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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra
Mahadesikaya Nama:

Sri AshtabhujAshtakam- 1

There was a recent discussion
on the beautiful sloka from the captioned stotram of
Swami Desikan, beginning with ?tvayi pravrittE mama
kim pryAsai:?. The sloka that precedes this is also
extremely meaningful, and deserves elaboration. The
following sloka forms the centrepiece of this stotram,
physically ( it is the fifth among the nine slokas-
the tenth being phala shruti) and figuratively too,
due to its substantive nature.

?abheeti hEtO: anuvartaneeyam nAtha tvat anyam na
vibhAvayAmi
bhayam kuta: syAt tvayi sAnukampE, rakshA kuta: syAt
tvayi jAta rOshE?

Swami Desikan , addressing this Emperuman, says, ? I
shall not seek recourse to any other than You for
eliminating my fears. Once You have mercy on me, who
can cause me fear? On the other hand, if You are angry
with me, who can protect me? In both the cases, I have
no refuge other than You?.
Elaborating the concept of ananya gatitvam, Sri
Tooppul Pillai points out, with irrefutable logic,
that the Lord is indeed supreme. Hence if we become
the target of His anger due to our numerous heinous
acts of omission and commission, notably due to
BhAgavata apachArA or asahya apachArA, nobody, but
nobody at all can save us.
We should remember here that the Lord is an ocean of
mercy, and irrespective of the serious nature of our
crimes, never thinks of punishing us commensurately. 
Sri Piratti is the utimate repository of compassion,
and intercedes with the Lord on our behalf, when He is
inclined to be punitive. Therefore it is highly
unlikely, nay, impossible, that She would complain to
the Lord about any sinning soul. However, in the
unlikely event of Piratti airing Her grievance against
a devotee, Emperuman would say, ?My devotee would
never be guilty of such a sin; even if he is, it is
probably for a good cause.? So says Periazhwar-
? TamarayAl Agilum tam adiyAr tirattu sidagu
uraikkumEl
en adiyAr adu seyyAr : seidAlum nandrE seidAr enbar
polum »
(The word »pOlum » denotes that this is all in the
realm of speculation, as Piratti is never, but never
likely to compalain to the Lord agaist any devotee, as
She plays a diametrically opposite role-that of
pleading with Him to pardon even our most grievous
follies.)
This pasuram highlights Emperuman?s highly
compassionate nature, and His lack of anger towards us
for our infringements. Most of the time, He doesn?t
even take cognisance of our follies, and is blind to
them, as the tirunAmam ?aviggyAtA? in Sri Vishnu
SahasranAmam would indicate. And he always tempers His
justice with compassion, so that even when He metes
out just punishment, it turns out to be a blessing in
disguise (nigraha anugraham).
However, even such a KaruNA moorti does have occasions
to display His anger. While He can tolerate
innumerable acts against Himself, He cannot bear even
a single act of atrocity towards His devotees and
those near and dear to Him. And when this happens, His
anger is unstoppable, and no force on earth or heaven
can counter the same. No one can protect us if we
become the target of His anger (RakshA kuta: syAt
tvayi jAta rOshE?).
Let us consider an instance where the Lord had a rare
occasion to vent His anger. Everyone knows how
KakAsurA (alias Jayanta, son of Indra) committed an
unpardonable sin towards Piratti, when She and Sri
Rama were relaxing in DandakAraNyam. Piratti?s divine
beauty gave rise to vile thoughts in his filthy mind,
and he pecked at her breast with his beak, drawing
blood. While she bore it patiently as would a mother,
Sri Rama, when he found Her bleeding, was beside
Himself with anger, and plucking a blade of grass from
nearby, fortified it with the BrahmAstra mantra, and
threw it at the retreating crow.(This is perhaps the
source for the Tamil adage,?vallavanukku pullum
Ayudham?). The BrahmAstra pursued the crow with
alacrity, and flee as the crow might, it was unable to
escape from the chasing astrA. The crow knocked at the
doors of all those who are normally considered in the
world as saviours-his own father Indra, the Creator
Brahma and the destroyer Rudra. Not even Maharshis,
who are normally more powerful and more merciful than
even kings, would offer a word of assurance and
refuge (?sa pitrA cha parityakta: suraischa sa
Maharshibhi:?). None of them could provide succour to
the fugitive crow, and turned it away, pleading their
inability to save somebody whom Sri Rama had decided
to punish. Sri Valmiki puts this beautifully in the
following sloka-
?BrahmA: svayambhoo: chaturAnanO vA
Rudra: trinEtra :tripurAntakO vA
Indra: SurEndra : sura nAyakO vA
TrAtum na sakta yudhi Raghavadhyam »
Neither the four-headed Brahma who creates the whole
world, nor the three-eyed Rudra feared the world over
as the destroyer, nor even Indra, the chief of all the
devAs would be able to save somebody Sri Rama has made
up His mind to destroy.
The crow flew around the world (with the Brahmastra in
hot pursuit) not once but several times, seeking a
saviour, but failing to find anyone, decided to seek
refuge in Sri Rama Himself. And Chakravartthi
Tirumagan, true to His reputation of saving
SaraNAgatAs (?vidita: sa hi dharmagya: SaranAgata
vatsala:? says Sri Janaka Nandini), afforded refuge to
the crow, which deserved a sure death for its heinous
crime.
Here is how Sri Valmiki describes the episode-
? Treen lOkAn samparikramya tamEva saranam gata:
sa tam nipatitam bhoomou sharanya: sharanAgata:
VadhArham api KAkutsttha: kripayA paryapAlayat?.
This is proof enough, if proof were needed, that
targets of Emperuman?s anger can hope for little
succour elsewhere. 
We shall consider the other part of the
sloka,(?Bhayam kuta: syAt tvayi sAnukampE?) in the
next instalment.

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrisimha divya paduka sevaka
SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya
Nama:

-------to be continued------ dasan, sadagopan. 




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