"Praise the Lord!"

[Guest guest]

Dear SrimAn Sadagopan Iyengar,

 

Your essay on the value of "stOtra" was a real treat to read.

 

Just a few thoughts to share with you, with your kind permission.

 

You wrote that (quote): "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." (unquote)

 

"stotrA-s" are undoubtedly inspired by 'overwhelming devotion'. But

is that the only reason, we may ask ourselves, for great devotees

like Swami Desikan or KoorathAzhwAr singing paeans to God?

 

Let us never fail to remember here that the Vishnu Sahasranamam hails

the Lord as "stavya-priyah:" i.e. He who is immensely pleased by

praise ("stuthi").

 

The Lord is said to be "stuti-priyan" or "stOtra-priyan" and it is

for this particular reason that devotees like Bhattar or Desikan (or

anyone else, even ordinary mortals like us for that matter) are

moved to sing 'stOtrA-s'.... The "stOtrA-s" they composed were

therefore, we may venture to say, offered in a spirit of

"bhagavath-preethyartham"... i.e. for the sake of the Lord's Pleasure

(since He is a "stavya-priyan") as much, if not more, for the sake of

venting their own "overwhelming devotion".

 

If, for a moment, we were to imagine a God who had no particular

penchant for "stOtrA-s", or took no delectation whatsoever in

expressions of praise, what use would it be then to sing paeans or

panegyric to Him even out of the most "overwhelming devotion" felt

for Him? Even the most exquisite of "stOtrA-s" would indeed leave

such a God cold, wouldn't it? On a clear night-sky in the dark

forests, a wolf may be inspired by the sight of the beautiful full

moon to joyous and full-throated baying that sounds like wonderful

'melody' perhaps to its pack. But what the wolf seems never to

realize is that the moon remains completely unmoved and unimpressed

by the effort!

 

Our Lord, on the contrary, is a "stavya-priyan" above all else... and

what is more He is 'sadA-sarva-stavya-priyan'... He who derives

extreme pleasure from all sorts of expressions or words of praise

that anyone chooses to utter --- at any time, everytime and at all

times....

 

We may recite "stOtrA-s" daily and sometimes even turn a little weary

of it... But the Lord, He never tires of it. He is ever ready and

willing to come into our presence and patiently sit beside us to

listen to our "stOtrA-s", no matter whether we are reciting it for

the first time or the 1000th time... He is never bored at listenting

to his praises.

 

And that is because He is, as the Vishnu-Sahasrannamam has

established very firmly, a "stavya-priya".. And it precisely because

that God is a "stavya-priyan" that our "stOtrA-s" (be they Bhattar's

or Desikan's or anyone else's) have really any value whatsoever.

 

Once again thank you, Sir, for one more in the recent and continuing

series of very delightfully penned articles posted on this list by

you.

 

Regards,

dAsan,

 

Sudarshan

 

 

 

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