SrI deSika stotra-s - 13. SrI ashTa bhujAshTakam.

[Guest guest]

Dear bhAgavatottama-s:

 

As I am resuming the write-up on deSika stotra-s, I need to reiterate that I

am not giving a true translation of svAmi deSikan's Sloka-s, but am just

putting down my blabberings as I misunderstand and misinterpret them (I

don't know what else to call them). But I am finding that I cannot stop

doing this because this is what makes me read them at least once in my life,

in the pretext of writing the so-called summary. I am sure I am

misrepresenting the great AcArya's thoughts profusely, for which I seek his

forgivenss and all the bhAgavatas' forgiveness in this forum. If any of you

feel I should stop this apacAram, for I know very well that I am commiting

an apacAram, please advise me through personal mail. Otherwise I am going

to continue this till I go through the rest of the stotra-s.

 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan

 

=================================

 

SrI deSika stotra-s - 13. SrI ashTa-bhujAshTakam.

 

ashTa bhuja means "eight hands". This stotra is about bhagavAn in His form

with eight divya-bhuja-s in the divya kshetram called ashTabhuya karam.

This divya kshetram and its sthala purANam have been covered briefly

earlier. The title for the stotra is that given by svAmi deSikan himself,

and is included in the phala-Sruti Sloka following the eight Sloka-s in

priase of this perumAL.

 

In this stotram, svAmi deSikan reminds us of bhagavAn's aiSvarya, souSIlya,

moksha-pradatva, etc., and urges us to resort to Him and no one else as the

sure way to attain moksha. This is another stotram in which he conveys the

basics of prapatti and its efficacy in very crisp terms in the short span of

eight Sloka-s (excluding the two phalaSruti Sloka-s).

 

In the first Slokam, svAmi deSikan compares our lives to one being attacked

and torn apart by our indriya-s and dragged towards them on all sides as if

by vicious crocodiles, and invokes bhagavAn's Mercy and protection just as

in the case of gajendra when attacked by the crocodile.

 

In the second Slokam, he points out the need for us to realize our always

being His dependent, and recognize our lack of independence from Him. As we

may recall, this is one of the a~nga-s of prapatti - kArpaNya. When we

observe the a~nga-s of prapatti, bhagavAn gives us the desire to seek His

Feet single-mindedly as the next step in attaining Him.

 

In the third Slokam, SrI deSikan praises bhagavAn's guNa of souSIlyam or His

greatness of mixing with even the lowliest of beings with ease. We all can

recall His greeting kucela with all the intimacy that one can imagine, doing

pAda pUjA for him with mahAlakshmi holding the pot of water, and then

sprinkling the water from the pAda pUja on His head and that of mahAlakshmi.

If bhagavAn reveals His divine divya ma~ngala vigraha or form to us right in

the beginning, it just will prevent us from approaching Him in sheer awe of

the greatness of this form. Recall the reaction of arjuna, one who lived

with bhagavAn as a close friend throughout his life, when the virAt svarUpa

was revealed to Him for a brief moment. In order to make it easy on us to

approach Him, He presents Himself to us in forms where we can approach Him

at our level, and hides His greatness from us for our benefit in the

beginning. His arcA rUpa in temples - in this stotram the ashTabhujap

perumAL - is an example of this. Then as we get used to Him, He reveals His

true form to us.

 

In Sloka-s 4 to 7 svAmi deSikan emphasizes the importance of prapatti. He

reiterates that SrIman nArAyaNa is the only one who can bestow the ultimate

that can be asked for - moksham, and all the other devatA-s can bestow only

lesser fruits. Those who have realized this truth do not resort to the

worship of anya devatA-s, but perform prapatti at the feet of bhagavAn and

devote the rest of their life to His kaimkaryam. Also, He is the only one

who can protect us, and if He does not want to protect us, no other devatA

can protect us (bhayam kutah syAt tvayi sAnukampe, rakshA kutah syAt tvayi

jAtaroshe). This again is one more reason for prapatti at the Feet of Lord

nArAyaNa alone. None of the efforts that we may undertake, such as

worshipping the anya devatA-s, will be of any use if He does not offer His

protection. If He decides to protect us, with periya pirATTi standing in

support of us by His side constantly, it does not matter what other efforts

we undertake (tvayi pravr*tte mama kim prayAsaih, tvayyapravr*tte mama kim

prayAsaih). Thus He is the only upAya, and there is no other upAya for

moksha.

 

As SrI deSikan has pointed out in several other stotra-s, he points out

again in this stotra the relative difficulty of undertaking bhakti yoga for

attaining moksha and getting it to completion in this lifetime. He

strongly recommends that prapatti mArga is the path to choose for us who

cannot observe the stringent requirements of the bhakti yoga (He obviously

considers himself in this category; so we know where we stand!).

 

Once a prapanna has done prapatti, moksham is guaranteed at the end of this

life, and the prapanna spends the rest of his life in great bliss by

performing selfless kaimkaryam at the feet of bhagavAn. The life of a

prapanna after prapatti is described in detail in nyAsa tilakam etc. In

Slokam 8 of this stotra svAmi deSikan briefly restates this.

 

In Slokam 6, svAmi deSikan makes reference to another of the tenets of SrI

vaishNava sampradAya, viz. the purushakAratvam of pirAtti, and refers to

bhagavAn as kamalA-sahAya (One who is aided by periya pirATTi) in the

context of His protection of the prapanna-s.

 

svAmi deSikan's intent in composing this stotram is two-fold: it is to

induce the desire for prapatti in those who have not yet resorted to this

path (prapitsUnAm rasAyanam), and to help as the sustenance of the trust in

the greatness of prapatti for those who have already done prapatti (prapann

jana pAtheyam). Thus it is his desire that those of us who understand the

principles laid down here about prapatti will develop the mahA viSvAsam that

is a requirement (a~nga) for prapatti. It is for the good of this world

that this stotra on ashTabhujakarap perumAl outlining the greatness and

importance of prapatti has been composed by ve~nkateSa kavi. Let us all

get one step closer to understanding the significance, ease, and efficacy of

prapatti as a result of the knowledge that svAmi deSikan has imparted to us

through this stotra.

 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan

[Guest guest]

At 07:05 PM 10/19/98 -0500, you wrote:

>

>Dear bhAgavatottama-s:

>

>As I am resuming the write-up on deSika stotra-s, I need to reiterate that I

>am not giving a true translation of svAmi deSikan's Sloka-s, but am just

>putting down my blabberings as I misunderstand and misinterpret them (I

>don't know what else to call them). But I am finding that I cannot stop

>doing this because this is what makes me read them at least once in my life,

>in the pretext of writing the so-called summary. I am sure I am

>misrepresenting the great AcArya's thoughts profusely, for which I seek his

>forgivenss and all the bhAgavatas' forgiveness in this forum. If any of you

>feel I should stop this apacAram, for I know very well that I am commiting

>an apacAram, please advise me through personal mail. Otherwise I am going

>to continue this till I go through the rest of the stotra-s.

>

>-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan

>

Dear Sri Krishnamachari :

 

This is a wonderful summary of SrI AshtabhujAshtakam

sthOthram of Swami Desikan . The thoughts underlying

this sthuthi of Sriman NaarAyaNaa has been lovingly

brought out by You .I do not think you need to be concerned

about misrepresentation of Swami Desikan's thoughts even for

a moment .

 

Whenever Swami Desikan travelled to Sri VaradarAjA's

temple for his mangaLAsAsanam from his home in Thuppul ,

he had to pass via the Ashtabhujan and YathOkthakAri temples.

The Lord of Ashtabujam made sure that He received

from His bhakthan a sthOthram .Thus arose Srimadh

AshtabhujAshtakam that you have commented upon so well.

 

During this trip of mine to Kanchi divya desams ,

I missed offering my salutations to the Lord

of Ashtabhujam , since I was waylaid by the beauty

of YahtOkthakAri .

 

SevA Swamy suggests that Swami Desikan followed the path

of Thirumangai Mannan , who wondered about the Lord

here and His dvarai to meet him with 8 hands instead of

the normal four hands . In each of the 8 hands , he holds

a different weapon or flower ( Disc, Conch , Kamalam ,

Sword , Kedayam , Bow , Arrow and Gadai ). He is ready to

battle and chase away the virOdhis that stand in the way of

His bhakthAs wishing to perform prapatthi to Him .Swami Desikan

suggests that the Lord was anxious and hence doubled His

set of hands to grant protection to SaraNAgathA quickly .

Here the name of the pushkaraNi is Gajendra PushkaraNi

and He is prathyaksham to Gajendran and is thus Gajendra

Varadan . Hence , Swami Desikan salutes Ashtabhuja PerumAL

as " GajEndra RakshA tvaritham Bhavantham " and as

"SathAm Aaptham ".

 

As in the case of the Lord , who rushed from

Sri Vaikuntam in a great hurry to the side of

the lotus pond , where His BhakthA (GajendrA )

was screaming aloud "AdhimUlamE ! Rakshasva" ,

ParakAla Naayaki feels that the Adhi Kesava PerumAL

of Ashta Bhujam rushed to her side with double

set of four hands in great haste for protection .

 

In his beautiful paasurams , Kaliyan as ParakAla

Naayaki states that she did not fully comprehend

the identity of the One , who rushed to her side

and that the Lord then replied that He is the One

who blesses the prapannAs with His Eight arms

( Ashta BhujAn KarOthi )and came for union with

Parakaala Nayaki ,who pined for Him .Kaliyan

describes this wonderful conversation to his

mother and friends thru ten beautiful paasurams .

Swami Desikan follows the path shown by Parakaala Naayaki.

 

Kaliyan wonders " Ivar aar kol ? " ( Who could

this One be? ) and the Lord repiled " atta bhuya

karatthEn yenRar " ( I am the Lord of the divya desam

of Ashta Bhujam ).

 

Kaliyan wonders aloud eight times :

 

1. ari uru aam ivar aar kol ? ( Narasimha rUpi)

2. anthaNar ponRivar aar kol ? (Vaamana rUpi)

3. ambhutham ponRu ivar aar kol?

( with the Hue of a dark cloud )

4. anchudar ponRivar aar kol ? (ancient jyOthi )

5. alaikkadal ponRivar aar kol ?

( with the bluish hue of the Ocean)

6. azhagiyathaam ivarAr kol ?

( the One with Sarvaanga soundharyam )

7. meham --ponRivarAr kol ?

( Once again the bluish hue of a cloud)

8. Yen aavi oppAr ivar aar kol?

( One who is the soul of my soul )

 

The Lord answers , " It is me , the Lord of

Ashta Bhujam that has rushed to your side" and

delights ParakAla Naayaki with that revelation .

The Lord says " I am the AttabhuyakaratthEn ".

Swami Desikan used the Naamam chosen by

the Lord Himself in His dialog with ParakAla

Naayaki to give the name of "Srimadh Ashtabhuja

Sthuthi" to this eulogy .

 

There are ten slOkams in this sthOthram . One for

each of the eight arms .The rest are pala sruthi .

In the very first slOkam , Swami Desikan performs

SaraNAgathi with the prayer: "Ashtabhujam PrapadhyE ".

Swmi concludes in one of the two pala sruthi slOkams

that this SthOthram on the Lord of Ashtabhujam is

" Prapanna Jana paathEyam , prapithsUnAm RasAyanam,

srEyasE jagathAmEthath SRIMADH ASHTA BHUJAASHTAKAM "

 

The Srimadh aspect of KamalAsahAyan is brought out here

and is described as the tasty food for one on the Jivan's

journey via archirAdhi maargam and the powerful medicine

for those , who desire to perform prapatthi .This sthuthi

is considered as the most auspicious ( Srimadh )

to the world of PrapannAs .

 

Sri KrishNamAchari : Please keep writing since such

writings only kindle kindred thoughts about the glories

of the illustrious SthOthrams of Swami Sri Desikan

and tears well in one's eyes about his divine anubhavam .

 

Daasan ,

Oppiliappan Koil VaradachAri Sadagopan