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MM"s YRV : Part 4

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • March 17, 1997 


Dear Bhakthi Group members :

I will cover the fourth slokam in this posting .
The slokam  is as follows :

nityam Yatheendhra ! divya vapu: smruthou mE
   saktham manO bhavathu vaak guNa keerthanEsou I
kruthyam dAsyakaraNam thu kara dvayasya 
   vruthantharEsthu vimukam karaNa trayam cha II

(meaning ) :  O Emperor of Yathis ! May my mind be blessed to
meditate on your beautiful body (divya MangaLa vigraham) !
May my speech be engaged always in talking about your 
auspicious attributes ! May the two hands of mine be always 
engaged in serving you as your dAsA ! May my three karaNAs
( manas , Vaak and Kaayam ) be diverted from any other activities !

This slokam is the essence of the three paasurams ( 100-102)
of AmudanAr's RaamAnusa NooRandhadhi . In the first of the above 
three paasurams , AmudanAr talks about his mind being engaged 
in the enjoyment of the auspicious attributes of his AchAryA . Here , he
also prays for the boon of freedom from other distractions . In the second
of the triad , AmudanAr seeks the boon for his toungue to be  engaged 
in talking about the Vaibhavam of his AchaaryA . This is uttama kalpam for 
a devoted disciple . In the third paasuram of this group , AmudanAr 
moves from manas , Vaak to the kaayam ( hands , eyes et al ) .
Amudanaar  says :

naiyum^manam un^ guNangaLai unni yenn naa irundhuem^--
   iyyan RaamAnusan yenru azhaikkum aruvinayEn 
kaiyum^thozhum kaNN^karuthidum kaaNakkadal pudai soozh 
   vaiyaam^idanil uhn vanmai yenn paal unn vaLarnthathuvE  

(meaning ) : My mind  melts  with joy over the contemplation 
of your kalyANa GuNAs ( Naiyum^ manam un^ gunangaLai unni ) .
My tongue has stablized  itself and performs naama sankeerthanam
by calling , " O my Swami , RamAnujA " ( yenn naa irundhu yemm
Iyan RaamAnusan yenru azhaikkum ) . My sinful hands unite in
anjali mudrA to salute you (aruvinayEn kaium tuozhum ) . My eyes 
search for your presence . AmudanAr concludes this paasuram
by pointing out that his Manas ,Vaak, hands and eyes are blessed
to be involved with his AchaaryA because of the jnAnam that his 
AcharyA blessed him with . Elsewhere , AmudanAr prays to his
Acharya for the blessings of distraction-free devotion at his lotus feet.

MM prays here in the manner of AaNdAL ( MaRRai nam kaamangaL
mARRElOrempaavaai ) and AmudanAr  . MM's prayer to have the blessings 
of the chintanA of the beautiful body of AchArya RaamAnujA reminds 
one of the celebration of Swami Desikan about the anga Sowndharyam 
of the Yatheendhrar in his 11th verse of YathirAja Sapthadhi :

upaveedhinam oordhva pundravantham 
  trijagadh puNya palam thridhanda hastham I
saraNAgatha saartha vaaham eedE 
  sikhayA sekariNam pathim yatheenAm II

(meaning ) : I salute the emperor of SanyAsis , RaamAnujA ,
who is resplendent in his appearanace wearing the sacred
thread, urdhva Pundrams and beautiful tuft made up of dense black 
tresses . He is holding the thri dhandam in his hands 
as a result of the puNyams accumulated by the three worlds and
is leading the prapannAs to moksha saamrAjyam . In yet another 
slokam , Swami Desikan celebrated the beauty of Sri RamAnujA's
hand holding the JnAna mudhrA .
 
EmbAr has also painted a memorable  word picture of the majestic 
beauty of RaamAnujA in his SanyAsa Aasramam :

" parpamenatthihazh painkazhalunran pallavamE viralum 
      paavanamAhiya painthuvaraadai pathintha marunkazhahum 
muppuri noolodu munkailEndhiya mukkOl tannazhahum 
      munnavar tandhidu mozhikaL niranithidu muruval nilAvazhahum 
karpakamE vizhi karunai pozhinthidu kamalkkaNNazhahum 
      kaarisu tan kazhal soodiya mudiyum kana naRRsihai mudiyum 
yeppozhudhum yethiraasan VADIVAZHAHU yeenidhayatthuLathAl 
     ILLAI YENAKKU YETHIR ILLAI YENAKKU YETHIRILLAI YENAKKETHIRE "

Those  who have had the darsana bhaagyam of the majestic 
beauty of the divya mangaLa vigraham of Acharya RaamAnuja at 
Sri Perumbhoodhoor and Melkote can relate to the celebration of 
Embaar"s paasuram in Tamil and its echo in Sanskrit by 
Swami Desikan . The depth of enjoyment of EmbAr , Swami 
Desikan and MaNavALa Maamuni arise form their  profound 
AcharyA anubhavam  . 

Embar's anubhavam of RamAnujA's lotus  feet , 
tender fingers reminding one of the creepers , 
sacred ochre robe , auspicious yagnOpaveedham , 
thridandam , smile laden with dayA , eyes reminiscent of 
wish yielding kalpakA tree , tuft formed by abundant tresses 
is simply beautiful . EmbAr states that  there is no one equal to him 
in all the worlds because of his enshrinement of Sri RamAnuja 
of such great beauty and sacredness in his heart lotus . 

MM has also celebrated in his Aarhti Prabhandham 
the lotus feet of YathirAjar and his sacred ochre robe 
symbolizing his achAryA's uttamAsramam :

" seerArumethirAsar thiruvadigaL vaazhi ,
   thiruvarayil saatthiya senthuvarAdai Vaazhi " 

Like Mathura Kavi saluting his AchaaryA , EmbAr ,
Swami Desikan and MM offered their own profound 
homage to the king of sanyAsis , RaamAnujA . I will 
conclude this posting with a quotation from Upadesa Ratna Maalai,
where MM slautes the dayA guNam of YathirAjar and 
puts that in perspective to his poorvAchAryAs .  in this 37th
Upadesa Ratna Maalai pasuram , MM makes the distinction
between the anuvrutthi prasannAchAryAs( poorvAchAryAs) 
and the KrupAmAtra PrasannAchArya like RamAnujA :

" OrANvazhiyAyupadesitthAr munnOr
         yerArethirAsarinnaruLAl , paarulahil 
aasai udayOrkkellAm aariyargAL koorumentu
         pesi varambaRutthAr pinn " .

AzhwAr , AchAryaaL ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam 
Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan