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Copy of: PrakeerNa Paddhathi -- Part 4 : Slokams 851-860

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V. Sadagopan • June 27, 1997 


Retransmittal .
---------- Forwarded Message ----------

From:	V. Sadagopan, 75041,3037
TO:	OM, INTERNET:BHAKTI@LISTS.BEST.COM
DATE:	6/26/97 10:13 AM

RE:	Copy of: PrakeerNa Paddhathi -- Part 4 : Slokams 851-860 

Dear  Fellow PadhukhA SevakAs :

It is not clear to me whether I should include the transliterated 
text of PaddhukhA Sahasram in my postings . I will just comment 
on the meanings from now on unless there is any special reason 
to add these slokams . 

Slokam 851 of RPS / Slokam 21 of PKP
*******************************************

(Meaning ) : Oh , PadhukhE ! The founder of the kulam of Raghus is
none other than Surya and hence this vamsam is hailed
as Surya Vamsam . At the time of your coronation bath ,
You helped Suryan to regain His energy through the brilliant
lustre of your rubies. He got rejuvenated and lost His fear of 
RavaNA as an indestructible demon . This in turn made SuryA 
dim the lustre on the moon-like face of Mandodhari , the principal
wife of RavaNA . 

(Comments ) : The sun " lends " a portion of His lustre to the Moon
at night time. During the day time , Sun dims the lustre of the Moon 
due to its own brilliance. Swami Desikan takes the poetic liberty 
in suggesting  that before the coronation bath of the PaadhukhAs , 
Sun was full of fear of RavaNA and was unable to diminish the lustre 
of the moon-like face of Mandodhari . Once the PaadhukhAs ascended 
the throne of Raghus , the Sun got confident that RamA will destroy 
RavaNA . The Sun shed its fears and shone brilliantly and thereby 
diminshed the lustre on MandOdhari's face in anticipation of RavaNA 's
destruction . 

Slokam 852 of RPS / Slokam 22 of PKP
*******************************************

Swami Desikan celebrates here the dark blue lustre of 
the sapphires adorning the PaadhkukhAs . He states that 
the PaadhukhAs are like the shadow of RanganAthA 
as He moves in and out of His inner chambers .
Thus  the PaadhukhAs are considered by Sawmi Desikan 
to be not only the reprsentative of the Lord"s feet , but also of 
His whole body . He says : " Oh , MaNi PaadhukhE ! You are
celebrated by the entire world for your brilliant blue rays 
emanating from your dark sapphires . You are united like
a shadow at the feet of RanganAthA and follow Him through 
all His roamings in the inner chambers of His palace .

Swami Desikan describes the sweet movements of the Lord 
in the inner chambers as " Antha: purEshu RanganrupathE : 
laLithAni gathAgathAni tvam anuvarthasE " . 

The inner meaning is that AzhwArs and AchAryAs follow the Lord 
as if they are His shadow . They never leave the side of the Lord .

Slokam 853 of RPS/ Slokam  23 of PKP
*******************************************

Sri Devi is of golden hue ; Bhumi Devi has the bluish-black
color of the sapphire . When Swami Desikan thinks of these 
two colors coexisting in the paadhukkAs due to the presence of 
Gold and sapphires , he is reminded of the PaadhukhAs as a joint 
representation of both the Devis of the Lord . He says :
 " Oh , PaadhuukhE ! You have taken the residence at the Lotus feet 
of Lord RanganAthA and shine with a golden and bluish lustre 
through your gold and sapphires  adorning you . Great poets have
therefore celebrated you as the combined form of both Sri Devi
and Bhumi Devi ( tvam SaamAnya Moorthiriva Sindhu sudhA 
DharaNyO : ) " .

The inner meaning is that the SadAchAryAs are the embodiment 
of both DayA (Sri Devi )and forbearance ( Bhumi Devi/KshamA ) . 

Slokma 854 of RPS/ Slokam 24 of PKP
******************************************

Swami Desikan compares the Lord's sacred feet with 
that of the PaadhukhAs from the aspect of their attributes .
He points out many similarities between them . He states : 
" Oh , PaadhukhE ! You and Your Lord are both worshipped by
the DevAs with flowers . Both of You fulfill the wishes of 
Your devotees. Like your Lord , You confer auspiciousness 
on those , who bow before You . The tender creeper-like
fingers and nails on Your Lord' s feet resemble the rubies 
and pearls on You " . 

The inner meaning is that AchAryALs are BhagavAn's 
Thiruvadi . SishyAs are AchAryA 's Thiruvadi . That is why 
a Sri VaishNavA responds to the queries on whose Thiruvadi
he or She is by adding the name of his/her AchAryA before 
the word Thiruvadi and describe themselves in this manner.

Slokam 855 of RPS / Slokam 25 of KPK
********************************************

In the previous verse , Swami Desikan pointed out the close
relationship between the PadhukhAs and the Lord's holy feet .
Here , he describes PaadhukhA as the mistress , who enjoys
the pleasures of bathing , decorations with flowers , smearing 
with sandal paste and other upachArams along with the Lord. 
He points out that the PaddhukhA must be the Lord's mistress ,
since no other property of the Lord achieves this exalted status
of the PaadhukhA . He states : " Oh , MaNi PaadhukhE ! After
your sacred bath, your servants wipe you dry. They smear you
with perfumed powders . They cover you with garlands made 
up of fresh and fragrant flowers .You set out next with your Lord 
on His jaunts .This way , you stand out as His dearest mistress.
Your status is never acheived ( ananya Labhyam ) by any other 
jewelery  of the Lord " . 

Slokam 856 of RPS/ Slokam 26 of PKP 
********************************************

Swami Desikan focuses on the vision of AdisEshA 
enjoying the sound and sight of the PaadhukhAs 
with his two thousand  eyes in this slokam . It is
generally believed that the eyes of snakes act as 
the organ of sight as well as hearing . Swami Desikan 
states here that AdisEshan is intently enjoying the 
sight of the beautiful gait of the PaadhukhAs and the 
sweet naadham generated by them at the same time. 
He says : " Oh , PaadhukhE ! AdisEshA can not wait 
even for one second to enjoy both your beautiful 
mobile form and delectable sounds created by you
as you  move around to the accompaniment of the jingling
gems on you . He wants to take in both your beauty and 
the naadham simultaneously and uses his two thousand 
eyes to accomplish this task . As  a result His eyes become 
known for their sense of hearing besides seeing . "

Slokam 857 of RPS/ Slokam 27 of PKP
*******************************************

Swami Desikan describes here , the special blessings
conferred by the PaadhukhAs as Suryan on its prime 
devotee , MahEsvaran  . He equates the PaadhukhAs
to Surya BhagavAn , since the PaadhukhAs have thousands of
rays emanating from its gems as well as mobility like the latter.
He says : " Oh, PaadhukhE ! You shine with thousands of rays and 
move in the skies with your Lord. At that time , you resemble Surya , 
who is one of the eight forms of MahEsvarA , your foremost devotee .
You confer your blessings on MahEsvarA in this manner " .

The inner meaning according to Srirangam Andavan 
tradition is that the Brahma Tejas of the AchAryAs banish 
the spiritual darkness.  As the sandals (PaadhukhAs) of 
the Lord , the AchAryAs are deeply attached to the Lord's 
holy feet. Thus they shine like the Surya BhagavAn . 

Slokam 858 of RPS/ Slokam 28 of PKP
******************************************

After describing the blessings conferred by the paadhukhAs
on AdisEshA and MahEsvarA , Swami Desikan shifts his 
attention to the wives of the sages of the forest . He says:
" Oh , PaadhukhE ! Your central concern is to protect and help 
all the people , whether you are travelling with your Lord in 
the forest or  sititng on the throne in AyodhyA . In the forest ,
you blessed the Rishi pathni , AhalyA and transformed her 
back into the state of a woman from that of a stone. All the wives
of the sages of the forest recall with affection your help to
AhalyA and prostrate before you daily for your 
compassionate act " .

Slokam 859 of RPS/ Slokam 29 of PKP
*******************************************

In this verse, Swami Desikan points out that the sages
of the forest enjoy the PaadhukhAs as Surya Mandalam 
( the orbit of the Sun God ) . He says : " Oh , PaadhukhE ! 
You shine with your thousands of rays like the Sun's orbit.
Your sounds during your movement resemble the sounds 
of recitation of the three VedAs at the time of dawn , noon 
and dusk . Your Lord sits at the center of that orbit as
Surya NaarAyaNa Moorthy and is recognized and saluted by 
the sages as the Veda Purushan housed by you " . 

The inner meaning suggested for this verse by NammANdavan
of Srirangam is that the Lord is always accompanied by 
the AcharyAs , who are like the crown of the VedAs ( Upanishads) ,
just as Surya BhagavAn is always accompanied by the three VedAs. 

Slokam 860 of RPS/ Slokam 30 of PKP
*******************************************

Oh, PaadhukhE ! You destroy the false arguments of 
the demented and prove that Lord NaarAyaNA is the supreme
principle of the Universe. You prove that the PurushA at the center 
of the Sun's orbit is none other than the eternal RanganAthA .
You touch His sacred feet with your thousand rays and highlight 
His eternal and unique role as the creator , protector and 
destroyer of the universe as eulogised  by the VedAs . You 
proclaim and  assert that Hari is the central power that pervades 
all the sentient and insentient beings . You silence the false
scholars about their opinions to the contrary " .

A side Note on the translations of RPS Slokams 
*****************************************************

I have been following the commentaries of both 
Utthamoor Abhinava Desikan , Sri VeeraraghavAcchAr 
Swamy and that of the Srirangam Aandavans known
as Sri RanganAtha PaadhukhA sevakAs . 

Sri ThErazhundoor Aandavan revered as NammANdavan/
Sri VedAntha RaamAnuja MahA Desikan was the first 
Aandavan to bless us with the VyAkhyAnam for  Sri RanganAtha
PaadhukhA Sahasram . He completed his commentary upto
the 860th verse and was unable to complete the task of 
translating all of the 1008 slokams of Swami Desikan's work .
His illness interfered with his labor of love. He commisioned
his disciple and successor, Aakkoor Aandavan
( Sri SrinivAsa MahA Desikan ) to complete the commentary
on the remaining 148 slokams. Aakkur Aandavan was a great
Yathi , who had studied under the feet of NammANdavan 
and had acquired SakalArtha GrahaNam form His AachAryan.
He rose to the occasion and completed the task assigned to him.

I will summarize the Guru ParamparA of Srirangam Aandavans 
and Poundarikapuram Aandavans in a subsequent posting .
Sri Anbil Ramaswamy of our group had sent me a most
informative calendar for Isvara Varsham
and this Acharya Paramparai is included there by the author :
Sri SevA SwamigaL , a great devotee and illustrious scholar of
Swami Desikan's works .

I thought many of you belonging to one or other of these two
great Guru ParamparA might be interested in this information .

Sri RanganAtha Divya MaNi paadhukhE ! Thubhyanm Nama:
Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam 
Oppiliappan Kovil VaradachAri Sadagopan