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SrI deSika stotra-s - 17. SrI acyuta Satakam - Part 2.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • July 11, 1999 


     SrI deSika stotra-s - 17. acyuta Satakam - Part 2.

6. avatAra rahasyam:

(Slokam 31):  Why did bhagavAn take so many incarnations among us?
svAmi deSikan  reminds us of Lord krshNa's declaration in the gItA
(4.8) - partitrANAya sAdhUnAm vinASAya ca durkrtAm, dharma
samsthApanArthAya sambhavAmi yuge yuge - through his Slokam 31. 
vipaksha nikshapita - for the destruction of the enemies of His
devotees, samsthApia parama dharmAh - establishment of the best of
dharma-s, and sAdhu paritrANa - for the protection of the good.  SrI
rAmadeSikAcArya svAmi observes that while bhagavAn could have done all
this while being in SrI vaikunTham itself, He really wanted to be with
us in form, and show us how to be a good son, a good husband, a good
friend, etc., and it is His souSIlyam that made Him take all these
incarnations - just for the sake of His devotees.

7. The Importance of worshipping the arcA mUrti in Temples:

The question can be asked - why should we worship the form of bhagavAn
in the temples - the arcA mUrti?  svAmi deSikan gives a simple analogy.
 When a treasure is hidden underground, people walk on it without
knowing its location.  There are those who are called siddha-s, who can
provide a dark collerium which can be applied in the eyes and which
will then help identify the location of the treasures.  BhagavAn's true
nature - His divya Atma svarUpam - is not realizable except through His
own Grace, and is like the treasure hidden from our reach.  But if we
keep worshipping the dark arcAmUrti of bhagavAn with devotion
uninterruptedly, this will serve like the dark collerium that will help
in ultimately realizing the divya Atma svarUpam of bhagavAn over time.
(Slokam 45). 

The bhakta-s are so moved by having the sevA of bhagavAn's tirumeni in
temples that they shed tears of joy and their whole body experiences
extreme excitement (kadamba goLa nibha kaNTakAyamAna nijAgnAn - with
mayirk-kuccu - hairs standing erect on the body like budding kadamba
flowers -58).  

8. BhagavAn's tirumeni:

svAmi deSikan briefly describes devarAjap perumAL's tirumeni through 10
 Sloka-s (34 to 43) in this stotra. We have seen the similar anubhavam
of svAmi deSikan in a few of his stotra-s before e.g., through 11
Sloka-s in SrI bhagavad dhyAna sopAnam and  through 30 Sloka-s in SrI
devanAyaka pancAsat.  

BhagavAn's tiru mukham resembles the moon, His kirITam is like the Sun,
and His beautiful dark hair resembles the darkness of the night.  How
is it possible for the Sun, the moon, and the darkness to co-exist
simultaneously?  svAmi deSikan's beautiful anubhavam - bhagavAn is the
aghaTitaghaTanA Saktan - He is One who can make impossible things
happen (Slokam 34). 

BhagavAn's beautiful face far exceeds the beauty of the full moon, and
His eyes resemble the just-blossomed lotus flowers.  Meditating on His
divine face will remove even the sins committed knowingly, and serve as
the prAyaScitta (remedy) for these sins (Slokam 35).  The sight of His
divine shoulders reminds svAmi deSikan of the might of these shoulders
under which the different gods including brahma (vidhi pramukha deva
janah) have sought refuge (Slokam 37).  Having the darSanam of
bhagavAn's tiru udaram (belly) reminds svAmi deSikan of His saving all
the brahmANDa-s in His stomach during the pralaya.  His navel reminds
him of the creation of brahma in a lotus flower from the nAbhIkamalam
(Slokam 38).  

Looking at bhagavAn's deep red pItAmbaram, svAmi deSikan meditates on
bhagavAn's acts of crushing the asura-s madhu and kaiTabha, and the
resulting profuse stream of blood soaking into bhagavAn's pItAmbaram
and thus imparting this deep red color (Slokam 40).  The mekhalA
(waist-band) kindles memories of the great chain that has been put
around bhagavAn the manmathan like a chain around a mad elephant (the
rasam here is that those who meditate on this mekhalA of bhagavAn will
be relieved of the pursuit of  trivial pleasures in this world - SrI
rAmadeSikAcArya svAmi).

In SrI devanAyaka pancAsat svAmi deSikan's anubhavam of the darSanam of
bhagavAn's Divine thighs was that they were the death-bed for the cruel
asura-s such as hiraNyakaSipu.  In the current Slokam his anubhavam is
that they are like the strong pillars that support the mansion where
the three worlds are stored (reference to bhagavAn's stomach being the
heavy mansion where all the worlds rest at the time of pralaya) (Slokam
41).     

The darSanam of bhagavAn's Lotus Feet reminds svAmi deSikan of the
sacred gangA flowing from His Feet during the time of His trivikrama
incarnation and sanctifying all the three worlds, and their offering
protection to anyone who surrenders to them (Slokam 43).

9. We Always Belong to Him and Are Never Independent:

We have to realize that we are His possession and belonging and are not
independent, and are always subservient to Him who is the Supreme Lord.
 We are like a wooden doll which has been tied by the ropes of the
three guNa-s, sattva, rajas, and tamas, and bhagavAn alone can release
us from this bondage (82).  We came across this same concept in SrI
devanAyaka pancAsat earlier (Slokam 8 - sUtrAnubaddha Sakuni kramatah).

-To be continued.

-dAsan krshNamAcAryan


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