Sri Panchayuta Stotram

~Chitra Iyengar

INTRODUCTION
This is an important sthOthram, where all the Five weapons of the Lord are eulogized.

The order of salutations are (1) Chakram/Sudarsanam (2) Sankham/Paanchajanyam (3) Gadhai/KoumOdhakI (4) Sword/Nandhakam (5) Bow/Saarngam.

Once upon a time, Sriman narayanan looked at His PachAyudhams (nithya sooris)
and commanded them to reach BhU lOkam and be born as SaanDilya, Oupagaaya, Mounjaayana, Kousika and BharadvAja to perform AaarAdhanam for Him there.

The five weapons of the Lord arrived at the dhivya dEsam of ThOthAdhri (VanAchalam) and performed fierce tapas to receive the anugraham of their Lord.

Beautiful descriptions and the power of these 5 weapons of the lord are provided in this SthOthram.

The Phala sruthi section of this SthOthram reminds us that when recited daily this stotram removes all sorrows, sins and fears and bestows auspiciousness on the devotees (samastha DhukkhAni BhayAni sadhya: paapAni nasyanthi sukhAni santhi). Whenever one recites these slOkams during the middle of a tractless forest, fearsome war, in the middle of enemies, floods, fire and unexpected calamities of any kind causing great fear, such a recitation will banish all those fears and provide protection of every sort according to the Phala Sruthi.

SlOkam 1

sphurat sahasrAra SikhAti teevram
sudarSanam bhAskarakoTi tulyam |
suradvishAm prANavinaaSi vishNo:
cakram sadhA aham SaraNam prapadye ||

MEANING:

adiyEn always seeks the refuge of Sriman narAyaNan’s chakram (discus), SudarSanam, which is not only beautiful to behold but also is immensely powerful with thousands of fiery spokes of flames to destroy the enemies of
dEvAs. This mighty weapon of the Lord is resplendent like the crores of Suns,
which have arisen at the same time.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Sudarsanar is worshipped as the deekshithan in the Yajn~am to destroy those
who harm the BhaagavathAs dear to His Lord. While saluting one angam of
Sudarsanar (viz)., aksham, SrI Koora NaarAyaNa Jeeyar, the composer of SrI
Sudarsna Sathakam extols the unique aspects of the nigraha sakthi of the
Lord’s powerful weapon.

Acting as the sankalpa sakthi of His Lord, Sudarsanar performs the following duties as the Deekshithan of the Yajn~am to destroy those who commit apachArams to those who are near to His Lord (bhAgavathAs)

SlOkam 2

viShNo: mukhOtthAnila pUritasya
yasya dhvani: dAnava darpahantA |
tam pAncajanyam SaSikoTiSubhram
Sankham sadA aham SaraNam prapadye ||

MEANING:
adiyEn always seeks the refuge in Paancajanyam, the divine conch of the Lord
shining like a crore of Moons. Its dhvani arising from the air emanating from the sacred mouth of the Lord strikes terror in the hearts of the asurAs and vanquishes soundly their pride.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
In NaachiyAr Thirumozhi, ANDAL salutes the white Valampuri conch that usually adorns the upper left hand of the Lord and asks it to share with Her its close relationship to the Lord and the blissful anubhavam of being close to the Lord’s mouth and being filled with the air emanating from that most sacred mouth.

The sound of the white Conch named Paancajanyam (veLLai viLi Sankhu) is of the roopam of PraNava naadham and strikes terror in the minds of the asurAs. They begin to run and their pride as mighty warriors is totally destroyed. During MahA BhAratha Yuddham, our Lord took only the Conch as His weapon and the sound of it resounding through heaven and earth rent the hearts of the sons of DhrutarAshtra. Even today, ParthasArathy at His allikkENi divya dEsam has only the conch as His weapon and AabharaNam on His right hand.

Among the tattvams,
Sudarsanar is recognized as the Manas tattvam
Paancajanyam is recognized as the SaatvIka ahankAram

SlOkam 3

hiraNmayeem mEru samAna sArAam
kaumOdakeem daitya kulaikahantreem |
vaikuNTha vAmAgra karAbhimrshTaam
gadAm sadA aham SaraNam prapadye||

MEANING:
adiyEn always seeks the protection of the golden mace of the Lord known as KaumOdakee. It has the strength equal to Mount Meru, when it comes down on the limbs of the assembly of asurAs and crushes them. It is held lightly by the
blemishless Lord in the palm of His lower left hand to protect His BhakthAs.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
One of the lakshaNams of Sriman N a a r A y a N a a c c o r d i n g t o PaancarAtra Aagamam is the holding of the golden mace, SrI GuruvAyoorappan with gadhai has 16 Kaumodhakee under his lower left palm. The other three hands of Sriman NarayaNa hold a discus (SudarSanam), a conch (Paancajanyam) and a Lotus flower with its stalk.

Among the tattvams, the mace KaumOdhakee of the Lord is recognized as Mahat tattvam

Slokam 4

rakshO asuraaNaam kaThinOgrakaNThac-
chEdaksharat SoNita digdhadhAram |
tam nandakam nAma hare: pradeeptam
khaDgam sadA aham SaraNam prapadye ||

MEANING:
adiyEn always seeks the refuge in Nandakam, the shining sword of the Lord, which is hard and fearsome. The blade of this powerful sword of the Lord is smeared with the blood of asurAs, who rose against the AasrithAs of the Lord and ended up losing their heads.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Among the tattvams, Nandakam, the sharp and shining sword of the Lord is recognized as the Jn~Ana tattvam and its sheath is considered as Ajn~Ana tattvam.

The 41st Paasuram of Swamy Desikan’s adhikAra Sangraham covers the relationship between the various tattvams and the Weapons as well as the AabharaNams of the Lord.
SlOkam 5
yajjyAninAda SravaNaat suraaNaam
cetAmsi nirmukta bhayAni sadya: |
bhavanti daityaaSani baaNavarshi
Saarngam sadA aham SaraNam prapadye ||

MEANING:
adiyEn seeks always the refuge in the powerful bow of the Lord known as saarngam, which showers unceasing downpour of fiery arrows on the opposing
asurAs. The sound of the twang of the bow string of Saarngam during the prayOgam of the asthrams by the Lord chases away the fears of the dEvAs immediately.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Andal celebrates the down pour of the arrows from the Lord’s bow, Saarngam in ThiruppAvai: “Saarngam udaittha sara mazhai pOl”.

In Raghuveera Gadyam, Yuddha Kaandham section, Swamy Desikan Salutes the power of the bow Saarngam/KodaNDam in the hands of the Raghu Veeran and the destruction of RaavaNan and his mighty army.

Slokam 6

imam hare: pancamahAyudhAnAm
stavam paThedya: anudinam prabAte |
samasta du:khAni bhayAni sadya:
pApAni naSyanti sukhAni santi ||

MEANING:
The fears, sins and sorrows will be destroyed for those who recite daily this sacred stuti about the Lord’s five unique and powerful weapons. All auspiciousness will embrace them.

Slokam 7 (Concluding Stotram)

vane raNe SatrujalAgnimadhye
yadrcchayApatsu mahAbhayeshu |
idam paThan stotram anAkulAtmA
sukhee bhavet tatkrta sarvaraksha: ||

MEANING:
For anyone finding himself in the middle of powerful enemies, dangerous floods, fierce fires, gruesome battle field, trackless forest with wild animals or any other dangers causing great fright will get rid of all these fears by reciting this sacred stuti about the five weapons of the Lord and will enjoy tranquility and peace of mind.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
The power of the recitation of the stOtram about the five weapons of the Lord in the middle of all frightening situations and calamities is indicated here. All these prathikoolams will be destroyed and unique anukoolams will result from such a recitation.

The forest alluded to here is the labyrinth of the forest of samsAram, where the Jeevan loses his way and cries out for rescue. It is like the VindhyA forest in which AchArya RaamAnuja lost his way and was rescued by the divya dampathis of Kaancheepuram.

The gruesome battle field is where the Jeevan is assaulted incessantly by the KarmEndhriyams. The Lord as HrusheekESan comes to our rescue then. When we are about to drown in the floods of SamsAram and are about to be sucked by the dangerous whirlpools, Lord as MatsyAvathAran gets hold of us and pulls us to the other shore of SamsAram. We enjoy tranquility by overcoming all these huge fears.

Acharyan thiruvadigale Saranam