Sloka #11

11. YadESha stoUmi tvAm triyugacharaNatrAyiNi! TatO
    Mahimna: kA hAnistava mama tu sampannivaravaDhi:
    shunA LIDA kAmam Bhavatu surasinDhurBhagavatI
    TadEShA kimBhUtA sa tu sapadi santAparahita:

Meaning (translated by Sri. U.Ve. V.N. Vedanta Desikan)

Oh Paaduka! When I sing Your praise, what harm will it do to your greatness? None. It will, of course, make for my affluence unlimited. Let the Ganga water be licked by a dog-nothing happens (to Ganga's purity); only the dog's thirst is quenched.

Special Notes from Sri. U.Ve. V. Sadagopan

NOTES:

(1) The humility of Swami Desikan here reminds one of the most humble statement of Thirumangai AzhwAr before Sri VenkatanAthan of Thirumalai ( Periya Thirumozhi: 1.9.1): " ThiruvEnkatavA , naayEn vanthadainthEn, nalhiyALennaik koNdaruLE " .The ghaNTavathAran of ThiruveNkatavan humbly celebrates His Bhaagyam here in composing a sthuthi on Sri RanganAtha Divya MaNi PaadhukhAs ....V.S

(2)Throughout the Sri PaadhukhA Sahasram , Swami Desikan will address reverentially the Divya maNi PaadhukhAs in endearing ways through selection of different adhbhutha nAmams for them . Here,Swami Desikan addresses the divya PaadhukhAs as : " Thriyuga CharaNa thrAyiNi ". "Thri yuga" refers to three pairs or Six in total ; Thriyuga thus relates to BhagavAn ,the ShAdguNya SampUrNan . He has Six well known guNams:Jn~Anam, Sakthi, Bhalam , Isvaryam ,Veeryam and Tejas . The divya PaadhukhAs protect the sacerd feet (charaNam ) of that One with the six auspicious guNAs and hence they are addressed here as "Thriyuga CharaNa thrAyiNi".

(3) Swami Desikan reminds the Paddhukhais that they do not experience any harm through his foolish attempt to praise them ( tvAm yEsha: sthoumi ; ithi yath tava mahimna: kaa haani:?). While there is no calamity or discomfort or pollution to the PaadhukhAs through his praise of them , Swami Desikan points out that the very act of sthuthi of the Paadhukhais confers on him limitless spiritual wealth .

(4) Swami Desikan compares his blessed situation to that of a lowly dog quenching its thirst by licking the waters of the holy Ganga ( BhagavathI Surasindhu:) river ; the dog gains iha-para sukham through holy GangA's blessings by partaking the sacred waters of the river originating from the ShAdguNya SampUrnan's holy feet (Thiruvadi ), while her glory as a divine river is undiminished by the contact of the dog's tongue with her divya pravAham .

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE saraNam

Meaning (translated by Sri. U.Ve. V.N. Vedanta Desikan)

Oh Manipaaduka! My poetic ability is of the level of uttering five or six words, when a mild mental flash occurs. It now strives to extol you, fit for famed poets' flush of enthusiasm. It is, of course, fit for ridicule-for who will blow with vigour on a tree to fell it, while strong gales play havoc on the trees.

Special Notes from Sri. U.Ve. V. Sadagopan

NOTES :

(1) The NamaskAram for the Divya PaadhukhAs in this slOkam is :Hari CharNa dhAthri ! thubhyam nama: Oh the Paadhukhais that protect the Lord's sacred feet ! My salutations to You !

(2) Here Swami Desikan compares his ukthi:(utterances attempting to priase the paadhukhAs ) with those of the effortless efforts of great poets ( mahitha kavi samrambha: ).He says that his effort is an insignificant one due to his limited intellect (Mitha PrEkshA ). He compares his meager efforts with those of the great kavis with a powerful analogy and concludes that his poor effort is indeed laughable . His anlaogy is about the powerful wind (a cyclone ) shaking a huge tree and even tossing it about in contrast some one blowing a mouthful of air politely to shake that very same tree .

(3) Swami Desikan according to Sri UtthamUr Swamy says: " Oh Hari paadhukhE ! My meager attempt to praise You is not going to confer on me the title of a great poet .The very fact that I engage in praising Your glories will however purify my mind and thoughts. My effort however is like that of a weakling blowing at a mighty object to move it, whereas a great gust of wind alone can succeed in moving that object. It is no wonder that other competent poets laugh at my feeble attempts ( Panchasha padhA )to praise you .

(4) Swami Desikan , the Kavi Simham , completed this magnificent sthuthi on the Divya maNi PaadhukhAs with the speed of a whirlwind in the limited time of two yAmams of a single night .Out of his own sense of modesty , Swami calls his efforts as " mitha prEkshA laabhakshaNa pariNamath panchashapadhA ". Mitha prEkshA means limited intellect ; the fruit of that "limited intellect " blossoms into the output of five or six padhams (lines ) to reach the shape of a slOkam .This plodding and weak effort is compared by him to some one who blows puffs of air from his mouth ( mukha pavana vishpUrjitham iva). The greatest of poets and the sarva Tantra Svathanthrar , who composed 28 sthOthrams containing 862 verses earlier in 22 majestic meters including DaNdakam ,MaalinI , Vamsastham , HariNI et al modestly compares his efforts to that of a feeble one using the puffs of air from his mouth to fell a mighty tree ! He goes on to ask a rhetroic question : "Who would not laugh at my feeble attempt ? ( kasya na HaasyA ?)".---V.S

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE saraNam ,

Meaning (translated by Sri. U.Ve. V.N. Vedanta Desikan)

Venkateswara Kavi stands in the forefront of men given to word-play as an idle sport, in the pretext of praising the Paaduka of Sri Ranganatha. He does know fully well that he is the lowliest and the subject of the hymn (Paaduka) is topmost. Yet, he has started on it, because the happiness of singing the Paaduka's praise causes a misplaced enthusiasm, that is unwarranted; that results in an invincible Bhakti that gives a courage to make him garrulous.

Special Notes from Sri. U.Ve. V. Sadagopan

NOTES :

(1)The NamaskaraNam for the Divya Paadhukhais in this slOkam is : RangAdhIsa Padhathra PaadhukhE ! Thubhyam nama: ( Oh PadhukhEs that protect the Lord of Srirangam ! My salutations to You !).

(2) Sofar , Swami Desikan pointed out modestly his limitations as a poet to praise the auspicious qualities of the Lord's PaadhukhAs .In this slOkam , Swami explains the real feelings behind his attempt to compose a celebratory poem on the Holy PaadhukhAs . He says: " Oh PaadhukE ! I have no doubt about Your superiority and my unfitness to praise You . When my diffidence on this matter subsided , I was propelled by my deep devotion to You to engage in this bold attempt to sing Your praise . The very thought of Your mahimai and Vaibhavam broke open the dam of my modesty . Chaotic and vibrant flow of thoughts followed . My outpourings may sound comical to some and these people may assess my act as that of a buffon , who tries to humor them. AdiyEn, the poet known as VenkatEsvaran state here my deep inner feelings on what propelled me to compose this sthuthi on You ".

(3)The play with the words here reminds adiyEn of the fourth VairAgya Panchaka slOkam , where with great chAthuryam Swami Desikan used the word Dhanam ELEVEN TIMES to telling effect . In this thirteenth slOkam of PaadhukhA sahasram , Swami plays with the alliterative words ," Apakarsha , uthkarsha and harsha ". While speaking of his lowliness , he invokes the word ," apakarsha " ; while referring to the loftiness of the guNAs of the Paadhukhai, he uses the word , " uthkarsha ". When he speaks about his courage (VyAthyam) born out of "krama bhakthi" over the thought of the Vaibhavam of the Paadhukhai , Swami Desikan says that he experiences HARSHA UDHYAM . It is like a "sanklapa sUryOdhayam " Thus the Apakarsha (unfitness) of himself , uthkarsha (loftiness) of the paadhukhais and the Joy (harsha ) from the thought about the effort to describe the Vaibhavam of the Paadhukais are tied together by Swami Desikan beautifully in this slOkam...V.S

(4)Swami states that the joy assoicated with the devotion for the Lord's paadhukhais have emboldened him and as a result ,he is prattling away and thus has qualified to become the first(naasIram ) among those , who engage in such sports (girAm nigumbhai: narmAsvAdhIshu VenkatEsvara kavi:naasIram aasIdhathi ).

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Meaning (translated by Sri. U.Ve. V.N. Vedanta Desikan)

Oh Ranganatha's Manipaaduka! May the poetic flow from me spontaneously spring forth, with a sweetness reminiscent of your own walking sound, with a torrential force caused to the Ganga stream falling from the head of an applauding nod of Siva, when I start on the hymn in your praise.

Special Notes from Sri. U.Ve. V. Sadagopan

NOTES :

(1)The namakAram for the Divya PaadhukhAs in this slOkam is : RangakshmaApathi rathna paadhu ! thubhyam nama: ( Oh Sri RanganAthA's gem-bedecked paadhukhE ! Salutations to You !).

(2)Here Swami Desikan prays for the quick flow of the slOkams for eulogizing the mahimai of the PaadhukhAs , since he has only portion of one night's time to conclude the composition (1,000 slOkams)of this Sri Sookthi . Swami also prays for the blessings for realizing a poem befitting the majesty and auspiciousness of the Lord's PaadhukhAs . In this context , Swami Desikan says: " Oh Sri RanganAthA's PaadhukhE bedecked with beautiful precious stones ! Please bless me to compose effortlessly verses with the depth of meaning and beauty commensurate to Your mahimai . They(the verses) should be of such a high calibre that Lord ChandrasEkarA standing near Sri RanganAthA with reverence nods His head in approval . That vigorous gesture of SankarA results in the accelerated flow of GangA river residing in His matted locks. May the flow of my verses in praise of You match the speed of the rapidly flowing waters of GangaA as a result of ChandrasEkarA's vigorous approval of my composition ".

(3)Swami Desikan prays for the exponential growth in the pace of his proud sthuthi on the PaadhukhAs by themselves without interruption ( visrungala: prasaraNa uthsikthA: SOOKTHAYA: SVAYAM JAVAATH JRUMBHANDHAAM ). The word "jrumbhanthAm " is an echo of the benediction :" VardhathAm , abhivardhathAm ". Swami compares that rapid flow of his sookthis to the torrent of GangA pravAham that is flowing out of the matted locks of GanghAdharar nodding approval for his sthuthi about His master's ( Lord RanganAthA's)PaadhukhAs....V.S

(4)Swami prays to the Lord's PaadhulhAs to bless him with the power to create slOkams with the dhvani that resemble the nectarine sound arising from the movement of the PaadhukhAs transporting the Lord ( mE bhavadhIya sudhA sinjitha sandhOha sandhEhathA: sookthaya: svayam javaath jrumbhanthAm ).Lord ChandrasEkharan is perplexed as He listens with rapt attention to Swami Desikan's slOkams ;He wonders whether he is listening to the nectarine sound of the movement of the PaadhukhAs of the Lord or to Swami Desikan's sweet slOkams . He develops a sandhEham (doubt ) over the SudhA- sinjitha sandhOha ukthis ( the assembly of words drenched in nectar as it were )and is confused about their origin as to whether they arise from the Lord's PaadhukhAs or from Swami Desikan's lips .

(5) we visualize easily the vigorous nodding of the head of Lord SivA , the Sarvaj~nan and one of the greatest devotee of Lord RanganAthA , here through the lovely assembly of words chosen by Swami Desikan to describe this most enjoyable scene : "slAgA ghUrNitha ChandrasEkhara jaDA jangALa GangA ". Swami says that pravAham of GangA is afraid of the rapid flow of the PaadhukhA sthuthi growing minute by minute ... V.S

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Meaning (translated by Sri. U.Ve. V.N. Vedanta Desikan)

When once I have placed on my head the Paaduka, worshipped by Bharata, I have become a consummate achiever of all possible aspirations cherishable by poets living in this vast land from Himalaya to Setu. (The Acharya's grace confers all powers and all rewards.)

Special Notes from Sri. U.Ve. V. Sadagopan

NOTES :

(1) In the previous slOkam , Swami Desikan prayed to the Divya PaadhukhAs for the conferral of the boon of fast flow of verses to eulogize them . The MaNi PaadhukhAs said : TathAsthu (So Be it ). Swami Desikan responded joyously to the PaadhukhAs and stated that his fondest wishes had become true now as a result of the divya PadhukhAs consent to rest on his head .Swami Desikan exclaims :" Those PaadhukhAs worshipped earlier by BharathA is on my lowly head now.As a direct result , I have become without effort , the Master of all talented poets living between hte HimAlayan mountain and the bridge constructed by NaLA over the southern Ocean as kaimkaryam to Sri Ramachandran. All the skills of these renowned poets have entered into me. I am now truly blessed to undertake this auspicious kaimkaryam of eulogizing the mahimai of the Divya maNi PaahdukhAs ".

(2) Swami confesses to the Divya Paadhukhais that the mere act of adorning (avathamsa:) them on his head has empowered him to compose a sthuthi about them , which is far superior to anything attempted by the entire assembly of talented poets living between HimAlayAs and the tip of Indian subcontinent marked by NaLa sEthu .

(3) The inner meaning of this slOkam is that with AchAryAnugraham any thing can be accomplished . Swami Desikan is paying his tribute here to NammAzhwAr ( SatAri Soori ) as his AchAryan .

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Meaning (translated by Sri. U.Ve. V.N. Vedanta Desikan)

Oh Ranganatha Paaduka! I have ventured, without a trace of fear, to sing of You, incomprehensible even to the Vedas which are beginningless. It is only due to my ignorance. But this provides room for a pleasure to the Lord!

Special Notes from Sri. U.Ve. V. Sadagopan

NOTES :

(1) The namaskAram for the Divya Paadhukhais in this slOkam is : " RangadhurIna PaadhukhE ! Thubhyam Nama:" ( Oh Lord RanganAthA's PaadhukhE ! My salutations to You !).

(2) In the previous slOkam , Swami Desikan announced with great pride , the unique benefits that had come his way as a result of the placement of the Divya PaadhukhAs on his head . He declared with exhuberance that the PaadhukhAs had empowered him to be the first among all the talented poets . In this slOkam , Swami Desikan reverts to a modest mood and states that his futile efforts to find words to praise the limitless glories of the Lord's divya PadhukhAs is going to provoke the Lord's laughter . Swami Desikan concedes that making the Lord laugh at his clumsy efforts itself should be deemed as a Kaimkaryam to Him . Swami Desikan confesses that his uncontrollable desire overcame his diffidence to eulogize the holy PaadhukhAs , whose glories are beyond the comprehension of even the timeless VedAs ...V.S

(3) Swami salutes the Vaibhavam of the Divya PaadhukhAs as :" anidham pradhamasya sabdharAsE: apadham thvAm " ( One whose Vaibhavams are beyond the ken of even the ancient VedAs ). Swami says that he recognizes his foolhardy attempt to engage in the sthuthi of the PaadhukhAs of such paramount glory . He attributes his boldness to have arisen from sheer ignorance of the greatness of the Divya PaadhukhAs , whose full glory is not comprehended even by the timeless Sruthis. Swami hints that his attempt is like that of a toddler entering a marathon race to win . He says that his clumsy effort marked by unsteady steps is surely going to amuse the Lord and provoke peels of laughter from Him . AdiyEn is happy that the Lord will be amused by my efforts ...V.S

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Meaning (translated by Sri. U.Ve. V.N. Vedanta Desikan)

Oh Ranganatha-Paaduka! May the Muse of my poetry, dance to your pleasure with a variety of poses, styles and expressions!

Special Notes from Sri. U.Ve. V. Sadagopan

NOTES:

(1) The namaskaraNam of the divya Paadhukhais in this slOkam is : " Sri Rangapathi Rathna PaadhukE ! Thubhyam nama: " ( Oh gem-bedecked Paadhukhais of the Lord of Srirangam ! Salutations unto You !

(2) Here , Swami Desikan describes his Vaak (speech ) entertaining and delighting the Lord's Paadhukhais in the role of a nimble and versatile dancer .He says : " Rangapathi Rathna PaadhukE !VenkatEsvara kavE: SarasvathI ,narthakIva bhavathIm nishEvathAm " ...V.S

(3) In the previous verse , Swami Desikan referred to pleasing the Lord and amusing Him ; here , he states that he is more interested in delighting the bejewelled PaadhukhAs of the Lord . He says : " May poet VenkatEsA's speech glorify You like a great lady dancer , who intreprets the music and the meaning behind the songs in an outstanding manner through her renowned dancing skills "...UtthamUr Swami

(4) Swami Desikan compares his speech to that of a quick-footed dancer (narthakI), who pays her homage to the Lord through abhinayam , which is some times direct in meaning and at other times suggestive (jaaDai/soochakam )......... ANDavan sampradhAyam

(5) In the context of Bharatha Muni's Saasthram , Swami Desikan is referring here to the Aangikams ( the movement of the Body of a dancer, here his Vaak) and the positions taken by the dancer (sthAnams ,the movement of his tongue to create the Vaak /SarasvathI) along with the hastha mudrais .......V.S

The Aangikams of a lady dancer are NINE in number: Samam, UdhvAhitham ,adhOmukham , AalOlitham , dhutham , kampitham , ParAvruttham ,Ukshiptham and ParivAhitham .

The sthAnams of a male and female dancers together are NINE in number . The Six sthAnams associated with the male dancer are : Samam , MaNDalam , VAISHNAVAM , VAISAAKAM ,AalIDam and PRATHYAALIDAM . The three shtAnams associated with the lady dancers are: Aayatham , avahittham and asvakrAntham .

It is facinating to note that the three sthAnams assoicated with the male dancer are VaishNavam ( linked to VishNu), VaisAkam ( linked with NaamAzhwAr of VaikAsi VisAkam Thiru- nakshathram ) and PrathyAlItam ( the thribangji pose adopted by Sri Raaja VeNu GopAlan , while he plays His divine flute as saluted by the Paasurams of PeriyAzhwAr and KulasEkarar ). The 19th slOkam of Sri GopAla Vimsathi celebrates this special sthAnam of the Lord , who was ready for JalakrItai: " PrathyAlIDa sthithim adhigathAm--" ..........V.S

(6) Swami Desikan starts this seventeenth slOkam of Sri ranganAtha PaadhukhA sahasram with the words, "vrutthibhir bahuvidhAbhi: aasrithA --VenkatEsavara KavE: SarsvathI narthakIva bhavathIm nishEvathAm "."BhauvidhA- vrutthi" refers in the case of a dancer here , the many aangikams and sthAnams of a dancer. Swami Desikan himself uses the word "Vrutthi " in the sixteenth slOkam of Sri GopAla Vimsathi to suggest abhinayam based on aangikams and sthAnams . This is the slOkam dealing with the visualiszation of the RaasakkrItai of the Lord on the banks of the moonlit YamunA river . Swami suggested there that Sri Raaja GopAlan taught the Gopis an abhinayam known as "LaLitha Vrutthi" : " Jayathi laLitha Vrutthim sikshithO VallavInAm sithila valaya sinchjA seethaLai: hastha thALai: akhila bhuvana rakshA Gopa vEshasya VishNO: adhara maNi sudhAyAm amsavAn vamsanALa:

Swami Desikan as a Sarvatantra Svatantrar has used the analogy of a narthaki to describe the Kaimkaryam his tongue was doing to eulogize the Rathna PaadhukhAs of Sri RanganAthA in this slOkam

Meaning (translated by Sri. U.Ve. V.N. Vedanta Desikan)

Oh Hari-Paaduka! When I compose by Your grace, which is a vast endless ocean, I can well complete a hymn of a hundred thousand verses too. But then, a mere thousand (now being achieved) is also meet-for covering a fraction of Your horde of gunas, just as an example.

Special Notes from Sri. U.Ve. V. Sadagopan

NOTES BY V.S :

(1) The namaskaraNam here is " Hari PaadhukhE ! Thubhyam nama:"( Oh the sacred paadhukhAs of Hari ! My salutations to You ! ).

(2) Oh Hari PaadhukhE ! You have commanded me through a Swami to compose thousand slOkams about Your auspicious attributes . Thou art an ocean of limitless mercy and with Your anugraham , it is not a difficult task to compose even hundred thousand slOkams on Your Vaibhavam. Even then , Your glory will be coverd only by a fraction . Therefore , You seem to have decided that a thousand should be sufficient for me to compose....ANDaavan SampradhAyam .

(3) Swami Desikan says here : "Oh , Hari paadhukhE ! Through Your limitless grace , adiyEn has no doubt that I can attain the skills to compose one hundred thousand verses extolling Your auspicious qualities. Even then , those one hundred thousand verses can cover only a small portion of Your boundless kalyAN aguNAs . Therefore , it is appropriate to compose a mere thousand verses to praise Your glory ...UtthamUr Swamy's anubhavam.

(4) Swami Desikan states here that the limitless karuNai of the PaadhukhAs could empower him easily to compose hundred thousand slOkams about its kalyAna guNams . He points out that even those one hundred thousand slOkams would hardly cover even a fraction of the assembly of auspicious guNAs of the PaadhukhAs .Swami wonders whether that was the reason why the paadhukhAs asked him to compose a mere thousand slOkams on that night ...V.S

(5) One of the key words that Swami Desikan uses in this slOkam is " samhithAm " , which is usually associated with the veda samhithais .Swami NammAzhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi is known as Dramida samhithai ( Vedam Tamizh seytha MaaRan ). ThiruvAimozhi has " 1,000 verses " reminding us of the 1,000 SaakhAs of Saama vedam .Hence by choosing the word SamhithA for his sthuthi with 1,000 verses , Swami reminds us that his PaadhukhA Sahasram is the essence of Sri SatAri Soori's ThiruvAimozhi ...V.S

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Meaning (translated by Sri. U.Ve. V.N. Vedanta Desikan)

Oh Paaduka! Pray see to it that You remain alert in my heart and in my tongue so that the poetry flowing forth will sound as much sweetly musical as Yours, with the result that Lord Ranganatha will sit along with His consort, and listen to my work attentively, abandoning His sleep!

Special Notes from Sri. U.Ve. V. Sadagopan

NOTES BY V.S:

(1)The namskaraNam in this this slOkam is: "RanganAtha PaadhukhE ! Thubhyam nama: (Oh Paadhukhais of Sri RanganAthA! salutations to You !)".

(2) In this slOkam , Swami Desikan prays to the Lord's Paadhukhais to bless his mind and speech to compose the 1,000 verses that would receive the affectionate and undivided attention of the Divya Dampathis of Srirangam .He says: " Oh PaadhukhE ! When Your Lord moves around , You carry Him and produce the most pleasing musical sounds (naadham ). Your Lord enjoys this concert . When Your Lord retires to His inner chambers, You enter into me and produce the most mellifluent words. Since the sound of these words resemble the pleasant music that You produce while You carry the Lord on Your back , the Lord and His consort listen to my words with pleasure as well . May Thou bless me to compose verses resonant with such pleasing music that makes the divya dampathis listen to them without tiring ... UtthamUr Swamy's anubhavam .

(3) Oh PaadhukhE ! You have commanded me to compose this sthuthi on You at night time .May Thou bless me to compose sweet sounding slOkams that resemble Your delectable naadham ( like the sound of Swami NammAzhwAr's sookthis)! May Thou also bless me to have those sweet- sounding words flow effortlessly through my Vaak ! May the Lord and His consort , who are ready to retire for the night , listen to the sweet verses gushing out of me in the form of slOkams through Your grace and postpone their sleep because of the fascination with my sthuthi about You ...ANDavan SampradhAyam .

(4) Swami Desikan visualizes the divya dampathis sitting majestically in their sabhai after forsaking their sleep inview of their fascination with his sthuthi on the Paadhukhais (Swami NammAzhwAr ), which arose out of the blessings of the Paadhukhais themselves...V.S.

(5) The state of Sri RanganAthA sitting at the parishad (court) wide awake at that late hour is described by Swami Desikan as " NidhrayA dhUra muktha:". The Lord has left sleep far behind and is therefore wide awake due to His keen interest in enjoying the sthuthi of Swami Desikan on His PaadhukhAs ( SatAri Soori )..V.S.

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Meaning (translated by Sri. U.Ve. V.N. Vedanta Desikan)

Oh Paaduka! Whatever flower-oblation is made on the feet of the Lord, is later found on the heads of the devas, who bend and pay obeisance at His feet.(This was borne testimony to by Arjuna, he finding the flowers, respectfully laid at Krishna's feet, on the head of his Siva-icon next morning, just as they were originally at Krishna's feet, exactly in that alignment). This stotra in your praise pleases Ranganatha's Feet also! (It becomes doubled in significance!) Iti Shri PAdhukA SahasrE PrasthAva Paddhati: PraThamA

Special Notes from Sri. U.Ve. V. Sadagopan

NOTES BY V.S:

(1)The namaskaraNam here is :" Sri Ranganaatha Padha RakshiNi ! Thubhyam Nama: (Oh Paadhukai that protect Lord RanganaathA's sacred feet ! My salutations to you . "

(2)Here Swami Desikan states that the sthOthram of the Lord's Paadhukhais serves also as the praise of the Lord's sacred feet .That worship of the holy feet of the Lord reaches out and stays permanently on the heads of the DevAs ( NaakinAm Sirasi bhavathi). Although the sthOthram is aimed at you ( Tvayi vihithA ) , it rests at the sacred feet of Lord RanganaathA and is also found on the heads of the DevAs ( NaakinAm sirasi Bhavathi ).

(3) The flowers placed on the Lord's feet by Arjuna was seen next day by him on Lord SivA's head . That worship done at the Lord's feet was shared by the Lord's holy feet and the Siras of Lord Sivan (Ahirbudhnyan ).Thus , Oh PaadhulhE ! when adiyEn eulogizes you , it also becomes the praise of Lord's lotus feet of the Lord as well .

(4) The inner meaning is that Lord RanganathA is pleased , when we offer our salutations to our AchAryAs ( thiruuLLam uhakkum ).

(5) Swami Desikan also suggests that those who perform sahasra naamArchanai(saparyA) for the lotus feet of the Lord can count only 1,000 namaskArams, where as the same 1,000 archanai doubles because of the pair of Paadhukhais .