daya and its synonyms

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srimathE lakshi-nrsumha parabrahmaNe namaha

sri vedanta desika guravE namaha.

 

Dear BhAgavatatOttamas,

 

On reflecting on the choice of the word,"jada" by Swami Desikan in verse 50

of the Daya satakam, we are confronted, as we saw in my last posting, by the

looming question:

 

why does the poet portray the Lord as if He had a very special soft corner

in his heart for unintelligent/inert/unregenerate matter (jada)?

 

Why would the Lord, the Supreme Apotheosis of all 'kalyana gunas', be extra

solicitous of the "jada" among "jivatmas" that Swami Desika alludes to ?

 

Part of the answer, I speculated in my last posting, perhaps lies in two of

the fundamental concepts of Sri Vaishnavism.The other lies in one of the

many "leelas" of Sri Krishna as commentated upon by "mahAns" and as I have

heard my "manaseega guru" Sri Mukkur Swami II relate during a discourse on

Srimad Bhagavatam.

 

I shall quickly summarise here in this post the two Sri Vaishnavite concepts

that seem to annotate the use of the word 'jada'. The commentary from the

Bhagavatam, I shall, reserve for my next posting.

 

While considering the import of the word "jada" of verse 50 of the daya

satakam we should for a moment recollect the concept of "sarira" and

"sariri" that is so fundamental to Visishtadvaita school of monism. This

concept postulates that the whole of creation i.e. the phenomenonal,

noumenal and transcendent, are but the 'sarira' of the Brahman. Conversely,

it is Brahman which is the 'sariri' of all creation. This concept is

expressed at the human plane in terms of the physiological "body" ('sarira')

that is subordinate to and dependent on the meta-sensory, metaphysical

"soul" (sariri). What our individual 'soul'(jivatma) is to our respective

'bodies'(sarira), by the same token is the One Indivisible "sariri" called

the Brahman/Paramatma/Sriman Narayana to all Creation.

 

Now if you invoke the above concept in the attempt to understand the import

of 'jada' in verse 50 of the Daya Satakam you will arrive at a commentary

which runs something like this:

 

The Lord has a special concern (daya) for even the "insentient" because he

simply cannot help it. He being the "sariri"(soul) is bound by the natural

gravity of compassion, as it were, that his "body" (sarira) verily commands

though "jada" it may be.

 

Now we must try and appreciate this complex application of the concept at

our own mundane level in a very limited and lay sort of way. Our 'acharyas'

help us in that too.

 

They give you an example. Assume for a moment that you are a lady of

extraordinary beauty. Your hands are the most exquisite part of your whole

body. Everyday a good part of an hour is spent in your bath preserving the

beauty of those hands. And it is primarily accomplished by washing,

manicuring, polishing and painting the piece of peripheral, lifeless,

insentient, "jada" bone-matter called nails. You would do anything to

preserve the "well-being" of those lifeless little things called "nails"

because they are the secret to the beauty of your lovely pair of hands. You

could fall in love with them yourself. This is only natural of the "sariri",

viz. yourself, who has an all-embracing concern and care for even the

"insentient" (jada) parts of your body i.e."sarira".

 

Thus goes one "vyAkhyAnam" for the word "jada" used by Swami Desikan in the

phrase "manyE matha jada iva sutE vatsala madriSe tvam" in the Daya Satakam.

 

The second Vishta-advaitic concept with which scholars link the word "jada"

in the Daya Satakam is that of "na mama" (not I) which is also fundamental

to Sri Vaishnavism. One of the tenets of Sri Vaishnavism is the complete

negation of the Self or the Ego in the "jivatma" if it is to be in any state

of readiness to approach the Lord or Brahman. This is called giving up the

notion of "I-ness" or "mama-kara".

 

Acharyas point out that when the "jivatma" gives up "mama-kara" it is said

to become verily a "jada" and hence fit to receive the very special

"anukampa" or "daya" of the Lord.

 

Thus, it can be seen by bhagavatOttamas, how skillfully Swami Desikan

interlaces his exquisite poetic phrasing with the profound philosophy of his

illustrious school by the use of a mere and innocuous-sounding word like "jada".

 

While explaining the above Sri Mukkur Swami II used to caution us all that

those around us whom we are normally tempted to regard as "jadas" in daily

life may be really great souls. The seeming imbecile or village-idiot may

very well be a highly realised being deserving in great measure the Lord's

dayaa. He used to illustrate that point with a humorous anecdote which I

will recount to "bhagavatOttamas" in my next posting.

 

srimathe srivan satagopa sri narayana yatindra mahadesikaya namaha

 

sudarshan

 

srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNE namaha

sri vedanta desika guravE namaha