Sri AshtabhujAshtakam

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra

Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

Sri AshtabhujAshtakam- 1

 

There was a recent discussion

on the beautiful sloka from the captioned stotram of

Swami Desikan, beginning with “tvayi pravrittE mama

kim pryAsai:”. The sloka that precedes this is also

extremely meaningful, and deserves elaboration. The

following sloka forms the centrepiece of this stotram,

physically ( it is the fifth among the nine slokas-

the tenth being phala shruti) and figuratively too,

due to its substantive nature.

 

“abheeti hEtO: anuvartaneeyam nAtha tvat anyam na

vibhAvayAmi

bhayam kuta: syAt tvayi sAnukampE, rakshA kuta: syAt

tvayi jAta rOshE”

 

Swami Desikan , addressing this Emperuman, says, “ I

shall not seek recourse to any other than You for

eliminating my fears. Once You have mercy on me, who

can cause me fear? On the other hand, if You are angry

with me, who can protect me? In both the cases, I have

no refuge other than You”.

Elaborating the concept of ananya gatitvam, Sri

Tooppul Pillai points out, with irrefutable logic,

that the Lord is indeed supreme. Hence if we become

the target of His anger due to our numerous heinous

acts of omission and commission, notably due to

BhAgavata apachArA or asahya apachArA, nobody, but

nobody at all can save us.

We should remember here that the Lord is an ocean of

mercy, and irrespective of the serious nature of our

crimes, never thinks of punishing us commensurately.

Sri Piratti is the utimate repository of compassion,

and intercedes with the Lord on our behalf, when He is

inclined to be punitive. Therefore it is highly

unlikely, nay, impossible, that She would complain to

the Lord about any sinning soul. However, in the

unlikely event of Piratti airing Her grievance against

a devotee, Emperuman would say, “My devotee would

never be guilty of such a sin; even if he is, it is

probably for a good cause.” So says Periazhwar-

“ TamarayAl Agilum tam adiyAr tirattu sidagu

uraikkumEl

en adiyAr adu seyyAr : seidAlum nandrE seidAr enbar

polum »

(The word »pOlum » denotes that this is all in the

realm of speculation, as Piratti is never, but never

likely to compalain to the Lord agaist any devotee, as

She plays a diametrically opposite role-that of

pleading with Him to pardon even our most grievous

follies.)

This pasuram highlights Emperuman’s highly

compassionate nature, and His lack of anger towards us

for our infringements. Most of the time, He doesn’t

even take cognisance of our follies, and is blind to

them, as the tirunAmam “aviggyAtA” in Sri Vishnu

SahasranAmam would indicate. And he always tempers His

justice with compassion, so that even when He metes

out just punishment, it turns out to be a blessing in

disguise (nigraha anugraham).

However, even such a KaruNA moorti does have occasions

to display His anger. While He can tolerate

innumerable acts against Himself, He cannot bear even

a single act of atrocity towards His devotees and

those near and dear to Him. And when this happens, His

anger is unstoppable, and no force on earth or heaven

can counter the same. No one can protect us if we

become the target of His anger (RakshA kuta: syAt

tvayi jAta rOshE”).

Let us consider an instance where the Lord had a rare

occasion to vent His anger. Everyone knows how

KakAsurA (alias Jayanta, son of Indra) committed an

unpardonable sin towards Piratti, when She and Sri

Rama were relaxing in DandakAraNyam. Piratti’s divine

beauty gave rise to vile thoughts in his filthy mind,

and he pecked at her breast with his beak, drawing

blood. While she bore it patiently as would a mother,

Sri Rama, when he found Her bleeding, was beside

Himself with anger, and plucking a blade of grass from

nearby, fortified it with the BrahmAstra mantra, and

threw it at the retreating crow.(This is perhaps the

source for the Tamil adage,”vallavanukku pullum

Ayudham”). The BrahmAstra pursued the crow with

alacrity, and flee as the crow might, it was unable to

escape from the chasing astrA. The crow knocked at the

doors of all those who are normally considered in the

world as saviours-his own father Indra, the Creator

Brahma and the destroyer Rudra. Not even Maharshis,

who are normally more powerful and more merciful than

even kings, would offer a word of assurance and

refuge (“sa pitrA cha parityakta: suraischa sa

Maharshibhi:”). None of them could provide succour to

the fugitive crow, and turned it away, pleading their

inability to save somebody whom Sri Rama had decided

to punish. Sri Valmiki puts this beautifully in the

following sloka-

“BrahmA : svayambhoo: chaturAnanO vA

Rudra : trinEtra :tripurAntakO vA

Indra : SurEndra : sura nAyakO vA

TrAtum na sakta yudhi Raghavadhyam »

Neither the four-headed Brahma who creates the whole

world, nor the three-eyed Rudra feared the world over

as the destroyer, nor even Indra, the chief of all the

devAs would be able to save somebody Sri Rama has made

up His mind to destroy.

The crow flew around the world (with the Brahmastra in

hot pursuit) not once but several times, seeking a

saviour, but failing to find anyone, decided to seek

refuge in Sri Rama Himself. And Chakravartthi

Tirumagan, true to His reputation of saving

SaraNAgatAs (“vidita: sa hi dharmagya: SaranAgata

vatsala:” says Sri Janaka Nandini), afforded refuge to

the crow, which deserved a sure death for its heinous

crime.

Here is how Sri Valmiki describes the episode-

“ Treen lOkAn samparikramya tamEva saranam gata:

sa tam nipatitam bhoomou sharanya: sharanAgata:

VadhArham api KAkutsttha: kripayA paryapAlayat”.

This is proof enough, if proof were needed, that

targets of Emperuman’s anger can hope for little

succour elsewhere.

We shall consider the other part of the

sloka,(“Bhayam kuta: syAt tvayi sAnukampE”) in the

next instalment.

 

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrisimha divya paduka sevaka

SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya

Nama:

 

-------to be continued------ dasan, sadagopan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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