Desikasthothramala- vairagyapanchakam

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Vairagyapanchakam

 

 

By Vedantadesika

 

Vairagya

means detachment from worldly possessions and desirelessness. Vidyaranya , a

friend of Vedantadesika wanted him to become prosperous and sent word to him to

come to the court of Krishnadevaraya where he was the Astanavisvan. Desika

refused but Vidyaranya insisted and Desika composed five slokas and sent it to

him and they are known as Vairagyapanchakam.

 

 

1.kshoNeekoNa SathaamSa

paalanakalaa dhurvaaragarvaanala

ksubhyath kshudhra narendhra chaatu rachanaadhanyaan

na

manyaamahe

dhevam sevithum eva nischinumahe yo asou

dhayaaluh puraa

Dhaanaamushtimuche kuchelamunaye Dhatthe sma

vitthesathaam

 

 

We

do not respect those who praise the kings, who are masters of a fraction of a hundredth part of the earth, and

consider themselves fortunate. We are intent on serving only the Lord who gave

the status equal to Kubera to Kuchela simply by partaking a fistful of husked

rice brought by him.

 

Desika in this sloka and the rest ridicules

the desire of wealth showing that he was leading a simple life by choice. His friend

Vidyaranya thought that a person as wise and learned as Desika should get all

the honours he deserved which could come only by bringing his greatness to the

notice of the king. But to Desika it was like the pebbles on the shore of the sea which abounds in precious gems as

made out in the Gita `yaavaanarTha udhapaane sarvathaH sampluthodhake ,'

as the water in the well when there is flood everywhere.

 

Desika

says that he will not praise anyone except the Lord who could make Kuchela into

a Kubera. The poor Brahmin, Kuchela who was the childhood friend of Krishna approached him with nothing else except few

fistfuls of husked ice and the Lord accepted it with relish and gave Kuchela

all riches, enough to make him like a Kubera, the god of wealth. The fact that

he had not given wealth to His devotees is because they do not want it, as

Thondaradippodi azvar said, `icchuvai thavira yaan poy indhiralokam aaLum

acchuvai perineum vEnden.'

The

kings expect themselves to be praised by those who approach him and favours

them with gifts. But the Lord does not expect anything from His devotees as it

is said in Mahabharatha, `anyath

poorNaath apaam kumbhaath anyath paadhaavanejanaath anyath kuSalasampraSnaath na

checchathi janardanaH,' He expects no more than a pot of water that washes His

feet and words full f devotion. He has said in the Gita, `pathram pushpam

phalam thoyam yo me bhakthyaa prayacchathi thadhaham bhakthyupahrtam aSnaami

prayathaathmanaH,' I will accept a

leaf, a flower, a fruit or water which ever is given to me with a heart full of

love. It is only through His grace the kings enjoy their wealth and when one

has Him in the heart where is the necessity to go and beg the kings? This is

the idea expressed in the sloka.

 

2.silam

kim analam bhaveth analam oudharam baaDhithum

payaH prasoothipoorakam kimu na Dhaarakam

saarasam

ayatna malamallakam yadhi pataccharam

kaccharam

bhajanthi vibuDhaa mudha ahaha

kukshithaH kukshithaH

 

 

Are not some grains

scattered on the field is enough to satisfy the hunger and is not the handful

of water from a pond enough to sustain life? Will the soiled cloth found on the

road be not enough to use as a loin cloth? Even the learned ones resort to the

mean kings for the sake of their

livelihood. How shameful!

 

Desika ridicules the

patronage of kings calling them kukshithah, , and says that even learned

people, vibuDhaah, resort to them out of the need to fill their stomach,

kukshithaH. He asks them if it is only for food water and cloth , the

three basic needs of man, can they not get it by picking up few grains, scattered

on the fields, silam, or by

drinking a handful of water , prasoothipoorakam, from the pond, saarasa,

or by taking any cloth soiled with mud, malamallakam pataccharam,

from the street? This attitude show the extreme detachment as made out by Sankara

in Bajagovindam,

 

`suramandhiratharu

moolanivaasaH

sayyaa bhoothalam

ajinam vaasaH

sarvaparigrah

bhogathyaagaH

kasya sukham na karothi

viraagah.'

 

He dwells under a tree

outside the temple, and sleeps on the floor and wears a skin-cloth. The real

joy is only in giving up all possessions and who will not revel in it?

 

When you do not have any

desire except the basic requirements for

sustenance there is no need to approach anyone for food, cloth or drink, not

even for a dwelling. This is the idea conveyed by the sloka.

Desika used to live by unchavrtthi, which was not begging but

simply going around singing the glory of the Lord and the people used to

respect them and give them rice etc necessary for their living. Thyagaraja also lived in unchavrtthi . The Lord looks after

their needs because they have surrendered completely to Him. There are many

stories to prove this. The richest man on earth is not the one who has amassed

millions but only the one who has no wants and lives happily with what he has.

 

Once when Vedantadesika

came back from his unchavrtthi, his wife noted some gold pieces thrown in by some well-wisher and showed it to him. He

told her that they were garbage and asked her to throw them out and she did!

That is the vairagya of the great saint devotees.

 

3. jvalathu jalaDhikrodakreedath

krpeedabhavaprabhaa

prathibhata patujvaalaamaalaakulo

jataraanalah

thrNamapi vayam saayam samphullamallimathallikaa

 

parimalamuchaa vaachaa yaachaamahe na

maheesvaraan

 

Let the fire in the

stomach, jataraagni, burn, jvalathu, with series of fierce flames, patujvaalamaalaakulo,

like an opponent, prathibhata, of the fire of vadavagni, krpeedabhavaprabhaa that

plays, kreedath, in the middle of the ocean, jalaDhikrodakreedath.

We will not beg the kings, na maheeSvaraan yaachaamahe,

with our speech, vaachaa, resembling the scent of jasmine that blossoms

in the evening, saayam samphulla mallimathallikaa parimalaruchaa,

even a blade of grass, thrNam api.

 

Desika says that even if

the fire in the intestines, called jaataragni which digests food burns fiercely like the vadavagni in the

middle of ocean for want of food, he will not beg the kings for wealth by

employing his power of speech to praise them because his speech dedicated to

the Lord is fragrant like the jasmine flower that bloosoms in the evening.

 

The vadavagni is supposed

to exist in the middle of ocean and

consumes excess water so that the ocean maintains its limits. But the

fire inside the stomach is the prathibhata, the opponent of the

vadavagni, because the vadavagni does not consumr ethe whole ocean but the

jataragni consumes everything and asks for more .But to appease hunger we will

not praise the kings with our eloquence, says Desika because the vak of the devotees

are fragrant like the jasmine that blossoms in the evening by praising the

Lord, and hence should not be used even to beg for a blade of grass from the

kings. Why? The answer is supplied in the next sloka.

 

4.dhureeSa dhvaara

bahiH vithardhikaa

dhuraasikaayai rachitho ayam anjaliH

yadhanjanaabham nirapaayam asthi me

DhananjayasyndhanbhooshaNam Dhanam

 

When I have the

indestructible wealth which is dark in colour and decorated the chariot of

Arjuna, I bid goodbye with folded hands to the residence on the outer porch of

the gate of the base kings.

 

Desika says that in order

to please the mean kings, dhureeSa, one has to dwell, dhuraasikaa, on the

porch, dhvaarabahiH vithardhikaa, of their palaces for ever

waiting to get audience, all for the sake of getting wealth which is

impermanent and thus this way of living has to be resorted to for ever. On the

other hand the wealth which is permanent and indestructible, nirapaayam,

is available to the devotees. It is dark

in colour, anjanaabham, that is,Krishna,

the neelameghaSyaama, who adorned the chariot of Arjuna , Dhananjaya

syandhanabhooshaNam,as Parthasarathy. Hence Desika bids good bye to the

patronage of the kings with folded hands, rachithaa ayam anjaliH.

 

Vithardhika- verandah

 

Dhuraasikaa- aasikaa means sitting, Desika calls it dhuraasika

because it despicable.

 

 

5. sareerapathanaavadhi

prabhunishevaNaapaadhanaath

abinDhanadhananjaya praSamadham Dhanam

dhanDhanam

Dhananjaya vivarDhanam Dhanam uDhooDa

govarDhanam

susaaDHanam abaaDhanam sumanasaam

samaaraaDhanam

 

The wealth that appeases

the jataragni, intestinal fire which has

water as its fuel, necessitates praising

the kings till the end of life and hence it is useless. That which made

Arjuna rise to fame, which held the Govardhana mountain and which is the means

of joy for the good, that is the real wealth, that is indestructible.

 

Sareera pathana avaDhi- end of life. avaDhi means the limit or

boundary and that is till the fall of this body, sareerapathana

 

aapaadhana- happening

 

prabhunishevaNa- resorting to the rich.

Resorting to the rich for wealth, happens till

the end of life is the meaning.

 

Dhanam dhanDhanam that wealth is useless,

 

abinDhanadhananjaya

praSamadham- because it helps only to appease the

intestinal fire which only burns more by water.The meaning is that the

jataragni, which is called dhananjaya , only burns more with water which helps

one to digest, implying that the water which quenches the fire normally,

here, makes the fire burn more.

 

While, dhananjaya vivarDhanam,

the wealth which has increased the glory

of Arjuna, Krishna who brought him victory by

being his charioteer,

 

uDhooDagovarDhanam- and that which held up the Govaradhana mountain

is susaaDhanam the means of salvation, abhaaDhanam, indestructible

and sumanasaam samaaraaDhanam,the real wealth to the pure hearted

devotees. Thyagaraja asks his mind under the similar circumstances, when the

king sent messengers with gifts to ask him to come to court, sang `nidhi

tsaala sukhamaa, raamuni sanniDhisevaa sukhamaa nijamuga palgu manasaa,'

asking his mind to tell the truth whether the riches of the world brings joy or

the service to the Lord Rama gives happiness. This is the attitude of all the

saints and devotees. The word Dhanam is

used by Desika 11 times in different formations and meanings, showing that he

was indeed kavithaarkika simha.

 

6. naasthi

pithraarjitham kimchith na mayaa kichith aarjitham

asthi me hasthi Sailaagre vasthu

paithaamaham Dhanam

 

I do not have any

inherited property, not have I earned any my self. But there is my wealth of my

ancestors on the hill of Hasthi which is real.

 

VedantaDesika concludes by

saying that He does not have either inherited or self-earned wealth except that

which stands on the hastigiri, meaning the Lord Varadaraja, who, he says is his

heirloom handed over to him by his

ancestors. Here by the word pithamaha, he means Brahma who installed the idol of Varadaraja and also his

ancestors by which he could have meant the clan of devotees as said in the

sloka `matha cha lakshmeedhevee

pithaa dhevo naaraayaNaH, baandhavaaH vishNubhakthaaH cha vasuDhaiva kutumbakam.'

For a bhaktha his parents are the divine couple and his relatives are the other

devotees and his family is the whole universe.