devanayaka panchasat

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Seventeenth SlOkam of SrI DevanAyaka PanchAsath
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Mugdha-smithAmrutha subhEna mukhEndhunA tE
sangamya samsarana samjvara sAnthayE na:
sampadhyathE VibhudhanATa samAdhi yOgyA
sarvaryasou kuDila kunthala kAnthi roopA

Expanded Meaning:
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Oh Dhaiva NaayakA! The moonlight shining during
the night has the power to quell the mental afflictions
of the people. Your beautiful face(Thirumukha MaNDalam)
is the cool orbit of the Moon ( Chandra BhimBham). When
You welcome the chEthanams with Your beautiful smile,
that becomes the cool moonshine (nilavu) to enhnace
the beauty of Your moon-like face.The dark and curly
black tresses of Yours remind us of the dark night ,
where the Moon is shining beautifully and spreading
its cool rays. When we meditate on the lustre of Your
beautiful face and the dark hue of Your curly , black
tresses , our joy from that aanandha anubhavam multiplies
many fold. Our scorching samsAric afflictions (Taapams)
and the unbearable fever are quenched by that meditation.
Indescribable indeed is the beauty and the vaibhavam of
Your dark and curly hair !

Additional Comments:
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Lord DhaivanAyakan has a beautiful smile on His face
(mugdha smitha Mukham). That nectar-like beauty of
the Lord's smile corresponds to the cool and rejuvenating
Moon ( Mugdha smitha amrutha subhEna tE mukha indhu
sampadhyathE). That Moon (Your smile bearing face)
mingles with the assembly of the curly and dark locks
of Your lustrous hair resembling the dark night
( tE mukha IndhunA kuDila kunthaLa kAnthi roopA
asou sarvarI sangamya ). That union of the nectar of
Your smiling face (Moon) with the dark hued and curly
hair ( dark Night) becomes appropriate for our meditation
(sangamya samAdhi yOgyA sampadhyathE). That combimed meditation
of the Moon of Your face with Your dark locks of Kesam
becomes a fit medicine to banish the terrible fever of
SamsAram( na: samsarana samjvara sAnthayE sampadhyathE).

The dark, curly locks and the Face of the Lord a la Kuresar
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In his 31st SlOakm of SrI VaradarAja Sthavam , KurEsar
compares the Lord's radiant face to the Sun and the dark
locks of hair to the moonless night :

" gamithA Tava vakthra chithrabhAnO:
parabhAgam nanu kounthalI tamisrA "

Here , KurEsar suggests the unlikely presence of
darkness and brightness at one place adds to
each other's separate beauties ( parabhAgam).With this
reference, KurEsar provides the inspiration for Swamy Desikan
to compare the Lord's smile-adorning face to the Moon
instead of the Sun (a la Kuresar).

The mingling of that lustre from the Face (Moon) with
the dark tresses ( dark night) does not have the need
for parabhAgam. SrIvathsAngAcchAr Swamy covers the ParabhAgam
aspect , which refers to the union of darkness and Light
at the same time . This is agaDitha gaDanam for the Lord.
Swamy Desikan develops this theme in His sthuthi of
the Lord of Kaanchipuram, whose name is DevarAjan.

In SrI VaradarAja PanchAsath , Swamy Desikan develops
the above description of KurEsar and has an extraordinary
poetic vision of the unison of the Crown of the Lord with
the black tresses and His cool Moon-like face :

Mukha chandra mouLi dinakara
madhyasTithastava chikura bhArAndhakAra:
agaDitha gaDanA sakthim
sathyam sTApayathi Daasasatya samagrAm
--SrI Achyutha sathakam : 34th slOkam

(Meaning): Oh The Lord true to His devotees! Your bright
and beautiful face ( Thirumukha MaNDalam) is like the cool
and comforting (full) Moon.The radiance of Your crown
is reminiscent of the bright Sun. The dark assembly of
hair in between Your Crown and the Thirumukha MaNDalam
is dense and dark like (a moonless) night. It is rare
indeed for some one to experience the bright Sun and
the cool Moon together.The sight of both of them , when
having Your Sevai a testament to Your agaDitha gaDanA
Sakthi( power to unite things and principles , which
can not be experienced together normally).

Mukha Chandran (Moon) , Dinakaran(Sun) and andhakAram
( Darkness of the night) are united here by Swamy Desikan.

What Swamy Desikan referred to in the 17th slOkam of
SrI DhiavanAyaka PanchAsath as the union of the dark night
( black tresses of the Lord) with the Moon of the Thirumukha
manDalam (Face of the Lord) and the blessings derived from
that union ( destruction of the fever of SamsAram) is taken up
one step further in the 34th slOkam of the Achyutha Sathakam ,
which was composed by Swamy Desikan after SrI DevanAyaka PanchAsath.
Both of them have roots thus in Swamy KurEsar's 31st SlOkam of
SrI VaradarAja Sthavam , which was composed in front of
Lord VaradarAja of Kaanchi at the request of
Bhagavath RaamAnujA .

The next slOkam (18th) of Sri DhiavanAyaka PanchAsath is one of
adiyEn's favorite slOkam and it salutes the dhivya soundharyam
of the auspicious face of Lord DevanAthan .

In the most beautiful 18th slOkam set in Vasanthatilaka meter ,
Swamy Desikan reflects on the collective beauty of
the Thirumukha MaNDalam of Lord DevanAthan and is
overtaken by that unique soundharyam: