Paasurams 110-114

We will now enjoy  the Five Paasurams of Amrutha SvAdhini Prabhandham  next . These Desika Prabhandha Paasurams ( 110-114) deal with the ChillaRai Rahasyam of Abaya PradhAna Saaram .

Previous detailed postings on this SrI Sookthi of Abhaya Pradhana Saaram by adiyEn are archived in :

http://www.ibiblio.org/Sripedia/oppiliappan

Please search under the key words , Abahaya Pradhana Saaram . There is a wealth of information on this important
SrI Sookthi relating to the Lord assuring the SaraNAgathAs freedom from every kind of Fear .

(110) SrIman NaarAyaNan is the only UpAyam
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Our AchAryAs have stored the esoteric meanings of the three Rahasyams (RahasyArTams) without giving them away as upadEsams to the unqualified seekers . When sishyAs like us approach the AchAryAs with reverence and pray for these upadEsams , they bless us copiously with these rahasya arTams .They do this not because they want their fame to be spread or for amassing  wealth for themselves  but out of their compassion for us just as the mother cow KaamadhEnu gives copious milk to her calf  happily .

AchAryas are saluted here as " Kaakkum karutthudai Desikar " ( AchAryAs who wish to keep rahasyArTams as
Rahasyams so that they do not fall in the hands of the unfit). " nammai kanRu yena yeNNi surakkum suravikaL pOl soll amudhu sorihinranar " ( When we approach them with earnestness  and reverence , they shower us with
the esoteric meanings of the rahasyams just as KaamadhEnu pours forth milk out of Her full udders for her little one ). The AchAryAs do not shower these blessings for gaining money or for advancing their fame ( Ivai eenthAl parakkum puhazh varum , paimporuL vaaytthidum  yenRu iyampAr).

111) The granting of Abahyam by Lord Raamchandra
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In this Paasuram , Swamy  Desikan covers the famous slOkam found in SrImath RaamAyaNam enshrined as the direct words of Lord Raamachandra:

SakruthEva PrapannAya tavAsmeethi cha yAchathE
ABhAYAM SARVA-BHUTHEBHYO dAdhAmyEthath vratham Mama

When accepting the plea for SaraNAgathy from VibhIshaNan , our Lord expressed His thoughts this way: " I will grant the boon of  freedom from fear of every kind for all janthus , once they seek My protection even once and declare that they are My Daasans .This is Vedam , Smruthi , SadaachAram and my thoughts . My offer of
Abhaya PradhAnam to prapannAs is the vow that I practise at all times ". Swamy  Desikan states in this Paasuram that his mind has become tranquil as a a result of the reflections over the firmness of the Lord's assurance  in the charama slOkam to grant us freedom from  fear .

The key passage of this Paasuram is " NeRi uraitthAr nilai uNarnthu nilai peRROm " ( Our mind is tranquil after knowing the firmness of purpose of the Lord , who instructed us on His SaraNAgatha RakshaNa vratham).

112) Determination not to seek lower (alpa, asTira) Phalans
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It is worldly matter for the animals to reject gold found in the fields and go after their own food (viz) ., the blades of grass. On the other hand , the kings will collect that gold with relish and ignore the grass. Similarly , the insignificant people , who have no idea about the glories of the Lord's sacred feet , will run after the evanescent and valueless phalans. There is no loss to us from such behavior by the deluded. We have chosen the holy  feet of the Lord for our protection . He stands to protect us all , who sought His feet for their rakshaNam and is ready to grant them that boon of protection.

The key passage of this Paasuram is: " Tannai adainthida Taann aruL seyyum TanicchilayOn ponn adi nAmm
adainthOm ; aarr puRam seythidin yenn koll ? "( When our Lord with His Unique bow of KodhaNdam stands there
to grant us SaraNAgathy , what do we care about those , who do not seek the Lord's anugraham? We have chosen
the beautiful feet of Lord Raamachandra as our protection ).

113) Prapatthi's help to other Yogams
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Our merciful AchAryAs , who fully understand the meanings of Veda-VedAnthams reveal to us the Svaroopams of
Karma , Jn~Ana and Bhakthi yOgams.When one follows any one of the above three yOgams and yet find it difficult to practise some of their requirements , the practise of Prapatthi would overcome those deficiencies in fulfilling
the total requirements of all the other Yogams as means to Moksham.Thus Prapatthi yOgam  has the power to
accomplish all Phalans. Please recognize Prapatthi's unique power to stand on its own to grant all phalans
through developing a clear understanding of the meaning of PraNavam .

114) The legendary forbearance of Lord Raamachandran
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Kaakusura SaraNagathy is the topic of this Paasuram .

When KaakAsuran committed a major offense againt SitA PirAtti , Lord Raamachandra sent a BrahmAsthram
against him to destroy him . The asuran was chased by the powerful asthram and circled the universe and begged the gods to save him from the power of that asthram . The sages and DEvAs were appaled at his offense and chased him away. After circling the universe without no one to help him , the asuran was exhausted and fell at the feet of Lord Raamachandra and begged for the gift of life . Our Lord who has taken the vow to protect anyone , who sought His protection branded the asuran by taking one of  his eyes away since the power of His
asthram could not be diminished. The Kaimkaryam to this most generous Lord is the Life's goal (PurushArTam).
To secure that goal , the grace of the Lord that is influenced by the performance of Prapatthi on our part. The AchAryAs instructed us on the inner meanings of SaraNAgathy .May we enjoy the bliss of staying at the shade of those AchAryA's Thiruvadi !

The upadEsam from this Paasuram is that our Lord will protect us even if we are aparAdhis as long as we surrender at His feet as the helpless ones . KaakAsura SaraNAgathy is given as an example for the Lord's forbearance.

Paasurams 115-118

We will now enjoy  the Four  Paasurams of Amrutha SvAdhini Prabhandham  . These Desika Prabhandha Paasurams ( 115-118) deal with the ChillaRai Rahasyam of Rahasya SikhAmaNi elaborating VarAha Charama SlOkam .

Previous detailed postings on this SrI Sookthi of Rahasya SikhAmaNi and Varaha PurANam by adiyEn
pertinent to this posting are archived  at :

http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/july98/0166.html

http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/july98/0167.html

http://www.ibiblio.org/Sripedia/oppiliappan/archives/thiruvahindrapuram/msg00012.html

115) The UpadEsam of VarAha NayinAr to BhUmi DEvi
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(meaning): Once upon a time, Bhumi DEvi felt sad about the ordinary jeevans without Jn~Anam and sakthi being tossed about in SamsAric ocean because of their inability to practise the difficult upAyam of Bhakthi Yogam. As the most merciful Mother of these poor jeevans as well , She wanted to lift them up from their SamsAric sufferings . She begged Her Lord , Varaha NayinAr  to perform an upadEsam for the benefit of these suffering Jeevans.The  compassionate Lord responded and revealed the easy way  of performing Prapatthi to Him through two slOkams ,
which would serve as the easy upAyam for Moksham. Our AchAryAs assessed that these two VarAha Charama slOkams are just right for us and instructed us on them . We recieved visEsha Jn~Anam from these two slOkams  and benefitted .

The key passage of this Paasuram is: " Aadhi VarAham uraittha gathy aRivAr poruttham teLinthu uraikka poy ilA mathi peRRanam" ( We are blessed with the imperishable Jn~Anam from our AchAryAs , who knew the svaroopam of the two Charama slOkams bequeathed to us by Aadhi VarAha PerumAL and concluded that these charama slOkams  are the best upAyam for us to gain Moksham easily).

116) The Meaning of the VarAha Charama SlOkam
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The Entire Universe is My body (SarIram). I have neither birth or death . When one performs SaraNAgathy to Me
with the firm belief that I am His everlasting support , I rush to his side at the time of his death even if he has no control over his senses and remains like a log or stone. I lead him then to My Supreme abode via archirAdhi mArgam (path of light ) to perform nithya kaimkaryam to Me there . Swamy  Desikan says that his ajn~Anam was
destroyed from the comprehension of the depth of assurance housed in the Lord's (Aadhi Varaahan"s) Charama slOkam .

The two VarAha Charama SlOkams are:

sTithE manasi susvasTE sarIrE sati yO nara:
dhAthusAmyE  sTithE smarthA visvaroopam cha mAmajam

tatastham mriyamANam thu kAshtA-pAshANa sannibham
Aham smarAmi Madhbhaktham nayAmi ParamAm gathim

117) The release of KarmAs for Prapannan during the time of Mukthi
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We clearly understood the meanings of the two Charama slOkams of Aadhi Varaaha PerumAL , whose promise never fails. Through His grace , we securely held on to His feet as UpAyam and Phalan . In this Karma lOkam , after the performanc eof Prapatthi tot he Lord , the Jn~Anam that stayed inside us in a shrunken state has transformed  and has released  most of our KarmAs before it could reach its full blossom during the state of Mukthi . The residual karmAs are at the miniscule level that is just  sufficient to get us to the Lord's abode at the end of this life. What a miracle this is !

In the Karma BhUmi, Dharma BhUtha Jn~Anam is in a shrunken state due to our karmAs and therefore does not comprehend every thing. Once Mukthi is attained , that Jn~Anam blossoms fully to permit the clear understanding of every thing.

Upanishads point out that in a state of Mukthi , the PuNya-Paapams of the Jeevan have to leave him . The PuNyams go to his friends and the Paapams reach his VirOdhis (enemies).

118) Word of Comfort to those , who fear Death
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Oh ChEthanams ! Is it n't true that a large mountain that we consider as having  eternal existence shatters to pieces one day ? Even if You know this to be  a fact, You are deluded to think that Your body is permanent. You hate death even after the signs of aging ( folds in skin , graying of the hair) set in . There is a way though to banish your ajn~Anam. That is the Charama slOkam blessed by the most merciful Aadhi VarAha PerumAL  dealing with Prapatthi at His feet as the UpAyam . May You all be uplifted by that thought !

The key passage of this Paasuram is : " alayum kadal koNDa vayaam aLitthavan mey aruLE nilai yenRu naadi nilai ninRa poy mathi neekumin ! " ( Aadhi VarAha PerumAl lifted the BhU MaNDalam from the fierce flood waters of deluge . His charama slOkam dealing with Prapatthi as the upAyam arose out of His true KrupA . Please recognize that Prapatthi is the true UpAyam for Moksham and banish thoroughly the deep rooted ajn~Anam , which has been with You for a very long time).

 Paasurams 119-122

We will now enjoy  the Four  Paasurams of Amrutha SvAdhini Prabhandham  . These Desika Prabhandha Paasurams ( 119-122 ) deal with the ChillaRai Rahasyams of Anjali Vaibhavam (Paasuram 119) and PradhAna Sathakam (Paasurams 120-122).

Previous detailed postings on these two  SrI Sookthi by adiyEn pertinent to these postings are archived  at :

http:// www.sriviashnava.org/sgati

PradhAna Sathakam ( Volumes 1 & 2 : Parts 1-15 posted over June 30, 1998 to May 7, 2000)

http://www.Ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/oct2000/0198.html  (Anjali Vaibhaavam)

119) The Glory (Vaibhavam ) of Anjali to the Lord
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Swamy Alavanthaar has instructed us in one of the SthOthra Rathna slOkam that the power of  Anjali to the Lord
( mudhrA of Palms joined together in front of the Lord  ) has limitless power and glory . Such an anjali gesture
offering salutations to the Lord's sacred feet melts the heart of the Lord (amm+ jalayathi) like a sugar cube dipped in water. The Lord's joy on seeing this anjali mudhrai  from the chEthanam is boundless. Our Lord recognizes this anjali mudhrai as the symbol of cessation of action on the part of the Prapannan indicating that he is not going to engage in any action to protect himself anymore and that he has entrusted all that burden to the Lord in his helpless state. Swamy  Desikan says he is of the firm opinion that the anjali-based sidhdAntham(Prapatthi)
is the most fruitful one to gain MOksham.Therefore , he says that he defeated the incorrect disputations of all , who were against Prapathti mArgam and is displaying his anjali mudhrA before the Lord.

The 28th SthOthra Rathna SlOkam that stimualted Swamy  Desikan to create the sacred text of

Anjali Vaibhavam is :

Thvadhangrim uddhisya kadhApi kEnachith
yaTA taTA vaa-api sakruth kruthOnjali:
tadhaiva mushNAthi asubhAnyasEshata :
SubhAni pushNAthi na jAthu heeyathE

We have to remember Swamy  NammAzwAr's upadEsam for us about the anjali to the Lord :

" dEsamAna aNikalam yenn kai koopu seyhayE"

120) Adopting only the superior doctrines (MukhyamAna PoruLkaLayE koLLal)
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This and the next two Paasurams are a summary of the 100 upadEsams of Swamy  Desikan as an AchAryan regarding what is PradhAnam among the observances and doctrines. In this set of  three Paasurams , some examples are given from the source grantham (CHillaRai Rahasyam ) of PradhAna Sathakam.

Among all the rivers that flow in the world , the Ganga river that flowed from the holy feet of the Lord during His incvarnation as Thrivikraman is the most sacred . Among all the seven kinds of Oceans , the Milky ocean , where the divine consort of the Lord incarnated is the holiest one. Among all kinds of conches , the one that stays on His hand , Paanchajanyam ,is the most exalted in sacredness. None of the fragrant flower garlands can approach the glory of the TuLasi Maalai adorned by the Lord with relish in holiness. Among all the Saasthrams of the world,
Swamy  NammAzhwAr's ( the Master of the Prapanna kulam ) is the most superior and therefore we follow the  path laid out by him in his divine works (SrI Sookthis)  with total faith in them .

121) Our Lord Himself incarnates as AchAryan to protect us
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The most merciful SarvEswaran incarnates in the form of AchAryAs to remove our ajn~Anam and to help us cross over the ocean of SamsAram by acting as a sEthu (dam) across that ocean. Knowing therfore that the bhOgams (pleasures) offered by the short-lived dEvAs like Indhran and Beahma as perishable (evanescent ) , we have banished our desire such pleasures . As PrapannAs , who are we indebted to from here on ? It is only SarwEswaran to whom we are bound to .SarwEsWaran and ourselves are bound mutually to one another forever . We instructed thse truisms to all , who approached us for upadEsam.

122) The Superiority and Inferiority among objects(Vasthus)
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All the gems in the world can not match the glory of the Kousthubha gem that the Lord brought out the milky ocean while churning for nectar and is wearingi on His chest  . All the sacred places on this earth like Kaasi will
not approach the glory of Kaanchipura KshEthram  , where the dark rain cloud drenching us with Mercy known as Lord VaradarAjan presides . All the Sruthis, Smruthis and PurANam made available to us through the pure-minded
sages will not equal in glory the SrI Sookthis of Swamy NammAzhwAr adored by our Lord Himself . Oh AasthIkAs ! Please enjoy these treasures stored and bequeathed to us by our ancestors ( PoorvAchAryAs ) that are
the topic of  PradhAna Sathakam and comprehend clearly their meanings for Your upliftment and use them as Your lamp for the journey to Moksham .