[sv-poetry] Sri Vilakkoli Perumal, Thoopul/ThirutthaNkA dhivya Desam:NithyArAdhana kaimkaryam , Part 47: slOkam 43

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

Today , adiyEn will cover the Fourty Third slOkam

of Sri SaraNAgathi DhIpikai , where Swamy Desikan

continues to plead ardently with the Lord about

the granting of the boon of Bhagavad anubhavam to him

and argues that the Lord should take note of his

sufferings in SamsAraic world in this context:

 

SatthvAni NaaTa vividhAni abhisamjigrushO:

SamsAra-naatya-rasikasya TavAsthu trupthyai:

pratyak parAngmukha-mathE: asameekshyakarthu:

prAchIna sajjana viDamBana bhUmikA mE

 

SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai: SlOkam 43

 

Meaning:

********

Oh ViLakkoLi PerumALE! Oh my Lord ! You rush towards all

types of chEthanams to give Your hand and uplift them.

For that reason , You let these chEthanams take birth

in different forms in the samsAric world. You direct them to

engage in different activities appropriate to their karmAs

and wait for them to adopt Bhakthi or Prapatthi yOgam

so that You can rush to them and grant them Moksha Sukham .

Their activity under the influence of their karmic lot

is like a dance-drama that amuses You. As for myself ,

adiyEn forsook the ways that would facilitate the upliftment

of the aathmA. adiyEn continues to do harmful things without

thinking about the consequences of doing them. Among all

these strange and harmful acts of mine, one is about

pretending to dress like and act like true BhAgavathAs of

Yours and even doing Prapatthi like them to You. May Thou,

who enjoys the samsAric dance of chEthnams be pleased with

this special dance of mine !

 

Additional Comments (V.S):

**************************

In the previous slOkam , Swamy Desikan expressed his intense desire

to become a member of the fortunate group of muktha jeevans ,

who enjoy fully the BhumnA (infinite bliss principle of

the Lord) and made his case. He asked the Lord as to what

harm will come to the Lord , if He granted his (Swamy Desikan's)

wish. In this slOkam , he goes on with his moving personal appeal

and asks the Lord to enjoy the dance-drama of his sufferings in

samsAric world as a well known connosueir in the enjoyment of

such dramas.He invites the attention of the Lord and offers him

entertainment since the Lord relishes the watching of such dramas ,

where the chEthanam is the actor and the Lord is the puppet master.

Swamy Desikan wants the Lord to focus on him and his sufferings.

He knows that Lord is the most merciful (DayALu ) and once the Lord

turns His attention to him ,then the anugraham will follow quickly.

 

Swamy Desikan describes himself first and lists the harmful

things that he has been doing without worrying about their

consequences . He says: " prathyak parAngmukha mathE:

asameekshya-karthu: " .Prathyak denotes the aathmA inside

the sarIram;inside that aathmA is the Lord . Swamy Desikan

hints on behalf of us that he had dEhAthma-bramam , although

he was far away from such lapses. He has us in mind in expressing

his naichciyam . When he says " adiyEn cast aside the aathmA

inside me and Yourself inside that aathmA as the energizer

and commander(niyanthA) and went on doing whatever that came to

my mind (asameekshya karthA ) " ,the reference is to us.

Here one is reminded of a gem among Thirumangai AzhwAr's

Paasurams about ThiruviNNagarappan :

 

MaRantEn Unnai munnam maRantha mathiyin manatthAl

iRanthEn yetthanayum athanAl idumpaik-kuzhiyil

piRanthEyeytthozhinthEn ThirumArbhA

siRanthEn NinnadikkE ThiruviNnagar mEyavanE

 

---Periya Thirumozhi: 6.2.2

 

The key word in AzhwAr's paasuram is " maRanthEn " .

AzhwAr states that he did not think of the Lord

but excelled in many other unimportant pursuits.

As a result of that key lapse , rebirth in many yOnis

resulted .He says: " I have become feeble and tired from

all these endless cycles of births and deaths . I am

sinking fast in the fierce samsAric ocean because of

forgeting You " Thus says the AxzhwAr in a penitent mood.

 

The words used by Sawmy Desikan in this context are:

" prathyak parAngmukha mathE: asameekshya-karthu: mE " .

He describe his pitiable state of being condemned to

participate ceaselessly in the horrific dance of

SamsAram (SamsAra Naatyam) due to forsaking the ParamAthmA

in favor of " pleasing " and transient sensual acts ,

which resulted only in the accumulation of paapams

and punar-janmams .That act of forgetfulness

of the ParamAthmA (Prathyak parAngmukham)--Swamy Desikan

declares-- has made him an achEthana tulyan (equivanet

to an insentient one);by knowing many things without

thinking about the Lord and His (Isvara) Tatthvam ,

Swamy Desikan says that he has become an asath-kalpan ,

Jeevac-chavam. Jn~Anam about the Lord is svaroopa prAptham

for the Jeevan ; dharma-bhUtha-Jn~Anam should be fully

blossomed for one , who becomes a Muktha Jeevan through

successful practise of Bhakthi yOgam or Prapatthi yOgam.

When one forgets the Lord in favor of other transient and

perishable sukhams , dharma-bhUtha-Jn~Anam is ina shrunken

state ; the end result is condemnation to be born in many

births and suffer the afflictions of SamsAram.

 

Swamy Desikan identifies himself as one , who impulsively

followed his own wishes (asameekshya kartha) without analysing

the consequences of his action. He has all of us in mind

here and not himself , since he had uninterrupted chinthanai

about the Lord all the time.This is AchArya upadesam for us.

 

Swamy Desikan says in this spirit that he was imitating

all great souls by pretending to be like them in observance

of required practises including the performance of Prapatthi

(UpAya anushtAnam) and took on the role of a clever actor

(mE prAchIna sajjana viDamBana bhUmikA). In the previous slOkam ,

Swamy Desikan focussed on the BhUmnA of the Lord and here

he talks about his own " bhUmikA (veLi vEsham or external pretense ).

 

Now , Swamy Desikan comes back to the DayA of the Lord

and says that the Lord comes rushing to catch the sinking

samsAris with elan ( VividhAni satthvAni abhisasamjigrushan).

On the way , He enjoys the SamsAra Naatyam as a rasikan of

that type of dance performed by ajn~Anis .

 

Swamy Desikan invites the Lord as the supreme connosieur of

samsara naatakam of the Jeevans to take note of his own

version of the samsAric dance and requests the Lord

to enjoy it and become contented ( SamsAra Naatya rasikasya

Tava trupthyai asthu). Once the Lord gets satisfied and

feels compasionate towards the suffering Jeevan , He blesses

it to reach a sadAchAryan to prepare that chEthanam to

perform Prapatthi to reach Him at His Supreme abode.

 

In the next few slOkams , Swamy Desikan reminds the Lord of

His earlier vows to practise SaraNAgatha rakshaNam and engages

in a moving dialog with the Lord and presses his case

to the Lord to accept his prapatthi.

 

NamO NamO SrI VedAntha DesikAya ,

SrImath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam,

RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan