Search:
Bhakti List Archives

Copy of: Prapanna Parijatham-- Part 2

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • October 31, 1997 


Dear Bhakthi Group Members:
This posting might be of interest to
you all .
V.Sadagopan  

P.S : On this day after Dipawali 
( Amavasyai day ) , the Sri Vaishnavite
tradition follows the practise of
making lamp ( ahal type ) out of
Wheat flour and adding ghee to it
and light it with a wick 
and recite Mahalakshmi sthuthis
in front of it . You  may also
reflect upon the experience of 
the MudalaazhwArs in this context ,
who saw the Divya dampathis 
with theri own special lamps
at ThirikkOvalUr . 
---------- Forwarded Message ----------

From:   V. Sadagopan, 75041,3037
TO:     AR, INTERNET:vvijay236@aol.com
CC:     SR, INTERNET:Srengara@ford.com
DATE:   10/29/97 9:01 PM

RE:     Copy of: Prapanna Parijatham-- Part 2 

Sri PraNathArthihara Varadha 
Para BrahmaNE Nama:

SrimathE RaamAnujAya nama:

SrimathE Vaatsya VaradhArya GuravE nama:

VandhEham VaradhAryam tham 
vathsAbhijana BhUshaNam I
BhAshyAmrutha pradhAnAth 
ya: sanjeevayathi maamapi II

Dear Fellow Sri VaishNavAs :

On the eve of the DeepAvaLi celebration , 
when the Lord banished the anthakAram 
that surrounded the world by destroying Narakaasuran ,
it is my bhAgyam to write about Prapanna PaarijAtham 
and reflect upon the links between the above grantham
and what happened on that Naraka Chathurthi day
at Indra Lokam and Dwarakai .

Let me salute Sri VaasudevA first with the words of 
the mother of NarakAsurA , Sri Bhumi Devi  :

namO BhagavathE thubhyam VaasudEvAya VishNavE I
PurushAya Aadhi bheejAya PurNa bhOdhAya thE nama: II

After NarakAsura Vadham , Lord KrishNA went to 
Indra"s house and returned the ear-rings of Adithi ,
the mother of IndrA . Narakaasuran had stolen them .
SathyabhAma , who had accompanied and assisted 
her Lord in the battle with Narakaasura desired to have 
the divine PaaruijAtha tree flourishing in the garden of 
Indra .  Lord KrishNA uprooted that tree to please 
His consort and had it transported to DwarakA on
the back of GarudA . That PaarijAtha tree was 
transplanted at  the garden of Lord KrishNA 
at His city and the honey bees of Vaikuntam ( prapannAs )
shifted their residence to Dwaraka to enjoy the fragrance 
of the flowers of the PaaijAthA tree and its nectar , 
which became even more sweeter because of 
their  proximity to the Lord Himself .    

This is an appropriate occasion to remember 
the Bhaktha ParipAlanam and Dhushta Nigraham 
of the Lord as the Prapanna Paarijaatha Vruksham
blessing us all with His auspicious boons .

The Grantham of Prapanna PaarijAtham
********************************************
 
Today , Prapanna PaarijAthA(PPA) is an extraordinary 
source grantham for us . It was also for Swami Desikan 
and other AchAryAs that followed him as well . It has been
pointed out that the topics covered in the ten chapters
of this grantham provided the inspiration for Swami
Desikan's magnum opus , Srimadh Rahasya Thraya
Saaram(RTS) . Thus PPA  is considered a " a forerunner
of RTS " . Indeed , Swami Desikan's prAchAryA was none 
other than Vaatsya Varada Guru ( NadAdhUr AmmAL ) ,
the author of PPA . 
 
The above situation is somewhat similar to the influence of 
AlavandhAr's Siddhi ThrayA  and Aagama prAmANyA 
on the concepts elaborated by Sri RamAnujA later in his
Sri Bhashyam .There , AchArya RaamAnujA elaborated on
the teachings of his prAchAryA ( AlavandhAr )along with 
those  of his five direct AchAryAs .

I will follow closely the commentary of the Late Abhinava
Desika  UttamUr VeerarAghavAchAryar , whose centenary 
we celebrated this year . He has examined many Sri Kosams 
of Prapanna PaarijAtham to bless us with his most valued
commentary .

The first six slOkAs of PPA cover salutations to AchAryAs ,
Sri Lakshmi Hayagreevan , BhagavathAs and serve as
prefatory remarks to the content of this grantham .

In the first slOkam , the author offers his humble 
salutations to his AchArya paramparai consisting of
twelve Gurus (i-e) ., YengaLAzhwAn , Thirukkuruhai pirAn-
piLLAn , BhashyakArar , Periya nambhi , ALavandhAr ,
MaNakkAl nambhi , UyyakkondAr , Natha Muni , 
SatakOpan , VishvaksEnar , Periya PirAtti and Periya 
PerumAL . 

The slOkam is as follows :

achAryAryama pAdhEpyO namasyA santhathim dhadhE I
yadhAsanga vasAdh pumsAm mana:padhmam prabhudhyathE II

Aryaman means the Sun ; The Acharya aryama or the AchAryA
is equated to the Sun( Aryaman ) for number of reasons .
The meaning of this verse is : " I extend my countless 
salutations to the sacred feet of the AchAryAs , who are
the equivalent of many Suns . The contact (sambhandham )
with their charaNams  makes the minds of men blossom
forth just as the rays of the lights of the SUN 
( Surya KiraNams) make the lotus bud bloom . 

Sri AmmAL compares the lustre of the revered feet of 
the AchAryAs to the rays of  Suns because of 
their wealth of effulgence ( tEjO Nidhi ) ,  sacredness 
( pAvanathvam ) , capacity to reveal the Supreme One 
( paraprakaasam ) , being the embodiment of the VedAs 
( Vedamayam ) and residence of the Lord in them 
( Bhagavadh adhishtitham ) . 

AchAryA's role in prapatthi is unique and unparalleled .
Hence  it is appropriate that Sri AmmAL starts off with
a glowing tribute to the charaNa kiraNams of the holy
feet of the AchAryAs and compares them to 
the benovolent rays of the Sun . 

Tribute to BhagavAn HayagreevA
************************************

The second slOkam is a salutation to 
Sri Lakshmi Hayagreevan , as the aadhAram for
all vidhyAs . Here , Sri AmmAL invokes the Lord ,
who is known for bahupradha VadhAnyam  
( fluent and munificient speech ) . Later , Swami 
Desikan will start off his many works with the salutation 
to this Murthy of Para VaasudEva as " Vaagg Isa aakhyA "
( the God of true knowledge ) in the sampradhAyam 
set by his PrAchAryA . In the earlier slOkam , Sri AmmAL
compared the holy feet of the AchAryAs to the purifying rays 
of the Sun . Here , he refers to the cool and bright rays 
arising from the sacred feet of the suddha Spatika varNa
murthy , Hayagreevan , and associates them with those
of the purNa chandran rising in the horizon . 

The slOkam containg the above thoughts is as follows:

abhangura kalaadhaana sthUla lakshthvameeyushE I
ThungAya mahasE tasmai ThurangAya mukhE nama: II

The vidhyAs that the Lord with the equine face confers
to His upasakAs are imperishable ( abhangura kalaa
dhAna paramAchAryan ) . Those boons result in  
munificient and fluent " Vedic " speech .

Salutation to the MatsyAvathAran 
************************************

In the third slOkam , Sri AmmAL thinks 
about the Lord , who took the form of 
the giant fish to restore the stolen VedAs 
for the benefit of His son , Brahma Devan . 
Later , he took Hamsa and HayagreevAvathAram 
to instruct the VedAs to His son , who had lost
them . 

The verse is a beautiful one celebrating 
the Eka seshithvam of the Lord and His
inseperability from His consort:

Lakshmee Chakshu : anudhyAnAth 
tath saarUpyamupEyushE I
namOsthu Meena VapushE 
Vedavedhi vipanmushE II

(Meaning ) : Salutations to the Lord , 
who by unceasing meditation on 
the eyes of MahA Lakshmi has attained
the sameness of form ( SaarUpyam ) and 
has thus become fish-bodied ( Meena Vapu: ) .
That MatsyAvathAran freed the knower of VedAs
( Veda vedhi/Brahmaa) from calamities . 

Fourth Verse 
***************

Here, Bhagavatha PaadhAngri ReNU's ( Rajas')
effect on the rajO guNam is remembered . At 
the very start of his work , Sri NadAthUr ammAL
takes shelter under the dust ( rajas ) of the 
sacred feet of BhagavathAs to heal the disease
of ego and passion ( RajO guNa janitha 
vipareethams) . " RajO Raja Prasamanam
-- Prapanna PaarijAthAkhya Prabhandham 
yathAmahE " is the passage from the fourth verse .

Sri AmmAL states here that His grantham will
have the same effect as the sacred dust has
on the controlling of the rajO guNam and 
transform the readers to prapannAs .

Sri Vaatsya VaradhArya GuravE nama:

Oppilaippan Koil VaradachAri SadagOpan