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Saint ThyagarAjA's Gowlai Pancharathnam : part 3(? )

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • November 14, 1997 


Dear Members of the Bhakthi group :

On this Eswara samvathsara ,  Iypaasi PourNamasai
day , I will restart the postings on the Nirveda-
pancharathnam of Saint ThyagarAjA set in Gowlai 
Raagam . Over the week end , I heard 
Sangeetha VidwAn Sri Ravi Kiran play this krithi 
on Chithra VeeNai movingly and that gave me another 
impetus to continue these postings . 

I also want to  " clear  the decks " as it were 
to focus on a major topic connecting 
Sri AparyApthaamrutha sOpanam of 
Thirukkudanthai Desikan , Sawami Desikan 's 
Bhagavadh DhyAna sOpanam , His Muni Vaahana
Bhogam and ThiruppANAzhwAr's sacred anubhavam
of Sri RanganAthA that led to all the other derivative 
and inspiring anubhavams of Swami Desikan 
and his aparAvathAram at Thirukkudanthai . Hence ,
I will stay on course and try to complete the Gowlai Pancha 
Rathnam related posting(s) , prior to branching off 
towards AarAvamudhan ( amudhinai kanda kaNNgaL )
who is one of the pancha Rangans resting on the banks
of Cauveri . A brief comment on the Five Rangans 
may be appropriate here . 

AarAvamudhan is the Hema Rangan of the five Rangans
worshipped by Mother Cauveri . The Aadhi Rangan is the 
Murthy resting at Seringapattam Or Sriranga PattiNam .
The next one is madhya Rangan at Tiru Anbil 
( vadivazhagiya nambhi )  ; THiruppErnagar
Emperuman ( AppakudatthAn could also be considered 
alternatively as Madhya Rangan  . The third Rangan 
is the KasthUri Rangan of Srirangam ( Azhagiya 
MaNavALan celebrated as AmalanAdhipirAn ) .
The fourth Rangan is the Hema Rangan of 
Thirukkudanthai . The fifth Rangan is the parimaLa
rangan of Thiru IndaLUr , who witnesses Cauveri ,
who did susrushai to Him all along , rushing  towards
her husband (samudra raajan ) at this kshEthram 
known for the celebration of TulA snAnam  . 
At IndaLur , The Lord is known as anthima Rangan , 
who is fragrant with Sruthi ParimaLam 
and hence known also as ParimaLa Rangan . 

Our revered Saint ThyagarAja , who sang a separate set
of pancha rathna krithis on KasthUri Rangan of 
Srirangam sat on the banks of Cauveri at ThiruvayAru 
and sang about his ArAdhana Murthy and begged Him
to come to his rescue . This Araadhana mUrthy is none
other than Sri AyOddhi Raaman , who performed daily
aarAdhanam to his kula dhaivam ,  Kasthuri Rangan 
duirng His VibhavAvathAram as the Dorai mahan 
( Chakravarthi Thirumahan ) . 

Third CharaNam of GowLai Pancharathnam 
***********************************************

In the second charaNam , our Sadhguru saluted
the " Sarvagatha: prathi vasthu pUrNa " Sri Ramachandran
as the in-dweller (antharyAmi Brahmam ) of all jeevarAsis .

In this third charaNam  , our Sadhguru chastises 
himself for not understanding the sarvAntharyAmithvam 
of the Lord and engaging as a result in vithandA vivAdhams
from childhood . The charaNa vaakyams are as follows :

chirutha prAyamulunAdE bhajanAmrutha rasa viheena
kutharkuDaina ( DuDuku gala ) 

O Lord , I engaged like a wise one on fruitless debates
based on ignorance about Your antharyAmithvam from
my childhood days . Now , Which Dorai mahan is going
to rush to my rescue to save me from my miserable
state ? I did not drink deep the nectar of singing about
your sahasra nAmAs . Instead I engaged in Vaadha -
prathivAdhams and have wasted the days of my life .

Meanwhile , Oh RaghunandanA ! RamabhadrA !
Jaanaki PrANanAthA ! Sarvachaithanya rUpA ! 
Sriman NaarAyaNA ! I did not engage in the bhajanam
of your thousand names ! As the  AzhwAr described ,
You stand as the inner force of the pancha bhUthams ,
Lord SivA and Brahma dEvan :

neerAi nilanAi theeyAi kaalAi neduvAnAi
seerAr sudargaLirandAi SivanAi Ayanaai --

Thou art aapa: ( water ) ; Thou art BhUmi ( Prithvee) ;
Thou art fire ( Agni ) ; Thou art Time( kaalam ) ;
Thou art wind ( Vaayu ) ; Thou art the Sky ( AkAsam ) .

You remove the inner and outter darkness as
Suryan . You nourish Your creations after pervading them 
as the cool Chandran . You are residing inside Lord Siva ,
who is the J~nAna dhAthA about Your anantha 
kalyANa guNams  and is also responsible for
samhAram . You are the antharyAmi inside BrahmA 
aswell and empower him to engage in srishti . 

I did not understand these fundamental truths and 
considered myself as a scholar , who understood everything
and dared to engage in leading others thru debates .
O RaamA ! as requested by another AzhwAr , I cry :
" vinaiyEn vinai theer marundhE " . O RaamA , the never-
failing medicine for the diseases of Vanity (ahanthai ) 
and sarva paapams ! " kUrArAzhi veNN sankEndhi 
kodiyEn paal vaarAi " . Please rush to my rescue 
instantly and protect me ! 

I did not know the efficacy of Moksha maargam .
I wasted my time away . I engaged in kutharka 
vaadham and tried to show the way for salvation .
I engaged in durAchArams and failed to recite 
Your sacred names . O Yaaga SamrakshaNa 
mUrthy ! Please save me in the spirit of 
KulasEkharA's profound plea to You :

Sriman naama prOchya NaarAyaNAkhyam 
kE na prAphur vaanchitham paapi nOpi I
haa na: pUrvam vaak pravrutthA na tasmin 
tEna prAptham garbhavAsAdhi dukkam II

Here , Sri KulasEkharA explains the efficacy 
of BhajanAmrutha rasanam and the plight 
of the bhajanAmrutha rassana viheenan 
as ThyagaraajA described himself in this
charaNam . 

Sri KulasekharA says : " Which mahA pApi 
did not attain desired boons and salvation 
by the bhajanam of the names of Sriman
NaarAyanA ? Our tongues did not engage in
that naamrutha bhajanam and as a direct 
result has led to the debilitating  anubhavams 
such as  garbhavaasam and narakAnubhavam  ". 

Saint ThyagarAjA's third charaNam is thus  a 
resounding echo of KulasEkara's Mukundha
maalai slOkam . 

AzhwAr , AchAryAL thiruvadigaLE SaraNam 
Sri Ramachandra parabrahmaNE Nama:

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan