Prakrutham SrIRangam SrImad ANDavan and Sishyas doing sankalpam at Sethukkarai

 

PRARTHANA SLOKAMS FOR ADHI SETHU SNANAM:

rAmeNa yAtrtA rekhA dhanushAkshAra sAgare |
mukti: tat darSanAdeva na jAne snAnam phalam ||

Meaning:

The slokam says that when just seeing the theertham alone grants Mukthi, the benefits of taking bath in it is beyond expression.

raghuveera padanyAsa pavitrIkrta pAmsave
daSakaNTha SiraSceda hetave setave nama: |
setave raghu nAthasya moksha mArgaika hetave
sItAyA: mAnasAmbhoja bhAnave setave nama: ||

Those who wish to perform samudra snAnam, chant the following slokams, prior to the snAnam, whereby they hail the glories of the great ocean that helped in the annihilation of the evil RAvaNa. Then after seeking the permission from BhagavAn (uttaravu) they perform their snAnams.

seto! seto! Saila pAshANa vrshai:
seto! seto! tvAshTrabaddhAbdhi madye|
seto! seto! rAvaNAntaika heto
seto! seto! rAma seto namaste||

samasta jagadAdhAra! Sankha cakra gadAdhara |
deva dehi mamAnuj~nAm yushmat tIrtha nishevaNe ||

pippalAda samutpanne! krtye loka bhayankarI |
saikadam te mayA dattam AahAraarttam prakalpitam ||

The navagrha pUja related nava-pAshANam that was consecrated by NaLan himself can be found 20 kms away from ThiruppullANi. This place is now called as DeviPaTTiNam (i.e. ThiruppullANi is 8kms South of Ramanathapuram and DevipaTTiNam is 12 kms North of Ramanathapuram).

The episodes relating to the Sethu bandhanam in the RAmAyaNam has been praised in songs and poems by many poets and writers. Their ecstatic outpourings after witnessing these moving scenes in their mind's eye have resulted in varied works such as ValmIkI RAmAyaNam, adyAtma RAmAyaNam, Aananda RAmAyaNam, Kamba RAmAyaNam, Tulasi RAmAyaNam, RAma nAma keerthanams, the kritis of Sri Sadguru swAmigal, Swami Desikan's majestic verses of Raghuveera Gadyam and DasavatAra slokam. These granthams have shown us the methods of prayer and worship of (upAsana) Sri RAmachandra mUrthy.

In the coming pages let us briefly enjoy the poetry of Swami Desikan, AruNAchalakkavirAyar, Sri ThyAga Brahmam etc. We will also briefly revisit the glorious incidents that occured during the RAmAyaNa period at the Sethukkarai viz VibhIshaNa SaraNAgati, darbha Sayanam, Sethu bandhanam etc and revel in BhagavAn's glories some more.

 

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VibhIshaNa SaraNAgati

 

The following slokam from Swami Desikan's DasAvatAra Stotram details the great tattvam behind VibhIshaNa SaraNAgati:

pArAvAra payo viSoshaNa kalA pArINa kAlAnala
jvAlA jAla vihArahAri viSika vyApAra ghora krama: |

sarvAvastha sakrut prapanna janatA samrakshaNaika vratI
dharmo vigrahavAnadharama viratim dhanvI sa tanvIta na: ||

Meaning:

Sri RAman the Possessor of such powerful arrows in His quiver capable of rendering the Oceans dry due to their fiery nature which was many times more than even Agni jvAlAs, has taken the unbreakable vow to protect those who sought refuge in Him (SaraNAgati) even if only once. His protection is not based on whether the person seeking it is a friend (mitran) or foe (chatru) or whether the person has done any evil deeds in his past. For every person who surrenders to Him, He unfailingly provides rakshaNam and never abandons them. He is thus eulogized as "satyavrata dharma vigrahan" by Swami Desikan.

When VibhIshaNa sought refuge in Sri Rama at Sethukkarai, all except HanumAn counseled Sri Rama to reject his prayer and request, as he was the brother of RavaNa and from the enemy camp. But Sri RAghavan overruled their objections and instead taught them the lofty principle of SaraNAgati by saying that: "Whosoever surrenders totally to Me, will never be abandoned for any reason and will always be protected by Me." Swamy Desikan brings this out beautifully in his Raghuveera Gadyam passages:

ahita sahodara raksha: parigraha visamvAdi vividha saciva visrambhaNa samaya samrambha samujjrmbhita sarveSvara bhAva! sakrut prapanna jana samrakshaNa dIkshita! vIra! satyavrata!

Swamy Desikan bows down to the SaraNAgata rakshakan and says that Bhagavan rejected the counsel of His ministers and granted SaraNAgati to VibhIshaNan thereby proclaiming His true nature of being Sarvesvaran and the protector of all jeeva rAsis of this Universe.

AruNAChala kavirAyar describes the emotional scene of VibhIshaNa SaraNAgati in his RAma nATaka keerthanai as follows:

nisam uDanE rAma candran sannidhikku
nErAka vara varak kaNNeer Araaki
asaiyumuDal oDukki ayyan padhaththil vIzhnthAn
ayOththi rAmA caraNam ennaik kAppAy
dhasaratha rAmA caraNam ennaik kAppAy