bhishma-stuthi-7

[Guest guest]

srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNE namaha

sri vedanta guravE namaha

 

Dear "bhAgavatOttamA-s",

 

It will be worthwhile examining in some detail the splendid expressions in

Verse #48 of the "dayA-satakam" on the matter of "antima-smriti". A poet's

perspective is often the most truthful and revealing of all.

 

daivAt prAptE vrisha-giri-thatam dEhini tvanni-dAnAt

svAmin pAhIthya-vasha-vachanE vidanti svApamanthyam I

dEvaha srImAn dhishati karunE dhrsti-micham-stvadhIyAm

udhGhAtEna sruti-parishadA-mUtharENA-Bhi-mUKhyam II

 

Now, in the above verse Swami Desikan employs a poetic hyperbole to drive

home a "vEdAntic" truth which could be said to have subtle bearing on

"antima-smriti".

 

Let me explain myself.

 

In the above Verse, Swami Desikan describes the perfect hold that the Lord's

Consort, "dayA-devi", has on Lord Srinivasa and How he virtually "dances to

Her tunes" and "jumps" to do her bidding. If one were to use a modern phrase

to explain the Lord's behaviour, one would say that if "dayA-devi" asks the

Lord to "jump", He first asks Her, "How high, My Dear ?" !! He does so not

out of any conjugal weakness of the worldly variety by which husbands

sometimes are rendered more slavish to their spouses than they would ever

care to admit! The Lord, instead, does so for the sake of the all-consuming

Compassion that She has for His Creation !

 

In the above Verse of the Daya-satakam, Swami Desikan illustrates the above

idea of the Lord's "daya" through a skillful imagery which is not only

poetically pleasing but also relevant to the subject-matter of "antima-smriti".

 

It is as follows :

 

In the poet's imagination, a pilgrim with no spiritual "qualifications"

whatsoever, a virtual "jaDa", so to speak, visits the holy Tirumala Hills,

the abode of the Lord.

 

After worshipping the Lord, the person suddenly takes ill and lapses into a

moribund state. The time of his "prayANa kAlam" -- final departure -- arrives.

In those last moments when his faculties are rapidly failing him and he is

losing consciousness, the devotee utters a phrase involuntarily and

incoherently..... what Swami Desikan in the above verse calls "svAmin

pAhIthya-vasha-vachanE" .. meaning "the Lord ...protects !".

 

Now, it must be understood that the "pAhithya-vachanE" of the devotee is not

being uttered by him with full control of his senses. The words fall out of

his mouth not with any deliberate intention on his part. In his dying

moments the poor pilgrim is not even aware of what he is saying. The words

"svAmin pAhi !" (Lord save) which the devotee utters, in fact, sounds like

the blabbering of a man about to breathe his last (somewhat like the

"pressure-cooker" sounds I described a few posts ago when I related my dear

grandmother's moments on the death-bed in Tirupati)!

 

At that very moment ... Swami Desikan, the "kavi-simham" imagines ... at

that moment "dayA-devi" arrives ! She hears the devotee blabber "svAmin

pAhi". Instantly she turns to the Lord with a sharp look that is at once

both commanding and appealing.

 

Now, the Lord perfectly understands that strange "look" on His Consort's face!

In fact He is especially fond of that "special look" on Her face and

something which He always eagerly awaits. It's a "look", a glance, that adds

an extra dimension of beauty to Her exquisite face. Like any husband the

Lord, too, wants to see that strangely exciting "look" on his Consort's face !

 

(Personally, I can't vouch for the feeling myself, but I have heard certain

gents say they love the "look" of their spouse when she is angry !! They say

it "makes the missus look so much more beautiful" !! The "kavi-simham", with

his incisive insight into human psychology, seems to have been well aware of

the 'kinky' preferences of some doting husbands, I guess!)

 

Anyway, in the "dayA-satakam", the Lord is quick to recognize that lovely

look, that sharp glance, from "dayA-devi" who sits beside the dying devotee.

That look of Hers seems to silently query the Lord as to how He proposes to

respond to the dying soul uttering the words "Lord Save" .... "svAmin pAhi

!" That "look" of Hers seems to "command" the Lord to respond; it also

"appeals" to Him to shower His Kindness on Her beloved ward, the dying pilgrim !

 

In the Verse, Swami Desikan next captures the scene of the Lord's response

brilliantly.

 

In deference to "dayA-dEvi", the Lord immediately responds to the dying

devotee's garbled exclamation of "svAmin pAhi !" with an equally short and

clipped answer.

 

The answer of the Lord, Swami Desikan writes, is : "Om" ("Of course, yes !!") !!

 

In other words, the Lord's answer to the dying devotee is a Vedic pun or

what the "kavi-simham" terms as "udhGhAtEna sruti-parishad". In Sanskrit,

scholars say, the "udhGita", signifies "praNavam" in the "sAma-veda" mode

i.e. the primordial sound of eternal Truth experienced by the ancient

"rshis". The intonation of "praNavam" through a certain inflection of the

voice can also be said to denote ASSENT as in ... "Of course, Yes !".

 

Now, it is extremely interesting to note here that the above pun invoked by

Swami Desikan in this poetic scene serves 3 great "Purposes of AFFIRMATION"

of the famous Upanishadic statement : "satyam, gnyAnam, anantham brahmhA".

 

(A) Firstly, the Lord's prompt "Yes" to the dying devotee is seen to be

pleasing to His Consort, "dayA-dEvi", the agency of Divine Compassion, whose

every whim He craves to fulfill. This is an "Affirmation of the quality of

Compassion (Daya)" inherent in the nature of "para-brahmham".

 

How so ?

 

The quality of Compassion and Forgivance("dayA") is said to be a natural

off-shoot of true "gnyAnam". I think it was a Western philosopher, George

Santayana, who once remarked that "TO KNOW EVERYTHING IS TO FORGIVE

EVERYTHING". In the same vein, when the above Upanishadic statement refers

to "para-brahmham" as "sarvagnyan" (All-Knower) it also implies that the

"all-knowing One is also the all-forgiving One". Hence, the exquisite

aptness of Swami Desikan's poetic emphasis on "dayA" as the redeeming agent

for the soul at the time of its "antima-prayANam" (final journey).

 

(B) Secondly, the Lord's response,"Yes, of course!", takes the truth of the

"varAha-charama-shlOka" one step higher in its exaltation. It is an

"Affirmation of Truth (Satyam)" which is also inherent in the nature of

"para-brahmham" as per the Upanashadic statement (vAkyam).

 

How so ?

 

We saw that in the "varaha-charama-shlokam", the Lord gives his Guarantee of

Protection to devotees who surrender to Him in their early, youthful

condition of existence when their MIND-BODY EQUIPMENT IS FIT ("stiThE manasi

susvasTE sharIrE sati yO nara-ha") much in contrast to what it's condition

is, usually, at the time of "antima-prayAnam".

 

Now in the scene that Swami Desikan skillfully weaves for us in Verse #48 of

the "dayA-satakam", the poet leaves us unsure of the dying pilgrim's

"qualifications" as a "prapanna". We have no means of knowing if the pilgrim

did sumbit to Narayana in his "younger and fitter" days.

 

But what is certain is that the pilgrim, in his dying moments, has somehow

managed to retain a degree of mental clarity quite sufficient to be able to

articulate, albeit incoherently, the words "svAmin pahi!".

 

Now, in the dramatic situation that Swami Desikan has created in this Verse,

the Lord hears those two simple words of the dying pilgrim and is

immediately reminded of the Solemn Guarantee He gave in the

"varaha-charama-shlOka"!

 

Momentarily, He is unsure whether that Guarantee, given to "younger and

fitter" souls, is now applicable to the dying pilgrim for whom "dayA-devi"

is vehemently interceding ! The Lord knows that the dying devotee is

physically infirm and yet has managed to blabber a few words in praise of

His Glory in the last, doddering moments of his time on earth.

 

In this very dramatic situation Swami Desikan constructs, the Lord has no

choice but to give the 'benefit of doubt' to the dying pilgrim and grant him

salvation. Because, if He did not (Swami Desikan would have us believe) if

the Lord failed to do so, He would be seen to be reneging on the Guarantee

enshrined in the "varaha-charama-shlOka".

 

Further, if the Lord did renege, then, the Upanashid "vAkyA" -- "brahmha"

being "satyam" --- would be grievously invalidated.

 

Thus, in the vivid scene that Swami Desikan evokes in this Verse of the

'Daya-satakam', we see the Lord "squirming under pressure" (if one may be

permitted to use the expression)! Lord Srinivasa gets "pressured" into

granting salvation to the dying pilgrim regardless of whether or not he'd

turned to the Lord in his youth! This happens because:

 

(1) The Lord's Own Credibility as described in the Upanashid "vakya" ---

"satyam brahmha" --- was at stake !

 

(2) His beloved Consort, "dayA-devi", had to be "humoured" at all costs !

 

(3) He had to perforce allow the provisions of the "varaha-charama-shlOka"

to be interpreted (in a legal sense!) as widely and flexibly as possible so

as to enable an "otherwise unqualified" pilgrim, breathing his last, to

claim the Lord's Protection on the strength of having merely uttered two

simple words : "hE svAmin pahi" !!

 

The Lord, therefore in this scene, had no choice but to rush to AFFIRM the

Upanishadic statement of "satyam brahmha" with a Vedic pun Swami Desikan

describes as "udhGhAtEna sruti-parishad!!"

 

© And finally, the Lord's answer of "Yes", skillfully couched in a Vedic

pun, is also an "Affirmation of Eternal Validity (Anantham)" since "vedA"

itself is known to be timeless ! A Guarantee chosen to be conveyed through

an Instrument of immortality becomes immortal itself ! No clause of

limitation ever becomes operative in such cases.(It is so even in modern

legal jurisprudence !)

 

Also subtly signified in this verse of the 'dayA-satkam' is that His "dayA"

and His "satyam" are both "anantham" .... endless or limitless.

 

Swami Desikan's poetic conception of this particular situation in the

"daya-satakam", thus, may be metaphorically compared to the fisherman's net

that swiftly captures the great big, elusive fish of an idea called

"antima-smriti" roaming the deep waters of a pond called the

"varaha-charama-shlOka"; and the bait that Swami Desikan uses to lure the

fish into the net is the Upanishadic statement of "satyam gnyAnam anantham

brahmhA" !

 

All of Verse #48 of the 'Daya-satakam' is, hence, a simply marvellous

example of poetic imagination being applied to explain the underlying basis

of SriVaishnava doctrine on "antima-smriti" !

 

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

 

In the next post let's move on to other key phrases in the First stanza of

the "bhisma-stuthi" which, too, yields a wealth of philosophical significance.

 

srimathe srivan satagopa sri narayana yathindra mahadesikaya namaha

sudarshan