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Re: Digest bhakti.v002.n101

From the Bhakti List Archives

Mani Varadarajan • February 25, 1997 


Sriman Sadagopan writes:
> 
> nityam vihAra samayE nigamAnuyAthai : 
> vikshepa tAndavitha garbha maNi prasuthai : I
> naadhai : svayam naraka mardhana paadharakshE 
> naadhAvasAna nilayam vadhaseeva naatham II
> 
> " O Paadhukhe of the Lord who destroyed NarakAsurA !
> During His time of travel with  you , RanganAthA stops 
> at selected street junctions to accept the homage of the 
> assembled people . The Steady naadham arising from 
> the regular trotting of yours stops at that time. 
> The VedAs which were following the Lord recognize the 
> cessation of your  naadham and stop as well . Until then , 
> they were following the even tone set by your   
> Naadham resulting from your  measured gait . "
> 

This is a clear reference to the temple festivals
where PerumaaL is carried in procession. The cantors
of the Tamil prabandham (prabandha goshti) lead, 
reciting paasurams of the Alvars, and the Veda goshti
follows, with PerumaaL in the middle.  As Sadagopan
Maama has mentioned before, Desika likens the naada
of the paadukas of Ranganatha to the sounds of the
Alvar paasurams.  

Even today, when PerumaaL is engaged in purappaadu
during an utsavam, the prabandha goshti leads, with
PerumaaL chasing them, and the Vedas chasing the
Lord himself.  The prabandha gosthi sets the pace
and decides when to stop and when not to stop.

The symbolism implied in this ordered procession
is that even PerumaaL constantly desires to hear
the words of his bhaktas and chases the songs of
the Alvars.  The Vedas, themselves unable to
fully measure the greatness of God, chase after
him endlessly.

adiyEn raamaanuja daasan
Mani