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The Sacred Panguni Uttharam Day : Reflections on Selected Veda Manthrams : Part I

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • March 28, 2002 


SrI:

Dear BhakthAs of SrI RanganAyaki:

Today is one of the most sacred days for SrI VaishNavAs.
This is the special day , when AchArya RaamAnujA performed
SaraNAgathy before the Dhivya Dampathis of SrIrangam .
 
"Sriyam samarchayEth DevIm svEtha-Padhmair VisEshatha:"
says the VaikAnasa Aagamam. Our Mother SrI RanganAyaki
is together with her Lord on this special day to bless
Her children. She should be worshipped at this time 
with white lotuses says the Aagamam. She is "VishNOr 
anapAyini".She never leaves Her Lord's side .
On this day after Lord RanganAthA's dalliance at URayUr , 
the dhivya dampathis of SrIrangam have PraNaya Kalaham 
and the mood of "Oodal " is dominant .Swamy NammAzhwAr 
intervenes and serves successfully as the peace maker .
TheDhivya Dampathis  listen to SaThAri Soori's counsel 
and then They join together in  a spirit of great Joy 
and bless us with their "sErthi sEvai" at their Panguni Utthara 
MaNTapam . They continue with Their Visva RakshaNa VyApAram . 
At this time , The divine sound of AchArya RaamAnujA's 
foot steps are heard and the majestic sound of SaraNAgathi gadhyam 
resonates at that Mantapam and all over Srirangam 
and the world. The Dhivya Dampathis listen with great
interest to what Their son , AchArya RaamAnujA has to say ,
dialog with him , bless him and accept his prayers for 
being granted the boon of SaraNAgathi at Their ThiruvadigaL.

Let us explore selected Veda Manthrams in the context of 
SaraNAgathi/Prapatthi/Aathma Samarpanam at the Thiruvadis
of the Dhivya dampathis of SrIrangam.The resaon for seeking
Vedic authority for prapatthi is in recognition of the fact 
that SaraNAgathy is " an intrinsic  truth of the VedAs and
is never an outside growth ".The sacred VedAs ordain that 
one should evolve a life of devotion and Godliness for
an upward evolution .Unshakable faith in Divine guidance is
implicit in the entire mass of the holy texts.Man has realized 
his smallness(helplessness) and inability to achieve his 
goal of life (pursushArtam) and so he has prayed sincerely 
to the All-knowing God to lead him on safely to the highest
aspiration ( parama purushArTam/Moksham )." 

Some one sent me 48 pages from a monograph (a chapter)
dealing with Prapatthi many months ago . The chapter is 
named "The Philosophy of Saadhanaa in VisistAdvaitha . 
It is an elaboration of the sections of Srimath Rahasya 
Thraya Saaram of Swamy VedAntha Desikan in English . 
I am not sure as to who is the author of the monograph.
I forgot who sent this manuscript to me as well. I thank 
this aasthikA , who blessed me with this informative
and insightful source literature.

This chapter sent to me on prapatthi cites briefly various 
Veda Manthrams connected with Prapatthi, but does not 
elaborate on them .I thought it will be a good exercise 
to study these Veda Manthrams  to understand the mood 
with which one has to approach the Dhivya Dampathis 
as AchArya RaamAnujA demonstrated to us on that most 
meaningful Panguni Uttharam day at SrIrangam .

The first Veda Manthram is from the ancient Rg Vedam
(X.4.4). Infact that X.4 section of Rg Vedam and all 
of its seven manthrams housed there are a treasure house 
of visvAsa-poorvaka prarTanai to the Supreme Lord. 
The Rk (manthram ) X.4.4 in particular acknowledges that 
fallible man is very insignificant and can not realize 
the truth ( That the Lord is the sarva Seshi and 
Sarva lOka SaraNyan) without the assistance 
and guidance of the Lord :

mUrA amUra na vayam chikithvO mahithvam agnE tvam anga vitsE
sayE vavris charathi jihvayAdan rErihyatE yuvatim vispathi:sann
--Rg.Vedam : X.4.4

(Extended meaning): Oh Most adorable Lord Divine ! Thou art 
totally free from errors and blemishes . We of limited intellect 
(fools ) can not comprehend Your limitless grandeur and
anantha kalyANa guNams.Verily , You know our limitations
and incapacities. You pervade all forms as VishNu (anthar-
bhaisccha tath sarvam vyApya NaarayaNO Hari:).You arrive
at our aathma samarpana yaj~nam as the house Lord (Visva pathi)
and taste the offerings and accept the Havis of aathmA , 
Your property. Here manthram compares the Lord ,who accepts 
the  Havis of AathmA as the owner of the House , who kisses 
the youthful bride . In our siddhAntham , all aathmAs are 
feminine and the Lord is the only masculine being 
and aathma samarpaNam is considered a wedding of 
the aathmA with the owner , our Divine Lord.

VedAs describe the essentilaity of the Lord in 
the life of a human being.The manthrams point out that 
a human being's progress depends totally on the Lord's grace. 
The Lord is SrIman NaarAyaNan invoked thru the powerful 
Dhvaya Manthram . The Rg veda manthrams "are pregnant with 
feelings of devotion and SELF-SURRENDER". He alone is recognized 
as the protector of man from the cruel ocean of samsAram . 
He is consdiered a dear friend and bhandhu , who strives to 
bring peace and contentment in our agitated lives. He is recognized 
as a Universal saviour , whom no one can obstruct ( Thvayi Rakshathi--).
He is compared by the Veda manthrams as an eternal thirst quenching 
spring  of pristine water in the middle of a parching desert .
We will elaborate on seven more Rg veda manthrams housing these 
thoughts in the next posting on the Vedic PramANams for SaraNAgathy.

SrI RanganAyaki SamEtha SrI RanganAtha ParabrahmaNE Nama:
RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan
  



 

      



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