Thuppul PiLLai- 34- DhEhaLeesa sthuthi

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SrI:

SrImathE Nigamantha Mahadesikaya namah:

SrImAn venkatanAthAryaH kavitArkika kesarI |

vedAntAcArya-varyo me sannidhattAm sadA hRdi ||

 

May the glorious Venkatanatha, the greatest of teachers of Vedanta, and the

lion among poets and debaters, reside forever in my heart.

 

Dearest Srivaishnavas,

Let us begin to enjoy the sthOthra granthas of Swamy Desikan [in

alphabetical order]

Dehaleesa-Stuti -Hymn on the Lord in the Dehali

 

Dehaleesa-sruti is a stotra in twenty-eight verses on Lord Trivikrama in the

shrine Tirukkovalur, ‘(Gopapuri)’, near Villupuram in South India. There is

an interesting tradition about this shrine which reveals how Bhagavan chose

to manifest Himself in an invisible form in the corridor of a small house to

the three Alwars in their midst and get crushed, to give birth to the hymns

of the Divya-prabandha.

 

The tradition is: In the beginning of Kali-yuga, there were three great

saints Poigai Alwar, BhootatthAlwar, and pEy Alwar born in consecutive days

in the month of Tulaa (November-December) in South India. Being god-minded,

they went from one holy place to another each in his own way thinking of God

and worshipping Him. Once it so happened by the will of God that all three

reached Tiru-k-kovalur near Villupuram. It was a pitch-dark night and it was

raining. There was a small house with a narrow dEhaLI (corridor)and they got

into it one after another. There was space there just enough for one to lie

down, two to sit and three to stand. Being of identical nature, they stood

there close to each other with thoughts of Bhagavan. After some time, they

felt a pressure in their body as though someone has got into their midst and

was pressing them. They wanted to light a lamp and dispel the darkness to

find out who that invisible person might be.

 

The first of the Alwars, Poigai Alwar, lit a wonderful lamp. The entire

world was the basin, the waters of the vast ocean were the ghee and the

blazing sun was the wick of the lamp. By this light in the form of a garland

of words to adorn the Lord’s feet the external darkness was dispelled.

 

The second Alwar, BhootatthAlwar lit a lamp of knowledge for which love

was the basin, ardor was the ghee and the joyful thought was the wick. By

this emotional and psychic light’ the internal darkness of the heart was

dispelled. When the darkness, external and internal was driven away, the

third alwar, PEy AlwAr, jumped with joy singing, “Thiruk kaNdEn pon mEni

kaNdEn [Lakshmi have I seen, the golden-hued Dhivya mangaLa vigraha of the

Lord have I seen.]”. The world became blessed with three centuries of

devotional hymns which were the first three of the twenty-four ballads known

as four-thousand Divya-prabandham sung by the ten and two ‘Alwars’ for the

enjoyment of all here and in Paramapada.

 

The ‘Mudal Alwars’ (the first three Alwars) are referred by the name of

‘Aadi-Bhakthaih’(27) in Dehaleesa-stuti and slokas 14-18 describe how they

were blessed by the Lord. Paramatma also gets two new names-Dehalee-isa (the

Lord of the corridor) and ‘Bhaktopamarda-rasika’ (He who enjoys the spicy

pressure of devout saints).

 

The charming figure of Trivikrama Bhagavan is beautifully described in

several moving slokas. When Bhagavan goes to the sacrificial hall of

Mahabali, he is Vamana (Dwarf) as a Bachelor (Brahmacari). Lakshmi, on His

chest is inseparable and He tries to conceal Her presence with a broad

deer-skin worn as sacred thread. When He raises His foot to measure the

worlds high above, the leg is described as a beautiful flag-post with the

divine river Mandakini as the waving banner-indicating probably his own

victorious visits as well as proclaiming the charitable and magnanimous

nature of the demon Mahabali.

 

One unique feature of Bhagavan Trivikrama in the temple is that he holds the

conch in the right hand and the discus in the left.

 

Sloka 27 of this Stotra is put at the end of Sac-carritraraksha, another

work of Sri Desika.

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan

kavi-tArkika-simhAya kalyANa-guNa-SAline |

Srimate venkateSAya vedAntagurave namaH ||

 

Salutations to Sri Venkatesa, in whom all perfections reside, who is the

teacher of Vedanta and the lion among poets and debaters

 

PS: The summary of these 28 sthOthrAs are reproduced from the book "the Life

and works of Sri Nigamantha Mahadesikan- by Prof Sri A Srinivasaraghavan-

typed by my wife Smt Brindha and as dictated by 8 year old daughter

SowbhAgyavathy Harini- as they too wished to take part in this kaimkaryam

for Acharya saarvabhouman.

 

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