pUrva dhinacharyA – 29

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Aradhya Srinidhim Paschath Anuyagam vidhaya cha /
Prasada Patram mam krutva pasyantham bhavayami tham //

(w to w) Paschath  – After completing the noon rituals, Srinidhim  – his deity Aranganagarappan,  Aradhya –  perform puja with great reverence, Anuyagam  vidhaya  consuming the prasadam which was offered to the Lord, mam  – I, who wasn’t inclined to even look at the prasadam,  Prasada Patram krutva  – having consumed the leftovers of Mamunigal,  pasyantham  – who is gracefully looking at me, tham  – that Mamunigal,   bhavayami  – I will always meditate upon.

(Commentary) The word Aradhya means that having done puja fully to one’s satisfaction.  Sandilya Smriti says, just like how one would try to please a Prince, an agitated elephant and affable guests, one should perform puja to the Lord with due fear and love. Just like how a virtuous woman would please her husband, a mother pleases her infant, a disciple pleases his Acharya and a person who had assimilated a mantra, in that away the Lord is to be pleased. Accordingly, Mamunigal did puja to his deity Aranganagarappan. The word Anuyagam  means the performance of puja to Lord following that taking the prasadam  that was offered to the Lord. Bharadwaja says that one has to take the food after doing parishechanam and taking food in five forms on behalf of Lord who is pranan, apanan, vyanan, udhanan, and samanan.  Also Sandilya says that one has to worship the Lord who is residing in one’s heart, and after taking the theertham of  Lord by saying  pranayasvaha etc. and perform homam in our mouth.  Then by thinking the Lord without rushing, one has to take the food without complaining the low-saltiness, excess of tamarind, etc. Further one has to relish the sayings of Sandilya: about cleanliness, limited quantity, taste, acceptance to heart, stickiness of ghee, pleasant to look and little warm. In the words, ‘Anuyagam vidhaya cha’  the alphabet ‘cha’ means that Mamunigal arranges food for Sri Vaishnavites before he takes food. It is to be noted that Erumbiappa also narrates in Varavara Muni Kavya that Manavala Mamunigal takes food only after giving food to Sri Vaishnavites, which has sweetness, fragrance, is clean, soft and arranged with pure heart by offering to Lord. By offering food with spirit to Sri Vaishnavites, Mamunigal satisfied himself and then he takes food. It is to be reminded that on earlier occasion,  Mamunigal asked Erumbiappa to take food in the Mutt which he rejected by intending the common commandment that one should not take the food offered by a saint or take food in the vessel of a saint.  This he rejected due to his wickedness and now he got himself corrected. The word, pasyantham bhavayami means that he worships Mamunigal who is looking at him. At the same time it means that Mamunigal is fascinated to see what caused Erumbiappa to consume food which he once rejected?  Erumbiappa says that he worships him always for the magnanimous favour extended to him by correcting his mistakes. Hence, the rejection of food of a saint as stated in the Sastra is to be thought of in case of a non-Vaishnavite saint.

Translation by Sri U.Ve.Dr.M.Varadarajan Swami, MA, MA, PhD

Source: https://divyaprabandham.koyil.org/index.php/2015/09/purva-dhinacharya-tamil-29

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