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Sri Rangam - Swami Desikan's paasuram - Part 3

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sampath Rengarajan • February 26, 1996 


Swami dEsikan thiruvadikaLE saraNam


Each aazhwaar have praised this kOil and most of our poorvaachaaryaaLs have
delivered granthams and paasurams on this kOil. The three rahsyams are the
fundamentals of srivaishnvaas. While some of the srivaishnavass derive the
essence of these from the three anthaathis of muthal aazhwaars, many of the
srivaishnavaas refer to Srimath rahasya thrasaaram. Swami dEsikan delivered
Srimath rahasya thrasaaram using 32 athikaaranGaL. Since this is in maNip
pravaaLaa, he also delivered in Tamil, the essence of all these adikaarams in
adikaara sangiraham.

	In adikaara sankiraham, prior to delivering the adikaaraas, He praised
all the aazhwaars, and eight achaaryaaLs who preceded him. HE exclusively
discussed the efforts of emperumaaNaar, aaLavanthaar, naathamunikaL. Following
this,  the concise meaning of each athikaaram is presented in the anthaathi
thodai meter. Besides, Swami dEsikan made special refereces to three temples in
his adikaara sangiraham. The only three such temples referred are kaanchi
aththikiri perumal, Srirangam and thirumalai. Finally he completes this with a
long paasuram on the thiruvadis of Sriranganaathan and some paasurams on the
achaaryaaL's sEvai. The following is the paasuram on Srirangam that will
narrate the significance of this kOil in the chronological order and summarises
the palan or puNNiyam of worshipping this kOil.


aaraatha varuLamutham pothintha kOil
ambuyaththOn ayOththi mannaRkkaLiththa kOil
thOlaatha thani veeran thozhutha koIl
thuNaiyaana veedaNarkuth thuNaiyaankOil
sEraatha payanellaanchErkkum kOil
sezhumaRaiyin muthalezhuththuch chErntha kOil
theeraatha vinai anaiththuntheerkkunkOil
thiruvarangamenath thigazhunkOil thaanE.

				adikaara sangiraham

A rough translation is as follows.

The unending nectar of AruL or grace is embedded in this kOil
The naanmugan who sits on the Lotus flower gave this as the boon for the
itsuvaaku king of ayOthi kingdom.
Undefeated and unique warrior Lord Sri Raama worshipped this kOil
This is also the koil that Sriraama gave to ally vibeedanan' as a "seer" or
gift
This is the  kOil that brings in all the unobtainable boons and effects to the
worshipper.
This is the kOil where the first letter of the vEdam is residing
This is the kOil that cures or nullifes  all the vinais or karmaas that cannot
be nullified or cured so far.
This is th kOil of thiruvarangam.

 Please note that what ever penance one will do , it is finally the ARUL or
GRACE of the Lord (from what ever form of the Lord it is sought either it is
param or antharayaamam or archamoorthy etc) that delivers the destiny sought
for. Swami Desikan starts this paasuram saying that the nectar of ARUL is full
and embedded in this kOil. meaning if one would simply ask HIM, HE will bless
them in full and atonce.


and Swami dEsikan also delivered this on Arangan's thirup paathangaL

uRusakadamudaiya voru kaaluRRunarnthana
udan maruthamodiya voru pOthiRRa vazhnthana
uRithadavuma LaviluralOduRRU ninRana
uRuneRiyaar tharuman vidu thoothukkuganthana

maRaneRiyar muRiya piruthaanaththuvanthana
malarmagaL kai varuda malar pOthiR sivanthana
maRupiRavi yaRumunivar maalukkisainthana
manumuRaiyil varuvathOr vimaanath thuRainthana

aRamudaiya visayanamar thEriRRikazhnthana
adaluraka padamadiya vaadik kadinthana
aRusamayamaRivariyathaanath thamarnthana
aNikurikai nagar munivar naavuk kamainthana

veRiyudaiyathuLavamalar veeRuk kaNinthana
vizhukariyOr kumaranena mEvich chiRanthana
viRalasurar padaiyadaia veeyath thuranthana
vidalariya periya perumaaL men pathankaLE

				adikaara sangiraham

 Swami dEsikan's paathukaa sahasram is unique in its style and rich in contents
and exclusively devoted to thiruvadis of periya perumaal. However, in adikaara
saangiraham also, when speaking on the core prinicples of Srivaishnavam Swami
notes that the worship of periya perumaal's thurvadi as very important. This
paasuram details the accomplishment of these thirup paathangaL in sri krishna
avathaaram and narrates other such specialities. One of the important message
in this paasuram is that "aRu samaya maRi variyathaanath thamar nthana" ie,
these "thirup paathams" were "not known" or (unknown) to the "arusamaym" or the
other "six maargams" . The thirup paatham of periya perumaal is sought t for
(also available) for worship in the second circuit, the thabOlokam. That is one
of the reasons to derive a position that the other faiths are not possibly
leading one to this circuit and further innerwards, instead "assume" their
final goal or (destiny) prior to entering this circuit itself. In other words,
it can be said that If one must enter this circuit, on their way to final
destiny, ie serving Arangan as param, they will seek the blessings HIS
thiruvadis first.


Arangan thirup paathangaLE saraNam

Sampath Rengarajan