SrI deSika stotra-s - 18. SrI mahAvIra vaibhavam.

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SrI deSika stotra-s - 18. SrI mahAvIra vaibhavam -

Part 1.

 

Introduction:

 

This stotram is also known by the title "raghuvIra

gadyam". The title "mahAvIra vaibhavam" was chosen by

svAmi deSikan himself, and incorporated in the last

Slokam "sudhiyah! etat mahAvIra vaibhavam paThata!"-

You great intelligent people, read this work titled

mahAvIra vaibhavam (and get the benefit of release

from samsAra, etc.)". The term mahA vIra refers to

cakravartit-tiru magan Lord SrI rAma, and the title

for the stotra derives from its singing the praise of

SrI rAma. While the composition sounds exceptionally

melodious like excellent poetry to the ears when

chanted, it is a prose composition, and the only prose

composition (gadyam style, as suggested by the

alternate title - raghuvIra gadyam) that svAmi deSikan

has composed. SrI rAmadeSikAcArya svAmi comments

that this composition is nectar to the ears of those

who hear it, to the tongue of those who chant it, and

to those who understand its meaning. Having had the

bhAgyam to chant the stotram a few times and hear it a

few times, aDiyEn can certainly relate to this

comment. svAmi deSikan himself has pointed out that

the composition is a blend of very hard words and very

soft ones (kaThora sukumAra gumbha), but most

important for us is to note that the composition, like

other compositions of svAmi deSikan, conveys deep

thoughts (svAmi deSikan refers to the gambhIram or

depth of the thought conveyed in the concluding

Slokam), and will uplift those who chant it with

devotion from the ocean of samasAra (bhava bhaya

bheshajam). In the current undertaking, we will look

briefly at some of these deep thoughts that are

communicated to us through the medium of this gadyam

by svAmi deSikan.

 

In a sense, this Slokam is a samkshepa rAmAyaNam

(SrImad rAmAyaNam in a concise form), consisting of

the most important incidences from the seven kANDa-s

of SrImad vAlmIki rAmAyaNam. From other references we

find that svAmi deSikan's outpouring in the form of

raghuvIra gadyam resulted from his anubhavam of the

beauty of the tirumeni of raghuvIran in

tiruvaindrapuram along with sItA pirATTi, lakshmaNa,

and hanumAn. In 94 sentences, svAmi deSikan has

related all the important incidents of the whole of

SrImad rAmAyana including uttata kANDa.

 

To illustrate how concise he has been, it should be

noted that he has presented the original 24,000

Sloka-s of vAlmIki rAmAyaNa in less than 100

sentences. As an example, the 2885 Sloka-s of sundara

kANDam are summarized in one sentence - apAra pArAvAra

parikhA parivRta parapura parisRta dava dahana javana

pavanabhava kapivara parishva'nga bhAvita sarvasa

dAna! - "Oh Lord! You rewarded vAyuputra by name

hanumAn who is endowed with incomparable speed, by

giving a tight embrace to him and making him feel

that You have given him everything You possessed, for

his accomplishment in crossing the huge ocean that

surrounded Your enemy's territory on all four sides,

and for starting forest fires all over lankA when his

tail was set afire". Every one of the 94 sentences

emphasizes one aspect of Lord rAma's guNa or

accomplishment.

 

Some of the thoughts that are contained in this work

of svAmi deSikan are summarized below:

 

1. avatAra rahasyam:

 

The introductory verse reveals one of the avatAra

rahasya-s - viz. He appears in this world to dispel

the fear in the hearts of His devotees (ASrita

santrAsa dhvAnta vidhvamsana udayah). It was mainly

to dispel the fear in the minds of the deva-s from the

terror that rAvaNa was causing to them that Lord rAma

took His incarnation (4). He was born as the Sun

(divAkara) that caused the lotus in the form of the

sUrya kulam (dinakara kula kamala) to blossom.

 

Another aspect of His avatAra rahasyam is that He does

not give up any of His Natural guNa-s such as His

balam, Sakti, etc. during His incarnations (ajahat

svabhAvaih - SaraNAgati dIpikA - Slokam 17). The

reference to the destruction of tATakA and her two

sons mArIcan and subAhu (line 11), ahalyA SApa

vimocanam (12), the breaking of Siva's bow (15) and

vishNu's bow with which paraSurAma challenged Him

(19), the slaying of the rAkshasa-s by name tri-Siras,

dUshaNan, kharan etc. to protect the observances of

the sages (31, 32, 33), are all reflections of this

aspect of His avatAra rahasyam. The six aspects of

avatAra rahasyam are described by svAmi deSikan in SrI

SaraNAgati dIpikA which we covered earlier.

 

The declaration by bhagavAn in the gItA (4.8) -

"paritrANAya sAdhUnAm vinASAya ca dushkRtAm, dharma

samsthApanArthAya sambhavAmi yuge yuge" is illustrated

over and over again by svAmi deSikan in this work on

Lord rAma. svAmi deSikan's description of ArANya

kANDam contains several examples of these. Protecting

the sages in daNDakA vanam (28, 30), the slaying of

virAdha (29), triSiras (31), dUshaNa (32), khara (33),

the 14,000 rAkshasa-s who accompanied the three

rAkshasa-s above (34), are all examples of His sAdhu

paritrANanam and Satru vinASanam.

 

An aspect of BhagavAn's incarnations is that He

faithfully acts the role that He assumes in His

incarnation, as if to illustrate to us all how to live

the life when we are born through our karma in that

form. SrImad rAmAyaNam is an excellent example of how

He lived the life of a true son, a true king, a true

brother, a true husband, etc. One example of this is

when Lord rAma accepts vibhIshNa's suggestion that He

should surrender and pray to samudra rAjan to help Him

cross the Ocean with the army of monkeys etc. He

accepts this suggestion (even though He did not have

to go through this), and lies down praying to samudra

rAjan with the intent of not getting up till he

complies. He went through this ordeal - called

pratiSayanam in line 52 - just because, having been

born a human, He wanted to play the role.

 

2. pirATTi and bhagavAn:

 

The introductory verse also reminds us of the

inseparable association between pirATTi and bhagavAn -

His Glory is attributable to His association with

pirATTi (prabhAvAn sitayA devyA). This point has been

brought out by svAmi deSikan in other places as well

e.g., in SaraNAgati dIpikA 4 - padmAkarAdupagatA

parishasvaje tvAm….tadAprabhRti dIpasamAvabhAsam

AjAnato marakata pratimam vapuste |). We also know

from our pUrvAcAryas' vyAkhyAnam of His nAma SrInivAsa

in SrI vishNu sahasranAm stotram, that His SrI

(glory) is because SrI (mahAlakshmi) is always with

Him in His vaksha-sthalam.

 

3. perumAL's guNa-s:

 

jaya jaya mahAvIra! (1) - Here is svAmi deSikan's

pallANDu to perumAL, similar to periAzhvAr singing

paLLANDu pallANDu pallAyirattANDu for Him. The

question can be asked - Who are we to sing pallANDu to

perumAL. This is a valid question if ordinary people

"wish" a long life to perumAL, but for the likes of

periAzhvAr and svAmi deSikan who are intimate and

close to emperumAn, their concern for the welfare of

His tirumeni is second nature to them. The incident

of naDAdUr ammAL being extremely concerned about the

small stick that was in the food offered to the Lord

is a reflection of this same bhAvam of their extreme

closeness to bhagavAn.

 

mahA dhIra dhaureya! ( 2) - BhagavAn is the foremost

among those with dhairya. dhairyam is the attribute

where the person's mind is never fatigued even when

there is cause for mental fatigue.

 

The Supreme God (3) - BhagavAn helps the deva-s or

gods time and time again when they are at the verge of

being defeated by the asura-s. He is considered the

Supreme God by all the deva-s (nikhila nirjara

nirdhArita niravadhika mAhAtmya - 3).

 

sauSIlya sAgara! (22): When a person of very great

stature mingles with a person from a very low stratum

of social standing with no differentiation whatsoever,

this behavior is termed sausIlyam. This is one of the

great guNa-s of bhagavAn, who treats all His devotees

as equal, and mingles with them at their level. svAmi

deSikan refers to Lord rAma's friendship with guha,

the leader of the tribal hunters, as an example of

this guNa of His (22). He is not only endowed with

sauSIlyam, but He is the sauSIlya sAgaram - The Ocean

of sauSIlyam (nishAda rAja sUcita sausIlya sAgara!).

 

ananya SAsanIya! (24) - He is above and beyond anyone

else's rule. This is because He knows justice and

proper conduct and practices them better than anyone

else. SrI rAmadeSikacArya svAmi gives the example

here of Lord rAma successfully countering sage

vasishTha, jAbAli, etc., when they tried to persuade

Him to go back on His word to daSaratha and return to

rAjya paripAlanam instead of going to the forest for

vana vAsam. Because He is ananya SAsanIyan, He could

successfully overrule the likes of vasishTha.

 

There is another incident that svAmi deSikan refers to

in the uttara kANDa portion of SrI raghu vIra gadyam

which illustrates His extreme fair-mindedness. rAvaNa

had defeated kubera and taken away his pushpaka

vimAnam. vibhIshNa gave that to rAma after his being

crowned. rAma did not keep it, but sent it back to

kubera whose property it really was. kubera sent it

back to rAma so that it can be of service to Him.

rAma kept it for a short time because kubera sent it

back, and then returned it again to kubera. kubera

was wonder-struck by this act of rAma and proclaimed

this act of Lord rAma to the whole kingdom. This is

narrated in line 85 - vara viSrANana prINita

vaiSravaNa viSrAvita yaSah prapa'nca.

 

Even though His avatAram took place in tretA yugam

where the level of dharma is known to be less than in

kRta yugam, He ruled such that during His rule dharma

did not deteriorate to the level of tretA yugam but

remained at the level of kRta yugam - tretA yuga

pravartita kArtayaga vRttAnta (87). Thereby He

demonstrated to future kings how a king should rule.

 

sarva loka yoga kshema! (25): He is always looking

for ways to unite (yoga) His devotees with Him under

one pretext or another. One of the reasons for

bhagavAn's avatAram amongst us is so that He can be

easily available to us (saulabhyam). He declares:

"ananyAScintayanto mAm ye janAh paryupAsate | teshAm

nityAbhiyuktAnAm yoga-kshemam vahAmyaham ||"

 

He Who makes impossible things happen: He is called

"aghaTita ghaTanA sAmarthyan". One example of this in

the context of the current stotram is the incident

involving kAkAsuran. BhagavAn took a small piece of

grass from His darbha Sayanam and converted it to

brahmAstram, against which no other god could venture

to come to the protection of kAkAsuran (munivara

bahumata mahAstra sAmarthya - 26). SrI periavAccAn

piLLai comments in his vyAkhyAnam for "Alin

ilaip-perumAn" in nAcciyAr tirunmozhi (9.8), that this

is an instance of His being the aghaTita ghaTanA

sAmarthyan. He could swallow the three worlds,

contain them in His small stomach, and then go to

sleep on a budding small leaf of the banyan tree.

 

He Who can bestow anything that a devotee wishes:

svAmi deSikan describes Him as the "Walking pArijAta

Tree - ja'ngama pArijAta (28)". In the context of

SrImad rAmAyaNa, Lord rAma roamed the daNDakAvanam

like a pArijAta tree and ensured that the sages who

sought His protection were completely safe from the

rAkshasa-s at all times.

 

asahAya SUra! (35) - He is of extreme Might, Valor,

Bravery, Power, and Heroism with no other assistance

(a-sahAya). The terms SUra and vIra are synonymous -

SUro vIraSca vikrAnto jetA jishNuSca jitvarah

(amarakoSam 2.8.76). SUra refers to the quality of

having a desire for victory - samartho jaitrah.

 

anapAya sAhasa! (36) - saho-balam, tatra bhavam

sAhasam. The meaning in the context here is that

bhagavAn is of exceptional boldness, daring and

flawless courage that He could handle any number of

rAkshasa-s single-handedly.

 

bhagavAn's love and attachment to His devotees -

bhakta jana dAkshiNyam (39): dAkshiNya refers to

politeness, civility, courtesy. JaTAyu fought

valiantly with rAvaNa when he was carrying sItA after

abducting her. JatAyu lost his life because of this

battle. Lord rAma performed the cremation of jaTAyu

with His own hands, a treatment that even daSaratha

could not get. This is an indication of the love and

respect that bhagavAn has for His devotees.

 

He Who becomes subservient to those who surrender to

Him: SaraNAgati paratantrIkRta svAtantRya (43) - Not

only SaraNAgati relieves us from the ocean of samsAra,

but bhagavAn Himself becomes the "servant" of the one

who surrenders to Him voluntarily. An example of this

is that He voluntarily became the "dependent" of

sugrIva when sugrIva surrendered to Him, and subjected

Himself to sugrIva's command.

 

He Who has taken a vow to protect those who have

surrendered to Him just once: "sakRt prapanna jana

samrakshaNa dIkshita! (49)" He Who has taken a vow to

protect those who have surrendered just once.

dIkshita here refers to one who has taken the dIkshA

-vow. If a devotee surrenders to bhagavAn even once,

it is bhagavAn's vratam to protect this devotee for

ever after that. During vibhIshaNa SaraNAgati, Lord

rAma declares:

 

sakRdeva papannAya tavAsmIti ca yAcate |

abhayam sarva-bhUtebhyo dadAmyetat vratam mama ||

(yuddha. 18.34)

 

"For a prapanna who surrenders the complete

responsibility for his protection to Me, I offer

protection at all times and from all beings - This is

My vow".

 

To be continued....

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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