srInivAsa nIne pAliso -Devaranama by Sri Purandara Dasaru

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Hare Srinivasa,srinivAsa

nIne pAliso ashritajanapAla gAnalOla srI mukuMdane

The pallavi of this song is itself a

beautiful prayer to the Lord. It has three names for extolling

Srinivasa and each of these answers why Dasaru is seeking Srinivasa’s

protection, how to do so and what is the use of such a way of life?

ashrita

janapAla- is one who provides

overall protection to those who seek His help.

Sri Purandara Dasaru is

specifying the way one has to pray to the Lord. He says that we have

to seek protection exclusively only from the Lord and not elsewhere.

We should feel confident that the Lord will take care of us once we

seek Him out, to the exclusion of all others. It has been shown

time and again in the puranas and itihasas about the Lord’s grace

on such devotees. Gajendra, Ambarisha, Ajamila are all who sought Him

exclusively.

gAnalOla

: What is the means that we have to tell the

Lord about our state of mind. To that Dasaru says ,â€Srinivasa is

gAnalOlaâ€

He can be easily reached

through gAna. What is gAna ? It is the sound of music from our heart

and only that can be heard by the Lord . It should a plea direct from

our inner being. Expereinces of devotees having such states of total

devotion is also described in the Puranas and from many Haridasaru’s

songs.

Sri Vijayadasaru has sung,

“aMtaraMgada kadavu tereyintiMdu eMtu puMyada

phala prApti dorakitu enage†“The door of my inner being

has opened, I have obtained the fruit of my continuous devotion .â€

srI

mukuMdane : He is the bestower of

moksha. He welcomes the eligible devotees to His abode after

relieving them of their burden of sins and bondage.

To those of us who have a doubt

, Dasaru says that this Srinivasa is vEnugOpAla – the one who makes

music from His flute and herds cows. This form is described in

Bhagavatham. But , here the cows represent the vEdas. Why so? It is

because Dasaru talks about gOviMda next. The music of His flute,

could refer to grace which comes from Him. Those who understand the

inner meaning of the Vedas, which talk continuously about the

greatness of God and who contemplate on His divine forms and

attributes as instructed in the Vedas, to them He becomes vEnugOpAla.

He leads the way to the correct place by showering His grace .If one

asks,â€Why does He want us to praise and seek His help. Does he

obtain happiness from getting praised just like an ordinary human? To

that Dasaru answers “He is nityAnaMdaâ€

He is omniscient and eternally

in bliss. So there is no time when He is not happy, so we should

understand that He does not do it for any of His personal needs, but

does it exclusively for the benefit of those who seek Him.

dhyAna

mAlpa sajjanara mAnadiM paripAlipa venugOpAla vEdavedya nityAnaMda

He has said that in the BG

anaMyAschiMtayaMto

mAm ye janah pariyupAsate

tEshAm

nityAbhiyuktAnAm yogakshemam vahAmyaham

“ I take the responsibility

of providing for those devotees who surrender completely to me and

think of me continuously, day after day.†Here the word

providing includes two things- yoga- to obtains one’s cherished

desires. Kshema- retain the blessings already obtained.

eMdige

ninna pAdabjava poMduva sukha eMdige labyavo mAdhavA

aMdakAraMyadalli

niMdu tattarisutiheno aMdadiM bavAbdiyali miMdu noMdeno mukuMdA

Dasaru says, “O srInivasa, I

have heard that You attend to Your devotees. I am waiting. When will

I ever experience the bliss of seeing Your lotus feet? I am immersed

in the miseries of the samsAra and am struggling in the darkness

around me. When will You relieve me of this,O mukuMdAâ€

Srinivasa is the same Lord who

gives meaning to the entire Vedas, who shows the correct direction to

the people, who is the Lord who gives freedom from bondage. The Lord

is called as ‘swagatabhEdavivarjitha “. His forms may

appear different , but His forms are all composed of jNAna and AnaMda

and all are similarly composed of infinite auspicious attributes.

eshTu

dina kashTa paDuvudo yashode kaMda dhrishTiyiMda nODalAgade

muTTi

ninna bhajisidalAre keTTa narajanmadava dushTakArya mADidAgyu

ishTanAgi kaiyya piDidu

Dasaru is talking of the long

wait of the mukthi yogya soul. He says ,†How many days should I

suffer, O son of Yashoda.†To a normal human suffering may be

associated with something material or body related.

To Dasaru ,what is the

suffering?

He says, “I cannot see You

with my eyes.â€

Imagine the level of Dasaru’s

devotion. He is suffering because of not seeing the Lord, not for any

other mundane things ,like the ordinary human.

“He says that after all how

would you let me see You. I do not have the eligibility as I am from

the horrible birth where I have not used my time to pray to You but

instead perpetuated acts of wrong doing. Even so, I beg You to uplift

me as I am now seeking Your grace.â€

This charanam tells clearly how

the state of mind of devotee should be. One should yearn to see the

Lord and experience pangs of separation from the Lord. One should

always use all the sense organs to express one’s devotion to the

Lord. Dasaru says ,’muTTi ninna†. One should be so sincere that

the heart should touch the Lord. This has been told in the

Bhagavatham that thinking of the Lord with love, causes the

goose bumps on the skin and tears in the eyes. Continuous expression

of such devotion is the requirement for the Lord’s vision. This is

possible for those who overcome the urges to engage in deeds which

are against shAstra(dushTa kArya) by

seeking the helping hand of God or the devotees of God.

Prasanna

Venkata dasaru says,

saMgha

vAghali sAdhu saMgha vAgali

saMgha

diMda liMga dEha baMgavAgali

Sri

Jagannatha Dasaru says,

raMga

ninna koMDADuva maMgalAtmara saMgha sukha vittu kAyo karuNAsAgara

 

 

anudina

aneka rogaMgala anubhavisuvenu ghanamahimane kelaiyya tanuvinalli

balavilla

nenedamAtra salahuva hanumadIsha puraMdara viTTala nI kaiyya piDidu

Dasaru highlights the dire state of every human

being. No one knows what disease may plague one at any time. We see

around us misery which arises from bodily and mental afflictions. He

says, “ My body is weak. I don’t have enough strength to do any

of the special rituals in detail. I have heard that You come to Your

devotees aid as soon as the devotee approaches You.â€

We recollect the instance of Vibheeshana coming to

Rama’s camp and surrendering to Rama wholeheartedly. He is not

forsaken but accepted. The reaction of an ordinary human being is

portrayed by Sugriva who did not want to accept a person from the

enemy camp. Hanuman on the other hand instantly knows this great guNa

of the Lord(sharanagata vatsala) and understand that Vibeeshana

would not be forsaken but would be given succour.

Sri Vadirajaru sings

sharaNu veMkaTa ramana ninna

charanava nambide nAnu

Sri Kanaka Dasaru says

sharanu hokke enna maraNa

smayadalli ninna charana smarane karunisaiyya nArAyana

You are the antaryami of Hanuman the great and

exemplary devotee . I plead with You O Purandara vittala , please

hold my hand and uplift me.â€

In this devaranama, Dasaru shows the state of mind

that is needed for grace- Isha bhava towards God and understanding

our dependence on Him for everything.

With this knowledge, one can surrender to Him and

entreat Him to uplift oneself.

sri krishnArpanamastuI am not the doer, Lord Hari is the doerEven so, whatever He makes me do is His worship by His graceR.Parimala

 

 

 

 

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