Vedanta Desika 111 part 7

Vedanta Desika -111








Part 7







Swamy Desikan in Thiruvarangam and Tirupathi







In part 1of Swamy Deskan 111, brief note was given on Dasavathara sthothram composed by him, when he worshipped the lord in Dasavathara Sannadhi in Srirangam . In part 3 of Swamy Deskan 111, we saw Swamy Desikan's ' Nyasa thilagam' sthothram praising the deity in SriRangam and various aspects of Prapatti and total surrender only to Sriman Narayana .



There are two more sthothrams 'Abhitisthavam' and 'Sri Bhagavath Dhyana Sobanmam' by Swamy Desikan on SriRanganatha. In 14 th centuary AD ,When Srirangam had fallen into the hands of the Muslim invaders, the shrine of Lord Ranganatha had been closed after secretly sealing the sanctum sanctorum. But utsava-murti was removed to place of safety by some devotees. Due to this incident, some religious leaders sacrificed their life. Swamy Desikan, ran away from the place in fear and panic, and stayed at Satyamangalam near Kollegal of Karnataka state. Swamy Desikan composed Abhitisthavam stotram because of his disheartening situation in regular orderly kainkaryam done to Lord SriRanganatha due to this invasion to plunder the temple idols, ornaments, and other properties.



Sri Bagavath Dhyana Sobanam is just similar to Thiruppanazhwar's Amalanathipiran ,praising the entire Thirumeni of Lord Ranganatha.



In Swamy Desikan's pilgrimage in north, his first halt was in Tirumala and composed Sloka on Sri Thiruvenkatamudaiyan as Dayasathakam.Tirumala a swayam vyaktha kshetra ,wherein Sriman Narayana is worshipped as Venkateswara, Balaji, Srinivasa, Venkatachalapathy etc with His consorts Bhoomi, Neela and Lakshmi Devi Supreme Goddess with their quality of Daya , (Mercy) is well praised in this . The Lord conferred on him the honorific of "Vedaantha Aachaarya" ,similar to Lord Ranganatha's earlier appreciation. "Vedanta Desika Padhe Vinivesya Baalam" is his remarks in this which meant”the Lord had elevated a mere boy into a competent Acharya " .. As omens in the form of dreams had indicated that the child to be born would be an incarnation of the God of Tirumala the child was named Venkatanatha, the name of the God of Tirumala, first and later swamy Desikan attained such a status.







24. Abhiti Sthavam



Abhitisthavam is 'praise of fearlessness' on Lord Ranganatha's grace of removing the fear in the hearts of His devotees. In this Swamy Desikan pleaded Lord Ranganatha to protect all temples and Sri Vaishnavites from invasion by other communities and several aspects of Saranagathi also dealt here. This stothram conveys how a true devotee feels when there is a threat to Thirumeni of Perumal .



In sloka 8, Swamy Desikan stressing importance of a Holy places as one , where any devotee , at any place, at any time living with all senses under control with the appreciation of celestials may be called as thapovanam , capital of confidence, joyful home and a fort of boons. In Sloka 19, Swamy Desikan mentions the names of great devotees such as Prahlada, Kakasura, Gajendrn, Draupadi, Vibhishana, Kaliya sarpam , Ambarisha who became fearless with His blessings, and in sloka 20 He prays similar action to banish fear once for all in Srirangam and restore it to its original glory, as sriyam bahulaya prabho sritha vipaksha munmulaya . Lord's five weapons (panchayudhas), holding in His hands for our protection, is mentioned in slokas 11, 21, 22 and 23 In Sri vishnu sahasranamam Bayakrith bayanasana it is said as Fear and freedom from fever is only God's blessings. Andal also quotes in Tiruppavai as 'Thingalum Athithyanumezhundarpol' as Narayana is capable of contradictory characters such as sun and moon,like this fear and freedom from fear. In this sthothram this aspect is quoted in many slokas. Phrases such as baya vidayino jagathi,kimathra bayaspatham, prathibhayam na kinchit ,na syath bayam,is found in this entire sthothram. In Slokam 23 he prays that Thiruvazhi Azhwan in Lord's hand should take over and Dharma is to be re-established in SrIrangam. In Slokam 24 to 27, prayers for the protection of this divya-kshetram from the enemiesis is stressed. The concluding lines of Bayam thyajatha pathraithyabithath sa va kesava . ' Dont fear you will be safe 'reminds famous Srimad Bagavath Gita lines " mokshayishyami ma sucha" .







25. Srimad Bhagavath Dyana Sobanam



This stothram is with 12 slokas on beauty , fame and praises of Sri Ranganatha (Azhagiya manavalan ) . Similar to Tiruppanazhwr's Amalanathipiran, this is Swamy Desikan's vision of Sriman narayana on what he enjoys in Perumal Thirumeni from Thiruvadi to Thirumudi .In Sloka 1 he gives general titles, praises and observations on Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam as antharjothi, siddanjanam, sinthamani, daivatham daivathanam .The steps ( Sopaanam) from His Feet to the Head as , is described in slokas 2 to 9.. Sloka 10 is ashtanga yogam, the combining all those eight angas (parts of the body). Sloka 11 is on uthsava murthy. His description is sure to be with all devotees who worship in Srirangam like swamy desikan's experience that He will be the hearts of all, as What was seen in Rangam in sloka 1 is said to reside in Desika's heart as . madye rangam mama cha hrudaye varthathe savarotha .In Sloka 11 palasruthi. greatness of Srirangam with more vidwans, rasikas, bakthas is mentioned apart from His desire to bless all with more devotion.



26. Daya Sathagam



Swamy Desikan is 'Ramanuja Daya pathram' and His excellent composition on Sri Venkatachalaparthy is this sthothram with 108 slokas. All mercy, and other auspicious qualities are described elaborately in this. Daya sathakam with 10 sathakams and is like Thiruvaimozhi in 1102 pasurams in ten pathus.(Tens )



Swamy Desikan's poetic metre is found in every ten slokas which form as one dasagam. Ten dasagas may be done with the idea of ten avatarams of Mahavishnu. A brief note on Dasagams is given below.



1.Dasagam 1-slokas 1to 10 - Guruparampara dhyanam - prayers to Azhwars, Maharishis, Vishwaksenar, Mahalakshmi, Bhoomi,Andal, Thiruvenkatamudayan and the Real character of Daya.



2.Dasagam 2 slokas 11to20--usefulness in Gnanam and shakthi of Narayana.Daya is acting as a medicine like mrithsanjeevi, samsara sagaratharini, and dhrushtasthvayaiva karune (Affection on the very look )



3.Dasagam 3-slokas21to30- Prayers to Acharyas.Method of Acharyas in development of Bhakthi among devotees.Encomiums of Daya as Karunethvam sa guneshu sarva bhoumi .



4.Dasagam 4-slokas 31to40--Daya's benevolence in prescribed time, Saranagathi to reduce the sins. Importance of faith in Sriman Narayana is essential.



5.Dasagam 5-Slokaas 41-50-Daya is superior to Narayana. Daya saves all voluntarily, unlike Narayana who saves only to devotees calling him as Deva sriman disathi karune . Daya is like a mother with affection and love only on poor, suffering child .



6.Dasagam 6-Slokaas 51-60--Daya's character is to make everybody as a good person and thinks about the welfare of all. There is nothing more than a pleasure to serve Daya mentioned as Jagathihitham na nasthavayi



7.Dasagam 7-slokas 61 -70- Dayadevi's forgivining character is excellent one. Taking care after one's Saranagathi.Excellent narration of upgrading the status to Guha, Kuchela, sugriva, sabari.



8.Dasagam-slokas 71- 80 -Daya is like a ladder to devotees. She climbs down to devotees with affection for their eternal life as dhradam ithi daye thatha swatham vimukthi valaham .



9.Dasagam 9-slokas 81-90--Daya's efforts in Narayana's ten avatharas and the presense of Venkateswara in Tirumala .Praising Daya as Jagatha hitha karini . Importance in Narasimha Avataram with terrorising figure as spurath kruthi parispurath prugudikepi vakthre kruthe , but with His kind Grace to Prahlada.



10.Dasagam 10-slokas-91-103 -limitless glory of Daya. Swamy comparing his action of with Kulinmgam a forest bird entering lion's mouth and eating flesh in its teath ,while it is snoring as anaboKoram kulinga sakuneriva seshtithamcha , and doing all sins in the midst of remembering as svathina sathva sarani swayamathra jantho. In slokam 104, Swami Desikan acknowledges the glorious mercy of Sri Venkateswara in crowning him as "Vedanthaacharya" . He states that he was just an instrument in the hands of the Lord Venkatasaila natha, in composing Dhaya sathakam. slokas 105 to 107 is palasruthi. in Concluding sloka he commits there may be good and bad in this stotham, but let them go together.



In essence, this sthothram stresses that Lord Sri Venkateswara is omnipotent,omni present , who does everything according to His will, sarangatha rakshagan, parama purushar, who can be reached through prapatti, and who will rush to help all , who offers moksha right here on this earth. This entire Stothram reminds the lines in Ramayana, (III 69- 29 30 ) when Tara seeing manifest before her the invisible , infinite, invincible changeless lord in all His unfading splendour . She sees Rama in one who keeps his senses under control who observed righteousness not only for his sake but for doing good to others who establishes undiminished endless reputation who displays , exemplary skill in discriminating right from wrong, good from evil who exhibits inexhaustible patience and endurance similar to that of the earth even under provocative situations.



Three more Sthothra rathnams of Swamy Desikan and His other works will be continued ……



Arumbuliyur Jagannathan Rangarajan