Sri HayagrIva Sthothram : Part XVIII--SlOakm 9

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SrimathE RaamAnujAya Nama:

 

Dear BhakthAs :

 

Swamy Desikan referred to the help given

by Lord HayagrIvan to BrahmA in a time of

crisis in the eighth slOkam . In the 9th

slOkam , he refers to the help given by the Lord

HayagrIvan to the Deva Guru , Brahaspathi, whose

mind vacilated from true Jn~Anam at one time.

 

It will be useful to understand the credentials

and ancestry of Brahaspathi first .The name

Brahaspathi means the great teacher and

refers to intellect and speech. He is the son of

AngIrasa prajapathi, one of the ten offsprings

of BrahmA's mind . Angiras (the power of enlightenment)

and his wife SraddhA (devotion) had four sons :

Agni (Fire God), Samavartaa(cosmic revolution) ,

Utathyaa(Pervading truth) and Brahaspathi

(the great teacher). Like his father Angiras ,

who is a teacher of Brahma VidyA , Brahaspathi

is known for his intellect and power of speech

(Vaak)and became the AchAryan for the DevAs just as

SukrAchAryan (son of Bhrigu) became the teacher

for asurAs.He is the Lord of Dhanur and Meena Raasi.

Brahaspathi's son is Sage BhaaradhvAjA (sky Lark).

Thus Bruhaspathi is of impeccable ancestry

and progeny.

 

Brahaspathi is known also as the teacher of

JyOthir Vij~nAnaa ( astrology and astronomy).

Rg Vedam X.72 dealing with the beautiful

aspects of creation has Brahaspathi as the Rishi .

He is visualizd in manthra saasthrAs as being seated

on his chariot called Niti GhOshA (the roar of

law )and controlling the movement of the planets.

 

Brahaspathi is the author of "Brahaspathi SamhithA ",

which contains a large collection of the teachings

of the teacher of DevAs. It is considered that

the atheistic philosophy attribted currently to

ChaarvAkA was originally developed by Brahaspathi

with the intention of discouraging the antigods

(asurAs) from performing Yaj~nAs , DhAnam and Tapas

to acquire godlike powers.

 

Even with such impeccable credentials, Brahspathi

gets himself in to trouble in intrepreting dharma

saasthrams. His mind gets muddled on those occasions.

He ends up being the creator of CharvAka matham or

the materialistic system , which totally denies

the existence of God. During that occasion ,

Lord HayagrIva intervened and and became the AchAryan

to the AchAryA of the DevAs and saved both Bruhaspathi

and his disciples from following the wrong path .

Swamy Desikan says that Lord HayagrIvan put an

end to the oscillations (waverings) of the mind

of Brahaspathi , which in turn stopped the oscillations

(instabilty ) of the kingdoms of the DevAs.Brahspathi

was rescued by Lord HayagrIvA by dispelling his

vitharkams (wrong logic) that led to his founding

of the ChaarvAka matham.He regained Brahma Jn~Anam

and thereby accepted Lord HayagrIvan as his timely

protector and Lord.

 

The ninth slOkam containing these thoughts is

as follows:

 

vitarka DhOlAm vyavadhUya satthvE

Bruhaspathim varthayasE yathasthvam

tEnaiva Deva ThridasEsvarANAm

asprushta dhOlAyitham-aadhirAjyam

 

(meaning): " Oh Lord HayagrIvA ! Thou dost

do away with the faulty ways of thought of

Bruhaspathi (which make him waver and flater

with regard to what is the highest of truth)

and establish him in the Satthvic (righteous)

path. It is because of that the chiefs among

DevAs enjoy thier high posts and positions

without oscillations (i.e)., permanently."

 

The play that Swamy Desikan has on the word

"DhOlA " is very amusing and enjoyable (rasOkthi).

Bruhaspathi's mind was moving like a swing from

here to there without steadiness and the Lord

intervened and put an end to those perilous movements

and stablized (anchored) Bruhaspathi's mind

in the satthva maargam (Deva! thvam Vitarka

DhOlAm vyavadhUya Bruhaspathim satthvE yatha:

VarthayasE).

 

What is the consequence of stabilizing Bruhaspathi's

mind through the Lord's sadupadesam ? The Lord's

merciful intervention prevented the kingdoms of DevAs

from swinging wildly and falling under the sway of

DhAnavAs (asurAs).Swamy Desikan suggests playfully

that Lord HayagrIvan put an end to the oscillations

(doubts) of the mind of Bruhaspathi , which in turn

put an end to the oscillations of his sishyA's

kingdom ( tEna yEva Thridasa IsvarANAm AadhirAjyam

asprushta DhOlAyitham).DhOlAyitham means swinging

back and forth. Asprushtam means incapable of .

Thus the straightening out of the vagaries of mind

of the AchAryan of the DevAs saved the kingdom of

DevAs from undergoing any swings in prosperity and

stability. Such is the UpakAram of Lord HayagrIvan!

 

Sri Nruturanga parabrahmaNE nama:

Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan