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thirup pAvai - part 22 - mantra upadEsam

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sampath Rengarajan • December 27, 1998 


Er Arntha iLam kaNNi 

Dear bAgawathAs,				  mArgazhi, Day 12

	It is said that,  Sri  Lakshmanan, the ilaya perumAL never 
slept for  14 years,  and  was  keeping  a  constant vigil and was 
guarding the divya dampathis during their vanavAsam. As similar to 
that  Sri yAsodhai  was also  guarding  our  Lord  Sri Krishna  by
constantly keeping her eyes on Lord.  It  is  also  known that the tamil 
word "kaN" represents the eyes of  Sri Krishna  or  "KaNNan"
(one who has those gracious eyes). The other swApdEsa  arttham  or inner 
meaning for kaN are derived from its usage in many  ways  in 
many different ways. In this pAsuram, the  word  kaNNI, is alluded 
to mantra upadEsam and in particular to  dwayam  and ashtAksharam.  
It is said in shAstras that those who receive this mantrAs from an
AchAryA  alone  has  the   adikAram  on "ubaya sweekAram".  (doing 
prapatti).  The "uRuppu" or  part of the anatomy known as "kaN" or 
eyes is meant for seeing. ie., the purpose of the eyes is  to see.
Even if one has a clear eye (20/20 vision) can one see anything in  
darkness anything ? One still needs a light to see any object. The
Visibility and its clarity depend  on the lighting   which  may be 
different either darker or brighter or normal. But what can an eye 
perceive in a fog or cloud ? 
             
	In this part the reference to mantra upadEsam is meant  to clear the 
vision that one's Athma kaN can see. ie., the  swaroopam 
of an athmA  is  an "Anantha swaroopam",  as  it  derives  immense 
pleasure in  serving  the  Lord   and  HIS consort constantly  and 
eternally.  This  swaroopam is clouded  with  the anyAnam that are 
induced due to karma. One do more and more  of  the "mantra japam" after 
duly receiving it from an AchAryA, his/her  "swa  swaroopam" starts to 
show up and these  holy  mantras also clear  the path to 
their final vision and realisation.  ie., the mantras  clear these 
karmic screens and make them see the light. Those who reaches this
clarity derive extraordinary peace in their  mind as they continue 
with this exercise   more and   more. It is said that in its final 
destiny  these  "mantrams" take one to the prathayksha darsanam of 
the thiumuga maNdalam  of  the  Lord. ie., the  ultimate reach for 
this  mantrams  are  the eyes  of the  LORD  such that one will be 
blessed to see the Lord "eye"  to  "eye".  It is said  that  these 
mantrams keep seeing the Lord as similar to nitya suris and if one 
can see and conceive the essence of these mantras  and  constantly dwell 
in  it,  these  mantra japam  will take one to have the same darsham, ie 
one is certain to have  this "bAgyam"  of prathayaksha darshaNam. The 
reference to yasOdhai's eyes constantly seeing  the 
Lord is implying the essence  of  "mantrAs"  constatnly seeing the 
Lord eye to eye. And that the mantra upadEsam one may get from the 
AchAryA  (earlier  referred  to  Sri NandagOpan) will take them to 
this realisation one or the other.

	Mantra japam as  practiced by many  is  not mere repeating 
of the mantras. Each mantram may have its own palan.  Mantra (here 
referred to the mukya  mantras) as constituted in  their syllables 
and "words" is a vehicle that  takes one's "athma kaN" (inner eye) 
to   the "prathyaksha darshanam" and makes them   first  have this 
darshan "eye to eye" and realise the  "athma sambandam"  that  the 
"jivan" has with "Eswaran".   As one start  to  chant  the  mantra japam 
they  must  follow  the  protocols  prescribed in  shAstrAs,  
in particular one must do anusanthAnam of the Acharya thaniyan and 
pray to the ponnadi "golden feet" of AcharyA and start their japam.
As one proceed doing this japam one  must  start focussing on  the 
essence (inner most meanings) of these mantrams and "dwell" in it.
There is  a  definite  procedure for  each  mantra  and  the  most 
important one is for doing ashtAkshra  mantra japam that  everyone
must follow. 

Sri ANDAL thiruvadikaLE saraNam
Sri Boomi dEvi thAyAr samEtha Sri Oppiliappan thiruvadikaLE
saraNam
Sampath Rengarajan
(more to come on kaN)

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