Sri Guruvathapureesha Pancharatna Stotram

Those of you who read the earlier post, would have chuckled at the daily namaskaram routine of Appa and the little monkey on his back :-)  My father knew that the way to get the little monkey to fall in line was to show how to make doing namaskarams an enjoyable daily routine.  With the Grace of Sri Guruvayurappan, I am feeling blessed to write this post on Sri Guruvathapureesha Pancharatna Stotram that my Appa used to recite daily.  (BTW, I prefer to use Sri instead of Lord, so we have a more Sanskrit/Hindu connection)

Pancharatnam literally means 5 Precious Gems strung together.  Sri Guruvathapureesha Pancharatna Stotram is sung in praise of Sri Guruvayurappan, the presiding deity at the Sri Krishna Temple at Guruvayur in Kerala, India.  The composer is Sengalipuram Sri Anantharama Dikshitar, a renowned Hindu Vedic scholar, who was known as 'Upanyasasa Chakravarthi', and by various other titles.  

Talking about Upanyasam .. the word literally means 'to stay closer to'.  Who does one stay closer to ?  God is the answer in the Sanatana Dharma, and hence Upanyasams were talk sessions held at a temple or a common place, where a renowned scholar would share his knowledge on various religious and spiritual topics, which would benefit the listener and help him in his journey to be closer to God.

Coming back to Sengalipuram Sri Anantharama Dikshithar, he was an ardent devotee of Sri Krishna. Sri Guruvayurappan (also a form of Sri Krishna) had blessed Dikshitar with His Divine guidance, and am sure Divine Darshan too.  On the direction of Sri Guruvayurappan, Dikshitar performed many-a Bhagavatha Saptaaha parayanams at Guruvayur.  This meant, one had to read the Srimad Bhagavatha within 7 days, and repeat for multiple weeks - it is considered a rare blessing to read the Bhagavatha Saptaha in Guruvayur and to read multiple times at the behest of none other than Sri Guruvayurappan Himself, shows the devotion of Sri Dhikshitar & Sri Guruvayurappan's love for His devotee.

No wonder, Sri Dikshithar composed this wonderful stotram singing the glory of Sri Guruvayurappan, the One who blesses and protects millions of devotees for many centuries.  

Verse 1

Kalyaana-roopaaya kalou janaanaam Kalyaana-dhaathre Karunaa-sudhaabdhe
Kampvaadhi Divyaayudha-sathkaraaya Vaathaalayaatheesha Namo Namasthe || 

Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana
Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana ||  

Meaning: Hey Guruvayurappa, Hey Ocean filled with the nectar of mercy .. You carry many Divine weapons like the Shankha (Holy conch)... You are the embodiment of auspiciousness and in this Kali yuga, You bestow auspiciousness on all Your devotees.... I offer many prostrations at Your Lotus Feet !!

Verse 2

Naaraayanethyaadhi japath-bhiruchchaihi Bhakthai-sadhaa poorna-mahaalayaaya
Svatheertha Gaangopama Vaarimagna Nivarthithaa-Sesharuje Namasthe ||

Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana
Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana || 

Meaning: Hey Guruvayurappa .. You are the Lord of the Sacred Temple that is filled with the holy chants of Your devotees calling out Your name aloud by various names like Narayana and Govinda !! Devotees who take a holy bath at Your Sacred Theertha (Pushkarini or pond), which is equivalent to the Holy Ganga, get cured of all their diseases and illnesses.. I offer many prostrations at Your Lotus Feet !!

 

Verse 3

Braahme-muhurthe Parithasva-bhakthaihi Sandhruhta Sarvotthama Vishwarupa
Svathaila Samsevaka Rogaharthre Vaathaalayaadheesha Namo Namasthe ||

Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana
Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana || 

Meaning: Hey Guruvayurappa ... everyday, You grant Your Divine Vishwarupa Darshan early in the morning in a fine manner to the devotees who throng your Temple from all four directions.  The oil that is collected after bathing your Divine Form helps ward off diseases of those who either apply it externally on the body (or) consume it internally... I offer many prostrations at Your Lotus Feet !!

 

Verse 4

Baalaan Svakeeyaan Thava Sannidhaane Divyaanna-dhaanaath Paripaalayabdhihi
Sadhaa Patadhbhischa Puraana-rathnam Samsevithaayaasthu Namo Hare The ||

Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana
Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana || 

Meaning: Hey Hari... You are worshipped by devotees who feed the first morsel of rice to their young children in front of Your sanctum sanctorum and who later protect & raise their children in the best manner.  You are worshipped very well by those who read Srimad Bhagavatha, which is known as the Highest among the Sacred Texts. I offer many prostrations at Your Lotus Feet.   

Verse 5

Nithyaanna-dhaathre cha Mahee-surebhyaha Nithyam Dhivisthairnishi-pujithaaya
Maathra cha Pithraa cha Thathothdhavena Sampujithaayaasthu Namo Namasthe ||

Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana
Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana || 

Meaning: Hey Guruvayurappa ... You provide food to the Vedic scholars daily throughout their lives. You are worshipped by the Gods & Heavenly Beings during the night.  You are the One who was worshipped by Mother Devaki, Father Vasudeva and the Devotee Udhdhavaa.  I offer many prostrations at Your Lotus Feet.  

(After being worshipped by Devaki, Vasudeva and Udhdhavaa, and after Sri Krishna returned to Vaikuntha, once the city of Dwaraka got submerged into the ocean, this Divine Form of Sri Krishna floated in the water and reached the Western Ocean (Arabian sea ?). Then Guru Bhagawan (Bruhaspathi) and Vayu Bhagawan brought it and installed the Divine Form in the current place & hence, the place came to be famously known as GuruVayur.)

Phala-shruthi

Guruvaathapureesha Pancha-kaakhyam Sthuthi-rathnam Patathaam Sumangalam-syaath

Hruthichaapi visheth Hari-svayam Thu Rathi-naathaayutha Thulya-deha Kaanthihi ||

Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana

Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana || 

Meaning: Those who read and chant this Sacred Stotram (divine hymn) describing the glories of Sri Guruvayurappan will be blessed with the highest form of auspiciousness. Sriman Narayana, who bears the physical radiance of a Ten Thousand Manmathas (God of Love) will enter their hearts and bless them with His Divine Darshan  !!

Next blog coming soon .. until then...

Love and Peace to all !!

Om Sri Ganeshaya Namaha - my 1st Blog entry !!

Om Sri Ganeshya Namaha ...this is my 1st blog !! I 

First and foremost, I seek the blessings of my Loving Parents for all the success in this blog mission !!

I offer my most humble salutations at the Divine Lotus Feet of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, my Divine Protector, who has been my rock through rain and shine !! Thank you, Swami !! 

I bow with reverence to Kanchi Sri Maha Periyavaa .. the Kanchi Shankaracharya and our Jagathguru who has blessed our family with His Divine Grace always !!

I offer salutations at the Lotus Feet of Lord Sri Ganesha and seek His support to remove all the obstacles on my path.

I bow reverentially to Vaagdevi Sri Saraswati, Sri Hayagriva, Guru Dakshinamurthy and all the Sathgurus, to bless me with the right thoughts and words, so this blog is of use to others.  

I bow with devotion to Lord Sri Rama, my Ishta Devatha, the ever-merciful Avatara with the Lotus eyes and called by a Thousand Names by devotees through the ages, to bless the readers with the righteousness in thought, word & deed !!

I bow with respect to the Devi, the Sri Lalitha / Sri RajaRajeswari who sits in our Home as the Presiding Goddess to bless one and all who read this blog !! 

I bow with love to Sri Dharma Shastha, our Kuladeivam (Kula devatha) to bless me with the courage and valor and to pardon our mistakes that we commit knowingly or unknowingly !!

I bow with humility to Lord Sri Hanuman, my cute little lucky charm who has kept me tied somewhere in His tail, for giving me the buddhi and the balam to write this blog !!

I pray to Sri Kamadhenu, the Divine Go-Matha, to bless all the readers with lots of good luck, happiness, good health and peace !! 

I bow to all the readers, who have patiently read this long list of Gods' names and for doing virtual namaskarams to all of them in the online poly-temple (like poly-clinic) 😄

Special thanks to my lovely wife Luckshmi & the 2 little boys who bring a smile on my face every day !!

As the proverb goes, all that starts well ends well ... so I decided to start with a set of prayers and gratitude !!

Why is my blog titled 'The Last Blue Lotus' ?

I wanted to name it 'The Loudspeaker' to denote the mind speak .. I feel one's mind speaks more than the tongue and silencing it becomes the challenge !!  However, the title was taken.  Even, Blue Lotus was taken - so I decided on the current title.  To read more about significance of Blue Lotus, please google and share your thoughts.  To me, it is a rare flower and a favorite of the Hindu Gods and Goddesses and has some very deep significance in spirituality ... hence I named the blog as 'The Last Blue Lotus' !!  

How do I feel about starting my own blog ? 

I am super excited like a kid, who has gotten a new toy that he/she always wanted !!  I have been wanting to start a blog to share my thoughts on various topics which might be of interest to fellow netizens & would also help me to learn new things along the way .. decided to plunge today after getting tired of writing long whatsapp messages in few groups, which were promptly overtaken by someone posting another Good Morning message at 12:30 PM (or) another of the 1,555,845th repeated forward message !! 

Will start writing the actual 1st blog in a bit ..  😄

until then .. 

Love and Peace to All

My first interaction with Spirituality

I was born in a slightly upper middle class TamBrahm family of the mid-70's in Tamil Nadu, when maintaining the identity was a challenge.  My dad (Appa) owned a restaurant in a mid-scale town and was a devout Hindu. Though Appa had challenging working hours, he would never step out without doing his daily prayers.  We used to live in a simple house, amidst a bunch of TamBrahm families (collectively called 'The Store' - no idea why), who became our extended family.  Even though Appa later bought our own home in the town, we never left 'The Store', a humble dwelling, as both our parents felt it was a safe and secure environment for the kids to grow.

My earliest memory of a prayer is of Appa chanting 'Kalyana roopaaya kalou janaanaam' from the Guruvaathapureesha Pancharatna Stotram.  Without fail, this means that the time is about 5:45 to 6 AM in the morning.  He would wake up early, have his bath in cold water (all round the year), do his Sandhya vandanam (daily mandatory prayers to be offered by an adult Brahmin male) quickly and chant the shlokas with the vibhuti (holy ash) smeared on his forehead and body and do namaskarams (prostrations) in front of the simple altar at home. Woken up by the Kalyana roopaaya being chanted in dad's heavy metal voice, most days, I would either look at him or at the Sri Ganesha picture at home as the first thing.  The lamp would be lit at the altar & a small cup of warm milk placed in front of the Gods.  It was a unique Ganesha image - one that had the Nava-grahas (nine planets) marked in various parts of Sri Ganesha's body and is clearly etched in my memory till date.  Amma still has it in her puja altar.  Appa used to do multiple namaskarams (prostrations) in front of the altar, as he used to chant Narayana Narayana that comes after every verse in the Guruvaathapureesha Pancharatna Stotram ... the naughty one I was, I used to wait for this moment and jump on his back and go up and down during this fun-like plank exercise.  Appa used to laugh at me lovingly as I used to do this .. I guess this was one way in which the Lord took me slowly in His fold, by blessing me with a good father and ensuring that I participated in the prayer process in some way.  

We were blessed to have a National Panasonic tape recorder at home, which was a luxury in those days and the next thing we would hear would be either Sri Venkatesha Suprabhatam or Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam in MS Amma's mellifluous voice.  Some days we would listen to the All India Radio, where they used to play songs by famous playback singers like P Susheela, TMS, SPB, Yesudoss, Nagore Haneefa etc singing multi-faith songs, which helped us build tolerance and respect for other faiths too.  Mostly, this is the time Appa used to have his morning filter-kaapi (filter coffee), the cult feature in every TamBrahm home of then and now !!

Once Appa rushes off to work by about 6:30 AM, my siblings would go to their school & I would chill at home, as I was still young.  I was a very naughty child, everyone in the neighborhood used to say; I would enter every household in 'The Store' and try to strike a conversation with people of all ages who had varied moods & temperaments !!  However, all such experiences played a key role in shaping my personality during the formative years ... Sri Ramaswamy Iyengar Thatha (grand-father), an elderly neighbour would apply a SriChoornam on my forehead, on the strict condition that I take a bath and come near him in the morning :-)  I would obey him quietly as it felt nice to have the SriChoornam (a thin-red vertical red vermilion line applied on the forehead by followers of Vishnu) on my forehead like an adult man ... then sit in their house and play around with his daughter, the loving Prema Akka (sister) while he did his daily nithyakarma Shaalagrama puja (daily prayers to a fossilized shell considering it as an iconic symbol and reminder of the Sri MahaVishnu) to their aathu Perumaal (Sri MahaVishnu), their family deity. Even though we were Tamil Iyers who followed Adi Shankara's Advaita School of Philosophy, my parents never objected to me having the SriChoornam as a child.  Such acts helped me firm up the fact later that Hari (Sri Vishnu) and Hara  (Sri Shiva) are One and The Same.

Evening was fun filled too as this is when I used to get to go out with Amma ... there was a Hanuman temple nearby which was more than a few centuries old with Sri Veera Anajaneya Swamy murthy and he was a Vara-Prasadi (giver of boons) - I think this is one of the many VyasaRaja installed Hanuman vigrahams.  There was a large pushkarini (tank (or) pond) behind the temple and it had 4 streets around it.  We lived in the northern side of the street in 'The Store'.  In the evenings, Amma followed a certain discipline, which she follows till date.  Between 5:30 to 6 PM, she would light the lamp in the puja altar at home and do a namaskaram to the Gods. Then, around 6:30 PM, she used to take a small cup of gingelly oil for adding to the lamp at the temple and hold me in 1 hand and off we go to see Hanuman.  

On the way, Amma would stop some days to buy a camphor piece at the Kaka shop, owned by an elderly fair n chubby Malabar Muslim gentleman with only a couple of teeth.  He was always kind to children and used to give his big smile when he saw me.  If I am lucky and well behaved, Amma might buy me a candy ... but only if I behaved !!  

Then, we would head to the small Ganesha temple first and do the dhorbhi-karanam (a simple yogic exercise) and chant a simple prayer.  Then we would go to see Sri Hanuman, where the priest (one Sri Kuppachar, a Madhwa or Telugu Brahmin) would do a simple harathi (waving of camphor) to Hanuman and Amma would request him to add the oil to the lamp at the temple.  Oil is a sign of prosperity, as Goddess Luckshmi resides in it.  Donating oil to temples to burn the lamps is said to bring good luck to the donor.  We would then go around the temple for a few pradakshinams (circambulation around the sancrum sanctorum), chant a shloka or two to help us focus, do our namaskaram (prostration) ... then sit in silence for a while meditating on the Lord and then come home for dinner.  Going to a temple daily helped kids like me to explore and make new friends !!

Coming to think of it, the 2 Gods I have mentioned in this post have become the dearest in my later years .. Sri Ganesha and Sri Hanuman.  And the strong foundation laid at an early age has helped me in following the bhakti path in my adult life.  

Few take away's from this post for me are :

1. lighting an oil lamp daily at the puja alter at home @ both dawn and dusk wards off negativity from our homes
2. playing/listening to or singing any kind of spiritual chants early in the mornings have a long lasting effect on the family members and it helps them to approach the day in a calm frame of mind
3. one should stick to a daily spiritual routine, come what may .. which means, a certain discipline needs to be followed

4. parents lead by example in the spiritual path - our children are nothing but mirrors who reflect what they see

5. have an inclusive environment, where multiple faiths co-exist ... so the children grow up respecting each others' faiths 
6. visiting a temple daily helps to calm one's mind ... this can be your daily spiritual routine too plus you might make new friends along the way

7. offer something to God daily with a selfless attitude.. God does not need anything from us, but strong faith and love .. but this selfless offering will help us become better human beings in the long run - I know of people who offer the naivedyam (offering) to needy people daily

More blogs coming soon on what has helped me and others I know .. 

until then .. 

Love and Peace to All !!