Dear BhakthAs of Swamy NammAzhwAr :
The
majestic renditon of Dayaa Sathakam by Sangeetha Kalanidhi Srimathi Mani
KrishNaswamy , the mother of our own dear Sri Sudarshan of Kuwait was
heard by me today .. I am fortunate to have received a copy of
this exquistely rendered work of Swami Desikan from another dear member of
this group .
The musical scholarship of the artist trained by giants
like Mysore VasudevAchAr and Tiger VaradAchAr is astounding . Her
exemplary uccharaNam of the Sanskrit text of Swami Desikan is a thrilling
experience to hear . It was a moving experience . The occasion also reminded
me of the song of ANNamAcharya about Thirumanjanam for Sri Alamelu MangA on
a SukramVaaram day. I thought I will continue today with the AzhwAr's
anubhavam of Dayaa of the Lord of Seven hills on this Sukra Vaaram instead of
roaming with Sri Ramachandra in the depths of DaNdakAraNyam . We will
therefore focus on the first section of the fifth decad of Thiruvaimozhi in
this posting .
I will start this posting with a slokam of the Ashta sloki
of ParAsara Bhattar , which is appropriate for the occasion . This is the
sixth verse of Ashta Sloki composed by Bhattar to teach us the meaning of
AshtAkshari :
IsAnAm jagadhAm adhIsa dhayithAm nityAnapAyAm
sriyam samsrithAsrayaNOchitAkila guNasyAngri harerAsrayE I ishtopAyatayA
sriyA cha sahithAyAthmEsvarAyArtayE karthum dAsyamaseshamaprathihatham
nityam tvaham nirmama : II
( Meaning ) : Sri Devi ( Lakshmi ) is the
Empress ( Soverign Goddess ) of ALL the worlds, as NarAyaNa is the Emperor.
She is the inseparable consort of His. We offer our prostrations at Her
lotus feet to empower ourselves to acquire the means of access to the
Lord's feet for our SaraNAgathi . May I be blessed always to perform service
devoid of ego to the Lord , who is the embodiment of Dayaa.
The hundred verses of the fifth decad is a gigantic celebration of
the Lord"s matchless and limitless Daya GuNam . Almost every subsection
of this decad brims with the mood of celebration of Lord's AnukampA and
KaruNA .
Section 5.1.1 ( kaiAr chakkaratthu yen karumANikkamE ) salutes
the Lord's magnanimous qualiy as Para Tantran ( who obeys the wishes of
BhakthAs/ Yathoktha Kaari ) because of His daya for His devotees . Swami
Desikan describes His nature as that of a KaruNA paravasan , who
is overcome by His profound mercy to help the suffering ChetanAs .
MaNavALa Maamuni states in his 41st paasuram of
Thiruvaimozhi NuRRanthAdhi that the Lord out of His infinite compassion
blesses even those , who have not expressed genuine Bhakthi towards Him
(pOli Bhagavathars) , who pretend that they love him through the
practice of Kapata Bhakthi .Out of his infinite humility, AzhwAr reveals
that the Lord blessed him for expressing his vyAjamAtra abhilaashai . AzhwAr
says that he did not declare proudly that he was the servant of the Lord ,
but he only said casually that the Lord has accepted him as His servant .
Even that was sufficient for the Lord to bless him fully out of his infinite
compassion . That vyAjam (half-hearted pretext ) was sufficient for Him to
rush to accept him says the AzhwAr .The Lord's blessing of Prapatthi was
Nirhethukam (without any quid pro quo consideration ) , NirupAdhikam (
without any condition or clauses ) . This is so because He is Nirapekshakan (
he does not want any return ) . AzhwAr hints that the Lord thinks that this
AyOgyan ( unfit one ) deserves the fruits of Prapatthi because he is unable
to practise the requisites of that effort . Such is His boundless Dayaa !
Parasara Bhattar intreprets NammAzhwAr's feelings expressed in this
section as follows : " I am a fraud, a liar. I am guilty of soul-theft (
AatmaabahAram ) and thought that this soul is mine , where as it is His
property . It is not possible for me to control my desires, discipline my
senses , to shake off my sorrow over not realizing my mundane yearnings or
to make a distinction between the soul and the body .This lowliness,
attachment to this perishable body and weakness to do anything in the
direction of Moksham necessitates me to place myself as the object of your
mercy totally. That is what I said half-heartedly. He called me to His abode
fulfilling His assurance offered in His charama sloka. Such is His
Nirhethuka KrupA ! "
AzhwAr states in 5.1. 7 ( Amman AzhipirAn ) , that
the Lord's love for me(us) is the same irrespective of mine(ours) being
feigned or true. " yemmA pAviyarkum vidhi vAykkinru vAykkum kandeer ". AzhwAr
says that he sat in a corner , raised his hands in false spirit of pathos
and cried " O Lord ! You came rushing to save an elephant in distress! Do
n'"t You know how much I suffer ? " That was all I did . He took it
seriously as a true complaint , came and rescued me. Now my love has become
true love as a result of His Nirhethuka Dayaa. It is clear that His love
for me is the same irrespective of mine being feigned or not. He is the
supreme Lord. I am the smallest, the most despicable . If his limitless
Dayaa can be extended to me even, then I can attest that any sinner ,
even the WORST can reap my Lord's AnukampA .
In 5.1.9 , Azhwaar
describes his condition and the extraordinary grace of the Lord to come to
his rescue in his hour of need . Azhwaar says : " aavaa yenru aruL seythu
adiyEnodumAnAnE ". Sri V.N. Vedantha Desikan translates this Paasuram this
way : " I recall the time . I was helpless. It was very much like the plight
of a ship caught in a strong cyclone and totally helpless to reach the shore
safely . --Just at that time , He came with His divine charm and effulgence ,
the chakrA and SankhA , with overflowing mercy for me. He took me into His
fold. I enjoy His company as any one in His heavenly paraphernalia. What a great
Mercy ? Now His merger with me is a FAIT ACCOMPLI ."
AzhwAr goes on
to say in the next verse that he learnt that it was NOT his effort that
secured the happy union between the Lord and him ; rather it was His special
effort . AzhwAr says that that the Lord seems to exult over the thought that
all His efforts have now been fructified and AzhwAr has become His own .
AzhwAr confides that he has detected a distinct glow in the Lord's face over
His achievement .
Thus ends the the first ten Thirumozhis of decad 5.
AzhwAr ThiruvadigalE saraNam
Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri
SadagOpan
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