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Sri Varadaraja Sthvam: part XXVIII: SlOkm 17

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • February 9, 2002 


Dear Sri VaradarAja BhakthAs:

Today , adiyEn will cover the 17th slOkam of
SrI VaradarAja Sthavam dealing with the celebration 
of Vibahava avathArams of the Lord ( In the previous 
two slOkams , KurEsar focused on the Para and VyUha
forms Of Sriman NaarAyaNan):

iyam vayyUhI vai sTithiraTa kilEcchAvihrutayE
 vibhUthInAm madhyE sura-nara-tirachAm-avatharan
sajAthIyas-tEshamithi thu vibhavAkhyAmapi bhajan
 KarIsa! Thvam pUrNO varaguNais-thAn sTagayasi
--SrI varadarAja Sthavam: SlOkam 17

(meaning): Oh Lord VaradarAjA of Hasthi Giri !
What adiyEn referred to in the earlier two slOkams 
is about Your VyUham state . Is it n't that so? 
Beyond that , Oh Lord , You enter into additional
states such as Vibhavam to engage in play on Your
earth (Your LeelA VibhUthi) and incarnate among DevAs, 
Humans and animals . In these VibhavAvathArams , 
Oh Lord , You who is the abode of unlimited auspicous 
guNams hide them and take on births  among the dEvAs 
and Humans , who clearly do not have guNams comparable
to You. Your vibhavAvathArams come to be because of 
Your sankalpam and not because of the consequences of karma 
as in the case of humans and dEvAs .You are Vara-guNa-
paripoorNa VaradarAjan . You hide them SvAbhAvika GuNams)
duirng Your vibhava avathArams and make those who come 
close to You comprehend Your Souseelya GuNam .

Prose order Meaning
*******************
KarIsa !     = Oh Lord of the Elephant Hill !

iyam sTithi 
vayyUhI vai ?    = Is itn't that so that adiyEn's 
                  two previous slOkams in this Sthavam
                  are about VyUha nilai of Yours ?

aTa: kila 
icchA vihrutayE = On top of that VyUha state , for
                  purposes of Your sport

vibhUthInAm 
sura-nara-tiracchAm
madhyE avataran Thvam  = You incarnate among Your posssessions/
                         vibhUthi( dEvAs, humans , animals 
                         and birds etal)                          

vibhavAkhyam bhajan    =  and enter into Yet another of Your five
                          states (viz)., Vibhava state (Raama ,
                          KrishNa etal)

vara-guNa-gaNai: PoorNa: api = although You are filled with Your
                             anantha kalyANa GuNams in these 
                             vibhava avathArams 

tEshAm sajAthIya: ithi
thu thAnn sTagayasi        = You are born as a human being and hide 
                             Your anantha kalyANa GuNams and want 
                             the human beings to consider You as
                             one of them and belong to their category . 
                             What a wonder?            
 
additional comments : 
********************
Here reference is made to the six amsams (aspects)
of avathAra rahsyam of the Lord . SlOkam 17 of
SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai covers these six rahasyams:

1)avathAram takes place , when adharmam grows and
there is haani(danger) to dhrmam (dharam samsthApanArTAya
sambhavaami yugE yugE)

2) The avathArams of Sriman NaarAyaNan are not
illusory , but real (akapaDai:)

3) In those avathArams , the svAbhAvika guNams
(iyaRkkaiyAna tanmaikaL) are not abandoned ; they are
very much  part of Him in even these manushyAvathArams
et al (ajahath  svbhAvai:)

4)During these avathArams ,  Your ThirumEni is not made up of 
pancha bhUthams like ours , but it is of suddha satthvam free 
from rajas and tamas( aprAkrthai:)

5) Your avathArmas are not associated with karmAs like
in our cases , but originate because of Your own sankalpam
(nija vihAra vachanE siddhai:)

6) Your avathArams are not for enjoying the fruits
of karma phalans .They are for protecting Your BhakthAs
like PrahlAdhA and punishing those , who are unrighteous
( Kamsan, Raavanan)and terrorize the world with their
dhushtAchAram ( aathmIya rakshaNa , vipaksha vinaasa
arTai:).

These are anaga avathArams (blemishles incarnations)
and uphold the krutha yuga dharmam( aadhya dharmam
samsTApayasi).

Swamy Desikan refers to these same six rahasyams about
the avathArams of SrIman NaarAyaNan in this way:

" avathArasya sathyathvam ajahathsvasvabhAvatha
  suddha-satthvamayathvam cha svEcchAmAthra nidhAnathA
  dharmaglAnou samudaya: saadhu-samrakshaNArTathA

SrIvathsAngAcchAr Swamy refers to the ThiruvAkku of
Swamy NammazhwAr in this context: " inninna yOniyumAi
piRanthAi imayOr TalaivA !" ( Oh Lord DevarAja! How
wonderous it is to reflect on the fact that You incarnate
in Your LeelA VibhUthi in so many yonis such as mathsyam,
koormam, Varaham, Nrusimham , Vaamanan ,Raaman , KrishNan
et al). You become worried whether Your devotees will 
be intimidated by Your loftiness as Isvaran and run
away from You thinking about their own lowliness (unfitness)
and You therefore hide your supreme qualities  and say 
to them as You did in RaamAvathAram: " aathmAnam maanusham 
manyE Raamam DasarathAthmajam " I am just the son of a human 
being named dasaraTan. You should recognize me thus
and mingle with me as a human being ). Even  when He goes thru 
these extraordinary efforts to hide His Isvarathvam and 
lets bhakthAs like Arjuna to treat Him as equal and as a friend 
with whom , he (Arjuna)can take liberties, they recognize 
Him as SarvalOka SaraNyan and SarvEsvaran and enjoy 
His souseelyam.

In this 17th slOkam , KurEsar is raptourous over
the reflection on the souseelya guNam of Lord VaradarAjan 
which makes Him hide His Vara GuNa GaNams and mingle 
with every one equally in His avathArams. The souseelyam
and soulabhyam are celebrated by Swamy Desikan in the 27th
SlOkam of his SrI VaradarAja PanchAsath in the spirit of
KurEsA's celebration of SrI VaradarAjan's Souseelya GuNam:

souseelya-bhAvitha-dhiyA bhavathA kaTamchith
 samchAdhithAnapi guNAn Varadha thvadhIyAn
prathyakshayanthi avikalam tava sannukrushtA:
 pathyustvishAmiva payOdhavruthAn mayUkhAn

(meaning): Oh Varada PrabhO! although Your Soulseelya
guNa anushtAna sankalpam hides with considerable effort
Your natural lofty GuNams as SarvEsvaran, those who
are near and dear to You recognize Your sarvEsvarathvam
directly and enjoy Your svabhAvika GuNams . Clouds may
hide the Sun and the people may not be able to see the Sun
behind those clouds. But those , who are near the Sun and
dear to the Sun like AruNan clearly see the Sun and 
revere him .It is the same with You , when it comes to
your hiding Your guNams during Your avathArams.  

Sri VardarAja ParabrahmaNE Nama:
Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil V.SaThakOpan



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