Varadarāja Pañcāśat of Swami Desikan

Sri N. Krishnamachari • May 5, 1998

This storam is in praise of Sri Varadaraja Perumal of Kanchipuram. Kanchi is a svayam-vyakta kshetram. The Lord appeared here in the homa-kuṇdam when brahma performed a great penance during the kṛta yuga to have the darśana of the Lord. This is referred to in the first, seventh, eight,and forty-fourth Sloka-s in the stotram. The place is also called satya-vrata kshetram. The Lord’s temple is located on top of a small hill called hasti-giri. The Lord here is also referred to by the names varadan, devādirājan, devarājan, aruḷāḷan, and pēraruḷāḷan.

The title of the stotram is self-explanatory. The word pañcāśat derives from the fact that the stotram consists of 50 stotra-s (actually 51 including the phala Sruti). The name vara-da means that He is one who bestows (da) all that is desired by His devotees (vara), which is equivalent to pēraruḷaḷan in Tamil.

Summary

This stotram contains an expression of the great essentials of śrivaishṇava concepts, and svāmi deśikan confirms this in his concluding Slokam (Slokam 51 - This stotra is composed with great devotion, and in addition has embedded in it great concepts which have the authority of the veda-s - udāram, Sruti subhagam stotram). The paratvam of nārāyaṇa, nārāyaṇa as the only one who can guide a devotee to moksham, the incorrect view held by many that the tri-mūrti-s are equals, the ease and greatness of śaraṇāgati as the means for attaining moksham compared to those such as bhakti yoga, the guṇa of karuṇā or dayā or Infinite Mercy of the Lord which forgives any wrong-doing of one who has surrendered to Him, the role of kainkaryam and its contribution in the great anubhavam of the Lord, the concept that the Lord in His Infinite Mercy has chosen to appear in His different forms (vyūha, vibhava, arcā, and antaryāmi) so that He is easily available to His devotees, are all revealed in this stotram in the short span of 50 Sloka-s.

In his short introduction to this stotram, SrI rāmadeśikācārya svāmi has pointed out some additional special aspects of this stotram. śvāmi deśikan has described in this stotram the beauty of the Lord not only in the traditional terms in which the Sruti-s describe Him, but in addition in His various vāhana-s during His utsava-s, dwells on the beauty of the tirumeni of the arcā mūrti of the pēraḷuḷāḷan when His ornaments and kavacam are removed, and imagines the beauty of the Lord even as He has His suprabhātam from His Snake-bed, fresh from the embrace of mahālakshmi. These later aspects are unique for this stotram that are not found in any other deśika stotram. This deep involvement of svāmi deśikan with pēraruḷāḷan might be because he was born in tūppul, which is part of the area of kā~nci or hasti-giri, and had been having His darśanam even before he was born.

śvāmi desikan’s Humility

The ācārya starts with an expression of utmost humility for attempting to describe the Lord who is beyond the reach of even the greatest of sages (muni sārva bahumāh adhigantum aśaknuvantah - Slokam2 ). In Sloka-s 2 to 6, svāmi desikan asks for forgiveness from the Lord for attempting to describe His divya rūpam with his limited skills and knowledge, and asks for His blessing in this effort of composing this stotram. In this segment, there is also an expression of kārpaṇya, an essential a~nga of śaraṇāgati, and also an essential aspect of viśisṭādvaida philosophy. śvāmi desikan tells the Lord of his realization and awareness of the enormous sins that have been committed through several births (jānan anādi vihitān aparādha vargān), and takes refuge in His natural vātsalya (avyāja vatsala - One who is naturally forgiving without any reason).

śrīman nārāyaṇa and the Trinity

In this stotra, śvāmi deśikan explicitly refutes the view that some have that brahma, vishṇu, and Siva are equal in stature, through 5 Sloka-s devoted to this topic (Sloka-s 9 to 13). The well-known SrI vaishṇava concept that śrīman nārāyaṇa is the antaryāmi or driving force behind Siva and brahma and that mahā vishṇu alone can help us cross the ocean of samsāra, is conveyed. It is as if mahā vishṇu wears these different dresses of brahma, Siva, etc. and acts out their roles, and people only see the outer dress and don’t realize that mahā vishṇu is acting out all these roles (vibhrama nātikāyām vividha vesha parigraham tvām - Sloka 9). The view of equating vishṇu with brahma and Siva is pointed out as the cause of not attaining liberation from the bondage of samsāra (tādātmya mūḍha matayo nipantantyadhīrāh - Slokiam 10). SrI deśika even wonders if this common mistake of not realizing the paramātma svarūpam of mahā vishṇu is because people only think of vishṇu as a matsya or a varāha etc., and not as the paramātmā which He really is (Sloka 11) . In fact there are 11 Siva-s, several brahma-s, etc., for the different aṇḍa-s and kalpa-s, and they all are under the control of the One vishṇu (Slokam 13).

He continues in Sloka-s 14 and 15 and points out that it is Sriman nārāyaṇa who has protected the veda-s whenever there is harm to them from the asura-s. When the veda-s talk of attributes that can be generically interpreted - such as sat (existence), or names such as Siva (auspiciousness), they really refer to nārāyaṇa who alone exists without something else’ support (the true sat or existence), or one who is the source of auspiciouness for everything else (the ultimate auspiciousness).

The Different Forms in which He Manifests For Our Benefit

Then in several Sloka-s svāmi deśikan describes the para, vyūha, vibhava, arcā, and antaryāmi forms of the Lord, which are all assumed by Him out of sheer dayā to make Himself easily accessible to His devotees. In particular, he points out the significance of the arcā mūrti as the means for even yogi-s to realize His svarūpam ultimately after they repeatedly meditate on the arcā mūrti. He compares the arcāvatāta to the a~njana that is worn by the trained magicians to help reveal the hidden treasure, in this case the worship of the arcā mūrti leading to the realization of the svarūpam of the paramātmā (Slokam 28).

śvāmi deśikan eloquently describes the beauty of the tirumeni of the arcā mūrti of kā~nci varadarāja. If evidence was needed for the fact that great souls such as svāmi deśikan were able to converse with the Lord in the temple and have His katāksham in reality unlike the ordinary among us who can only see the material form of the arcā mūrti, this stotram is a perfect example. Here he prays to the Lord not only to give him His beautiful darśanam in various vahāna-s during the utsava-s(Slokam 48), but prays for the darśanam of His tirumeni as He has His suprabhātam from the ādiśesha, when the marks of the divine bangles of periya pirāṭṭi will be fresh on His tirumeni (kanaka valaya mudrām kaṇṭha deśe dadhānah - Slokam 47). The bhāgyam of the blessed ones (the priests) who can perform the kainkaryam to the Lord where they get the opportunity to have the darśanam of the Lord’s tirumeni with all the ornaments removed, is referenced in Slokam 46. The beauty of the mūrti of Lord varadarāja will drive away any desire even for the stature of brahma as an alternative (Slokam 29). Only someone as deeply associated with Lord varadarāja as svāmi deśikan can swear that His desire for śrīvaikuṇṭham vanishes when compared to having the constant darśanam of the Lord (Slokam 49 - vaikuṇṭha vāse’pi na me’bhilāshah).

Prapatti mārga

The efficacy of prapatti as the sure and fool-proof method of getting His grace and ultimately moksham is revealed again in this storam by svāmi deśikan. The difficulty of adopting the alternative means of the tedious bhakti yoga, which requires one to have the knowledge for observing bhakti mārga, the Sakti for observing this, the caste restrictions, and above all the patience to wait for getting the effect through bhakti mārga, cannot even be imagined. The overriding role of His dayā in forgiving all the sins and in protecting His devotees who have surrendered to Him (śaraṇāgati) is revealed in Slokam 36 (pāre karishyati dayā tava durnivārā). The role of bhagavat kainkaryam in yielding the great pleasure that can eradicate all sorrow and the effects of karma is revealed to us in Slokam 41 (pādāravinda paricāra rasa pravāhah). Even after reaching śrīvaikuṇṭham the only desire that a mukta jīvan will have is the desire to do kainkaryam to Him (the great right to do kainmaryam to Him to one’s heart’s content - sacchanda kinkaratayā svābhāvikam mahādhikāram pratilabheya - Slokam 42).

dhyāna Slokam

- dāsan kṛshṇamācāryan