Sri HyaagrIva SthOthram : Part XXII-->SlOkmas 26-29

[Guest guest]

SriamthE RaamAnujAya Nama:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

>From SlOkams 26-29 , Swamy Desikan enjoys the integrated

essence of the beauty ( samudhAya ShObhai ) of the Lord ,

who shines in front of him as a just-blossomed white Lotus

and prays to Him for the conferral of boons of Veda Vaak

(Sarasvathi) , which will help him defeat the disputants

from other avaidhika and kudhrushti mathams and establish

the glory of Bhagavath RaamAnuja SiddhAntham .Swamy Desikan

appeals to the Lord to enthrone Himself on the tip of his

tongue during these intricate vaadhams with disputants.

 

SlOkam 26 : Prayer for Visualization of the Lord

*************************************************

 

tamAmsi bhithvA visadhair mayUkai:

sampreeNayantham vidhushas-chakOrAn

nisAmayE thvAm nava PuNDarIkE

sarath ghanE chandramiva sphurantham

 

(meaning): Oh Lord HayagrIvA! You gladden the hearts

of all scholars (VidhvAns) and destroy the darkness of

aj~nAnam with the spotless , white rays emanating

from You , while being seated on a newly blossomed ,

radiant white lotus . When we have the blessings of

darsanam of this ThirumEni of Yours , we are reminded of

the spotless white hue of the sarath-kaala Chandran

(autumn Moon ) removing the darkness of the night and

making the chakOra birds happy with His rays (moon beams),

which is their only food.

 

Here , the VidvAns(Vidhusha:) are equated with

the proverbial chakOrA birds who anxiously await

chandrOdhayam to sustain themselves with the Moon Beams ,

which are their sole source of nourishment .The Lord

is compared to the autumn full Moon seated on a

freshly blossomed white lotus radiating blemishless

white beams of light from His ThirumEni. The VidvAns

are sustained by these white rays of light originating

from the Lord . The nescience of the worldis is also

destroyed by those white rays ( visadhai:

mayUkai:tamaamsi bhithvA). Lord HayagrIvan is like

the spotless white , autumn Moon (sarath ghanE

chandramiva sphurantham ) seated on a freshly blossomed

white lotus ( nava puNDarIkE sphurantham ). Swamy

Desikan states that he visulaizes the Lord in

this lovely form through his mental eye (thvAm nisAmayE).

 

SlOkam 27 : Prayer for the blessings of the Power of speech

***********************************************************

 

disanthu mE Deva ! sadhA thvadhIyA:

dayA tarangAnucharA: katAkshA :

srOthrEshu pumsAm amrutham ksharanthIm

SarsavathIm samsritha KaamadhEnum

 

(Meaning ): Oh Lord ! May Your dhivya KatAkshams

(divine glances) imbued with Your limitless dayA

bless me with the powers of eulogizing You !

May those sthOthrams serve as nectar for the ears

of the listeners ! May Those Sri Sookthis confer

all auspiciousness on those , who recite them !

May adiyEn be blessed with the powers of speech

to compose such poems through Your divine grace !

 

This slOkam is the first of the five slOkams ,

where Swamy Desikan prays for the Lord's anugraham

to prepare him for the debates ahead in defense

of Bhagavath RaamAnuja SiddhAntham.He prays

to the Lord for the gifts of Veda Vaak that

would empower him to debate the contestants

from other mathams with clarity and strength.

 

The wealth requested by Swamy Desikan is

the Vaak-Sampath and that is gained by

the daya-laden glances of Lord HayagrIvan

falling on His UpAsakAs. Swamy Desikan

prays for the Vaak-Sampath that would generate

nectar in the ears of the listeners ( PumsAm srOthrEshu

amrutham ksharanthIm ) and also bless them

to realize all their longings like the wish-granting

divine KaamdhEnu ( Samsritha KaamadhEnum SarsvathIm

sadhA mE disanthu).

 

SlOkam 28: Prayers for Victory over the poets & logicians

**********************************************************

visEshavith paarishadhEshu Naatha

vidagdha ghOshtI SamarAnganEshu

jigIshathO mE kavitArkikEndhrAn

JIHVAAGRA SIMHAASANAM ABHYUPEYAA:

 

(Meaning): Oh Lord HayagrIvA ! Please bless me to join

the mighty battle fields of contests , where very

learned vidvAns serve as mediators (madhyasthars)

of debate between contestants!Please bless me to

win over those who belong to para mathams , who use

their tricks (yukthis) to advance their points !

Please bless me with the power of Veda Vaak to

establish the truth ! Oh Lord ! You must grant me

this boon of Veda Vaak to be used in Your service !

To succeed in my efforts to defend and protect our

siddhAntham (Parama Vaidhika Matham ) , Thou should

occupy the tip of my tongue as Your throne !

 

In the previous slOkam , Swamy Desikan

prayed for the boon of mastery over sweet

words in his speech ; here , he prays for

the power in his speech to win in debates

with master poets and logicians (kavi Taarkika

IndrAn).

 

Sri Dindukkal Ramaswamy Iyengar mentions that

many speakers at public assembly recite this

and previous slOkams prior to their speeches

and debates to secure Lord HayagrIvan's grace.

The power to succeed in VaakyArthA debates

with rival siddhAnthins is the prayer here .

For such success, Swamy Desikan realizes that

the presence of Lord HayagrIva on the tip

of his tongue is essential and therefore he

invites the Lord to sit on a throne that he

sets up for Him there ( JihvAgra SimhAsanam

abhyupEyA:).

 

SlOkam 29 :The effect of Lord's sitting on JihvAgram

*****************************************************

 

thvAm chinthayan thvanmayathAm Prapanna:

thvAmudhgruNan sabdhamayEna DhAmnA

SvAmin! samAjEshu sumEdhisheeya

Svacchandha vaadhAvaha bhaddha Soora:

 

(Meaning): Oh Lord HayagrIvA ! May adiyEn meditate

always on Your dhivya ThirumEni (SubhAsrayam )!

May I thereby imbibe Your auspicious attributes

and achieve a state of oneness with You ! May adiyEn

perform japam of Your sacred manthram and through

that power become a renowned warrior in the battle

fields of debate , where rival siddhAnthins take

part ! May adiyEn rise victorious with Your anugraham

in these debater's assemblies and argue with

unabated strength to gain victory !

 

This slOkam is a description of what happens

after Lord HayagrIvan occupies the throne at

the tip of Swamy Desikan's tongue. Three things

happen in quick succession :

 

(1) Swamy Desikan meditates deeply on the Lord

and reaches a state of Tanmayathvam ( a state of

Oneness with the Lord).

 

(2) Swamy Desikan performs Sri HayagrIva manthra

Japam and offers his salutations

 

(3) At the end of the japam , he prays to the Lord

for the anugraham to rise victorious in the debates

with rival siddhAnthins through command over

their arguments with the power of Veda Vaak.

 

Sri D.Ramaswamy Iyengar points out that it is

Lord HayagrIvA , who really wins in these contests

by using Swamy Desikan as His instrument.Two instances

where Swamy Desikan acknowledges his kaimkaryam as

a mere instrument in the hands of the Lord to defeat

para matha Vaadhins are found at the end of

AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi and DayA sathakam(slOkam 104).

These are Saathvika ThyAgams at the end of

these two monumental works.

 

AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi is a metrical commentary on

Sri BhAshyam of AchArya RaamAnujA , a summary of

the VyAkhyAnam of BhAshyakArar on each of the chapters

of the Brahma SoothrAs . After completing this

monumental work , Swamy Desikan acknowledges that

it is really Lord RanganAthA ( thru His HayagrIvAvathAram ),

who sang the AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi using him (Desikan) as

an instrument just as He uses His Paanchajanyam to raise

PraNava naadham (Uccha dhvani) :

 

padhyErathai: svahrudhyai:

praNava Mahimavath PaanchajanyakramENa

svAdhmAtam RanganAtha: svayamithi

mukharikruthya sammOdhatE sma

--Adhikarana SaarAvaLi: SlOkam 561:Utthara Paadham

 

Swamy Desikna's son , Sri KumAra VaradAchAr

wrote the commentary for his father/AchAryan's

AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi and observes the Lord

using Swamy Desikan like His Divine conch:

 

" Paanchajanyasthu BhagavadhAdhmAnEna SabdhAyathE.

ahamapi BhagavathA prEritha yEvaithAni padhyAni

vyararacham . tEna svEnaiva prEritham mAmAsthEnEshu

mukharIkruthya sammOdhatE sma = santhushyathi

smEthyartha:, atha:" Paanchajanyam HrushIkEsa:"

ithivath Para paksha PrathikshEpa rUpEshu

samara mukhEshu maam muhurapi mukharayAncchakAra

ithyartha: "

 

(meaning): Paanchajnayam sounds with the Lord's

own breath filling it.AdiyEn also was commanded

by the Lord RanganathA to compose this metrical

work on Sri BhAshyam (adhikaraNa SaarAvaLi).

It is the Lord Himself , who sang the SaarAvaLi

using me just as He uses His divine conch in

the battle field .He takes delight in this leelA

of His using me as His Panchajanyam.

 

The famous DayA sathaka SlOkam containing

the SaathvIka ThyAgam is housed in the 104th SlOkam:

 

"VedAntha Desika padhE vinivEsya Baalam

dEvO dayaa sathakam yEthath avadhAyan maam

VaihArikENa vidhinA samayE gruhitham

VEENAA VISESHAM IVA VENKATASAILA NAATHA:"

 

Swamy Desikan states here that Lord VenkatanAthan

lifted a small boy like him to sit on a great sthAnam

known as " VedAnthAchAryan ".To qualify for this

sthAnam (status) , He (the Lord) composed the slOkmas

of DayA sathakam through me as part of His

leelai.He used me as an instrument to accomplish

His goal. It is Like the Lord of the Universe

playing on a VeeNA to amuse Himself with

the sweet naadham of the Veenai. It is not

the VeenA that raises the MangaLa naadham ,

but it is the skills of the Player that

is behind the sweet sounds.All the glories

in the composition of the DayA sathakam goes

to the Lord and Lord alone , who used me

as His preferred instrument.

 

In the last slOkam of AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi ,

Swamy Desikan pays direct tribute to Lord

HayagrIvan as the One composing this Sri Sookthi

using him as the instrument . A portion of

Swamy KumAra VaradAcchAr's commentary on this

slOkam is as follows:

 

" SvAchArya roopa visishtEna Sarva VidhyA-

pravarthakEna BhagavathA HayagrIvENa virachitham ,

--SrimAN HayagrIva yEva Tath VakthA.."

 

This AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi has been created by

the Master of all VidhyAs , Lord HayagrIvan ,

taking the form of the preeminent knowledge

represented by his own AchAryans .Thus , Swamy

Desikan performs Saathvika ThyAgam in the form

of Sri HayagrIvArpaNam befitting his role as one,

who performed prapatthi to Him (dayA nidhim dEha-

brudhAm SaraNyam , dEvam HayagrIvam aham prapdhyE ).

 

In the 29th slOkam of Sri HayagrIva SthOthram ,

Swamy clearly states that it is Lord HayagrIvan

sitting on the tip of his tongue is the One ,

who would win in all the debates that he would

enter into .

 

(PraNavam): Kimchith KarmAnukoolakAya Nama:

( " ): kArpaNyAya Nama:

( " ): Brahma-nishtAnugraha-kaarakAya Nama:

( " ): Daasa-hithaika-kruthi JaagarAya Nama:

( " ): Vaadha-vyAkhyA-sva-sidhdAntha rakshA

hethu sva-manthra-dhAya Nama:

( " ): Svbhaktha Sthuthi SamthushtAya Nama:

( " ): Saathvika ThyAga Sampanna Sathkarma -

krutha athipriyAya Nama:

( " ): NishkAma VathsalAya Nama:

 

Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan

[Guest guest]

Sri U.Ve. Sadagopan Swamin wrote:

> SlOkam 27 : Prayer for the blessings of the Power of speech

> ***********************************************************

>

> disanthu mE Deva ! sadhA thvadhIyA:

> dayA tarangAnucharA: katAkshA :

> srOthrEshu pumsAm amrutham ksharanthIm

> SarsavathIm samsritha KaamadhEnum

>

> (Meaning ): Oh Lord ! May Your dhivya KatAkshams

> (divine glances) imbued with Your limitless dayA

> bless me with the powers of eulogizing You !

> May those sthOthrams serve as nectar for the ears

> of the listeners ! May Those Sri Sookthis confer

> all auspiciousness on those , who recite them !

> May adiyEn be blessed with the powers of speech

> to compose such poems through Your divine grace !

 

I too am enjoying each and every one of these anubhavams

by Sri Sadagopan. This is the first stotra of Swami Desikar

that my father taught me. When learning it back then I

found it very difficult to pronounce, and certainly couldn't

understand a single word. The meaning now comes alive thanks

to Sri Sadagopan's lucid narrative.

 

For Swami Desika the prayer embedded in this sloka no doubt

bore fruit. Can we not say that each sentence of his is

evidence of the 'sarasvatI' which Hayagriva Bhagavaan gifted

to him?

 

Word has it that upanyAsakas recite this sloka before beginning

their discourses, and it has been my good fortune to hear

Sri Tirukkudandai Andavan (Kannan Swami) reverentially repeat

it each and every day before he began a lecture series

on Srimad Ramayanam.

 

aDiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

Mani