"Praise the Lord!"

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

 

 

"Praise the Lord!"

 

 

 

What is a Stotra? It is usually a eulogy or tribute, generally in

verse form, in praise of some one who is the object of admiration. By its very

nature, a stotra permits some poetic licence for exaggeration. It allows

considerable embellishment and magnification of the subject's good looks or

qualities. When we read that a lady's face vanquished the moon in brightness and

beauty, it is very obviously a "stotram". Adiyen would like to narrate in this

piece the different aspects of a Stotram.

 

 

 

If we were to take a count, the most common object of a Stotram, in

all literature, religious and secular, would be the Lord Himself, irrespective

of the religion to which the composer belongs. The maximum number of tributes

would have been paid to the Lord, though some romantic souls might have devoted

a few thousand words to their beloved or to nature. This would be perfectly in

order, considering that it is the Lord who is the object of universal admiration

and adulation.

 

There is however one important difference between a tribute to the Lord

and that to others. In the case of human beings, stotram invariably involves

exaggeration and embellishment. Where it concerns the Lord, any Stotram can at

best be a gross understatement, for words, however powerful or profuse, can

never be adequate to describe fully His greatness, or even a portion of it.

This is brought out by Sri Koorattazhwan in SriStavam-

 

"Stotram nAma kim Amananti kavaya: yadyan yadeeyAn guNAn... samyak sadya guNAbhi

varNanam atO brooyu: katam tAdrusee".

 

 

 

If we are to praise the Lord, why resort to a Stotram?

 

Why not keep reciting one or the other of His numerous and glorious names

constantly, say " Rama Rama" or "Krishna Krishna"? We read so much about the

efficacy of chanting the Lord's names and its capability of delivering us from

mundane shackles. And the names are sweet enough to utter, as any proponent of

nAma sankIrtanam would attest.

 

To the dynamic human intellect, any repetition is boring and tedious, even

if it is of the Lord's haloed name. It is much easier to recite a stotram than

to repeat a mere tirunAmam. Moreover, a name could possibly convey only certain

limited aspects of His greatness, whereas a Stotram could do much greater

justice to the Lord and His auspicious attributes. Thus reciting a stotram

affords the devotee much more enjoyment than mere recitation of His names.

Stotras generally conform to a specific metre (chhandas), often lilting and

pleasurable, adding to the enjoyment of the subject. Thus Srimad Valmiki

Ramayana is acclaimed as one such stotra (admittedly of epic proportions), full

of enchanting rhyme, rhythm and rhapsody-

 

"tat upAgata samAsa sandhi yOgam sama madhuraOpanatArttha vAkya baddham-

Raghuvara charitam".

 

 

 

Another beauty of stotras (with a few exceptions) is that they can be recited

and enjoyed by anybody, irrespective of caste, creed, gender and age. Vedas can

be recited only by those eligible therefor, and uttering some mantras too is

subject to qualifications. Stotras do not impose any such restrictions on

anybody, and are open to all universally.

 

In their infinite mercy, our Acharyas have ensured that the esoteric and often

impregnable fortress of knowledge is thrown open to everyone without

discrimination, by reducing extremely subtle and complex concepts to easily-

comprehensible stotra formulations.

 

Stotras do not also impose any qualifying restrictions on the composer. All

that is required is a deep sense of devotion and familiarity with the rudiments

of composition.

 

However, considering the magnificence of the subject (the Lord) and our own

severely limited faculties, we might despair of authoring a stotram. Better

people than us have endured this feeling, overcome it and composed beautiful

stotras, which inspire us till today. The Ganga might be the holiest of rivers

and a mighty one at that, but that does not prevent a dog from slaking its

thirst with a sip of its waters. In the process, while the Ganga does not lose

its sanctity one bit and remains unsullied, the dog is able to satisfy its

thirst and achieve emancipation by association with the holy river. Similarly,

stotras can be composed by even those in the lowest strata, socially,

economically or otherwise.

 

Says Sri Alavandar, " in the matter of praising you, both the exalted Brahma and

lowly myself are on the same footing, for both know not the true extent of Your

greatness. When the deep ocean submerges a small stone as well as a tall

mountain, the difference between the two disappears. Hence I too venture to

compose a stotra on You". ("kO majjatO: aNu kula achalayO: visEsha:?").

 

 

 

Considering our limited capabilities to adequately mirror His qualities, the

Lord Himself comes to our rescue many a time and composes the stotra Himself,

using us as mere output devices. Sri Nammazhwar says that Tiruvaimozhi was

composed by the Lord Himself-"tAnE yAn enbAn Agi tannai tAnE tuditthu", " yAnAi

tannai tAn pAdi tennA ennum en ammAn". Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam also attests to

this by acclaiming the Lord as "StOta"(the Divine Bard).

 

 

 

Coming to the subject matter of stotras, Sri Nammazhwar is quite emphatic that

adulations should not be addressed to anybody but the Lord, for only He is

deserving of praise-

 

"en nAvil in kavi yAn oruvarkkum kodukkilEn". Any praise of decadent human

beings is just a pack of lies, says he-"vaLLal pugazhndu num vAymai izhakkum

pulaveergAl". He refuses to sully his tongue by singing the praise of

humanity-"vAi koNdu mAnidam pAda vanda kaviyEn allEn". At the next level, the

Azhwar states categorically that even among deities, only Sriman Narayana is

praiseworthy, and no other demigod-

 

"em AdippirAn nirka matrai deivam viLambudirE". Swami Desikan too decries the

poets' habit of praising anyone but Emperuman-"narEndra chAtu rachanA dhanyAm na

manyAmahE".

 

Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam emphasizes the uniqueness of the Lord as an object of

praise, by calling Him "Stavya:".

 

 

 

Sri Nammazhwar highlights the fact that no stotra, however prolific

or profuse, can ever hope to encompass the Lord's beauty or auspicious

attributes, even if the Lord Himself were to be the composer, and even if the

entire world were to join Him in the endeavour-

 

"Yanum Etthi Ezhulagum mutrum Etthi-pinnum

 

tAnum Etthilum tannai Ettha Ettha engu eidum?".

 

If one can never hope to truly cover even one of His attributes fully through

one's stotra, why should one try at all, and why not abandon it as a futile

endeavour? "Even if that is so, I am unable to refrain from the exercise, and

consider it to be my duty or "SvarUpam" to praise the Lord." Says the

Azhwar-"Yanum empirAnayE EtthinEn yAn uyvAnE".

 

 

 

The Lord's magnificence is such that volumes can be written about His each

attribute or body part. We thus have Swami Desikan's "Daya Satakam", comprised

of a hundred slokas devoted to a single divine attribute, Mercy. And the same

distinguished author has given us the"Paduka Sahasram", a thousand slokas on His

footwear, composed overnight! We also have thematic stotras, such as the

"PanchAyudha Stotra", in praise of the Lord's weapons, a head-to-foot portrayal

of Sri Rangaraja in "Sri Bhagavat DhyAna SopAnam", the Superhuman exploits of

the Lord belying His human form, in "Sri atimAnusha Stavam" of Sri Koorattazwan,

a treasure-chest of the Divine Consort's attributes in Sri Bhattar's "Sri

GuNaratna Kosam", master piece compositions on Sharanagati, the Lord's

splendorous reign in Sri Rangam and Sri Vaikuntam in the three GadyAs of

Bhagavat Ramanuja, and so on.

 

As a natural corollary, mahAns have composed stotras on several Acharyas too, as

a hallmark of their devotion for the latter. Sri Madhurakavi leads the ensemble

with his "KaNNinuN siru thAmbu", in which he declares praise of the Acharya to

be greater than that of the Lord Himself. He is followed by distinguished

Acharyas like Sri Tiruvarangatthu amudanAr with his "irAmAnusa nootrandAdi",

Swami Desikan with his "etirAja Saptati", Sri Manavala Mamunigal with his

"eitrAja Vimsati",and numerous others with similar stotras of distinction.

 

 

 

To conclude, Stotra is the natural outlet for a devotee who is so

overwhelmed with some aspect of the Lord's greatness, that he cannot remain

without eulogising the Lord. It would appear that a stotra on Emperuman is no

less greater than Himself, for the Sahasranamam describes Him as the embodiment

of the Stotra itself. The sobriquets "Stuti:" and "StOtram" elevate the Stotra

to such high levels, that one feels that Stotras themselves deserve profuse

paeans of praise!

 

 

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

Dasan,sadagopan.