Naama Mahimaa--Part 4: Gowali pancha rathnam charaNams
From the Bhakti List Archives
• November 1, 1997
Dear BhakthAs of Sri RaghurAmA , In the first of the ten charaNams , Saint ThyagarAjA hails Sri Ramachandran as " Thiruvukkum ThiruvAhiya selvan " in the manner of Thirumangai Mannan . He salutes SithA pirAtti as MahA Lakshmi and hails Sri RamA as the Chandran that makes the Kumudha pushpam ( a type of Alli pushpam that blossoms at night ) of SithA's heart blossom with joy. The charaNa vAkhyams are as follows : Sree VanithA hrudh kumudhaabhja vAnghmAnasa Gochara ( Duduku gala nannE ) Sree VanithA is the Srimathi , MahA Lakshmi . Her heart kumudham blososms at the sight of the chandran of Sri RamA . The Saint appeals for the protection of Sri Ramachandran in this first charaNam this way : Oh ChandrA that makes the heart lilly of MahA Lakshmi ( SithA dEvi ) blososm with joy ! You are beyond the power of speech and mind as the VedAs have declared ( VaachamA- gocharan ) . " YathO vaachA nivarthanthE , aprApya manasa saha " is how the siras of Vedam declares about You . Who else is there besides You to save me ? You must therefore come to my rescue and put my fears at rest . In the first charaNam , the Saint follows ancient practise of Sri VaishNavAs in performing SaraNAgathi . When they observe prapatthi this way , they become blessed with the lOka maathA's vaathsalyam and Vallabhyam . They know that She as the most compassionate mother and will come to their rescue and intercede with Her Lord regarding them , who are frightened to approach Him . Out of Her limitless affection for Her erring children , She intercedes and acts as a mediatrix with Her consort and succeeds in persuading Him to forgive the errant ones . She has sambhandham , vyApthi and Isvaryam ( AakAra trayam ) and uses them all to advantage in Her mission to help the PrapannAs . She uses Her selvAkku effectively . Thus the first upAyam to get the Lord's anugraham is MahA Lakshmi's aruL . Parasara Muni in his VishNu PurANam has recognized Mahaa Lakshmi as the Lord's omnipresent mangaLam ( pervasive/ vyApthi ) and as the Parabrahma SvarUpiNi known for Her Vaathsalyam ( affection for Her vatsalAs/dear ones ) , Vallabhyam ( Sri Vallabhai with the power to make things happen ) and Purusha- kAram ( power of effective sipaarisu / intercession ) . NadAthUr ammAL has described in few slOkams of Prapanna Paarijaatham all these three unique attributes of Sri Devi : aparAdhaika sakthAnAm anarhANAm chiram nruNAm I BharthrurAsryaNE pUrvam svayam PurushakArathAm II vAllabhyEna anuthishtantheem vatsalyAdhyupabrhamiNAm I upAya samayE Bharthu: J~nAna sakthyAdhi vardhineem II mukthAnAm bhoga vrudhyartham sowndharyAdhi vivardhineem I AakAra thraya sampannAm aravindha nivAsineem II asEsha Jagadheesithreem vandEh Varadha vallabhAm II Here , NadAthUr ammAL points out that MahA Lakshmi secures Mukthi ( Moksham ) for the chEthanAs from Her consort by enhancing Her Lord's J~nAnam and anugraham at the time of prapatthi by Her children . Her prAdhAnyam and essential role is saluted here . Saint ThyagarAjA as a parama VaishNavA was deeply aware of this central doctrine and followed the traditional practise by offering His prapatthi through MahA Lakshmi ( Sri VanithA ) . What NadAthUr ammAL observed is an echo of Sri RamAnujA' s SaraNAgathi on that memorable Panguni Uttharam day , when MahA Lakshmi ( Sri RanganAyaki ) was sititng together on yEka peetam with Her Lord , Sri RanganaathA at Srirangam . Acharya RaamAnujA grasped the significance of the special occasion and offered his SaraNAgathi starting with MahA Lakshmi ( Sri RangadhAmEswari ) thru the first choorNikai of Sri Ranga Gadhyam : " Bhagavan NaarAyaNa abhimatha anurUpa svarUpa rUpa guNa vibhava eisvarya seela aadhi anavadhika adhisaya asankyEya kalyANa guNa gaNAm padma- vana aalayAm Bhagavatheem Sriyam dEveem nithyAnapAyineem niravadhyAm deva deva dhivya- mahisheem AKHILA JAGANMAATHARAM ASMAN- MAATHARAM ASARANYA SARANYAAM ANANYA- SARANA:SARANAM AHAM PRAPADHYE ". Acharya RaamAnujA declares that he has no other recourse/refuge (asaraNya: ) and is seeking the protection of the lOka mAthA , while performing His prapatthi ( saraNam prapadhyE ) . Our AchAryAs often remind us that MahA Lakshmi"s greatness is not understood fully , even by Her Lord . According to AlavandhAr , yasyAs thE mahimAnam aathmana iva tvadh VallabhOpi prabhu: naalam maathum iyatthayA niravdhim nithyAnukUlam savatha: -- ChathusslOki : SlOkam 2 portion Sri kUrEsa in his Sree Sthavam acknowledges this inability of the Lord to comprehend fully the limits of the sarva kalyANa guNAs of His consort : dEvi tvannmahimAvadhir na HariNA naapi tvayA j~nayathE Speaking of Her kalyANa guNAs being outside the powers of description by mind and speech , Sri kUratthAzhwAn says in another slOkam of his Sree Sthavam : " yE vAchAm manasaam cha dhurgrahatayA khyAthA guNAs taavakA : " In the very first slOkam of Sree sthavam , kUrEsA acknowledges the power of Sree dEVi over her Lord : yasyA veekshya mukham tadhingitha parAdheenO vidhatthE akhilam (meaning ) : The Lord glances at the beautiful face of MahA Lakshmi and reads the intricate signs associated with the knitting of Her brows and follows the commands implied there and engages in the acts of the creation and protection of the world . He is understood as Her ingitha (samg~yai/hints/body language ) parAdheenan ( subservient one ) . Swami Desikan refers to Sree Devi's PurushakAram in one of the slOkams of GodhA sthuthi this way : aardhrAparAdhini janEpya abhirakshaNArtham Rangesvarasya RamayA vinivEdhyamAnE Swami Desikan states that She does viNNappam to He rLord on behalf of the aparAdhis like us to seek our protection from her Lord . Hence , Swami Desiakn performed his saraNAgathi to Her in the very first slOkam of Sree Sthuthi : prahtyakshAnusravika mahima prArthaneenAm prajAnAm SrEyOmUrthim Sriyam asaraNa: tvAm SaraNyam prapadhyE This prapatthi vaakhyams are an echo of Acharya RaamAnujA's saraNAgathi housed in the first chUrNikA of SaraNAgathi gadhyam that we will refer to later in this posting . Swami Desikan states in the seventh slOkam of Sree sthuthi that the divya dampathis play an intricate game of chess ( dhyUtha Vritthi ) between themselves and are sensitive to each other's point of view and as such are to be approached as a united entity ( yEka sEshithva yOgam ) for SaraNAgathi purposes . Following this thought , Swami declares , " yuvAm Dampathi Daivatham na: " . Both of You as the Husband and Wife are our daivatham . Their unity of thought in following each other in helping those in distress is saluted again by Swami Desikan this way in Sree sthuthi aapannArthi prasamana vidhou bhaddha deekshasya VishNO : aachakhyusthvAm priya sahachareem eiykamathyOpapannAm In the 18th slOkam of Sree sthuthi , Swami Desikan addresses the Loka mAthA as VishNu kaanthE and reveals that the prapannAs ( vimala manasA : ) totally depend on Her dayA , vAthsalyam , vallabhyam and PurushakAram to get the mokshAnugraham from her Lord . As a result of Her krupA and PurushakAram , the dhanyAs leave their body and reach Sri Vaikuntam via the ArchirAdhi maargam according to Swami Desikan : yasmin yeeshannamitha sirasO yApayithvA sareeram varthishyanthE vithamasi padhE VaasudEvasya dhanyA : (Meaning ) : The puNyasAlis prostrate at Your lotus feet and these blessed souls leave their physical bodies , attain suddha sathva sareeram and join the residence of Your Lord and Yourself ( Sri vaikuntam ) , which is devoid of prakruthi sambhandham . The parama VaishNava , Saint ThyagarAjA read Srimadh RaamAyaNam and Srimadh Bhagavatham daily and was fully familiar with the above central doctrines of Sri VaishNava SaraNAgathi and performed the sampradhAyic prapatthi starting with the self-surrender at Sree VanithA's sacred feet . Sri Raamachandra Para BrahmaNE Nama: Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan
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