Sharanagati Deepika - 20

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Sri:Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

 

Shriman Nigamanta Mahadeshikai: anugrihitam

Sharanagati Deepika

 

Shloka 20:

kvAsau vibhu: ka vayam iti upasatti bhItAn jantUn kShaNAt tvadanuvR^ittiShu yogyayantI |samprApta sadgurutano: samaye dayALo: AtmAvadhI: bhavati samskR^itirIkShaNam te ||

 

Meaning:

iti - Thinking thus,kva - 'where isasau - this supreme Lordvibhu: - who is present everywhere?' andkva - 'wherevayam - are we?',jantUn - beingsupasatti bhItAn - are afraid to approach (You);samaye - in the appropriate timesamprApta - takingsat guru tano: - the form of a good acharyate - YouyogyayantI - make them qualifiedkShaNam - in a momentkShaNAt - to happilytvat anuvR^ittiShu - seek and perform service to You,dayALo: - through Your mercifulsamskR^iti: - glance;Atma avadhI: bhavati - this is there as long as the soul exists (forever).

 

Vyakhyana Saram:

In the previous shlokams, Swami Desikan showed how He protects throughHis vibhava avataras. In this shloka, he shows how the Lord protectsby descending in the form of an acharya - as said by Periyazhvar "pIthaga Adaip pirAnAr pirama gurvAgi vandhu".Seeing His exalted status and their lowly status, there are many beings who at many times would fear and move away from Him. Azhvarsays "ammAn Azhip pirAn avan evvidaththAn yAn Ar". To such beingsHe shows His divine qualities of saushIlyam and saulabhyam, throughthe form of an acharya and teaches them that they too are wellqualified to perform service to Him. In His normal state, He would show kindness as well as give out punishment. But as anacharya, He shows only kindness. That grace will last as long asthe soul exists - that is, forever, says Vedanta Desikan.That the Lord is the first acharya is shown in the guru paramparaithaniyan given

to us by Swami Kooraththazhvan - "lakshmI nAtha samArambhAm". He is the first acharya because it was He who gavethe Rahasya Thrayam that an acharya teaches us. As Narayana, Hegave the Thirumanthram to Nara, at Badarikashramam. He gave PeriyaPirattiyar the Dvayam, at Vishnu Lokam. He gave the Charama Shlokamas Sri Krishna to Arjuna, on the chariot. Thus, He stands as thefirst acharya. Swami Desikan states that He descends as all acharyasinto this world and showers His grace to remove the fear in thehearts of all beings.In the fourth line of this shloka, three different variations in the text are used - "samskR^itirIkShaNam", "samskR^ita dhIkShaNam"and "shikShita dhIkShaNAt". Sri PB Annangarachariar Swami showsthat to match the feminine case of "yogyantI", the text "samskR^itirIkShaNam" is appropriate.

 

Vedanta Desikan Thiruvadigale Sharanam

 

Azhvar Emberumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale Sharanam