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Sri HayagrIva Sthothram : Part XVIII--SlOakm 9

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Sadagopan • September 21, 2000 


SrimathE RaamAnujAya Nama:

Dear BhakthAs :

Swamy Desikan referred to the help given
by Lord HayagrIvan to BrahmA in a time of
crisis in the eighth slOkam . In the 9th
slOkam , he refers to the help given by the Lord
HayagrIvan to the Deva Guru , Brahaspathi, whose 
mind vacilated from true Jn~Anam at one time. 

It will be useful to understand the credentials 
and ancestry of Brahaspathi first .The name 
Brahaspathi means the great teacher and 
refers to intellect and speech. He is the son of 
AngIrasa prajapathi, one of the ten offsprings
of BrahmA's mind . Angiras (the power of enlightenment) 
and his wife SraddhA (devotion)  had four sons :
Agni (Fire God), Samavartaa(cosmic revolution) ,
Utathyaa(Pervading truth) and Brahaspathi 
(the great teacher). Like his father Angiras , 
who is a teacher of Brahma VidyA , Brahaspathi
is known for his intellect and power of speech
(Vaak)and became the AchAryan for the DevAs just as
SukrAchAryan (son of Bhrigu) became the teacher 
for asurAs.He is the Lord of Dhanur and Meena Raasi. 
Brahaspathi's son is Sage BhaaradhvAjA (sky Lark).
Thus Bruhaspathi is of impeccable ancestry 
and progeny.

Brahaspathi is known also as the teacher of 
JyOthir Vij~nAnaa ( astrology and astronomy).
Rg Vedam X.72 dealing with the beautiful
aspects of creation has Brahaspathi as the Rishi .
He is visualizd in manthra saasthrAs as being seated 
on his chariot called Niti GhOshA (the roar of
law )and controlling the movement of the planets. 

Brahaspathi is the author of "Brahaspathi SamhithA ",
which contains a large collection of the teachings
of the teacher of DevAs. It is considered that
the atheistic philosophy attribted currently to
ChaarvAkA was originally developed by Brahaspathi 
with the intention of discouraging the antigods
(asurAs) from performing Yaj~nAs , DhAnam and Tapas
to acquire godlike powers.

Even with such impeccable credentials, Brahspathi
gets himself in to trouble in intrepreting  dharma
saasthrams. His mind gets muddled on those occasions.
He ends up being the creator of CharvAka matham or
the materialistic system , which totally denies 
the existence of God. During that occasion ,
Lord HayagrIva intervened and and became the AchAryan
to the AchAryA of the DevAs and saved both Bruhaspathi
and his disciples from following the wrong path .
Swamy Desikan says that Lord HayagrIvan put an
end to the oscillations (waverings) of the mind
of Brahaspathi , which in turn stopped the oscillations
(instabilty ) of the kingdoms of the DevAs.Brahspathi
was rescued by Lord HayagrIvA by dispelling his
vitharkams (wrong logic) that led to his founding
of the ChaarvAka matham.He regained Brahma Jn~Anam
and thereby accepted Lord HayagrIvan as his timely
protector and Lord. 

The ninth slOkam containing these thoughts is 
as follows: 

vitarka DhOlAm vyavadhUya satthvE
 Bruhaspathim varthayasE yathasthvam
tEnaiva Deva ThridasEsvarANAm 
 asprushta dhOlAyitham-aadhirAjyam

(meaning): " Oh Lord HayagrIvA ! Thou dost 
do away with the faulty ways of thought of 
Bruhaspathi (which make him waver and flater
with regard to what is the highest of truth)
and establish him in the Satthvic (righteous)
path. It is because of that the chiefs among
DevAs enjoy thier high posts and positions 
without oscillations (i.e)., permanently."

The play that Swamy Desikan has on the word
"DhOlA " is very amusing and enjoyable (rasOkthi).
Bruhaspathi's  mind was moving like a swing from
here to there without steadiness and the Lord
intervened and put an end to those perilous movements
and stablized (anchored) Bruhaspathi's mind
in the satthva maargam (Deva! thvam Vitarka
DhOlAm vyavadhUya Bruhaspathim satthvE yatha:
VarthayasE).

What is the consequence of stabilizing Bruhaspathi's
mind through the Lord's sadupadesam ? The Lord's 
merciful intervention prevented the kingdoms of DevAs
from swinging wildly and falling under the sway of 
DhAnavAs (asurAs).Swamy Desikan suggests playfully
that Lord HayagrIvan put an end to the oscillations
(doubts) of the mind of Bruhaspathi , which in turn
put an end to the oscillations of his sishyA's
kingdom ( tEna yEva Thridasa IsvarANAm AadhirAjyam
asprushta DhOlAyitham).DhOlAyitham means swinging
back and forth. Asprushtam means incapable of .
Thus the straightening out of the vagaries of mind
of the AchAryan of the DevAs saved the kingdom of
DevAs from undergoing any swings in prosperity and
stability. Such is the UpakAram of Lord HayagrIvan!

Sri Nruturanga parabrahmaNE nama:
Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan    
 
   



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