SrI deSika stotra-s - 3. bhagavad-dhyAna sopAnam.

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SrI deSika stotrams - 3. Bhagavad dyAna sopAnam.

 

This is the third stotram being covered in this series. The

intent of this write-up, as in the previous ones in this sequence, is to

give a very broad view of the stotram with the desire that it will give

the motivation to go deeper into the stotram as the next step. Sri

deSika sings the beauty of Lord ranganAtha in this stotram. The word

sopAnam means steps, and is probably derived from sa and upAyana (going

near, approaching). In this stotram, SrI deSika describes Lord

ranganAtha's beauty part by part starting from His lotus feet all the

way up to His kirItam (The Sacred Crown). He points out in the

concluding Slokam that one who is desirous of yoga or union with the

Lord will find it easy to climb through the steps needed for this by

acquiring the necessary bhakti by chanting this stotram. This is the

reason for the title 'sopAnam'.

 

This stotram follows the example of SrI tiruppANazhvAr's

composition amalanAdipirAn which is also a similar composition on Lord

ranganAtha, except that AzhvAr's composition is in tamizh while SrI

deSika's composition is in samskr*t. Both stotrams start with the

description of the Sacred Feet of Lord ranganAtha, and end with the

praise of His eyes, face, kirItam, etc. It is SrIvaishNava tradition

that when we have the darSanam of the Lord in the temples, we start with

viewing His feet first. When the arcaka-s do the karpUra-Arati, they

start with the pAda-sevA, and then gradually give us the sevA all the

way through the sevA of vaksha-sthala mahA lakshmi, up to the Sacred

facial view and the kirItam of the Lord.

 

When I read SrI rAmaseSikAcAryar svAmi's interpretations on some

of the Sloka-s in this stotram, I was reminded of the AzhvAr-s who

imagine themselves as a friend of the Lord, or as a mother, or as a

consort, etc. when they have bhagavAn's anubhavam in the form of their

compositions. In composing the bhagavad-dhyAna sopAnam, svAmi deSikan's

mind seems to have been in the state of a young girl in deep love with

Lord ranganAtha. Thus when he describes the Lord's hands in Slokam 7,

he describes his mind as a she-elephant which is enjoying the tight

embrace by the Lord's beautifully decorated hands. In Slokam 10, where

he summarizes his anubhavam of the Lord, SrI rAmaseSikAcArya interprets

svAmi deSikan's thoughts as that of a young girl who is in love with the

Lord and who is having this great anubhavam of the Lord first by

touching His delicate feet with both her hands, then gently touching His

ankles with devotion, then having the sparSam of His Sacred

vaksha-sthalam or chest, then enjoying the rapture of touching His

beautiful face, and then losing herself in the beauty of His kirItam.

 

There are a total of 12 Sloka-s in the stotram. The poet in svAmi

deSikan is evident throughout the stotra. In the Slokam where he

describes the Lord's ankles, he points out that by worshipping those

ankles which helped the Lord "go" fast as a messenger to the pAndava-s,

we can get rid of the need to "go" in the samsAra-mArga. When

describing His nabhI-kamalam, SrI deSikan compares it to the deep vortex

formed during the pralaya which can hide the whole Universe in it, and

where the pollen dust from the lotus flowers have settled, leading to

new lotus flowers bearing new brahma-s in each kalpa. It is also like

the big vortex formed from the flooding beauty of the Lord. When he

describes the Lord's vaksha-sthalam, he loses himself totally in Lord

ranganAtha's beauty. This vaksha-sthalam is decorated by the beautiful

white SrIvatsam mole, blessed naturally by the sacred touch of the lotus

feet of mahAlakshmi since She resides on His vaksha-sthala, and is

shining at the same time red because of the kaustubha pearl, green and

other different colors because of the tulasi and the vyjayanti mAlA-s,

and white like the moon because of the white pearl necklace decorating

His chest. His hands are like the pArijAta tree, only special because

these can give moksha to those who have done prapatti to Him, whereas

the pArijata can give only things other than moksha. His face is turned

on the side as if to welcome those who come to Him even from a distance,

His smiling lips look like they are speaking to His devotees, and His

eyes look like they are graciously welcoming those who are coming to

Him. While describing His kirItam, svAmi deSikan describes the

beautiful locks of hair on which the kirItam rests. These locks of hair

are "curled liked the twisted words from the angry women of cola deSam".

 

 

After the description of his anubhava of the Lord in detail,

svAmi deSikan summarizes his feelings of the darSanam of the mUlavar and

utsa-mUrti in the penultimate two Slokam-s. The last Slokam is the

phala-Sruti. This overall organization is similar to what we saw in the

daSAvatAta stotram we visited last week. Just as we had one Slokam in

the daSAvatAra stotram that summarized the ten incarnations, here we

have two Sloka-s that summarize the Lord's beauty. I am including these

two "summary" Sloka-s with their brief meanings.

 

"pAdAmbhojam spr*Sati bhajate ranganAthasya ja~nghAm

Uru-dvandve vilagati SanairUrdhvamabhyeti nAbhim |

vakshasyAste valati bhujayor-mAmikeyam manIshA

vaktrAbhikhyAm pibati vahate vAsanAm mauLi-bandhe ||

 

"My mind dwells on the sacred Lotus Feet of Lord ranganAtha,

then moves to enjoy the darSana of His ankles, then rests well on the

enjoyment of His majestic thighs, reaches His nabhI-kamalam, gets set on

the vaksh-sthalam, revolves around His majestic hands, drinks the nectar

of the darSanam of His beautiful face, and sets finally on His kirItam".

 

"kAntodArair_ayamiha bhujaih ka~nkaNajyA-kiNA~ngaih

lakshmI-dhAmnah pr*thula-parighair_lakshitAbhIti-hetih |

agre kincit bhujaga-Sayanah svAtmanaivAtmanh san

madhye ra~ngam mama ca hr*daye vartate sAvarodhah ||

 

"This great Lord ranganAtha who is resting on Adi-Sesha,

 

and whose hands are beautiful, bestow all that is wished for by

the devotees, has the imprint of the bangles as well as the mark of the

bow-string left by bearing the bow in the process of carrying it for

destroying His enemies, look like they are there to protect the

vaksha-sthalam which is the dwelling place of mahAlakshmi, and carry the

divine Ayudha-s that can drive away any and all fears that the devotee-s

may be exposed to by their mere darSanam,

 

is also presenting Himself in the form of His utsava-mUrti along

with His divine consorts under the SrIranga-vimAna in the heart of

Srirangam as well in my heart".

 

In the last Slokam, the phala-Sruti, the great AcArya pleads to

the Lord on our behalf to confer on us eternal and unswerving bhakti to

help us "ascend" with ease to the level of what the great yogi-s

accomplish only by intense effort.

 

Even though what follows is not part of bhagavad-dhyAna sopAnam

which is the topic of the present write-up, I noticed a

"mini-bhagavad-dhyAna sopAnam" embedded in the hayagrIva stotram as I

was going through the latter yesterday. svAmi deSikan composed the

hayagrIva stotram as Lord hayagrIva was giving His pratyaksha darSanam

to the AcArya in tiruvahIndrapuram. In this stotram also, just as in

bhagavad-dhyAna sopAnam, we find svAmi deSikan describing his anubhavam

of Lord hayagrIva's beautiful form part by part, starting with His

sacred feet. There is a sequence of 8 Sloka-s (19 to 26) describing the

Lord's beauty. Slokam 32 is a summary of the eight Sloka-s.

 

In Sloka-s 19 to 21, svAmi deSikan describes Lord hayagrIva's

lotus feet. In Slokam 22 the beautiful anklets of the Lord are

described. Sloka-s 23 and 24 describe the Lord's two right hands

showing the j~nAna mudra and holding the japa-mAlA respectively.

Slokam 25 is a description of the Lord's sacred left hand with a book,

and Slokam 26 talks about the Lord's beautiful pure white moon-like form

as He is seated on the fresh white lotus flower . Slokam 32

(vyAkhyAmudrAm karasarasijaih...) is the dhyAna Slokam where the

over-all beauty of Lord hayagrIva is summarized. I had not included the

overall meaning of this dhyAna Slokam in my write-up on SrI hayagrIva

stotram, and so am including it here.

 

"vyAkhyAmudrAm kara-sarasijaih pustakam Sankha-cakre

bibhrad-bhinna-sphatika-rucire puNdarIke nishaNNah |

amlAna-SrIh amr*ta-viSadaih amSubhih plAvayan mAm

AvirbhUyAt anagha-mahimA mAnase vAgadhISah ||

 

(May Lord hayagrIva, the Lord who bestows His grace of

knowledge on His devotees,

 

- with the four divine hands which carry the sacred Sankha and

cakra, the book and the j~nAna mudra respectively,

- who is full of flawless greatness and eternal radiating

brilliance,

- who is seated on the beautiful white lotus which is like it

has been carved out of the pure white sphatika maNi, and

-whose greatness and brilliance are eternal and flawless,

 

always reside in my mind and grace me with His nectar-like cool

white rays so that I am always immersed in His thoughts).

 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan