You are here: SriPedia - SriRangaSri - Archives - Oct 2003

SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00144 Oct 2003

 
Oct 2003 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

                         LakshmI KatAksham

      Deepavali appears to be an appropriate occasion to write about the 
captioned subject. All over north of India and in some parts of the south too, 
LakshmI pUjA is an intgeral part of the Festival of Lights, with the wealthy 
adulating Her in thanksgiving and seeking Her continued benevelonce and the 
impecunious seeking Her favours for joining the elite club of the haves. New 
financial accounts are commenced on this day, with prayers that the ensuing 
year be the harbinger of progress and prosperity.

Thus there is an overwhelming opinion that Sri LakshmI is the Goddess of Wealth 
and Her attentions would make one unimaginably rich. The Lakshmi astOttara sata 
nAma stOtram, the Lakshmi Sahasranamam, the SrI SUktam etc. have been 
prescribed in various Scriptures as sure-shot ways of attaining elusive 
prosperity and escaping the pernicious clutches of penury- "sarvaishvarya 
karam" and "sarva dAridrya samanam". The Goddess Herself is described as the 
destroyer of poverty ("dAridrya nAsinIm", "dAridrya dhvamsinIm") and the 
bestower of wealth of every form and description ("dhana dhAnya karIm"). The 
recitation of this stOtram is capable of conferring upon us wealth and welfare 
beyond imagination and making us richer than KubEra-"ashtaishvaryam avApnOti 
KubEra iva bhootalE". Even persisting poverty, plaguing a person through 
innumerable births, can be bid goodbye to, through a pArAyaNam of this 
stotram-"Shriam avApnOti kOti janma daridrata:". Swami Desikan too confirms in 
Sri Stuti that wherever this Lady's glances fall, torrents of affluence vie 
with each other to fill that quarter-':yasyAm yasyAm disi viharatE Devi 
drishti: tvadIyA, tasyAm tasyAm aham ahamikAm tanvatE sampadoghA:". This sloka 
tells us that this is the result not even of a full-fledged look, but of a mere 
glance from the corner of Her eye-"apAngai:".

It is thus clear that LakshmI KatAksham or the benign glance of MahAlakshmI 
brings us boundless prosperity. The Celestials had lost all their wealth, power 
and control over all the worlds, due to a curse from DurvAsa Maharshi. It was 
solely due to the benevolent glances of Sri LakshmI that they regained their 
lost splendour and overlordship of the three worlds, confirms the Sristuti-
"sureEndrA: labdhvA bhooya: tribhuvanam idam lakshitam tvat katAkshai:". Any 
number of such pramANAs can be quoted in support of Sri Lakshmi's glances 
carrying with them the cascading waves of good fortune, ready to drench the 
seeker with abundant doses of the same, for the mere asking.

However, is this all  there is to Lakshmi kataksham? Is it only the carrier of 
wealth and prosperity, with little else to offer? Is "Goddess of Wealth" an 
adequate description of Sri Mahalakshmi and Her munificence? 

The answer is "No", for, this Lady's glances have the power to bestow on one 
whatever one seeks, not merely riches in the material sense. For instance, if 
it is wisdom and learning that we seek, they too are showered by Mahalakshmi in 
abundant measure. We might be puzzled and think that such a contention usurps 
the role of the so-called "Goddess of Learning"-Saraswati. Without in any way 
detracting from Sarasvati Devi's fame, all her glory is indeed the result of 
the benign glances of Sri Lakshmi, says the Sri Stuti, highlighting the fact 
that while it might be Sarasvati who bestows wisdom, she derives her power to 
do so from the Celestial source, Sri Mahalakshmi-"AsamsAram vitatam akhilam 
vAngmayam yat vibhooti:....tAsAm pariNati: asou bhAva lEsai: tvadeeyai:". 
Poets, who are in the know of things as to who is the real source of all 
inspiration and learning, pray straight to Lakshmi to drench them with Her 
benign glances, which would enable them burst forth in uninhibited and 
impassioned verse. The skilful choice of words, the effortless employment of 
the mot juste, deployment of phrases and idioms pregnant with purport, a smooth 
and flowing style which is a hallmark of facile expression-all these 
automatically embrace a composer, be it of prose, verse or song, once Sri 
Mahalakshmi turns Her merciful glances on him.

 Here is one of the master poets, Sri Parasara Bhattar, praying to Her for such 
felicity of expression-
"Sooktim samagrayatu na: svayamEva LakshmI:
 SrI RangarAja mahishI madhurai: katAkshai:".
In the aforesaid sloka, Sri Bhattar is but echoing the words of his illustrious 
father Sri Koorattazhwan, who too prays to the Divine Consort to drench him 
with Her benign glances, so that appropriate words and idioms would 
automatically fall in place, without a laborious search for the same, as 
indulged in by mundane authors-
"yuktAm bhAvaya bhAratIm....lakshyam Lakshmi katAksha veechi visrutE te syAma 
chAmI vayam".  

It is this glorious glance of Piratti that is behind the apparently 
irreconcilable differences in birth and life that we encounter in this world. 
Why should one person be born with a silver spoon in his mouth, with all that 
one could possibly wish for, while another, born at the same time and day, 
languishes in a cowshed, with not a blade of grass to call his own, destined to 
lead a life of misery and penury? Why is it that some are born as human beings, 
while others take birth as lowly animals, worms and as inanimate substances 
like trees and stones? It is all due to the presence or absence of the Divine 
Consort's benign glances, says Sri Bhattar in SrI GuNaratnakOsam. Whosoever is 
the object of Her glorious katAksham is born as the best and highest of beings 
like Brihaspati, with all that is auspicious seeking him out, while one who 
lacks the same is born as a hapless tree, unable to fend for itself materially 
or spiritually-

"Saha sthira paritra savraja Virinchana akinchanai:
  anOkaha Brihaspati prabala viklava prakriyam
 idam sadasat AtmanA nikhilam Eva nimnOnnatam
 KatAksha tat upEkshayO: tava hi Lakshmi tat tANdavam"

Here again, Sri Bhattar draws inspiration from his father's verses in Sristavam-
"lOkE vanaspati Brihaspati tAratamyam yasyA: prasAda pariNAmam udAharanti"

Expanding on the theme, Sri Bhattar paints a picture of  a sovereign, seated 
gracefully on a caprisoned elephant, with a glittering crown adorning his head, 
playing with the precious stones dangling from the pearly umbrella held over 
his head by adulating acolytes, not deigning even to look at the monarchs lying 
with their crowns touching the sand under his feet. He furnishes another pen 
portrait, the antithesis of the first one, of another man in rags, with 
absolutely no possessions in the world but for his puny and wasted body, 
standing at the roadside with lips bared at passersby in supplication, watching 
the progression of the Sovereign and his retinue, his hands held out for the 
occasional coin tossed at him. Sri Bhattar again ascribes the chasm of 
difference separating the Prince and the Pauper, to the presence and absence of 
Piratti's benign glances-

"EkO muktAtapatra prachala maNighaNAtkAri mouLi: manushya:
 dripyat dantAvalasttha: na gaNayati natAn yat kshaNam kshONipAlAn
 yat tasmai tishttatE anya: kripaNam asharaNO darsayan danta panktim
 tat tE SrIrangarAja praNayini nayana udanchita nyanchitAbhyAm".

These are but minor glories, compared to the monumental magnificence Sri 
Alavandar ascribes to Piratti, in his ChatusslOkI. He tells us that the entire 
process of Creation is set in motion by the Lord, only after seeking the 
implicit approval of His Consort, conveyed through Her consenting glances, but 
for which the three worlds would languish as undifferentiated matter, with no 
means of redeeming itself. It is only the nectarine and merciful fleeting looks 
of Piratti that endow matter with the essence of life and endless prosperity, 
avers the senior Acharya-

"Ishat tvat karuNA nireekshaNa sudhA sandhukshaNat rakshyatE
nashtam prAk tat alAbhata: tribhuvanam sampratyanantOdayam"

Following the same line of thought, Sri Koorattazhwan too confides in us a 
Cosmic Secret-- that while it is the Lord who creates, He does so only at the 
prompting of and after ascertaining the mind of Piratti, as expressed through 
Her beautiful eyes-
"yasyA veekshya mukham tat ingita parAdheenO vidhattE akhilam".

Going a giant step further, the same illustrious author says that it is not 
only we mortals who ought to be thankful to Sri LakshmI for our various 
attainments, but the Lord too owes His boundless glory and unlimited ishvaryam 
to the bewitching and benevolent glances of Piratti-"JagannAthOpi Narayana: 
dhanyam manyata IkshaNAt tava yata: svAtmAnam AtmEshvara:". That on which Her 
glances fell in profusion became the Parabrahmam and those on whom they fell 
sparingly, became exalted deities like BahmA, Rudra etc.  Therefore, when the 
Shruti sings the praise of the Parabrahmam, what it really extolls is the 
magnificence of Piratti and Her ambrosial glances, says Sri Bhattar-
"apAngO bhooyamsO yat upari Brahma tat abhoot
 amI yatra dvitrA: sa cha ShatamakhAdi: tat adharAt".

The nectarine glances of Piratti are cool and comforting, laden with waves of 
maternal love, compassion and mercy-"sAnuprAsa prakatita dayai: sAndhra 
VAtsalya digdhai:"-and instantly relieve us from the unbearable heat and dust 
of SamsAra, from which we suffer eternally. The eyes generating these glorious 
glances resemble black, rain-bearing clouds, and appear to have taken a vow to 
save the sick, suffering and the destitutes-"Arttha trANa vratibhi: amritAsAra 
neelAmbu vAhai:".

What we have seen so far are but negligible samples of the magnificence 
attributed to Piratti's glances("LakshmI KatAksham"), the glory of which cannot 
be fully covered even if Swami Desikan were to reincarnate and sing a thousand 
verses solely in their praise-a "VeekshA Sahasram". Not being endowed with even 
a billionth of the Acharya's wisdom or poetical capabilities, we can but pray 
with Sri Koorattazhwan that the Divine Consort bless us with Her merciful 
glances, which are capable of converting paupers into Princes and Princes into 
Emeperors-
"YasyA: katAksha veekshAkshaNa laksham lakshitA mahEsA: syu:
 SrI RangarAja MahishIm sA mAmapi veekshatAm LakshmI:"

Srimate Sri LakshmINrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana 
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
Dasan, sadagopan


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/VkWolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Srirangasri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list