ThiruvahIndhrapuram rathnAngi Kaimkaryam: SrI DevanAyaka PanchAsath SthOthram : Part II

[Guest guest]

ChithrabhAnu AavaNI Sukla Paksha Ashtami , JyEshtA Nakshathram

 

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

On this auspicious day , adiyEn would like to commence

the postings on ThiruvahIdhrapuram SrI Sookthis of

Swamy Desikan and select SrI DevanAyaka PanchAsath

slOkams as the first among them for elaboration to

illustrate the illustrious poetic skills that Swamy

Desikan used to express His deep Bhakthi for this

dhivya desa EmperumAn , Lord DevanAthan.

 

Adiyavarkku Meyyan (Natha Satyan) of ThiruvahIndhrapuram

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Swamy Desikan had matchless bhakthi for this dhivya dEsa

EmperumAn and was lost in the bliss of enjoying His divine

beauty (dhivya soundharyam). This sthOthram arose from

Swamy Desikan out of that blissful anubhavam.His desription

of the beauty of every limb of the Lord is like tasting

nectar for us.Having had the sEvai of this EmperumAn

of extraordinary beauty during His Thirumanjanam on

the recent Aadi Pooram day (August 12), adiyEn is

thrilled to recall these famous 53 slOkams of Swamy

Desikan's DevanAyaka PanchAsath as a part of

the RathnAngi Kaimkaryam related postings.Please

take an active part in supporting this auspicious

kaimkaryam to the Lord of ThiruvahIndhrapuram

and support it generously.

 

The Virutthams (metres ) Chosen by Swamy Desikan

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Kavi Simham VedAntha Desikan chose two metres for

the 53 slOkams of this sthOthram: Maalini and

Vasantha Tilakam. The first and the last two slOkams

are set in the beautiful Maalini metre. Swamy Desikan

probably had HemAbhja Maalini ThaayAr , the Divine

consort of Lord DevanAthan in mind to commence and

conclude this SthOthram in Maalini Metre. In between ,

Kavi Simham used the other beautiful metre that is

dear to him for the rest of the 50 slOkams (viz).,

Vasantha Tilakam ( The word Tilakam means the distinguished

ornament of anything .Here it is the Vasantha Tilakam

or the ornament of the most enjoyable Vasantha ruthu .

Our Lord is like the cool and nourishing rains of

Vasantha Ruthu.

 

General usage of Metres by Swamy Desikan in his 28 sthOthrams

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It is interesting to observe that Swamy Desikan used 22

different metres for the 862 slOkams in His 28 SthOthrams.

266 of the 862 slOkams are set in the Vasanatha Tilakam

metre adding up to 31% of the total slOkams . Swamy used

Maalini metre 34 times (~4%) in the 862 slOkams. Fifty

of the SrI DevanAyaka PanchAsath are set in the lilting

Vasantha Tilakam metre and three are set in the feminine

Maalini metre.

 

For comparison purposes regarding the major usage of

Vasantha Tilakam metre , it is useful to know that

Swamy Desikan set the entire 59 slOkams of SrI SaraNAgathi

DhIpikai about the sacred subject of His Prapatthi to

SrI DhIpa PrakAsan in Vasantha Tilakam , which can be

considered as a kind of " NyAsa Tilakam " . In another

major sthOthram of Kavi Simham (SrI VaradarAja PanchAsath)

dealing with His saraNAgathi at the feet of Kanchi

VaradarAjan , we find that Swamy used Vasantha Tilakm

metre for 43 of the 51 slOkams. He used Maalini metre for

the first and the last three slOkams of SrI VaradarAja

PanchAsath in a manner similar to his usage of these

two metres in SrI DevanAyaka PanchAsath.

 

Vruttha and Jaathi in the Poems of the 28 sthOthra granthams

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Sawmy Desikan had total mastery over the PingaLa Chandas Saasthram

dealing with the rules of Sanskrit prosody . Sanskrit compositions

can be in the gadhyam (prose) or Padhyam (Verse ) form .

Padhyam(poem) is constituted by four paadams or quarters , which

are governed either by the number of syllables (aksharams)

or by the number of syllabic instants ( maathrAs).

 

Padhyam can also be divided into two more categories:

Vruttha or Jaathi. Vruttha is a stanza , the metre of

which is controlled by the number and position of

syllables (aksharams) in each of the four quarters

(paadhams).

 

A jaathi on the other hand is a stanza , whose metre is

defined by the number of syllabic instants ( MaathrAs) in

each of the four quarters. A famous example of AaryA metre

among Swamy Desikan's sthOthrams is provided by

the 33rd SlOkam of SrI HayagrIva SthOthram:

 

VaagarTa siidhi hEthO:

paDatha HayagrIva Samsthuthim bhakthyA

kavi Taarkika kEsariNA

VEnkatanATEna virachithAm yEthAm

 

AaryA metre has been used 116 times by Swamy Desikan

in His 28 SthOthrams and AaryA metre has nine different

variations of its own .

 

Coming back to VrutthA , it has three sub-classes:

 

(1) Samavruttha , where the PaadhAs or quarters

constituting the slOkam are all similar.

 

(2) Ardha Samavruttha, where the alternate quarters

(Paadhams ) are similar.Example of this metre is

provided by PushpithAgrA metre . Swamy Desikan

used this Ardha Samavruttha metre twice in his 862 slOkams:

(1)the 46th slOkam of SrI VaradarAja PanchAsath and

(2)the 73rd slOkam of SrI YathirAja Sapthathi.

 

(3) Vishama vruttha is one, where each of the four quarters

are dissimilar ( udhgathA metre).Swamy Desikan with His

acute taste for symmetry and euphony has not used

the Vishama Vruttha metre in His sthOthrams to

the best of adiyEn's knowledge.

 

Most of the metres chosen by Swamy Desikan are in

Sama vruttha. The different sama vruttha metres differ by

the number of syllables in a quarter(paadham). For

instance anushtup metre has 8 syllables in each quarter.

Vasantha Tilkam has 14 syllables and Maalini has 15

syllables in each of its four quarters. These are

the two metres chosen by Swamy Desikan to offer His

salutations to Lord DevanAthan of Thiru Ayindhai,

SrI DhIpa oprakAsan and SrI varadarAjan of Hasthigiri.

 

The stucture of SrI DevanAyaka PanchAsath

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The first slOkam establishes that DevanAthan

is the DEvAthi-dEvan , the Supreme Lord of the DevAs

and seeks His rakshaNam.This is set in Maalini metre.

 

The second slOkam is a salutation to the illustrious

Guru Paramparai starting from the Lord and concluding

with His own AchAryan , Swamy AppuLLAr.Vasantha Tilakam

metre takes over here and continues until the last two slOkams .

 

The third slOakm is Swamy Desikan's PraNAmams

to Adhi Kavi Vaalmiki and other ancient poets ,

who have composed sthOthrams rooted in Vedic doctrines.

 

The Fourth slOkam is a prayer to Periya PirAtti for

pardoning any errors in His sthuthi and Her intercession

in such cases to make the Sthuthi acceptable to Her Lord.

 

The fifth slOkam is an expression of Swamy's naicchiyam

in composing a sthuthi about the greatness of the Lord.

 

The sixth slOkam is a prayer to the Lord to bless

him with kaimakrya Poorthi regarding his sthuthi on Him.

 

The seventh slOkam is a prayer for the gift of divine

Vaak to engage in this effort.

 

The eighth slOkam is an expression of gratitude to

the Lord of Thiru Ayinthai for directing him in the efforts

to compose a sthuthi on Him .Here , Swamy Desikan points

out that it was the Lord who commanded him to compose

sthOthrams on Him . Swamy Desikan states that the Lord

of Thiru Ayindhai pulled him back to Thiru Ayindhai

just like the owner of a bird will pull the control string

attached to the leg of his bird ( SoothrAnubhaddha

Sakuni kramam).

 

The ninth slOkam expresses Swamy Desikan's contentment

and tranquility realized through his efforts to compose

this SthOthram on Lord DevanAthan.

 

The Tenth slOkam salutes the places of residence of

SrIman NaarAyaNan as DEvAthi Devan including

BrahmAchalam (ThiruvahIndhrapuram) .

 

The eleventh slOkam salutes the holy theerthams

(Four PuNya Theerthams) present at Thiru Ayindhai.

 

The twelfth slOkam observes that the BhakthAs of

Lord DevanAthan attain the status of DevAs ( Deva bhAvam).

 

The thirteenth slOkam explains how all the divine

tatthvams shine on the ThirumEni of the Lord of

Thiru Ayinthai as divine weapons and AabharaNams.

 

SlOkam 14 enjoys the poorna soundharyam displayed

in every limb of the Lord and states that beauty

of the Lord is of the insatiable kind.

 

SlOkam 15 describes how the Lord's limbs created

the entire world and its beings.

 

From slokam 16 to 45 , Sawmy Desikan revels in

the enjoyment of the beauty of the Lord starting

from His radiant Crown to the dust at the holy feet

of the Lord. We should consider ourselves blessed to

prsent a RathnAngi to this Soundharya Moorthy ,

Lord DevanAthan and become the objects of His dayA .

 

The 46th slOkam salutes the vaibhavam of

Bhakthi yOgis and points out the special regard

that the Lord has for them.

 

The 47th slOkam focuses on the greatness of

those , who practise Prapatthi yOgam.Here Swamy

Desikan observes that the greatness of the PrapannAs

exceed that of the Bhakthi yOgis by hudreds of crores

magnitude.

 

The 48th slOkam is a SaraNAgathi slOkam , where Swamy

Desikan performs SaraNAgathi at the Thiruvadi of

the Lord of Thiru Ayindhai . He places His aathmA ,

the Lord's property , at the sacred feet of the Lord .

 

The 49th slOkam is a moving prayer by Swami Deikan

about his naicchiyam and request for pardon of his

transgressions.

 

The 50th slOkam is one in which Kavi simham becomes

Taarkika simham and argues his case for protection

by the Lord.

 

The 51st slOkam is yet another moving prayer for

the Lord's intervention to banish the horrors of

SamsAric afflictions.

 

The 52nd slOkam is a prayer to the Lord to reside

forever (nithya Vaasam ) at ThiruvahIndhrapuram to bless

His Bhaktha janams.

 

The 53rd slOkam is the final slOkam of this PanchAsath .

Swamy Desikan places his mudhra here as the composer

and states that that the Lord's Naamam in this dhivya

desam is Natha Sathyan ( adiyArkku meyyan ). Swamy Desikan

connects the word Sathyam used by the Upanishads to eulogize

the Supreme Brahman (SrIman NaarAyaNan standing in

His archA form as Devanathan at this dhivysa desam)

and points out that his own eulogy of the Lord here

made him Sathya Vaadhi or One who speaks about

the Oupanishadic Sathyan : Lord DevanAthan.

 

In the subsequent postings , let us enjoy the individual

SlOakms of SrI Deva Naayaka Panchaasath and thereafter

enjoy the SrI Sookthis of Swamy Desikan on Lord DeavanAthan

such as Acchyutha sathakam , MummaNikkOavai, Nava MaNi Maalai

and others composed at this dhivya desam in praise of

the Natha Sathyan .

 

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE saraNam ,

SrI Taranga Mukha Nandini SamEtha SrI DeavanAyaka SwAminE nama:

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan/SaThakopan