Sri DehaLIsa sthuthi --Part 4

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Dear Members of the Prapatthi group :

 

Sriman NArAyaNan is sakalEthara VilakshaNan (i-e) ,

He is matchless ( tann OppAr Illappan ) . He is the one that

nothing can match or exceed with regard to His kalyANa GuNAs

(viz) ; Sowlabhyam ( ready accessibility to His devotees ) ,

Sowseelyam ( free and easy communion with His devotees ) ,

sarva jana rakshathvam , infinite Daya (grace and compassion )

that confers on the Mumukshus ( seekers of Moksham ) the status

of apahathapApmathvam ( the pristine state of complete freedom

from all sins attained by the prapannA due to His DayA ) .

 

When the three AzhwArs ( divya sUris ) were squeezed in the dehaLi

of Mrugandu Muni's aasramam , in a spirit of eika kantyam

( unified thought with out dissonance) , they poured out their

hearts to their sarva swAmi in three hundred moving verses,

which are testaments to their svAbhAvika ( natural , innate )

Parabhakthi , ParajnAnam and ParamajnAnam .

 

Let us focus on the above three important concepts .

The first of the three Mudal AzhwArs ( Poygai ) inferred

( intuited ) Sriman NaarAyaNA' s existence (being )

through his transcendent knowledge ( parajnAnam ) .

Through this effort , he removes the outter darkeness

as it were .

 

The second AzhwAr ( PutattAr ) "through maturing gnosis "

transforming into devotion experienced Sriman NaarAyaNA

at the dehaLi . This is the fruit of his parabhakthi . He drove

away the inner darkness this way .

 

The third Divya sUri ( Pey ) through his intuitive union of

knowledge and devotion (parama JnAnA ) had the divya chkshus

( divine vision ) for all the three of them to see the auspicious

subhAsrayam ( thirumEni ) of the Lord with MahA Lakshmi

and the Lord's disc and conch at the small space of

the dehaLi . This is " the mayarvara mathi nalam "

referred to by NammAzhwAr. Bhakthi and JnAnam

mingle and become BhakthirupApanna JnAnam .

At this stage , JnAnam ripens and transforms to

parabhakthi . They are not easily separable according

to AchArya RamAnujA . He states " Semushi BhakthirUpA " .

With the blessings of their svAbhAvika parajnAnA , Parabhakthi

and paramajnAnA , the three AzhwArs had the sAkshAthkAram

( direct vision ) of the Lord and His consort on that dark ,

rainy night at Gopapuri .

 

Swami Desikan reflects on the blessings conferred on

the three AzhwArs by Sriman NaarAyaNA's dayA and

aasritha vaathsalyam and longs for a similar blessing .

He pours out his heart in 28 brilliant slokAs housing

great Sri VaishNavA doctrines that echo the thoughts

enshrined in the three hundred celebratory verses

of the three ThiruvandhAthis dealing with the three

rahasyams .

 

He suggests that the the three doctrines (concepts )

( tattva , hitha and purushArtham ) are derived from the three

ThiruvandhAthis . Our AchAryAs have revealed to us that

" the paramount thatvam or Parama Thatvam " is none

other than Sriman NaarAyaNA " , the antharyAmi of all

the chEthanAs and the AchEthanAs . The AchAryAs

have reitireated that our paramahitham, " the only means

to gain our Lord's grace is SaraNAgathi " . They have

untiringly revealed to us in one voice that the parama-

purushArtham is nithya kaimkaryam to His bhagavathAs

on this earth and eternal service to Him in parama padham .

Our Sri Dileepan's summary of the upadesam of

Srimadh Azhagiya Singar on the occasion of his prapatthi

endearingly enshrine these ancient and eternal thoughts

for our ujjevanam ( Sri Nrusimha PriyA of North America ,

August 1997 issue ) .

 

Swami Desikan was essentially reflecting on these

eternal truths , when he stood before the Moola VirAt

of Trivikrama at thirukkOvalUr and thought about the special

drama that the Lord played in this divya desam to confer

His blessings on the three "Mudal AazhwArs " and begged

for a similar blessing from the Lord . Thus arose the twenty

eight verses of the moving DehaLIsa Sthuthi .

 

I will now cover the individual verses in subsequent postings

and comment on their literal and inner meanings . In these

efforts , I am guided by the commentaries of my Maanaseeka

AachAryA , Sri V.N. Srirama DesikAchAr Swamy of my native

place , a great Sri Swami Desika BhakthA , Sri Dindukkal

Ramaswamy AyyangAr and Abhinava Desika Sri UttamUr

VeerarAghavAchArya Swami . May Swami Desikan bless

these paultry efforts attempted in a spirit of sharing my

limited understanding of this vast and complex subject .

 

Swami Desiakn ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan