Sri DehaLeesa Sthuthi : Part 12 ( Slokmas 16- )

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhakthi Group Members :

 

We will continue with the 17th to 22nd slokam in this

posting . In the 17 th slOkam , Swami Desikan refers

to the Lord's special blessings to the Mudal AzhwArs.

The slOkam is a s follows :

 

kreetAparENa bahvathA vihithOparOdhAn

aarAdhakhAn anuparOdham udhanchayishyan I

thAmrENa paadha nakarENa tathA anda madhyE

ghanDApatham kamapi noonam avarthayasthvam II

 

( Extended Meaning ) : O Lord of ThirukkOvalUr ! You are

always fond of sporting with Your adiyArs. You joined the

three devotees of Yours at the small space of a DehaLI

and squeezed them . They experienced You , saw You

and eulogised with the most exquisite paasurams . You were

naturally very pleased . You wanted to confer special boons

on them and decided to create a broad highway for them to

travel without congestion as in the archirAdhi maargam .

It appears that the effulgence of the nails of Your uplifted

foot radiated far and wide as though to serve as the broad

raaja maargam for their travel to Your parama padham .

 

The Lord seemed to make amends for playing games

on His aarAdhakAs by squeezing them tightly at the small

space of a dEhaLI . He decided to create a king's highway

marked by the red lustre of His toe-nails .

 

SlOkam 18 :

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

 

kaamaavilEpi karuNArNava bindhurEkha:

kshiptha: svakELi tarasA tava DehaLeesa I

tathsanthathE : ubhayathA vithathim bhajanthyA :

samsAra dhAva dahanam samayath asEsham II

 

( extended Meaning ) : O Lord of the DehaLI ! Your daya

is an infinite ocean . It is enough even a small drop from

that limitless ocean to fall on the chethanA , who is

sinking in the quick sand of perishable worldly

pleasures . That pitiable state arises from their

avivEkham . When the droplet of Your DayA falls on

the ChEthanA , that expands into the many branches of

Bhakthi and Prapatthi as UpAyams . That drop will grow

as the wild fire and burn away the samSaric afflictions of

that chEthanA . Thus a chEthanA spoiled by his overpowering

worldly desires quells the fierce forest -fire of SamsArA .

 

Swami Desikan goes out of his way to assure that the Lord's

dayA is available not only to the mudhal AzhwArs , but also to

every one wallowing in samsArA . The tiniest particle of

His mercy splits into the two upAyams --Bhakthi and Prapatthi --

and banishes our samsAric afflictions .

 

SlOkam 19 :

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

 

Swami prays here for the Lord's grace to uplift

him from the terror of SamsArA . He reminds the Lord

( Naathan ) that He is all powerful ( Saarvabhouman )

and He should lift him up with His own hands like

the emperor coming to the rescue of a little bird that

has fallen from its nest . The slOkam with

its tender appeal is as follows:

 

neeDOdhaan nipathithasya sukhArbhasya

thrANEna Naatha viharanniva Saarvabhouma: I

aadhAya GopanagarAdhipathE svayam maam

kreeDA dhayA vyathikarENa kruthArThaya thvam II

 

( Extended Meaning ) : O GopanagareesA ! O Lord !

When the emperor sees during his travel thru the forest

a little parrot that fell off from its mother's nest , he lifts it

up playfully , restores it to the comfort of its nest and

plays with it . He does not think about his superior rank

at that time . O Prabhu ! Thou should in a similar fashion

lift me up with your own hands imbued with a sense of

play and mercy and make my life a fruitful one .

 

Swami Desikan asks the Lord to lift him up from

the samsAra BhUmi to which he has fallen in a

spirit of mercy . He begs for the Lord's daya and

mercy to come to his rescue and make him realize the

purpose of being born as a human being (i-e)., to worship

Him and reach His parama padham .

 

SlOkam 20 :

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

 

In this slOkam . Swami Desikan begs the Lord to

give him a hand so that His consort will be pleased

over His act of dayA . The slOkam is as follows :

 

leelA sakunthamiva maam svapadhOpalabdhyai

svairam kshipan dhuritha panjarathO guNastham I

tath thAthrusam kamapi Gopapuree vihArin

santhOsham ullaLaya Saagara sambhavAyA : II

 

Swami says here that the Lord should not rescue him

out of His dayA for him , but to please the Lady , who came out

of the milky Ocean and married Him . Swami describes

his state as one of extremely limited movement ,

since he is tightly bound by the ropes of the three guNaas .

He appeals to the Lord to treat him like He would treat the parrot

with which He plays and lift him up to parama padham

after freeing him from the cage of sins .

 

Swami has a clever appeal here to the Lord. Please do

not do it for me , but think of the joy of Your consort , when

She witnesses Your act of kindness to me , Her son . She

will be overjoyed at your display of dayA . Please release me

from the cage of sins and release me out of your

own sankalpam in a sportive mood and fill the heart

of Your consort with joy says Swami Desikan .

 

SlOkam 21 :

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

 

Swami DEsikan continues to appeal fervently to

rescue from the trammels of samsArA in this and

the subsequent verses:

 

vaathUla kalpa vrujina prabhavair madheeyAm

vaiyAkuleem vishaya sindhu taranga bhangai : I

dAsOpamardha saha dhurnirasAm tvadhanyai :

anveekshya gAtam anukampithum arhasi thvam II

 

( Extended Meaning ) : O Lord , who bore with the pressure

of your true devotees at a small space ! I am one , who has

accumulated unlimited sins. Just as the winds of a cyclone

grows the waves of the ocean to great heights , my bundle of

sins become larger and larger as a result of the enjoyment of

the worldly pleasures . As a result , my mind is in an agitated

state . Fully knowing that there is no one except You ,

who could banish my fear and restore my tranquility ,

please come to my rescue ! .Taking note of my pitiable state ,

please shower Your nectar of mercy on me and save me !

 

O Lord ! I am being tossed from here to there and all over

by the huge waves of the ocean of stormy samsArA . My state

is like the dire one described by NammAzhwAr before :

 

aavArAr thuNai yenru alai neerkkadaluL azhundhum

naavAi pOl pravikkadaluL ninru naan thuLanga

 

Sri D.Ramaswami IyengAr's decription of the state

of Swami Desikan is moving : " You , my Lord , know

very well that except You no one can help me ; no one

else can dry out the sea , whose waves are tossing me thus .

See with Your own eyes my desparate plight and come to my

rescue . Pray extend your intense daya , which includes Grace ,

Mercy , Compassion , Sympathy and such other similar

sentiments ."

 

SlOkam 22 :

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

 

yEnasvineemithi sadhA mayi jAyamAnam

dEhaLyadheesa dhrushathOpi vilApayantheem I

NaathE saamgra sakanE tvayi jAgarUkE

kim thE sahEtha karuNA karuNAmavasthAm II

 

( Meaning ) : O Lord of ThirukkOvalUr ! My sorrowful state

characterized by my bundle of sins continues . Even the stones

will melt , when they take note of my helpless state . All those

who see me will surely be moved by my sufferings . You are

the all powerful SarvEsvan . You are witnessing this too ! How

can Your karuNA bear with the continuation of this state of

mine ? Your Daya will surely come to my rescue . When You

are alert to my sufferings , how can Your DayA dEvi stay quite ?

 

This slOkam has been recognized by the students of

Swami Desikan 's works to be one of the most moving

pleas by him to the Lord . He describes his sins as

sadhA mayi jAyamAnam or those which keep growing

in me . Sri D.R Swami compares the avasthA of Swami

Desikan to that of NammAzhwAr , when he declares ,

" Poyi ninra j~nanamum , pollA ozhukkum

azhukkudambhum " . NammAzhwAr goes on to describe

his state as one that the Lord alone can comprehend and

as being impossible to describe ( inninra nErmai ) .

 

Swami Desikan describes further his state as the one

at which even the stones will lament on sight ( dhrushathOpi

vilApayantheem ) . Sri D.R . Swami recalls NammAzhwAr and

Kamban 's descriptions in this context .NammAzhwAr declared:

" MarangaLum irangum vahai MaNivaNNa ! Oh ! " > Kamban

described the unimaginable sorrow of Bharathan over the

despicable deed of his mother and calls BharathA as

" kal kaniya kanihinra thuyarAn " ( One who melts away

in grief of a magnitude that will make even stones melt ) .

 

After this overpowering statement about his state of sorrow ,

Swami Desikan looks up at DehaLeesan and recognizes

that the Lord is all powerful , most compassionate and

fully aware of his sufferings . He begins to wonder how

the Lord's Daya can be held under control . He cries out :

" Your DayA will certainly not put up with this condition

of mine " . He is consoled by the thoughts of KurEsa

under similar straits that made him declare :

tvadh j~nana sakthi karuNAsu satheeshu nEha paapam

parAkramithum arhathi maamakeenAm " . KurEsa

says here : " My sins should not get the upper hand

as long as your J~nAnam , sakthi ,and Dayaa are all

in tact and safe " . KurEsa nudges the Lord and reminds

Him of His capabilities lest He forgot .

 

Swami Desikan follows the path of AzhwArs and remembers

that the sakthi alone of the Lord without His karuNA

will not be of much use in rescuing the suffering ones .

 

His SaraNAgatha rakshakthvam can come into full play,

only when His sakthi and DayA ride in tandem . As the supreme

being , it is His duty to protect us and we have no othe rrefuge

as reminded by AzhwAr : KaLaivAi thunbham kaLaiyAthu

ozhiyAyai kaLaikaNN maRRilEn "

 

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppilaippan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan