Search:
Bhakti List Archives

Sri Poundarikapuram Andavan"s UpanyAsam : Part 3

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • January 3, 1999 


Dear BhakthAs :

In this third of the four postings , I will 
cover the next theme that Srimath Andavan covered :
The superiority of ArchA rUpam among Sriman NarAyaNA's
pancha rUpams ( param , VyUham , Vibhavam , antharyAmi
and ArchA ).

Parama padham , where the Lord is resident as 
Parama padha nAthan is surrounded by the aNDams and
the aavaraNam waters (Oceans ) . It is not of easy access 
to us residing on earth . We can  not travel there even to 
get a vessel filled with aavaranam waters .It is too far away .
Hence param and parama padham can not be enjoyed with
our sthUla sarIram . Only as a muktha Jivan possesing 
Sookshma sarIram , one can enter and enjoy the anthamil
pErinbham there .

The second rUpam of the Lord is as Sesha saayee in
the  middle of the milky ocean .Here He is presenting
Himself as KshIrAbhdhi nAthan to DevAs and maharishis .
Again , this is beyond our reach with SthUla sarIram .
hence , it is not of much use either for us to see 
and enjoy . 

The Third rUpam of the Lord is what has been
celebrated as Raama , KrishNAvathArams . These Vinhava
avathArams were enjoyed by those who were contemproaries .
Today , it is histroy and we can not enjoy Lord KrishNA as 
Gopis and AkrUrar did . Thus this rUpam is in the past
like last year's river water , which is no longer available
to quench our thirst ( dried up river bed ).

The fourth rUpam is antharyAmi savrUpam . It is likened 
to OoRRu jalam . You have to dig in the river bed sand and 
access the water under . Through the difficult JNa~na Yogam ,
one can visualize  this svarUpam of the Divya dampathis 
seated in our heart cavities . Very few have the power 
to succeed in such efforts and thus , this svarUpam is
also not within reach of ordinary folks on this earth . 

The fifth rUpam is the One that Sriman NaarAyaNan 
took to make Himself easily available to one and all
and to enjoy Him with our own sthUla sarIram and 
Maamsa chakshus . No divya dhrushti as 
needed by ArjunA is a  must to see the VisvarUpam of 
the Lord ." angu vaitthu , inghE piRanthathu " is 
the celebration of this ArchAvathAram by Eedu grantham .

Srimath Andavan went on to describe the five 
rUpams celebrated by Vedams in the manthram 
in the manner of tamizh maRai :

ambhasya paarE bhuvanasya madhyE 
naakasya prushtE mahathO mahIyAn 
sukrENa jyOthIgumshi samanupravishta:
PrajApathisccharathi garbhE antha :
-- TaittirIya AaraNyakam : III.13.3

In ParAvathAram , the Lord is in Sri Vaikuntam
as para VaasudEvan enjoying the Saama ghAnam .
Therefore it is described as Paattu kEtkumidam .
It is not accessible to us ; we can not hear this 
music with our Maamsa karnams .

In VyUham , Lord rests on the serpent bed 
enjoying His yOga NidhrA .He is rudely awakned 
by all the terror stricken devAs , who seek 
His interventiion and complain about the terrors
inflicted on them by the asurAs . He has to come to 
help after listeing to their fear-laden prayers 
( muRaidal iDam ). This far off place is also
inaccessible to us .We can not get there to appeal
to Him to intervene and help us from our afflictions.
Therefore Vyuha Moorthy is off limits for us.

Vibahva avathArams are known as kuthittha iDam .
Lord NarasimhA jumped out of the pillar and
performed His avathAra Kaaryam and can no longer
be seen in His original vibhava form .

AntharyAmi svarUpam is known as OottumiDam .
It is a svarUpam exclusively seen by those ,
who have succeeded in their Jn~ana Yoga saadhanais.
It is again out of reach for us .

ArchA SvarUpam is known as VaLaittha iDam .
Here , the Lord ahs become very accessible to us 
and rests at Srirangam suggestign that He would  not
leave us until all of our Paapams are removed .
He patiently waits for us to get SadAchArya Sambhandham 
and come to Him . AzhwArs and AchAryAs enjoyed the ArchA
mUrthys at the various divya desams and stated unequivocally
that it is their prefeered choice among the five prakAra 
rUpams of Sriman NaarAyaNan .

It is interesting to note that para VaasudEvan
gives us sEvai on the PraNava VimAnam 
at Srirangam , VyUha Moorthy is seen
as Archai at Srirangam , Anbil , Thirukkudanthai
et al , Vibhava Moorthys are present in 
the ArchA form at ThiruevuLL ( Sri Veera Raaghavan ),
Dwarakai ( KrishNan ), AhObilam ( Narasimhan ) et al.   

AzhwArs and AchAryAl's assertion of their 
preference for the  archA form of the Lord 
over all the other Four forms are abundant .
Srimath Andavan quoted a few of them .
I have added a few moreto illustrate his point :

icchuvai taviRa yaan pOy Indira lokamALum 
achuvai peRinum vENDEn Arangamaa naharuLAnE 
-- ThirumAlai of ThindaradipoDi : 2nd Paasuram

aNdavANanarangan , van pEy mulai
uNDa vAyanRanunmatthan kANminE 
-- KulasEkharar : PerumAL Thirumozhi:3.4

sempavaLa vaayan ThiruvEnkatamennum
EmperumAn Ponn malai mEl yEthEnum aavEnE 
--- Kulasekharar : PerumAL Thirumozhi : 4.10

AanDAi unaik KaaNpathOr aruLenaakaruLithiyEl
vENDEn manai vAzhkhayai ViNNagar MEyavanE
-- Thirumangai's Paasuram on ThiruviNNagarAn
Manai means here Sri Vaikuntam .

athraiva sukhamAsva 
-- Sri RanganAthA's instruction to AchArya RaamAnujA

nirantharam  nirvisatha : tvadhIyam
 asprushta chinthA padham aapirupyam
satyam sapE Vaarana sailanAtha 
 vaikunta vaasEpi na mEabhilAsha :
--Swaami Desikan , Sri VaradharAja-
PanchAsath: 49th slOkam

Here  Swami Desikan that he has  no desire 
to reside in Sri Vaikuntam since he has the bhAgyam 
to enjoy the unparalleled beauty of Sri
VaradarAjan right here in His archA form on top of 
Hasthigiri .He swears that he prefers 
Kaanchi Vaasam to have the Sevai of Lord VaradarAjA 
over residence in Sri VaikuntanAthan .

That is the glory of ArchA rUpam for us 
as revealed by our AzhwArs and  AchAryAs .

Lord Ramachandra in His vibhavAvathAram
performed AarAdhanam to Sri RanganAthA
in ArchA form at AyOddhi . That is the 
highest form of tribute that one can 
come across regarding the celebration of 
ArchA rUpam as the most enjoyable by
us on earth among all the five prAkarams
of Sriman NaaraayaNan .

AzhwAr AchAryan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam 
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan