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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00199 Oct 2003

 
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SrI:
SrImathE Nigamantha Mahadesikaya namah:
SrImAn venkatanAthAryaH kavitArkika kesarI |
vedAntAcArya-varyo me sannidhattAm sadA hRdi ||

May the glorious Venkatanatha, the greatest of teachers of Vedanta, and the 
lion among poets and debaters, reside forever in my heart.

Dearest Srivaishnavas,
Let us begin to enjoy the sthOthra granthas of Swamy Desikan [in 
alphabetical order]
Daya Satakam

Daya Sataka is a stotra in 100+8 slokas on the mercy of Lord Srinivasa of 
Tirumala Tirupati. In this Stotra, Mercy, which is  a quality is defined as 
the Supreme Goddess as being above Bhoomi, Neelaa and even Lakshmi the Chief 
Consort of Bhagavan Narayana, who is Svayam vyakta (Self-manifest) in 
Tirumala. It is stated that it is under her behest the Lord himself 
discharges His duties as the Creator, Protector and Liberator. The ever 
flowing streams of clear and pure water in Tirumala is a concrete example of 
the ever flowing beneficient Mercy of Lord Venkateswara.

In the opening Mangala sloka, Swami dEsika eulogises the Mount tirumala 
itself as the solidified form of the Lord?s Mercy and pay obeisance. 
?Prapadye tan Girim praya Srinivasa anukampayaa yanmoortya Ssrkaraayitam?). 
In the next nine slokas of the first of the ten decades in the centum he 
refers to the Acharyas, Alwars, and Ancient Sages. Vishvaksens, Lakshmi, 
Bhoomi, Neela and even Lord Venkateswara Himself as the forms of Daya-devi.


In the entire stotra, Daya is portrayed as superior to all things in the 
world here and hereafter because of Her qualities mentioned in the ten 
decades as follows.

1.Daya is the bestower of all fruits including Moksha; 2.She is the 
omniscient goddess; 3.She removes the enemies of her devotees; 4. she is the 
ever-successful and never failing means for all fruits; 5. she is the 
unsurpasses goal of attainment; 6. she is the refuge for all who seek 
protection; 7. She is easily accessible to all; 8. Daya is also the 
transcendent deity; 9. she manipulates the different incarnations of 
Bhagavan as Fish (Matsya) and Tortoise(Koorma), Boar (Varaha) and Man-lion 
(Narasimha) to come down and liberate the souls in bongage; it was under Her 
command that the Bridge(setu) for Lanka was constructed by Sri Rama , the 
very sight of which confers emancipation and Bhagavad Gita was taught by Sri 
Krishna which are the permanent records for the work  of Daya; 10. She 
bestows the bliss of moksha in this world itself on those who pray for it.

Daya-devi is the Empress seated on the chest of the Lord as on the throne. 
All the qualities are her attendants-Knowledge as the torch-bearer goes in 
front; power and vigour are followers. But for Daya all these qualities will 
not have a good name since they will get enlisted in the list of defects.
       ?Vrishagiri Griha Medhi Gunah
             Bodha-bala-aiswarya-veerya-sakti-mukhaah!
                  Doshaa-bhaveyur-etc
  Yadi naama Daye Tvayaa vinaa- bhootaah?

Sri Vedanta Desika reveals that he was but an unlearned boy; the Merciful 
Lord proclaimed that the boy was really Vedanta Desika ( The Upanishadic 
Preceptor) and sung the sweet-sounding stotra through him as though playing 
upon Veenaa through Daya

      ?Vedanta-Desika-pade vinivesya baalam
        Devo Daya-satakam etat avaadayat maam
        Vaihaarikena vidhinaa samaye grheetam
        Veenaa-viseshamiva Venkata sailanathah?

Sri  Vedanta DEsika concludes by saying that the Lord of the Venkatesa Hill 
is pleased with the stotra and will silence the fault-finding critics since 
the lOrd himself has produced this welcome lyric(108).

The Daya-satakam of Swami Sri Vedanta DEsika has shown his skill in writing 
the slokas in different metres beginning from the short Anushtub-metre and 
gradually increasing the size of metres with every following decade we shall 
give below the serial number of the decads and the names of the metres in 
which they are composed..

1.      anushtup meter (eight syllables in each quarter)
2.      aaryaa
3.      aupacchandasika (11, 12, 11, 12)
4.      Maalinee (8+7) [also slokas 105 and 106]
5.      Mandaakranthaa [4 + 6 +7 ]
6.      Natkulakam [8 + 9]
7.      Sikhaarinee [ 6 + 11]
8.      Warinee [6 +4 +7]
9.      Prthvee [8 +9]
10.     Vasantha thilaka [ 8 +6] also 101-104
11.     Saardoola Vikreeditam [12 +7] 107 and 108

Thus Daya sathakam shows that Swamy Desika is great poet and philosopher. 
[From the Life and works of Sri Nigamantha Mahadesikan- by  Prof Sri A 
Srinivasaraghavan]

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Regards
Namo narayana
dAsan
kavi-tArkika-simhAya kalyANa-guNa-SAline |
Srimate venkateSAya vedAntagurave namaH ||

Salutations to Sri Venkatesa, in whom all perfections reside, who is the 
teacher of Vedanta and the lion among poets and debaters

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