SrI deSika stotra-s - 5. dayA Satakam - Concluding part.

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SrI deSika stotrams - 5. dayA Satakam.

 

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

 

6. Even though we do our utmost to push Him to the limit of His

patience by our repeated violations of all that is laid down in the

Sastra-s, His dayA keeps Him under control, and He patiently stands at

the top of the venkata giri, hoping that He will win in the end (Sloka-s

27, 28) in attracting us to His feet.

 

7. There is nothing that is not obtained by His dayA. The

position of Siva, brahma, or moksha for that matter, are all the direct

results of His dayA (Slokam 53).

 

8. His dayA is such that He brings Himself to the level of those who

have devoted themselves to His service. Abundant examples are from His

RAmAvatAra and Kr*shNAvatara. His association with guha, sugriva, and

SabarI in His RAma incarnation, and with kucela, the gopika-s, the

hunch-backed woman in kamsa's service, and the mAlAkAra in His Kr*shNa

incarnation are all demonstrations of His immense dayA (Sloka 65).

 

dayA Satakam and daSAvatAram

 

There is a daSAvatAra stotram that is built into dayA Satakam

(Slokams 82 to 90). The main emphasis of SrI deSika in this

description is that no matter what the act of bhagavAn is, it is for the

benefit of the devotees. Thus, when he describes the paraSurAma

avatAram in Slokam 86, the destruction of the kshatriya kings is really

an act of His dayA since this led them to moksha by absolving them of

all their sins. Similarly, the balarAma avatAra is another act of daya

where His seeming intoxication is ascribed as a pretext for His not

noticing the deficiencies of the likes of duryodhana who had sought His

protection. At the end of the kali yuga, when the Lord is going to

assume His kalki incarnation and ride the white horse with a powerful

sword in hand to

eliminate the sins of those sinners who are left, the rays emanating

from this sword are nothing but the flashes of His dayA to establsih the

kr*ta yuga and dharma.

 

Another aspect of His incarnations is that bhagavAn assumes these

vibhava forms in His dayA to protect us through various acts such as His

katAksham, His thoughts etc (samIkshaNa vicintana prabhr*tibhih). This

is pointed out in the description of the matsya and kUrma incarnations

in Slokam 82. SrI va~ngIpuram rAmadeSikAcArya svAmi points out that

according to prAni-SAstra, a fish nurtures its young ones through its

power of watching, and a turtle protects its young ones by its thought

itself. The rasam here is that the Lord protects us through His

katAksham, through His thoughts, and every means possible. The yogic

meditation is reminiscent of the Turtle who was beginning to "snore" in

comfort because of the comfortable "rubbing"on His back the mandAra

mountain was being supported and the ocean churned, to the accompaniment

of great noise from the deva-s and asura-s (see the daSAvatAra stotram).

 

In Slokam 85 svAmi deSikan describes the trivikrama incarnation as an

expression of His Mercy where He stamped all the beings of all three

worlds with the touch of His holy feet. The reference to bhagavAn in

this Slokam is a~njanAdrISituh - the Lord of a~njana giri, but a~njana

also means "ink", and the poetic rasam behind the Lord of "a~njana giri"

or the huge "mound of inkstamping" everyone has been pointed out by

the vyAkhyAna kartA-s.

 

Slokam 83 refers to His dayA which led to the varAha incarnation to

restore the submerged Earth during pralaya. In Slokam 84, we see the

nr*simha avatAra, where the Lord shows His frightful appearance to

hiraNyakaSipu, and at the same time reveals His pleasing katAksham to

prahlAda

 

In Slokam 87, the creation of the sacred setu dam is described as an act

of dayA by Lord rAma. It is customary that prior to SaraNAgati, the

prapanna goes to the setu and has the darSanam of the sacred place where

vibhIshNa SaraNAgati took place. In Slokam 88 svAmi deSikan points out

that the real purpose of kr*shNAvatara was to give us the bhagavadgItA

to help us get rid of the darkness of a~jnAna, and the destruction of

the likes of kamsa was just a vyAja or excuse for the incarnation.

 

The Summary Slokam:

 

In Slokam 100, svAmi deSikan prays to the Lord's dayA to bless

him with the experience of the mukta-s in this world itself for the rest

of his life. SrI A. V. gopAlAcArya svAmi points out the similar appeal

in abhIti stavam which we have covered earlier in this series. Lord

SrInivAsa is referred to as mukunda, meaning He is the moksha pradAyaka.

In abhIti stavam (Slokam 20), he refers to bhuvi mukunda - the mukundan

or the moksh pradAyaka in this world itself. SrI sevA srInivAsa

rAghavAcArya svAmi comments that Slokam 100 is like the completion of

the brahmotsava for dayA devi.

 

nAtah param kimapi me tvayi nAthanIyam

mAtardaye mayi kurushva tathA prasAdam |

baddhAdaro vr*shagiri-praNayI yathAsau

muktAnubhUtimiha dAsyati me mukundah: ||

 

"Oh My Mother dayA devi! I don't have anything more to ask of

you than this - Please bless me such that Lord SrInivAsa - the mukunda

or the One who bestows moksham, who takes pleasure in residing in vr*sha

giri - is pleased with me and bestows on me in this world the

experience of the Eternal Bliss that is experienced by the muktas in

SrIvaikunTham".

 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan