SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
SlOkam 4
Parswathaha Pani Padmabhyam Parigrahya bhavat priyayow |
Vinyasntham sanairangree mruthulow medhineethale ||
Word to word meaning
- priyayow – worthy acharyas like Koil Annan and his brother,
- bhavat – of him [Mamunigal],
- Parswathaha – on both sides,
- Pani Padmabhyam – by the lotus like hands,
- Parigrahya – clutched,
- mruthulow – delicate, angree – feet,
- medhineethale – in this earth, sanaihi – slowly,
- Vinyasntham …. – put down…..
Commentary
In this Sloka, Erumbiappa magnifies Mamunigal who was approching him. Mamunigal stands by the three practices: knowing that Acharya is the Chief, definitely He is the only means and servitude to him. Hence, Acharya Koil Annan, otherwise called Varada Narayana Guru and his brother Srinvasa Guru became loveable to Mamunigal. By chastity and beauty, his hands are like lotus. Parigrahya means with love, Mamunigal clutched them. That means he is not thinking that he is great and his disciples are low, but with his blemish less character, he got hold of all of them.
Here, a question arises that if he had got hold of the disciples by his hands, he may not able to hold Trithandam? And it is a rule that saints should always hold the Trithandam. In Sri Pancharatra Tatvasagara Samhita, it is said that a saint must always hold the Trithandam, which is the image of Vishnu. In Vishnu Smrithi, it is said that a saint till the end of his life must always hold Yajnopaveetham, Trithandam, a water-pot, jalapavithram, a pudenda (kowpeenam) and a cord worn round the loins (arai nan). The answer is as follows: In the case of a fully knowledgeable saint, on a particularly cause and in a particular time, there is no fault in not holding Trithandam. One can notice the words of Krathu, it is said that a saint who indulges in meditation, has good character, has thorough inquisitiveness, inherent knowledge, absence of desires, a dharma of saint and the power of controlling the world, there is no need to hold the Trithandam and so on. Further, visiting the temple is only with humble prostration of body like a stick in the earth. When prostrating on the earth, the two legs put together and two hands jointly worships i.e. called Namaskaram. In such action, there is no possibility to hold the Trithandam at that time. Hence, there is no harm in not holding Trithandam when one visits the temple. When one worships with folded hands without having anything in the midst of hands, there is no possibility of holding Trithandam. Hence, a saint must hold Trithandam which is a general rule, but it is exempted during the time of prostrating in the temple.
Medhineethale angree vinyasntham – Here instead of bhumithale, medhineethale is mentioned. When Vishnu destroyed the demons of Madhukaitaparas, their flesh touched the earth and hence earth is called medhinee. The earth which lost its purity by that gained the purity by the feet of Mamunigal. Periyalwar also says in his Prabandham Periyalwar Tirumozhi (4.4.6) that the dust at the feet of devotees of Bhagavan touched the earth which gained by its prosperity.
Translation by Dr M Varadarajan
Source: https://divyaprabandham.koyil.org/index.php/2015/09/purva-dhinacharya-tamil-4/
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