Re: Nava MaNi Maalai

From the Bhakti List Archives

• December 4, 1999


Dear Members of the Bhakthi List :

A devout member has sent in the following comment
from Cuddalore , India . This comment created 
auspicious thoughts about Sri DevanAthan of 
ThiruvahIndhrapuram. I would like to share them 
with you as response to the dear BhakthA's comment .

V.Sadagopan 

At 09:18 PM 12/4/99 +0530, you wrote:
>Dear Sri Satagopan Swamy,
>
>I enjoyed your posting on Nava Mani Maalai. I am from Cuddalore 
>just 3 KM from ThiruvahIndhrapuram.

>> Paasuram 8: This is a beautiful , lilting
>> paasuram set in PathinAnku Seer Chandha Viruttham .
>> Here again Swamy Desikan prays to Achyuthan
>> ( Adiyavarkku Meyyan /Natha Satyan/Sathya Vrathan)
>
>I just spotted a typo here. Should it not read 'Dasa Sathyan' 
>instead of 'Natha Sathyan'?

Dear BhakthA from Cuddalore/ThiruvahIndhrapuram :

Thanks very much for your welcome note . Coming as it does from 
Swamy Desikan's aasthAnam , adiyEn takes it seriously and wish 
to use this opportunity to record the auspicious thoughts 
stimulated by Your Question . Prior to that , let me invite 
the attention of the Bhakthi list members to the excellent 
home pages created by Sri MaNi VaradarAjan for
Sri HemAbjavalli SamEtha Sri DevanAthan of ThiruvahIndhrapuram .
The URL is:  

http:www.ramanuja.org/SV/temples/tiruvahindrapuram/index.html 

You will enjoy those home pages immensely , if you have not
seen them already .

Now coming back to the question " Should it not read 
as "dasa Satyan" instead of "natha Satyan " , this is 
a welcome question .

In his magnificient Praakruth Sthuthi on Sri DevanAthan
of T'Puram , "Achyutha Sathakam " ,Swamy Desikan is 
very particualr about the use of name of the Lord 
as Natha Satyan and Daasa Satyan to remind us that 
Lord DevanAthan will not abandon His true devotees 
befitting His name as  Achyuthan  and that He is true to His
devotees ( Natha Sathyan , Daasa Sathyan , DaasAnAm 
Sathyan , Kinkara Sathyan , SaraNAgatha Sathyan ,
Namath sathyan ). We find these names behind the Achyutha
Tatthvam interspersed liberally throughout the 100 slOkams
of Achyutha sathakam . Let me summarize the slOkams , where these 
names appear in Achyutha Sathakam and include in
paranthesis , the number of times we come across
each of the specific names in Achyuth aSathakam :

A. Kinkara Sathya (5 times ): SlOkams 2,24,38, 69 and 72 .
B. DaasAnAm Sathya (4 Times ): SlOkams: 41,51,80, 91.
C. Daasa Sathya ( 4 Times): SlOkams 17,21 ,34 ,71.
D. SaraNAgatha sathya ( 3 Times): slOkams 8, 48, 59.
E. namath Sathya ( 2 Times ): SlOkams 46 and 97.
F. natha Sathya ( 13 Times ): SlOkams 19,20,22,43,54,55,62,
                                      74,79 ,86,88,99,100 .

Each of the 13 times , Swami Desikan addresses 
the Lord of Ahindhrapuram as natha Sathyan , he has 
a different  prayer to Him as Achyutha Svaroopan .
One has to refer to each of the 31 slOkams addressing
the Lord in six differnet ways(A to F)to celebrate 
His Achyutha Tattvam of being unfailingly true to
His dear devotees .

The BhakthAs' question as to whether the name should be 
"dasa Satyan " induced another line of thought . Dasa 
means ten and Daasa Means the adiyavan or the subordinate 
one , who takes refuge at the adi of the Lord ( Prapannan).
Fitting with the prefix, "dasa" , we can also venture to
recognize Him as the true (Sathyan ) in Ten different ways :

1. Sathya Kaaman (2) sathya vrathan (3) Sathya Sankalpan
(4) Sathya Mithran (5) Sathya PrabhAvan (6) Sathya Hrudhayan
(7) Sathya AachAran (8) Sathya ManOrathan (9)Sathya -
avathAra VihAran and (10) Sathya Suddha Tatthva mayan .

Many of these are anmes used by Our AchAryALs like
Sri RaamAnujA and Swamy Desikan in their Sri Sookthis.
The meanings of each of these "dasa (vidha) sathya "
svaroopan are profound and hence we will not elaborate
on them for the sake of brevity .

NamO AchyuthA natha SathyinE ,
Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan