Dear Members of the Prapatti Group:
I will have two subpostings under section 4 to cover the comments on Sristhavam. Section 4.1 will cover the verses 1 to 5 ; section 4.2 will cover verses 6 to 11and conclude with the reference to Swami Desikan"s Sri Sthuti and how it was influenced by the Sri Sthavam of Kuresa. Verse 1 of SrI Sthavam : *************************
adiyEn will use the Anvaya Kramam (the prose order of this
verse)
to help appreciate the flow of Kuresa"s thought: "ASESHA JAGADHAAM SARGA UPSARGA STITHI : SWARGAM DURGATHIM AAPAVARKINA: PADAM SARVAM CHA KURVAN HARI: YASYAA: MUKAM VEEKSHYA TADH INGHITA PARAADHINA: AKILAM VIDATTEH: ANYATA
ASYA DAYAA EIKARASYAAT IYAM KRRETA ASYA RASATHAA NA SYAATH
KALU (SAA) SREE SVASTI DISADHAATAAT "
The First slOkam takes this form
:
SvasthiSrIrdhisathAdh
asEsha-jagathAm SargOpsarga-sTithee :
Svargam dhurgthimApavargikapadham
sarvam cha kurvan Hari:
YasyA veekshya mukham
tadhingithaparAdheenO vidhatthE akhilam
kreeDEyam khalu nAnyaTAasya rasadhA
syAdhaikarasyAth Tayaa
The consort of Sri Devi (Ranganatha) engages in His acts of creation,
protection
and destruction; He blesses Kaivalyaarthins and Mokshaarthins(Prapannas) with the boons of Svargam and Moksham respectively.He punishes those ,
who deviate from Saastras and sends them to Naraka. During the
performance of
these tasks , He is motivated and guided by the hints from the facial
expressions of
Sri Devi, His consort . If He did not synchronize His activities with the
expressions
originating from His Devi"s eye brows and face,His many duties and
activities
will not yield Him happiness. He will not feel fulfilled by the performance
of
these duties.
May that consort of Sri Ranganatha , who is united with Him at all times, places and states (Eikarasyam) confer auspiciousness 0n me to undertake this onerous task. The Eikarasyam concept is an important theme of Azhwaars. This is why Ramanuja chose the Panguni Uttaram day to offer his Saranagati to the Divine couple, when he saw them physically seated together (Ekapeetam ) on that day at Srirangam temple. Swami Desikan has dwelled on this concept in his works; has gone further to underline the related concept of EKASESHITVAM as one of the central principles of Sri Vaishnavam as taught by his Poorvaacharyas. He salutes that extraordinary state of INTERDEPENDENCE of the divine couple in one of his slokas of Sri Sthuti as follows:
" Vishnu: Tvam cha iti Dwandhvam Anyonya Lakshyam ". O, Sri devi, You and your husband are bound forever by your love for each other. You are never far away from each other even for a moment; both of You with Your limitless, illustrious qualities are a PAIR that can be understood COMPLETELY ONLY through each other. That is why You are introduced as Vishnu Patni and he is known as Sriya: Pathi. That is your extraordinary state of Interdependence . Verse 2 of SrI Sthavam : *************************
hE SrIrdEvi ! SamasthalOkajananeem ThvAm
stOthumeehAmahE
yukthAm bhAvaya Bharatheem praguNaya
prEmapradhAnam dhiyam
bhakthim bhandhaya nandayAsrithamimam dhAsam
janam Thaavakam
lakshyam Lakshmi ! kaDAkshaveechisruthEs tE
syAma chAmee vayam
Oh Maha Lakshmi! You are the mother of the entire universe and
its inhabitants. I wish to offer my praise to You. Please grant me the gift of Vak (Speech ) appropriate for this task! please grow my intellect and devotion to carry out this undertaking ! May my Bhakti become Parama Bhakti through Your blessing! Please accept my Kainkaryam as that coming from one , who has surrendered at Your Lotus feet. Please make me Joyous through the acceptance of my Vaachika Kainkaryam ! May we the Prapannas become the object of the waves of Your most merciful and compassionate glances! This is the verse for which Sri P.B.Anna offered the imaginary dialog referred to above. KurEsar addresses Mahaa
Lakshmi as "Samastha Loka Janani " and prays :
" amee vayam cha tE katAksha veechi
visruthE : lakshyam syAma ". Prayer
here is for the people of the land (
amee) and for those , who belong to
the Thondar Kulam
(vayam) . AzhwAr
prays for the waves of SrI DEvi's
glances to fall on all .
Verse 3 of SrI Sthavam : **********************************
sthOthram nAma kimAmananthi kavayO
yadhyanyadheeyAn guNAn
anyatra thvasathOadhirOPya phaNithi:
, saa tarhi vandhyA Thvayee
samyak sathyaguNAbhivarNanamaTO
BhrUyu: , kaTam thAdhrusee
vaag VachaspathinAapi sakhyarachanA
ThvathsadhguNAarNO nidhou
In the previous verse, Kuresa said : "Tvaam Sthothum Yeehaamahe". He
expressed his desire to praise Her . Now he elaborates on the difference between his Stotra Sabdhaarthams and that of others. He says that the common poets praise either gunaas that are not there in the subject being praised or drably describe the limited qualities of their subject . For instance, a poet may praise a bald man as the one , who has flowing locks of hair and thus describe some thing that is not there in reality. Some other common poets
describe the qualities correctly , but find that there is a limited
quantity of
particulars to describe about their subject. There is not much to praise.
Kuresa reveals that he is not hampered by either of these two
difficulties,
when he attempts to praise Maha Lakshmi and Her Kalyana Gunaas.
There is no problem of exaggeration in Her case, since She has all
the Auspicious qualities to a state of perfection . Her Kalyana
Gunaas
are also so abundant that there is no shortage on the subject matter
to praise. Her Kalyana Gunaas are limitless and there is no
possibility of exhausting them or exaggerating them . Even Hayagreevan , the Lord of speech can succeed in describing
adequately Your vast sea of auspicious guNams .
Verse 4 of Sri Sthavam : ************************
yE vaachAm manasAm cha dhurgrahatayA khyAthA
guNasthAvakA :
thAnEva prathi sAmBhujihvamudhithA hai mAmikA
bhArathee
hAsyam tath thu na manmahE na hi
chakOryEkAakhilAm chnadrikAm
naalam pAthumithi pragruhya rasanAmaaseetha
sathyAm thrushi
Oh Maha Lakshmi! It is impossible to praise adequately
Your Kalyana Gunaas with tongue or mind and do justice to them. It therefore becomes a laughable matter, when one atttempts to go about this impossible task. My effort is likethat of the Chakora bird that does not hold back its tongue back and engages itself in drinking gluttonously ALL of the cool rays of the moon as its food , while being fully aware of its limited power to complete that imposible task. Similarly, I am not holding back in my effort to praise all of Your Kalyana Gunaas adequately.
Verse 5 of SrI Sthavam :
***************************
kshOdheeyAnapi dhushta Buddhirapi
nissnEhOapyaneehOapi tE
keerthim Devi lihannaham na cha BhibhEmyaj~nO
na jihrEmi cha
dhuyEth saa thu na thAvathA na hi sunA leeDApi
BhageeraTee
dhushyEcchvapi na lajjathE na cha
BhibhEthyArthisthu sAmyEcchuna:
Oh Maha Lakshmi! I am not ashamed to engage in my praise of You
inspite of my inadequacies and disqualifications. I know that I have neither exemplary conduct or a sharp intellect informed by Sastra Jnanam. Inspite of these limitations, my praise of You will not become impure. The situation is similar to the lowly dog licking the most sacred waters of Ganga to quench its thirst. The River Ganga is not polluted by the dog"s act and the dog gets its thirst quenched. Here Kuresa equates the sanctity of Maha Lakshmi to the holiness of Ganga and himself to the undeserving dog. From hereon , the stotram begins in earnest. DaasOham , Oppiliappan KOil Varadachari Sadagopan
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