This is a stotra in Praakritam (a vernacular dialect derived from Sanskrit). Ladies in ancient Sanskrit plays were invariably made to talk only in this language. As Desika regarded himself as a naayika (a lady in love) in regard to the Lord of Tiruvahindrapuram, he must have sung this stotra in what he himself calls "cintai-kavar-praakritam" (Praakritam that attracts the mind). The poet himself has named the stotra as Achyuta Satakam. The names Devanatha, and Dasa-satya also occur very frequently in addition to the name Achyuta. Being a satakam (100 slokas) several topics of philosophy and religion are dealt with in detail. After the prefatory portion, the stotra can be seen to deal with the Lord's svarupa up to Sloka 25. As in Devanayaka Panchasat here also the several parts (angas) of the Lord's Tirumeni (Body) are enjoyed in the order from head to foot (34 to 43). Slokas 44 to 65 deal elaborately with several aspects of the greatness of the Lord's Devotees. Slokas 72 onwards are about the poet himself, his present afflicted state, his hopes, fears and prayers, and appeals for help and succour. The stotra winds up with a request to the Lord to receive him as a bridegroom receives his bride at a wedding (100).
Introduction This stotram, like the one we covered last, Sri Devanayaka Panchasat, is on Devanayaka Perumal of Tiruvahindrapuram. The word "Satakam "in the title refers to the 100 sloka-s (actually there are 101 including the phala Sruti) in the stotram. The nAma acyuta means He who does not let His devotees slip - na cyAvayati iti acyutah. One special aspect of this stotram is that it is written in the Prakrit (/prAkRta/) language by Swami Desikan. Prakrit can be considered colloquial samskr*t, which seems to have been used in day-to-day communication in the olden days by those who did not use grammatical samsk*t in their conversations. In course of time, grammatical rules evolved for Prakrit as well, and it evolved as a language in its own right. It became common for female characters to use Prakrit in works such as drama etc. It is characterized by the natural sweetness like the talk of a child when it is spoken. Swami Desikan's anubhavam of the sweetness of this language is that it is the childhood language of goddess sarasvati (Slokam 2). Srirama Desikacharya Swami observes that Devanayakap Perumal has the unique distinction that He is the only arcA mUrti who has been sung by Swami Desikan in three languages - samskr*t (Devanayaka pa~ncAsat), Prakrit (acyuta Satakam), and tamizh (mummaNik kOvai). Srirama Desikacharya Swami has included the samskr*t version of the Sloka-s along with the Prakrit version in his LIFCO publication "SrI Desika stotra mAlA". Wherever quotes have been included from acyuta Satakam in the current write-up, the samskr*t version has been used because of the greater ignorance of aDiyEn with Prakrit. However, Srirama Desikacharya Swami has made the special point that those who chant the Slokam should use the Prakrit version. As has been done in the write-up for the previous sttora-s, instead of giving a literal translation of the Sloka-s, aDiyEn has presented a summary of the thoughts that registered in aDiyEn's mind when going through the meanings of the Sloka-s. 1. AcArya is to be worshipped like bhagavAn Himself. In nyAsa vimSati we saw that our AcAryan is to be worshipped like bhagavAn Himself by us (Slokam 2). Swami Desikan reemphasizes this concept to us again in the current stotram. BhagavAn is imparting knowledge to us to realize Him through the words of our AcArya - He is seated in their tongue like being seated in a throne and instructing us through our AcArya (Slokam 5). 2. Swami Desikan's Humility. Swami Desikan's humility again reveals itself in this work as in all other works. In Slokam 3 he says that his work can be flawed standing by itself (mama bhAshitam malinam api), but because it sings His praise it gets sanctified just as the street waters get sanctified when they mingle with the Ganges river. In Slokam 4 he refers to his work as bAliSA mama stutih - my stotram which is likes a child's blabbering. 3. Need for Purity in Thought, Word and Deed: Swami Desikan emphasizes the need for purity of thought, word, and deed for one who is interested in realizing Him. Those who are not pure in their thought and action cannot succeed in realizing Him. BhagavAn won't stay in a polluted mind even for a moment, just as a hamsa won't go near muddied water even for a moment (Slokam 6). He keeps away from one who is not sincere in his/her devotion - dolAyamAnAn dUram mu~ncasi (Slokam 7). Only those who are pure in thought, word and deed can successfully meditate on Him. He thus becomes easy to access for the women of AyarpADi who have staunch devotion to Him - Sraddhita hr*daya sulabhah (Slokam 7). 4. How Do We Know of the Existence of BhagavAn, Why Should We Worship Him, Attirbutes of a True Devotee of BhagavAN. The question of what is the evidence for the existence of bhagavAn has been raised by many. The simple answer is provided in Slokam 7 - Agama mAtra pramANAh - Because the veda-s declare so. There is no other way to prove His existence. We can experience Him, but can't prove His existence to others through any means other than veda. We worship Him because He eliminates the feelings of desire, sins, false knowledge, etc. when we have Him in our thoughts - tr*shA, mala, mohah kshapitah (Slokam 27). When we worship Him, we won't ever have the darkness of the night called aj~nAna (teshAm moha triyAmA na khalu - Slokam 46). Our mind will not be distracted away from Him by anything (vikAra jananairapi na vikriyamANAh), and we will become pure (pAvanAh) and will experience the anubhavam of moksham even in this world (jIvanmukta sadr*Sah) (Slokam 47). A true devotee of bhagavAn will lose interest in the pursuit of trivial and transient pleasures (vishaya rase viraktAh - Slokam 47, svapna sadr*kshANAm SrINAm na smarati - Slokam 48). For that matter the devotee of bhagavAn will not even be interested in positions such as that of brahma; he will realize that even these so-called high positions are impermanent like water bubbles and will come to end ultimately, and are constantly under the threat of the asura-s. These positions are beautiful to look at like water bubbles, but are also impermanent like the water bubbles, nice to look at like mushrooms but also tasteless like mushrooms, beautiful to look at like cloud formations but also transient like them. The position of these other gods is like the banana stem, which looks strong but which can't support anything like a stone pillar can (i.e., they can't even assure protection to those who seek their protection, except when bhagavAn gives them that power) (Slokam 49). Those who worship bhagavAn with devotion and who acquire true j~nAna of Him will also acquire the qualities such as sausIlya like Him, and mix with even those who have not advanced to the knowledge level like themselves. They forgive other's mistakes just as bhagavAn forgives His devotees' sins, and over a period of time they will help the other cetana-s towards the path of realizing Him (Slokam 50). Those who are devoted to bhagavAn will also not have any of the negative attributes that are acquired by those who do not have clear thinking and who think of this body as the AtmA, or think that their soul is independent of the paramAtmA (51). Negative qualities such as mAna madershyA matsara dambhA bhayA amarsha lobha etc., which are explained later, will not touch them. All the undesirable traits leave the devotees of bhagavAn, and they shine like stars in a well-lit sky on a clear cloud-free night (Slokam 54). There is no question of yama lokam for His devotee - na khalu yama vishaye gatih (Slokam 55); even those who stray from the path of a prapanna after surrendering to Him get only minor punishment from Him as prAyaScitta. So there is no question of one who has done prapatti to Him going to naraka. His devotees desist from worldly desires and enjoyments and thus keep themselves away from yama's wrath (Slokam 56). Even though they live in kali yuga, they feel like they are living in kr*ta yuga (Slokam 52). They realize that everything - moving and non-moving - is part of bhagavAn, and so they do not develop any kind of animosity or hatred towards anyone or anything. Their only goal in life is moksha, and they only obsrve sanAtana dharma which assists them in attaining that goal. They desist from any attachment to worldly pleasures since they have realized that these are transient and impermanent (59). The worship offered by a paramaikAntin (i.e., one who worships SrIman nArAyaNa exclusively and who does not perform this worship for any benefit for himself) is accepted by bhagavAn with a bowed head like one accepting a pariyaTTam, whereas the worship offered by the likes of brahma is only accepted at His feet (57). 5. The effects of not worshipping Him: Those who do not worship Him always find fault in bhAgavata-s (53), like faulting the Sun with having a hole in the centre; this kind is sowing the path for their self-destruction. Even if they live in kr*ta yugam, they will feel miserable like those living in kali yugam (52). These who are immersed in worldly pleasures will not be able to realize Him even though He is very near them in His arcA form, just as they sky is near us but is beyond our grasp (60). These non-devotees who think that their body is the AtmA or it belongs to them and not to paramAtmA, develop many undesirable traits such as ahamkAram (mAna - the feeling that they arre superior to others), pride arising from their wealth, appearance, birth, etc. (mada), jealousy (IrshyA), enmity (matsara), hot-headedness (dambha), finding fault with others (asUyA), fear (bhaya), anger (amarsha), desire to cling to wealth (lobha), etc. (Slokam 51). 6. avatAra rahasyam: (Slokam 31): Why did bhagavAn take so many incarnations among us? Swami Desikan reminds us of Lord krshNa's declaration in the gItA (4.8) - partitrANAya sAdhUnAm vinASAya ca durkrtAm, dharma samsthApanArthAya sambhavAmi yuge yuge - through his Slokam 31. vipaksha nikshapita - for the destruction of the enemies of His devotees, samsthApia parama dharmAh - establishment of the best of dharma-s, and sAdhu paritrANa - for the protection of the good. Srirama Desikacharya Swami observes that while bhagavAn could have done all this while being in SrI vaikunTham itself, He really wanted to be with us in form, and show us how to be a good son, a good husband, a good friend, etc., and it is His souSIlyam that made Him take all these incarnations - just for the sake of His devotees. 7. The Importance of worshipping the arcA mUrti in Temples: The question can be asked - why should we worship the form of bhagavAn in the temples - the arcA mUrti? Swami Desikan gives a simple analogy. When a treasure is hidden underground, people walk on it without knowing its location. There are those who are called siddha-s, who can provide a dark collerium which can be applied in the eyes and which will then help identify the location of the treasures. BhagavAn's true nature - His divya Atma svarUpam - is not realizable except through His own Grace, and is like the treasure hidden from our reach. But if we keep worshipping the dark arcAmUrti of bhagavAn with devotion uninterruptedly, this will serve like the dark collerium that will help in ultimately realizing the divya Atma svarUpam of bhagavAn over time. (Slokam 45). The bhakta-s are so moved by having the sevA of bhagavAn's tirumeni in temples that they shed tears of joy and their whole body experiences extreme excitement (kadamba goLa nibha kaNTakAyamAna nijAgnAn - with mayirk-kuccu - hairs standing erect on the body like budding kadamba flowers -58). 8. BhagavAn's tirumeni: Swami Desikan briefly describes devarAjap Perumal's tirumeni through 10 Sloka-s (34 to 43) in this stotra. We have seen the similar anubhavam of Swami Desikan in a few of his stotra-s before e.g., through 11 Sloka-s in SrI bhagavad dhyAna sopAnam and through 30 Sloka-s in SrI Devanayaka pancAsat. BhagavAn's tiru mukham resembles the moon, His kirITam is like the Sun, and His beautiful dark hair resembles the darkness of the night. How is it possible for the Sun, the moon, and the darkness to co-exist simultaneously? Swami Desikan's beautiful anubhavam - bhagavAn is the aghaTitaghaTanA Saktan - He is One who can make impossible things happen (Slokam 34). BhagavAn's beautiful face far exceeds the beauty of the full moon, and His eyes resemble the just-blossomed lotus flowers. Meditating on His divine face will remove even the sins committed knowingly, and serve as the prAyaScitta (remedy) for these sins (Slokam 35). The sight of His divine shoulders reminds Swami Desikan of the might of these shoulders under which the different gods including brahma (vidhi pramukha deva janah) have sought refuge (Slokam 37). Having the darSanam of bhagavAn's tiru udaram (belly) reminds Swami Desikan of His saving all the brahmANDa-s in His stomach during the pralaya. His navel reminds him of the creation of brahma in a lotus flower from the nAbhIkamalam (Slokam 38). Looking at bhagavAn's deep red pItAmbaram, Swami Desikan meditates on bhagavAn's acts of crushing the asura-s madhu and kaiTabha, and the resulting profuse stream of blood soaking into bhagavAn's pItAmbaram and thus imparting this deep red color (Slokam 40). The mekhalA (waist-band) kindles memories of the great chain that has been put around bhagavAn the manmathan like a chain around a mad elephant (the rasam here is that those who meditate on this mekhalA of bhagavAn will be relieved of the pursuit of trivial pleasures in this world - Srirama Desikacharya Swami). In SrI Devanayaka pancAsat Swami Desikan's anubhavam of the darSanam of bhagavAn's Divine thighs was that they were the death-bed for the cruel asura-s such as hiraNyakaSipu. In the current Slokam his anubhavam is that they are like the strong pillars that support the mansion where the three worlds are stored (reference to bhagavAn's stomach being the heavy mansion where all the worlds rest at the time of pralaya) (Slokam 41). The darSanam of bhagavAn's Lotus Feet reminds Swami Desikan of the sacred gangA flowing from His Feet during the time of His trivikrama incarnation and sanctifying all the three worlds, and their offering protection to anyone who surrenders to them (Slokam 43). 9. We Always Belong to Him and Are Never Independent: We have to realize that we are His possession and belonging and are not independent, and are always subservient to Him who is the Supreme Lord. We are like a wooden doll which has been tied by the ropes of the three guNa-s, sattva, rajas, and tamas, and bhagavAn alone can release us from this bondage (82). We came across this same concept in SrI Devanayaka pancAsat earlier (Slokam 8 - sUtrAnubaddha Sakuni kramatah). 10. The Life of a prapanna: The main purpose to which a prapanna should devote his life in this world is to do two things: a) to serve Him without any desire for benefit; and b) to help other cetana-s by guiding them towards realizing Him. In a sense, this second item is one way of serving Him, and He keeps the prapanna in this world without taking him right away to SrIvaikunTham just so the prapanna can devote his time to this purpose in this world (61). This service of the prapanna serves as the bridge which the cetana-s can use to cross the ocean of samsAra (62). The prapanna is assured of moksham at the end of his/her life. In the interim, the prapanna accepts the pains and pleasures in the rest of this life as an expiation of the accumulated karma-s. Because of this, the prapanna does not have any fear of death, and looks at death as a bosom-friend visiting his home and welcomes death when it arrives, whole-heartedly (63). Seeing the aj~nAna or darkness in this world, the prapanna does service to the Lord and to this world by lighting the torch of brahmaj~nAna and passing it on to deserving Sishya-s. When this service is performed by the prapanna, bhagavAn considers the prapanna's life's objective to have been accomplished, and takes the prapanna to His abode of SrIvaikunTham (64). Here the prapanna joins the goshTi of garuDa, AdiSesha, and vishvaksena, and has uninterrupted bhagavad-anubhavam while having all the bhoga-s equivalent to bhagavAn Himself (65). 11. The Greatness of prapatti and prapanna-s: Bhakti and prapatti are the two means to attain moksham. Of these, bhakti yoga requires the j~nAna and the Sakti to perform the j~nAna yoga and the karma yoga, practicing which alone one will get the maturity to undertake the bhakti yoga. Knowing the uncertainty and the delay associated with this means for attaining moksha, people who probably had the required j~nAna and Sakti to undertake bhakti mArgam, still discard this as their preferred means for seeking moksham, and instead perform prapatti at bhagavAn's Feet and attain moksham without delay and with certainty (66). The veda-s declare that human life-form is subservient to the deva-s, and is meant to toil to please the deva-s. But while the human being who performs prapatti is assured of attaining moksham, the likes of indra who are superior to the human life-form by their position are still accumulating karma-phalam and are thus going to go through the cycle of birth and re-birth. These deva-s who had this human being as their servant, all of a sudden come and prostrate in front of this prapanna and worship him. The prapanna thus becomes the object of worship of the deva-s not only after they reach SrIvaikunTham but in this world as well (67). 12. The a'nga-s of prapatti: These have been covered a few times before (SaraNAgati dIpikA Slokam 27; nyAsa vimSati 18; nyAsa daSakam 2, 10; etc.). The prapanna in Swami Desikan finds expression in Sloka-s 74 to 84. He submits to Lord Devanayaka that he is realizing that all the yAga-s and other kAmya karma-s that he has undertaken and continues to undertake are powerless to yield the ultimate benefit, and that His Mercy alone can retrieve him from the heaps of sins that he is committing all his life (74 to 80). He submits to the Lord the complete responsibility for his protection (81). 13. The Importance of practices such as nAma samkIrtanam: The most important first step for the darkness in our mind to disappear and for us to turn to Him for surrender, is bhagavAn's kaTaksham and anugraham itself (68). Simple practices such as nAma samkIrtanam (chanting bhagavAn's name sincerely) will lead to deep-rooted devotion to Him over time. These practices will remove the darkness in our mind, will rejuvenate the soul so that we devote ourselves to His service, and with His kaTaksham we will attain moksham. Thus the nAma samkIrtanam will serve as the strong root on which the tree of moksham will grow and rest. The nectar of nAma samkIrtanam has untold other benefits (69). 14. The Importance of karma (Actions) Done Without Desire For Fruits: Swami Desikan has emphasized the essence of karma yoga in Slokam 70, as described in SrImad bhagavad gItA (2.40 and 6.40). Any work that is done with the ultimate benefit dedicated to Him and with no expectation of benefit from this action, will always lead to ultimate release from the bondage of samsAra. It is immaterial how small this effort is, or how incomplete it is. There is no sin or other negative effect even if this act is discontinued in the middle for any reason. This is conveyed to us by Lord kr*shNa through Sloka 2.40 in the gItA - nehAbhikrama nASo'sti pratyavAyo na vidyate | svalpamapyasya dharmasya trAyate mahato bhayAt ||, and also in Slokam 6.40 - pArtha naiveha nAmutra vinASastasya vidyate | na hi kalyANakRt kaScit durgatim tAta gacchati ||. 15. Swami Desikan on anya-devatA worship: Swami Desikan reiterates the simple reason why anya-devatA worship is unnecessary for those who seek any benefit at all in life, and why it does not make sense for one who is interested in moksha and nothing else, in Sloka-s 71 and 72. All the other gods get their power to bestow their devotee's wishes only by the Grace of SrIman nArAyaNa, through the power that He bestows on them. They can smile on their devotees only if He smiles on them. Without His Will, they don't have any power. And then at best they can bestow some small benefits compared to the ultimate benefit that He alone can give, viz. moksha. This being the case, one can worship bhagavAn directly and get anything one desires, instead of worshiping all the itara-devatA-s who are in between Him and us. There is an even more important reason why one who is interested in moksha and nothing else should only worship SrIman nArAyaNa and no one else. This has to do with a prapanna not even desiring any of the benefits that the anya-devatA-s can bestow on them. So the anya-devatA-s have nothing to give to the prapanna even if they are extremely pleased (itara tridaSAh prasannAh kim hitam karishyanti? - 72). Given that the only benefit that is sought by a prapanna is moksha and no other benefit, the only logical conclusion is that there is no other worship except that of SrIman nArAyaNa that makes any sense. There are two gems that we have come across before, where Swami Desikan has conveyed the same idea, viz. nothing moves without His Will, through beautiful rhyming poetry. These are: 1. in kAmAsikAshTakam Slokam 8 - tvayi rakshati rakshakaih kimanyaih , tvayi cArakshati rakshakaih kimanyaih; and 2. tvayi pravr*tte mama kim prayAsaih, tvayyapravr*tte mam kim prayAsaih. Similar rhythmic poetry is what we see in the current Slokam also - aprasAde aprasannAh, tava prasAde dAsasatya prasannAh (71). 16. BhagavAn's unlimited guNa-s: A beautiful, simple, and high-level description of bhagavAn's infinite kalyAna-guNa-s is given by Swami Desikan through a few Sloka-s in this stotram. In the opening Slokam, Swami Desikan showers praise on bhagavAn's following guNa-s - sthira jyotih, acyutam, dAsAnAm satyam, tridaSAnAm nAtham - The jyoti that never diminishes, He who will never forsake His devotees, He who always bestows His devotees' wishes, and He who is the God of all gods. BhagavAn is sarva-guNa-sampannan. These guNa-s are flawless (nirmala), countless (vigaNitam na Saknuvanti), and cannot be found in any other god (ananya sulabhAni). He is also the limit of perfection for these guNa-s (Slokam 27). Hundreds of upanishad-s (upanishdAm SatAni) describe Him as kshapita sakala heyam - devoid of any negative attribute of any kind, satya j~nAna Anandam - He who is not subject to change or mutation, Omniscient, and Supreme Bliss, and ulla'ngita trividha antam - unlimited by the three constraints - space, Time, and shape. Thus He is not constrained by where He is at any given time and in what form He exists (Slokam 8). Unsupported by anything else He creates everything while He Himself is not created by anything else. He supports everything while He is not supported by anything else. He also destroys everything at the time of pralaya while He cannot be destroyed by anything else - ananya kriyah nidhilam karoshi, kenApi na kriyase; sthApayasi na samsthApsyase; harasi na hriyase (Slokam 9). He is everywhere and also inside everything that exists, including the minutest atom. Even when He is in the tiniest of things, His Power is in no way diminished, and it is the same Absolute Power that controls and governs everything. This is the basis for the declaration in the veda-s that bhagavAn is present in everything, completely and absolutely (Slokam 10). He is the Creator of everything, He is the Supporter of everything, He is the Lord of everything, He is the AtmA of everything, and everything is His Body. As the AtmA of everything, He causes them to function, and since everything is His Body, He is the one who is really functioning also. The veda-s declare Him as sarvah - Everything (Slokam 11). Because He is both the prakRti and the jIva from which everything is created, He is the material cause of this Universe - upAdAna kAraNa; because He is the Creator of everything, He is also the instrumental cause of everything - nimitta kAraNa. He is like both the clay that is used to make the pot and the pot maker that makes the pot. Everything that exists e.g., the pot, has two such as causes for their existence, and these two are never the same. BhagavAn is the only exception and wonder who happens to be both the upAdAna kAraNam and nimitta kAraNam simultaneoulsy for creating a given object or being (Slokam 12). While BhagavAn is the common cause for the creation of everything, still everything that is created is unique and different from everything else. This is not because of any bias or partiality on His part. The beings are what they are because of the result of their karma - which in turn results in a different combination of rAjasic, sAttvic, and tamo guNa-s in each being, and this results in their being different from each other (Slokam 13). BhagavAn is impartial to everyone, and bestows the karma phalam to everyone impartially. He never breaks His promise to anyone. But when it comes to a devotee who has unconditionally surrendered to Him, then He becomes the servant of this devotee, and will do whatever it takes to protect the interests and welfare of the devotee. This is how He willingly performed the duty of a chariot-driver to arjuna, and went as a messenger to the pANDava-s (Slokam 21). This is also why He broke His own promise not to take to weapons in the war against the kaurava-s, viz. just to protect the promise of His devotee bhIshma, and appeared in the pillar in a very unnatural form of half-man and half-lion to keep the word of prahlAda. 17. The Ultimate Knowledge: There is only one thing that needs to be understood from the study of all the veda-s and SAstra-s - that there is nothing comparable to Him or better than Him, that He is the One who protects everything, and that He is the Only One to whom we have to surrender in order to attain relief from all sorrows (Slokam 15). His Greatness is such that even brahma cannot disobey His Will (Slokam 16). The different gods for whom homa-s are prescribed in the veda-s are ultimately directed to Him as their antaryAmi. This is analogous to the offering in the SrAddha, where a brAhmaNa is given the bhojanam, but it is meant for the pitR-s (Slokam 17). BhagavAn is the siddha-upAya, or the means that exists already without any effort needed on our part, for attaining Him (Slokam 23). This is because He is sarva-Saktan, sarvaj~nan, and above all, He is the parama-kAruNikan. Except for Him, no one else can bestow moksham. Just as even a thousand suns which are drawn on paper cannot remove darkenss, the thousands of gods together can't bestow moksham, and only He, out of His own Mercy, can bestow this on His devotee (Slokam 25). 18. The Role of pirATTi: The roles of pirATTi and bhagavAn in bestowing their karuNA on the devotee-s is nicely explained by Swami Desikan through a simple example. Lots of beautiful creepers have grown on the trunk of the kalpaka vRksham and surround it tightly. While the kalpaka vRksham bestows anything the devotee asks for, the creepers provide the cool and comforting shade for those that sit under it. Similarly, pirATTi is seated on the vaksha-sthalam of bhagavAn like the creeper surrounding the kapaka vRksham and provides the purushakAratvam to the devotee while bhagavAn bestows all the wishes of the devotee (Slokam 19). 19. A prapanna jIva's Ascend to SrIvaikunTham: Swami Desikan gives his anubhavam of how a prapanna is taken from this world to SrIvaikunTham at the end of his life in this world in Sloka-s 82 to 90. The prapanna is released from the effects of both his good deeds and bad deeds as a consequence of prapatti (83). Note that the good karma-s, when not performed with surrendering the benefit or phala to Him, are as binding of the jIva to this world as the bad karma-s are. At the end of this life, the jIva undergoes severe stress as a result of the separation of jIva from the body (maraNa vedanai in tamizh), and bhagavAn who is the antaryAmi in the prapanna is there ready and waiting to embrace the jIva and comfort and relieve the strain of the jIva. There are 101 different worlds to which a jIva can be taken, depending on the karma-s that have accumulated. A prapanna's jIva is not led in any of the 100 paths (nAdi's) that lead to loka-s other than SrIvaikunTham, but instead through the 101st nADi which is called the brahma nADi which leads the prapanna to SrIvaikunTham. This path is beautifully lit by the Sun's rays, and bhagavAn is anticipating the arrival of this jIva like a parent looking at a child who is coming towards him (84). The prapanna is led in this path by the gods such as agni, vAyu, sUrya, candra etc. Each of these escort the jIva of the prapanna up to the borders or spheres of their influence (85). The jIvAtmA then crosses the virajA river, and is bestowed with a divine body that is of the nature of pure sattva guNa, and no rAjasic or tAmasic qualities. This divine body is then decorated with garllands, beautiful clothes, fragrances, etc. worthy of a servant of bhagavAn in SrIvaikunTham (86). BhagavAn welcomes and embraces the prapanna to His heart just as He holds periya pirATTi dear to His heart (87). This jIvAtmA then is engaged in nitya kaimkaryam to emperumAn in SrIvaikunTham just like the nitya sUri-s (89). There is no rebirth for this jIvAtmA in the sense of the jIva-s bound by karma; they will appear in this world along with bhagavAn whenever He takes an incarnation, just to serve Him while He is in here, and will return with Him back to SrIvaikunTham (90). 20. What We Can and Should Do: Our relief from the eternal bondage of samsAra occurs because of His samkalpam, and cannot happen without His samkalpam. What is left for us is to -pray to Him for His samkalpam (91), -seek His forgiveness for all the apacAram-s that we keep committing knowingly and unknowingly (92), -desist from going after the pleasures of this world and instead seek His Grace for relief from the bondage of samsAra (93, 94, 96), -practice the a'nga-s of prapatti such as desisting from association with those who are who are non-devotees (whose association is like the poison that pours out at sight from a venomous serpent) and associating ourselves with His devotees whose sight and talk are like a shower of nectar pouring forth at us (95), -seek the protection of His Feet which alone will relieve us from all our sufferings (97), and -seek the guidance of an AcArya and perform the Ultimate Surrender or prapatti to Him (99) with the full faith that He has taken a vow to protect those who have sought His protection (98) and with the full realization that we are His belonging and He seeks to accept us and protect us just as much as we seek His protection (100). 21. Conclusion: Thus has this composition with the title of acyuta Satakam been composed by the kavi tArkika kesari vedAnatAcArya ve'nkatanAtha Swami Desikan for our benefit (101). Needless to add that here is another gem of collections of the fundamentals of the great Visishtadvaita philosophy summarized in simple form by Swami Desikan for even the simplest of minds to grasp and understand. Every one of the stotra-s that we have gone through so far has been an independent exposition of the essentials of our great philosophy by Swami Desikan in simple terms. He has composed these and given them to us because of his infinite mercy towards us, and is aimed at our redemption from the bondage of samsAra, and for uniting us with BhagavAn. May we benefit by His Grace. -dasan kr*shNamAcAryan