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RE: DAYA + KSHAMA

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Tatachar • November 1, 1996 


Sri Sudarshan said:

>>>Sriman Tatachari vehemently protested a few days ago in his posting
against exclusion of "Kshama" in the list of most suitable synonyms for
"daya" in the sense in which Swami Desikan employs it in his Daya Satakam. I
liked the way Sriman Tatachari put it :"it takes 57 ounces of daya,27 ounces
of karuna,11 ounces of krupa and anukampa each to make one ounce of
kshama"!Well said, indeed!
The eloquent and forceful defence of kshama by Sriman Tatachari made me give
the matter a lot of thought during the day. I suppose it was at the back of
the mind in the night too.<<<<

My comment on Kshama was just childish intution as it  was made with little
or zero comprehension of DayaShatakam. I am surprised  that it APPEARS to
have been so forceful!  

 
Sri Sudarshan also said: 
>>>>For this morning as I was flipping through the

Daya Satakam again Swami Desikan himself, so to say, seemed to have the
answer. I refer to verse No.72 of the daya satakam :


 vrishagiripater-hridayA viswAvatAra sahayinee
 kshapitanikhilAvadyA devi! kshamAdinishEvitAs  I
 bhuvana janani pumsam bhogApavargavidhAyinee vitamasi padE
 vyaktim nityAm bibharshi dayE! svayam   II
 
 In the above verse Swami Desikan seems to suggest that other attributes of
the Lord like "Kshama" verily are subordinate to Daya in Her ministrations to
the Lord in His various avataras.("kshamAdi-nishEvitAs").How does Sriman
Tatachari propose to handle Swami Desikan's preference ? Would kshama still
qualify in the face of the import of this shloka ?<<<<<

After Sri Sudarshan pointed out this verse, 
I read the Kannada translaion of this shlokam by Sri N.S. Anantharangachar.
>From whatever little  I grasped, 
here Swamy Deshikar uses several adjectives for  Daya as:
1. Vrishagiripater-hridyA= Delight of Srinivasar (or one who resides in the
heart of Vishnu)
2. ViswAvatAra sahayinee = Assists in the Avataras (or accompanies in the
avartaras)
3. kshapitanikhilAvadyA = destroys the faults or defects of everyone.
4. kshamAdinishEvitAs  = served (asisted) or taken in by qualities such as
kshama (or assisted/accompanied/attended by Bhudevi).
5.  bhuvana janani= cause of the worlds(or Mother of the worlds)
6. pumsam bhogApavargavidhAyinee = one who provides bhoga and moksha to
people. 

[With qualities such as these You] 
svayam = of your own accord
[you have]
bibharshi= put on
 nityAm vyaktim = form of Nitya
vitamasi padE= in Paramapadam

 I did not get the impression that Sri Deshikar treats Kshama as so much
subordinate as per this translation. 


As per the adjective in the bove verse: 
 kshamAdinishEvitAs  = served (asisted) or taken in by qualities such as
kshama. Thus in a way Kshama consumes Daya.
Daya is like the fuel and kshama the car that consumes  the fuel to run.  It
depends on how one looks as to which one is more important- car or the gas?
Of course for Petroleum industry gas is more important and for automobile
industry car is more important. For us, both are important. Thus, reading
Dayashatakam would be like reading the prospects of a petroleum company .
Naturally fuel is what would be hailed in that report.  Thus, in the context
of Dayashatakam, Daya takes priority over Kshama. This I am not questioning
at all. My only comment is why leave out kshama and I don't think swamy
Deshikar is discarding it.

After all, Lord Krishna himself says in Chapter 10, verse 34, second half of
Gita thus: Keertih Shreervaakcha naareeNam Smritih medha dhritih KshamAh
OF FEMALE QUALITIES I AM FAME, FORTUNE, SPEECH, MEMORY, INTELLIGENCE,
CONSTANCY AND FORBEARANCE (OR FORGIVENESS/KSHAMA). This being the case, I
doubt whether Swamy Deshikar would put down the Kshama  Vibhuti of the lord
Narayana.


There can be no kshama without daya-although there can be daya without
kshama. Kshama is  too much to ask and  thus it is better to appeal to Daya.
  It is a typical request in the Kannada language:Swami daya vittu kshamisi
(sir forgive me out of Daya)! 
Dayaye dharmada moola (Dharma is rooted in Daya).

Sincerely

K. Sreekrishna (Tatachar)

PS: As Sri Sadagopan pointed out DS is Daya, Anukampa and Kshama etal.,