Sri HayagrIva Jayanthi Day : Sri HayagrIva sthOthram : Part IV

[Guest guest]

Sri Hayavadhana ParabrahmaNE Nama:

Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

Today it is Yennappan , Sri HayagrIvan's birthday.

As my UpAsanA Moorthy , He has blessed adiyEn many

times over to create the ruchi for His PaadArchanam

and manthra Japam .

 

On this special day , adiyEn reflects on this

Jn~Anandamaya Moorthy and will start with

the commentaries on the First slOkam of

Swamy Desikan's Sri HayagrIva Sthothram.

 

In the previous article , adiyEn referred to

Swamy Desikan's nirUpaNam of the Isvara Tatthvam

of Sri HayagrIva BhagavAn. AdiyEn mentioned that

the five distinguishing hall marks of Isvarathvam

--Sathyathvam, Aanandhathvam , Amalathvam , Jn~Anathvam

and Ananthathvam-- have been proven by Swami Desikan

to reside in the Suddha-sathva Dhivya MangaLa Vigraham

of Sri HayagrIvan . In this posting , adiyEn will

begin the process of rolling out the Vedic and Upanishadic

and other Sruthi-based references to the Isvarathvam

of "VeLLai Parimukhar".

 

First SlOkam of Sri HayagrIva SthOthram

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

 

"Jn~Anandhamayanm dEvam nirmala SpatikAkruthim

aadhAram sarva VidhyAnAm HayagrIvam upAsmahE "

 

(meaning): We meditate upon that Supreme One,

who has the neck and face of a horse and who

is the embodiment of Jn~AnA (divine Knowledge)

and AnandhA ( Bliss) .He has a ThirumEni (body )

like a radiant , blemishles Spatikam (Crystal)

and is the abode of all VidhyAs (branches of

Learning).

 

This slOkma set in the Vedic anushtup meter

is the dhyAna slOkam for BhagavAn HayagrIvan.

 

The Madhva Sampradhya AchAryAs also use this

slOkam as the DhyAna slOkam for their upAsanais.

A great HayagrIva UpAsaka by the name of VaadhirAja

Theerthar of Udippi Sri KrishNa Mutt used to meditate

on Sri HayagrIvan ,while holding cooked horse oats(KoLLU)

on his head and Lord Hayagrivan approached His

upAsakan as the most beautiful white Horse and

partook the naivEdhyam noisily .This happened

every day at Udippi , when Sri VaadhirAja Theerthar

invoked Lord HayagrIvan during his AarAdhanam .

 

For the HayagrIva UpAsakAs , Sri VaasudEva-AnuruddhAmsa

HayagrIvan is meditated upon in this manner:

 

na HayagrIvAth Param asthi MangaLam

na HayagrIvAth Param asthi Paavanam

na HayagrIvAth param asthi Dhaivatham

na HayagrIvam PraNipathya seedhathi

 

This slOkam is modelled by adiyEn after the one ,

which starts with "na VaasudEvAth Paramasthi

MangaLM --" .The meaning of this slOkam is:

 

There is no other auspiciousness which is

grater than HayagrIvan; there is nothing

more sacred than Sri HayagrIvan to destroy

our accumulated sins; there is no God superior

to HayagrIvan;No one grieves after performing

SaraNAgathi at the sacred feet of HayagrIvan .

 

Such is the MahAthmyam of this Veda Moorthy.

He is the AkarArthan . He is the all protecting

AkAra SvarUpan . Akaaram is the firat letter in

the Pranavam and as such , the meaning of akAram

is recognized in Vaaman PurAnam as :

 

" akArENa akhilAdhAra: ParamathmA abhidhIyathE "

 

(meaning): Akaaram represents BhagavAn , who

is the aadhAram (Support ) for every thing .

This akAram can then be extrapolated to

Sarva-vyApaka NaarAyaNa-HayagrIvan by HayagrIva

UpAsakAs. He is then " the sarva rakshaNa

Dhikshitha" HayagrIvan.As akAra Vaachyan ,

He is never with out MahA Lakshmi. Parodying

a Lakshmi Tanthra SthOthram , adiyEn would

like to say :

 

"LakshmyA Saha HayagrIvO DevyA KaaruNya RoopayA

Rakshaka: Sarva SiddhAnthE VedAnthEapi geeyathE "

 

(meaning): All PaancharAthra SiddhAnthams and

VedAnthams(Upanishads) declare with a single

voice that the Lord (HayagrIvan/VishNu/NaarAyaNan)

protects this world and its beings together with

the embodiment of Mercy , MahA Lakshmi, His beloved

Consort .Therefore , when we think of

Sri Hayagrivan ,He is always visualized

as LakshmI HayagrIvan,the archA moorthy worshipped

today by the YathIsvarALs of ParakAla matam. This

dhivya mangaLa vigraham is the One presented to

AchArya RaamAnujA by Sarasvathi Devi at Kashmir

and worshipped later by Swami Desikan Himself.

 

" Jn~Anandamayam dEvam , nirmala spatikAkruthim " is

the first Paadham of the HayagrIva sthOthra

slOkam set in the Vedic Anushtup meter.Let us

reflect on the Jn~Aanandhamaya Devan " first.

 

Jn~Ana+Anandha Maya Devan: HayagrIvan

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

 

Brahma Soothrams declare that Brahman is

the embodiment of Bliss (aanandhamayam).

The eight SoothrAs housed in Aanandha-mayAdhikaraNam

( Brahma Soothrams I.1.13 and the following)

is a condensation of the Aanandha Maya Brahma

VivaraNam found in TaittirIya Upanishad.

The main Brahma soothram (I.1.13) describing

Braman and NOT Jeevan as the embodiment of

Bliss principle is:

 

" aanandhamaya: abhyAsAth " .. I.1.13

 

AchArya RaamAnujA devotes many pages for

intrepreting the deep meanings of

this particular soothram dealing with the

" Aaananda Mayam " of Brahman .This is the Bliss

recognized as Brahman beyond the scope of

humans and celestials. The above and the subsequnt

seven soothrams convey the siddhAntham that

Brahman is full of Bliss (aanandha mayam ).

The distinguishing charactrestrics of

this JnAnandha Maya Brahman based on

Brahma SoothrAs has been elaborated under

the following 8 categories by Dr.S.M.S.Chari

in his scholarly treatise" The Philosophy

of the VedAntha SoothrAs " this way:

 

1. Brahman as SarvAthmA or the Self of all

2. Brahman as AttA or the Eater

3. Brahman as the AntharyAmin or the inner controller

4. Brahman as the Akshara or the Imperishable reality

5. Brahman as VaisvAnarA or the Ruler of All souls

6. Brahman as Aayatana Or the abode of Heaven and Earth

7. Brahman as BhUmA or the Infinitely great

8. Brahman as DaharAkAsan or the dweller in

the subtle space within the human heart

 

Sri VedAntha Desikan invoked all these meanings

and attributes of Brahman by addressing Veda Moorthy,

Sri HayagrIvan as " Jn~Anandha Mayam devam " at the very

first quarter of the two Line slOkam . This Jn~Anam

linked with Aanandham has to be connected with

the Famous TaittirIya Upanishad Passage:

"Sathyam Jn~Anam anantham BrahmA" This means that

savisEsha Brahman , Sri Lakshmi HayagrIvan is

with the distinguishing attributes of Reality (sathyam),

Knowledge(Jn~Anam ) and Infinitude (anantham) .

 

In the next posting , adiyEn will focus on

the Jn~Ana, Nirmala and Sarva VidhyAdhara

aspects of HayasiRO Hari .

 

Veda karthA Veda BharthA VedAharthA vidhAmvara:

PunghAnu pungha hEshADyA PoorNa ShADguNya Vigraha:

Tam asvagreevAyA namO Nama:

 

DaasAnu Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil SatakOpan