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Sri GuNa Rathna KOsam : part VII: Second Slokam (continued)

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Sadagopan • October 25, 2000 


SrimathE RaamAnujAya nama:

Dear BhakthAs :

On the eve of DheepAvaLi , it is only appropriate to
dwell deep on the glories of Sri MahA Lakshmi , who is 
blessing us as the ArchA Moorthy , Sri Ranga NaacchiyAr ,
at SriRangam. May She confer all of Her choicest blessings on
the members of our devout groups on this DipAvaLi day
and the rest of the Year !

The Mahimai of Sri RanganAyaki
*******************************

MahA Lakshmi Tattvam is gigantic in scope
to comprehend by people of limited intellect 
like us .AdiyEn will summarize the thoughts
on Her tattvam from asmath AchAryan's KaalakshEpam
granthams. 

There are two pramANams that would help us 
understand Her glories quickly and clearly :

1.She is  " Thrividha chEthanarkkum SWAMINEE "

She is the one who is the Lordess of
the three kinds of ChEthanmas ( Bhaddha 
Jeevans, Muktha Jeevans and Nithya Jeevans).
All the three Jeevans take orders from Her 
and recognize Her as their niyAmikai( commander) 
and their Isvaree.She can not therefore be 
just another Jeevan.

2. Sri Lakshmi Sahasra Naamam recognizes Her
as "Sri VaasudEva Mahishi PumprahdAnEsvarEsvari".
This word " PumpradhAnEsvarEsavri " has profound
meanings and this compound world breaks up into
four individual words :

" Pum+PradhAnam+Isvaran+IsvarI ". 
 
Here "Pum " stands for the Jeevans (pumAn );
"PradhAnam" stands for Moola prakruthi.
" Isvaran" denotes the Lord ."IsvarI" stands
for MahA Lakshmi , the empress of Jeevans ,
Prakruthi and Isvaran. 

As PumpradhAnEsvarEsvari , She is understood thus
as the Sarva NiyAmikai ( PumpradhAnEsvarEsvari or
the Isvari of PumpradhAnEsvaran Himself). She is 
understood as "sarva-prakAra-abhimatha-anuroopa-
svaroopa -GuNa "-rathna-Kosam . Swamy ParAsara Bhattar
will be developing these themes in the different
slOkams of Sri GuNa Rathna Kosam .

She is understood as the " Tadh sadhrusIm Sriyam " 
or as the Empress , who matches Her Lord's divine
attributes in every way .

" Tadh " here denotes Isvaran (Sriman NaarAyaNan) , who is
the subject matter of the four chapters of  Brahma Soothram
( Samanvayam , AvirOdham , Saadhanam and Phalam ). 
She is fully matched with that "Tadh" (Sriman
NaarAyaNan , Her Lord). She has antharbhAvam 
(inner presence ) in all of His acts. Infact , he 
goes about His leelais like creation to please 
and amuse Her . He takes the cues from Her ingithams
(signs) originating from Her eye brows in going about
His duties. They are what is revered together
as " Sookshma mithunam " and Yeka Seshis , 
the divine couple with subtle , matching 
attributes as Yeka-Seshi dampathis.

In Sri RangarAja Sthavam intended expressly 
to celebrate the glories of Lord RanganAthA , 
Swamy ParAsara Bhattar can not help pointing out 
the "PumpradhAnEsvarEsvaree" aspect of Sri RanganAyaki:

"nama: SriranganAyakyai yadh-bhru-vibhrama bhEdhatha:
 IsOsithavya-Vishamya -nimnOnaatham idham Jagath "
---Sri Rangarajasthavam: SlOkam 7

(Meaning): " I pay obesiance to that Goddess 
Sri RanganAyaki , whose brow-rises and lowerings
in turn , has decisive impact in that they will cause 
the higher-ups and the lower-downs respectively , 
(i.e)., the peaks and the troughs in the  world;
why , it could even make one the Super-Lord or 
a servant , She being the all-deciding force."  

Parasara Bhattar is going to dwell on the extraordinary
& Special relationship between the divine couple with 
an analogy that links the lustre of a gem with the gem 
itself as an inseperable principle in one of the SlOkams of 
Sri GuNa Rathna Kosam that we will cover later
( Svatha: SrIsthvam VishNO:---)

The various poorvAchAryAs , who have commented on
Sri AlavandhAr's ChathusslOki have also agreed on
this matter:

The first slOkam of ChathusslOki celebrates
the parathvam (Supermacy ) obtained by MahA
Lakshmi through Sriman NaarAyaNa sambhandham.

The second of the four slOkams pays tribute
to her PurushakArathva PrabhAvam (Intercession with 
Her Lord on our behalf). 

The third slOkam reveals that Mahaa Lakshmi known 
for such soulabhyam (ease of access) has antharbhAvam 
(inner presence and thus involvement ) in jagath-
KaaraNathvam ( origin /creation of the Universe 
and its beings).Here the celebration of Her role 
as UpAyam is recorded.

In the fourth and the final slOkam of ChathusslOki ,
the Phalan resulting from this UpAya anushtAnam 
focusing on Her is prooved .

MahA Laksmi is the Saha Dharma ChaariNI of
the Lord .As His Saha Dharma ChAriNI , She has 
"Hethu Garbha Viseshanam " ..She has a role
thus in all karmAs , which dampathis do together.
EmperumAn creates the Universe .She is with Him then
and is involved as Saha Dharma ChAriNi even
there .They receive the havis of Jeevan together , 
when Prapathti is performed .They thus serve together
as the AathmA for all the Universe and its beings.

This is a view that has come to us from Sage ParAsarA
(the author of Sri VishNu PurANam ) , Swamy AlavandhAr,
EmperumAnAr , EmpAr and all the way down to Swamy
ParAsara Bhattar. 

In the 22nd slOkam of Sri GuNa Rathna KOsam ,
Swamy ParAsara Bhattar acknowledges the Yeka Seshithvam 
aspect of the dhivya Dampathis :

"hElAyam akhilam charAcharmidham BhOgE VibhUthi: ParA
 dhanyAsthE parichAra karmaNi sadha Pasyanthi yE Sooraya:
 Sri RangEswara Devi ! Kevala nirvAahya VargE vayam
 SeshithvE PumAn ParikarAhyEthE tava spAraNE"

(Meaning): Oh Sri RanganAyaki! All the sentients and
the insentients of this Universe are meant for Your play.
The nithya VibhUthi of Sri Vaikuntam is for Your
BhOgam (enjoyemnt) as well . The fortunate Nithya Sooris
are for serving You. Here in Your LeelA VibhUthi ,
We remain as the Ones to be protected by Your Krupai. 
Your consort Sri RanganAthan is immensely proud of You , 
while being Your Lord.

EmperumAnAr in SaraNAgathi Gadhyam explicitly 
states that MahA Lakshmi commands all the parijanams 
( nithya sooris)to thier respective assignments.
All of them are Her Sesha BhUthams.

Such is the glory of Our ThAyAr , Sri RanganAyaki !

adiyEn will take up the commentary on the second slOkam
of Sri GuNa Rathna Kosam , which is known for its Madhura
LakAra prayOgams:

ullAsa Pallavitha paalitha SapthalOkI
  nirvAha kOrakitha  nEma KatAksha LeelAm
Sriranga harmyatala  MangaLa dheepa rEkhAm
  SrirangarAja MahishIm Sriyam aasrayAma:

Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan 


  

 


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           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
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