SrI deSika stotra-s - 16. SrI devanAyaka pa~ncAsat - Part 1.

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SrI deSika stotra-s - 16. SrI devanAyaka pa~ncASat - Part 1.

 

The name for this stotra is based on the fifty Sloka-s (there are actually

53) that this stotra contains in praise of SrI devanAyakap-perumAL in

tiruvahIndra puram. svAmi deSikan was very devoted to this perumAL and

stayed in this kshetra for a long time and worshiped this arcA mUrti. We

can still find the tirumALigai where svAmi deSikan lived, and the well from

which he got his water supply.

 

Part 1 - Some Personal Thoughts:

 

My anubhavam is that this stotram is distinct from the previous 15 stotra-s

that we have reviewed so far. In the previous stotra-s we have covered,

svAmi deSikan has either dealt with topics such as SaraNAgati (e.g., nyAsa

daSakam, nyAsa tilakam, nyAsa vimSati, etc.,), or with bhagavAn's dayA or

other aspects through which he has given us explicit and direct instructions

on the various aspects of our sampradAyam. Compared to these, a major part

of the current stotram is dedicated by svAmi deSikan to express his thoughts

as he has the tirumeni of perumAL's arcA-mUrti in his mind.

 

In my younger age, when I went to the temple and stood in front of bhagavAn,

I used to pray to Him to give me the ability to do well in my school, good

buddhi, a good job, be paid well, etc. As I grew up a bit, the prayer just

included the additional request to Him to give those around me who suffer

from any difficulty, relief from these difficulties by being in their

thoughts. But it is always one of asking for something - give me this or

give me that or give me something else - so that everyone around me can be

comfortable and without suffering.

 

It is in this context that when I go through the current stotram, I notice

two things: 1) svAmi deSikan only thinks of the infinite kalyANa guNa-s of

bhagavAn as he has the mUrti of bhagavAn in his mind; 2) He also does not

ask for anything - he only offers all his imperfections at the Feet of the

Lord, and surrenders the responsibility for protecting him to bhagavAn

unconditionally - prapatti.

 

No matter what part of bhagavAn's tirumeni strikes svAmi deSikan's thought,

there is an association of bhagavAn's divya guNam that runs through the

great AcArya's mind. For example, the nails in bhagavAn's divine hands

remind svAmi deSikan of bhagavAn's being ever-ready and prepared to protect

His devotees such as prahlAda, the nAbhI-kamalam reminds him of the creation

of brahma and all the other gods through him, the nails in bhagavAn's

tiruvaDi remind him of the association of these with the origination of the

river ga~ngA which became holy because of its birth from His Feet, the

thought of bhagavAn's udaram reminds him of the three worlds that bhagavAn

swallows at the time of pralaya and keeps in His stomach, and the dust

particles that have association with bhagavAn's tiruvaDi remind him of their

ability to grant salvation to anyone on whom they settle.

 

Also, svAmi deSikan is not asking for anything from bhagavAn unlike the

likes of me do. Instead, he offers all his faults and sins at the Feet of

bhagavAn, and declares that this is the only wealth that he can offer to

bhagavAn. He declares that these faults and sins are so huge that there is

nothing anyone except Him can do to relieve him from these, and totally and

unconditionally surrenders to bhagavAn the complete responsibility for

protecting him. Thus he performs SaraNAgati.

 

If I pick up even a small fraction of this anubhavam of his when I go and

stand in front of the arcA-mUrti in our temples from now on, I would have

benefited from my current effort of going through this stotram induced by my

AcArya's dayA.

 

Part 2 - The stotram:

 

In this stotram, for the most part (30 of the 53 Slokam-s) svAmi deSikan

describes his thoughts as he meditates on the various parts of bhagavAn's

tirumeni, starting from His kirITam all the way down to His Sacred Feet. In

the last 8 Slokam-s, he performs SaraNAgati to deva nAyakap perumAL, and

indicates the greatness of prapatti over bhakti as the fail-proof mArgam for

attaining the bhAgyam to do nitya-kaimkaryam to Him in this world and ever

after.

 

In amalanAdipirAn tiruppANAzhvAr describes Lord ranganAtha's beauty in 10

short pASuram-s starting from His Lotus Feet, and as He describes His

beautiful eyes, he is captured by His overall beauty, and becomes one with

the Lord and does not get to describe His kirITam. svAmi deSikan in his

bhagavad-dhyAna sopAnam in 12 Sloka-s describes Lord ra~nganAtha similarly,

starting with His tiruvaDi. In the current stotram, svAmi deSikan has the

anubhavam of devanAthap-perumAl starting from His kirITam all the way down

to His Lotus Feet in 30 beautiful Sloka-s. As he sees the arcA-mUrti of

bhagavAn, his thoughts are swept by all the kalyANa guNa-s of bhagavAn, and

this storam is one in which we see the poet in svAmi deSikan revealed in

Slokam after Slokam. In every one of these Sloka-s, he reminds us of

bhagavAn-s guNa-s such as His paratvam (kirITam), His being the object of

meditation for His devotees (the sweet, smiling face), etc.

 

He meditates on bhagavAn's kirITam, His beautiful dark hair, face, forehead,

the Urdhva puNDram, nose, ears, ear rings, lips, eyes, eyebrows, the

kaTAksham from His eyes as it falls on us, neck, hands, the Sa~nkha and

cakra, the abhaya hastam, the vaksha sthalam, the vyjayantI garland, udaram

(stomach), the nAbhI-kamalam, the waist-band, the majestic thighs, feet, the

fingers and fingernails of His feet, the knee, the ankle, and even the dust

from His Feet. svAmi deSikan includes in his meditation bhagavAn's mind as

part of this meditation on His divya soundaryam. Only selected portions of

the descriptions are included below.

 

The kshetra is known as brahmAcalam (Slokam 10). The reference here is to

brahma's penance in the saugandhya vanam in this kshetra. In Slokam 11 the

kshetra is referred to as aushadha giri - the mountain where bhagavAn who is

the Medicine that removes the piRavip-piNi - the repeated cycle of births -

resides.

 

There are four puNya tIrtha-s in this kshetra - Sesha tIrtha, bhUmi tIrtha,

garuDa tIrtha, and brahma tIrtha.

perumAL's tirunAmam is deva-nAyakan - God of all gods; also known as

aDiyArkku meyyan - Truthful to His devotees - dAseshu satyah (Slokam 6);

amara adhipati - The chief of all deva-s. One writer observes that the

first and last of the words of the stotra put together - praNata and

satyavAdI, lead to the meaning - adiyArkku meyyan.

 

Among the concepts that are brought to us by svAmi deSikan through this

stotra are the following:

 

1. BhagavAn is the Supreme God whom all the others gods worship, including

Siva and brahma (paSupati vidhi pUjyah - Slokam 1). He is amara-adhipati -

daiva nAyakan - The Lord of all the gods (Slokam 8).

 

2. Our AcAryas' blessings are essential for the success of anything we do.

SrI deSikan shows us this by starting the stotram by paying obeisance to our

AcArya paramparA - starting with perumAL, and continuing with pirATTi,

vishvaksenar, nammAzhvAr, nAthamuni, SrI rAmAnujar, etc. He continues with

his obeisance to the divine poets (vAlmIki, vyAsa etc.)., who have composed

the great works which are comparable to the veda-s (Sloka-s 2 and 3), and he

compares their works to the steps through which we can approach the Ocean of

Bhagavad-anubhavam without getting completely immersed and swept away in the

absence of these steps.

 

In SrI dayA Satakam we had seen the similar concepts presented to us in

Slokam 2 (vigAhe tIrtha bahulAm ...), Slokam 3 (dhatte yat-sUkti

rUpeNa...),and Slokas-s 4 to 10 (AcArya paramparA dhyAnam).

 

3. pirATTi's purushakAratvam is brought out in Slokam 4. Our Divine

Mother's recommendation or support is essential for us to reach bhagavAn.

 

4. BhagavAn is aDiyavarkku meyyan (dAseshu satya iti nAmadeyam - Slokam 6) -

One who fulfils the wishes of His devotees without exception.

 

5. BhagavAn is also a stava-priyan - One who likes being praised. In

Slokam 7, svAmi deSikan refers to three of bhagavAn's guNa-s that are all

referenced in the same Slokam in SrI vishNu sahasranAma stotram - stavyah,

stava-priyah and stotA.

 

6. Our indestructible association with bhagavAn is beautifully described by

svAmi deSikan in Slokam 8. It is like a wealthy person getting a bird for

his sport, tying a rope around its leg, letting it fly freely for some time,

and then getting the bird back to him in the end. BhagavAn is so Merciful

towards us that even though He ties us in samsAra bandham and we try to fly

as far away from Him as we wish, He gets us back to Him in the end and saves

us.

 

7. The behavior of most of us in this world is very nicely portrayed

by poet svAmi deSikan in Slokam 9. Just as a person who is scorched by

thirst may chase any mirage - false appearance of a source of water -

without being able to quench his thirst, we all chase the worldly

impermanent temporary pleasures thinking these are what will give us real

happiness. But when the thirsty individual ultimately finds a real source

of cool water, he immerses heartily in this and has the real quenching of

his tApam. So also, it is only when we find Him that our real thirst will

be quenched.

 

 

8. In another poetic display, svAmi deSikan succinctly describes the para,

vyUha, vibhava, arcA, and antaryAmi forms of bhagavAn in one short Slokam

(Slokam 10), when he refers to the different places where bhagavAn dwells.

BhagavAn resides in SrI vaikunTham (divye pade), tirup-pAR-kaDal

(jala-nidhau), in the hearts of sAdhu-s as their antaryAmi (satAm svAnte),

in the middle of the sUrya maNDala (savtr*-maNDala madhya bhAge), and in

arcA form in brahmAcala kshetra - tiruvaindra puram, and of course in other

divya kshetra-s.

 

9. BhagavAn is the aushadham that cures the devotees who surrender to Him

from the disease of the cycle of birth - piRavip-piNi - nata-janasya bhava

aushdham (Slokam 11).

 

10. The puNya tIrtha-s in the divya kshetra-s are capable of removing the

sins and fulfilling the desires of those who take a dip in them with

devotion - vr*jina, durgati, nASanArhaih tIrthaih (Slokam 11).

 

11. The greatness and importance of purusha sUktam is explicitly mentioned

by svAmi deSikan in Slokam 15. The purusha sUktam (tava sUktam-agryam)

which describes the creation of the world by Him starting with the creation

of brahmA, occurs in all four veda-s, and was revered by the likes of vyAsa

mahA-muni (vyAsAdibhir-bahumatam).

 

To be continued.

 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan