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Slokam 25
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Today , adiyEn will cover the Twenty fifth slOkam
of Sri SaraNAgathi DhIpikai , where Swamy Desikan
commences His upadEsam on Prapatthi yOgam :
udhbAhu-bhAvam apahAya yaTaiva kharva:
prAmsum phalArTam abhiyAchathi yOgi-chinthya
yEvam sudushkaram upAya gaNam vihAya
sTAnE nivEsayathi tasya vichakshana: ThvAm
--SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai: SlOkam 25
(meaning): Oh Lord DhIpa PrakAsa , the fitting target
for the dhyAnam of the yOgis ! One dwarf had intense desire to
pluck the rip fruit on the branch that was too much beyond
his reach. He could not raise his own hands to pluck
the fruits . He was too short. He is clever and did not
waste his time with futile efforts. He requested a tall
man to pluck the fruits for him and enjoyed them . Similarly,
a wise sentient being realizes the performance of Karma
and Jn~Ana yOgams as a sequel to the performance of
the Bhakthi yOgam is too difficult and beyond his
capabilities. Therefore , he does not engage in
these yOgams and performs prapatthi instead and places
You (the SiddhOpAyan ) in place of the karma-Jn~Ana-Bhakthi
yOgams and accomplishes his heart's wish (viz)., Moksha Sukham.
Additional Comments(V.S):
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In the previous two slOkams , Swamy Desikan described
the SaalamBana and nirAlamBana yOgams and the fruits that
one can attain from the Lord . In this slOkam , Swamy
Desikan compares the Bhakthi yOgam with the Prapatthi
yOgam .In this context, Swamy Desikan addresses Lord
DhIpa PrakAsan as " yOgi chinthya " or as the One ideally
suited for dhyAnam by yOgis to qualify them for
the anushtAnam of the Bhakthi yOgam thru their
engagement first in saalamBana or NirAlamBana yOgic
practises .Swamy Desikan invites our attention to
a clever analogy. There is a dwarf (kharva:)standing
under a fruit tree full of ripe fruits ready for tasting.
The dwarf longs to have the taste of those fruits.
He is however too short and his raised arms (udhbAhu
BhAvam ) will not help him to reach out to those sweet
fruits hanging from the branches as if they are saying ,
" come and get me". The dwarf looks around and sees
a tall traveller coming his way. The dwarf stops
the long limbed traveller and requests him to help
with the plucking of the fruits for his consumption.
The traveller obliges gladly and the dwarf gets his wish
fulfilled .The dwarf gave up his own efforts wisely,
when he realized that the task was impossible and he was
incapable of executing that task. He recognized jumping
up with raised arms was sudushkaram ( a tough task that
can not be accomplished by him ).He gives up to get
the fruit by his own efforts. He gets his wish
fulfilled however throught he help of the tall man.
Swamy Desikan compares the dwarf's decision to
that of a clever chEthanan , who relaizes quickly
that the UpAyams (means) like karma/Jn~Ana and Bhakthi
yOgams are very much beyond his capabilities and
abandons them as the means to get the purushArtam
of Moksham ( yEvam vichakshaNa: sudushkaram upAya
GaNam vihAya ).What does he do now ? He places
the Lord in place of those groups of upAyams ,
performs prapatthi yOgam ( Total surrender at
the Thiruvadi of the eagerly-awaiting Lord )and
gets his deep longing for Moksha Sukham fulfilled.
The Lord as SiddhOpAyan
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Swamy Desikan focuses here on Lord DhIpa PrakAsan
as SiddhOpAyan . He is siddhOpAyam , the means that exists
without ourselves needing to do anything. SaadhyOpAyam
on the other hand is an upAyam (means) that we have
to do such as Bhakthi yOgam or prapatthi (SaraNAgathy).
The SaadhyOpaayams like Bhkthi or Prapatthi changes
the anger or proclivity to punish us(nigraha sankalpam )
that the Lord had for our erstwhile trespasses of His
saasthraic injunctions. As SiddhOpAyan , He becomes
pleased with the effort taken (saadhyOpAyams) and
changes His nigraha sankalpam to anugraha sankalpam.
The three prerequisites for the change of heart of
the Lord from nigraham to anugraham are:
(1) Thirumukha Paasuram or PurushakAra Prapathti
to the most merciful Mother of ours , PirAtti.
We pray to her for the fruition of our saraNAgathi
and She readily responds and blesses us to fulfill
our wishes.AchArya RaamAnujA performed SrI Prapatthi
first and recieved Her anugraham and assurance and
then went on with His Prapatthi to Her Lord.
(2) Anugraham of a SrEshta AchAryan : The blessings obtained
from kaimkaryam to a great AchAryan to acquire visEsha
Jn~Anam as phalan. In the 23rd chapter of Srimath Rahasya
Thraya Saaram , Swamy Desikan cites the srEshta AchAryAs
like ParAsarar , MythrEyar and Sanjayar , who blessed
their respective sishyAs with such special Jn~Anam.
(3)The blessings of gaining links to SathsampradhAyam:
The devout sishyan filled with Saathvika guNams and
AchArya Bhakthi should acquire a SadAchAryan , who has
Jn~Anam, VairAgyam and compassion and thus link up with
SadAchArya Paramparai starting from SarvEsvaran.Through
upadesam from that SadAchAryan on Tathtvam-Hitham and
PurushArTam , sishyan will please the Lord and will
be the object of anugraha sankalpam.
In the next slOkam , Swamy Desikan celebrates Prapatthi
and refers to the five angAs ( limbs ) of Prapatthi.