Daasana mADiko enna- Devurunama by Sri Purandara dasaru

[Guest guest]

Hare Srinivasa,

Sir Purandara Dasaru in this beautiful composition begs the

Lord to make him His dAsa. Dasaru says, “ Make me Your dAsa .†After that he is

addressing the Lord as ‘swami’. Here there is a contradiction. After all the swami is the address used by a

dasa ,not an equal. Then why is Dasaru still saying ‘make me your dasa’.

This brings out clearly the ambiguous nature of ‘kartritva’

of human beings. There are in effect two points of view. The jiva’s point of

view and the Lord’s. The Lord’s point of view is the one which rules and moves the

entire creation.The Lord being independent and all knowing , knows everything

as it should happen to every entity and He is the force which makes things

happen as per His iccha.

dravyam Karma cha

kaalascha svabhaavo jeeva eva cha |

Yat prasaadaat ime

santi na santi yadupekshayaa ||

(matter, Action, Time, Nature of

things, souls – all get their existence because of His will, if there is no will of His, then they do not

exist

Even though this is true it does not contradict the point of view that the jiva is a doer, a dependent doer.

The jiva’s expereince

is not one of dependence always. Everyone of us have the expereince of desiring

something and taking steps to fulfill it. The jiva always feels that he/she

himself is the one who got the desire and also initiated the following events.

This feeling of independence was also designed by the Lord

only, He being the independent cause of everything in the universe. Why has God

designed this type of experience for the jiva? It is precisely because He wants

the jiva to feel responsible for his/her thoughts and actions and carry them

out as per the instructions from Shastras and elders.The process leads the jiva

to expereince and acquire knowledge . This knowledge is the tool which can cut

away the jiva’s countless doshas and make the jiva pure. ‘na hi jNAnena sadrisham pavitram iha vidyate’.

This knowledge can pave the for further sadhana which can then move one to

progress spiritually as per God’s will.

Here Dasaru is reminding us of this responsibility that we

have, at the same time accepting the Lord’s total independence in all actions

of the jiva. Dasaru is using the fact that there is ichcha and jNana and kriya for the jiva, all

being dependent on the Lord.These 3 when discussed in this context take the following import. The wish of wanting to become a dasa is the iccha of the jiva (dasana mADiko enna). The knowledge

that the Lord is omnipotent and oneself is dependent on the Lord for one’s very

identity and existence and it is the Lord’s right to make us His dasa is the jNAna of the jiva (mADiko, muDisO etc shows acceptance of His control)and the kriya is the action that we

perform with this body(adigeruguve anudinapADi) of which He is the supreme controller.

jNana – I am a dasa, the Lord is the swAmi. But even to

actually become His dasa, He has to accept me as His dasa. The other side of this coin: Whether one knows

it or accepts it or not, one always remains as a dasa(under the Lord’s control)

, doing His every bidding .

But the difference in the purpose of leading a life with the

awareness of this compared to not being aware of it is so vast . The entire sadhana is foccussed on finding out

and becoming aware of this ompnipotent Lord, whose very essence is ‘karuna’

whose very essence is to uplift the jivas. It is natural for Him to be

benevolent. But we need to become aware of His benevolence. We need to accept

our dependence on Him, just as naturally as He exists. For Him, existence at

all times is nature. For us, dependence on Him is nature. We are not aware of

our nature, and to jolt us awake, Dasaru begs the Lord to make him a dasa.

Sri Kanaka Dasaru says,

eneMdu koMDADi stuthisuveno dEva

nA enu balle ninna mahimegala

anurEnutrinadalli paripurNanu nInu kshana

kshanage avaguNada karmi nAnu

vAni arasanapetta vaikuMTapati nInu tanu nitya

ballada boMde nAnu

“How shall I glorify You, O Lord. I don’t even have an

inkling of Your magnificience. You are completely full of auspiscuous

attributes while I am unsteady in my karma being controlled by negative

emotions. You are the father of Brahma , You are the Lord of Vaikunta while I

am a doll which does not know where it is heading all the time.â€

Coming back to the song , dasana mADiko enna

On a social level one can become the employee of an employer

and obtain wealth and job satisfaction. But even on this level ,unless the

employer agrees to employ one, there is no question of any benefits. But the

Lord’s magnanity is enormous. Before

even accepting us as the dasas in the true sense, He gives all the benefits

like wealth , progency, good health or even knowledge. Our duty is to seek to

become His dasas with a wholehearted gratitude.

You are the one with the thousand names, O Venkataramana.â€

dAsana mADiko ennA sWAmi sAsira nAmada veMkaTaramaNA

sAsira nAmada veMkaTaramaNa is a beautiful address for the

Lord. The word sAsira tells us of the nature of His sWAmitva(Lordliness). The

word sAsira does not mean just 1000. If means thousands and thousands. It means

infnite.

The purusha sukta glorifies the Lord

‘sahasra shIrshA purshaH sahasrAksha sahasrapAtâ€

sAsira nAma means infinite names. What

is the significance of infnite names. Will not one name suffice? Why does He

need infnite names ?

Here the implication of the meaning of the word’ nama’ comes

to aid in understanding this concept. For a human being, name gives identity. For a person, a name is not

an adjective. We use name to call and identify a person. It is temporary as

existence in a body is temporary.

For the Lord the names

are used to describe His infinite auspicuous attributes. It makes complete

sense for Him to have thousands and thousands of names as He has infnite

attributes which can never be concieved by anyone, not even Mahalakshmi who is

at all places and times with Him.

Sri Jagannatha dasaru describes this in HKS 1.2’ bageya bageya nUtanava kANutha mige harushadim pogali

higguve triguNamANi mahAlakumi…â€

His names are permanent just as His existence is. One of His

names is purAtana. He is called as ‘purAtana’ implying ‘He exists since ages

and ages and ages… meaning infinite time – eternal time.

In this devaranama, Dasaru is reminding every sadhaka how

he/she has to take heed of the icicha shakthi which is given by God and use it

consiously. Dasaru expresses his earnest

desire to be free of negative thoughts and emotions.

He says ,†O Lord please push away all the bad thoughts and

decesions and make me wear the protective sheild of armour which is Your

Karuna. Please grant me the opportunity to offer seva to Your lotus feet and

adorn my head with the flower of fearlessness.â€

durbuddigalanella biDisO

ninna karUNa kavacha enna haraNakke tODisO

charaNa sEve enage

koDisO abhayakara pushpavenna siradalli muDisO

The shastras are advising one to follow the bhagavatha

dhrama. They are asking one to make oneself free of the doshas of the mind.

These are all possible if one has the ichcha but at the same time the

understanding that without the Lord’s karuna kavacha it cannot happen. Any

goodness in our self is because He granted it to us. Dasaru is saying, if we

seek from the Lord it should not be tainted with the feeling of acquisition

once it is acquired. The eternal truth that we exist and the acquired character

is in our possession is because of His karuna and not otherwise. It can be

toppled at any time . If the karuna kavacha of the lord is there , then this

knowledge will also be there.

The karuna kavacha instills a feeling of awe and gratitude to

the towering Lord. As a flow of gratitude the jiva will next want to do the

pada seva of this benovelent Lord. Doing the seva with this proper anusadhana results in fearlessness. The Lord bestows the

abhaya pushpa . This pushpa is made of

the petals of knowledge about God’s infinite reach and control. Its fragrance

is made of the contented feeling that ensures out of security. A crude example

would be the feeling of security that a babe gets while sitting on its mother’s

lap.

driDAbhakthi ninnalli bEDi nAnaDigereguvenaiyyA

anudinapADi

kaDegaNNile enna nODi biDuve koDu ninna

dhyAnava manasuchi mADi

Dasaru continues entreating the Lord.

“ O Lord, I beg that I should have unshakable love and

devotion towards You and fall at Your lotus feet extolling and revelling in

Your wonderful glories. Please look at me with a glance from the corners of

Your eyes and grace me by purifying my mind so that I move upwards from bodily

expression of devotion to mental expression of devotion which is conteplation

of Your infinite forms and glories within my limited ability.â€

Here the word kaDegannilE

has a special significance. It shows the supreme ease with which God creates

and sustains the universe. He has no need to exert Himself . In dwAdasha stotra

Srimad Acharyaru says

………sriyatkaTAksha balavathi ajitham naMAmi’

All the devathas like Brahma, Vayu, Garuda ,Sesha and Rudra

and Indra and others are doing their duties in the maintainence of the world by the grace of a side glance of Sri Mahalakshmi and to that victorious Lord who bestows such

power on Mahalakshmi , I offer my obeisances.†Even Mahalaskhmi does not exert

herself in empowering the other devathas. She bestows a side glance. So imagine

the power of the Lord who granted this power to Lakshmi devi.

The next charanam of the song.

morehokkavara kAyva birude

nee enna mareyade rakshane mADaiyya poredu

duritagalella taridu srI

puraMdara viTTala ennanu poredu

The first two charanams are ardent entreaties to the Lord.

But in the last charanam Dasaru is conveying to the devotees that devotion is

not all about just one type of emotion. The bhava of the devotee keeps changing

as and when the devotee perceives the Lord in a new light. Exploring the Lord’s

leelas from the puranas and itahasas one can be sure that the Lord will come to

the aid of the devotee when He is entreated.There is a definite pattern. If the

devotee is elibigle and earnest then the Lord will come.

Dasaru gives confidence to the seeker by taking a turn in

this third charanam. He wants to assure us that wanting to become a dasa is

what we have to do and after that the Lord will take over. He is giving the

assurance to the devotees that this is what the Lord has done and this what He

will do incessantly.

Now Dasaru stops begging. He starts talking of his rights as

a devotee. He is strenghtening his case by citing that the Lord has always

uplifted those who have entreated Him. Dasaru’s claim is, “You have a history

of coming to the aid of those devotees who seek You earnestly. Please uplift me

and protect me. Remove all the distresses and protect me O Purandara vittala.â€

The state of being completely free of distress is the state of moksha. That is

what is the end result of becoming a dasa .

The way that Sri Hanumantha devuru identifies himself in the

court of Ravana. ‘dAsOham kOsalEMdrasya’. “ I am the dAsa of the king of

Kosala-Ramachandraâ€

We have to follow these directives given by our parama guru,

then by our guru parampara and our dasa paramapara and strive to become

the dasas of the Lord according to our

eligibility. That is the one and only one path to be free of distress.

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

 

 

Try cool new skins, plus more space for friends. Check it out on Singapore Messenger now.