toravva lakumi-Devurunama by Sri Mohana Dasaru

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Hare Srinivasa!

 

Sri Mohana Dasa antargata Sri Vijayadasa antargata Sri Bharathi ramana mukyaprAnantargata Sri Lakshmi Narayanaya namaha !

 

tOravva lakumi

 

Sri Mohana Vittala Dasaru is a great haridasa who was identified as a great soul during his infancy itself by Sri Vijayadasaru. His period is from 1728 to 1751.It was during utter poverty and despair that pushed the infant's mother to the verge of attempting suicide with her tiny son at Nava Brindavana on the banks of Tungabhadra. By the grace of God, Vijayadasaru who was present there was able to dissuade her from committing the dire deed . He brought the child up like his own son who later came to be known as Mohana Dasaru. But unfortunately, the child met with premature death. It is said that during that time Vijayadasaru personally approached the God of death and got back Mohana Dasaru from him, after which he studied philosophy and finally wrote many compositions to preach to the common people. His works are in the form of sayings of poetry and

Vijayadasaru used to praise him as the master of sayings. Vijayadasaru used to say , "In strength of devotion none to beat Bhaganna (Gopaladasaru) in proper sayings Mohanna and in strength of writings Thimanna. " Such was the appreciation Sri Mohana Dasaru had from his guru as well as mentor/father.

 

Here is a beautiful composition of Sri Mohana Dasaru where he entreats mother Lakshmi to show him the Lord of the seven hills. He describes the Lord to Mahalakshmi and says ," Lakumi avva, please show him." At the same time he also ends every description with 'namma' , to show that all devotees are as a group with the Lord and Mahalakshmi. They all belong together.

Entreating mother Lakshmi by praising her Lord is a sure way to secure her grace. There is nothing that pleases any devotee of the Lord more than listening to His Lord's prasie. And Mahalakshmi being the highest devotee of the Lord, being with Him in all times and places and thus being inseperable from Him is definitely pleased only by this seva and not any other. Mohana Dasaru is showing the way to please Mahalakshmi and at the same time to secure the grace of Lord Venkatesha.

 

In order to see the Lord, why do we need to seek mother Lakshmi's grace.

Sri Krishna answers the question in the Bhagavad Gita.

satvam rajastam guNAH prakritisambhavAH

nibandanti mahAbAhO dehe dehinamavyayam ||16.5||

 

It is because the tigunNas which are the cause of the world to rotate with the fetters of bondage and ignorance are under the tutelage of the three forms of MAhalakshmi - Sri , Bhu and Durga. It fetters all the embodied beings under the guidance of sound Mahalakshmi. To overcome this one has to seek knowledge and the gaurdian of the knowledge about the Lord is Sridevi. Satwa guna whose gaurdian angel is Sri, when in ascendency on the jiva's faculties, causes the jiva to thirst for knowledge.

This is mentioned by Lord Krishna in 15.17. (satvAtsanjAyate jNAnam....)

 

veMkaTAdri nilayana paMkajanAbhana

Mohana Dasaru says , " O mother Lakshmi, please show me the one who resides in the hills of veMkaTadri and who has the lotus in His navel."

With these two addresses for the Lord, Mohana Dasaru asserts that the Lord of the seven hills, Venkatesha is the same as the Lord of the universe 'Narayana' who created Brahma from the lotus in His navel. He also asserts that the He is the one can hack away the papas clinging to the jiva from time immemorial . veMKaTA means the the cutting away of papa. He creates the world through Brahma born in the lotus -pankajanAbha and gives the opportunity for the jivas to work out their karma and do sadhana by singing the glory of the Lord as a reasult of which He Himself cuts off their papas and makes them fit for further sadhana and finally salvation.

 

 

vasudEva dEvaki kaMdA A shashimukhiyarODaNe AnaMda

pasugala kAyda gOviMda bhisajanAbha mukuMda namma

Then Dasaru is recollecting the Lord's leelas in Krishna avatara where He accepted Vasudeva and Devaki as His parents. He gave endless joy to the gopis of Vrindavana . At the same time, He took care of the cows. Again Dasaru is using the address of the Lord with the lotus in His navel. Why twice consecutively. It has a significance. The bhisaja is lotus born in the pond, and Dasaru is referring to Him to show that He is not only the creator but also as mukuMda who is the bestower of salvation.

Dasaru shows that the Lord may take avatara and appear in different forms and may accepts different people as His parents during avatara but He is the same Lord who is the creator, the sustainer, the destroyer as well as the bestower of moksha.

In case one wonders, does the Lord need the happiness of being amidst the gopis, Dasaru says, not at all, He is the one who created them,as well the cows the place as and is incharge of all the beings /places and time . These things are conveyed by the address of bisajanAbha . It also refers to the 'lotus' which is born in the muddy pond but has the property of never being touched by the mud in the water. It is insulated against impurities and lies serenely on the surface. Similarly the Lord takes avataras and comes in the midst of embodied beings for thier upliftment but He is never affected by the defects of the jivas even though He exists in everyone as thier antaryami and controls thier every action.

 

samajarAjana varada balu premadi bhakuthara poredA

A mahaditijara taridA nissIma mahimanAgi merada namma

 

Mohana Dasaru says, "Oh Lakumi avva, I know that this same Lord came to the rescue of Gajaraja during his time of need, He is the Lord who lovingly uplifts His true devotees. At the same time He is just and casues the destruction of the demons and rakshasas. His glory is undefinable and undescribable.Show me our Lord who reigns supreme always."

Dasaru entreats Lakshmi with examples of the Lord's compassion on His devotees. He gives the example of Gajendra who called out to the Lord in distress after all the other elephants who were his relations left him to his fate. The Lord did not hesitate and looking at the fervent devotion, the eligiblity of His bhakta He came and graced him. Listening to the glories of the Lord's avatara leelas as well as the parables of bhakthas causes happiness in the mind of the devotees. It also cleanses the mind and makes it ready to understand the intritcate tatvas that are woven into the web of true knowledge.

In the Bhagavatham Krishna advises Udhava the supremacy of the Bhakthi marga.

yathA yathAtma parimrijyateasou matpuNyagAthAshravaNabhidhAnairH

tathA tathA pasyati tatvasukshumam chakshuyathaivAMjanasamprayuktam

"With repeated listening and narrating of My auspicious glories the devotions goes on increasing. The mind is purged of its drosses and becomes intensely purified. The devotee grows in competence and sees subtler truths like the eye discerning things more discretely with ungents."

 

In the Harikathamruthasaara Sri Jagannatha Dasaru beutifully ennumerates the effects of listening to the glories of the Lord.

shravana manakAnaMda vIvudu bhavajanita dukhagala kalevudu

vivida bhOgagala ihaparaMgalali ittu saluhuvudu

bhuvana pAvana venipa lakumidhava maMgala katheya

paramOtsavadi kivikoTTAlipudu bhusuraru dinadinadi

 

"Listening and contemplating the gUnas, forms, leelas of the Lord causes the devotee to expereince bliss in one's mind which is main seat of all expereince, the mind becomes peaceful and that is itself the beginning of bliss, the endless miseries of samsaara are removed step by step and the jiva is blessed with properity and comforts in this world as well as later. All this accrues to the one who listens to the glory with avid interest and understands that He is the Lord of Lakshmi, He is the purest of the pure and is the most auspiscious of all."

 

uragA giriyali ippA aMdu maruthana pegalEri bappa

sharaNarig varavIva tappAsiri mohanna viTTala thimappa namma

 

Dasaru says, "He resides in the Sheshadri hills which is the name of Venkatadri hills during the dwapara yuga. He rides on the shoulders of Marutha and comes. He unfailingly, gives boons to those who seek His shelter and He is the Lord Mohana vittala who is the same as Thimmappa. "

The Lord of Tirupathi is well known by the name Thimmappa and He is called so, endearingly by His devotees. Devotees who seek Him through the Madhva siddanta will become eligible to called Thimappa endearing as 'namma' - (maruthana pegalEri bappa).

To understand how His integrity towards his bhaktas is Dasaru is saying' sharaNarig varavIva tappa" means without failing. In the bhagavatham two analogies are given to describe this unfailing nature of the Lord coming to grace His devotees .

"When the devotees hymn with pure devotion the infinite adorable Almighty being pleased enters the minds of such pious souls and annihilates all thier sins and sorrows beyond suspicion just like the sun dispelling the darkness and the whirlwind shattering the clouds."

These two examples are what everyone have seen and expereinced. If sun shines, then darkness must go, it is inevitable. Similarly if the devotee is eligible the Lord will shine His grace on them without fail. The wind disperses clouds . If winds blow then the clouds cannot stand the onslaught and are moved in the direction of the winds which goes back and forth dispersing it completely. Similarly the grace of Paramatma causes the papas to be annilated completely without trace, unfailingly.

 

Mohana Dasaru is exhorting devotees to repose complete faith in the Lord and seek Him through the Madhva shastra which advises the propitation of Mahalakshmi through her Lord. It is also true that pleasing devatas through their antaryami 'Narayana' not pleases the devathas but the Lord also and is a sure method to secure His grace. The path shown by Srimad Madhvacharya is being highlighted by Dasaru and it is no wonder that he has secured the praise of his guru Vijayadasaru.

 

On this day , which is the aaradhana of this great saint, Let us offer our prostrations to him and through him, his guru Vijayadasaru and through him his guru SriBharatiRamana mukyaprAna and through MukyaprAna devuru the Lord Sri Mohana Vittala, the one who is flawless and completely full of infinite auspiscious attributes and forms.

 

This has also been stressed by Sri Jagannatha Dasaru's as the means that all bhakta ganas have to implement in their day to day lifes. He says this in the last stanza of the opening mangalacharana sandhi.

'parimalavu sumanadolag aNalaNu araNiyolagippaMte

dAmOdharanu brahmAdigala manadali tOritoradale

irutihanu jagannatha viTTala karuNa paDeva mumukshu jIvaru

paramabhagavatharanu koMDADuvude pratidinavu'

 

Depending on the elevation of the dieties Brahma, Vayu the Lord gives the expereince of His presence in them just as the flower easily discloses its presence by its fragrance. Other dieties in the order of taratamya Garuda, Sesha ,Rudra and others expereince the Lord's presence by sustained efforts just as fire is got from the AraNi wood by scrubbing together with force. But one need not despair that one may not be able to reach such elevated levels and hence all is lost. Jagannatha Dasaru lights the lamp of devotion in bhagavat bhaktas and he says that any being desiring eternal peace in the form of moksha should definitely and repeatedly glorify the great devotees of the Lord. In our paramapare we are fortunate to have many great saints and Haridasas and it is our foremost duty to remember thier great contributions towards the upliftment of mankind.

Studying thier life and works and spreading it is what we should continuously strive to acheive with thier grace.

 

Sri KrishnArpana mastu

I am not the doer, Lord Hari is the doer,

Whatever He makes me do is His worship by His grace

 

R.Parimala

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[Guest guest]

On Mon, Jun 9, 2008 at 9:41 AM, Parimala Raghavendran

<ravipari01 wrote:

> Hare Srinivasa!

>

>

>

> Sri Mohana Dasa antargata Sri Vijayadasa antargata Sri Bharathi ramana

> mukyaprAnantargata Sri Lakshmi Narayanaya namaha !

 

I am not sure this is right.

 

It should be Sri Mohana Dasa antargata Sri Bharathi ramana

mukyaprAnantargata Sri Lakshmi Narayanaya namaha !

 

Sri Vijayadasaru is not inside Sri Mohana Dasaru's jeeva svaroopa

 

haraye namaH,

 

Shobha Srinivasan

 

 

 

 

 

--

parameshvara bhaktirnAma niravadhika ananta anavadya kalyANaguNatva

GYAnapUrvakaH

svAtmAtmIya samasta vastubhyo aneka guNAdhiko antarAya sahasrenApya

pratibaddo nirantara premapravAhaH

(jiGYAsAdhikaraNam.h, a verse from Sriman Nyaya Sudha)

(Meaning from Srimad Bhagawad Gita (The song Olympian) by Sri G V Nadgauda.

 

[Devotion to Lord] (bhakthi) is the invariable & continuous flow of ardent

affection to God, undettered by varied frustrations in life, [excelling the

attachment to self, our kindred & other lovable assets] (vairagya),

reinforced by [sound knowledge] (jnAna) & solid conviction of His glory &

greatness, as the sole independent Power, the abode of all auspicious

attributes, free from foibles. As such, it differs from blind belief &

selfish live. It should be founded on an unshakable intellectual &

emotional conviction in the Majesty of the Lord- as the embodiment of all

spiritual excellences.