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Meaning of the DhyAna SlOkam of Mula Manthram

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • November 23, 1997 


Dear Sri Jaganathan & Fellow BhakthAs : 

I am happy to venture to write about the meaning of the mUla manthra
DhyAna SlOkam . There were some minor errors in transliteration
of this important slOkam. Hence , I have taken the liberty of 
correcting them . Here  is the corrected version :

savyam pAdham prasArya srithadurithaharam dakshinam kunchayithvA 
jAnUnyAdhAya savyEtharamithara bujam nAgabhoghE nidhAya I
pascchAth baahudhvayEna prathipatasamanE dhArayan sankha chakram 
dEvIbhushAdhijushtO janayathu jagathAm sarma VaikuntanAtha: II 

The vision of Sri VaikuntanathAn is invoked here for dhyAnam  . 

Line 1 :
*******
He has his left leg extended on his seat of AdhisEshA . Savyam (left )
pAdham (foot ) is extended  (prasArya ) from the left knee down . The 
right ( dakshiNam ) paadham is bent ( kunchayithvA ) at the knee and
is resting on the seat of AdhisEshA . That anugraha paadham is the 
one , which removes the samsaric ills of prapannAs quickly 
( sritha duritha haram ) . 

Line 2 :
********

The left hand is resting on the left knee ( jAnUnyAdhAya savyE bhujam ) .
The other hand is resting on the body (seat ) of AdhisEshA ( Ithara bhujam
nAga bhOghE nidhAya ) . 

Line 3 :
********

Further in his upper hands , he is adorning the Divine Conch 
( Paanchajanyam ) and the mighty disc ( Chakram ){ pascchAth 
bAhu dhvayEna dhArayan Sankha chakrE } . 

What is the purpose of these two divYaayudhams  that he is 
sporting on his upper hands  ? He adorns  them to quell the 
arrogance of His enemies -- AsurAs and 
enemies of SadhjanAs -- { prathipata  samanE dhArayan } 
and to conquer / destroy  them . 

Line 4 : 
*******

That Lord seated on AdhisEshA as paramapadha nAthan 
with sankha -chakrams with one leg dangling and the other 
resting in a bent manner on His seat is addressed here for 
conferring prosperity and auspicousnes on all the inhabitants 
of His  world . It is pointed out that He is seated on
AdisEshA with His divya Aayudhams and AabharaNams .
He is seen with His two dEvIs on his two sides . He takes great 
pleasure in being accompanied  by His dEvIs and Aayudhams .
We meditate on Him as Sri VaikuntanAthan in this joyous
mood .

VaikuntanAtha: jagathAm sarma janayathu ( May the Lord of 
Sri Vaikuntam bless the worlds with sarva mangaLam ) . 
VaikuntanAtha: dEvIbhUshAdhijushta : ( The Lord of 
ThiruviNNagar/ Parama Padham  is extremely delighted to 
be in the company of His Consorts and His weapons ) . May
that happy  Lord of Sri Vaikuntam bless us with auspiciousness
and prosperity ! May He blesss us as we are about to perform
japam of His mUla manthram ! 

The Vaikunta Gadhyam of Sri RaamAnujA and Sri Vaikunta
sthavam of KurEsaa has to be invoked for an appreciation of 
the full grandeur of the sevai of the Paramapadha Naathan 
in Sri Vaikuntam . Some AzhwArs have at the conclusion of 
their prabhandhams described their anubhavam of the sevai
of Sri VaikuntanAthan at parama padham . 

Thirumazhisai's anubhavam
*******************************

For instance , Thriumazhisai AzhwAr at the very end
of Naanmukan ThiruvandhAthi states with great joy 
the blessings that he received to have the darsanam 
of Sri VaikuntanAthan :

yEnREn adimaiyizhindhEn piRappiDumbai 
AanREn amararkku amarAmai --AanREn 
kadanAdum maNNAdum kai vittu mElai
yidanAdu kANavini 
--- Naanmukan ThiruvandhAthi: Paasuram : 95

After describing his samsAric sufferings and repeated
births due to his accumulated karmAs , AzhwAr states that 
his mind , speech and limbs  focussed on the service to
the Lord and as a  result , he was blessed to leave behind 
the karma bhUmi and become the beneficiary of a boon 
that is not easily obtained even by the dEvAs and BrahmA .
He reveals that his special boon arising from his uninterrupted
kaimkaryam to the Lord was His darsanam as Sri VaikuntanAthan
at Parama Padham . 

NammAzhwAr"s anubhavam of Sri Vaikuntam
**************************************************
The whole of Thiruvaimozhi is a dramatic progression 
of AzhwAr's deep desire for ascension to Sri Vaikuntam
for the darsana sowbhAgyam of Sri VaikuntanAthan .

He describes Sri Vaikuntam as " teLi visumpu thirunAdu " .
" nalamandhamillathOr naadu " and states that his mind
is focussing day and night over the boon of the sEvai 
of Sri VaikuntanAthan ( Vaikuntham kANbatharkku 
yen manam yEkameNNUm irAppahalinriyE ) . 

He comforts himself and us with the statement :
" Vaikuntham puhuvathu maNNavar vidhiyE "
( it is the blessed lot ofthe humans to enter 
Sri Vaikunthm and serve the Lord ) . 

In the 10.9 decad of Thiruvaimozhi ( Soozh visumpu ) ,
AzhwAr describes his extraordinary journey by 
archirAdhi maargam to Sri Vaikuntam and the 
Lord waiting to greet him there with longing :

" vandhavar yethir koLLa maamaNi mantapatthu
anthamil pErinbatthu adiyOrudu iruanthami "

AchArya RaamAnujA's blessed experience of Sri Vaikuntam
*****************************************************************
and the Lord of Sri Vaikuntam :
*********************************  
Acharya RaamAnujA in his Sri Vaikunta Gadhyam visualizes
and expeiences the bliss of Sri Vaikuntam and the Lord's
adhiadhbhutha darsanam there on sEsha talpam 
with His consort and divyAyudhams and AabharaNams .

He describes the DayA svarUpam , Bhaktha DaakshiNyam of
Sri Vaikunta Naathan in the  way  referred to in one compound
word in the DhyAna SlOkam ( srithadhuritha haram )
and salutes His charaNAravindhams with these words  :

akhila sathva dayaika sAgarasya ( being the ocean of 
mercy for all of His creations )

anAlOchitha guNaaguNa akanda janAnukUla amaryAdha
seelavatha : ( Being of limitless auspicious  attributes ,
He does not engage in the examination of the guNa dhOshams
of the sakala janams and blesses them out of His natural
compassion ) 

svaabhAvikAnavadhikaadhisaya guNavatthayA dEva tiryangh
manushyAdhi akhila jana hrudhayAnandhasya ( being of 
natural auspicious attributes , He gladdens the hearts of
the dEvAs , animals and humans )

aasritha vaatsalyaika  JaladhE : (  being of the nature of 
the ocean of Mercy towards his prapannAs ) 

bhaktha jana samslEshaika bhOgasya ( Being of the nature of
considering His company with bhaktha janAs as the greatest
of His joy ) 

tasyaiva BhagavadhO NaarAyaNasya Srimadh 
charanAravindha yugaLam  saraNam anuvrajEth 
(One should come to the determination that refuge at 
the lotus feet of that Lord , Sriman NaarAyaNA is 
the sole means for mOksham ) . 

AchAryA RaamAnujA's description of the sEvai of Sri VaikuntanAthan 
**************************************************************************

Srimathee VaikuntE divya lokhE ---mahathi 
divya bhOga paryankhE anatha bhOgini ,

Srimadh Vaikunta aisvaryAthi divya lokham visvam
aathma kaanthyA aapyAyayanthyA , 

sEsha sEshaasanAdhi sarva parijanam Bhagavatha :
tatthavasthOchitha paricharyAm a~jnApayanthyA seela
rUpa guNa vilAsAdhibhi: aathmAnurUpayA 
SriyA saha aaseenam

 ---- tath kshaNa unmeelitha 
pundareeka sadhrusa charaNa yugaLam ------

sankha chakra gadhA asi saarngAdhi divyAudhai:
sEvyamAnam ---

divya amala kOmaLa avalOkanEna
visvam aahlAdhayantham ---

dhyAna yOgEna dhrushtvA -- 

kadhAham Bhagavantham NaarAyaNam
mama kulanAtham mama kula daivatham
mama bhOgyam mama maathram mama
pitharam mama SARVAM saakshAth karavANi
chakshushA ? 

kadhAham bhagavadh paadhAmbhuja DHVAYAM  
sirasA sangraheeshyAmi ?

kadhAham Bhagavadh paadhAmbhuja DHVAYA
paricharyayA --- tadh paadhAmbhuja dhvayam 
pravEkshyAmi ? 

In all these gadhya vaakhyams , Achaarya RaamAnujA 
visualizes thru dhyAna yOgam the vision of 
Sri VaikuntanAthan seated on AdhisEshan with 
His beloved consort and adorning His divya aayudhAs 
and being eulogized by the Nitya sUris and MukthAs . 

Sri RaamAnujA inquires longingly  as to when he will
have the realization of his prayers for feasting his 
eyes on the aprAkruthic beauty of  the Lord , who is 
his father , his mother , his entire wealth , his sole 
enjoyemnt . He asks as to when he will get the fulfilment of
his kaimkaryam and thus banish the samsaric ills and
have the good fortune of holding the Lord's sacred feet
on his head ; he asks about the auspicious moment ,
when the Lord is going to cast His glances on him 
and command him to enter His kaimkaryam .

Sri RaamAnujA approaches the Lord and recites the mUla
manthram , prostrates again and again at His lotus feet 
and stands with great reverence and shyness in front
of the Lord  . He utters the mUla manthram and begs for 
the boon of nithya kaimkaryam in Sri Vaikuntam . 

In the final chUrNikA of Sri Vaikunta gadhyam ,
AchArya RaamAnujA describes the Lord's granting
of the requested boon and is filled with the joy of
the Lord's blessings . He completes his dhyAnAnubhavam 
with the vision of Sri VaikuntanAthan casting His 
rejuvenating nectar-like glances on him with smile 
and inviting him to come near His sEshAsanam and
then placing His sacred feet on Achaarya RaamAnujA's
head and blessing him with sakala purushArthams . 
Achaarya RaamAnujA is thrilled with this paramaanandha
anubhavam and feels fulfilled .

Thus ends the extraordinary vision of Sri RaamAnujA 
on a Panguni Uttharam day at Srirangam ,
when he had the anugraham of darsanam
of the divya dampathis in sErthi .

SrimathE RaamAnujAya NamO nama: 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan