Chapter 17- Krishna brings parijatha tree to Dvaraka
There were four kinds of trees in the nandanavana, namely, mandhAra, santhAna, kalpavriksha and harichandhana. The fifth was the parijata which came out of the milky ocean. The sprouts of the tree were like rubies, the leaves were like emeralds, the flowers of the tree were like jewels worn on the body and the bark was shining like gold. The tree can provide beads for japa, flowers for worship and bark for austere garment.
With the karpaka creeper around it and with red sprouts it reminded one of Lord Narayana, with Lakshmi, who was also born from the milky ocean, and wearing the kousthubha gem. The tree which was a sibling of crescent moon and kousthubha seemed to be smiling with the dew drops like the teeth, shining on the red lip-like sprouts.
Here Desika implies that Krishna has already willed to take the tree to Dvaraka, may be, to show the power of His maya which made Indra forget the great help rendered by Krishna and fight with him over the tree. Krishna said as he had to rush to Dvaraka as all are expecting him there, his eyes were taking in the beauty of the tree as though it was the breakfast before journey, meaning that the full beauty will be enjoyed later as he intended to take it with him. He put words in the mouth of Sathyabhama to achieve this end by saying that she looked as though she wanted to take the tree and plant it in her garden. He told her that along with this tree Dvaraka would shine even more than the capital of Indra because there were already the sankha and padma nidhis as in the capital of Kubera and also the assembly hall was called sudharma after that of devaloka.
In the next sloka Desika says that the suggestion of
Ittham AdhikavinA sameerithA
sA anvabhAvi kila sathyabhAmayA
Samarasyamiva thEna jagmushee
soukumAryasubhagA sarasvasthee
(Yad.17-44)
The speech of the Lord, who is Adhikavi (because he was the one who instructed Brahma, whose consort is Sarasvathi who graced Valmiki, known as Adhikavi) and which was sweet and soft and conveyed his intention, was welcomed bySathyabhama with glee.
This sloka is explained by Utthamur swamin with a delightful meaning as follows:
Desika himself, he says is fit to be called Adhikavi as he stands in front of everyone else being the kavithArkika simha. The word sathyabhAma is split as sathya+bhA+mA meaning true wisdom and glory (ma meaning Lakshmi) and the words of Desika, sarasvathi is enjoyed by those who have wisdom and glory.
Utthamur swamin also gives another explanation that refers to Ramayanakavya. The sarasvathi referred could be taken as Ramayanakatha that was composed by Valmiki, who is the Adhikavi and his words were enjoyed by Seetha whose glory and wisdom were true(bhA cha mA cha sathyA yasyAh thayA) when the kavya was sung by Lava and KuSa. This meaning , though it may look far-fetched, is beautiful.
Garuda, instructed by
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