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SrI:

Dear BhakthAs:

Today , adiyEn will cover the Fourty Third slOkam 
of Sri SaraNAgathi DhIpikai , where Swamy Desikan
continues to plead ardently with the Lord about 
the granting of the boon of Bhagavad anubhavam to him
and argues that the Lord should take note of his
sufferings in SamsAraic world in this context:

SatthvAni NaaTa vividhAni abhisamjigrushO:
SamsAra-naatya-rasikasya TavAsthu trupthyai:
pratyak parAngmukha-mathE: asameekshyakarthu:
prAchIna sajjana viDamBana bhUmikA mE 

SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai: SlOkam 43

Meaning: 
********
Oh ViLakkoLi PerumALE! Oh my Lord ! You rush towards all
types of chEthanams to give Your hand and uplift them.
For that reason , You let these chEthanams take birth 
in different forms in the samsAric world. You direct them to 
engage in different activities appropriate to their karmAs
and wait for them to adopt Bhakthi or Prapatthi yOgam 
so that You can rush to them and grant them Moksha Sukham .
Their activity under the influence of their karmic lot 
is like a dance-drama that amuses You. As for myself , 
adiyEn forsook the ways that would facilitate the upliftment
of the aathmA. adiyEn continues to do harmful things without
thinking about the consequences of doing them. Among all 
these strange and harmful acts of mine, one is about 
pretending to dress like and act like true BhAgavathAs of
Yours and even doing Prapatthi like them to You. May Thou,
who enjoys the samsAric dance of chEthnams be pleased with
this special dance of mine ! 

Additional Comments (V.S):
**************************
In the previous slOkam , Swamy Desikan expressed his intense desire 
to become a member of the fortunate group of muktha jeevans ,
who enjoy fully the BhumnA (infinite bliss principle of 
the Lord) and made his case. He asked the Lord as to what 
harm will come to the Lord , if He granted his (Swamy Desikan's)
wish. In this slOkam , he goes on with his moving personal appeal 
and asks the Lord to enjoy the dance-drama of his sufferings in 
samsAric world as a well known connosueir in the enjoyment of 
such dramas.He invites the attention of the Lord and offers him 
entertainment since the Lord relishes the watching of such dramas , 
where the chEthanam is the actor and the Lord is the puppet master. 
Swamy Desikan wants the Lord to focus on him and his sufferings.
He knows that Lord is the most merciful (DayALu ) and once the Lord 
turns His attention to him ,then the anugraham will follow quickly.

Swamy Desikan describes himself first and lists the harmful
things that he has been doing without worrying about their
consequences . He says: " prathyak parAngmukha mathE: 
asameekshya-karthu: " .Prathyak denotes the aathmA inside
the sarIram;inside that aathmA is the Lord . Swamy Desikan 
hints on behalf of us that he had dEhAthma-bramam , although
he was far away from such lapses. He has us in mind in expressing
his naichciyam . When he says " adiyEn cast aside the aathmA 
inside me and Yourself inside that aathmA as the energizer 
and commander(niyanthA) and went on doing whatever that came to 
my mind (asameekshya karthA )" ,the reference is to us. 
Here one is reminded of a gem among Thirumangai AzhwAr's 
Paasurams about ThiruviNNagarappan :

MaRantEn Unnai munnam maRantha mathiyin manatthAl
iRanthEn yetthanayum athanAl idumpaik-kuzhiyil
piRanthEyeytthozhinthEn ThirumArbhA 
siRanthEn NinnadikkE ThiruviNnagar mEyavanE

---Periya Thirumozhi: 6.2.2

The key word in AzhwAr's paasuram is "maRanthEn".
AzhwAr states that he did not think of the Lord
but excelled in many other unimportant pursuits.
As a result of that key lapse , rebirth in many yOnis
resulted .He says: " I have become feeble and tired from 
all these endless cycles of births and deaths . I am 
sinking fast in the fierce samsAric ocean because of 
forgeting You " Thus says the AxzhwAr in a penitent mood. 

The words used by Sawmy Desikan in this context are: 
"prathyak parAngmukha mathE: asameekshya-karthu: mE ".
He describe his pitiable state of being condemned to
participate ceaselessly in the horrific dance of
SamsAram (SamsAra Naatyam) due to forsaking the ParamAthmA 
in favor of "pleasing" and transient sensual acts , 
which resulted only in the accumulation of paapams 
and punar-janmams .That act of forgetfulness 
of the ParamAthmA (Prathyak parAngmukham)--Swamy Desikan 
declares-- has made him an achEthana tulyan (equivanet 
to an insentient one);by knowing many things without 
thinking about the Lord and His (Isvara) Tatthvam , 
Swamy Desikan says that he has become an asath-kalpan ,
Jeevac-chavam. Jn~Anam about the Lord is svaroopa prAptham 
for the Jeevan ; dharma-bhUtha-Jn~Anam should be fully
blossomed for one , who becomes a Muktha Jeevan through
successful practise of Bhakthi yOgam or Prapatthi yOgam.
When one forgets the Lord in favor of other transient and 
perishable sukhams , dharma-bhUtha-Jn~Anam is ina shrunken
state ; the end result is condemnation to be born in many 
births and suffer the afflictions of SamsAram.

Swamy Desikan identifies himself as one , who impulsively
followed his own wishes (asameekshya kartha) without analysing
the consequences of his action. He has all of us in mind 
here and not himself , since he had uninterrupted chinthanai
about the Lord all the time.This is AchArya upadesam for us.

Swamy Desikan says in this spirit that he was imitating
all great souls by pretending to be like them in observance
of required practises including the performance of Prapatthi
(UpAya anushtAnam) and took on the role of a clever actor
(mE prAchIna sajjana viDamBana bhUmikA). In the previous slOkam , 
Swamy Desikan focussed on the BhUmnA of the Lord and here 
he talks about his own "bhUmikA (veLi vEsham or external pretense ). 

Now , Swamy Desikan comes back to the DayA of the Lord 
and says that the Lord comes rushing to catch the sinking 
samsAris with elan ( VividhAni satthvAni abhisasamjigrushan).
On the way , He enjoys the SamsAra Naatyam as a rasikan of
that type of dance performed by ajn~Anis .

Swamy Desikan invites the Lord as the supreme connosieur of 
samsara naatakam of the Jeevans to take note of his own 
version of the samsAric dance and requests the Lord 
to enjoy it and become contented ( SamsAra Naatya rasikasya 
Tava trupthyai asthu). Once the Lord gets satisfied and 
feels compasionate towards the suffering Jeevan , He blesses
it to reach a sadAchAryan to prepare that chEthanam to
perform Prapatthi to reach Him at His Supreme abode.

In the next few slOkams , Swamy Desikan reminds the Lord of
His earlier vows to practise SaraNAgatha rakshaNam and engages
in a moving dialog with the Lord and presses his case
to the Lord to accept his prapatthi. 

NamO NamO SrI VedAntha DesikAya ,
SrImath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam, 
RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan 






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