vijayadAsara kavacha - part 4

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Dear vaishNavas

 

Here is the fourth part of the kavacha. It covers verses 9 to 12.

 

In the service of vijaya viThThala

 

Shobha Srinivasan (srinivasan),

CR Madhusudhana Rao (madhu_cr)

Hunsur Sriprasad (sripi)

 

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(vijayadAsara kavacha - part 4)

 

Verse 9:

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kAshinagaradallidda vyAsadEvanA-dayava

sUsi paDedanA ullAsabharitanA || 9 ||

 

Translation:

============

He worshipped Vedavyasa in Kashi and got his blessings. He is full of

happiness.

 

Commentary:

==========

In the first verse, it was said that vijayadAsaru got his dIkshe from

the Lord who came in the form of purandaradAsaru. Let me give you a

little background as to why the Lord chose this form.

 

It is believed that bhrigu muni incarnated as vijayadAsaru. However,

before incarnating as vijayadAsaru, he had incarnated as madhvapati,

the last son of purandaradAsaru, and his favorite. Even as a young boy,

madhvapati had offered naivEdya to hanumanta and made him eat it!

 

It is said that towards his last days, purandaradAsaru once took his

favorite son to the vijaya vittala temple in hampi and told him in

confidence, " I wanted to compose 5,00,000 songs and offer them to

vittala. However, it is His will that I stop at 4,25,000. I want

you to complete the balance 75,000 and offer them to vittala " .

madhvapati is supposed to have said, " If it is the wish of purandara

vittala, I will definitely do it " . To this, his father laughed and

replied, " if not purandara vittala, then vijaya vittala will make

you do it " . Even though tt was appropriate since it was the vijaya

vittala temple, the true meaning of those prophetic words was that

madhvapati would complete his father's wish only in the next birth,

as vijayadAsaru.

 

Anyway, madhvapati was reborn as the son of shInappa and kUsamma.

His parents named him dAsappa. People used to call him derisively

as 'kUsimaga dAsappa'. He had to undergo a lot of hardship and

suffer a lot of humiliation. Finally, when his bad days ended, he

visited maNikarNika lake in kAshi. One night, the Lord took on the

form of purandaradAsaru and woke him up. He took dAsappa across

the river to vyAsa kAshi and made him meet vEda vyAsa. He then

wrote the word 'vijaya' on dAsappa's tongue and gave him the

ankita of 'vijaya vittala'. From then on, dAsappa became renowned

as vijayadAsaru, and went on to compose 75,000 songs, keeping the

promise he had made in his previous birth.

 

Verse 10:

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chinte bEDirO nishchintarAgirO

shAnta gurugaLA pAda vantu nambirO || 10 ||

 

Translation:

============

Discard all worries. Become calm and contented. Worship the feet of the

guru who is a picture of serenity and calmness.

 

Commentary:

==========

This verse uses a clever play on words to bring out an important point.

At first sight, the first line seems to be a sophisticated version of

" dont worry, be happy " . You dont need an aparOkshagyAni to say that.

However, there is more to it than just that. " bEDiro " also means " please

ask or beg for " and " chinte " can also mean " chintana " or meditation. The

question is - meditation on what subject? The answer is obvious - the

one object that is worth meditating on, i.e., paramAtma. So, in a subtle

way, the author is exhorting the readers to request or ask for the

ability to meditate on the Lord. This is very appropriate because that

is the most precious gift that a guru like vijayadAsaru can give. Here

meditation should be understand to mean the essence of shravana

(listening), manana and nidhi-dhyAsana.

 

The author also gives us the fruits of such meditation " nischintarAgiro " .

This can mean 2 things - freedom from all wordly worries (which is a

pretty good thing to have), and total freedom from all possible worries -

which can happen only in mukti. Thus, this meditation can give you fruits

both in this world and on a lasting basis.

 

The last line reassures that vijayadAsaru has already done this chintane

and has achieved the serenity that is the end result of such an act.

 

Verse 11:

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khEdavAgadO nimage mOdavAhudO

Adi dEvanA suprasAdavAhudO || 11 ||

 

Translation:

============

You will not have any unhappiness at all; you will have only bliss all the

way. You will get the blessings of the Adi dEva (the earliest or first God)

- Lord hari.

 

Commentary:

==========

This is a carry over from the previous verse. Here, the author is describing

the benefits of surrendering at the feet of a guru like vijayadAsaru. The

benefits are twofold - removal of sorrows and achievement of happiness.

 

This can be interpreted in both material as well as spiritual terms. His

life is replete with examples of people, and sometimes even animals

benefitting from his generosity and yoga shakti (supernatural power).

 

In the spiritual sense, kheda means agyAna (ignorance), lack of bhakti and

vairAgya, since these three can lead to unhappiness on a more permanent

basis. mOda means more than the mere opposite of these. As was stated in

the commentary on a previous verse, earning the approval of the Lord is

true happiness.

 

 

Verse 12:

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tApa taDevano banda pApa kaDivano

shrIpatiya pada samIpaviDuvano || 12 ||

 

Translation:

============

He will block all your miseries and difficulties. He will cut your sins.

He will keep you near the feet of shrIpati.

 

Commentary:

==========

As was stated in the commentary on a previous verse, 'tApa' refers to

'tApatraya', the three miseries that dog all jIvas, and mankind in

particular.

 

tApa and pApa have an effect on a person's life in material as well as

spiritual terms. The material effects, even though appearing to be more

pressing, are ephimeral in nature. A jIvas goes through thousands, perhaps

millions, of lives before it reaches its final destination. So, in the

final reckoning, even an entire lifetime is a very short period of time!

The spiritual effects, on the other hand are much more long term. They

may take several lifetimes to correct. To illustrate, let me quote an

unusual example from the life of vijayadAsaru (based on the book titled

'shrI vijayadAsara jIvanacharitre' by haridAsaratnam gOpAladAsaru).

 

Once vijayadAsaru and his disciples were in a forest near ahObala. Suddenly

they saw a tiger and stopped. Except vijayadAsaru, everybody else was

scared. Being an aparOksha gyAni, he was able to judge the nature of the

tiger. He told his followers that the tiger was actually a pious brahmin,

who had been cursed to take the form of a cruel animal. Even in that form,

the tiger had full knowledge of its past life (because of all the pious

acts performed in the previous birth) and was pining for release from its

cruel fate. vijayadAsaru calmed his disciples down by explaining the true

situation. As he was doing this, his disciples observed tears in the eyes

of the tiger! He then kept his dEvara peTTige (box containing his idols) on

the ground and composed a prayer to ahObala narasimha, asking Him to show

mercy on the tiger. After this, he and his disciples moved back a few

steps. An amazing thing happened! With tears in its eyes, the tiger went

around the box, and lay down on the ground, and breathed its last!! By

the grace of vijayadAsaru, the brahmin's life as a tiger ended! God alone

knows how many more lifetimes it would have taken otherwise.