Daya Satakam

[Guest guest]

Dear Prapatti Group Members:

 

I recently attempted to write a short article on Daya Satakam for the

forthcoming Sri Balaji Pratishtha at the temple at Getzville (Buffalo). I

thought I might share it with all of you. Thanks.

 

Vijayaraghavan Srinivasan

 

Daya Satakam of Swami Vedanta Desika

 

S. Vijayaraghavan

 

Daya Satakam contains 108 verses in praise of Lord Srinivasa (Balaji)

who adorns the sacred Venkata Hills. It was composed by the most

celebrated polymath and philosopher of the 13th-14th century Swami Vedanta

Desika who was known as Kavi Tarkika Simham i.e. a lion among poets and

logicians. He was a great bhakta of Sriman Narayana and he devoted all his

skills in the service of His Lord.

 

The crown of Vedas i.e. The Upanishads, which lays down the good of

the whole world, says that Lord Narayana, who is the inner self of all

creatures and who dwells and rules from within, is the abode of all

auspicious qualities and free from all`imperfections (Esha sarva bhuta

antharathma apahathapapma divya: deva eko narayana:). Hence the Lord is

also known as Bhaghavan. Sage Parasara muni, the author of the immortal

work "Vishnu Puranam" says that the word "Bhaghavat" signifies knowledge,

power of action, sustaining strength, sovereignty, energy and radiance and

also the total exclusion of all evil attributes (Jnana shakti balai:

eishwarya veerya tejamsi asheshata:| Bhaghavat shabda vachyani vina

heyairgunadibhi:). A seeker who devotes himself to loving meditatation

of all these attributes of the Lord finally attains Him. All these

glorious attributes of Bhaghavan, infinite as they are, take only a

secondary place when they are compared to His Daya or Krupa.

 

In Daya Satakam, Swami Desika extols the quality of Daya (or grace) as

the one most important attribute of Bhaghavan that has a direct spiritual

value in saving the seeker from the effects of inexorable and time-less

karma and avidya. In the very first verse of Daya Satakam he strikes a

significant note by likening the continuous flow of Karuna (or grace) of

the Lord to that of the flow of sweet sugar cane juice. Indeed, he says

that just like the sugarcane juice transforms into sugar, the flow of Daya

has solidified in the form of seven hills. The entire stotra is styled as

an address to Daya Piratti (Devi), a personification of the supreme quality

Daya of Lord Srinivasa.

 

Desika has composed the ten decads of Dayasatakam in different chandas

(metre) adding to the beauty when recited. Following, Nammalwar's

Tiruvaymozhi Desika brings out the essence of upanishads in the ten decads

of Daya Satakam.

(1) In the first ten verses Desika establishes that only Emperuman (Lord

Srinivasa) can give moksha (Apavarga trivargayo:). He begins this decad

with a salutation to the guru parampara (Vighahe theertha bahulam

sheethalam guru santhathim) and describes Lord Srinivasa as the ocean of

mercy (Karuna Varunalayam).

(2) In the second decad, Desika says that the Lord is all knowing and His

strength has no limits (Vrishagiri gruha medhi guna: bodha bala aishwarya

veerya shakti mukha:) and He can be easily approached. Here, Desika

catches the upanishadic sentiment that the Lord's glories are beyond our

comprehension (Yato vaacho nivartante aprapya manasa sa:).

(3) In the next ten, Desika emphasizes that the Lord removes all obstacles

that come in the way of moksha (in line with sarva papebhyo mokshaishyami,

Bhagavat Gita). Even the worst sinner (Mayi thishtathy dushkrutham

pradhane, Aham asmi aparadha chakravarthy) can hope to cross the ocean of

samsara through His salvific grace.

(4) In the fourth decad, Desika says that the Lord takes the place of Upaya

(or means) to enable us to reach all of our goals. All that is requred

from us is to give Daya devi the power of attorney to supplicate our case

to the Lord. In fact Desika says with Daya devi on our side the Lord's

justice is tempered with mercy. He beautifully constructs a court where

Daya devi gives fitting replies to the Lord in our defense. (Phala

vitharana daksham pakshapathanabhignyam, praguna manu vidheyam prapya padma

sahayam| Mahathi guna samajey mana poorvam daye tvam, prati vadasi

yatharham papmanam mamakaanam||). The Lord has no choice but to accept

Karuna devi's recommendation as He is overpowered by Her.

(5) In the fifth ten Desika says that not only is the Lord the only upaya

but he is also the upeya i.e. He is both the means and the goal (Bandhan

mukta: bhalibhir anaghy:). He also compares Daya devi to that of the clouds

that continuously draw water from the ocean (of mercy) and showers rain (of

grace) (Saram labdhva kamapi mahata: Srinivasambhurashe:, kale kale ghana

rasavathy kalikevaanukampe). Desika also says that Daya devi has more

vatsalya towards her less fortunate children and She takes better care of

them (Manye maata jada iva suthe vatsala maadrushe tvam).

(6) The quintessence of the next decad is also the quintessence of the

Upanishads i.e. Prapatti or Sharanagati is the best means to reach the

Lord (Yo Brahmanam vidhathathy poorvam......Mumukshurvai sharanam aham

prapadhye, Svetasvatara Upanishad). Here, Desika prays to Daya devi to

remove all his attachments to the worldly objects that come in the way of

Prapatti (Bhavukanidhey nidhehi bhava moola haraam lahareem).

(7) In the next ten Desika describes the quality of saulabhya of the Lord

i.e. He is easily approachable by one and all. He cites seven instances,

where the Lord of seven hills broke all barriers to reach His devotees. In

fact, Desika says that the barriers were washed away by the flood of Krupa

overflowing from Lord Srinivasa. Guha, Sugreeva, Shabari, Kuchela, Kubja,

Gopis, and Malakara, all of these devotees were not rishis or munis. Their

only strength was their love for their Lord which was enough to open the

flood gates of Krupa. (Nishadanaam neta kapi kula pati kaapi shabari,

kuchela kubja sa vraja yuvathayo maalyakrudhity| Ameesham nimnatvam vrisha

giri pather unnathymapi, prabhoothy srothobhi prasabhamanukampe

samayasi||).

(8) In the next decad Desika says that Thiruvenkatamudaiyan (Balaji) is

none other than the Supreme Brahman of the Upanishads (Tad Vishno: paramam

padam sada pashyanti suraya:). He says that the Krupa of the Lord takes

the forms of Sri, Bhoomi and Neela Devi. Daya devi is indeed the universal

mother (Bhuvana janani) and she grants all her devotees' wishes including

the moksha (Bhoga apavarga vidhayineem).

(9) In the next ten Desika says that all of Lord's avatars (incarnations)

are indeed the concrete expression of His Daya. He takes avatars like Rama

and Krishna to commune with His devotees who thirst for His living

presence. Also He enters into the various Archa forms (temple vigrahams)

to please His devotees. Desika takes each of the Lord's avatar and

attributes the most significant act in that avatar to Daya devi. For eg.:

the construction of sethu which can destroy all sins (Bahu pathaka prashama

hethuna sethuna), the Bhaghavat Gita which represents the epitome of our

spiritual treasure ( Nigama saudha deepa shriya, vipaschidhavi geethaya

jagati gitayandham tama:) are all the works of Krupa or Daya.

(10) In the last decad Desika concludes that for those who have done

Sharanagathy, Mukunda gives the Mokshanubhavam right here (Mukthanubhooti

iha dasyati meh mukunda:). He further prays to the Lord that He should be

our guide and hold us tightly with strings of love or anugraham (Baadhva

gruhana ...svayam anugraha shrunkhalabhi:).

 

In the final eight verses Desika says that he is but an instrument and

it is the Lord who chose to play that instrument to sing His glory so that

the entire humanity can partake of His love. Lord Srinivasa's Daya is

like a ocean. Desika says he tried to dive into that ocean not knowing its

limitlessness but managed to pick a few pearls here and there. Such is the

greatness of Lord Srinivasa. Desika concludes by saying that those who

recite this stotra become very dear to Thiruvenkatamudiyan (Sri Balaji) and

He will shower his devotees with all the wealth, good health and prosperity

that one may aspire for.

 

Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu