siri ramaNa tava charaNa -Devaranama by Sri Jagannatha Dasaru

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Hare Srinivasa!siri

ramaNa tava charana dorakuvude hyAginnu

 

parama

pApishaTa nAnu

 

Sri

Jagannatha Dasaru is special. He had received not only vidya dAna and

the priceless haridasa diksha from his guru Sri Gopala Dasaru but

also 40 years of lifespan with which to continue with his sadhana. He

is also unique because he had done VedAdhyayana formally and was a

renowned scholar in Madhva Siddaantha . The Lord made him as the

instrument to show the world that just becoming a scholar without the

humility which should come from it will not lead one to devotional

heights that are absolutely essential for spiritual upliftment. When

Sri Jaganntha Dasaru comes across Haridasas he thought of them as

ignorant people without knowledge of sanskrit and hence unaware of

the Atmatatva. But he finds out later that this was a gross

misconception on his part. After a series of events in his life, he

becomes aware of the greatness of Sri Vijaya dasaru, Sri Gopaladasaru

and becomes their ardent follower and disciple. He is directed by Sri

Gopaladasaru to go to Pandarpur for getting ankitha and it is said

that during his visit there, while he was immersed in the Lord

Vittala 's thoughts he finds a stone near the Chandrabaga river with

the ankitha 'Jagannatha vittala' .This is the beginning of a great

saga of works in Kannada by this great Haridasa.

 

Here

in this devaranama there is the depth of inner contemplation, a

passing of judgement on oneself, of examining one's intentions and

deeds sincerely with "dharma" as the gauge, the awakening

of oneself to the terrible follies one commits by misusing the mAnava

janma. Thereby Dasaru wants to awaken the sincere seeker with a jerk

and ask him/her to consider the events in his/her life. He owns up to

the various blunders one does while having been blessed with this

birth as a human being. We find a like minded thought from Sri

Purandara Dasaru who talks about such a person who wastes the human

birth without using it for sadhana as an insane person. 'mAnava

janma doDDadu ada hAni mADa beDi huchchappagalirA"

 

siri

ramaNa tava charana dorakuvude hyAginnu

 

parama

pApishaTa nAnu

 

narahariye

ninna nAma smaraNe mADade vyarta narakakke guriyAdenO devA ||

 

"

O Lord , who gives bliss to Sridevi, how shall I obtain the shelter

of Your lotus feet, when I am such a terrible sinner? O Lord

Narahari, without doing the nama smAraNa which can uplift me, I have

wasted my lifetime and am sure to be subjected to the horrors of

hell, O Lord."

 

This

is an ardent conversation with the Lord with the awareness that the

time to achieve the purpose of life has been frittered away on

frivolous things. Dasaru says that he has lost hopes of obtaining the

shelter of the Lord's lotus feet because of all the crimes he has

comitted throughout his life, first and foremost of them being

'forgetfulness of the Lord'. In the tatva suvali Sri Jagannatha

Dasaru himself asserts that ,"ninna

vismritigadika mahapApa mahapApa karmagalu inilla inilla

lOkatraydolu"

 

He

then goes on to list the things that one does, which one should not

have done and the things that one did not do ,but should have done .

The shastras have set out the injunctions which have to be followed

in order to achieve the purpose of life.

 

kere

bAvi dEva maMdiraMgalanu keDisi divya hiridAgi mane kaTTidE

 

nere

neDava mArgadolu aravaTTigegalannu thara tharadi bichchi tegede

 

 

"I

have been the cause for the demolition of temples, for closing wells

and lakes and have used the place so obtained to satisfy my selfish

desire for building a magnificient house for myself and my family."

 

During

one's life time one should dedicate time for the service of others

and not become the bane of other peoples miseries.

 

"

O Lord look at my pitiable condition, I have fallen to such depths

that I tore down the shelters on the pathways used by my neigbhours

without a twinge to my conscience ."

 

 

One

should be instrumental in undertaking projects that benefit society

and not otherwise.

 

parama

sambramadiMda aRaliya marakaDisi korasi bAgila mADide

 

vara

maMdirava mugisi harusha chitrava baresi paripariya suride muride

 

"

I have been the cause for the destruction of the big peepul trees

which give shade to countless people, which are home to many birds

and insects . And the worst thing is that when I did it, I felt as if

the peepul existed for me to tear it down and used it for carving the

door to my house. I have acted as if the world exists for my

convienince."

 

Trees

which provide solace to the tired traveller and which is the gift of

nature to all because a tree never seeks anything from anyone, it

only gives. Even when it is cut off it is used for building or as

firewood. One should always nourish trees and try to emulate them in

being of help to others.

 

"

After the grand construction of my mansion , I then proceeded to

decorate it with paintings which gave me joy to look at, which made

me proud of my acquisition. Then I further ensured that the house was

endowed with all the luxurious comforts ."

 

The

house should be a place to worship the Lord and over attachment to it

, taking pride in its looks and comforts and attributing its

ownership to one's wealth and prowess causes the downfall of the

soul.

 

Sri

Vijayadasaru says ,

 

 

ninna

olumeyiMda .......

 

jIrna

malina vastra kAnada manujage pUrNa vichitra suvasana .. ninna

olumeyiMda

"With

Your grace a poor man who does not have even torn clothes can be

suddenly trasported to wearing rich garments of different textures

and colours." It is YOUR GRACE that is the cause for

everything.

 

hosa

maneya kaMDu balu hasidu bUSuraru bare kosari hAkuta dabbuta

 

shashimukhiye

bAreMdu asavasadi baNNisuta hasanAgi avalOlisuta

 

"When

some good people came to my new house, I arranged things so that they

wanted to leave in a hurry and never come back."

 

 

 

 

 

"Instead,

I invited my spouse with whose company I was obsessed with . I made

soft conversation with my spouse and described my accomplishements

and the special luxuries of the house I had constructed."

 

The

house becomes a temple when haribhaktas step into it and are cared

for with devotion and respect. It should not be used in a way that

hinders sadhana.

 

dashami

ekAdashi dwAdashi dinadalli ashana yeraDhottu unnutA

 

gasasane

tAmbula pashuvinaMdadi meddu kusumagaMdiya ramisuta naguta

 

"

Without a thought for anything other than the enjoyment of bodily

pleasures, I never remembered the vratas to be undertaken on dashami,

ekadashi and dwadashi. I have eaten food on the prohibited days on

both the times showing my complete disregard for the shastric

injunctions. Following my animal instincts, I ate to my heart's

content and topped it off with betel leaves and betel nuts without

missing even one day."

 

snAna,saMdyAna

ati mouna gAyathri japa bhAnugargyavanu koDade

 

dInatvadali

dAna dharmavanu mADade shwAnanaMdadi chariside

 

 

"Without

any qualms, I forgot my foremost duty of doing my nitya karmas like

snAna, sandyavandana , and gayathri japa while observing silence,

giving thanks to the Sun and his antaryami the almight Lord for the

food provided, the light and warmth bestowed on entire creation

........"

 

"

So pitiable am I, that even though I had the means, I did not give to

those who needed, neither did I give to those who deserved. I was

like a stray dog which moves from one place to another, searching for

food to gratify its hunger." Dasaru is implying that the stray

dog is only satisfying its need but human beings have insatiable

wants.

 

SrInivAsane

ninna anupUrvaka puje nAnoMdu dina mADade

 

byAne

bandaMtAge hIna vidaveya kaiya nAnAdhAvinna tiMde noMde

 

 

"

O Srinivasa, my time of reckoning has come. I have not done anything

close to a puja to You, who have bestowed everything on me, including

this life and all other comforts, relationships."

 

byAne

is the word used for animal instinct which should be controlled .

Implying that one mostly follows this animal instinct ,Dasaru says

,"Just when I wanted to,or when I felt like it, I accepted food

and gratification from the most lowly people who are averse to Your

praise." Dasaru refers to the God haters as vidva here. It is

because 'a muttaide is one who accepts the sarvottama Lord as one's

controller and oneself as His sevaka.

 

Sri

Purandara Dasaru says,

 

 

'muttaida

AgirabEku mudadiMdali

 

hattu

nooru nAmadoDeya hari namma patiyeMdu"

 

sAkalyadiMda

sAlagramakabishEka AkalhAlali mADade

 

nAlkeMTu

nAyigala sAki maneyolage baduka bEkeMdu hAlu hoyde

"

I should have been performing special abhisheka of the saligrama

which has the nitya sannidhana of You my Lord ,with pure cow's milk .

But ,I never did it."

 

"I

wanted to keep dogs as pets in my house and gave them all my

attention and provided them with the best of things." This is

not to belittle the provision of food to dogs, but to draw attention

to the fact that such close association with animals is forbidden for

a seeker. The Bhagavatha recounts the story of a great devotee

'Bharata chaktravarti' who got ensnared by the moha or attachment to

a little deer which he had been taking care of and on his death bed

also his foremost thought was about the deer and he was born as a

deer in the next birth. This is the storty of a great king who had

renounced his kingdom, fame, comforts of the palace, servants, power

etc and retired to the forest to contemplate on the Lord. Imagine

ordinary people like oneself who don't have any vairagya or

detachment from anything connected to the body.

 

nalkeMTu

nAyigala sAkide maneyolage can also refer to the various vices

that thrive in the house that is the mind. Instead of feeding these

vices with more opportunities to get a frim hold on one's mind, one

should perform the abhishekam of the Lord with cow's milk means one

should use the mind to contemplate on the attributes and forms of the

Lord as described in the Vedas which are symbolised by the cow's

milk.

 

kAku

buddigaliMda guDiguDi nasya puDi hAki baMgiya sedide

 

lOkaniMdakanAgi

pAtakavu hechchi anEka jujugalADide biDade

 

"With

my perverted mind, aspiring for prohibited things, I smoked the

hookah and got addicted to tobacco."

 

"I

complained endlessly about the world and the experiences I had and

regarded my living environment carelessly , I soiled my soul with

many prohibited karmas. I gambled endlessly seeking more and more

pleasures to satisfy my selfish ends."

 

 

People

who listen to the neethi bodhanas of the puranas and shastras

continue to do prohibited karmas, thinking that anyway they will not

be penalised as they have performed many good things etc. They

satisfy thier conscience that this is alright to do for now and in a

later janma they can toe the line with more discipline. This is a

gamble which most of us take. Why is it called a gamble? It's because

getting such a human birth in the near future births is itself a

remote possibility .

 

bAdarAyana

krita bhAgavata kEluvalli Adaravu puTTalilla

 

vAdigala

matavalidu madvasiddAntada hAdige hogalilla

 

 

"

I did not listen to the holy Bhagavatha purana and never developed

any taste in listening to this spiritually enlightening text written

by the great Badarayana rishi who is the avatar of Lord Vishnu."

 

"I

never took it as my duty to to stop the spread of the mayavadins who

are the Vishnu haters who don't accept the Lord as the sarvothama and

oneself as the dasa but instead equate themselves with Him and who

spread the wrong information about the Vedas and I never utilized my

precious time to learn the Madhva shastra."

 

shodhisida

chinnakke samarAda vaishnavara pAdakke bIlalilla

 

vEdabAhyarigeragi

apasavya mananAgi AdikoMDeno idella salla

 

"

I have not offered my obesiances to the high souled ones who are the

devotees of Lord Vishnu and who are like gold that has been subjected

to a stringent purification process. " What a beautiful

comparison to show the purity of true devotees!

 

"I

have instead solicited the company of those who shun the true

knowedge that can be obtained from the Vedas and I have whiled away

my time gossiping and talking of mundane things."

 

uttama

brAhmanara vrittiyanu kEDisi brahmahatyagAranu eniside

 

matte

muMji maduve samayakke nA hOgi satta suddiya peLide

 

 

"

I have disregarded the jNAnis who are Your great devotees and who by

Your special grace know about You to the extent of thier yogyatha . I

have not spent my time in serving them but instead tried to cause

obstacles to thier penances and hence I am a lowdown criminal. A

dosha that is equal to that of killing a brahimin has fallen on me ."

 

"

During the mangala times in houses ,I have been the unholy messenger

of bad tidings."

 

vittavidda

avara benhatti dutara kaluhi kuttigeyanu koyside

 

hattu

janarenhaNake nityakalhoDeyutire mrityudevara eniside biDade

 

 

"I

have pursued the people who have wealth and if they don't part with

it ,I did not hesitate to satisfy my whims and fancies by hiring a

hitman to kill them and obtain the wealth .So perverted is my mind. I

am a real sinner."

 

 

"I

have harmed so many people and caused them so much misery that there

are many who would not hesitate to throw stones at my wealth and

property. (It means that there are many people who have been hurt by

ourself in someway or the other and who would wish upon us all the misfortune in the world.) All the time passed in acquiring the

wealth of others unjustly so much so that I was unware of the

enormous time that had already passed and that now I stand on the

steps leading down to the day of reckoning in front of the Mrityu

devatha -Yama who is sure to call up and list all my criminal acts."

Dasaru is trying to give a measure of the depth of harm caused by

oneself to others by talking in this way.

 

kshitiyolage

innaru hitava bayasuvarenage gatiyEnu pElo kOnege

 

satata

tava dyAnadali ratanAgi iruva sanmatiyane pAliseIga

 

"I

have no one in the entire world,nay, in the entire universe who would

wish me well and I don't know what lies in wait for me when I leave

this mortal coil of mine. I beg of you to tell me what destiny is in

store for me."

 

"

Please bestow on me the good intelligence to attach my mind to

contemplating on Your wonderful forms and attributes and to derive

immense joy from this contemplation itself without any further

aspirations."

 

 

patitapAvananemba

birudu avaniya mele shrutisArutideyO hIge

 

shitikaMTanuta

jagannAtha viThThala ninage nutit more hOkke hariye doreye

 

 

"In

the entire world , those who know You, are glorifying You as the

uplifter of the fallen ones. O my master, the most benovelent Lord,

even though I am a sinner and a criminal , I seek Your grace because

You are known to redeem those who surrender at Your feet."

 

"

You are worshipped by Lord Shiva who has the blue neck due to

swallowing the poison during the samudra mathana, You are my Lord

-dore, You are the one who drags away the papas of Your

devotees- Hari, You are Jagannatha viTTala . I cry out in

surrender," You are my saviour, my protector and my Master . "

 

Ingesting

poison is a symbollic way of referring to the way one has poisoned

one's mind and soul by doing countless sins. But the Lord has the

ability to stop the spread of the poison and to eradicate its effects

and by praying to the Lord as shitikaMTanuta we are entreating Him to

cure us of this poison and save us, just as He protected Shiva from

the poison which he injested at the Lord's direction. Shiva is the

mano niyamaka and the mind is the seat of all the poisonous

activities . So glorifying the Lord through Shiva is a way to praise

the manOniyamaka Shiva also. The Lord is pleased only when His

devotees who are the tatvabhimAni devatas are also propitated in the

correct way.The mind is then directed by the Lord through Shiva to do

nAma smaraNe .

 

achchutAne

ninnaMta huchchu dore yanu kANe

 

kachchi

bayda bhakutara | bhakutara aparAdagala

 

tuchchagaidavara

salahIdi ||

 

In

tatva suvali Dasaru glorifies the Lord's benevolence by calling Him

as a huchchu dore who forgives devotees who scolded Him and who

belittled Him. (Referring to ShishupAla in who there was the bhakta

'jaya' and also to Brigu muni who kicked Him in the chest." In

order to caution people that the word huchcha is not to derride the

Lord but to show the depth of affection that the Lord has for His

devotees and should not be understood as a dOsha, Dasaru uses the

adjective 'achchutAne' for the Lord. One who has no dOshas,

whatsoever, at any time or any place or in any guNas.

 

In

this devaranama after a complete confession of all the various

sins,Dasaru ends his plea without asking anything except the desire

to chant His name. This clearly shows that one should never pray or

appeal to the Lord and then direct Him to grant this and grant that.

After all the person who appeals never has the right to issue orders.

He has to accept what is granted. But one need not feel dejected.

This is the assurance that one gets from this devaranama . Every

embodied being can surrender to the Lord unconditionally and expect

to be uplifted irrespective of what has passed. The yogyatha of the

jiva determines the kind of upliftment in store, but the method is

'abiding devotion' which can come only through surrender to the Lord

after accepting the innumerable faults that exist in oneself and a

firm resolution to prusue the purpose of life. Following

Sri Jagannatha Dasaru let us try to implement his ardent prayer which

forms part of Tatva suvali.

 

ninna

tutipudakiMta puMya berenaiyya

 

ninaMgri

bhajane sukhakiMta| sukhakiMta purushArta

 

innuMTe

swAmi jagadolu ||srI krishnArpanamastuI am not the doer, Lord Hari is the doerWhatever He

makes me do is His worship by His graceR.ParimalaPlease visit www.aarshavani.org to listen to a few compositions of Sri Jagannatha Dasaru .

 

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