Hayagreevasthora of Desika-slokas19to22

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19.praangnirmithanaam thapasaam vipaakaah

prathyagraniSSreyasa sampadho me

sameDhisheeran thava paadha padhme

sankalpachimthaamanayaH praNaamaaH

 

 

May my salutations at your lotus feet, due to the fructification of my austerities done in previous births, and which are like the wish-giving gem, Chintamani, secures me the fortune of salvation, go on increasing.

 

From this sloka onwards Desika yearns for the grace of the Lord, and prays for His blessing by meditating on His form. The four slokas from this describe the glory of His feet.

 

The praNaamaah .salutations to the feet of the Lord is due to the fruition of the penance done in earlier lives, praangnirmithanaam thapasaam vipaakaah, says Desika as in the expression, avanaruLal avan thaaL vaNangi. May the pranaama gather force and increase forever, sameDhisheeran, which will secure the salvation at every step, prthyagraniSSreyasasampath, because they are like the wish giving gem, sankalpachinthaamaNayaH which gives everything wished for to those who resort to it. That the salutations offered at he feet acquire the power of sankalpachinthamaNi because the lotus feet of Lord Hayagreeve is the real chinthamaNi, is the implication here.

 

The praNammas are the result of the past tapas and they directed towards the feet of the Lord acquire the power to give future results.

 

20. vilupthamoorDhanyalipikramaaNaam

surendhrachoodaapadhalaalithaanaam

thvadhanGhriraajeevarajaHkaNaanaam

bhooyaan prasaadhaH mayi naaTha bhooyaath

 

May the dust of your lotus feet, which are capable of erasing the lines of fate on one's head, which are found on the crown of Indra and others, bestow abundant blessings on me

 

It is said that the fate of a person is written on his head at the time of birth, moorDhanyalipikrama, due to his past karma. Desika says that the dust of the feet of the Lord on the head of the devotees destroys, viluptha the line of fate. The devas like Indra also wear the dust of His feet on their head, choodaapadhalaalitha, in reverence. Such is the power of the dust of His feet and Desika says may they bestow abundant grace bhooyaan prasaadhaH on Him. The idea of the previous sloka is continued in this as it shows the reason why the pranaamaas have the power of showering blessings.

 

21.parisphuran noopurachithrabhaanu

prakaasanirDhoothathamonushangaam

prabhoDharaajeevavibhaathasandhyaam

padhadhvyeem the parichinmahe anthaH

 

We gather inside our heart the pair of your feet, the anklets on which are the Sun that dispels the darkness of ignorance and is the dawn that makes the lotus of wisdom blossom.

 

In this sloka we see Desika the poet surfacing and it is a beautiful one. The noopura, anklets on the feet of the Lord shed light, parispuran, as brilliant as the Sun and dispels, nirDhootha, the darkness of the night, thamonushanga, which is the ignorance, the word thamas meaning darkness aswell as ignorance due to thamoguna. The light like the Sun awakens jnana. praboDha, which are the lotuses that blossom in the morning, vibhathasandhyaa.

 

The word sandhya is used both for evening and the dawn and hence Desika uses the word vibhaatha sandhya, vibhaatha meaning morning that is prabhaatha.

 

To the spiritual seekers it is night as long as the ignorance prevails and the morning is when the knowledge appears. In Gita Krishna says,

 

Jnaanena thu thdhajnaana yeshaam naaSitham aathmanaH

Theshaam aadhithyavath jnaanam prakaaSayathi thath param(Bg-5.16)

 

Man is endowed with jnanam which is his real nature. But the jnana is covered by ignorance as the world is covered by darkness. When the knowledge dawns like the Sun the darkness is nowhere to be seen and the light that is natural appears.

 

To the devotees the night is the time before devotion dawns at the heart. When the feet of the Lord is resorted to it brings jnana like the sun and the dawn is only when the devotion dawns in the heart. This is what is described as gathering His feet inside the heart, padhadhvayeem the parichinmahe anthaH

 

22.manjupraNaadham maNi noopuram the

thvathkinkaraalankarNochithaanaam

thvayaivakalpaantharapaalithaanaam

manjooshikaam vedhagiraam pratheemaH

 

 

We consider your anklets, that are the fitting ornaments of the head of your servants which are sweet-sounding as the caskets that hold the Vedas which are preserved by you from other kalpas.

 

 

The anklets are praised here as the casket that holds the Vedas. The sound of the anklets, manjupraNaadham maNi noopuram the , are the sound of the Vedas, as Lord Hayagreeva is the personification of the Vedas. Desika says that the Lord has preserved the Vedas from the previous kalpas, kalpaanthara paalithaanaam, and instructs Brahma at the beginning of each kalpa and he preserves it in His noopura and hence the sound of them are the sound of the Vedas. Therefore the noopuras are the casket that holds the Vedas, manjooshikaam vedhagiraam. The devotees wear His feet on their head and hence the noopuras are said to be the ornaments of the servants of the Lord., thvathkinkaraalankaranochithaanaam.