Kamasika Ashtakam of Swami Desikan

Sri N. Krishnamachari • Nov 1998

Introduction

This stotram is about SrI nṛsimha mūrti in the divya kshetram in kā~nci by name vēḷukkai or veḷ irukkai. vēḷ in tamizh means “by One’s own will”; irukkai means to be seated or to be located. Since perumāḷ made this His place by His own will, the place is called tiru vēḷ irukkai. The samskṛt name of this stotram echoes the same meaning - kāma - by His own will, āsikā - being seated, ashṭakam - consisting of 8 Sloka-s. Perumāḷ’s name here is kāmāsikā narasimhan. svāmi deśikan refers to this emperumān as kāmāsikā hariḥ and kāmāsikā kesariḥ in this stotram.

In tiruvēḷukkai, bhagavān is in the yoga narasimha form and is seated in the yogic posture of parya~nka bandha. He has three eyes in His narasimha form in this kshetra. svāmi deśikan points out that His being seated in the yogic posture of parya~nka bandham suggests that He is seated with the determination to help all His devotees (Slokam 4), and chose this posture in order to give live instruction to all of us on how to perform yoga in order to attain Him (Slokam 5 - प्रायेण प्रणिपेदुषां प्रभुरसौ योगं निजं शिक्षयन् ).

Concepts

Even though the point should have been obvious, it is worth pointing out that the ācārya’s stotra-s, in addition to praising bhagavān and giving us an easy way of chanting His guṇa-s, seem to have as one of their objectives the propagation of the basic tenets of śrīvaishṇavism by repeatedly re-emphasizing and re-stating them in storam after stotram. Thus we see in this storam also svāmi deśikan bring out out several basic aspects of his and our pūrvācāryas’ teachings. These are:

He is the object of the uttara bhāga (final part) of the veda-s, viz. the upanishad-s (Slokam 1).
bhagavān is the only one who can remove our tāpa-traya-s. These tāpa-s are referred to by svāmi deśikan in śaraṇāgati dīpikā Slokam 23 - तापत्रयेण विहतिं न भजन्ति सन्तः , etc. In the current Slokam, svāmi deśikan prays to kāmāsikā harih, the perumāḷ of this kshetram, to burn the three tāpas-s that result from samsāra with his three eyes (the sun, the moon, and agni). The tāpa-s are: a) ādhyātmikam - belonging to to the individual, such as headache, cold, anger, desire, fear, etc. b) Adhi bhaudikam —those resulting from other bhūta-s such as the birds, animals, other people etc., and c) Adhi daivikam - those resulting from devatā-s such as from the wind, sun, rain, etc.
He appears in His arcā mūrti form in many of these divya-kshetra-s out of His sheer Mercy towards us, just so that He is easily accessible to us. It is as if bhagavān gave up the great regard for SrI viakuṇṭha vāsam (vimukta vaikuṇṭha bahumatim) so that He can be a nitya vāsi in this beautiful kshetram and be accessible to all of us (Slokam 3). His vibhava incarnations are for the purpose of destroying His enemies and protecting His devotees. Thus, in His narasimha incarnation, He came to protect prhalāda and other devotees from hiraṇyakaśipu. This is one of the rahasya-s of His incarnations. This is explained by svāmi deśikan in śaraṇāgati dīpikā Slokam 17 (आत्मीय रक्षण, विपक्ष विनाशनार्थैः ). In the current stotram, he praises this aspect of bhagavān and seeks His protection. He has the anubhavam of kāmāsikā narasimhan’s hands fighting with each other in their desire to perform this function (अहं प्रथमिका मिथः प्रकटित आहवाः बाहवः - Slokam 6).
bhagavān is the only true relative we all have (bandhum akhilasya jantoh). All the other relatives such as father, mother, etc. are only transient relatives, and are related this way purely because of our mutual karma-s (Slokam 4).
bhagavān is the one who assigns functions to, and controls, all the other devatā-s so that they perform their assigned duties without violation (स्व-स्थानेषु मरुद-गणान् नियमयन् - Slokam 5). This has been referred by svāmi deśikan in abhīti stavam Slokam 4 also (मरुत् तरणि पावक त्रिदश नाथ कालादयः वकृत्यम् अधिकुर्वते तदपराधतो बिभ्यतः ). bhagavān is also the One who controls all our indriya-s (svādhīna sarvendriyaḥ). His nāma of hṛshīkeśa signifies this.
bhagavān’s anger knows no limits when anyone commits apacāram towards His devotee. The narasimha incarnation is a typical example of this. svāmi deśikan describes through almost identical Sloka-s in dayā Satakam Slokam 84 and Slokam 7 in the current stotra, His making His appearance reflect His intense anger towards His devotee’s enemy. However, the wonder of bhagavān’s leelā is that at the same time His appearance reflects intense anger towards hiraṇyakaśipu, He makes His appearance to prahlāda one of intense Mercy and kindness reflecting that of a mother feeding her young child (दत्त स्तना सरोज सदृशा दृशा समुदित आकृतिरदृश्यते - dayā Satakam, दत्त स्तना सरोज सदृशा दृशा व्यतिभिषज्य ते व्यज्यते in the current stotram). Such is the nature of His kṛpā or dayā to His devotees.
bhagavān is the only one who can protect us. If He does not protect us no one else can protect us, and if He decides to protect us, we don’t need anyone else’s protection. This concept is conveyed in Slokam 8 - त्वयि रक्षति रक्षकैः किम् अन्यैः, त्वयि च अरक्षति रक्षकैः किम् अन्यैः . The same idea was conveyed in SrI ashṭabhujāshṭakam Sloka-s 5 and 6: भयं कुतः स्यात् त्वयि सानुकम्पे, रक्षा कुतः स्यात् त्वयि जातरोषे (Slokam 5), and त्वयि प्रवृत्ते मम किं प्रयासैः, त्वय्यप्रवृत्ते मम किं प्रयासैः (Slokam 6). This is the basis of goptṛtva varaṇam (the deliberate choice of bhagavān as the Sole Protector) which is one of the a~nga-s of prapatti.
In the ninth and final Slokam of SrI kāmāsikāshṭakam svāmi deśikan reminds us that if one chants this stotram even once with faith and with devotion, bhagavān will forgive their sins even if they be huge like elephants, and will bestow any benefits that the devotee seeks. It appears svāmi deśikan intentionally chose to compare our sins to huge ‘elephants’, since it is the kāmāsikā kesari (lion) who is going to eliminate the sins.

— dāsan kṛshṇamācāryan