SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
Tataha svacharanambhoja sparsa sampanna sowrabaihi /
Pavanairrarththinas theerthaihi bhavayantham bhajamitham //
(w to w) Tataha – After preaching the gist of meaning of Divya Prabandhas, sva charana ambhoja sparsa sampanna sowrabaihi – by the association of his fragrant feet, Pavanaihi – purity, theerthaihi – given to consume Sripada theertham, arththinaha – disciples prayed to give Sripada theertham, bhavayantham – which uplifts, tham – that Mamunigal, bhajami – I am prostrating.
(Commentary) In this Sloka, Mamunigal, after preaching the gist of meaning of Divya Prabandhas, as requested by the disciples, he distributed his Sripada theertham for their consumption. Since Sri Ramanuja was not alive by then, Mamunigal felt that, he being his reincarnation, it will not be wrong to distribute his Sripada Theertham to his disciples. Disciples also pleaded with him. It is to be noted that since the feet of Mamunigal is like lotus and by its association, the theertham gets fragrance and purity. The plurality of word theerthaihi, denotes that he gave Sripada theertham three times. The Smriti reminds ‘threehi pibeth’ which means that Sripada Theertham is to be taken three times. In some places Sripada Theertham is given only two times. For this action, there is a reference in Usana Smriti. It is said that the Sripada Theertham of Bhagavatas will render purity and it is equal to drinking the juice of Soma plant. Further it states that during the course of sacrificial offering, one has to take two times Sripada Theertham which is equal to taking juice of the Soma plant. So, Sastra accepts two types of giving Sripada Theertham and one need to practice it according to one’s sampradaya. In Bharadwaja Samhitha it is stated that to get Upadesa from Acharya, the disciple has to consume Sripada Theertham which is a part of the process. Hence, in the last Sloka, having mentioned about the preaching of gist of Divya Prabandhas, here, Sripada Theertham is mentioned sequentially. Erumbiappa being absorbed in the Upadesa, the word ‘namami’ is mentioned in the last Sloka. Now, having conditioned his mind by getting Sripada Theertham, Erumbiappa uses the word ‘bhajami’. It is to be noted that Mamunigal, who had no desire, never expects from anybody and nothing to be done.
Translation by Sri U.Ve.Dr.M.Varadarajan Swami, MA, MA, PhD
Source: http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org/index.php/2015/09/purva-dhinacharya-tamil-28
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