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Musings on Vega-setu stotra

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M K Sudarshan • November 24, 1996 


srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNe namaha
sri vedanta desika guravE namaha

Dear bhAgavatOttamas,

In my last posting I had described the devotional hymns of Swami Desikan --
rich verbal tapestry -- as "the Lord's magic carpets" on which we can safely
let our own weak imaginations fly high. If you have been following my
postings on this subject so far you will realize that it is no exaggeration
to so describe Swami Desikan's "stotra-s". For it is with the help of the
"vega-setu stotra" indeed that in the past few weeks I have myself "flown"
high into the clouds of dizzying experience :

-- by first 'conquering Space' between the King Fahd causeway in Bahrain and
the Golden Gate in San Francisco

-- by next 'conquering Time', having visited both the battlefields of The
Gulf War'90 and that of Kurukshetra in the Mahabharatha as well

-- by flying past some "scenic vistas" (i.e. the Lord's 'kalyana-guna-s') in
the great "theme-park" called the 'Vishnu-Sahasranamam'

-- by visiting the "ancient sites" of Adi Sankara and the Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad

-- by enjoying a quick "joy-ride" on another of the "Lord's magic-carpet"
i.e. the 'Daya Satakam' ( a sort of "connecting-flight" !!)

-- by spending a few pleasant moments strolling on the hallowed
"cricketing-grounds" around the "Lord's pavilion" and watching an "innings"
of running "hither-and-thither"

-- by exploring briefly the world of Pitman's 'short-hand'

-- and all through the fascinating "journey of imagination" enjoying
"in-flight service" too with a "sizzlingly-topped pizza" !!!

How lucky can one get, indeed ?!!

Now we still, however, have one more leg left to complete in our "journey of
imagination" before we can wrap-up our "flying-tour" of appreciation of the
'vega-setu stotra'. And that is with regard to the question of
"gathAgathAni" (the "Lord's shuttling") which Swami Desikan describes in
Verse #6 as follows :

srimAn pitAmaha vadhU paricharyamAnaha
setheh bhujanga sayaneh sa mahAbhujangaha I
pratyAdisanti bhava sancharaNam prajAnAm
bhaktAnuganthiriha yasya gathAgathAni II

We scutinized the phrase "gathAgathAni" and its conventional "vyAkhyAnam"
that when a devotee constantly dwells on the theme of the "Lord going
hither-thither" then, inwardly in spirit, he begins to sense a gradual
cessation of his own mortal and temporal "restlessness", begins to enjoy the
inward tranquility of one who is in constant "yoga" and hence begins to look
forward in full faith to attaining complete 'liberation' (moksha) from his
otherwise eternally ordained 'karmic' "shuttling" between re-birth and death. 

Now the question that "pops" up in most young contemporary minds is : "How
does this happen ? What is so special about contemplating on the subject of
the Lord's "gathA-gathAni" and how does it ensure liberation for our
respective souls from its eternal peregrinations ? What sort of logic is this ?

The anwers to such questions we shall take up in my further postings.

srimathE srivan satagopa sri narayana yathIndra mahadesikAya namaha

sudarshan

    
srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNE namaha
sri vedanta desika guravE namaha