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Re: Sri Guna Rathna Kosam : Part 63: slOkam 53

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Sadagopan • March 1, 2002 


SrI:

Dear BhakthAs of Sri RanganAyaki ThAyAr:

In the 53rd & the 54th slOkam , Swamy Parasara Bhattar 
visualizes SrI RanganAyaki ThAyAr as SitA PirAtti , 
who suffered so much on  our behalves and condemns 
those , who can not and will not comprehend 
Her Vaathsalyam and Compassion for us , 
the undeserving wretched ones :

nEthur-nithyasahAyinI JananI!nasthrAthum ThvamathrAgathA
 lOkE Thvan-mahimAvaBhOdha-BadhirE PrApthA vimardham Bahu:
klishtam grAvasu MaalathIm-mrudhupadham vislishya vAsO vanE
 jAthO dhik ! karuNAm dhigasthu YuvayO: svAtantryamathyankusam

--SrI GuNa Rathna KOsam : SlOkma 53

(Meaning according to Dr.V.N.VedAntha Desikan Swamy):

Oh Mother! You are the perennial companion to the Great
Lord and Master-Controller of the whole Universe .You take
birth in this world (along with Him ) only to rescue all
of us , poor souls ; what a pity You do it for the beings 
of this world , who are ignorant of this ,ignorant of 
Your greatness and totally blind and deaf to all that You
are doing for their sake.You walked on rough ,rocky 
and thorny earth , lived in isolation in the island (Lanka)
and suffered separation from Your dear One. I grieve over
all this.

You may contend that You did all these out of the Divine
Grace and proverbial independence that You both wield.
Then , curse be on those virtues of Yours! Fie on them !
I hate them! Because it is they that make You undergo 
(such) ordeals for the undeserving , ungrateful wretches
(of this world). 

Additional General Comments on this SlOkam:
******************************************* 
Thirumalai NallAn RaamakrishNa IyengAr summarizes 
the heart of this slOkam this way : 

" IRaivanakku YeNNALum ThuNaivi ! intha lOkatthu 
yemmai yErkka vanthu Nee padum paadenna ? niRai 
karuNaiyodu ThAyE ! Neevir koNda neRi kadantha 
sutanthiramum ninthai seyvOm !". 

The moving passage here is : "yemmai yERkka vanthu
Nee padum paadu enna ? " ( For saving us through
the act of SaraNAgathi , You have incarnated 
and undergone unbearable sufferings . When we
think of those sufferings that You voluntarily
underwent, I am driven to despair and anger
and makes me shout , "Fie on these GuNAs" that
drove You to bear these sufferings . 

" Dhig " is a Sanskrit expression for condemnation of
anything that disgusts one (Fie on that !). This is 
the ninthai that SrI Ramakrishna Iyengar is 
referring to.Swamy ParAsara Bhattar is so overwhelmed
by the thought of the indignations that SitA PirAtti
suffered that He uses "Dhig " twice:Once for condemning
the KaruNA guNam and next for condemning the SvAtantryam
( independence), which made Her put up will all
these sufferings for our upliftment(Ujjeevanam). 

Out of Her immense Mercy (KaruNai ) and independence
(SvAtantryam ) , She undergoes a lot of sufferings .
This is in conformity with Her and Her Lord's avathAra
rahasyams . They conceal their Divinity and act as
though they were mortals to show (to act out )the righteous 
way . When Swamy ParAsara Bhattar thinks about 
the sufferings of Jaanaki MaathA during RaamavathAram ,
he flies into a rage and condemns the two guNams of
Her(KaruNai and SvAtantryam), which made her undergo
sufferings such as walking with Her Lord in the rough
forests full of thorny paths , seperation form Her husband 
due to the cruelty of an ayOgyan and mahA paapi like Raavanan
and the anguish of seperation form Her Lord at AshOka Vanam.
These sufferings piled up one over the other and our
SitA Devi, the embodiment of Kshamaa (forbearance)
put up with these for the sake of showing us 
the dhaarmic way .Swamy Bhattar is angry over 
these central incidents of RaamAvathAram and
the sufferings of Jaanaki MaathA and gives vent 
to his anger over those agonies .

Comments on the first Paadham of the SlOkam :
*********************************************
"nEthu: " at the beginning of this slOkam refers 
to her Lord RanganAthan , who is the controller ,
niyanthA (commander) . He is the "nEthu" as 
visualized by SvEtasvatAra Upanishad (6.7):

" Pathim PathInAm Paramam parasthAdh-
  vidhAma dEvam BhuvanEsamIDyam ".

He is saluted here as the transcendent and adorable
Master of the Universe and as the Supreme Lord of
Lords and the Supreme Ruler of this Universe.

She is the "Nithya sahAyini" of this " nEthu" 
and helps Him as His permanent saha-dharma-chariNi. 
She helps as the means and goals for the chEthanams 
to gain Moksha siddhi. She takes avathArams befitting
His roopams during His avathArams (Roopa Anuroopam).

She is JananI and has incarnated on this earth for
our protection and salvation ( na: thrAthum athra
aagathA ). She is SarvalOka Janani .She has Jagath-
KaaraNa sambhandham ( equal role in the creation of
this universe with Her Lord). Therefore , She is Janani.
Srushti itself has been described as a result of
Her DayA : " KaraNa KaLEbarai: ghaDayithum DayamAnamanA".
She banishes all Bhagavadh-anubhava virOdhis and
assures Moksham . That is the purpose of Her incarnation
to bless us and protect us ( na: ThrAthum aagathA ).

Comments on the Second line:
****************************
" lOke Thvan-MahimA-avaBhOdha-BadhirE 
prApthA vimardham bahu:".In this world , there 
are many , who do not comprehend Your greatness
(mahimai) and are like the deaf and blind in
this respect. "AvabhOdhanam " is perception or
right judgement based on clear comprehension 
of a subject. PirAtti's MahimA avabOdhanam 
is beyond many unfortunate ones. In this matter 
they are like "Badhira:" or the BadhirAndha: 
(deaf and blind) . They do not have the capabilities
that result as a result of SadAchArya KaDAksham .

Comments on the Third Line:
****************************
" Klishtam grAvasu maalathi-mrudhu-padahm
vislishya vaasO vanE (JaathO)"

"klishtam" refers to distress connected with 
sufferings and pain . What are those distresses
or torments suffered by SitA PirAtti ? She walked
on rough, gravelly and thorny paths of the forests
with Her Lord . Her creeper soft feet were torn by 
the gravels and thorns . She suffered from the separation
from Her Lord as a result of the abduction by the evil
RaavaNan . She spent Her solitary days in the AsOka
Vanam , where the haughty RaavaNan tormented Her
with His advances. 

HanumAn describes Her sufferings aptly in Sundara
KaaNDam , when he sees Her first in Her desperate 
state at AsOka Vanam:

maanyA guru-vinIthasya Lakshmanasya GurupriyA
yadhi SeethAapi dukh:rtthA KAALO HI DHURADHIKRAMA:

(MEANING): What other evidence does one need to
recognize the power of kala gathi than seeing 
SeethA --the object of worship of LakshmaNan 
known for his reverence for the bhAgavathAs 
and the dear wife of SrI Ramachandran--undergoing
such sufferings at LankA ? She put up with the threats
of the raakshasis and at one time wanted to end
Her life out of loneliness and separation from Her
dearest husband ( SrEyO mE jeevithAn-marthum
vihInAya MahAthmana:/ Sundara KaaNdam: 26.45).
Those were her sufferings during RaamAvathAram.

Comments on the Fourth Line:
*****************************
"(JaathO) dhiK! karuNAm dhik asthu
YuvayO: svAtantryamathyankusam" 

Your KaruNai and SvAtantryam are behind 
putting up all these sufferings to show 
the righteous way of Your Lord (RaamO
VigrahavAn Dharma:). You are also a Dharma
moorthy and karuNAvaruNAlayam matching in
every way with Your Lord. If You underwent
these unimaginable sufferings for the sake 
of the wretched and worthless , who have no
comprehension of what you want for them ,
condemnation be on those guNAs of Yours ,
which are the root cause of Your sufferings .

ParAsara Bhattar has in mind the famous
Paasuram of Swamy NammAzhwAr( ThiruvAimozhi:2789):

--nattil piRanthu padaathana pattu manisarkkA
naatai naliyum arakkarai naadi tadinthittu
naatai aLitthu uyyac-cheythu nadanthamai kEttumE

The Lord was born in manushya yOni and suffered
garbha vaasam like a mortal for 12 months , rejected 
raajyam, went to forest to fulfill His promise to His
father with His young bride and suffered untold 
sufferings ( padAthana pattu ) for the sake of 
the ungrateful janams (sey nanRi aRiyAtha Maanidams).
He saved the world and gave salvation to all those
Maanidams. SithA Devi did not undergo garbha vaasam 
like Her Lord , but underwent every suffering 
including raajya Bramsam , vana vaasam and
seperation from her dear One . All of this for 
the sake of the ungrateful humans , who are 
incapable of understanding Her and her Lord's Vaibhavam .
Even Lord Ramachandra talks about the untold sufferings 
that He went through out of His own sankalpam in
AaraNya KaaNDam( Chapter 67 slOkam 24):

raajyam bhrashtam vanE vaasa: 
SitA nashtaa mruthO dhvija:
idhrusIyam mama-alakshmI 
nirdahEdhapi hi paavakam

(meaning): My kingdom is lost; exile to
the forest was ordered for Me; SitA has also 
been lost ; My dear friend JatAyu (My dear friend 
in the forest)has died.Such indeed is My durbhAgyam 
(alakshmI)that can consume fire itself (that consumes all).

Both these associated  misfortunes as well as the unique
ones experiened by SitA PirAtti enrage Swamy ParAsara Bhattar
and he curses the svAbhAvika GuNams ( KaruNai and 
SvAtantryam ) of PirAtti for being the root causes
of Her sufferings .Such is Bhattar's bhakthi for 
SrI RanganAyaki , His Mother ! 

Sri RanganAyaki ThAyAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SaThakOpan /Sadagopan  

P.S: AdiyEn appeals with folded hands to you 
to participate in the NithyArAdhana Kaimkaryam for 
Swamy Desikan and ViLakkoLI PerumAL at Thoopul .
Our AchArya Saarvabhouman was conferred the title of 
Sarva Tanthra Svathanrar by Sri RanganAyaki ThAyAr 
Herself.Please contact me for details on how you can help 
by taking part in this noble & auspicious kaimkaryam . 



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