Srimath Azhagiya Singar SathaabhishEkam Special series : 80.2 / SRI ACHYUTHA SATHAKAM : PART 1

[Guest guest]

SRI:

 

SrI NaarAyaNa Yatheendhra MahA DesikAya Nama:

 

 

Dear BhakthAs :

 

With prayers to MalOlan, the AarAdhana Moorthy of Sri Ahobila Matam

Jeeyars and daNdavath PraNAmams to asmath AchAryan , Prakrutham Srimath

Azhagiya Singar on His 79th Thiunakshatram , adiyEn starts this series of essays

on Sri Achyutha Sathakam of Swamy Desikan .

 

May all the Kaimkaryams commenced in this SathAbhishEkam year of

asmath AchAryan grow further and further !

 

May the Natha-Sathyan revered as Achyuthan at Thiruvaheendhrapuram

recieve this humble SamarpaNam at His Sacred feet pressed by His divine

consort , Sri Taranga Mukha Nandini ThAyAr ( HemAbhjavalli ThAyAr) !

 

May Swamy Desikan , who took on the form of Sri VenkatanAyaki

and sang this Achyutha Sathakam in lilting Praakrutham bless this

kaimkaryam to write about the VedAnthic Sthuthi !

 

Swamy Desikan attained the NaayikA bhAvam as Swamy NammAzhwAr

enjoyed the Lord at Sri Tholaivilimangalam as ParAnkusa Naayaki

and Thirumangai fell in love with the Lord of ThiruvAli as ParakAla

Naayaki . Swamy Desikan became Venkata Naayaki at Thiruvayindhai.

Out flowed the 9 prabhandhams and Sthuthis of Swamy Desikan

in this exquisite mood of anubhavam at Thiruvaheendhrapuram .

 

Swamy Desikan saluted the Lord of Thiruvayindhai and revealed

that the Lord was sititng at this dhivya dEsam expressly to bless us:

 

" Ayindhai Maa naharil amarnthanai YemakkAy "

 

" YeeNdiya vinaikaL MaaNDida muyanRu

Tannadi sErnthamar Unai aNuha

Ninnudan sErnthu niRkum Ninn THIRUVE "

 

---MummaNikkOvai : First Paasuram

 

(meaning): For the destruction of the karmAs of SamsAris , You are

standing in unison with Your auspicious Devi at Thiruvayindhai

to bless those SamsAris who have made the effort to to reach

Your sacred feeet .

 

Lord DevanAthan has been saluted by Desikan for His anugraham as:

 

" Vevvinai theer Marunthu " ( The medicine for the firece disease of SamsAram).

 

" Ninn Vadivazhahu mRavAthAr piRavAthArE " ( Those who have not forgotten

Your dhivya soundharaym will never be born again ) .

 

" Thvath bhakthi bhUshitha dhiyAm ihamEva Deva-bhAvam " ( Those who

have bhakthi for You will become Nithyasooris on this Earth itself).

 

" iruLum maruLum tarum annAL yezhil-Aar-Aazhi SankEnthy aruLum teruLum

tara yennpAl adiyOr meyya vantharuLE " ( Here Swamy Desikan prays

for anthima Smruthi --thought of the Lord of Ayindhai --of Lord DEvanAthan

during His last moments on Earth .

 

In Achyutha Sathakam , Swamy Desikan sought ParipoorNa BrahmAnubhavam

through his extraordinary BhavanA Prakarsham ( pull of love for the Lord )

and transformed himself into a beautiful damsel with charming eye brows like

a bow ( ViRR purvakkodiyAhi) and with the name of VenkatanAyaki . Out of Her

matchless love for Her Lord at Thiruvayindhai , She attained NaayikA bhAvam

and chose the language of Praakrutham appropriate for the expression of

that love for Her Lord and eulogized Him in 100 slOkams of Achyutha Sathakam .

At the end of this Achyutha Sathakam , She begged for the protection of Her Lord

:

 

" bhavishyath youvana vadhUm Vara iva Maam labhasva "

 

She asked : My Lord ! Please accept me as a bridegroom accepts a bride,

who has reached the ripe stage of youth .

 

" mangai paruvam nerungum kanniyai tann vaazhkkaikku yERRa

thuNayAhak-karuthi avaLai maNam purinthu koLvathu pOl adiyEnai

yERRukkoNDu aatkkoLLa vENDum " (You must recieve me , who has

blossomed into Kannikai stage , as a bridegroom welcomes a bride

as his life's companion and marries her ) .

 

Professor SrinivAsa Raghavan's introduction to Achyutha Sathakam(1988)

********************************************************************************\

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

" Sri Vedantha Desika, the great poet-philosopher was so much charmed by

the fascinating beauty of Lord DevanAtha that his respectful devotion blossomed

as passionate love of a love-lorn lady . Sri Desika , who was VenkatanAtha

became VenkatanAyaki . Even as NammALwAr became ParAnkusa Naayaki

and Tirumangai Azhwar by virtue of their intense Bhagavath-Kaama and

songs describing the joy of union with BhagavAn and the pangs of seperation

from Him flowed from them , here also songs flow form VenkatanAyaki. The songs

are in three languages-- Sanskrit , PrAkrit and Tamil " . Sanaskrit is the

language

of DevanAyaka PanchAsath , which is in fifty one slOkAs . Achyutha Sathakam

containing 101 slOkams is in Praakrith. That is the only work of Sri Desika ,

which is entirely in Praakrith -- a language , which is used by woman

characters in Sanskrit drama . Sri Desika here speaks in Praakrith as a lady in

love with DevanAthan .

 

All the other 7 poems of VenkatanAyaki are in sweet Tamil. MummaNikkOvai

and Nava MaNi Maalai describe the state of the heroine in seperation from

her lover and her great longing for union .

 

The Five poems , with the titles of Pandu , Kazhal , AmmAnai , Oosal and Yeesal

,

come under the class of love poems in Tamil literature and they describe the

various

waves in which a Princess in love entertains herself in the absence of her lover

..

 

The poem called " Pandhu " delineates the princess as playing with ball with

her handmaids in the gardens of the harem .

 

" Kazhal " portrays the play of the heroine in the halls of the palace with small

marble-like nuts of a skrub of that name .

 

A poem that describes the play of the princesss with small ball-like wodden toys

goes by the name of " AmmAnai " .

 

In the " Oosal " , we see the heroine playfully seated on an oscillating swing

suspended from the garden branches of a flowery tree in the garden .

 

The sonfg " Yeesal " depicts a lady-in-love , in anger taunting the lover

with insincerity since he has not kept his word to come at the fixed time

even though he tries to pacify her with words and acts of apology . These five

works of Swamy Desikan sung with reference to Lord DevanAtha as the lover and

VenkatanAyaki as the beloved should be very interesting and valuable;

but unfortunately , they are lost . We come to know of them only from

the mention of their names in NavamaNi Maalai.

 

And now to Achyutha Sathaka --- It is a sthothrA in Praakrith in 101 verses

on DevanAtha , who is referred to as Achyutha. It is not a mere eulogy ,

but gives in a nutshell all the fundamental doctrines of VishitAdhvaitha

philosophy dealt with by the poet Sri Desika in his two rahasya classics in

MaNipravALa (Tamil and Sanskrit mixed style) , namely Paramatha bhangam

and Rahasya Thraya Saaram --briefly in the former and elaborately in the latter.

We see Desika at his best in theis sthOthra , Achyutha Sathaka , wherein we

come across all the ideas of , and technical terms in , our philosophy

beautifully dovetailed in the slOkAs.

 

The sthOthram begins with a benedictory verse in which the poet requests all to

go

and bow before DevanAtha (probably as messengers to speak about him ) --

Devanatha , who is enshrined in the temple in the holy city of

Thiruaheendhrapuram

situated by the side of the hill of Oushadha Giri by name on the banks of the

river

Garuda .DevanAtha is often referred to by the names of " Dassa Sathya and

Kinkara Sathya " , which are Sanskrit foms for the name of " Adiyavarkku Meyyan

"

given by Thirumangai AzhwAr in his hymn to the Lord of Thiruayindhai . "

 

We will study the first slOkam of Achyutha Sathakam next .

 

Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

'Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

 

 

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