SrI:
SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:
Dearest all,
Chithrai UtthirattAdhi- Varaaha avathAram. Prathamacharyan Sriman Narayanan took birth mahA pOtri... Huge Boar (Varaaha).
In Thiruppavai, MAAYANAI MANNU (verse 5) Andal explains how when one surrenders to the Lord all impediments get destroyed. In this verse, AndAl instructs a very important aspect- Saranagathi.
We will just dwell upon first word Maayan:
Oh friends! When one surrenders to Sri Krishnan, all karmas (Sanchitha karma and Praarabdha karma) get extinguished- All the Sanchita Karmas( Accumulated ) and Praarabdha Karmas (started to yield) will be completely finished like the straw dirt being burnt by fire- within no time.
By going to Him with pure heart (thooyOmaay vandhu)
THOO MALAR THOOVI THOZHUDU, VAAYINAAL PAADI, MANATHINAAL SINDHIKKA Worship by body, Speech and Mind (Mano, Vak, Kaayam)
[BhUmAdEvi was submerged in the ocean by an asura called Hiranyaksha. Lord Sriman nArAyana took the incarnation of a big boar (varAha avtaar) and went into The ocean to uplift up BhUmAdevi. She was lifted up and made sit in the lap of the Lord. Still bhUmAdEvi was shivering. When the Lord asked her for the reason. She replied politely :" Oh! my nAthA! You have protected me. But still our children in the samsArA are helpless and suffering. They cannot practice the uninterrupted meditation in Bhakti yoga as preached by you in the vedas with their limited knowledge. So you must be kind enough to show them a simpler way to reach you" The Lord understood the affection of bhUmAdEvi towards her children and gave a fitting reply: The simplest way to reach me is in stable state of mind, [with all three organs of senses (karanam) viz. manas, vAk and kAyam (speech, action and thought)]-surrender to Me.
Think only about him, act only for pUja [ArAdhana] to Him, and speak only in praise of Him. Immediately bhUmi piratti grasped this easy means of Saranagathi to reach the Lord and thought it fit to be preached to us in this samsAra. Thus came ThiruppAvai and this line in particular.
ANDAL as an avathAram of BhUmi Devi and in this context remember Her appeal to Her Lord on His duties to come to the help of the suffering Chethanams.
Earlier , Bhumi Devi had a similar concern for Her suffering children and asked Her Lord , Aadhi VarAhan to reveal a laghu upAyam for helping them from the terrors of samsAram and to make them eligible for Her Lord's anugaham .
Our DayAsvarUpi , BhU Varaahan responded positively to His dear Consort's request and blessed us with the Revered SlOkams known as VarAha Charama SlOkams and revealed His depth of affection for His children Varaha PuraNam has the pancha lakshanam of a standard PuraNam,
(Viz)., Cantos (Sargam ), their subdivisions ( Prathisargam ),
dynasties (vamsam ) and the periods of time known as
manvanthrAs and the charithram associated with that period .
SrI Satakopan Swami writes:
The central message for us is the rich meanings of
the VarAha Charama SlOkam as explained by Swami Desikan .
BhU devi's sthuthi and the manthram that She uses to
worship Yaj~na VarAha mUrthy are found in Srimadh
BhAgavatham ( 5.18.39 and 35 respectively ) .
Her prayer takes on this form :
pramathya dhaithyam prathivAraNam mrughE
yO maam rasayaa JagadhAdhisUkara: I
kruthvOgra dhamshtrE niragAdhudanvatha:
kreetan nivEpa: praNathAsmi tham vibhum II
I salute that Yaj~na VarAha Moorthy , who is the cause of this Universe , who took the form of a Boar and lifted me up from the waters
of pralayam and placed me on His tusk and came out of the waters like a powerful elephant and killed the offending enemy (HiraNyAkshan )
like destroying an opposing elephant as though it was an effortless sport . To that Omnipotent Lord are my salutations .
The Manthram for Yajna VarAha mUrthy used by BhUmi dEvi is :
Om Namo BhagavathE manthralingAya
yaj~na krathavE mahAdhvarAvayyavAya
mahA purushAya nama:karma sukhlAya
thriyugAya namasthE
To Thee My Lord , who is OmkAra SvarUpi , One who is revealed by the Veda ManthrAs ,One who is the form of Yaj~nam and Krathu , One who has all the Yaj~nAs as limbs of Your sareeram ,One who is karma suddhar , One who is of the form of the three yugAs , to that ONE who is Bhagavaan ,
my profound salutations .
The special appreciation for the VarAha Charama slOkam can be obtained from a reply that Bhagavan gave to Sage Narada in Brahma PurANam . The great NaarAyaNa PaarAyaNaa , Sage Naradar asked the Lord :
" prANa prayANa samayE ka : (tvam ) smarthum saktha: syAth"? Bhagvan gave a bland answer , which did not have the precision of VarAha Charama SlOkam and the One found in Bhagavadh GitA . In Brahama PurANam ,
Bhagavan held out the stakes high and said :
" He who thinks of me always , will certainly cross this vast and frightening ocean of SamsArA filled with waters of greed and avarice ".
" yO maam smarathi NITYASA : " is Bhagavaan's words . Dhruva Smrithi(ceaseless rememberance ) is not with in easy reach of all .The discipline needed , the dharmams to be followed , the Yogams to be practised are ardous for many .That is why Krishna said in GitA :
" sarva dharmAn.. maa sucha :"
and removed the bheethi and klEsam of the SaraNAgathan .
In VarAha Charama slOkam , the Varaha Bhagavaan went many steps beyond that position stated by Lord KrishNa in GitA and MadhusUdhana"s statement about dhruva smrithi in Brahma PurANam . What He said to Bhumi Devi in response to the request for a Laghu UpAyam was :
" The Man/woman , who , when his/her mind in its normal condiiton ,
when his/her body is not shattered , and when the elementary constituents (DhAthus ) are in perfect equipoise , meditates on Me , who has the world as My body and (meditates )on Me , who is not subject to births due to KarmA when that man/woman lies like a log of wood or a piece of stone
in his/her dying moments , then I think of (him/her ) ,
My bhakthan/Bhakthai and lead him/her to My supreme abode " .
The conditions that this parama DayALu lays on the humans
fully cognizant of their helplessness in their last moments
is so driven by His limitless compassion to His Bhakthan .
The AzhwAr's plea , appOthukkippOthE solli vaitthEn " now
comes into focus. Varaha BhagavAn's outright , unambiguous statement
of His declared intent to rush to the side of such BhakthAL
and then leading them by hand as it were to His parama padham
has in my opinion no match anywhere .
** Sri VishNu sahasra Naamam salutes this avathAram as
" MahA VarAhO GovindhO --" . It is intersting to see the
juxtaposition of Govindha Naamam after MahA VarAha nAmam .
In one approach Govindha is the One , the One , who rescued
Mother Earth ( Go=Earth , VindA = rescuer ). It is as MahA
VarAham that BhagavAN rescued His consort and acquired
the name of Govindhan .
Niruktham also endorses this intrepretation based
on the texts from MahA Bhaaratham and VishNu purAnam :
tatha: samuthikshipya DharAm sva dhamshtrayA
maha VarAha: sputa padma lOchana: -- Vishnu PurAnam:1.4.26
nashtAm cha DharaNIm purvamavindham cha guhaagatham
Govindha ithi tEnAham -- BhAratham Saanthi parvam 343.41
Rahasya sikhAmaNi:
Rahasya SikhAmaNi is one of the chillarai Rahasyams
created by Swami Sri Desikan . It celebrates and
explains the deeper meanings of the two slOkams that
constitute the unit known as varaha charama SlOkam .
The esoteric meanings for every word of these two
slOkams are provided by Swami Sri Desikan in this
powerful gantham . Here are some comments that might provide
an introduction .
Swami Desikan's Tribute to the Lord:
Swami Sri Desikan's salutation to the gigantic
form of the VarAha PerumAn in this rahasyam is
as follows :
kkApi kalpaanthavEsanthE kuradhagnE samruddhathAm
vahathE mEdhinimusthAm mahathE POthriNE nama :
(Meaning ) : The deep ocean of the ocean during
the MahA PraLyam times was equal to the dimension of
one hoof of the gigantic Varaha PerumAn , who lifted BhUmi
Piraati out of that Ocean like lifting a tuber ( kOraik Kizhangu )
from those waters and placed Her on His immense tusk .
I salute that BhUmiVarAhan , the MahA POthrin .
The Context of the Varaaha Charama Slokam
VarAha Sarama SlOkam arose because of the immense
compassion of Our ThAyAr , who is Omniscient and
yet asked Her Lord to bless the unfortunate chEthanams
( Her children ) with a Laghu UpAyam to overcome the
sufferings of SamsAram and to reach His Lotus feet .
She rightfully recognized us as asaktha adhikhAris unable to
practise the Guru upAyam ( Difficult to practise means)
like Bhakthi Yogam . She felt that route would be the
equivalent of tying a panam kaai ( big palmyra Fruit )
around the neck of a sparrow , which surely will
ground it forever .She knew that we will not be able
to think of the Lord during the last moments of
our life on this earth , when we are overpowered by
blocked throat and memory loss et al . Our Mind will struggle
with every matter other than the thoughts about Lord
at that time. She prayed to Her Lord therefore to
have mercy on us and begged Him to
bless us with a laghu upAyam (simple and unfailing
means ) of salvation . She wanted that laghu UpAyam
to be free from the burdens of svarUpa parikArams
( structure and limbs /angams ) . BhU VarAhan agreed
to His dear consort's request and revealed to Her
for our benefit a supreme message of Hope that
would remove our fears at the worst time of our
suffering as our Jeevan is about to part from the
cage of body .
The message contained in these two slOkams is
the essence of Jn~Ana Yaj~nam , (viz ), Prapatthi .
As elaborated by nammAzhwAr's Thiruvaimozhi 3.7.7 ,
He revealed the steps that He takes to place the Jeevan
at His sacred feet at parama padham after revealing
their natural nithyAnandha svarUpam .This He does
by descending on this earth in Vibhava avathArams ,
protecting His adiyArs and then lifting them upto
His celestial abode at the end of their dEha yaathrAis .
These two slOkams support the pUrva -utthara sections
of Dhvayam and charama slOkam of Lord KrishNA and
the ahalahillEn paasuram of NammAzhwAr .
Thus the VarAha Sarama slOkams are anyOnya UpakArams
(mutually supportive of each other in thought )for
the latter rahasyams like Dhvayam and Charama SlOkam of
ParthasArathy .
These two sacred VarAha Sarama SlOkams , the subject matter of
the elaborate commentary , Rahasya SikhAmaNi are :
sthithE manasi .. aham smarAmi madh bhaktham nayAmi paramAm gathim
(Meaning ) :Oh Bhumi Devi ! The entire universe is
my body (sarIram ) . I do not have births or deaths .
When my bhakthAs with mahA visvAsam surrender to me,
while they are still in a state of tranquil mind and healthy
body and reflect about Me as as SarvAdharan ( root cause
of all) , NiyanthA ( one who commands from within )
sarva sEshi ( the ultimate ), aasrayaNeeyan ( one who
is fit to be worshipped ) , Sarva VyApthan (all-
pervasive ) and Nithya sannihithan ( One who is always
near ) , THEN I think of them at their last moments,
when they are totally unconscious like a log or a stone
and lead them by archirAdhi maargam to My parama padham
and bless them to have nithya kaimkarya bhAgyam to Me there .
Concluding prayer of Swami Desikan to BhU VarAhan:
Swami Desikan concludes his elaborate commentary with a
moving prayer:
kaalE prApthE karaNavilayAth kaashta paashaNa kalpAn
Naatha: POthrI nayathu krupayaa naathitha: kam padham na:
(meaning ) : When the time of physical death approaches ,
and when our limbs have lost their power and when we are
in a state of unconsciousness equal to that of a stone or
a log , then may Lord VarAhan in response to our earlier
saraNAgathi have mercy on us and lead us to His Parama Padham .
Jn~anap Piraan ThgiruvdigaLE SaraNam
Bhumi Devi ThAyAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Acharyan ThoruvadigaLE SaraNam
Regards
namo narayana
Courtsey: Madhavakkannan V [email protected]
