Musings on Vega-setu stotram

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srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNe namaha

sri vedanta desika guravE namaha

 

Dear bhAgavatOttamas,

 

In my last posting on this subject I shared with you all the idea that

Desikan's hymns can be appreciated even in a modern and secular("loukika")

sense and from the stand-point even of our petty day-to-day existence.

Although Vaishnava orthodoxy may frown at such attempts I must confess that

I personally disagree with it. I strongly believe we must not keep Swami

Desikan chained to the 14th-century but find ways and means to bring him

into our lives, here and now, in the 21st century. We must do it of course

without mutilating in the least his eternal and original message but

"contemporarize" him we must, because he rightly belongs to this age just as

he belongs to all times.

 

In this posting however I am going to lean again on our "sampradayi-c"

critique of this stotra as I have learnt from several elders and of course

from my "manaseega-guru", Sri Mukkur Swamy II.

 

The quintessence of the "vega-setu stotra", as it appeals to me personally,

lies in Verse 6 beginning "srimAn pitAmaha-vadhU-paricharya-mANaha ....."

and ending with the pregnant phrase "bhakthAnuganthuriha yasya gathAgathANi".

 

This verse is celebrated by many scholars as it alludes to the incident of

Tirumazhisai Alwar, his valet Kanikannan, the Chola King and the Lord's

peripatetic adventures with them. This famous episode from the Alwar's life

has already been beautifully narrated by Sriman Sadagopan and Srimathi

Lakshmi Srinivasan in this group.In the words of the Alwar himself this

incident is a marvellous illustration of the Lord's "parAdInam" i.e. His

quality of being willing to virtually wait on and "serve" His devotees; to

be at their beck and call; and to readily accede to their every whim. To use

a modern Americanism, the Lord is shown in this incident to be willing to

turn into a "flunky" even of his true "bhaktAs" !

 

This quality of the Lord is truly amazing, incredible and even unnatural

that it does take one' breath away. One can hardly believe one's eyes or

senses to see the Great Trivikraman Himself behave virtually like a circus

animal dancing obediently to the tune of its master/trainer. Poigai Alwar is

said to have marvelled at this behaviour of the Lord in another "pAsuram" in

the Mudal TiruvandAdi (77) :

 

vengadamoom viNagarum vehkAvum,

ahkatha poongkidangil neel kOval pon-nagarum

nAnkidathum ninrAn irunthAn kidanthAn nadanthAn

enrAl kedumAm iDar.

 

This quality of "parAdInam" of the Lord appears to his bhaktAs as supremely

"absurd" sometimes. One must imagine how delighted and surprised a child

becomes when, say, an adult, its father or perhaps an uncle, goes down on

the floor on all fours; tells the child to play-act it is a "great king" and

he is its pet-elephant; then asks the child to climb on to his back for a

"royal procession" around the house. Imagine how wonderful the child feels

as it climbs atop its "royal elephant" and then regally orders the "animal"

around as they both go around the house in "procession". The child squeals

in delight everytime it orders the "elephant" to stop or to proceed or kneel

or move faster and the "elephant" promptly obeys !! The child goes into

raptures every time he prods the "elephant" with a "hup,hup" and finds the

"vahanam" (the royal vehicle) do exactly its bidding !

 

This quality of "parAdInam" that impels the Lord to simply do the bidding of

his bhaktAs without questions is also exhibited by Him in his "avataras".

The most dramatic example, scholars point out, is as Krishna, who as

charioteer to Arjuna in the Kurukshetra War, navigated him safely through

the deadly din and bustle of many a violent battle.

 

It seems in those days the warrior atop the chariot and in the thick of

battle did not have the time or space to communicate his instructions to his

charioteer by word of mouth. This seems quite understandable for it does

seem impossible for the warrior to have been ever able to pause in

mid-battle, as it were, when he is busy shooting arrows all around him, to

stoop down or bend over to give verbal instructions to his charioteer to

steer this way or that ? Instead, military manuals of those days seem to

show, the warrior used to rest his feet on the shoulders of the charioteer

while carrying on battle; if he wanted the charioteer to steer the chariot

to the right he would tap his feet resting on the right shoulder of the

charioteer and vice versa; if he wanted the charioteer to do an about-turn

the warrior had to simply stamp both feet hard and firmly on the

charioteer's shoulders. This was how communication was made possible between

warrior and charioteer in the heat of battle in those days.

 

Now it is quite reasonable to believe that Arjuna too may have resorted to

the above signalling methods to communicate with his charioteer, Lord

Krishna, in Kurukshetra notwithstanding the nature and intimacy of their

mutual relationship.

 

Thus, I have heard U.Ve.Sri Srivathsankhachariar describe at an "upanyAsam"

of his I once attended many years ago, the Lord even physically demonstrated

his quality of 'parAdInam' in Kurukshetra by allowing Arjuna to place his

feet on His Hallowed Shoulders and simply obeying the signals those feet of

Arjuna transmitted to Him in the thick of battle. I must add here that the

good Sriman Srivatsankhachariar while narrating this used to find it hard to

suppress his emotions and tears.

 

Is it any wonder then that Swami Desikan, the poet non-pareil, is moved too

by this particularly lofty 'kalyana guna' of the Lord and hence deems it fit

to celebrate it in his most beautiful verse # 6 of his "Vega-setu stotra" ?

 

More on this subject in my next posting.

 

srimathe srivan satagopa sri narayana yathindra mahadesikaya namaha

 

sudarshan.

 

 

srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNE namaha

sri vedanta desika guravE namaha