Swami Desika's Tamil Prabhandhams



(to Swamy Desika's works)

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sri:
sriman^n^igamaandha maHaadhEsikaaya nama:
seeraar_thooppul thiruvEngadamudaiyaan thiruvadigaLE saraNam.


sriman^n^igamaandha maHaadhEsikan aruLiccheydha
sri dhEsika prabandham


seeronRu thooppul thiruvENG gadamudaiyaan
paaronRach sonna pazhamozhiyuL OronRu
thaanE amaiyaathO thaaraNiyil vaazhvaarkku
vaanERap pOmaLavum vaazhvu


7. Adaikkalap Paththu
(by Sri. V. Sadagopan, USA)

[This prabhandam is transliterated by Sri Parathasarathy Dileepan and Sri Sampath Rengarajan and reproduced here with the permission from Sri Ahobila Muth USA.]

Swami Desikan was moved to perform SaraNAgathi after the unmatched nectar-like experience of tasting the subhAsrayam and the anantha kalyANa guNams of Lord VaradarAjA presiding over Hasthigiri . He used the Tamil metre of KocchahakkalippA to direct the flow of his emotion , which rushed forth as the gushing water from a dam that collapsed .

7.1:

paththi mudhalaamavaRRuL pathi enakku koodaamal
eththisaiyum ozhanROdi iLaiththuvizhum kaakampOl
muththi tharum nagarEzhil mukkiyamaam kachchithannil
aththikiri aruLaaLarkku adaikkalam naan pukunthEnE.

I surrender my soul at the sacred feet of PeraruLALan , who resides at the most important of the seven cities that bless their residents with Moksham . I have come to the realization that I am powerless to attain moksham through the difficult-to-practise Bhakthi yOgam as upAyam . I have hence chosen Prapatthi at the lotus feet of Varadhan as the saving grace for me and am performing saraNAgathi . This act of mine (performance of SaraNAgathi at the Lord's feet as the helpless one with no other recourse ) is like the deed of the evil-minded KaakAsuran , who committed grave apachArams to the Lord's consort and was yet saved by the Lord , when he fell at the feet of the Lord as a saraNAgathan without any other recourse .

7.2:

sadaimudiyan sathumukanen Rivarmuthalaan^ tharamellaa
madaiyavinaip payanaaki yazhinthuvidum padikaNdu
kadimalaraaL piriyaatha kachchin^aka raththikiri
yidamudaiya varuLaaLa riNaiyadika LadainthEnE.

Here again ananya gathithvam is celebrated in another way . I am offering my prapatthi at the sacred feet of PeraruLALan while fully cognizant of the fact that the power and wealth of even BrahmA and SivA are evanascent and transitory and fully dictated by their karma visEshams . Once their accumulated puNyams are over , their status as powerful demi-gods disappear . Knowing their alpa sukhams fully well, I am not enamoured of such status and power . I seek therefore the lasting bliss of moksham and nithya kaimkaryam in the Lord's Sri Vaikuntam through my prapatthi.

7.3:

thanthirangaL vERinRith thamathuvazhi yazhiyaathu
manthiranga dammaalu maRRumuLa vuraiyaalu
mantharangaN dadipaNivaa ranaivarkku maruLpuriyuNY
sinthuraveR piRaiyavanaar seelamala thaRiyEnE.

Here , Swami Desikan points out that all are eligible to perform Prapatthi at the lotus feet of the Lord of Kaanchi and receive the boon of Moksham from that act of self-surrendeer . I meditate on the glorious attribute of VaradarAjAn , who blesses all without discrimination , when they perform prapatthi unto Him . These are the virtuous ones , who understand the difficulties of practising Bhakthi yOgam and understand well the equal qualifications of all to perform prapatthi to gain the boon of Moksham . They do not seek any other means than prapatthi and observe their varNAsrama dharmams without slipping . They utter thereafter the prapatthi manthram (svanishtai ) or follow the utterances of their AchAryAs ( AchArya Nishtai ) and perform their prapatthi to the Lord , who accepts it with joy and rewards them with the boon of mOksham .

7.4:

kaakamirak kathanmannar kaathalikath thirapanthu
naagamara Nnayanmuthalaa naagan^aka raarthamakkum
pOkamuyar veedupeRap ponnaruLsey thamaikaNdu
naakamalai naayakanaar nalladippOthu adainthEnE.

Here the reference is to Maha Viswasam that leads to the fruition of one's prapatthi . I offer my prapatthi at the holy feet of VaradarAjan inspired by the thought that He granted the boons of samsAra bhOgam and Moksham as desired by them to the offending crow , VibhishAnAN , Drowpathi , Kshathrabhandhu , GajEndran , KaaLiyan , Sivan , BrahmA and all the dEvAs .

7.5:

ukakkumavai yukanthukavaa vanaiththumozhin^ thuRavukuNa
mikaththuNivu peRavuNarnthu viyan_gaava lenavariththus
sakaththiloru pukalilaath thavamaRiyEn mathidkachchi
nakar_karuNai naathanain^al ladaikkalamaa yadain^dEnE.

Here , Swami Desikan reveals that he has performed the prapatthi at the Lord's feet in the proper manner with the five angAs of Prapatthi .The words of the prabhandham connected to the five angams are :


uhakkumavai uhanthu -- AanukUlya Sankalpam
uhavAvanaitthumozhindhu--PrAthikUlya Varjanam
mihat thuNivu peRavuNarndhu-- mahA visvAsam
kAvalena varitthu-- gopthruva VaraNam
puhalillAt tavamaRiyEn -- kArpaNyam

With these words , Swami Desikan points out that he has performed aathma samarpaNam with its five limbs .

7.6:

aLavudaiyaa radainthaarkku mathanuraiyE koNdavarkkum
vaLavuraithan^ thavanaruLE manniyamaa thavaththOrkkuNG
kaLavozhivaa remarenna visainthavarkkuNG kaavalaraan^
thuLavamudi yaruLvarathar thuvakkilenai vaiththEnE.

Here, Swami Deikan refers to the four kinds of Prapatthi : Svanishtai , Ukthi nishtai, AchArya nishtai and BhAgavatha nishtai. Swami says that he has performed prapatthi at the lotus feet of Varadhan , who grants the boon of Moksham to one , who has performed any one of the four kinds of Prapatthi .

7.7:

umathadika LadaikinRE NnenRorukaa luraiththavarai
yamaiyumini yenpavar_pO lancalenak karamvaiththun^
thamathanaiththu mavarthamakku vazhangiyunthaa mikaviLangu
mamaivudaiya varuLaaLa radiyiNaiyai yadainthEnE.

The meaning of the Abhaya MudrA of Varadhan is ceelbrated here . The Lord is resplendent at the sight of the prapannA and blesses him to enjoy all of His Isvaryam and looks at the prapannA with great compassion and reveals through the gesture of Abhaya MudrA that his one-time praaptthi alone is sufficinet to enjoy all of that bliss . I surrender my aathmA to that glorious and merciful Lord , who grants such matchless boons .

7.8:

thiNmaikuRai yaamaikku niRaikaikkun^ thiivinaiyaa
luNmaimaRa vaamaikku muLamathiyi lukakkaikkun^
thaNmaikazhi yaamaikkun^ tharikkaikkun^ thaNikaikkum
vaNmaiyudai yaruLaaLar vaasakangaL maRavEnE.

Here , the conductance of one's life in the post-prapatthi period is described by our ParamAchAryA . I repeately reflect on the meaning of the Lord's sarama slOkam and the assurances given by Him there to the one , who has performed prapatthi . I remind myself that as a prapannan , I must have unshakable faith in the assured fruits of my prapatthi .

I pray for the further enhancement of my bhakthi and Jnaanam . I shall never forget my utter servititude to You and You alone. I shall stay in a happy and tranquil mood with the knowledge of the essence of the rahasyArthAs . I will bear my days on the earth without agitation over the delay in realizing moksham . I will forget the sorrows of SamsAram that is inevitable during the days on earth after performing my prapatthi at Your saced feet . This way , I will spend my post-prapatthi life .

7.9:

surithin^inai vivaiyaRiyun^ thuNivudaiyaar thoomozhikaL
parithimathi yaasiriyar paasurancErn^ tharukkaNangaL
karuthiyoru theLivaaLaaR kalakkamaRuth thaththikirip
parithimathi nayanamudai paramanadi paNinthEnE.

As a prapannA , I worship always the Lotus feet of PeraruLALan with a tranquil mind calmed by the clear understanding of the meanings of Sruthis , Smruthis , AzhwAr's Sri Sookthis , AchAryA's Sri Sookthis that deal with the sookshmArthams of VedAnthams .

7.10:

thirumakaLun^ thiruvadivun^ thiruvaruLun^ theLLarivu
marumaiyilaa maiyumuRavu maLappariya vadiyarasuNG
karumamazhip paLippamaippuNG kalakkamilaa vakain^inRa
varuL varathar nilaiyilakki lampenan^aa NnamizhnthEnE.

I have joined without fail the majestic and glorious feet of the Lord , who is never separated from His beloved consort. He has the most bewitching beauty. He is an ocean of mercy . His dayA for His devotees is unmatched. He is omniscient . He is easy of access to His devotees . He has the chEthanAs and achEthanmas as His body . He is the supreme Lord of all of this universe .He is the one , who creates , protects and destroys all of this world and its beings . These auspicious attributes will never part company with the Lord . I have now joined with this PeraruLALan of such anantha kalyANa guNa vaibhavam .

7.11:

aaRupayan vERillaa vadiyavar_ka Lanaivarkku
maaRumathan payanumivai yorukaalum palakaalu
maaRupaya NnenavEkaN daruLaaLa radiyiNaimER
kooRiyan^aR kuNavuraika LivaipaththuNG kOthilavE.

These ten verses dealing with my SaraNAgathi at the sacred feet of the Lord of Kanchi will shine without any faults forever. BhagavathAs seek the Lord as upAyam and palan . They observe prapatthi once at His feet. The fruits of the one time prapatthi however lasts forever and is most enjoyable . Understanding the above truths and the sigmificance of such a prapatthi , I have performed my own prapatthi and sung about them in a manner matching their blemishless aathma samarpaNams .

adivaravu: paththi, sadaimudiyan, thandhirangaL, kaagam, ugakkum, aLavudaiyaar, umathadikaL, suruthi, thirumagaL, aaRupayan, amalan.

seeraar_thooppul thiruvEngadamudaiyaan thiruvadigaLE saraNam.

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