Srimath Azhagiya Singar SathaabhishEkam Special series : 80.5 / SRI ACHYUTHA SATHAKAM : PART 4/ SLOKAMS 2-5

[Guest guest]

SRI:

 

SrI NaarAyaNa Yatheendhra MahA DesikAya Nama:

 

Dear BhakthAs :

 

Today , we will cover slOkmas 2 to 5 , which are expressions

of self-doubt about His (Swamy Desikan's) fitness to undertake

the immense and almost impossible task of composing a Sthuthi

to describe adequately the glory of Achyuthan of Thiruvayinthai .

It is an expression of NaicchyAnusandhAnam by Swamy Desikan .

 

SlOkam 2

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

Kimkara-sathya sthuthis-Tava svayambhU gEhini vilAsa vyAhrudha mayee

phaNithA bhAlEna mayaa panjara Suka jalpithamiva karOthu prasAdham

 

(Meaning according to Sri D.R.Swamy ) : " Lord ever true to Thy devotees !

May this sthOthrA composed by me as a boy (of immature intellect) adopting

the language spoken by the consort of BrahmA in Her infantine playful mood ,

beget pleasures to Thee , like listening to the prattlings of a parrot in the

cage .

 

(Comments) : Oh Achyutha ! Adiyavarkku MeyyavanE ! It is said that the Mazhalai

(prattlings of a child) speech of DEvi Saraswathi during Her days as an infant

became the delectable language of Praakrutham . adiyEn is not a man of

abundant intellect . Hence , adiyEn is prattling in my Mazhalai (Praakrutham )

a sthuthi that attempts to eulogize You and Your vaibhavam .

 

adiyEn knows it is a tall order even for an intellectual giant to create

successfully

a sthOthram that does justice to Your anantha KalyANa guNams and dhivya

charithram as the unfailing SaraNAgatha Rakshakan . adiyEn's inappropriate

effort to compose this Sathakam about You is like the efforts of a parrott

in cage that prattles away . Human beings are amused by these prattlings

of the parrot in the cage . Similarly , adiyEn prays that You be pleased with

my Mazhalai speech taking the form of sthuthi about You and be pleased

to accept it and enjoy it .

 

The key words are : " Mayaa PhaNithA (iyam ) sthuthi: Tava PrasAdham karOthu "

( May this sthuthi constructed by adiyEn gladden Your heart ) . It is not the

best

in terms of intellectual vigor or VedAnthic insight . It is a child's feeble

attempt ;

adiyEn begs You however to listen to it and amuse Yourself . Swamy Desikan

compares his sthuthi to that of the sweet words of the young child Saraswathi

( Svayambhu gEhini vilAsa VyAhruthamayee ) in the form of Mazhalai

( incoherent , sporadic and yet delectable ) utterances . Swamy Desikan

claims that he is also a child and his speech is in the mazhalai form

as in the case of the child Saraswathy . That Mazhalai speech of mine

housed in the form of this sthuthi in PrAkrutham about You

should please You just as the humans delight in hearing the prattlings of

the caged parrot ( Panjara Suka jalpitham iva Tava prasAdham karOthu) .

 

SlOkam 3

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

malinamapi bhAshitham mama Kinkara sathya Tava jyOthsnA prasarE

lagnam labhathAm visuddhim raTyA salilamiva thripaTagaa srOthOgatham

 

(Meaning according to D.R.Swamy) : Kinkara Sathya ! Though my words are dirty ,

yet by getting blended with the moonlight of Thy glory , let them obtain purity

(by mixing therewith) like street-drainage water falling into the triple

stream-Ganga.

 

(Commnets) : The key passage in this slOkam of Naicchiam ( declaration of

unfitness) is : " Mama bhAshitham malinamapi Tava keerthi jyOthsnA lagnam

visuddhim labathAm " ( Oh Adiyavarkku MeyyanE ! My speech has blemishes ;

inspite of that , may that attain purity by admixture with the cool Moon rays of

Your keerthi ) .

 

Oh Lord who is true to Your devotees ! I have incomplete Jn~Anam ; therefore

my speech will be full of blemishes ( mama bhAshitham malinam ) . What if

it would be so ? Your glory (keerthi) has spread all over the world as cool rays

of

the Moon ( jyOthsnA prasaram) . My tongue will be praising only that glory

and through that sambhandham (connection) will become sanctified and

gain fame. This is how it will happen . Near GangA pravAham , there is dirty

water from street drainage ( saakkadai taNNeer ) . That dirty water flows into

Ganga ( ThripaTagaa, the river that traverses three universes: Sathya lOkam ,

Bhumi and PaathALam ) and becomes purified by the sambhandham

with waters of that sacred river . There is no more differentiation between the

pure

GangA river and the erstwhile drainage water now . Similarly , the exercise of

singing about Your matchless glory will remove all the blemishes from

my speech .

 

SlOkam 4

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

thrastari nayEna sTApitha SObhathAm ThridhasAnAm NaaTa Tava SamAjE

vandhithva mahithAnAm madhyE SrutheenAm BhAliSA mama sthuthi:

 

(Meaning according to D.R.Swamy ): Lord of the DevAs ! In the midst of the

VedAs ,

which have attained renown in Thy assembly by singing Thy glory , let my small

mass of praise stay as the words of a clown ( in the assembly of Kings) .

 

(Comments) : The key words here are : " BhAlisA mama sthuthi: SrutheenAm

madhyE trastari nayEna sTApithA SobhathAm " ( May adiyEn's lowly speech

shine as a clown's speech in the middle of the eulogies of the sacred VedAs

in Your sabhA ).

 

Oh Lord of the celestials ! In the ghOshti ( assembly) at Your sacred abode of

Sri Vaikuntam with Nithya Sooris ( eternally liberated ) and MukthAs (

liberated jeevans),

VedAs sing Your keerthi . adiyEn joins this distinguished assembly and attempt

to

praise You with feeble words without sabdhAlankAram or arTAlankAram . This

ofcourse is a matter for laughter . In the great courts of Kings populated by

famous scholars , the kings some times amuse themselves listening to

the nonsensical (puerile) witticisms of their clowns . Similarly , Oh AchyuthA ,

You must listen to my eulogy about Your vaibhavam although You are

used to listening to the lofty praises by the sacred VedAs . Swamy Desikan

says: " vandhithva mahithAnAm SrutheenAm madhyE , BhAlisA mama

sthuthi: SobhathAm " . There are the Vedams , who gained their fame by

singing about Your glories . Amidst those Veda ghOshams , adiyEn is also

making my feeble sthOthram . May my sthuthi shine however like the speech of

a clown in the assembly of established scholars !

 

D.R. Swamy says this about the analogy used by Sri VedAntha Desikan:

" Desika is adept in every art , even in the art of belittling himself " . Swamy

Desikan relates his efforts to praise the Lord as the act of a buffoon (clown) ,

who tries to gain the attention of the King through funny and meaningless

words in the middle of an assembly of renowned scholars .

 

SLOKAM 5

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

asmath gurUNAm Achyutha jihvA simhAsanE labdha-prathishta:

prathipAdhitha paramArTO vaarayasi apaNDithatvam asmAkam

 

(Meaning according to D.R.Swamy ) : AchyuthA ! Taking Your firm

seat on the throne of our AchAryA's tongues , Thou does teach us

about the great truths and remove our ignorance .

 

(Comments) : The key words here are : " (Thvam) asmAkam apaNDithathvam

vaarayasi " . Thou removeth our ignorance and make us learn the great truths

(about Tatthva Thrayam/ ParamArTam ) through our AchAryAs on whose tongues

you have a firm seat ( asmath gurUNAm jihvA simhAsanE labdha prathishta: ) .

 

AchAryAs are extolled in this slOkam and their relationship to the Lord

is revealed . Our Lord has " JihvAgra simhAsanam " ; He seats Himself

on the front portion of the tongue of AchAryAs to instruct us on the Supreme

Truths about Tatthva Thrayams , artha Panchakam and the rahasya thrayams.

This way , He functions thru His AchAryAs to perform upadEsam for us on

His divine doctrines and to remove our nescience and viparItha Jn~Anam

( apaNDithathvam) . Our Lord , Achyuthan , instructs us about His Svaroopam

and SvabhAvams through His AchAryAs . In our sampradhAyam , the AchAryAs

alone can teach us about the Lord's doctrines ; these AchAryAs are special

beneficaries of the Lord's grace . He sits on the tongues of His blessed

AchAryAs to enable them to teach us about the Sath SampradhAyam

leading upto upAya anushtAnam to gain moksha siddhi .

 

Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan