Sri Alavandhaar's SthOthra Rathnam verse- 53- I and mine- which already belong to You- what and how can I offer to You?

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesikla mahadesikaya namah:

Dearest Srivaishnavas,

 

I am offering myself at Your Feet- said Alavandhar.

The Lord asks: You have been serving and praying to

others all these births or have been considering

yourself as independent [not being a servant to

anyone]; Now why are you asking for eternal service to

Me alone, discarding your swaathanthriyam? And after

doing this, if you again get back to spme other

servitude to others or going back to swathanthriyam,

what to do? It is still present in you (I.e.

swathanthriyam- independent self) with your usage of

word mayaa- me.. or mine); Alavdnahar responds:

Whatever did I consider, that’s not what was intended

by me when I mentioned mayaa and offered myself at

Your feet.

 

mama nAtha! Yadasthi yO(S)smyaham

sakalam taddhi thavaiva maadhavaa!

niyathasvam ithi prabuddha dhee:

athavaa kim nu samarpayamai thE.. [53]

 

Oh nAThA! The Nithya SwaamI! Eternal master of mine!

Whatever object that I have, whatever state I am;

whoever am I- they are all by nature- verily Your own

property always and already. They all belong to Sriya:

Pathi- You. Oh Madhavaa! Sriya: Pathi! With such clear

jnAnam that all is Your property, how and what I can

offer to You?

 

I- and my achith, chethana vasthus (sentient and

non-sentient) – all of them are eternally Your

property; They are owned by You and SrI, Maadhavaa!

Having known and been enriched with that jnaanam,

there is no chance of myself considering as

swathanthran and offering something as if it belongs

to me as if it is new. How and why did I do is: - I

made myself as Your servant or I reoriented myself as

Your servant in the lines of Swaathmaanam mayi

nikshipEth- as instructed by You.

 

What would I offer You? Who is offering? It belongs to

You always. I had been thinking so long that they all

belong to me.. and it is like stealing the same which

belongs to someone; and hence with a guilt feeling, I,

having realised the real owner and the property that

belongs to You naturally, I place the same at Your

feet- humbly.

 

Here Alavandhaar feels remorseful that he feels guilty

and takes pity on himself that he has offered

something that was originally His; and says to the

Lord- what did I do and offer? It is all Yours my

Lord, Madhavaa! It does not negate what Alavdnhaar

earlier did; It only reinforces his saranagathi with a

saatvika, karthrthva and phala thyaga…

 

It is similar to Swamy Desikan’s nyasa dasakam: [1st

and 3rd verse]

 

This is nicely stated in slokam 1 (aham, mad rakshaNa

bharah, mad rakshaNa phalam tathA, na mama,

SrIpatereva iti, AtmAnam nikshipet, budhah).

 

The prefix "sva" appears nine times in slokam 3 which

conveys this idea, each time referring to Bhagavan

being the owner of everything we do, including the

actions and their benefits. (svAmin sva-SeshI

sva-vaSam sva-bharatvena nirbharam sva-datta sva-dhiyA

svArtham svasmin nyasyati mAm svayam).

 

One who is doing prapatti should realize that Bhagavan

is our Lord, and whatever knowledge we have, whatever

we do, whatever effects they have, whatever benefits

they result in, these are all His acts, and everything

belongs to Him. This is called sAttvika tyAgam. This

is a necessary and essential concept of any dharma

towards the attainment of moksham.

This consists of three parts.

 

1. We should realize that Bhagavan uses us as the

means to do things, and it is not we who perform any

act by ourselves. This is called kartRtva tyAgam.

 

2. We should realize that the benefits accruing from

our acts are not the result of our acts, but that of

Bhagavan. This is called mamatA tyAgam.

 

3. We should dedicate the benefits of any of our

actions also to Bhagavan, and not look at the benefits

as belonging to us. This is called phala tyAgam.

 

The prefix "sva" appears nine times in slokam 3 which

conveys this idea, each time referring to Bhagavan

being the owner of everything we do, including the

actions and their benefits. (svAmin sva-SeshI

sva-vaSam sva-bharatvena nirbharam sva-datta sva-dhiyA

svArtham svasmin nyasyati mAm svayam).

Thus it does not befit to infer that Alavandhar

cancelled his saranagathi. Acharyans of such calibre

would not negate or undo what they did.

Thus the second sloka (53rd) is a sequel to the first

sloka (52nd) in terms of the above saathvika thyaga

and karthrtva thyaga.

 

Alavandhaar ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo Narayana

dasan