30 November 2021, Plava varusha, Karthikai -14, Tuesday ;
(MEANING):
Oh Lord of Srirangam! Many bhakthAs of yours got freedom from their individual fears by performing SaraNAgathy at Your sacred feet. For instance, Bhaktha PrahlAdhan’s fears arising from his father, HiraNyan was destroyed by You; the crow that committed MahA aparAdhams to Your PirAtti got freedom from fears caused by Your BrahmAsthram that was chasing the crow with intent to kill; The king of elephants got freed from the fearsome jaws of the crocodile; Dhroupadhi got freedom from the fears generated by the likes of DhucchAsanan; DharmAthma VibhishaNan got relief from the fears caused by his brother RaavaNan; the snake KaaLiyan was stomped by Your sacred feet and got freedom from his sorrows;the assembly of GopAs and Gopis were saved from the anger of Indhran through Your rakshaNam with Govardhana Giri; King Ambhareeshan escaped from the fear caused by Sage DhurvAsar. There are many others, whose fears were removed, when they sought your protection. May we also follow the footsteps of these MahAthmAs, perform SaraNAgathy at Your sacred feet and live lives free from fear!
(COMMENTS):
“Vayam Sapadhi Thvayaa bhaya vimukthim labhEmahi” is the prayer of Swamy Desikan to Sri RanganAtha. Are there precedents to such an anugraham of freedom from fears by the Lord? Yes, there are many, many instances. Swamy reminds the Lord of those instances and asks Him to bless us in a similar manner.
VIEWS OF OTHER COMMENTATORS:
In this slOkam, Swamy Desikan’s reaction to the assurance of the Lord about protection is recorded. His anger is gone and he lists the other PrapannAs saved by the Lord (PrahlAdhan, Gajendhran, Ambhareeshar, Droupathy et al) in thankful remembrance of the Lord’s SaraNAgatha RakshaNa Tatthvam.
Courtesy: Oppiliappan Koil Sri V. Sadagopachariar
