srImathE SaTakOpaya namah
srImathE rAmAnujAya namah
srImathE anantArya mahAguravE namah
srImathE vara vara munayE namah
dear bhAgavathAs,
svAmi vEdAnta dEsika says in a stOTra on the Lord VaradarAja of
kAnchipuram - "asthi mE hasthi SailAgre vasthu paithaamaham dhanam" -
rough translation is "There exists in the hill of hasthigir, the
greatest wealth beqeathed to me by my forefathers". Lord VaradarAja
has been key to our sampradAyam - It was He who looked after Ramanuja
during His formative years; it was He who gave Ramanuja the absolute
truth about our philosophy through the six aphorisms via svAmi thiru-
k-kachchi nambi. It was He, who nurtured svAmi vEdAnta dEsika; Our
AchAryAs also believe that svAmi piLLai lOkAchArya is His avatAram;
It can be argued that without Lord VaradarAja, our sampradAyam would
not exist as we know today. So, the statement of svAmi dEsika is
something that applies to perhaps every one of us - our greatest
wealth is the Lord of Hasthigiri.
Lord VaradarAja also nurtured perhaps the greatest srIvaishNava
AchArya of the past century - srI prathivAdhi bhayankaram
aNNangarAchAriAr. He, perhaps, is the embodiment of all of our
AchAryAs - Just like svAmi vEdAnta dEsika, svAmi aNNangarAchariAr
wrote numerous stOtrAs on the Lord and AchAryAs and wrote several
great works on vEdAnta establishing the supremacy of visistAdvaita;
Just like svAmi maNavALa mAmuni, svAmi aNNangarAchAriAr wrote
commentaries on pUrvAchAryA works - in fact, like vyAkhyAna
chakkaravarti svAmi periyavAchchAn piLLai, svAmi aNNangarAchAriAr
wrote commentaries on just about all pUrvAchArya works - be it
aruLichcheyal of the AzhvArs, the stOtras of the AchAryAs or the
itihaasa purANas.
This is a translation of svAmi aNNaNgarAchAriAr's commentary on
dEvaraaja ashtakam.
svAmi thiru-k-kachchi nambi's dEvarAja ashtakam
Salutations to Sri thiru-k-kachchi-nambi:
srImath kaanchee munim vandhE kamalaapathi nandhanam
varadhaanGhri sadhaa sangha rasaayana paraayaNam
I offer my respects to kaanchipoorNa (thiru-k-kachchi nambi, in
Tamizh), who is immersed in the "rasaayana" service of having
unceasing, uninterrupted love and devotion at the feet of Lord
Devaraja (Lord Varadaraja), and who is the son of kamalaapathi.
The word "kanchee munim" in the saluatation denotes "kaanchee poorNa
munim" (kanchee poorNa is the samskrit name for thiru-k-kachchi
nimbi). From this salutation, we can infer that the name of sree
thiru-k-kachchi nambi's father should have been "kamalaapathi". Even
though one can interpret the sloka according to the vyutpaththi ?
"kalamaapathim nandhayatheethi kamalaapathi nandhana:", and learn
the meaning as "one who does things that makes the Lord happy" for
the phrase kamalaapathi nandhana, it is not clear that congruity
(ouchityam) exists for that meaning. {In samskrit, ouchityam is one
of the attributes used to determine the exact meaning of a word in a
sentence}. The meaning of the second sentence is very apt (one who is
always with Lord Varadaraja ? varadhaanGhri sadhaa sangha) as
kaanchee poorNa performed the fanning service for the Lord, and was
physically present with Him always without any break. "Rasaayana" is
a word used to denote a specific medicine in AyurvEda. It is said
that those who eat the "rasaayana", they will gain great strength
that is unfleeting. For kaanchee poorNa, the unceasing devotional
service at the feet of Lord Varadaraja is the "rasaayana", and it
gave him great strength.
dhEvaraaja dhayaapaatram sree kaanchee poorNam uththamam
raamaanuja munEr maanyam vandhEham sajjanaasrayam
I worship sree kaancheepoorNA, who is the container for the grace of
Lord dhEvaraaja, who is very special and worthy of devotion of
Ramanuja, and who is the place of refuge for all good qualities.
Kaanchee poorNa is worthy of devotion of Ramanuja (raamaanuja munEr
maanyan) due to the following, and other incidents ? per the request
of Ramanuja, Svami thiru-k-kachchi nambi obtained the six basic
tenets of our Religion from Lord Varadaraja and gave them to Ramanuja.
The above two salutations that are recited traditionally, are present
in a work called "sree kaanchee poorNa sathakam", that was composed
by a sishya of Svami piLLai lOkam Jeeyar named "iraamaanusa-p-piLLai".
pEraruLaaLan PerundEvi thayar thiruvadigaLE saraNam
DEVARAAJAASHTAKAM
namasthE hasthisailEsa sreeman ambuja lOchana
saraNam thvaam prapannOsmi praNathaarththi haraachyutha 1
The Lord of the hill of hasthigiri! The divine consort to Sri
PerundEvi thaayaar! The Lotus eyed One! The One who makes the
sadnesses/difficulties of His devotees go away! The One who never
lets the devotees down! Salutations to You! I become the one who has
surrendered to You!
It is well known that there are five forms for the Lord ? (i) para
(ii) vyooha (iii) viBhava (iv) archcha and (v) antaryaami. In this
sloka, one can enjoy those five forms of the Lord. The five
exclamative words in the sloka (hasthisailEsa!, sreeman!,
ambujalOchana!, praNathaarththihara! and achyutha) refer to the Lord
in those five forms. The exclamative "hasthisailEsa" denotes the
archcha form; sreeman! refers to the para form paravaasudEva, as is
evident from the sloka - "vaikuNtEthu parE lOkE sriyaa saarththam
jagadpathi:! aasthe.."; ambujalOchana! refers to the Lord's viBhava
forms where the Lord took reincarnations on this earth as Rama and
KrishNa ? the referral to the beauty of the Lord's eye (Lotus eyed
one! AmbujalOchana) should be taken as referring to the complete
beauty of the Lord's different parts of the body when He was on this
earth in these forms; "praNathaarththihara" refers to the vyooha form
where the Lord is present in the divine milk ocean (ksheera saagara) ?
the Lord stays in the milk ocean (just outside of sree vaikuNTa)
only to be ever ready to listen to His devotee's distress calls and
take away their difficulties; achyuta! refers to the antaryaami form ?
the meaning of the word achyuta is "one who is present everywhere,
without any exceptions".
samastha praaNi santhraaNapraveeNa karuNOlbaNa
vilasanthu kataakshaasthE mayyasmin jagathaam pathE 2
The One who has the skills to save all souls! The One who is full of
grace! The Lord of all the Universes! May your graces brighten this
soul!
This sloka can be considered as expounding on the two exclamatory
words in the previous sloka ? sreeman! ambujalOchana!. As He is
sreemaan (the divine consort of Sree), he is bound by duty to save
all the souls; With this meaning in mind, svaami thiru-k-kachchi
nambi composed the first line (samastha praaNi santhraaNapraveeNA
karuNOlbana); As He is "ambujalOchana", with the meaning "May the
beautiful lotus eyes blossom upon me" svaami thiru-k-kachchi nambi
composes the second line (vilasanthi kataakshaasthe mayyasmin
jagathaam pathE).
Instead of separating the word "praveeNa" {praveeNa means "clever,
skilled or well versed with", in this context, it refers to the
meaning}, we can also enjoy the first line as one word; in that case,
the meaning becomes "The One who is very superior as He has the
Supreme Grace that is capable of saving all the souls".
nindhithaa chaarakaraNam nivrththam krthyakarmaNa:
papeeyaamsam amaryaadham paahi maam varadha praBhO 3
Oh the Lord who grants all boons! Please save adiyEn (this soul), who
always does the deeds that are prohibited by the saasthraas, who
stays away from the deeds that are enjoined by the saasthraas, who
has accumulated uncountable sin, and lives beyond the boundaries of
behaviour (defined by the saasthraas).
This sloka seems to expound on the exclamative
word "praNataarththihara" that is present in the first sloka. The
saasthraas are of the nature where they say "Do this, Do not this".
One should be of the nature where he does the things that are
enjoined, and refrains from doing the things that are prohibited. You
should reinforce (?) Your divine nature of removing the sorrows of
Your devotees by saving me, who acts opposite to the nature of soul
described above.
samsaara marukaanthaarE dhurvyaaDhivyaaGhraBheeshaNE
vishayakshudhra gulmaaThyE thrushaapaadha paSaalini 4
putradhaara gruhakshEtra mrugathrushNaambu pushkalE
kruthya akruthya vivEkaanDham pariBhraanthamithasthatha: 5
ajasram jaatha thrushNaarththam avasannaangam akshamam
ksheeNa SakthibalaarOgyam kEvalam klESasamsrayam 6
santhaptham viviDhai: dhukkai: dhurvchairEvamadhiBhi:
dhEvaraaja dhayaasinDhO dhEva dhEva jagathpathE 7
tvadheekshaNa suDhaasinDhu veechi vikshEpaSeekarai:
kaaruNyamaaruthaaneethai: Seethalai aBhiShincha maam 8
Oh dEvaraaja who is an ocean of mercy! dEvaadhi dheevaa (The Lord of
the all the dEvaas)! The mother and the father of the Universe! In
the wicked, unbearable forest that is the cycle of birth and death
(i) which is very dangerous due to the presence of tigers that are
the wicked diseases (ii) which is full of short shrubs that the
material things (iii) which is full of trees that are the material
desires (iv) which is filled with mirages that are relatives and
friends, wife, children, house,land etc., I am present. I am
undergoing indescribable suffering as (i) I do not have the
intelligence and judgement to decide "this is to be done, this is not
to be done" and hence I am wandering here and there in circles (ii) I
am always tired (iii) I am with a very weak body (iv) I am not
intelligent to do the right things and I do not have any strength of
mind, strength of body and health and (v) I am full of bad qualities.
May the cool, pleasant flood of nectar of Your grace, which is pushed
by the wind that is Your kindness, wet this soul that is undergoing
tremendous suffering (as described above).
As the five slOkas (slOkAs 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8) give a unified meaning,
this composition structure is called "kulakam".
Svaami thiru-k-kachchi nambi prays for the Lord to cool him (who is
full of fevers due to the cycle of birth and death) with the pleasant
rain of nectar of the Lord's grace.
The word "samsaara" denotes this Universe that gives ignorance to
everyone in it. Svaami thiru-k-kachchi nambi analogises this samsaara
to a very wicked, dangerous forest. In a forest, there are dangerous
animals like tigers and lions. In the samsaara, those dangerous
animals are the dangerous, insufferable diseases. In the forest,
there are many small shrubs that pull within themselves anyone who
steps on them. Samsaara has material things that attract the senses
as the shrubs. In a forest, there are many different kinds of trees.
In samsaara, the different material desires are the trees. A forest
has many mirages that create delusions. In samsaara, these mirages
are the relatives and friends that stand in the way between the soul
and the Lord (aabhaasa bandhu).
Some people raise the following question ? Svaami thiru-k-kachchi
nambi describes the samsaara as "samsaara marukaanthaarE" (maru =
sandy desert); while that is so, he also describes the samsaara
as "thrushaapaadha pasaalini" (containing trees that provide shade
for the thirsty?); how can that be so? Elders provide the following
reconciliation ? Even though there is no possibility for a desert to
contain large trees that provide shade, it does have dry trees, bald
trees and trees that have no leaves. One may assume that svaami thiru-
k-kachchi nambi had those trees in mind when he described the
samsaara as such. Just as those who are suffering from extreme heat
will derive pleasantness and coolness from rain that falls on them,
svaami thiru-k-kachchi nambi prays to Lord dEvaraaja to bless him
with the rain of the Lord's grace so that the insufferable heat of
samsaara that he is now experiencing can be cooled. With this prayer,
svaami thiru-k-kachchi nambi completes his stOtra on Lord varadaraaja.
Thiru-k-kachchi nambigaL thiruvadigaLE saraNam
pEraruLaaLan PerundEvi-th-thaayaar thiruvadigaLE saraNam
srI prathivAdhi bhayankaram aNNangarAchAriAr thiruvadigaLE saraNam,
adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan,
varadhan
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