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Daya Shatakam & NavarAthri Celebrations : Glory of DayA Devi Part II

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Sadagopan • October 9, 2002 


SrI:

Dear BhakthAs of ThiruvengadamudayAn:

After Summarizing the ten meanings associated with the ten sets of ten slokas 
Swami Desikan in SrI DayA satakam , he goes on to describe in detail 
the Anantha Kalyana Gunaas of Sriman Narayana in his Taatparya RatnaavaLi
and Dramidopanishad Saaram .He is thus paying his tribute to Nammazhwaar"s
Thiruvaimozhi in all of these three works .We will illustrate the ten
essential meanings of Daya Satakam in the subsequent sections as revealed by
SrI Srirama Desikaacchaar Swamy in  the tradition of his Achaarya, SrI
Navaneetham Krishnamaacchaar Swamy of Oppiliappan Koil .

In the very first sloka , Swami Desikan states precisely his goal in
composing this Grantham and describes the object of his salutations this
way:

 PRAPATHYEH TAM GIRIM PRAAYA:
 SRINIVAASAANUKAMPAYAA 
 IKSHUSAARA SRAVANTHYEVA
 YANMOORTHYAA SARKARAAYITAM 

 Here he compares the Lord"s DayA as the sweet flowing river of Cane
 sugar juice,which has solidified to become the mountain of Thiruvenkatam. 
 Swami States that he offers his Prapatti to that mountain, which has become 
 the embodiment of the Lord"s DayA . The first theme covered by the first ten
 slokas revolves around the fact that the Lord of Thiruvenkatam (SravaNa
 Venkatesan ) is eminently suitable for worship and adoration.The reason is
 that He is an ocean of Mercy (DayA).He serves as the treasure for those
 who have no riches to speak of . He is the field out of which grows 
 the our fruits of human life (PurushArthams). That concept of blemish-free
mercy makes Him the supreme object of contemplation and worship as described
 below (10th SlOkam):

 AKINCHANA NIDHIM SOOTHIM APAVARGHA TRIVARGAYOH 
 ANJANAADHRI ISWARA ABHISHTOWMI NIRANJANAAM

 The above sloka is the last of the first group of ten. In earlier verses,
 Swami Desikan offers his salutations to Guru Paramparaa and AzhwArs. In
 the beautiful second verse , he says:

 vigAhe teertha bhauLaam seethaLAm guru Santathim 
 Srinivasa DayAmbhodhi pareevaha paramparaam 

 The key words are: " SeethaLAm Guru santathim Srinivasa DayAmbhodhi
 Pareevaha Paramparaam Vigaahe". He says that he immerses in the cool waters
 of the flowing stream of Guru Parampara that originated from the ocean of
 Mercy(DayA) known as Srinivasa.

 The SECOND essential theme of DayA satakam is that Sri Venkateswara is
 eminently enjoyable in terms of Bhagavat Anubhavam .This theme is met in
 Sloka 19 :

 ROOTAA VRUSHACHALA PATEH
 PAADEH MUKA KANTHI PATRALACCHAAYAA
 KARUNEH SUKAYASI VINATAAN
 KATAKSHA VITAPAI: KARAAPACHEYA PALAI:

 Here, Swami Desikan says that DayA Devi is standing tall in Thirumalai
 representing the merciful aspect of Sri Venkateswara. She grows at the
 feet of the Lord of Venkatam and serves as His kalpaka tree that fulfills 
 the wishes of those who pray to Him. His cool glances at the sight of His
 devotees cause the tree of DayA Devi to send out tender shoots and ripe
 tasty fruits. Those, who worship at the sannidhi of Sri Venkateswara
 become beneficiaries of His Dhaya and enjoy the fruits of that Kalpaka tree.
 Hence, Swami Desikan says that the KarunA Katakshams of the Lord of
 Thiruvenkatam yield indescribable riches to the devotees . His DayA makes 
 Him eminently enjoyable.

 The THIRD essential theme of DayA Satakam is that He has the most
 beautiful Divya Mangala Vigraham and to feast on Him with our eyes is
 equivalent to tasting the divine nectar. The sloka corresponding to this
 theme is as follows (SlOkam 22):

 KALASODHODHITI SAMPADHO BHAVATHYAA:
 KARUNEH SANMATHI MANTHA SAMSKRUTHAAYAA :
 AMRUTAAMSA MAVAIMI DIVYA DEHAM
 MRUTHA SANJEEVANAM ANJANAACHALA INDOH 

 Here, Swami Desikan says that the churning of the Ocean of DayA of Sri
 Venkatesa yields the nectar, which is the divine and auspicious vigraham
 of Srinivasan. That Vigraham made entirely of Suddha Satvam is standing on
 top of Thirumalai. This most beautiful Archaa Vigraham removes the fear of
 Yama to Prapannaas and gurantees them the fruits of Moksham. Such is the power
 of this auspicious and beautiful Archaa Murthy of the seven hills.

 The FOURTH essential theme of DayA satakam is that the Sri Venkatesa
 concept is the most delectable experience to enjoy among all delectable
 experiences that the human beings can hope to enjoy . His blue effulgence
 radiating from the top of Thirumala hills and its sacred associations
 provide the richest item for the enjoyment of the chetanas . Here, 
 the divya Mangala Vigraham is not the object of reference , but 
 the holiness of the Venkateswara Tattwam , which is the highest concept 
 that Vedas can proclaim. The sloka corresponding to this theme is 
 as follows( SlOkam 39):

 PARIMITA PALASANGHAATH PRAANINA: KIMPACHAANAA:
 NIGAMA VIPANI MADHYEH NITYA MUKTAANUSHAKTHAM
 PRASADANAMANUKAMPEH PRAAPTAVATYAA BHAVATYAA
 VRUSHAGIRI HARINEELAM VYANJITHAM NIRVASANTHI

 The FIFTH central theme is about the blessings that one accrues form the
 Kataksham of Srinivasan of Thirumalai. Swami Desikan says that the
 auspiciousness of that glance can result in freedom from the three debts
 that human beings are subject to in this world. These three debts are to
 Devas, Rishis and one's ancestors(Pithrus). Normally, one gets rid of
 these debts with great diffculty. The debt to the Devas is normally 
 discharged thru the performance of Yagaas and the offering of Havis. 
 The debt to Rishis  is discharged through Veda Adhyayanam. The debt to 
 the Pithrus is discharged  thru progeny. These three debts are 
 instantaneously discharged by the mere glance of Sri Venkatesa
 resting for a moment on the Prapanna. The blessings arising from that
 merciful glance not only makes the Prapanna free from these three debts,
 but it also results in obtaining then boon of Moksham thru the DevayanA 
 path at the time of leaving this earth. Prior to that, the glances of Sri
 Venkatesa confer immense wealth in this universe. The sloka containing 
 these thoughts  is the fourty ninth verse of DayA Satakam :

 SREYA: SOOTHIM SAKRUTAPI DHAYEH
 SAMMATHAAM YA: SAKEEM TEH
 SEETHODHAARAA MALAPADHA JANA:
 SRINIVAASASYA dHRUSHTIM 
 DEVAADHEENAA MAYA MANRUNUTHAAM
 DEHAVATTVEAPI VINDHAN
 BHANDHAAN MUKTHO BALIBHIRANAGAI:
 POORYATEH TATPRAYUKTHAI: 

 The SIXTH central theme of the Satakam is that Lord Srinivasa is easy to
 approach thru Prapatti. Swami Desikan says through the following Fifty
 ninth sloka that the Bhakthi and Jnana Yogam are difficult to practise 
 as means to Moksham compared to Prapatti at the holy feet of Sri Srinivasa 
 as taught by our Acharyas such as Ramanuja, Yamuna and others:

 TVADHUDHAYA TOOLIKAABHIRAMUNAA
 VRUSHASAILA JUSHAA
 STHIRA CHARA SILPINAIVA PARIKALPITHA
 CHITRADHIYA: 
 YATIPAATHI YAAMUNA PRUBRIDHAYA:
 PRATAYANTHI DHAYEH
 JAGADHI HITAM NA NASTVAYI
 BHARANYASANAAT ADHIKAM II

 The SEVENTH central theme of Satakam states that His incomparable mercy
 removes any and every obstacle (Anishtam ) that a Prapanna faces on this
 earth. The slokam corresponding to this theme is as follows(61st SlOkam):

 AKOOPAARAI REKODHAKA SAMAYA
 VAITANDIKA JAVAI:
 ANIRVAABHYAAM KSHIPRAM KSHAPAYITUM
 AVIDHYAAKYAPATAPPAAM 
 KRUPEH TVAM TATTAATRUK PRATHIMA
 VRUSHA PRITHVEEDHARA PATHI -
 SVARUPA DWAIGUNYA DVIGUNA NIJABINDHU :
 PRABHAVASI 

 The EIGTH central theme refers to His Kalyana gunam by which He
 accomodates Himself to the wishes of the Prapannas. Although He knows that 
 some of the desires of the Prapannas relate to the nonlasting ,perishable ,
trivial things , Sri Venkatesa gives them what they want . Later, He gives 
 them the knowledge and discriminative power to overcome the desire for
perishable things and elevates their sight to the lasting concept such as
Moksham. In other words, He goes along with the wishes of Prapanna first and
then slowly helps them to set higher goals such as Nithya Kainkaryam and
Kaivalyam. The sloka containing these thoughts is the seventy fifth Slokam 
 of the Dhayaa satakam .

 The NINTH central theme relates to his sincere friendship out of His
 compassion for the Prapannas. His friendship does not count on any returns
 from the Prapannas.It is the most natural of all friendships.

 The TENTH central theme deals with Sri Venkateswara"s grace in leading the
 Prapannas in the Devayaana path to Srivaikuntam.In the 104th slokam .
 Swami Desikan acknowledges the glorious mercy of Sri Venkateswara in 
 crowning him as "Vedanthaacharya" at the end of reciting Dhaya Sathakam. 
 He states that he was just an instrument in the hands of the Lord of
Thiruvenkatam in composing DayA sathakam. This slokam housing his Sattvika
thyagam is a gem (104th slOkam):

 VEDANTHA DESIKA PADEH VINIVESYA BAALAM
 DEVO DHAYASATAKAM YETAT AVADHAAYAT MAAM
 VAIHAARIKENA VIDHINAA SAMYEH GRUHITAM
 VEENA VISESHAMIVA VENKATA SAIL NAATHA :

Here Swamy Desikan says: " adiyEn is not fit to compose
this sthOthram about the dayA guNam of Lord SrInivAsan.
The responsibility for that effort belongs to the Lord
Himself. He is always fond of engaging in playful acts.
AdiyEn's sukrutham ( puNyams done in previous janmAs) 
has now become fruitful. At this time , the Lord decided 
to engage in a sport using adiyEn . Boy that adiyEn is, now
elevated to the status of VedAnthAchAryan and placed in
a lofty position. The fruit of making that playful act 
becoming appropriate is also the Lord's sankalpam .
He made it possible for this DayA satakam to emerge
out of adiyEn's  mouth. The Lord used me as HIS instrument
and completed the task of singing it.In this world , a rich man
will please himself by playing on a VeeNA and raise sunAdham
from that VeeNA. It is appropraite to say that VeeNA is only an
instrument for generating that sunAdham and it by itself does not
raise that pleasing sound. It is the skill of the VeeNA player
that is normally praised. In a  similr manner , adiyEn has 
only been an instrument in is hands for the birth of this
SthOthram. All the glories belong only to Him . Thus 
the Lord of ThiruvEnkatam has performed a leelA through adiyEn.       

Kavithaarkika simhaaya Kalyana Gunasaalineh |
srimateh Venkatesaaya Vedantha guraveh Nama ||

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan 





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