Sri RanganAthar Temple construction : Part 4 - Deekshithar's krithi

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs of Sri RanganAthA :

 

I will cover the charaNa vAkhyams of this

powerful krithi of Sri Deekshithar in this

posting .

 

CharaNa Vaakhyams of the BrindhAvana SaarangA krithi

****************************************************

 

The charaNam is a big one and runs as follows :

 

pankajAptha kula jala nidhi sOma

vara pankaja mukha PattabhirAma

padha pankaja jitha kaama RaghurAma

VaamAnga gatha SitA vara vEsha sEshAnga sayana

Bhaktha Santhosha yENAnga Ravi nayana

mrudhutara bhAsha akaLanga darpaNa

VEnkataramaNa Mukhundha SankarshaNa

mUlakandha Sankara GuruguhAnandha ( Sri Rangapura-

Vihara Jaya)

 

These charaNa vAkhyams can be split as follows :

 

1. PankajAptha kula jalanidhi sOma Jaya Jaya !

 

Sri Ramachandra belongs to SUrya vamsam ( kulam ) .

SUryan is the friend of pankajam ( lotus) . The lotus

blossoms on the sight of the rising Sun . Hence , He

is PankajApthan and His kulam is DinamaNi Vamsam

or SUrya Kulam . Sri RaamA was one of the scions of

that kulam ( PankajAptha Kulam) .

 

If the Surya Vamsam is equated to an Ocean ( Jalanidhi),

then Sri RaamA is like the moon to that Ocean .

He makes that Ocean of Surya Kulam rise with Joy ,

just as the sea has high tides on full moon days

( PankajAptha kula JALANIDHI SOMAA) .

 

It is remarkable that Saint ThyagarAjaa in his

Brindhavana Saarangaa Raaga Krithi on Sri RaamA

used the same analogy : " KamalAptha KalasAbdhi

Chandra " . The minds of Raama chaithanyAs seem

to run alike in their devotion . Their minds rose in joy

like the Ocean experiencing the PourNami Chandran .

 

2. Vara Pankaja mukha PattabhirAma Jaya Jaya !

 

In this second set of salutations , Deekshithar ,

who composed another moving krithi on Pattabhi Raaman

in the Raagam MaNirangu experiences fondly the Lord

who sat in DarbAr in VeerAsanam with Sri JanakI mAthaa

as PattAbhirAman . Our Lord was beaming with Joy

at the sight of His dear wife next to Him , His brothers

and bhakthAs all around His throne . His face was

resplendent in lustre like a fully blossomed special lotus

( Vara Pankaja Mukha PatbhirAMan ) . This great scene

elaborated by Sri Deekshithar in his maNirangu krithi

is as follows :

 

chathra sAmara kara dhrutha Bharatha LakshmaNa

Sathrugna VibheeshaNa Sugreeva pramukAthi sEvitha

Adhri VasishTAdhyanugraha paathra Dasaratha Puthra

MaNirangavalyAlankrutha nava rathna mantapE vichithra

maNimaya SimhAsanE SeethayA saha samsthitha sucharithra

parama pavithra Guruguha mithra Pankaja mithra vamsa

sudhAmbhudhi Chandra mEdhini pAla Raamachandra ( Maamava

PattabhirAmA )

 

In his own exquisite Sanskrit diction , Sri Deekshithar

explains the scene at the DarbAr of Sri PattAbhirAman and

the reason for His joy , which reminded him of the fully

blossomed Lotus flower . The poet in Sri Deekshithar

saw that " neela SarOja kOmaLa ruchi , Raaman " as the

one , who was joyously seated on the gem-studded throne

on the day of His coronation .

 

3. " Padha Pankaja jitha kAma RaghurAma Jaya Jaya " is

the third salutation . The nirmala guNAkara Raaman's

beauty is of the kind that drove away the ego of

Manmathan known for his beauty ( Kandharpa tarppa hara

Sundara Divya mUrthy ) .By the beauty of His lotus feet

alone , Sri RanganAthA defeated the claims for the beauty

of Manmathan .

 

In Sri Bhagavadh DhyAna sOPAnam , Swami Desikan goes

one step further in praising the lotus feet of the Lord

as not only defeating Manmathan in their beauty , but also

as being forever fragrant with the Veda manthrams and

adorning the siras of His son, Brahma dEvan .They are

the ones that are pressed gently by His dear consorts ,

while He rests on the bank of CAuvEry river at Srirangam .

 

4." VaamAnga gatha SitA vara vEsha Jaya Jaya " is

the fourth pallaNDu of Sri Deekshithar . He was reminded

of the passage in Raama dhyAnam ( VaamE BhUmi suthA )

and chose the above matching words to hail PattaabhirAman .

 

5. " sEshAnga sayana Bhaktha SanthOsha Jaya Jaya " is the next

salutation . While that SithA Raaman rests under the Veda

Srunga VimAnam at Srirangam , he takes note of the

managaLAsAsanam of His bhakthAs like Naatha Muni, ALavanthAr ,

RaamAnujA , ParAsara Bhattar , PiLLai LOkAcchAr and Swami

Desikan and a host of others and is filled with SanthOsham .

 

6. " yENAnga Ravi Nayana Jaya Jaya " follows as the next

namaskAram . That the Lord's two eyes are the Sun and

the Moon is a taatuvam that is commonly referred to

in SaasthrAs .

 

7-8 . Mrudhutara Bhaasha Jaya Jaya , akaLanga DarpaNa jaya

jaya are the next two salutations . Sri RanganAthA's

sweet speech and the shining cheeks of His without

any blemishes and reminding one of a spotless mirror

is referred to here .

 

"9. VenkataramaNa Mukhundha SankarshaNa mUlakantha

jaya Jaya " are the series of dovetailed salutaions here .

Sri RanganAthA is recognized here as the destroyer of

our sins ( VenaktaramaNan ),who sports on top of

the saptha giris ; He is also remembered with gratitude as

the one , who confers the boon of Moksham ( Mukhundan ) .

He is Vyuha mUrthi.Hence , SankarshaNa svarUpam is invoked

next . ArchA , Para , VyUha rUpams are saluted so far .

That Sri RanganAthA as para VaasudEvan standing guard

on the PraNavAkruthi , Veda Srungha VimAnam with its

four kalasams of the four Vedams is recognized here

as the root cause of all of the above three and

two more forms ( antharyAmi and Vibhavam ) .

 

10." GuruguhAnandha Sri Rangapura VihAra Jaya " is

the final salutation of the charaNa vAkhyams . Here

Sri Deekshithar introduces his nAma mudrai and

recognizes Sri RanganAthA as the uncle , who gladdens

the heart of His nephew , Guhan ( SubramaNyan ) .

 

Sri Deekshithar was so fascinated by the BrindhAvana

SaarangA raagam he chose to eulogize Sri RanganAtha ,

that he stayed with the same raagam to show His VishNu

bhakthi by selecting once again this raagam to salute

another ArchA mUrthy nearby at Thiru Naahai ( naaga

pattiNam ) saluted by the Sri VaishNavite Community

as Soundara Raajan ( Soundara Raajam aasrayE ).

 

Sri RanganAyikA samEtha Sri Ranganaatha SwaminE Nama :

Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan