ŚrīRaṅganāthaSvāmī
Kulaśekhara Āḷvār
॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
श्रीवल्लभेति वरदेति दयापरेति भक्तप्रियेति भवलुण्ठनकोविदेति ।
नाथेति नागशयनेति जगन्निवासेत्यालापिनं प्रतिपदं कुरु मां मुकुन्द ॥१॥
Translation: Oh, Mukunda! Kindly make me chant every moment and step of my life Your glories- The Beloved Consort of ŚrīLakṣmī, The Boon-giver, The supremely Kind One, The One who loves Devotees, The One who loots and destroys worldly miseries, My own Lord, The One reclining on the Thousand-hooded Adiśeṣa, The One who permeates all Existence!
Notes: The very first shloka is a power-packed prayer to the One who grants LIberation. The long list of epithets that Kulaśekhara pleads with the Lord to instil on his tongue to be chanted every moment and step is significant!
- The Beloved Consort of ŚrīLakṣmī - The word Śrī includes all beauty, wealth, glory, munificence, grace and effulgence. When the Lord is Her Consort, we can understand His glories! So this is the true Bhagavān, Iśvara, who lacks nothing. No wonder the intelligent devotee prays to such a Lord! In fact, Swami Chinmayananda is said to have replied, when questioned how the funds would come for all his big projects, "When Narayana is encased in my heart, Lakshmi has to follow and come in!"
- The Boon-giver - Having all attributes is not enough if the Lord does not give. So pray to the giver, not busy self-aggrandising!
- The Supremely Kind One - Giving is always rooted in kindness. Pray to the Epitome of Kindness!
- The One who loves Devotees - The giving by the Lord is out of infinite, unconditional, eternal Love for the devotees, not in a momentary excitement.
- The One who loots and destroys worldly miseries - What does the best devotee pray for, when he already has the Lord's Love and Grace? Liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Remember, Mukunda is the one who liberates.
- My own Lord - The devotee is feeling extremely intimate and close to the Lord. It is not a tentative prayer to a distant source of power but to one's own.
- The One reclining on the Thousand-hooded Ādiśeṣa - this pithy allusion shows that to be a Lord, He should have mastered the forces that hold up the world and can terrorise it with poison. Even when He is reclining on Adiśeṣa, He remains smiling and at peace. No agitation! This is a practical demonstration of who is the real boss.
- The One who permeates all Existence - The Lord is not aloof. This world is not a fleeting, illusory, mischievous trick. It is His own body and being, and we can see Divinity everywhere, for the Lord is sporting in this universe! This is possible to see as long as we are not stuck in our petty demands and egos.
So when Kulaśekhara prays that the Lord should make him chant these names in every moment and at every step, he is showing us what an exalted devotee he is. He is not asking for wealth, health, name, fame, family and longevity. He is praying that he should be in prayer always, dwelling with body mind and soul in the Lord. This is surely the recipe for Mukti - called Jīvanmukti.
Bhagavān assures us in the SrimadBhagavadgītā:
अनन्यचेताः सततं यो मां स्मरति नित्यशः । तस्याहं सुलभः पार्थ नित्ययुक्तस्य योगिनः ॥ ८-१४॥
Oh, Arjuna, for the one who is singleminded, and constantly remembers Me. I am easily attainable; that devotee is always immersed in me and a true Yogi.
अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते । तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ॥ ९-२२॥
Those who single-mindedly pray to Me and worship Me shall find that all the affairs in the here and the hereafter of those constantly in worshipful Yoga are taken care of Me.
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॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
