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Sri HayagrIva Sthothram: Part XVI--SlOkam 6

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Sadagopan • September 20, 2000 


SrimathE RaamAnujAya nama:

Dear Sri HayagrIva BhakthAs :

In this posting , adiyEn will cover the sixth
SlOkam of Swamy Desikan's tribute to the Lord 
of VidhyAs. This slOkam is as follows:

"apourushEyairapi vaak prapanjai:
 adhyApi tE bhUthim adhrushta pArAm
 sthuvannaham mugdha ithi thvayaiva 
 kaarunyathO naatha kaDAkshaNeeya:"

(meaning): Oh Lord HayagrIvA ! Veda-VedAnthams 
are not composed by anyone. They are apourushEyam
(authorless and vast).They struggle even today 
in their efforts to describe adequately Your 
SvarUpam, ThirumEni and Your anantha kalyAna guNams;
they can not see the limits (shores) to the ocean
of Your glories. Such is their magnitude of Your
countless glories ! Inspite of it , adiyEn has 
come forward boldly to sing about those limitless
glories . It is indeed sheer foolishness on my part 
to engage in this impossible endeavour. Please consider 
me as one of Your children with limited intellect
and shower on me Your mercy-laden katAkshams 
inspite of my saahasam (boldness). I am a fit object
for Your auspicious and merciful katAkshams .

Here Swamy Desikan records his unfitness to 
engage in the act of praising the Lord's
glories adequately , when the great VedAs themselves
find that impossible. Later , Swamy Desikan is
going to refer to the futility of the VedAs 
trying to comprehend fully the glories of
the Lord in GopAla Vimsathi ( nigamAnthai:
adhunApi mrugyamANam ). In Sri VaradarAja 
PanchAsath (slOkam 2) , Swamy Desikan refers 
again to his bold act (saahasam) in attempting 
to praise the Lord's glories , while the Muni-
SaarvabhoumAs of sharp intellect have given up :

yasyAnubhAvam adhiganthum asaknuvantha:
muhyanthi apankura dhiyO Muni Saarvabhouma:

While the greatest of Munis stagger from
such an impossible task , Swamy Desikan
says that he is engaged in such an act
boldly out of foolishness and asks for
the Karisaila Naathan's pardon for 
the apachAram committed :

tasyaiva tE sthuthishu saahasam asnuvAna:
Kshanthavya yEsha bhavathA Karisaila Naatha 

It is customary for Swamy Desikan to acknowledge
his inadequacy to undertake the hopeless task
of praising adequately the full glories of
the Lord . In some sthOthrams, he will pray
for the Lord's blessings ( Sri HayagrIva sthuthi)
to undertake such an onerous task ;in others , 
he will seek the Lord's understanding
and pardon ( Sri VaradarAja PanchAsath); in some others , 
he will argue for his fitness as a logician .
An example of such a case , where he says that 
he has the rights to praise the Lord in proportion
to his yogyathai, is found in Sri Deva Naayaka
Panchasath ( SlOkam 5):

nirvisyamana vibhavam nigamOtthamAngai:
 sthOthum Kshamam mama cha dEvapathE bhavantham
gaava: piBhanthu gaNasa: kalasAmbhurAsim
 kim tEna tarnaka gaNAs thruNm aadhadhAnA: 

(Meaning ): Oh DaivanAyakA ! Just as the Upanishads
relish enjoying the act of singing Your glories , 
adiyEn also has the fitness to engage in such an
act of eulogy. What if the herds of adult cows
drink with gusto from the mighty milky ocean? 
Their little calves engage only in partaking 
small blades of grass as their invigorating food . 
Thus , adiyEn is singing Your praise in proportion to 
my meagre intellect, while the great Upanishads 
engage in praising Your kalyAna guNams in a manner 
appropriate to their lofty stature .

Sri D.Ramaswamy Iyengar points out that Swamy
Desikan is following the foot steps of his
PoorvAchAryArs --AaLavandhAr, KurEsar and 
ParAsara Bhattar- in engaging in such act of
NaicchAnusandhAnam .

Swamy Desikan describes the VedAs in this slOkam 
as apourushEyam (authorless) and Vaak Prapanchai:
( immense branches and manthrams). Swamy points
out that even these mighty and vast VedAs are 
unable to determine the limit of the Lord's 
glories and are engaged in their futile
searches even today ( adhya api adhrushta paaraam
tE bhUthi:). Your "bhUthi" or glories are
of such limitless nature to comprehend
and describe. While that is so , here I am
as a foolish youngster (  mughdha: aham ) 
attempting to priase Your vibhUthis.
Mughdha: means "aRiyAp piLLai" or a 
foolish fellow , who does not know 
what he is about to do. The word Mugdha:
reminds one of opposite kind (Muktha:) ,
who fully comprehends the true nature of 
Tatthva-Hitha-PurushArthams and crosses
over to the other side of SamsAric ocean 
to praise the Lord with the blessings of 
the Lord Himself . Swamy Desikan therefore prays
for the karuNA katAksham of Lord HayagrIvan
to receive dhivya Jn~Anam to transfrom himself
from a "mugdhan " to a "Mukthan ".His prayer 
is " KaaruNyathO Naatha KatAkshaNeeya:". 

Sri Hayavadhana Para BrahmaNE nama:
Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam 
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan 
          

 
    



VedAs search in futile and
the upanishads struggle to describe satisfactorily 
even one of the Lord's guNams. Muni SaarvabhumAs
are staggering 

Swamy Desikan asks for the benovolent glances    



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