SrI deSika stotra-s - 14. SrI kAmAsikAshTakam.

[Guest guest]

Dear bhAgavata-s:

 

I thought I had sent this earlier, but I found the copy stored in the

"Drafts" section in my PC. So I assume it was not sent earlier. I hope it

is not a repetition.

 

-dAsan

 

SrI deSkia stotra-s - 14. SrI kAmAsikAshTakam.

 

This stotram is about SrI nar*simha mUrti in the divya kshetram in kA~nci by

name vELukkai or veL irukkai. vEL in tamizh means "by One's own will";

irukkai means to be seated or to be located. Since perumAL made this His

place by His own will, the place is called tiru vEL irukkai. The samskr*t

name of this stotram echoes the same meaning - kAma - by His own will, AsikA

- being seated, ashTakam - consisting of 8 Sloka-s. PerumAL's name here is

kAmAsikA narasimhan. svAmi deSikan refers to this emperumAn as kAmAsikA

harih and kAmAsikA kesarih in this stotram.

 

In tiruvELukkai, bhagavAn is in the yoga narasimha form and is seated in the

yogic posture of parya~nka bandha. He has three eyes in His narasimha form

in this kshetra. svAmi deSikan points out that His being seated in the

yogic posture of parya~nka bandham suggests that He is seated with the

determination to help all His devotees (Slokam 4), and

chose

this posture in order to give live instruction to all of us on how to

perform yoga in order to attain Him (Slokam 5 - prAyeNa praNipedushAm

prabhurasau yogam nijam Sikshayan).

 

Even though the point should have been obvious, it is worth pointing out

that the AcArya's stotra-s, in addition to praising bhagavAn and giving us

an easy way of chanting His guNa-s, seem to have as one of their objectives

the propagation of the basic tenets of SrIvaishNavism by repeatedly

re-emphasizing and re-stating them in storam after stotram. Thus we see in

this storam also svAmi deSikan bring out out several basic aspects of his

and our pUrvAcAryas' teachings. These are:

 

1. He is the object of the uttara bhAga (final part) of the veda-s, viz. the

upanishad-s (Slokam 1).

 

2. bhagavAn is the only one who can remove our tApa-traya-s. These tApa-s

are referred to by svAmi deSikan in SaraNAgati dIpikA Slokam 23 - tApatryeNa

vihatim na bhajanti santah etc. In the current Slokam, svAmi deSikan prays

to kAmAsikA harih, the perumAL of this keshetram, to burn the three tApas-s

that result from samsAra with his three eyes (the sun, the moon, and agni).

The tApa-s are: a) AdhyAtmikam - belonging to to the individual, such as

headache, cold, anger, desire, fear, etc. b) Adhi bhaudikam --those

resulting from other bhUta-s such as the birds, animals, other people etc.,

and c) Adhi daivikam - those resulting from devatA-s such as from the wind,

sun, rain, etc.

 

3. He appears in His arcA mUrti form in many of these divya-kshetra-s out of

His sheer Mercy towards us, just so that He is easily accessible to us. It

is as if bhagavAn gave up the great regard for SrI viakuNTha vAsam (vimukta

vaikunTha bahumatim) so that He can be a nitya vAsi in this beautiful

kshetram and be accessible to all of us (Slokam 3).

 

His vibhava incarnations are for the purpose of destroying His enemies and

protecting His devotees. Thus, in His narasimha incarnation, He came to

protect prhalAda and other devotees from hiraNyakaSipu. This is one of the

rahasya-s of His incarnations. This is explained by svAmi deSikan in

SaraNAgati dIpikA Slokam 17 (AtmIya rakshaNa, vipaksha vinASanArthaih). In

the current stotram, he praises this aspect of bhagavAn and seeks His

protection. He has the anubhavam of kAmAsikA narasimhan's hands fighting

with each other in their desire to perform this function (aham prathamikA

mithah prakaTita AhavAh bAhavah - Slokam 6).

 

4. bhagavAn is the only true relative we all have (bandhum akhilasya

jantoh). All the other relatives such as father, mother, etc. are only

transient relatives, and are related this way purely because of our mutual

karma-s (Slokam 4).

 

5. bhagavAn is the one who assigns functions to, and controls, all the other

devatA-s so that they perform their assigned duties without violation

(sva-sthAneshu marud-gaNAn niyamayan - Slokam 5). This has been referred by

svAmi deSikan in abhIti stavam Slokam 4 also (marut taraNi pAvaka tridaSa

nAtha kAlAdayah svakr*tyam adhikurvate tadaparAdhato bibhyatah).

 

bhagavAn is also the One who controls all our indriya-s (svAdhIna

sarvendriyah). His nAma of hr*shIkeSa signifies this.

 

6. bhavAn's anger knows no limits when anyone commits apacAram towards His

devotee. The narasimha incarnation is a typical example of this. svAmi

deSikan describes through almost identical Sloka-s in dayA Satakam Slokam 84

and Slokam 7 in the current stotra, His making His appearance reflect His

intense anger towards His devotee's enemy.

 

However, the wonder of bhagavAn's leelA is that at the same time His

appearance reflects intense anger towards hiraNyakaSipu, He makes His

appearance to prahlAda one of intense Mercy and kindness reflecting that of

a mother feeding her young child (datta sthanA saroja sadr*SA dr*SA samudita

Akr*tir-dr*Syate - dayA Satakam, datta sthanA saroja sadr*SA dr*SA

vyatibhishajya te vyajyate in the current stotram). Such is the nature of

His kr*pA or dayA to His devotees.

 

7. bhagavAn is the only one who can protect us. If He does not protect us

no one else can protect us, and if He decides to protect us, we don't need

anyone else's protection. This concept is conveyed in Slokam 8 - tvayi

rakshati rakshakaih kim ananyaih, tvayi ca arakshati rakshakaih kim

ananyaih. The same idea was conveyed in SrI ashTabhujAshTakam Sloka-s 5 and

6: bhayam kutah syAt tvayi sAnukampe, rakshA kutah syAt tvayi jAtaroshe

(Slokam 5), and tvayi pravr*tte mama kim prayAsaih, tvayyapravr*tte mama kim

prayAsaih (Slokam 6). This is the basis of goptr*tva varaNam (the

deliberate choice of bhagavAn as the Sole Protector) which is one of the

a~nga-s of prapatti.

 

8. In the ninth and final Slokam of SrI kAmAsikAshTakam svAmi deSikan

reminds us that if one chants this stotram even once with faith and with

devotion, bhagavAn will forgive their sins even if they be huge like

elephants, and will bestow any benefits that the devotee seeks. It appears

svAmi deSikan intentionally chose to compare our sins to huge 'elephants',

since it is the kAmAsikA kesari (lion) who is going to eliminate the sins.

 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan

[Guest guest]

Dear bhAgavatottama-s:

 

I received additional insight from one of our devotees into the term "uttara

bhagam" which is used by svAmi deSikan in describing bhagavAn in SrI

kAmAsikAshTakam. I am including this below for information.

 

-dAsan krishNamAcAryan

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

 

Dear Sriman Krishnamachari,

 

Thanks for sharing an excellent note on Swami Desikan's KamasikAshtakam.

The reference to ShrutInAm Uttaram Bhagam has

several meanings. One of which you correctly pointed out as

the Lord being glorified in the final part of the Vedam. The

second interpretation is that Lord who is even beyond the Vedas.

Th third interpretation has to do with the salutation "Taapaneeya

RahasyAnAm" The Lord is glorified in the Purva and Uttara Taapaneeya

Upanishad with the latter containing a wonderful Gayathri Mantram

for Bhagavan Nrusimha. Finally, the Taapaneeya Upanishad is the

Upanishad pertaining to the Atharvana Vedam. Consequently, the

ShrutInAm Uttaram Bhagam can also be interpreted as the Lord glorified

in the fourth Vedam (final).