Dear Bhagavatas,
We may continue with the second Jitantastotram, which seems to have
inspired as a guide and model many of our purvacharyas in composing their
stotrams and stavams. Adiyen has given brief meanings and indicated the
location of some of its echos in some acharyakritis. This has 40 slokas in
all and we hope to cover it in about 8 postings.
Sri: SrImate RAmAnujAya Nama:
Sri PancharAtre DvitIyajitantA stotram (1-4)
**jitante pundarIkAkSha pUrNaShAdguNya vigraha /
**parAnanda parabrahman namaste paramAtmane // 1 //
Meaning::-- --jitante-- You have conquered (our souls). --pundarIkAkSha--
Oh lotus-eyed. --pUrNa ShADguNya vigraha-- Your person is made up of the
entire set of Six qualities. --parAnanda-- Your bliss is beyond
measurement. --parabrahman-- Oh supercosmic entity. --namas te--
Prostrations to You. --paramatmane-- to the supersoul.
Notes:: As before, the lord is addressed as pundarIkAkSha, the lotus eyed
one for which He is called 'kannan' by means of which He captivates all
souls. Unlike sankarshana, pradyumna and aniruddha, in whom only pairs of
qualities that make up a bhagavan dominate, vasudeva is replete with all
the six qualities that entitle him to be called bhagavan.
*jnAnam balam vipulam Ishana vIrya shakti tejAmsi cha triyuga
bhUyamupAgatAni ; pUrNAni ShaT cha parigruhya bhavamschaturdhA - bhaktam
janam tvam anujagrahiThAnurAgAt ;* This sloka of KurattAlvan from
AtimAnuShastava tells that God divided Himself into four persons, in whom
knowledge and power, governance and valour, energy and effulgence and all
these six gunas respectively are predominant, for the sake of devotees in
the various worlds. Sri Parasara bhattar graced in Uttara satakam of Sri
Rangarajastavam (39) that Lord Rangaraja incarnated in the four vyuhas or
shells with four forms respectively. Of them, one who is replete with the
six gunas is enjoyed by the muktas as ParavAsudeva; with the domination of
gunas of knowledge accompanied by power, in SankarshaNa, He destroys the
creation and produces the scriptures; with governance and valour
qualities dominating in Pradyumna, He carries out creation and establishes
dharma; and with the pair, energy and effulgence dominating in Aniruddha,
He protects the creation and preaches philosophy.
His bliss is unmeasurable and infinite. In order to get a taste of the
immensity of His bliss, the vedas started by quantifying step by step the
bliss enjoyed by an ideal orthodox man, the manushya gandharvas,
devagandharvas, the pitrus, the gods by birth and the gods by deeds, the
gods, Indra, Brihaspati, Prajapati as one hundred times more in each step
and ultimately imagined the bliss of the lord. Then veda said '' yato
vAcho nivartante aprApya manasA saha. Anandam brahmaNo vidvan na bibheti
kutascha neti ", being unable to precisely define the quantity of Ananda,
which is one of the ananta kalyana gunas of the lord. Thus, he is
parAnanda, having superbliss.
**namaste pItavasana nama: kaTakadhAriNe /
**namo nIlAlakAbaddhaveNIsundaravigraha // 2 //
Meaning::-- --namaste-- prostrations to You. --pItavasana-- wearing yellow
robes. --nama: kaTakadhAriNe-- bowing to You decked with the thick wrist
ring. --namo nIlAlakAbaddha veNI sundaravigraha-- bowing to You with
enthralling beauty enriched by the bluish curly hairs matted into a long
plait.
Notes::-- The personal attributes of the lord like, physical beauty,
dress, ornaments eulogised here have caught the imagination and inspired
many a purvacharyas as explicite in their works. Sri Alavandar in
Stotraratnam has repeatedly mentioned about the curly hairs in slokas 33,
34 and 35 of Stotraratnam, *shlathAlakAbandha vimarda shamsibhi:*,
*kundalAlakAvaLI bandhura kambukandharam* , *lalATaparyanta
vilambitAlakam*. Swamy Ramanujar in SrivaikunThagadyam exclaimed about the
ornaments and other effects in *hAra keyura kaTaka srivatsa kaustubha
muktAdamodarabandhana pItAmbara ..* , *atyujjvala pItavAsasam*,
*lalATaphalaka divyAlakAvalI virAjitam*, *kundalAlakAvalI bandhura
kambukandharam*, *karNabhUShaNa shlathAlakAbandha vimarda shamsibhi:*
where the word "alakA" denotes the curly hairs dangling on the forehead
and the sides. This sloka and the subsequent slokas have launched many
many echos in our purvacharya kritis. In particular, this entire second
Jitanta stotram has been a model for many great religious poets in
sanskrit and tamil, to compose their prayers.
**sphuradvalayakeyUra nUpurAngadabhUShaNAY: /
**shobhanAYrbhUShitAkAra kalyANaguNarAshaye // 3 //
Meaning::-- --sphurat valaya keyUra nupura angada bhUShaNai:-- by the
scintillating and dazzling ornaments like bangles, armlets, anklets and
forearm rings. --shobhanai:-- which are auspicious and beautifying.
--bhUShitAkAra kalyANa guNa rAshaye-- Your person is bedecked and You are
a treasure house of auspicious benevolent qualities.
**karuNApUrNahrudaya shankhachakragadAdhara /
**amrutAnandapUrNAbhyAM lochanAbhyAM vilokaya //4//
Meaning::-- --karuNA pUrNa hrudaya-- Oh lord whose heart is overflowing
with mercy. shankha chakra gadAdhara-- bearing the conch, the discus and
the mace. --vilokaya-- cast a glance at (me). lochanAbhyAm-- with both the
eyes. --amrutAnanda pUrNAbhyAm-- which are inundated with nectar and
bliss.
Notes:: The Lord's heart is filled with mercy when He looks at the jIva
immersed in sorrow *jIve du:khAkule viShNo: krupA kApi upajAyate*. When
jIvas are locked helplessly in an endless cycle of samsAra, God melts with
sympathy and provides them with sense organs and executive organs and
scriptures as lamps to find exit from the samsara. But it is another
matter that they misuse them for personal ends and continue to be stuck in
the quagmire of samsara.
Why does god always carry all weapons as if always on a warfooting? Sri
Parasara bhattar has an answer in *pAtu praNata rakShAyAm vilambam
asahanniva; sadA panchAyudhIm bibhrat sa na: sri ranga nAyaka:* He never
brooks delay in protecting His devotees and so always carrys the weapons
on hand to avoid searching for them when necessary.
Why should god look at me? Alavandar, Swamy Ramanujar and Kurattalvan
among others have pleaded with the lord to cast merciful nectarine
blissful glances at them in no uncertain terms. It is said that *jAyamAnam
hi puruSham yam pashyet madhusudana: ; vaishnavassa tu vijneya: sa vai
mokShArtha chintaka: * that person whom Madhusudana glances at the time of
being born, is identified as a vaishnava and he alone will contemplate on
moksha as purushartha. Obviously I was not seen by the lord when being
born; hence atleast now look at me so that I may become a vaishnava. In
Stotraratnam *aviveka ghanAndha dinkmukhe bahudhA santata du:kha varShiNi;
bhagavan bhava durdine patha:skhalitam mAm avalokayA achyuta*. In
Gadyatrayam *Atmabhogena anusamhita parAdikAla divyAmalakomalAvalokanena
vishvam AhlAdayantam*, *tato bhagavatA svayameva AtmasamjIvanena
avalokanena avalokya sasmitam AhUya ..dhyAtvA..*. Sri Kurattalvan graced
with almost the same words as in this Jitanta slokam in Panchastavam as
*praschotat premasArAmrutarasa ... vanagirinilayo vIkShatAm IkShaNAbhyAm*
(sundarabAhustava - 44) *yannAbhavAma bhavadIya kaTAkShalakSham...* since
we had not become the target of Your kaTAksham we are still wandering in
this grand canyon of samsara. In varadarajastava (99) *imam janam hanta
kadAbhishekshyate tvadakShi nadyor varada shramApahA .. ..vIkShaNa
vIchisantati:* when will this person be rained down by a refreshing series
of glances from the river of Your eyes, coming like waves, oh varada.
*dAsastaveti varadAsmi tavekShaNIya:* I am to be looked at as Your servant
through the Guruparampara sambandham.
contd....
Adiyen
Ramanuja dasan
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Oppiliappan-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
oppiliappan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |