devanayaka panchasat

You are here: SriPedia - ebooks - Vedanta Desikan - devanayaka panchasat
Twenty First SlOkam of Sri Devanayaka Panchasath:
******************************************
(The Ears of the Lord)



aahu: sruthim viBhudhanAyaka TaavakeenAm
aasAgana prasava hEthumadheetha vEdA:
aakarNitE tadhIyamArtharEva prajAnAm
aasA: prasAdhayithum aadhisathi svayam ThvAm

Extended Meaning
***************

Oh DhaivanAyakA! The Vedic scholars refer to Vedams
pointing out that the directions were born out of Your
ears( "Disa: srOthrAth"... Purusha Sooktham). Those sacred
ears of yours persuade you to chase away the sorrows
and sufferings of the ChEthanams who cry out movingly
about their plight in front of You and You bless
the chEthanams with auspiciousness based on the influence
that Your ears hold over You. You come to their(ChEthanam's)
rescue. Thus Your ears render great service to
the suffering chEthanams.

Additional Observations:
********************

Here, Swamy Desikan refers to the service rendered by
one limb of the Lord(i-e)., the Ears. The laments by
the people come from all directions . As sensitive antenna
assemblies , the ears pick up these moving cries of
the ChEthanams and bring them to the attention of
their Lord and stimulate Him to come to the help of
these suffering chEthanams.

Swamy Desikan uses the double meanings of the word ,
"AasA".This word can mean directions or wishes.
In identifying the birth of the ten directions
from the Lord's ears as pointed out by the four VedAs ,
Swamy comments: " ThavakeenAm Sruthim aasA gaNa
prasava hEthum aahu: ". Swamy Desikan also uses
the double meaning of the word "Sruthi".This word
can mean Vedam or Ears . " aasa gaNa prasavam "
refers to the birth of the groups of ten directions.
After referring to "aasA" to indicate directions in
the first paadham of the slOkam , Swamy Desikan
identifies "aasA" with wishes in the second paadham:
"iyam sruthi: prajAnAm aartaravE aakarNithE aasA
prasAdhayithum svayam ThvAm aadhisathi" . When these
ears of Yours hear the heart-rending cries of the suffering
samsAris , they persuade You to redress their sorrows
and fulfill their wishes and give them sadhgathi.
"Adhisathi" means the kindling of some thing . The Lord
had the intent to help but did not execute it.
The ears kindled and stimulated His interest to come
to the rescue of the suffering SamsAris.