"prapdyE"-3

[Guest guest]

srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNE namaha

sri vedanta desika guravE namaha

 

Dear "bhAgavatOttamA-s",

 

The word "prapadyE" is used in the FIRST stanzas -- what we called "PRIDE OF

PLACE" -- of SwamiDesikan's 5 very popular hymns.

 

In this and the next few posts, let us briefly examine the Sanskrit

originals and also attempt their English paraphrase before discussing

"prapadyE" itself further.

 

DAYA SATAKAM :

--------------

"prapadyE tam girim prAyaha srinivAsAnukampaya I

ikshusAra-sravanthyEva yanmurthyA sharka-rAyitham II

 

(My free paraphrase): "If the Lord's compassion (anukampa !) be likened to

cane-juice, then the stuff of which this earth, His Hill, is made is that

very same sweet-fluid turned sugar !! I hereby take refuge in this very

Hill ('tirUmala'-- the Lord's Abode) !!

 

It is important to note, dear 'bhAgavatOttamA-s', the poetic mood of

RESOLUTENESS in this verse.

 

Swami Desikan begins the verse with the hearty exclamation, "prapadyE !", at

the very outset.

 

Swami Desikan seems to be affirming that he has decided, once and for all,

to "take shelter" on this Hill. It is the "Sweet Abode of Compassion" and he

cannot think of any better place of Refuge !

 

For any human endeavour to be successful and fruitful, dear

"bhAgavatOttamA-s", we know there must be, at the very outset, a strong

RESOLVE.

 

It is said that a journey of a 1000 miles begins with the first step, isn't

it ? And we know sometimes it is the first step that is the longest mile !!

 

A resolution ("sankalpa") is indeed a robust affirmation of the HUMAN WILL.

Where there is no firm will and no resolution, there is never any worthwhile

achievement. It is "resolution" indeed that provides "sparking-ignition" to

the powerful fuel of human motivation and effort.

 

To take a simple illustration from recent 20th-century history :

 

At the height of the Second World War, there was a time during the Battle of

Britain when it looked as though Hitler's air-force would completely

over-run and destroy even London. At that point of time it was a "do-or-die"

situation for the British. At precisely that point in history, Winston

Churchill chose to rally his people with a clarion call for "national

resolution" with his famous speech :

 

"In war, Resolution,

In victory, Magnanimity,

In peace, Goodwill,

And in defeat, Defiance."

 

After that critical moment in the War when a whole nation took a great

RESOLVE, we all know, History itself took a "completely new turn" in favour

of the Allied Forces !!

 

So important, indeed, is the element of "RESOLUTION" ("sankalpam") to all

human endeavour ! It may be remembered here that Swami Desikan wrote a play

titled "sankalpa-suryOdaya" and the literal translation of that is : "the

Dawning of Resolutions" !!

 

It is the doughty feeling of RESOLUTION in the first verse that sets the

tone and mood of the rest of Swami Desikan's "Daya Satakam".

 

 

ASHTABHUJASHTAKAM

-----------------

"gajEndra rakshAtvaritam bhavantham

grAhairivAham vishayair vikrishtaha I

apAra-vignyAna dayAnU-bhAvam

Aptham sathAmashtabhUjham prapadyE II

 

(My free paraphrase): "Ills of worldly existence constantly threaten to

devour me just as Gajendra, the elephant, was harried by a crocodile --

until the eight-armed Lord ... He of boundless care, solicitude and

compassion ... He rushed to the creature's rescue ! In that Lord do I take

refuge !!"

 

Please note that the word "prapadyE" appears at the end of the verse here.

 

Here Swami Desikan's primary focus seems to be not so much on "refuge" as it

is on "grAhairivAham vishayair vikrishtaha" --- the "petty pleasures of the

world" that threaten to ensnare him like "crocodiles".

 

The problem with even our day-to-day lives, as we all know, dear

"bhAgavatOttamA-s", is that in spite of the many admirable "resolutions" we

make, we find we continually fall short of them when it comes to carrying

them out.

 

For e.g. we might take a "sankalpam" (resolution) to recite the

"Vishnu-sahasranAmam" every evening at 6.30 PM. We would happily stick to

the schedule for a few days. Then invariably (by operation of some

mysterious law called "Murphy's Law") something will go wrong, and you will

find that one engagement or the other will interfere and frustrate your

"resolution". It could be your boss calling you in for a late meeting; it

could be your wife wanting you to go shopping for groceries with her at that

time; or your child demanding you help with its homework !!

 

In no time thereafter the grand resolution will vanish from your life !!

 

This is the unfortunate fate of common humanity : that its lofty

"resolutions" are never actually and entirely fulfilled in life. Like

"crocodiles" snapping at Gajendra's legs in the "pUraNa", many petty

entanglements and encumbrances in our lives, seem to always turn our

attention away from our true priorities and instead draw us ever more surely

into their "deadly jaws" !!

 

At the fag end of our lives, so, what are we then left with ? A string of

"sankalpam-s" that never, sadly, fructified ? A wasted lifetime ? A long

trail of promises made to ourselves which were never, alas, kept ? And weak

memories of a host of worldly cares and obsessions that gnawed away our

energies... as long as they had us in their vice-like grip .... and finally

left us all "high-and-dry" as soon as vitality had drained away from our

bodies and minds !?

 

Such was the predicament of Gajendra when the crocodile attacked it; and

such is our own petty, pathetic condition too, isn't it ?

 

The "kavi-simham", Swami Desikan, thus seems to be reflecting along these

very lines in his opening "ashtabhUjAshtakam" verse. Of the many ills and

infirmities of the world that afflict him, he says he would rather be free;

he would WISH TO HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM; he would be glad TO BE RID of

them.

 

He exclaims, "prapadyE !" and seeks the Lord's "refuge" for that very purpose !

 

*******************************************

 

We will in the next post examine the way "prapadyE" is used in 3 other hymns

of Swami Desikan.

 

srimathE srivan satagopa sri narayana yathindra mahadesikaya namaha

 

sudarshan