KurEsar's Sri Sthavam : Part VI

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Prapatti Group:I will have two subpostings under

section 4 to cover the comments on Sristhavam. Section 4.1 will cover

the verses 1 to 5 ; section 4.2 will cover verses 6 to 11andconclude

with the reference to Swami Desikan"s SriSthuti and how it was

influenced by the Sri Sthavam ofKuresa.Verse 1 of SrI Sthavam :

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adiyEn will use the Anvaya Kramam (the prose order of this verse)to

help appreciate the flow of Kuresa"s thought:"ASESHA JAGADHAAM SARGA

UPSARGA STITHI : SWARGAM DURGATHIMAAPAVARKINA: PADAM SARVAM CHA

KURVAN HARI: YASYAA: MUKAM

VEEKSHYA TADH INGHITA PARAADHINA: AKILAM VIDATTEH: ANYATA

ASYA DAYAA EIKARASYAAT IYAM KRRETA ASYA RASATHAA NA SYAATH

KALU (SAA) SREE SVASTI DISADHAATAAT "

 

The First slOkam takes this form :

 

SvasthiSrIrdhisathAdh asEsha-jagathAm SargOpsarga-sTithee :

Svargam dhurgthimApavargikapadham sarvam cha kurvan Hari:

YasyA veekshya mukham tadhingithaparAdheenO vidhatthE akhilam

kreeDEyam khalu nAnyaTAasya rasadhA syAdhaikarasyAth Tayaa

 

The consort of Sri Devi (Ranganatha) engages in His acts of creation,

protectionand destruction; He blesses Kaivalyaarthins and

Mokshaarthins(Prapannas)

with the boons of Svargam and Moksham respectively.He punishes those ,

who deviate from Saastras and sends them to Naraka. During the performance of

these tasks , He is motivated and guided by the hints from the facial expressions of

Sri Devi, His consort . If He did not synchronize His activities with the expressions

originating from His Devi"s eye brows and face,His many duties and activities

will not yield Him happiness. He will not feel fulfilled by the performance of

these duties.May that consort of Sri Ranganatha , who is united with

Him at all times,places and states (Eikarasyam) confer auspiciousness

0n me to undertakethis onerous task. The Eikarasyam concept is an

important theme of Azhwaars.This is why Ramanuja chose the Panguni

Uttaram day to offer his Saranagati tothe Divine couple, when he saw

them physically seated together (Ekapeetam ) onthat day at Srirangam

temple. Swami Desikan has dwelled on this concept in hisworks; has

gone further to underline the related concept of EKASESHITVAM as one

of the central principles of Sri Vaishnavam as taught by

hisPoorvaacharyas. He salutes that extraordinary state of

INTERDEPENDENCE of

the divine couple in one of his slokas of Sri Sthuti as follows: "

Vishnu: Tvam cha iti Dwandhvam Anyonya Lakshyam ". O, Sri devi, You

and your husband are bound forever by your love for each other. You

are never far awayfrom each other even for a moment; both of You with

Your limitless, illustriousqualities are a PAIR that can be understood

COMPLETELY ONLY through eachother. That is why You are introduced as

Vishnu Patni and he is known as Sriya: Pathi. That is your

extraordinary state of Interdependence .Verse 2 of SrI Sthavam :

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hE SrIrdEvi ! SamasthalOkajananeem ThvAm stOthumeehAmahE

yukthAm bhAvaya Bharatheem praguNaya prEmapradhAnam dhiyam

bhakthim bhandhaya nandayAsrithamimam dhAsam janam Thaavakam

lakshyam Lakshmi ! kaDAkshaveechisruthEs tE syAma chAmee vayam

 

Oh Maha Lakshmi! You are the mother of the entire universe andits

inhabitants. I wish to offer my praise to You. Please grant me the

gift ofVak (Speech ) appropriate for this task! please grow my

intellect and devotionto carry out this undertaking ! May my Bhakti

become Parama Bhakti through Your blessing! Please accept my

Kainkaryam as that coming from one ,who has surrendered at Your

Lotus feet. Please make me Joyous through the acceptance of my

Vaachika Kainkaryam ! May we the Prapannas become the objectof the

waves of Your most merciful and compassionate glances! This is the

versefor which Sri P.B.Anna offered the imaginary dialog referred to

above.

 

KurEsar addresses Mahaa Lakshmi as "Samastha Loka Janani " and prays :

" amee vayam cha tE katAksha veechi visruthE : lakshyam syAma ". Prayer

here is for the people of the land ( amee) and for those , who belong to

the Thondar Kulam (vayam) . AzhwAr prays for the waves of SrI DEvi's

glances to fall on all . Verse 3 of SrI Sthavam :

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sthOthram nAma kimAmananthi kavayO yadhyanyadheeyAn guNAn

anyatra thvasathOadhirOPya phaNithi: , saa tarhi vandhyA Thvayee

samyak sathyaguNAbhivarNanamaTO BhrUyu: , kaTam thAdhrusee

vaag VachaspathinAapi sakhyarachanA ThvathsadhguNAarNO nidhou

 

 

In the previous verse, Kuresa said : "Tvaam Sthothum Yeehaamahe". He

expressed his desire to praise Her . Now he elaborates on the

difference between his Stotra Sabdhaarthams and that of others. He

says that the commonpoets praise either gunaas that are not there in

the subject being praised or drably describe the limited qualities of

their subject . For instance, a poetmay praise a bald man as the one ,

who has flowing locks of hair and thus

describe some thing that is not there in reality. Some other common poets

describe the qualities correctly , but find that there is a limited quantity of

particulars to describe about their subject. There is not much to praise.

Kuresa reveals that he is not hampered by either of these two difficulties,

when he attempts to praise Maha Lakshmi and Her Kalyana Gunaas.

There is no problem of exaggeration in Her case, since She has all

the Auspicious qualities to a state of perfection . Her Kalyana Gunaas

are also so abundant that there is no shortage on the subject matter

to praise. Her Kalyana Gunaas are limitless and there is no

possibility of exhausting them or exaggerating them . Even

Hayagreevan , the Lord of speech can succeed in describing

adequately Your vast sea of auspicious guNams .Verse 4 of Sri Sthavam :

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yE vaachAm manasAm cha dhurgrahatayA khyAthA guNasthAvakA :

thAnEva prathi sAmBhujihvamudhithA hai mAmikA bhArathee

hAsyam tath thu na manmahE na hi chakOryEkAakhilAm chnadrikAm

naalam pAthumithi pragruhya rasanAmaaseetha sathyAm thrushi

 

Oh Maha Lakshmi! It is impossible to praise adequatelyYour Kalyana

Gunaas with tongue or mind and do justice to them.It therefore

becomes a laughable matter, when one atttempts to goabout this

impossible task. My effort is likethat of the Chakora bird that does

not hold back its tongue back and engages itself in drinking

gluttonously ALL of the cool rays of the moon as its food , while

being fully aware of its limited power to complete that imposible

task. Similarly, I amnot holding back in my effort to praise all of

Your Kalyana Gunaas

adequately.

 

Verse 5 of SrI Sthavam :

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kshOdheeyAnapi dhushta Buddhirapi nissnEhOapyaneehOapi tE

keerthim Devi lihannaham na cha BhibhEmyaj~nO na jihrEmi cha

dhuyEth saa thu na thAvathA na hi sunA leeDApi BhageeraTee

dhushyEcchvapi na lajjathE na cha BhibhEthyArthisthu sAmyEcchuna:

 

Oh Maha Lakshmi! I am not ashamed to engage in my praise of You

inspite of my inadequacies and disqualifications. I know that I have

neither exemplary conduct or a sharp intellect informed by Sastra

Jnanam. Inspite of these limitations, my praise of You will not

become impure. The situation is similar to the lowly dog licking the

most sacred waters of Ganga to quench itsthirst. The River Ganga is

not polluted by the dog"s act and the dog gets itsthirst quenched.

Here Kuresa equates the sanctity of Maha Lakshmi to theholiness of

Ganga and himself to the undeserving dog.From hereon , the stotram

begins in earnest.DaasOham , Oppiliappan KOil Varadachari Sadagopan