhi: svayam vyathim upaithi nityam II

O PaadhukhE ! when the blue rays from your sapphire fall
on the eyes of your devotees , they serve as the collyrium 
or bluish-black pigmnet (anjanam ) used to paint  the eye lashes of 
the women . Your magical bluish-black collyrium through its 
divine power  is able to make transparent Sri RanganAthA 
with Sri Devi resting under His Ranga VimAnam at Srirangam .

Swami Desikan points out here that the blue rays of the sapphire
on the Lord's paadhukhAs travel over considerable distances and reach
the eyes of those , who wish to undertake a journey to Srirangam .
Immediately , the blue anjanam (rays ) reveal Sri RanganaathA
with His consort at Srirangam like a magical ointment that 
reveals the hidden treasures to those , who wear it on their eyelids .

The inner meaning of the slokam is that the Lord appears 
effortlessly before the  eyes of those , who understand the true 
doctrines incorporated in the paasurams of NammAzhwAr  just as 
the one , who wears the magical ointment detects the hidden 
treasures (pudhayals ) readily . 

Slokam 9:

jeevathyamruthavarshiNi prajaa :
  taavaki dhanujavairi paadhukhE ! I
ghOrasamsaraNa karmanaasinee
   kALikEva Harineela paddhathi : II

O PaadhukhE ! The gift one receives after entering 
the Moksha SaamrAjyam is the taste of nectar . 
Your rows of deep blue sapphire are like rain-laden clouds
that shower life-perpetuating nectar on the people blessed by you 
to banish their samsaaric afflictions . Through these life giving showers , 
prapannAs surendering to you get relief from the scorching 
heat of the summer of samsArA . 

The inner meaning of this slokam is that the sorrow of samsArA
is destroyed for those , who understand the true meanings
of the paasurams of NammAzhwAr . 

Slokam 21 :

tvayi vinihithamEthath kEpi pasyanthi mandhA :
   sathamakamaNijaalam SaarngiNa: paadarakshE ! I
vayamidhamiha vidhma: prANinaam bhAvukAnaam 
   hrudhayagruhaguhAbhya: peethamandham tamisram II

O PaadhukhAs of SaarangapANi ! some dim-witted people
see your sapphires as the cluster of blue rays of a precious gem . 
We on the contrary recognize  them as the destroyer of the darkness
in the heart caves of those , who meditate on your Lord. 
For us, the blue rays of your sapphire banish the darkness 
present in the heart caves and reveal the location of your Lord 
residing there . 

Slokam 30 :

namathAm nijEndra neelaprabhavEna 
   MukhundhapaadhukhE ! bhavathi I
tamasA nirasyathi tama: 
   kantakamiva kantakEnEva II

O Mukhundha PaadhukhE ! Through the dark lustre emanating
from your sapphires , you remove the dark guNam ( TamO guNam)
of the people of this earth , who bow before you . In this respect ,
you act like  a thorn that is used to remove another thorn 
from one's flesh .

The inner meaning is that AzhwAr is the Paadhukai .
The blue rays of the sapphire are the paasurams that were 
born out of the AzhwAr's sorrow over separation from the Lord .
Those , who understand the meaning of these paasurams 
lose their sorrows associated with samsAra taapam . 
When such a person reflects over his loss on not getting
closer to the Lord , his sorrows melt away as in the case of 
the AzhwAr .

Sri Ranganaatha Divya MaNi paadhukhE ! Thubhyam nama:
Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam 
Oppiliappan Kovil VaradAchAri Sadagopan