 |
| http://sreevaishnavasampradayam.blogspot.ru/2008/05/ascend-to-srivakuntam-and-bhagawad.html |
The chetana now enters this place of unending happiness!
After the chetana crosses the Viraja river he is received, welcomed, respected, loved and worshiped by those residing in Srivaikundam!
There are two water bases "aram" and "Nyam". This chetana sees the perfect gardens, the mountains (full of ratnas), rivers and lakes all full of suddhasatva. Earlier he had thought about these briefly after having read about them from the upanishads, Sri pAncharAtra sastras, Sri vaikunda gadyam etc. Now, he is blessed with a direct vision!
He sees yet another poigai called JarammadIyam. In a world of endless extreme happiness this Poigai is like a flood of happiness surrounding it. After this he approaches a beautiful divine arasa maram named sOmasavanam. The nithya soories keep prostrating to it!
Later the Lord sends 500 apsaras from Srivaikundam to welcome this mukta. They organise themselves in batches of 100's and offer him garlands of suddhasatvam, fragrant powders, dresses etc.
At that time the sound of the tirucchinnam and valampuri changam reverberate everywhere.
These apsaras do mangalAsasanam to the mukta. He is treated like a prince!
They adorn him with different kinds of ornaments appropriate to visit Srivaikunta nAthan!!
From there he approaches a tree called "tilyam". After this he reaches "sAlajyam" a default mantapam. Later he arrives at a divine stAnam called "aparAjitam". At that time Srivaikuntanathan's divine fragrance, divine essence and divine tEjas comes to him.
His body becomes extremely bright like the fragrance of pArijAtha flower, amrutham and sun God melted and combined together! He approaches Srivaikundam which is far greater that the vishnu lOkas viz., AmOdam, pramOdam and sammOdam in the samsAra mandala.
The nithyasoories welcome him. He approaches the Gopuram adorned with flags. There are two dvArapAlakas in the entrance of the Gopura gate by name Indra and PrajApathi.
They offer their salutations to him stating that, " You, who are a dasa to the Lord is a Swamy to us"!
They request him to enter into the Gopura vAsal. This Gopura vAsal is always open to people who seek refuge in the Lord!
He proceeds beyond it. There are beautiful big streets, with the thirumAligai's of nithya soories on either side. The thirumAligai's are arranged in a row and look like mountains of ratnas.
The nithyasoories consider the muktas arrival as their bAgyam and take him to their thirumAligai. They offer water to his feet in an appropriate manner.
Goddess Sri, Bhoomi and nIla Devi come with their attendants and welcome the mukta with the fragrant powders which had adorned Lords thirumEni. They offer him poorna kumbam and mangala deepam and welcome him.
We were in the Divya DEsa Prapti Parva, in phala Kanda the eighth step to the transedental World. We saw that Goddess Sri, Bhoomi and nIla Devi welcome the mukta and offer him poorna kumbam and mangala deepam.
The mukta then approaches the divine golden vehicle. At that time he gets all divine fame. Like the Lord, he also becomes an embodiment of fame.
He then reaches the ThirumAmani mantapam. There he is welcomed with love and respects by kumudar, the head of the people in the sabhai and by the eight dvArapAlakas (sandar etc).
Later, Vishvaksena, the head of the chEtanas instructs the nithya soories who are incharge of the sabha mandala administrations.
Vishvaksena asks this Jiva also to join the kainkaryam. This Jiva offers salutations frequently and goes to the front side of the thirumAmani mantabam and climbs up.
Garuda (Peria Thiruvadi) stands in from of the Paramapada nAdhan. His thirumEni makes one feel that it is the huge mEru mountain (but made of gold) having two wings. His thirumEni is all divine.
Garuda's thirumEni is full of tEjas that the reflection of Peria pirAtti who sits on the Lord's chest and the Lord can been seen on him as if he is a mirror to the Lord. The Jiva offers salutations to this Peria Thiruvadi.
There, a beautiful ghosti of nithyasoories sit and discuss about the kalyana gunAs of the Lord. In fact they even enter into arguments as to which kalyAna guna of the Lord is superior etc..
Their Love towards the Lord is so great that even in Srivaikundam they worry if something bad would happen to the Lord!
Eternal happiness is evident in Nithya soories. The dreams of this Jiva now comes true. He was always eager to join the group of bAgavatAs and is now amidst them!
Later, the nithyasoories take different shapes for doing kainkaryam viz., kudai, sAmaram, weapons, ornaments. They take up a shape according to their work and serve from their respective places. This Jiva now reaches the peak of his wishes and wants to do all sorts of kainkaryam. He moves closer.
He sees his PoorvAcharyas near Lord's simhAsanam. On seeing him the Acharyas are happy and feel that the efforts taken by the Lord to refine this Jiva's soul has materialised!
This Jiva states that but for his Acharyas he could have never choosen the right path. He makes a request to the PoorvAcharyas to place their feet on his head since they were instrumental in showing him the correct path and he prostrates to them with gratitude. The Archarya-sishya relationship is eternal !!!
Our EmberumAN rules both the leela vibhuti and the Nithya vibhuti. He is ever youthful and is a sArvabauman in Srivaikundam. The divine simhAsanam in which he sits is like a great cot with unlimited brightness. The Jiva now approaches that simhAsanam.
Some PramAnas state that, belonging to samsAra mandal and paramapadam, the foundation of all creations prakruti-mahAn-AhankAra, are parts of the sinhAsanam. The Paryankavidyai states that the tatvas that were existent or those that are yet to come are its parts. The PancharAtra sastras state that Dharma, artha etc are the parts of the sinhAsanam. This way, the Jiva clearly sees that the Lord has made all the tatvas into one SinhAsanam for his enjoyment.
There is a superior Lotus. It is as bright as Thousand crore suns and spreads such brightness. It has eight petals which see the eight directions. In that, vimalai, utkarshini, gjnana, kriyA, yOgA, satyA, prapvI and yIshAnA stand in a row, hold a sAmaram in their hand and perform kainkaryam.
On the front side of the Tamarai kAi a girl named anugrahai does tAmaram. Seeing these girls perform kainkaryam the Jiva gets great happiness. He had always wanted the Lord and Piratti to order him to do the sAmaram for them. Now he feels that he can do it.
There is a big kAi in the middle of this lotus. When one sees the width and height of it, one feels that even if a lakh of golden garlands join together it will not be sufficient even for a small portion of paramAnuvin.
On top of tha kAI, ThiruvananthAyvAn in an extraordinary way shows his divine appearance with unchanged while colour. ThiruvananthAyvAn has enough gjnanam and strength to bear the Lord who is the AdhAram for all vasthUs.
He takes different forms based on the situation and performs all kinds of kainkaryams. Because he performs the work to be performed by a seshan(slave), he has been awarded the name seshan.
Our Lord has no constraints based on place, time or Vasthu. ThiruvananthAyvAn's greatness is so much that he controls this unconstrained Lord in a small portion of his lap. This is the reason why he is called as ananthan!
Though our Lord has all kinds of divine fragrance, AdisEshan adds his divine fragrance too! Adiseshan is very soft and serves as a appropriate seat for the Lord and PirAtti when the three worlds offer salutations.
The thousand padams of AdisEshan look like thousand full moons made to stand in a line. The glow of the ratnAs in the padams look like the early morning sunlight. The Jiva prostrates to this thiruvananthAlvan.
This Jiva also wants to enjoy all these bOgas! ThiruvanantAlvan's katAksham (with his 2000 eyes) falls on this Jiva. This is like a nectarian rain to him! He now sees the ParamapadanAdhan who is on ThiruvanantAlvan. The Jiva now has unending gjnana and is capable of seeing anything. He moves very close and reaches the Lord.
Prapati-Parva is the last parva in phala Kanda. This is the last step to the transedental world!!!
The Jiva is now attracted to the divine seat of the Lord => Thiruvananthalvan. The Lord being seated on this soft Thiruvananthalvan, looks like a maragatha mountain seated on a silver mountain! The Lord who sits here rules over every thing!!!
Our Lord is ever youthful. We can imagine the tEjas of our Lord be to greater than lakhs and lakhs of suns put together => it is unimaginable! The Consorts of our Lord sit beside Him. It looks like Lords karuna itself has taken the form of Periya PirAtti, His patience has taken the form of Bhoomi PirAtti and his unending vallal thanmai (kodai) has taken the form of NIla PirAtti!!!
Among His consorts there is a unique greatness for Periya PirAtti. Periya PirAtti's svaroopam, ThirumEni and kalyAna Gunas can be equated to that of our Lord's. They are permanent and there are no limitations to these.
The Lord and Periya pIrAtti always keep seeing each other and are in a state where separation is impossible. Inspite of always being associated with Periya pirAtti, the Lord feels that this enjoyment is new! This is because of the unending greatness of Periya pirAtti!
She is ever youthful and resides in Lord's chest.
She appeared from the nectarian ocean. Residing on the Lotus, she destroys everybody's sins. Chaturmukha Brahma and other Devas get their respective positions by Periya PirAtti's katAksham. Her Greatness is evident from the very fact that she is the consort of sarvEshvaran!
Periya PirAtti's karuna to us knows no bounds. When it comes to devotees her karuna over flows and her eyes are filled with tears!!! She hence gets hold of the right chest of our Lord! So, our Lord along with Periya PirAtti is our seshi, they together accept our kainkaryams. It is pleasing only if our Lord is enjoyed along withPeriya PirAtti. Kainkaryam has to be performed for both. Periya PirAtti assigns kainkaryams to the troops according to the requirements.
The Jiva then offers salutations to Bhoomi PirAtti. One seeing Bhoomi PirAtti it looks like Periya pirAtti has herself taken another form. Bhoomi PirAtti is always regarded and respected by every body. Her thirumEni is like the colour of a huge green mountain.
The complexion of nIla is karunEithal. We saw that Peria pirAtti captivates the Lord by all her bOgams. But this looks too small when we see NIla Devi's chAduryam. NilA Devi changes the Lord's state and makes him lie down on her and sleep.
All the consorts of the Lord are very compassionate to the Devotees. In order to make it convenient for the devotees to perform kainkaryam, the consorts magnanimously sit on the left side of the Lord and worship!
The ones who perform kainkarya to the Lord in this state (where he is with his consorts), realise the he is "Rasam" and he is the "form of Ananda" in the way the Upanishads state. Our Lord is possessed of incomparable sweetness!!! Our Lord is the natural seshi to whom devotees with naturally blooming knowledge perform kainkaryam.
It is interesting to note that the Lord himself likes his ThirumEni more than His svaroopam. Needless to say that our Lords ThirumEni looks extraordinary! The complexion of Lord's ThirumEni shines like that of dark clouds, karunEidhal, sea, peacock ..
Lord's complexion is like a blue mani and PirAtti who is in Lord's chest is of Golden complexion. What a superb vision it would be to be blessed with a darshan of this combination !!!
Just as how, we in this leela Vibhuti are desirous of Moksha and try to perform only those actions that please the Lord, so also even those who have reached Moksha perform acts that pleases the Lord, and pray to him!
When each part of the ThirumEni is enjoyed, they get involved in that beauty. They are carried away by each part and the appropriate ornament that is worn by the Lord. They pray to the Lord enjoying each of his parts and the associated ornaments.
The process of enjoyment is beautiful and moving and there are appropriate quotations from the hymns of the Azhwars and the works of Acharyas.
They first enjoy Lord's kreedam because this confirms Lord as the sarvEshvaram. Lord's Thirumudi is straight and is in steps. On seeing Lords dark and thick Thirumudi it looks like night. But Lord's kreedam is full of tEjas like the combination of hundred suns.
The Thirumudi and kreedam together makes one visualise day and night at the same time!!! Is it possible? The Lord has the capacity to combine things which can never be combined! They salute the kreedam and praise Lord's Thirumudi.
The Jiva sees the Lord's Thirukkuyal. They are curly. Lord's Thirukkuyal is so beautiful that the bees consider his Thirumugam as a lotus and they stand in a row in order to taste the nectar.
When this Thirukkuyal touches the bright forehead, it looks like the moon on the ashtami day = > brightness on one side and darkness on the other! This Jiva enjoys the white asthami moon!!!
As though to put a boundary to the beauty of the forehead, appear the two beautiful eyebrows of the Lord. He then sees the broad and big Thirukkangal (eyes) with red lines running on both the sides. On seeing Lord's Thirukkangal even those who think themselves to be independent will loose their independence and fall at the lord's feet.
PramAnas state that Lords breath is Vedas! This Jiva now salutes the Thirumooku (nose) that let out that breath. Lords ThirukabAlangal (cheeks) is like a ratna mirror for the consorts who are near him. The greatness and beauty of this cannot be explained. So, the parts surrounding it viz., Thirukkangal, thiru vAi, Thirupparkal, Thirukkundalam etc are alone discussed.
The Jiva then offers salutations to Lord's lips which is like a group of red pavayam. He wonders if they are some ripe fruits. It is so beautiful that he regrets having missed these enjoyments for so long due to his pApAs.
The Lord's Thirumugamandalam(face) is of exceptional beauty. Lord's mouth looks like a kOvai fruit, when our Lord smiles the beauty of the line of pearls (Thirupparkal) looks like an emission of swallowed lightning!
Both the thirusevigal (ears) are for the kAnthi of the face. The kuntalas are bright and is in the shape of a fish. The kuntalas are so bright that it makes one wonder if the thirusevi's have themselves become the magarakundalas!
The Jiva now has a complete anubhavam of the Lord's Thirumugam. Even the full moon which is completely surrounded by brightness is no where near the beauty of Lord's face. On seeing the Lords face the Jiva thinks that the beautiful lotus (Thirukkangal), karpaga creeper (Thiru mooku), pavazham (Thiruvadaram), bow (Thiru puruvam), Pearls (Thiruparkal), petal (Thirusevi), chandra kalai (Thirunetri) are all contained in one complete jyOthi mandalattAn!!!
After having a complete anubhavam of Lord's Thirumugam, the Jiva enjoys the Thirukkayuttu (neck).
Lord's Thirukkayuttu looks like a changu. It is of fertile colour because of the blue glow of Lords thirumEni. The mukta offers salutations to this Thirukkayuttu and is involved in its beauty which swallows all the lokas during pralaya.
The thirutOlgal (shoulders) of the Lord gives us, all the four fruits viz., Aram, porul, yinbam, veedu in plenty. But the Lord is not satisfied with this. With the help of Lord's thirutOlgal, the Lord hugs one who performs even a small service. Isn't the tight hug of the Lord greater that having all possible wealth!! The Jiva equates Lord's thirutOlgal to that of a garden of karpaga trees.
Our Lords ThirumArbu (chest) which is made of maragada ratnas attracts the Jiva next. Our Lord's srivatsam (thirumArbu), kausthuba ratnam, vanamAlai etc adds beauty to the chest. Periya PirAtti who is never separated even for a second reside in this right ThirumArbu. This way, the Jiva enjoys the ThirumArbu and gets enslaved to it.
The Thiruvayuru (stomach) of the Lord is very considerate to us. When the danger of mahA pralayam comes, the Lord keeps and protects this whole prapanjam in His Thiruvayu. Even after the Lord swallows so many things like clouds, sea, mountains, worlds etc. it looks like the Lord's stomach is still not full!!!
Lord's thirumEni stands like a maragada mountain. The PitAmbara on the Lord looks like the maragada mountain surrounded by the brightness of the mAnikka.
Every thing in our Lord is beautiful. Even the Lord's kanaikAl is so beautiful that the Jiva losses himself in its beauty. If one prostrates to Lord's kanaikAl, he can escape from the samsAra mArgam.
VedAnthas praise our Lord's thiruvadi. Lord's Thiruvadi is common for all Jivas. Everybody enjoys the beauty of Lord's feet as if it is a common property. Lord has the changu and chakaram inscribed on his thiruvadi.
Lord's thirumEni is like a black mAnikkam, Lord's ThirumArbu is like a pOigai. ThiruvAi, thirukkangal, thirukkaigal, thirunAbhi, thiruvadi, thirupItAmbaram ... are all beautiful, like a forest of Lotus!
Lord's thirumEni complexion is like the colour of Blue clouds.
Lord's ThiruvAbaranam is like a lightning that does not move. Each of this ornaments are the deities of the tatvas in the world. The Lord holds thiruvAyiyAlvan and thiruchangAzhvan on his 2 hands. The beauty of both thiruvAzhi's and thiruchangu increases when it combines with the other.
After enjoying Lords thiruvAbharanam, thiruvAyudam and divya mangala vigraham completely, the mukta now starts enjoying the Lords kalyAna gunas. A lot of qualities shows Lords greatness. Many reflect his simplicity. On seeing the kalyAna gunas of the Lord, the Jiva feels that there is nothing greater than that gjnanam, happiness etc. The mukta also enjoys the kalyAna gunA of the Lord which attracts even sinners.
The Jiva now proceeds near ParamapadanAthan's thiruvadi. The Jiva prays to the Lord to grant him his thiruvadi. On seeing him The Lord because of his karuna places the thiruvadi on this muktas head.
All the desires of this chetana, not to worship any other devata and to always perform eternal kainkaryam to the Lords thiruvadi now gets satisfied. The Jiva relishes the happiness of having been blessed by Lord's feet. He dwells in this happiness.
At that time the Jiva wants to enjoy a closer association with Lord. This ParamapadhanAdhan stands as the gadhi for people who have no other gathi. The Jiva catches hold of his thiruvadi and climbs the cot of the ParamapadanAdhan. The Lotus eyed Lord who is our protector, mother and father, consider the mukta like a son who sits on their lap and hence they feel happy. The Lord grants him all his svabAvas. He accommodates this Jiva below his two thiruvadI's.
The Jiva considers itself as being Lord's seshan. Our Lord is a seshi to everybody. Though the Lord knows about the Jiva's current state of happiness he wants the Jiva to speak this out. The Lord hence questions the Jiva as to "who is he?"
The Jiva is reminded of the pitiable plight he was earlier in. But now, because of Lord's karuna, he has got so many attributes of the Lord and is grateful to the Lord. He requests the Lord to eternally accept the kainkaryams that he performs.
The Lord who along with the PirAtti listens to the requests of this mukta and is extremely happy. The Lord's happiness is like the pride of the father when he listens to his son speak for the first time!
The Lord immediately looks at pirAtti. Lord does all the acts only in accordance to PirAtti's mind. Then PerumAL and PirAtti bless the Mukta. Thus the mukta receives the blessings of the sarvasEshi Perumal and pirAtti.
The Lord by his very nature knows everything => his svaroopam, svabhAvam etc. Now, the mukta also gets the capacity to see these things directly.
This is parabhakti.
He gets an anubhavam to directly see and because of this process is continuous he acquires paragjnanam.
This anubhavam keeps on increasing.
This is paramabhakthi.
So, what kind of an anubhavam is it? It is a complete and clear anubhavam. There is no time limit and this is permanent. The mukta is so happy with this anubhavam that he does not seek anything else.
Endless happiness overflows.
Due to Bhagavad anubhavam there is overflowing happiness at all times and so a desire arises in him that he wants to perform all kainkaryams.
The mukta can take up a body also in order to perform kainkaryam, or if he wishes he can also take many forms. All these forms are suddha satvam.
Kainkaryam can be performed even without sarIram. The mukta can jump with enthusiasm, dance, sing etc and demonstrate many leelas. We can go round and round and do pradakshanam to the Lord.
If the Jiva wants to perform kainkaryam along with his relatives (mother, father and other relatives) by his sankalpa he makes them appear => he can be with them and enjoy!
We can always live with the Lord.
When the Lord takes avatAras, the mukta can also accompany the Lord to this leela vibhuti. His knowledge does not contract even in leela vibhuti.
After the objective of the visit is satisfied, just like the Lord, the mukta also ascends to Srivaikundam. He sings sAma gAnam. He also surrounds the Lord and sings Pallandu.
Swami Desika finally states that the muktas sing the paasurams of our Alvars in Srivaikundam for thousands of years. This way they please themselves and more importantly please Sriya:pathi!!!
Swami Desika's paramapadasOpAnam made us get the feel of being in Srivaikundam. ParamapadasOpAnam is almost like a summary of Swami's magnus opus => RahasyatrayasAram.
The above write up is based on "Rahasyartha Vivaranam" by Shri RamadEsikachAriyar Swami and "Life and works of Sri Nigamanta Maha Desika" by Prof. A. Srinivasaraghavan.
"Kavi Taarkika Simhaaya Kalyaana guna ShaalinE!SrimatE VenkateshAya VedAnta Gurave namaha !!"
Swamy dEsikan tiruvaDigaLE SharaNam,
Adiyen,
Dasan,
Dasharathi
Sarvam SriKrishnarpaNamasthu
