SrI deSika stotrams - 5. dayA Satakam - Part 3.

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SrI deSika stotrams - 5. dayA Satakam - Part 3.

 

SrI deSika the poet:

 

svAmi deSikan's fame as the kavi tArkika kesari is evident all

through the stotram. An outstanding example of this is where he

presents dayA or Mercy as really merciless (Slokam 26 -karuNe nishkaruNA

nirUpaNe tvam), because she is cruel to the sins of the devotees which

are scared to death and run away in front of dayA! Who but svAmi

deSikan can use the exact opposite extreme of the quality of dayA to

praise the extremely merciful nature of dayA?

 

In the very first Slokam of the stotram, he personifies the huge

venkata giri as the result of the overflowing sweet karuNA or Mercy from

Him which has now solidified like a rock candy (ikshu sAra sravantyeva

yanmUrtyA SarkarAyitam). In the next Slokam He describes the puNya

tIrtha-s in the Hills as the result of the overflow of His karuNA in the

form of AcArya paramparA, in which he takes his bath. Thus, in this one

Slokam, he pays tribute to Lord SrInivAsa for His karuNA, to the puNya

tIrtha-s, and to the AcArya parampara at the same time, and very nicely

brings out the intimate and inseparable relation of these to each other.

 

His description of Princess dayA marching in grand procession with

j~nAna bearing the torch in front and the collection of the other guNa-s

following behind, and thus dayA being the principal center of attention

and attraction, is absolutely beautiful (Slokam 11).

 

In Slokam 29, he compares our sins as food for dayA, and appeals

to dayA saying that she better feed on his sins lest she suffer from

starvation, because the rest of the world together won't have committed

enough sins for her to take care of her hunger. This is at the same

time an expression of his kArpaNya or humility, and of poetic genius.

He immediately follows that by equating himself with dayA - that he is

the leader of all that is bad and His dayA is the leader of all that is

good ahamasmi aparAdha cakravartI, tvam ca guNeshu sArvabhoumI - Slokam

30), and challenges dayA to a 'duel' as it were, and establish Her

victory by subjugating him and taking him to the feet of the Lord!

 

The vyAkhyAna kartA-s have pointed out the rasam in Slokam 85

describing the trivikrama incarnation. Here svAmi deSikan talks about

the 'anjanAdrISvara' 'stamping' all the beings in the three worlds with

the mark of His feet - anjanAdrISituh caraNa pa~nkajena a~nkitam.

anjana also means ink, and the Lord of anjana giri is the one stamping

all the beings of the three worlds with the a~njana that is the size of

His giri. He is also the Lord of SeshAcala, and He is stamping the

beings without exception (aSesham).

 

The Greatness of His guNa of dayA or karuNA:

 

This is the main topic of the stotram, and starts from Slokam

10, and continues up to Slokam 100. As I read the stotram and its

vyAkhyAnams, the following points registered in my mind the most about

Lord's guNa of dayA. While singing the praise of this guNa, SrI deSika

personifies dayA in the form of dayA pirAtti who intercedes with Him

constantly for the good of the devotees.

 

1. Lord SrInivAsa's dayA is like a treasure to those who have

surrendered to Him and who cannot perform the austere bhakti yoga etc.

This concept of His dayA leading to moksham for those who have done

SaraNAgati is emphasized in several Slokam-s in the stotram. His dayA

is referred to as aki~ncana nidhi - a treasure for the helpless who have

surrendered to Him (Slokam 10), samsAra tAriNI - one which helps in

crossing the Ocean of samsAra (Slokam 14),

 

In Slokam 20, svAmi deSikan points out that those who have surrendered

to His feet get moksha like a peasant who reaps his harvest without the

effort of ploughing his land (janimAn apavargam akr*shTa pacyam

anubhavati - Slokam 20). Here the reference to a peasant who does not

go through the effort of ploughing etc. refers to those who cannot go

through the rigors of bhakti yoga etc., but who just resort to the

effortless means of SaraNAgati.

 

In fact, bhagavAn is sitting and waiting, guided by His limitless dayA,

for the devotee to just seek the protection of His feet, like a peasant

sitting on a high pedestal (tiruvenkata giri) watching the seeds that he

has sown (the jIvATmA-s), in anticipation that the crop comes out good

(in the form of SaraNAgata-s) - Slokam 21. Even when a devotee

surrenders to Him without knowing the greatness of this act, His dayA

takes care of this devotee and he gets moksham (Slokam 54).

 

2. The guNa of dayA is the leading guNa of the Lord, without

which all other guNa-s are of no avail in helping the devotee. SrI

deSika describes this concept in different Sloka-s in different ways.

 

In Slokam 11, he describes His guNa of j~nAna as the light that His dayA

uses to first identify those in need of His protection, and then dayA

takes over, and uses all His other guNa-s in full force to help the

devotee. Thus dayA is in full control, and even the Lord just follows

whatever is dictated by dayA, which is nothing but the good of the

devotee.

 

In Slokam 15, he points out that in fact all the other guNa-s such as

His Sakti etc., will be detrimental to all of us in the absence of His

dayA. Imagine what will happen to all of us in the absence of His dayA

if He uses His j~nAna, which reveals all our sins to Him, and then uses

His Sakti to rightly punish us for all our sins! SrI deSika reiterates

this point in Slokam 25, where he points out that dayA is the only guNa

which can do only good to the devotee, whereas all the other guNa-s such

as vIrya, Sakti, etc. can come into effect both for helping the devotee

as well as for punishing those who commit offenses.

 

In Slokam 33, it is pointed out how His dayA protects one who has

surrendered to Him from all the sins even though all His other guNa-s

such as pakshapAta anabhi~jnam - being impartial etc., will result in

one's being punished for these sins.

 

 

3. Even His leelA-s such as pralaya are the act of His Mercy or

dayA so that the souls which are steeped in irredeemable sins are given

a fresh body and a fresh start (Sloka-s 16, 17). So also, His anger at

the enemies of His devotee-s, such as hiraNyakaSipu, is subservient to

the dayA of protecting the devotee. Thus protection, rather than

destruction, is the intended action, just as the removal of weeds from

where the crop grows is just for the protection of the crops and not for

the destruction of the weeds. (Slokam 24). This concept is

re-emphasized in Slokam 52, where we are reminded that even the

sufferings that we undergo in this life are but an act of His dayA, just

to help us get back on track when we go off-track and commit sins. This

is referred to as "the hidden act of dayA" (abha~ngura gUDha gatih) to

help us think of Him, since it is not obvious that we will be made to

suffer as part of His act of helping us.

 

There are several examples (Slokam 64) which substantiate the

fact that His "punishments" only end up being a help to the recipient in

the end because this is the nature of His dayA. kAkAsura who committed

an unforgivable offense received a punishment which spared him his life.

Sage paraSurAma received a punishment which cleared the path for him to

reach moksham. samudrarAja received a punishment which ended up

destroying his enemies.

 

4. Having re-created the world, it is His dayA again which has

given us the great treasure of the veda-s as a means to remove the

a~jnAna or ignorance in this world (Slokam 18). Slokam 46 reinforces

this thought, where SrI deSika points out that induced by His dayA He

has extended His 4. It is God's immense grace that He has given us the

Sastra-s as guide to us for realizing Him and for removing our aj~nAnam

(Slokam 18). By His dayA, He has extended His hand of help for those

who are struggling in the ocean of samsAra by revealing the different

veda SAkhA-s Slokam 46). In Slokam 47, reference is made to bhagavAn

creating "sva SAstram" (interpreted as referring to the pA~ncarAtra) for

our benefit - again induced by His dayA - in order to make it easier for

us to reach Him than through the veda-s. In parallel, He created the

mAyA Sastra-s also, just to mislead the enemies of His devotees away

from Him - mAyA SAstrANyapi tvat-prapanna pratIpAn damayitum, just as a

part of His leelA. The point to note is that everything that happens is

because it is His will, and He does everything only for the benefit of

His devotees.

 

5. His taking various incarnations is nothing but an aspect of

His dayA, even though many may consider that He takes these incarnations

as a part of His leelA. In reality, He relieves the devotee who has

done SAraNAgati to Him from future births in this world, and instead He

assumes their future births and takes the various incarnations, even

though in this process He gets insulted by ignorant beings such as

rAvaNa, hiraNyakaSipu, SiSupAla, duryodhana, etc. These incarnations

are just so more devotees can realize His dayA and surrender to Him and

be relieved of their sins.

 

In fact, the five forms (antaryAmi, arcA, vyUha, vibhava, and

para vAsudeva form) that He assumes are all because of His dayA or Mercy

towards us, to make it possible for us to reach Him step by step

starting from the more easily accessible forms such as antaryAmi or

arca, ultimately leading to the para vAsudeva form (Slokam 73).

 

In this kali yuga (kali-jvalana durgate jagati - in this world which is

being tortured by the fire of kali), it is His sheer dayA towards us

that He has incarnated in the arcA form that is easily accessible to us

in places like vr*shAdri (Slokam 81). SrI A. V. gopAlAcArya svAmi has

referred to one of SrI Sankara's vyAkhyAna-s where he has pointed out

that it is His sheer dayA which rises like a water-laden cloud and pours

out its contents on us in the form of the different incarnations.

To be continued.

 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan