In Chathussloki (four verses), YaamunA focussed on the theme of Purushakaara Prapatti and Eka Seshithvam principles. He based this work of his on the doctrines outlined by Lakshmi Tantram. Eka Seshitvam refers to the practise of considering both Sri Devi and BhagavAn together as the means and the goal (upAyam and Upeyam. In this context, they are inseparable [agalagillEn iRaiyum enRu alarmEl mangai.. – says NammAzhwAr] and hence She is known as VishNu Patnee and He is known as Sriya: Pathi.. She on her own accord serves Him. We will learn more about Her greatest glories when we go through the individual four slokas of ChathuslOkI..
Sloka 1:
kaanThasthE purushOtthama: paNipathi: sayya(S)anam vaahanam
vEdAthmA vihakESwarO yavanikaa maayaa jagan mOhinI
bramhESAthi suravraja sathyitha: tvaddhAsa dAseegaNa:
srIrithyEvacha naamathE bhagavthI brooma: katham thvAm vayam..
[forgive for transliteration]
hEy BhagavthI! – The One who is blemishless, faultless and possessed with all aucpicious attributes (kalyANa guNAs)! PurushOtthaman is Your darling Lord – the One who is equal to You in all aspects; Thus You both are equal to each other in every manner… The king of snakes- AnanthAzhwAn- is Your Seat as well as Bed (just like he is for your Lord); The vEdAthmA- Garuda is Your vehicle and seat as well. JaganmOhinI!- The Cosmic matter- mUla prakruthi- [that engulfs maaya in everyone to hide their Athma swarUpam and bind them to their karma vasanaas- with viparItha jnAnam] – is also at Your service as the curtain. Chathur mukha brahmA, Rudran, DevEndran, along with their spouses are all your servants and are pleased to be at your beck and call. Your divine name is also the most esoteric SrI… When such is the case, how can any of us be able to tell Your glories clearly.. and do justice to it?
In the First sloka, it is thus emphasised that both the vibhutis Nithya and Leela - that is the eternal world paramapadha and the material world belong to Lakshmi as well. ALavandhAr in the first verse of Chatussloki establishes the equal status of Sri Devi with Her consort. As Chief of Sarva BhutAs, she enjoys an equal status and rules the physical and the transcendental universe. She possesses like Her Lord,Svarupam , Rupam, GuNam and Vibhavam equally in its Svarupam , Rupam, GuNam and Vibhavam equally in its entirety.
You share in equal measure the six auspicious GuNAs of Her consort (BhagavAn)- namely JnAnam, Bhalam, Sakthi,Iswaryam, Veeryam and ThEjas. That is why You are known as Bhagavathi or ShAtgunya SampoorNai. You are inseparable from Your Lord at all times and states (nithya anapAyini- never leave Him ever. Thus with such equal qualities, You have chosen Him as Your darling Lord and He has You as His divine Consort… He is PurshOtthaman and You are BhagavathI.. With all sentient and non –sentient with His Sareera and attributes, are You the qualifying one for Him as His pathnI- I pondered. I have found that all such vivhUthis (attreibuites- of Chethana, achEthanas- devas, humans, plants, cosmic matter, etc.. etc..) are all Yours as well and You rule them in equal manner.You are with Him at all times uninterruptedly. Since You became His spouse, You are now enjoying the same-some may argue. That argument holds good for bhUmA and nILA dEvi and not for You.. SaasthrAs say that You both are SEshi for the whole world.. You possess the six guNAs that constitute Bhagavathvam. Chauthumukha brahmA, Rudra et al along with their spouses serve You and are Your servants. Coming to think of it, You alone have the name SrI.. and He gets His identity as Sriya: Pathi.. In addition to all these qualities, You have the recommendation role as well (Purushakaram) and also point to Him His daya and protection role. You intercede with Your Lord on behalf of us – when we perform our surrender to You and Him as Dhivya Dampathi and recommend that we be forgiven by Your Lord to become the object of His grace.
To be continued..
Article by: Sri Madhava Kannan Swami, Singapore
