You are here: SriPedia - Oppiliappan - Archives - Oct 2002

Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00014 Oct 2002

 
Oct 2002 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


SrI:

Dear BhakthAs of ThiruvengadamudayAn:

After Summarizing the ten meanings associated with the ten sets of ten slokas 
Swami Desikan in SrI DayA satakam , he goes on to describe in detail 
the Anantha Kalyana Gunaas of Sriman Narayana in his Taatparya RatnaavaLi
and Dramidopanishad Saaram .He is thus paying his tribute to Nammazhwaar"s
Thiruvaimozhi in all of these three works .We will illustrate the ten
essential meanings of Daya Satakam in the subsequent sections as revealed by
SrI Srirama Desikaacchaar Swamy in the tradition of his Achaarya, SrI
Navaneetham Krishnamaacchaar Swamy of Oppiliappan Koil .

In the very first sloka , Swami Desikan states precisely his goal in
composing this Grantham and describes the object of his salutations this
way:

PRAPATHYEH TAM GIRIM PRAAYA:
SRINIVAASAANUKAMPAYAA 
IKSHUSAARA SRAVANTHYEVA
YANMOORTHYAA SARKARAAYITAM 

Here he compares the Lord"s DayA as the sweet flowing river of Cane
sugar juice,which has solidified to become the mountain of Thiruvenkatam. 
Swami States that he offers his Prapatti to that mountain, which has become 
the embodiment of the Lord"s DayA . The first theme covered by the first ten
slokas revolves around the fact that the Lord of Thiruvenkatam (SravaNa
Venkatesan ) is eminently suitable for worship and adoration.The reason is
that He is an ocean of Mercy (DayA).He serves as the treasure for those
who have no riches to speak of . He is the field out of which grows 
the our fruits of human life (PurushArthams). That concept of blemish-free
mercy makes Him the supreme object of contemplation and worship as described
below (10th SlOkam):

AKINCHANA NIDHIM SOOTHIM APAVARGHA TRIVARGAYOH 
ANJANAADHRI ISWARA ABHISHTOWMI NIRANJANAAM

The above sloka is the last of the first group of ten. In earlier verses,
Swami Desikan offers his salutations to Guru Paramparaa and AzhwArs. In
the beautiful second verse , he says:

vigAhe teertha bhauLaam seethaLAm guru Santathim 
Srinivasa DayAmbhodhi pareevaha paramparaam 

The key words are: " SeethaLAm Guru santathim Srinivasa DayAmbhodhi
Pareevaha Paramparaam Vigaahe". He says that he immerses in the cool waters
of the flowing stream of Guru Parampara that originated from the ocean of
Mercy(DayA) known as Srinivasa.

The SECOND essential theme of DayA satakam is that Sri Venkateswara is
eminently enjoyable in terms of Bhagavat Anubhavam .This theme is met in
Sloka 19 :

ROOTAA VRUSHACHALA PATEH
PAADEH MUKA KANTHI PATRALACCHAAYAA
KARUNEH SUKAYASI VINATAAN
KATAKSHA VITAPAI: KARAAPACHEYA PALAI:

Here, Swami Desikan says that DayA Devi is standing tall in Thirumalai
representing the merciful aspect of Sri Venkateswara. She grows at the
feet of the Lord of Venkatam and serves as His kalpaka tree that fulfills 
the wishes of those who pray to Him. His cool glances at the sight of His
devotees cause the tree of DayA Devi to send out tender shoots and ripe
tasty fruits. Those, who worship at the sannidhi of Sri Venkateswara
become beneficiaries of His Dhaya and enjoy the fruits of that Kalpaka tree.
Hence, Swami Desikan says that the KarunA Katakshams of the Lord of
Thiruvenkatam yield indescribable riches to the devotees . His DayA makes 
Him eminently enjoyable.

The THIRD essential theme of DayA Satakam is that He has the most
beautiful Divya Mangala Vigraham and to feast on Him with our eyes is
equivalent to tasting the divine nectar. The sloka corresponding to this
theme is as follows (SlOkam 22):

KALASODHODHITI SAMPADHO BHAVATHYAA:
KARUNEH SANMATHI MANTHA SAMSKRUTHAAYAA :
AMRUTAAMSA MAVAIMI DIVYA DEHAM
MRUTHA SANJEEVANAM ANJANAACHALA INDOH 

Here, Swami Desikan says that the churning of the Ocean of DayA of Sri
Venkatesa yields the nectar, which is the divine and auspicious vigraham
of Srinivasan. That Vigraham made entirely of Suddha Satvam is standing on
top of Thirumalai. This most beautiful Archaa Vigraham removes the fear of
Yama to Prapannaas and gurantees them the fruits of Moksham. Such is the power
of this auspicious and beautiful Archaa Murthy of the seven hills.

The FOURTH essential theme of DayA satakam is that the Sri Venkatesa
concept is the most delectable experience to enjoy among all delectable
experiences that the human beings can hope to enjoy . His blue effulgence
radiating from the top of Thirumala hills and its sacred associations
provide the richest item for the enjoyment of the chetanas . Here, 
the divya Mangala Vigraham is not the object of reference , but 
the holiness of the Venkateswara Tattwam , which is the highest concept 
that Vedas can proclaim. The sloka corresponding to this theme is 
as follows( SlOkam 39):

PARIMITA PALASANGHAATH PRAANINA: KIMPACHAANAA:
NIGAMA VIPANI MADHYEH NITYA MUKTAANUSHAKTHAM
PRASADANAMANUKAMPEH PRAAPTAVATYAA BHAVATYAA
VRUSHAGIRI HARINEELAM VYANJITHAM NIRVASANTHI

The FIFTH central theme is about the blessings that one accrues form the
Kataksham of Srinivasan of Thirumalai. Swami Desikan says that the
auspiciousness of that glance can result in freedom from the three debts
that human beings are subject to in this world. These three debts are to
Devas, Rishis and one's ancestors(Pithrus). Normally, one gets rid of
these debts with great diffculty. The debt to the Devas is normally 
discharged thru the performance of Yagaas and the offering of Havis. 
The debt to Rishis is discharged through Veda Adhyayanam. The debt to 
the Pithrus is discharged thru progeny. These three debts are 
instantaneously discharged by the mere glance of Sri Venkatesa
resting for a moment on the Prapanna. The blessings arising from that
merciful glance not only makes the Prapanna free from these three debts,
but it also results in obtaining then boon of Moksham thru the DevayanA 
path at the time of leaving this earth. Prior to that, the glances of Sri
Venkatesa confer immense wealth in this universe. The sloka containing 
these thoughts is the fourty ninth verse of DayA Satakam :

SREYA: SOOTHIM SAKRUTAPI DHAYEH
SAMMATHAAM YA: SAKEEM TEH
SEETHODHAARAA MALAPADHA JANA:
SRINIVAASASYA dHRUSHTIM 
DEVAADHEENAA MAYA MANRUNUTHAAM
DEHAVATTVEAPI VINDHAN
BHANDHAAN MUKTHO BALIBHIRANAGAI:
POORYATEH TATPRAYUKTHAI: 

The SIXTH central theme of the Satakam is that Lord Srinivasa is easy to
approach thru Prapatti. Swami Desikan says through the following Fifty
ninth sloka that the Bhakthi and Jnana Yogam are difficult to practise 
as means to Moksham compared to Prapatti at the holy feet of Sri Srinivasa 
as taught by our Acharyas such as Ramanuja, Yamuna and others:

TVADHUDHAYA TOOLIKAABHIRAMUNAA
VRUSHASAILA JUSHAA
STHIRA CHARA SILPINAIVA PARIKALPITHA
CHITRADHIYA: 
YATIPAATHI YAAMUNA PRUBRIDHAYA:
PRATAYANTHI DHAYEH
JAGADHI HITAM NA NASTVAYI
BHARANYASANAAT ADHIKAM II

The SEVENTH central theme of Satakam states that His incomparable mercy
removes any and every obstacle (Anishtam ) that a Prapanna faces on this
earth. The slokam corresponding to this theme is as follows(61st SlOkam):

AKOOPAARAI REKODHAKA SAMAYA
VAITANDIKA JAVAI:
ANIRVAABHYAAM KSHIPRAM KSHAPAYITUM
AVIDHYAAKYAPATAPPAAM 
KRUPEH TVAM TATTAATRUK PRATHIMA
VRUSHA PRITHVEEDHARA PATHI -
SVARUPA DWAIGUNYA DVIGUNA NIJABINDHU :
PRABHAVASI 

The EIGTH central theme refers to His Kalyana gunam by which He
accomodates Himself to the wishes of the Prapannas. Although He knows that 
some of the desires of the Prapannas relate to the nonlasting ,perishable ,
trivial things , Sri Venkatesa gives them what they want . Later, He gives 
them the knowledge and discriminative power to overcome the desire for
perishable things and elevates their sight to the lasting concept such as
Moksham. In other words, He goes along with the wishes of Prapanna first and
then slowly helps them to set higher goals such as Nithya Kainkaryam and
Kaivalyam. The sloka containing these thoughts is the seventy fifth Slokam 
of the Dhayaa satakam .

The NINTH central theme relates to his sincere friendship out of His
compassion for the Prapannas. His friendship does not count on any returns
from the Prapannas.It is the most natural of all friendships.

The TENTH central theme deals with Sri Venkateswara"s grace in leading the
Prapannas in the Devayaana path to Srivaikuntam.In the 104th slokam .
Swami Desikan acknowledges the glorious mercy of Sri Venkateswara in 
crowning him as "Vedanthaacharya" at the end of reciting Dhaya Sathakam. 
He states that he was just an instrument in the hands of the Lord of
Thiruvenkatam in composing DayA sathakam. This slokam housing his Sattvika
thyagam is a gem (104th slOkam):

VEDANTHA DESIKA PADEH VINIVESYA BAALAM
DEVO DHAYASATAKAM YETAT AVADHAAYAT MAAM
VAIHAARIKENA VIDHINAA SAMYEH GRUHITAM
VEENA VISESHAMIVA VENKATA SAIL NAATHA :

Here Swamy Desikan says: " adiyEn is not fit to compose
this sthOthram about the dayA guNam of Lord SrInivAsan.
The responsibility for that effort belongs to the Lord
Himself. He is always fond of engaging in playful acts.
AdiyEn's sukrutham ( puNyams done in previous janmAs) 
has now become fruitful. At this time , the Lord decided 
to engage in a sport using adiyEn . Boy that adiyEn is, now
elevated to the status of VedAnthAchAryan and placed in
a lofty position. The fruit of making that playful act 
becoming appropriate is also the Lord's sankalpam .
He made it possible for this DayA satakam to emerge
out of adiyEn's mouth. The Lord used me as HIS instrument
and completed the task of singing it.In this world , a rich man
will please himself by playing on a VeeNA and raise sunAdham
from that VeeNA. It is appropraite to say that VeeNA is only an
instrument for generating that sunAdham and it by itself does not
raise that pleasing sound. It is the skill of the VeeNA player
that is normally praised. In a similr manner , adiyEn has 
only been an instrument in is hands for the birth of this
SthOthram. All the glories belong only to Him . Thus 
the Lord of ThiruvEnkatam has performed a leelA through adiyEn. 

Kavithaarkika simhaaya Kalyana Gunasaalineh |
srimateh Venkatesaaya Vedantha guraveh Nama ||

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan 






[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
oppiliappan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list