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Sri Anand's postings of his extraordinary anubhavams

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • June 17, 1998 


Dear BhakthAs : What a pleasure it is to enjoy 
even vicariously the anubhavams of Sri Anand 
prior to his Prapatthi at the sacred feet of 
His Holiness Sriman NaarAyaNa Yatheendhra 
MahA Desikan !

AdhyAthma sampradhAyam (the tradition of 
upadEsa kramam on the relationship
between JeevAthmA and ParamaathmA passed on 
thru our AchArya paramparA ) is well nurtured 
and passed on in the Ahobila Mutt for the past 600
years as dheepa -pradheepam ( one lamp lit from
another lamp) . It is wonderful that Sri Ananad 
( Sri Anantha Padmanabhan ,the grandson of 
Abhinava Desikan Sri UttamUr Swamy on his mother's side )
became particularly blessed in the krama fashion
with Divya Desa yAthrA , exposure to the favorite
slOkam of the Parama Pada Vaasi H.H. Sri InjimEttu
Azhagiya Singar ;latter was the AchArya for my grandfather 
and I assume for Chi.Anand's grandfather on the paternal side ,
Sri GopalAcchAr Swamy , who devoted his entire life to 
the adhyApAka Kaimkaryam of the Lord of ThiruveLLUr .

Reading Sri Anand's postings bring a flood of memories .

First , I am reminded of the precise description of
Swami Desikan in his thirty second and final
chapter of Srimadh Rahasya Traya Saaram/RTS 
( NigmanAdhikAram ) , where he sums up
the entire RTS . In his first slOkam of this
superb adhikAram (chapter ) , Swami Desikan 
in his inimitable style elaborates on the blessings
enjoyed by a PrapannA , who has had the AchArya 
sambhandham/anugraham that led to BaranyAsam .

Swami Desikan says :

kara bhadaritha visva: kascchidh AchArya dhrushtyA 
     mushitha nikhila mOhO mUla manthrAdhi bhOga: I
saguNa vishaya siddhou sampradhAyam prayacchan 
     sucharitha silahAri sUri brundhAbhinandha : II

FIRST LINE OF THIS SLoKAM 
**************************

This adhikAri is a Kascchidh bhAgyasAli , who is 
immensely blessed to have performed the noblest 
and the most auspicious act of Prapatthi .

He has been blessed with AchArya Dhrushti , which
is the most benovolent . Once that AchArya dhrushti
or KatAksham falls on this adhikAri ( one who
is qualified to peform prapatthi ) , then every
thing else becomes crystal clear or easy to comprehend
like the Ilandaik Kani ( badari fruit ) resting 
in one's hand in front of his dhrushti .ULLankai
nellikkani is the usual analogy for some thing 
that is readily recognized and comprehended .Swami Desikan 
choose deliberately  Badari fruit in one's plam in
recognition of the Nara-NaarAyaNa sambhandham
at BadarikAsramam .

Swami Desikan is going to refer to mUla manthram
in the  second paadham (line) of this slOkam .
Hence he hints at what noble manthram is coming 
into view by referring to Ilandaik Kani ( Kara Bhadari)
and implicitly refers to BadarikAsrama divya desam .
 
Sriman NaarAyaNA is the Rishi for Thirumanthiram .
This thiruppathi of BadarikAsramam is the Thiruppathi 
of the Manthra devathai , who redeemed Thirumangai 
thru manthrOpadEsam .

Thirumangai had pointed out earlier the significance 
of BadarikAsrama divya dEsam this way :

vaippum nangaL vAzhvumAnAn vadari vaNankuthumE

Meaning :The Lord of BadarikAsramam  is both the upAyam and 
  UpEyam for us , who do not covet anything else in
  this universe . For such kascchidh bhaagyasAlis ,
  He becomes the Vaippu (upAyam-Nidhi) and Vaazhvu
  (prApya rUpa pirAn).

Therefore , Thirumangai rationalized why we salute 
BadarikAsramam known in ancient days for the forest
of Badari ( Ilanthai ) trees . Swami Desikan rationalized
the substitution of Badari fruit on one's plam for
the ULLankai nellik kani . 

SECOND LINE OF THIS SLOKAM 
***************************

mushitha nikhila mOhO mUla manthrAdhi bhOga:

As a result of the merciful katAksham of the Acharyan,
who is param kAruNeekan , the one performing 
the prapatthi is rid of all aj~nAnams and viparItha 
Jn~Anams . The entire inventory of mOhaas ( nikhila 
mOha: ) takes flight ( mushitha: ) . 

The PrapannA relishes the brhmAnandha bhOgam 
of the taste of the recitation of the mUla manthram
of BadarinAthan . The arthAnusandhAna anubhavam
reaches its peak . 

THIRD LINE OF THIS SLOKAM
**************************

saguNa vishaya siddhou sampradhAyam prayacchan

Thanks to the magnificient blessings of obtaining 
the sadAchAryA (saguNa vishaya siddhou) , the blessed 
BhAgyasAli instructs others on the ancient and 
time-tested sampradhAyam ( SampradhAyam prayacchan )
of Tattvam , Hitham and PurushArhtam and carries on 
the tradition of recognizing and saluting Sriman 
NaarAyaNan as ParamaathmA as instructed by his or her
AchAryan .

FOURTH LINE OF THIS SLOKAM
***************************

sucharitha silahArI sUri brundhAbhinandhya :

That kascchidh bhAgyasAlee harvests the spilled
grains (anushtAnams) from the fertile fields travelled by 
the great mahAns ( PoorvAchAryAs ) and becomes 
the object of adoration (abhinandhya: ) of 
the assembly ( brindha ) of sUris ( nithyasUris ) .
That is the magnificence of SadAchArya  sambhandham that 
Swami Desikan celebrated in the first chapter of RTS
( upOddhAdhikAram ) as a key to the clear understanding
of the Tattva Hitha PurushArthams .

Second  set of memories 
************************

JayAkhya Samhithai slokam refers to the Lord taking 
the body of a human as In Raama -KrishNAvathArams and
redeeming the prapannAs with the hand of Saasthram
and lifting the jeevans struggling in the flood waters
of SamsAram this way :

SaakshAth NaarAyaNo deava: kruthvA marthyamayeem Tanum 
magnAn uddharathE lOkAn kaarunYAth Saasthra PaaNinA 

This " peethavAdaip pirAnAr Brahma guruvAhi vanthu"
initiated Thirumangai in the river bed near ThiruvAli 
and gave darsanam to the dying Bheeshmar .The more 
peaceful vision of the Lord as ParthasArathy engaged 
in His task of leading the chariot of ArjunA before 
BheeshmA is visualized by Sri Leelasukhar , one of 
the early KrishNa prEmis . 

This great poet/BhakthA salutes the Lord as 
Dhananjaya RathAbharaNam ( the AbharaNam decorating
the Chariot of ArjunA ) in the battle field .
After choosing this " marthyamayeem Tanu " ,
He shows all the signs of exertion typical
of humans engaged in their tasks , although 
His subha tanu is of Suddha Satthvam as 
described by Vyaasa and experienced by 
H.H. The InjimEttu Jeeyar of Ahbila Mutt .

The Lord's palms are reddened by the friction of the whip
( saatai) that He is holding to direct the horses tied to 
ArjunA's chariot ( aathAmra paaNi kamala praNya 
pramOdham ). Due to the rapid movement of the chariot
under His direction , His naavarathna haaram adorning 
His chest and His gem-studded kirItam , His ear ornaments and 
His waist band are in disarray and are moving 
from hither to thither( aalOla hAra maNi kundala
hEma sUthram ) . Due to the exertion of the intense 
effort of directing the chariot's movement between
the armies , His beautiful blue forehead is adorned 
with a band of sweat beads ( aavisrama ambhu gaNam 
ambhudha neelam ) . Sri Leela Sukhar prays to this
delectable vision and prime  JyOthi of the Lord 
at work to protect him ( Dhanajaya rathAbharaNam
aadhyam maha: na: avyAth ) .

This " nidhim lAvaNyAnAm nikhila jagadhAsccharya 
nilayam " is visualized as a ParthasArathy with
compassion for all janthus including the horses
that drove the chariot of Arjuna . It is day's end 
of the war in the 18 day war . In those days , there were
defined intervals to fight unlike today . 

Sri Vijaya Saarathy had a busy day in the field 
lightening the load of BhUmi devi by eliminating
the dushtAs in the battle field without taking a weapon .
He leads the horses to a river near by . He gives
the tired horses a bath every evening and rubs them well to
relieve their bodily aches . He pours water over them 
with cupped hands (anajlisthai payObhi: ) to remove 
the dirt and dust resulting from their battle field
movements . He has tied his upper garment 
around His head to get it out of the way ,while 
engaged in washing the horses.He is holding the metal
fixture ( kativAlam ) between His beautiful 
white teeth to reduce the movenment of the horse .
 
This visulaization of this Devaki PuNyarAsi at work 
throws Sri LeelAsukhar into a great and deep anubhavam 
of the Lord engaged in performing his duties as 
the charioteer of DhananjayA as an ordinary human being 
and he etches that immortal anubhavam for us to share :

naka niyamitha kanDUn PaaNdava  syanthana asvAn
  anudhinam abhishinchan anjalisthai payObhi: 
avathu vithatha gAthra: thOthra nishtUyatha mowLi :
  darsana vidhrutha rasmi: Devaki PuNyarAsi :      
  

What a beautiful vision of the Lord as a human being 
hard at work !The beneficiaries are the horses of 
ArjunA's ratham ( Paandava syandhana asvA:) . Who 
is attending to their bodily pain from the day's
exertions ? The Devaki PuNyarAsi is atending to the task
at hand . How does He look like during this strenous
work assignment ? The ropes tied to the neck of
the horse is tucked inside His head dress ,talaip paahai 
( thOthra nishtUyatha mowLi) . He is holding the kativALam 
between His teeth to minimize their movement (dasana
vidhrutha rasmi ). His upper garment has become His 
head dress and thus His upper torso and its soundharyam
is exposed to the world to enjoy ( vithatha gAthra: ).
He is removing the fatigue of the horses with a deep
massage with the pressure of His nails ( naka niyamitha
kanDUn ) . He performed this duty of bathing the horses
and massaging them  as the charioteer of ArjunA 
every one of the 18 days ( anudhinam abhishinchan )
of the great war . The vision of the Lord , who melts 
before the anjali (folded hands ) of His bahkthAs 
has now formed an anjali (cupping of His own hands )  
to collect and hold the water needed for performing
the abhishEkam of the horses of ArjunA ( Anjalisthai:
payObhi: anudinam abhishinchan ) . How blessed are
these horses to receive the Lord's attentive service !

Sri LeelA sukhar's anubhavams are the most beautiful 
as a KrishNa bhakthA and it is  no wonder his prayer is
" Nivasathu mama chittham tathpadhAyattha vruttham ).
He seeks the boon of his mind following the profession
of meditation without interruption on the lotus feet of 
the Lord , which stood in the river stream washing the 
horses of ArjunA in His self-assigned role as ParthasArathy .

Sri RukmiNI sametha Sri ParthasArathy swaminE Nama :
Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan