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SrI deSika stotra-s - 5. dayA Satakam - Concluding part.

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Krishnamachari, N (Krish) • April 27, 1998 


			SrI deSika stotrams - 5. dayA Satakam.

	SrI deSika stotrams - 5. dayA Satakam - Concluding Part.
	
	6. Even though we do our utmost to push Him to the limit of His
patience by our repeated  violations of all that is laid down in the
Sastra-s, His dayA keeps Him under control, and He patiently stands at
the top of the venkata giri, hoping that He will win in the end (Sloka-s
27, 28) in attracting us to His feet.

	7. There is nothing that is not obtained by His dayA.  The
position of Siva, brahma, or moksha for that matter, are all the direct
results of His dayA (Slokam 53).

8. His dayA is such that He brings Himself to the level of those who
have devoted themselves to His service.   Abundant examples are from His
RAmAvatAra and Kr*shNAvatara.  His association with guha, sugriva, and
SabarI in His RAma incarnation, and with kucela, the gopika-s, the
hunch-backed woman in kamsa's service, and the mAlAkAra in His Kr*shNa
incarnation are all demonstrations of His immense dayA (Sloka 65).  

dayA Satakam and daSAvatAram

	There is a daSAvatAra stotram that is built into dayA Satakam
(Slokams 82 to 90).   The main emphasis of SrI deSika in this
description is that no matter what the act of bhagavAn is, it is for the
benefit of the devotees.   Thus, when he describes the paraSurAma
avatAram in Slokam 86, the destruction of the kshatriya kings is really
an act of His dayA since this led them to moksha by absolving them of
all their sins.  Similarly, the balarAma avatAra is another act of daya
where His seeming intoxication is ascribed as a pretext for His not
noticing the deficiencies of the likes of duryodhana who had sought His
protection.  At the end of the kali yuga, when the Lord is going to
assume His kalki incarnation  and ride the white horse with a powerful
sword in hand to 
eliminate the sins of those sinners who are left, the rays emanating
from this sword are nothing but the flashes of His dayA to establsih the
kr*ta yuga and dharma.
 
Another aspect of His incarnations is that bhagavAn assumes these
vibhava forms in His dayA to protect us through various acts such as His
katAksham, His thoughts etc  (samIkshaNa vicintana prabhr*tibhih).  This
is pointed out in the description of the matsya and kUrma incarnations
in Slokam 82.  SrI va~ngIpuram  rAmadeSikAcArya svAmi points out that
according to prAni-SAstra, a fish nurtures its young ones through its
power of watching, and a turtle protects its young ones by its thought
itself.  The rasam here is that the Lord protects us through His
katAksham, through His thoughts, and every means possible.  The yogic
meditation is reminiscent of the Turtle who was beginning to "snore" in
comfort because of the comfortable "rubbing"on His back the mandAra
mountain was being supported and the ocean churned, to the accompaniment
of great noise from the deva-s and asura-s (see the daSAvatAra stotram).
	
In Slokam 85 svAmi deSikan describes the trivikrama incarnation as an
expression of His Mercy where He stamped all the beings of all three
worlds with the touch of His holy feet.  The reference to bhagavAn in
this Slokam is a~njanAdrISituh - the Lord of a~njana giri, but a~njana
also means "ink", and the poetic rasam behind the Lord of "a~njana giri"
or the huge "mound of ink" "stamping" everyone has been pointed out by
the vyAkhyAna kartA-s.   

 Slokam 83 refers to His dayA which led to the varAha incarnation to
restore the submerged Earth during pralaya.  In Slokam 84, we see the
nr*simha avatAra, where the Lord shows His frightful appearance to
hiraNyakaSipu, and at the same time reveals His pleasing katAksham to
prahlAda

In Slokam 87, the creation of the sacred setu dam is described as an act
of dayA by Lord rAma.  It is customary that prior to SaraNAgati, the
prapanna goes to the setu and has the darSanam of the sacred place where
vibhIshNa SaraNAgati took place.  In Slokam 88 svAmi deSikan points out
that the real purpose of kr*shNAvatara was to give us the bhagavadgItA
to help us get rid of the darkness of a~jnAna, and the destruction of
the likes of kamsa was just a vyAja or excuse for the incarnation.

The Summary Slokam:

	In Slokam 100, svAmi deSikan prays to the Lord's dayA to bless
him with the experience of the mukta-s in this world itself for the rest
of his life.  SrI A. V. gopAlAcArya svAmi points out the similar appeal
in abhIti stavam which we have covered earlier in this series.  Lord
SrInivAsa is referred to as mukunda, meaning He is the moksha pradAyaka.
In abhIti stavam (Slokam 20), he refers to bhuvi mukunda - the mukundan
or the moksh pradAyaka in this world itself.   SrI sevA srInivAsa
rAghavAcArya svAmi comments that Slokam 100 is like the completion of
the brahmotsava for dayA devi.    

	nAtah param kimapi me tvayi nAthanIyam
	mAtardaye mayi kurushva tathA prasAdam     |
	baddhAdaro vr*shagiri-praNayI yathAsau
	muktAnubhUtimiha dAsyati me mukundah:   ||

	"Oh My Mother dayA devi! I don't have anything more to ask of
you than this - Please bless me such that Lord SrInivAsa  - the mukunda
or the One who bestows moksham, who takes pleasure in residing in vr*sha
giri -  is pleased with me and bestows on me in this world the
experience of the Eternal Bliss that is experienced by the muktas in
SrIvaikunTham". 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan