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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:



Like a Diamond in the Sky



They sparkle like diamonds in the night sky, so many of them glittering and 
gleaming, lighting up the nocturnal firmament. Their light is not harsh, 
glaring or hot like that of the Solar orb, but a soft, translucent glow that is 
at once pleasing and soothing. It is they which contribute considerably to the 
so-called magic of the night. They are to be seen in different bewitching 
groupings or constellations, shaped variously like a hunter, a scorpion and so 
on. Even if you were able to count the sands on the beach, you can't tot up the 
number of the twinkling faces in the sky. They may be millions of light years 
away, but their influence over our lives is remarkable. It is they which decide 
who marries whom and when auspicious things should be done or avoided---in 
reckoning a matrimonial match, it is the mutual compatibility of the stars of 
the bride and groom-to-be, that is the decisive factor in proceeding with or 
discarding the alliance. According to Astrology, the star under which a person 
is born is a fair indicator of his character, conduct, fortunes and future. 
Though there are innumerable stars dotting the sky, only twenty-seven are 
considered significant, as enumerated by the blemishless Shruti. These 
nakshatrAs are classified into two groups, DEva nakshatrAs and Yama nakshatrAs, 
the ones from KrittikA upto VisAkham forming the first group and the ones from 
anUrAdha to BharaNi comprising the Yama nakshatras. Here are a few facts about 
these distant deciders of our destinies. 



Though the popular enumeration of stars commences with AsvinI, BharaNi etc., 
the Veda Purusha puts KrittikA first-"KrittikA: prathamam". However, KrittikA 
is not considered an auspicious star-the Overlord of this Star is the 
all-powerful Agni, who,with his immense destructive potential, can burn houses 
down in a trice-"grihAn ha dAhukO bhavati".



Next in line is the hallowed star ROhiNI, made immeasurably holy by the birth 
of Sri Krishna under the aphorism. Predictably, PrajApati or the Paramapursha 
is the Overlord of this particular star. The Celestials are extremely fond of 
this star, presumably due to its association with the glorious Lord-"priyA 
dEvAnAm". 



Though the Bhagavata Purana is quite categorical that Lord Krishna was born 
under this star, Azhwars are a bit equivocal on this. For instance, we have Sri 
Periazhwar telling Kannapiran that He was born under Shravana nakshatram-" nee 
piranda TiruvONam, indru nee neerAda vENdum". "Bathe atleast today, as today is 
the star under which you were born!" exhorts Sri Periazhwar, coaxing the divine 
kid, stinking with the odour of dairy products, to have a bath. We are unable 
to dismiss this as oversight, firstly because of the unblemished wisdom the 
Azhwar was blessed with and secondly because he reiterates this elsewhere too-" 
tiNnAr veNsangu udayAi tirunAL TiruvONam". "attattin pattAm nAL tOndriya 
Achuthan" says he further, confirming the birth of the mischievous brat under 
the Tiruvonam star which is the tenth, when counted from Hasta nakshatram. How 
is this possible, we wonder. Is it possible for Sri Krishna to be born under 
two stars, which would be quite in tune with His other extraordinary exploits, 
and with the Shruti dictum, "ayAyamAnO bahudhA vijAyatE"?



The truth of the matter is that the Shruti earmarks Tiruvonam as the Lord's own 
aphorism-"ShrONA nakshatram Vishnu: dEvatA". As such, whatever be the avatara 
the Lord assumes, and whatever aphorism He is born under, that aphorism is 
considered to be but an aspect of Tiruvonam. We see this repeated in the 
Thiruppallandu too, where Sri Nrsimha (reputed to have manifested under the 
star SwAtI) too is described to have Tiruvonam as His star-"TiruvONa 
tiruvizhavil andi ampouzhudil ari uruvAgi ariyai azhittavan". However, if we 
were to justify the Azhwar's assertion that the Lord was born on the tenth day 
of the Hastham star, we could count forwards (if we count backwards, the tenth 
is Tiruvonam) and arrive at Rohini as the tenth one from Hastham, thus 
reconciling the apparent contradiction. The primacy of Tiruvonam is abundantly 
apparent when we note that it is the birth star of other avataras too, such as 
Trivikrama and Hayagriva. Not only Emperuman, but also Azhwars (Sri 
Poigayazhwar) and Acharyas (Swami Desikan and Sri Pillailokacharya) have 
glorified this nakshatram by their birth under the same. The Shruti praises 
this star as the holiest and most meritorious of all-"PuNyAm". Sri Periazhwar 
too adulates this nakshatram, by pointing out that those born under this 
aphorism would rule the earth-"TiruvOnatthAn ulagALum enbArgaLe".



Another nakshatram that comes in for glorification by Vedas is PunarvasU, and 
predictably so, for it is under this star that the Magnificent Monarch of the 
Raghuvamsam, the peerless Paragon of Virtues, the repository of all auspicious 
attributes, Sri Rama was born. "nakshatrE aditi daivatyE" says Sri Valmiki, 
recounting Sri Raghava's birth under this star, the presiding deity of which is 
Aditi, famed as the Mother of all Celestials-" aditi: dEva mAtA". Predictably, 
this star is adulated as the support of all worlds-"Visvasya bhartrI Jagata: 
pratishttA".



SwatI, the aphorism of the unparallelled avataram, that of Sri Nrisimha, comes 
in for its share of praise too. This nakshatram is prayed to for ensuring 
freedom from the torment of one's detractors and for the latter to vanish into 
the distance, turned impotent and harmless by the awesome power of the Adbhuta 
Kesari ("dooram asmat satravO yantu bheetA:"). Sri Nrisimha ensures not only 
safety from one's enemies, but bestows upon us all that is auspicious, if 
prayed to-"tannakshatram bhooridA astu mahyam", for He is the personification 
of auspiciousness-"Bhadram". Nitya sUris like Sri VainatEya and Sri 
Vishnuchitta of the Azhwar ghOshti, have adorned this aphorism by choosing it 
as their birth star.



As against the twenty-seven popular stars, the Shruti enumerates one additional 
nakshatram named "Abhijit" ("abhijit nAma nakshatram, uparishtAt ashAdAnAm, 
avastAt shrOnAyai"), that confers success in all our endeavours and victory in 
all battles. This additional nakshatram is placed between UtthrAdam and 
Tiruvonam and is supposed to have been the source of inspiration and success 
for BrahmA himself.



Though it is tempting to cover in detail the glory of each of these 28 stars, 
let us conclude with a mention of the last one in the Vedic order-Bharani. The 
Overlord of this star is the dreaded Yamadharmaraja, who keeps meticulous count 
of all the sins we commit (which we imagine to be unknown to others) and metes 
out just punishment commensurate with the gravity of the offences. The Shruti 
extolls his praise as the Lord of the Worlds ("lOkasya RajA mahatO mahAn hi"), 
what with the power of penalty that he wields over all inhabitants, 
irrespective of their social or economic status. It is however interesting to 
note Yama himself confessing that though he is all-powerful, his writ runs not 
over the devotees of Lord Vishnu-"prabhu: aham anya nriNAm, na VaishnavAnAm". 
The memorable story of AjAmiLa is a case in point. Given his stature and 
punitive powers, the Shruti voices a prayer to Yama that he should make our 
lives easy, virtuous and fearless, so that we are spared the unwelcome 
attentions of this terrifying deity-

"sugam na: pantthAm abhayam kriNOtu".



We also hear of the magnificence of Dhruva, whom the Lord has made an 
everlasting star in the eternal firmament, in recognition of his boundless 
bhakti manifest at an extremely young age, the guiding star of sailors the 
world over before modern day navigational aids were invented. Another star to 
come in for Vedic adulation is ArundhatI, held out to be a role model for women 
to this day, when no marriage is complete without the newly-wedded couple 
having the star pointed out to them-" Saptarshaya: prathamAm KrittikAnAm 
arundhatI" says the Shruti.



Stars occupy an extremely significant place in the divine scheme of things, so 
much so that they are reputed to be the very form of the Lord 
Himself-"nakshatrANi roopam" says the Purusha Sukta. The first ashtaka of the 
Yajur Brahmana tells us that one who knows the Paramapurusha as the embodiment 
of nakshatras verily knows all that is there to be known in this world and 
others-"yO vai nakshatriyam Prajapatim vEda, ubhayOr Enam lOkayOr vidu:". 
Describing Emperuman's various angAs, the ashtaka lays down that Hasta 
nakshatram is His hands, ChitrA His head, SwAtI His heart, VisAkham His thighs 
and so on. 



During TrivikramAvatAra, when the Lord grew from a dimunitive dwarf into a 
Colossus spanning the three worlds, the fraternity of stars formed a garland 
around His towering headgear. When He grew further, they adorned His forehead 
as a glittering ornament. When He continued His vertical journey, the 
nakshatrAs formed a sparkling necklace around His beautiful neck, and later, a 
brilliant "oddyANam" around His midriff. When the Lord grew further, the stars 
formed themselves into adoring anklets around His holy feet. When He outgrew 
this too, the stars remained vanquished, knowing not in what form they could 
perform kainkaryam to the ever-expanding tirumEni of Trivikrama. This 
enthralling imagery is portrayed with perfection by Swami Desikan in Sri 
DEhalIsa Stuti.



Of the five angAs (tithi, vAram, yOgam, KaraNam and nakshatram), the stars are 
the only ones to be bestowed with the honorific prefix, "thiru". We say 
"thirnakshatram" when referring to the birth star of the Lord, Azhwars or 
Acharyas. Similar honour is not afforded to the other four angAs-nobody says 
"thiru ashtami" or "thiru subha yOgam", even while referring to auspicious 
ones. Nor are the other angAs glorified by the Shruti, which reserves choice 
words of appreciation for the stars. And nobody is bothered about under what 
tithi he was born in or the Yogam or KaraNam of that day. It is the Stars which 
rule the roost, all the way. They twinkle at us from millions of miles afar, 
shaping our future, guiding our destinies and forming constant reminders of the 
Lord and His magnificence.



Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana 
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:



Dasan, sadagopan



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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