Musings on Vega-setu stotra

[Guest guest]

srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNe namaha

sri vedanta desika guravE namaha

 

Dear bhAgavatOttamas,

 

In my last posting I had described the devotional hymns of Swami Desikan --

rich verbal tapestry -- as "the Lord's magic carpets" on which we can safely

let our own weak imaginations fly high. If you have been following my

postings on this subject so far you will realize that it is no exaggeration

to so describe Swami Desikan's "stotra-s". For it is with the help of the

"vega-setu stotra" indeed that in the past few weeks I have myself "flown"

high into the clouds of dizzying experience :

 

-- by first 'conquering Space' between the King Fahd causeway in Bahrain and

the Golden Gate in San Francisco

 

-- by next 'conquering Time', having visited both the battlefields of The

Gulf War'90 and that of Kurukshetra in the Mahabharatha as well

 

-- by flying past some "scenic vistas" (i.e. the Lord's 'kalyana-guna-s') in

the great "theme-park" called the 'Vishnu-Sahasranamam'

 

-- by visiting the "ancient sites" of Adi Sankara and the Brihadaranyaka

Upanishad

 

-- by enjoying a quick "joy-ride" on another of the "Lord's magic-carpet"

i.e. the 'Daya Satakam' ( a sort of "connecting-flight" !!)

 

-- by spending a few pleasant moments strolling on the hallowed

"cricketing-grounds" around the "Lord's pavilion" and watching an "innings"

of running "hither-and-thither"

 

-- by exploring briefly the world of Pitman's 'short-hand'

 

-- and all through the fascinating "journey of imagination" enjoying

"in-flight service" too with a "sizzlingly-topped pizza" !!!

 

How lucky can one get, indeed ?!!

 

Now we still, however, have one more leg left to complete in our "journey of

imagination" before we can wrap-up our "flying-tour" of appreciation of the

'vega-setu stotra'. And that is with regard to the question of

"gathAgathAni" (the "Lord's shuttling") which Swami Desikan describes in

Verse #6 as follows :

 

srimAn pitAmaha vadhU paricharyamAnaha

setheh bhujanga sayaneh sa mahAbhujangaha I

pratyAdisanti bhava sancharaNam prajAnAm

bhaktAnuganthiriha yasya gathAgathAni II

 

We scutinized the phrase "gathAgathAni" and its conventional "vyAkhyAnam"

that when a devotee constantly dwells on the theme of the "Lord going

hither-thither" then, inwardly in spirit, he begins to sense a gradual

cessation of his own mortal and temporal "restlessness", begins to enjoy the

inward tranquility of one who is in constant "yoga" and hence begins to look

forward in full faith to attaining complete 'liberation' (moksha) from his

otherwise eternally ordained 'karmic' "shuttling" between re-birth and death.

 

Now the question that "pops" up in most young contemporary minds is : "How

does this happen ? What is so special about contemplating on the subject of

the Lord's "gathA-gathAni" and how does it ensure liberation for our

respective souls from its eternal peregrinations ? What sort of logic is this ?

 

The anwers to such questions we shall take up in my further postings.

 

srimathE srivan satagopa sri narayana yathIndra mahadesikAya namaha

 

sudarshan

 

 

srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNE namaha

sri vedanta desika guravE namaha