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dwAdash stOtra - 10
Sthothra No. 10.
Introduction :
In this sthothra, there is a common second line praying that the
Supreme Being who is the abode of infinite kindness should
remind us of His own glorious stories - "Karunaapoornavaraprada
charitham jnaapaya me the". There is an immense depth of
philosophical truths compressed in this apparently simple
statement. Before commencing the individual shloka translation,
I would like to elaborate on this as far as I can understand.
The expression from Upanishads "Yamevaisha vrunuthe thena
labhyah thasyaisha aathmaa vivrunuthe thanoom svaam" can be
recalled. This Supreme Being is essentially one who is beyond
the senses and the mind. Logic will fall far short in grasping
him, being nothing but a mental faculty. He is unlike any thing
that the world knows or is. He is infinitely more complex than
even extrasensory objects that we can dimly grasp with the mind
like the concept of sin and merit etc. He is beyond creation,
being the creator Himself. He does not have to be guided by the
rules of the world, as He makes them Himself. He is beyond
Prakruthi or nature, which includes all that is known and
unknown to science and the mind. How can He be ever be the
subject of understanding of a human mind with its limitations of
intellect, time, knowledge, ability to grasp non-sensory
entities etc. Even simple common sense should tell us that He
is essentially unknowable, uncognisable, ununderstandable and
ungraspable by us. Apart from the fact that His qualities are
not like those of the worldly type which we can understand,
there is also the problem of magnitudes and infinities. He can
do things, undo things, He uses things and need not use them at
all. Time is in His control, Space is all pervaded by Him. He is
also beyond them, being the creator of ALL entities. He pervades
them all and is found in their innermost core and it is He who
is responsible for their very existence, continued existence,
qualities, actions and in the case of souls, their knowledge
(jnana), desire (Icchaa), attempt at action (Prayathna). Kriyaa
( action) and results (Phala). " Dravyam karma cha kaalascha
swabahavo jiva yeva cha, yadanugrahathah santhi, na santhi
yadupekshayaa" is a favourite quote of Acharya Madhva. He needs
nothing, not even the companionship of Lakshmi, His eternal
consort. There is nothing that He has to attain, He is not
dependent on any thing or any one in respect of any thing. There
is none even remotely like Him. He has never been bound,
afflicted by sorrow or pleasure. He has always had His way and
will always do so. He is the final decider of all events, though
He is a very fair and scrupulous one. No soul ever means any
thing to Him other than the relationship which is totally one
sided - He being the Benefactor and the soul being the
beneficiary. He does not have to create - Devasyaisha
Swabhaavoyam aapthakamasya kaa spruhaa" - This is only His
nature, what can one who has all His desires fulfilled ever
want?
His capacity is infinite and not limited in any manner - Icchaa
mathram prabhoh srushtih. He just wills it and it happens. He is
not only a Sarvajna, but the extent and quality of His knowledge
about all entities and events in all time is unmatched,
instantaneous, not needing any aids like memory, mind and means.
In Pramana Lakshana, Acharya Madhva defines Pramana as -
Yathartham pramaanam - the means or knowledge (pramaa) which is
as it is. While describing Isha Jnana, or the knowledge of the
Lord, is Anadi Nithya, beginningless and eternal and Svathanthra
- independent of any other. He is also the only one who knows
all about Himself, while Lakshmi who knows more about Him than
any other soul, in creation or Mukthi still knows very little.
Thus, Sumadhvavijaya (seventh canto) says - "Na ramaapi
padaanguleelasannakhadhooraajadananthasadgunam
ganayeth ganayanthyanaaratham paramaan kosya paro gunaan
vadeth". (The context is the description of Veda Vyasa, when
Acharya Madhwa sees Him in Badarkashrama). This is translated as
- Even Ramaa, who next to God has the greatest ability to grasp
and know and is His eternal consort, even when continuously
enumerating the auspicious qualities of the tip of the finger
nail of His little finger from beginningless time continuously
will not be able to complete it till eternity. This should never
be taken as poetic license to describe the extraordinary
qualities of the Lord as compared to the souls and is thus an
exaggeration. It is simply and literally true. When one grasps
this, what are the chances of any soul which is far more limited
in time, abilities, and gets diverted quite easily into the
pleasures of the world even when born in human species, can ever
understand God?. An Advaithin takes the easy way out of the
problem by saying that God is unknowable even to the slightest
extent as He is Nirdharmaka - without any attributes. The so
called attributes described by the Vedas like Sath, Chith,
Ananda, Ananthathva etc are also explained away virtually as
meaningless entities - thus Ananda or bliss becomes - not being
unblissful. Let us leave out these mental contortions, which
eventually lead to the proposition that even devotion to God is
possible only in the Vyavaharika world and is a creature of
Ajnana and Avidya, which vanishes in the absolute stage. His
glory is thus Mithya, His creation is unreal and even we do not
really exist.
The concept that there is gradation even in the capacity to
knowledge dependent on the Jiva Swaroopa is not fully
appreciated. Thus all of us are apt to assume that we can
understand provided we are educated or all the facts are placed
before us. This is generally true for all worldly affairs,
though we do note that there are differences even there - with
some people having a quicker or clearer grasp and greater
facility usually developed in specific areas like Mathematics,
music or abstract thinking on concepts like Law etc. Acharya
Madhva explains in Anuvyakhyana that the knowledge of the
Supreme Being is :
"Asheshoruvisheshaanaam athispashtathayaa drushih
nithyamekaprakaaraa cha Naaraayanamathih paraa
sooryaprabhaavaadakhilam bhaasayanthee nirantharaa
nirlepaa veethadoshaa cha nithyamevaavikaarinee"
His Jnana is not Janya or created by any other means including
the three Gunas. This is true of all Jnana of Muktha Jivas also.
But, that of the Supreme Being is extremely clear in all
respects which cognises all the infinite subjects related to it
at the same time, which sees all other subjects and all their
meanings at the same time. It is at the same time free of all
disrtortions like likes and dislikes, incomplete observation or
any distortions introduced due to the obesrver etc. An example
may make this concept clear : - Our knowledge of a table or a
pot is limited to the narrow band width of information received
through our senses, our capacity to simultaneously cognise a
large number of observations and bounded by time - at least to
the extent of the existence of our own consciousness and even
our commitment to know or not to know depending on our interest.
God would know all the constituents of matter and energy which
appears to us as a physical object, their history in infinite
time and space etc. Such knowledge is also possessed by Goddess
Lakshmi, who incidentally would also know all about the infinite
souls. One is reminded of the famous Geetha shloka : "Na
thvevaaham jaathu naasam na thvam neme janaadhipaah Na chaiva na
bhavishyaamah sarve vayamathah param". There was no time when
all the kings for whom Arjuna was grieving were not there, nor
would there be in future, the soul being eternal and
indestructible. But all of them know not this, but Krishna knows
it.
But the knowledge (jnana) of Narayana is further special as
compared to Lakshmi Jnana - It is like seeing things in the
light of the sun with no areas of darkness left and it also
knows itself in full, as Lakshmi Jnana is incapable of knowing
God. It has also the unique characteristic of being totally
independent of the means, not needing any of the entities of
creation like the mind and the senses nor the use of help of any
one. Even Lakshmi Jnana is dependent on His will. Such Jnana is
the essence of His own person, infinite, complete with nothing
left out and totally as it is
To sum up, He is knowable by us to the extent that Shruthis tell
us and the soul has the capacity and time to do so. The
shruthise themselves are infinite in number and fail to describe
him fully - Yatho vaacho nivarthanthe apraapya manasaa saha".
He is unknowable in His entirety even in Infinite time by the
gretaest of all souls ever - Ramaa herself. He has to be known
by each one of us - as only true knowledge about Him up to the
limit of capacity of the soul will lead to His aparoksha which
will secure His grace and final redemption from the travails of
Samsara. Acharya Madhva is very clear on this -
"Thasmath virakthah san jnanameva samaashrayeth" - One should
develop resignation from the affairs of the world and take the
only path of securing true Jnana. This reflects the very first
suthra of the Brahma suthra - Athaatho Brahma Jijnaasaa, where
Atha indicates the previous qualification of Viraktha etc. and
Athah indicates the purpose of securing God's grace and Mukthi
thereby.
To fully appreciate the importance of the path of securing
Jnana let us look at Harikathamruthasara - Kalpa sadhana sandhi,
which indicates the syllabus for an ordinary Human being to
secure Mukthi :
The original shlokas "Heenakarmagalinda .. Nantharadi", "Hatthu
janmagalalli …. Tharuvaaya", "Moorujanmagalalli .. sukhisuvaru"
may be seen in the books. The sum total of them is :
After having gone through myriad lives in different species,
most of which are unfit for securing knowledge, one gets the
life of a human being, which God has specially designed for this
purpose. He should get the knowledge of Hari Sarvotthamathva and
with the devotion born out of this knowledge will go through a
thousand lives as a human being to perform all prescribed duties
to secure purity of mind, resignation from the affairs of the
world and increasing knowledge about God. Such knowledge will
also include the devotion to His Gurus who teach him and thus
the knowledge of Vayu Jivotthamathva. He then has a course of
ten lives where he understands the Supreme Being with regard to
His qualities, through the sudy of the Vedas full time. In three
lives there after, the soul loves God more than all worldly
objects and other persons with whom he is associated like wife,
childern etc. Such complete devotion leads to Aparoksha of the
Supreme Being. Each one of us can easily place himself in this
schedule and it will be a brave one indeed, who thinks that he
has really made use of his being born as a human being - that
too as a Vaishnava. "Manushyaanaam sahasreshu kashchith yathathi
siddhaye""- Only one amongst thousands of men will try to secure
redemption. The securing of life as a human being is itself very
rare and difficult, and being a VAISHNAVA in such a life is even
more rare. Hence, one could easily understand the need to use
all the time possible to study and understand the Supreme Being.
Thus, even the attempt to understand Him starts only with his
intial grace, which is based on the soul's sathvika nature and
its innate love for Him. But why should one try to understand
and know God? I will cover this subject in the next part.
NAPSRao
Sthothra No. 10.
Introduction :
In this sthothra, there is a common second line praying that the
Supreme Being who is the abode of infinite kindness should
remind us of His own glorious stories - "Karunaapoornavaraprada
charitham jnaapaya me the". There is an immense depth of
philosophical truths compressed in this apparently simple
statement. Before commencing the individual shloka translation,
I would like to elaborate on this as far as I can understand.
The expression from Upanishads "Yamevaisha vrunuthe thena
labhyah thasyaisha aathmaa vivrunuthe thanoom svaam" can be
recalled. This Supreme Being is essentially one who is beyond
the senses and the mind. Logic will fall far short in grasping
him, being nothing but a mental faculty. He is unlike any thing
that the world knows or is. He is infinitely more complex than
even extrasensory objects that we can dimly grasp with the mind
like the concept of sin and merit etc. He is beyond creation,
being the creator Himself. He does not have to be guided by the
rules of the world, as He makes them Himself. He is beyond
Prakruthi or nature, which includes all that is known and
unknown to science and the mind. How can He be ever be the
subject of understanding of a human mind with its limitations of
intellect, time, knowledge, ability to grasp non-sensory
entities etc. Even simple common sense should tell us that He
is essentially unknowable, uncognisable, ununderstandable and
ungraspable by us. Apart from the fact that His qualities are
not like those of the worldly type which we can understand,
there is also the problem of magnitudes and infinities. He can
do things, undo things, He uses things and need not use them at
all. Time is in His control, Space is all pervaded by Him. He is
also beyond them, being the creator of ALL entities. He pervades
them all and is found in their innermost core and it is He who
is responsible for their very existence, continued existence,
qualities, actions and in the case of souls, their knowledge
(jnana), desire (Icchaa), attempt at action (Prayathna). Kriyaa
( action) and results (Phala). " Dravyam karma cha kaalascha
swabahavo jiva yeva cha, yadanugrahathah santhi, na santhi
yadupekshayaa" is a favourite quote of Acharya Madhva. He needs
nothing, not even the companionship of Lakshmi, His eternal
consort. There is nothing that He has to attain, He is not
dependent on any thing or any one in respect of any thing. There
is none even remotely like Him. He has never been bound,
afflicted by sorrow or pleasure. He has always had His way and
will always do so. He is the final decider of all events, though
He is a very fair and scrupulous one. No soul ever means any
thing to Him other than the relationship which is totally one
sided - He being the Benefactor and the soul being the
beneficiary. He does not have to create - Devasyaisha
Swabhaavoyam aapthakamasya kaa spruhaa" - This is only His
nature, what can one who has all His desires fulfilled ever
want?
His capacity is infinite and not limited in any manner - Icchaa
mathram prabhoh srushtih. He just wills it and it happens. He is
not only a Sarvajna, but the extent and quality of His knowledge
about all entities and events in all time is unmatched,
instantaneous, not needing any aids like memory, mind and means.
In Pramana Lakshana, Acharya Madhva defines Pramana as -
Yathartham pramaanam - the means or knowledge (pramaa) which is
as it is. While describing Isha Jnana, or the knowledge of the
Lord, is Anadi Nithya, beginningless and eternal and Svathanthra
- independent of any other. He is also the only one who knows
all about Himself, while Lakshmi who knows more about Him than
any other soul, in creation or Mukthi still knows very little.
Thus, Sumadhvavijaya (seventh canto) says - "Na ramaapi
padaanguleelasannakhadhooraajadananthasadgunam
ganayeth ganayanthyanaaratham paramaan kosya paro gunaan
vadeth". (The context is the description of Veda Vyasa, when
Acharya Madhwa sees Him in Badarkashrama). This is translated as
- Even Ramaa, who next to God has the greatest ability to grasp
and know and is His eternal consort, even when continuously
enumerating the auspicious qualities of the tip of the finger
nail of His little finger from beginningless time continuously
will not be able to complete it till eternity. This should never
be taken as poetic license to describe the extraordinary
qualities of the Lord as compared to the souls and is thus an
exaggeration. It is simply and literally true. When one grasps
this, what are the chances of any soul which is far more limited
in time, abilities, and gets diverted quite easily into the
pleasures of the world even when born in human species, can ever
understand God?. An Advaithin takes the easy way out of the
problem by saying that God is unknowable even to the slightest
extent as He is Nirdharmaka - without any attributes. The so
called attributes described by the Vedas like Sath, Chith,
Ananda, Ananthathva etc are also explained away virtually as
meaningless entities - thus Ananda or bliss becomes - not being
unblissful. Let us leave out these mental contortions, which
eventually lead to the proposition that even devotion to God is
possible only in the Vyavaharika world and is a creature of
Ajnana and Avidya, which vanishes in the absolute stage. His
glory is thus Mithya, His creation is unreal and even we do not
really exist.
The concept that there is gradation even in the capacity to
knowledge dependent on the Jiva Swaroopa is not fully
appreciated. Thus all of us are apt to assume that we can
understand provided we are educated or all the facts are placed
before us. This is generally true for all worldly affairs,
though we do note that there are differences even there - with
some people having a quicker or clearer grasp and greater
facility usually developed in specific areas like Mathematics,
music or abstract thinking on concepts like Law etc. Acharya
Madhva explains in Anuvyakhyana that the knowledge of the
Supreme Being is :
"Asheshoruvisheshaanaam athispashtathayaa drushih
nithyamekaprakaaraa cha Naaraayanamathih paraa
sooryaprabhaavaadakhilam bhaasayanthee nirantharaa
nirlepaa veethadoshaa cha nithyamevaavikaarinee"
His Jnana is not Janya or created by any other means including
the three Gunas. This is true of all Jnana of Muktha Jivas also.
But, that of the Supreme Being is extremely clear in all
respects which cognises all the infinite subjects related to it
at the same time, which sees all other subjects and all their
meanings at the same time. It is at the same time free of all
disrtortions like likes and dislikes, incomplete observation or
any distortions introduced due to the obesrver etc. An example
may make this concept clear : - Our knowledge of a table or a
pot is limited to the narrow band width of information received
through our senses, our capacity to simultaneously cognise a
large number of observations and bounded by time - at least to
the extent of the existence of our own consciousness and even
our commitment to know or not to know depending on our interest.
God would know all the constituents of matter and energy which
appears to us as a physical object, their history in infinite
time and space etc. Such knowledge is also possessed by Goddess
Lakshmi, who incidentally would also know all about the infinite
souls. One is reminded of the famous Geetha shloka : "Na
thvevaaham jaathu naasam na thvam neme janaadhipaah Na chaiva na
bhavishyaamah sarve vayamathah param". There was no time when
all the kings for whom Arjuna was grieving were not there, nor
would there be in future, the soul being eternal and
indestructible. But all of them know not this, but Krishna knows
it.
But the knowledge (jnana) of Narayana is further special as
compared to Lakshmi Jnana - It is like seeing things in the
light of the sun with no areas of darkness left and it also
knows itself in full, as Lakshmi Jnana is incapable of knowing
God. It has also the unique characteristic of being totally
independent of the means, not needing any of the entities of
creation like the mind and the senses nor the use of help of any
one. Even Lakshmi Jnana is dependent on His will. Such Jnana is
the essence of His own person, infinite, complete with nothing
left out and totally as it is
To sum up, He is knowable by us to the extent that Shruthis tell
us and the soul has the capacity and time to do so. The
shruthise themselves are infinite in number and fail to describe
him fully - Yatho vaacho nivarthanthe apraapya manasaa saha".
He is unknowable in His entirety even in Infinite time by the
gretaest of all souls ever - Ramaa herself. He has to be known
by each one of us - as only true knowledge about Him up to the
limit of capacity of the soul will lead to His aparoksha which
will secure His grace and final redemption from the travails of
Samsara. Acharya Madhva is very clear on this -
"Thasmath virakthah san jnanameva samaashrayeth" - One should
develop resignation from the affairs of the world and take the
only path of securing true Jnana. This reflects the very first
suthra of the Brahma suthra - Athaatho Brahma Jijnaasaa, where
Atha indicates the previous qualification of Viraktha etc. and
Athah indicates the purpose of securing God's grace and Mukthi
thereby.
To fully appreciate the importance of the path of securing
Jnana let us look at Harikathamruthasara - Kalpa sadhana sandhi,
which indicates the syllabus for an ordinary Human being to
secure Mukthi :
The original shlokas "Heenakarmagalinda .. Nantharadi", "Hatthu
janmagalalli …. Tharuvaaya", "Moorujanmagalalli .. sukhisuvaru"
may be seen in the books. The sum total of them is :
After having gone through myriad lives in different species,
most of which are unfit for securing knowledge, one gets the
life of a human being, which God has specially designed for this
purpose. He should get the knowledge of Hari Sarvotthamathva and
with the devotion born out of this knowledge will go through a
thousand lives as a human being to perform all prescribed duties
to secure purity of mind, resignation from the affairs of the
world and increasing knowledge about God. Such knowledge will
also include the devotion to His Gurus who teach him and thus
the knowledge of Vayu Jivotthamathva. He then has a course of
ten lives where he understands the Supreme Being with regard to
His qualities, through the sudy of the Vedas full time. In three
lives there after, the soul loves God more than all worldly
objects and other persons with whom he is associated like wife,
childern etc. Such complete devotion leads to Aparoksha of the
Supreme Being. Each one of us can easily place himself in this
schedule and it will be a brave one indeed, who thinks that he
has really made use of his being born as a human being - that
too as a Vaishnava. "Manushyaanaam sahasreshu kashchith yathathi
siddhaye""- Only one amongst thousands of men will try to secure
redemption. The securing of life as a human being is itself very
rare and difficult, and being a VAISHNAVA in such a life is even
more rare. Hence, one could easily understand the need to use
all the time possible to study and understand the Supreme Being.
Thus, even the attempt to understand Him starts only with his
intial grace, which is based on the soul's sathvika nature and
its innate love for Him. But why should one try to understand
and know God? I will cover this subject in the next part.
NAPSRao
PART 10-2
Introduction (contd)
We have seen how the Supreme Being forms the most interesting
and even tantalising subject to be known and understood. No
research, study or investigation can be ever more essential,
difficult, time consuming and productive than this. Sri
Jagannatha Dasa in Harikathamruthasara explains this in his
shloka : "Shravana manakaanandaveevudu". Listening to the
recital of the auspicious stories of the Lord of Lakshmi, who is
the redeemer of the world gives happiness, removes the sorrows
of the world, gives different means of enjoyment in this world
and the next. Therefore, all Brahmanas should listen to them
day after day with absorbing interest and pleasure. The
Bhagavatha says:
"Shrunvathaam svakathaam Krishnah punyashravanakeerthanah
hrudyanthastho hyabhadraani vidhunothi suhruth sathaam"
Mukunda, the giver of ultimate liberation from the worldly
bondage is completely free from any defect -, as it is such
defects in us that result in bondage. If any such defects appear
to be there, it is meant for the delusion of the wicked. The
wise ones should not be deceived by them.
"Saankethyam paarihaasyam vaa sthobham helanameva vaa
vaikuntanaamagrahanam asheshaaghaharam viduh"
Even if the name of God is remembered without understanding
(only as a token), in fun or even in derision it will still
result in destruction of sins. When one does it with
understanding, as in listening to Harikatha, how much more
effective it would be?
If it has to render us pure (Paavana) it has to be related to
Pavana - Acharya Madhva. We should study all the Shasthras in
the illumination provided by Acharya Madhva.
Sri Jagannatha dasa has summarised the following shlokas from
Bhagavatha in his simple statement - Shravana
Manakaanandaveevudu.
"Nivrutthatharshairupageeyamaanaath
bhavaushadaath shrothramanobhiraamaath
ka utthamashlokagunaanuvaadaath
pumaan virajjetha vinaa pashughnaath"
"Shukamukhadamruthadravasamyutham"
"Yathshrunvathaam rasajnaanaam svaadu svaadu pade pade"
"Thadeva shashvanmanaso mahothsavam
yadutthamashlokayasho anu geeyathe"
These shlokas describe in graphic language the indescribable
bliss that one gets when listening to Harikathaa like tasting
Nectar and leading to deathlessness. It is not only sweet, but
is also the medicine from worldly ills - Bhavaushada. The
stories recount the infinite auspicious qualities of the Supreme
Being, which are already described in the Vedas.
"Vedaksharaani yaavanthi pathithaani dvijaathibhih
thaavanthi Harinaamani .. "
If Shravana (listening with devotion) itself can do all this,
what would Dhyana (meditation with total application of the
conscious mind) do? The Bhagavatha says that the bliss secured
thereby is even greater than the one in Moksha.
"Yaa nirvruthisthanubhruthaam thava paadapadma
dhyaanaath bhavajjanakathaashravanena vaa syaath
saa brahmani svamahimanyapi naatha maa bhooth
kim nvanthakaasi lulithaath pathathaam vimaanaath" - ( 4 - 10
- 10 )
"Jnaanam yadaa prathinivruttha gunormichakram
aathmaprasaada ubhayathra guneshvasangah" - ( 2 -
3 - 12 )
Harikathaa shravana and Dhyana purifies the mind by removing
it's impurities and rendering it clean and clear like placid
waters of a lake unlike the worldly stories which muddy the mind
and make it opaque.
Each of us would like endless pleasure and no pain or suffering.
It is obvious that such a state does not exist in this world,
because pleasure is always preceded by pain (in securing the
means for pleasure), accompanied by it during its existence (due
to our lack of control on all factors) and is certainly followed
by it - usually with very long term effects. The short but sweet
pleasure which all strive for, is loaded with suffering of
orders of magnitude higher as a part of the package. But there
will hardly be any one who will forego the chance of securing
it, some times at any cost to others and even to himself. We
have two basic alternatives to it - The charvaka one of "seeing
is believing" - when we strive for maximising the pleasure for
ourselves or the alternative of trying to understand that the
transitoriness and admixture of pleasure and pain, which is
invariably found makes it not acceptable to the thinking
individual unless it is tempered by some value system which
suprevenes over it. Even those who do not accept the concept of
God laying down laws for Man kind, accept that some rational
system based on humanity , greatest good to the greatest number,
"Fairness to one and all", etc is essential in human society.
But the concept of Asthikas or believers is that the moral laws
are laid down by God Himself for the welfare of Mankind - Ex.
The Ten commandments of the Christians. The system followed by
vedic schools is that these are laid down by Smrithis - which
are themselves based on Shruthi Pramanas. The laws are there not
only for ensuring an orderly development of society leading to
peace and stability, but also - more important - for the
evolurion of the individual himself into a better person. Thus,
all the rules regarding fasting, rituals, worship, sacrifice etc
are for the main purpose of purifying the mind of impurities
likely to mislead - called Ari Shadvarga - the well known Kaama,
Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and Maathsarya. But a well honed
instrument needs to be used - thus the mind is to be used to
cognise God - not directly which is impossible, but to clearly
understand His Lakshanas --defining parameters. Acharya Madhva
invariably repeats in almost every invocatory verse of his
compositions the main Lakshanas - being full of all auspicious
qualities and being totally devoid of all infirmities or
defects. Such a statement, while it has been fully understood by
him would only be just words for us. How do we understand the
full significance of these expressions?
Here we come to the significance of Hari Katha. These illustrate
the auspicious qualities of the Lord in a manner which our minds
can understand and appreciate. In His incarnations, the Lord
takes the forms of human beings, animals etc , but does wondrous
deeds. His behaviour is exemplary. He is the ideal son, husband,
brother, master and friend. His stories leave such a deep impact
on contemporary society that they are recalled for centuries and
aeons later as ideals to be striven for. His manner of
neutralising the boons given to evil persons and destroy them is
recalled with pleasure and gratitude by the weaker persons who
suffer the depredations of evil. His glory is dsecribed in great
detail, in the form of sthothras by His devotees, description of
His beauty or strength, His kindness to the weak, His wealth and
His nobility. While all these show an extraordinary being,
reading more deeply into the texts will also suggest a
superiority which is immeasurably greater from human standards.
It is obvious that we will know about God, what ever he chooses
to reveal Himself to us and to the extent of our own capacity.
Now let us look at some shlokas of Mahabharatha thathparya
Nirnaya in this context :
"Panchathmakah .. bahoopamobhooth" - Chap 1 , No. 10
The Supreme Being having the five fundamental forms for the
Creation, Destruction, Liberation etc of the souls (Narayana,
Vasudeva, Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Samkarshana) took twelve forms
(Keshava, Narayana etc), 10 forms (Mathsya etc) and then took a
hundred forms (Narayana etc), a thousand forms (Vishva etc as in
Sahasra nama), a very large number for forms (Para etc) and
infinite forms (Ajitha etc). He is completely One though having
many forms, with all the forms having the complete infinite
attributes of the main form.
"Nirdosha poorna gunavigraha . vivarjithaathmaa" - No 11.
His body is non material and consists only of pure defectless
auspicious qualities like knowledge and bliss, He is totally
independent, His limbs are also made of such qualities only.
There is no difference in any form with any other form.
"Sarvajna Ishwarathamah . kasya chesham" - No. 12
He is all knowing. He is the controller of all others including
those who control others like Brahma and Rudra, He has infinite
capacities. His strength, knowledge, bliss etc are His own and
part of His essential being and hence never suffer any change,
and the entire world excluding Him (inclusive of Lakshmi, Brahma
and others) can not do any thing without Him. Thus the entire
world is always fully in His control.
"Avathareshu yathkinchith . na hi kvachith" - No. 37
In his incarnations Sri Hari shows some behaviour like an
ordinary human being. This is meant for producing Mithya Jnana
in asuras. He has absolutely no defect in any incarnation.
"Aprameyoniyojyashcha . keedanakairiva" - Chap. 2 - No.
76
He is unknowable in full by any one. He is never controlled to
the slightest extent by any one else. He can do any thing He
pleases and has total control over all else. But just as boys
play with sport objects like balls etc. He plays with the world
by engaging in creation etc.
"Vasudevasutho naayam . jamadagnithah" - Chap 2 - No 78
This Lord is not the son of Vasudeva. He never spent any time in
the womb of any body. He was not born of Dasharatha or
Jamadagni.
"Ishannapi hi deveshah . keenasha iva durbalah" - Chap 2 - No
81
Though He is the Supreme Lord Himself, He acts like a weak human
being , peforming actions like being the charioteer of Arjuna,
offering respects to lesser persons like Balarama etc.
"Naathmaanam veda . asuramohinee" - Chap 2 No. 82
Actions like His searching for Seetha, being bound by Indrajith
etc are for deluding the evil persons.
"Muhyathe shasthrapaathena . thadviduh suraah" Chap 2 - No
83/4
His body is cut by weapons, bleeds and He becomes unconscious.
He asks other what to do, as if He does not know. He leaves
behind His body. All these delude Asuras, while the gods
understand the truth.
"RaamaRaama mahaabaaho maayaa the suduruaasadaa
vaadasaadada kiloke paadaaveva thavaasajeth" - Krishnamrutha
Maharnava - No 70
Oh. Raama, Raama, the Great and beautiful one, Your greatness is
not attainable by any one else (even in understanding it). You
are the limit of all discussions (on Vedantha). Who is there,
who can even understand the superiority of your feet.
"Unnathaprarthithaa . thanna kinnethi vidvathsu meemamsitham"
Dvaadasha Sthothra - No 8
Wise men debate amongst themselves about Him - He is not that,
not this etc. It is not any thing that can be defined etc. Sri
Vishvapathi Tirtha says regarding the last -
"Vedarthavicharakushaleshu Thad Brahma na, Kim naasthi, Kim
asthyeva, Naastheethi yath thanna". Acharya Madhva indicates
that even those well versed in the Vedas are unable to define
Him fully and debate amongst themselves about His nature.
All these quotes show that even the study of the Hari Katha is
difficult - one should not imagine that it is like watching a
serial in TV or reading a book. The entire objective being the
understanding of the superlative nature of the Lord of all, the
study has to be in depth with proper guidance and efforts
consciously made to remove all doubts and disparities. A simple
instance is the picture that a poet gets of a scene in nature
as compared to a casual glance by one of us. The Artist or poet
has the initial gift of looking at things differently and the
habit formed after such practice, which makes his view far more
exact, with many unsuspected dimensions being brought out. The
word Shravana is also normally understood to mean listening to
the Shasthras or Puranas, as a means of passing time in
preference to other means. While it is good so far as it goes,
the listening will have to be with the mind immersed in the
subject with a view to assimilate the real content of the story
- which is the illustration of some of the qualities of the
Supreme Being. It is the casual approach, coupled with a
simplistic faith in superficial knowledge or concept of Punya
gained etc which may lead to horrendous errors like - believing
that Shishupala went to Moksha by hating Sri Hari. Thus, here
again, it is essential to have God's own blessing that the
quality of our listening, contemplation etc is high and not just
the quantity.
The path to Moksha is clearly defined in Thathvavada.
"Yo veda nihitham guhaayaam parame vyoman
soshnuthe sarvaan kaamaan saha brahmanaa vipashchithaa"
Who so ever "sees" (Aparoksha) Narayana who resides in the Heart
lotus, he will attain Parabrahman and enjoy all pleasures along
with Him.
"Yadaa pashyah pashyathe rukmavarnam
karthaarameesham purusham brahmayonim
thadaa vidvaan punyapaape vidhooya
niranjanah paramam saamyam upaithi"
He who sees (by Aparoksha) the golden form of the Supreme Being
who is the Master of all, creator of the world and has all
auspicious attributes, will get rid of all sins and merit, be
freed from Avidya (Ajnana) and will obtain equality to the best
possible extent (to him) with the Supreme Being (such as being
freed from sorrow, obtaining eternal bliss, attaining his
desires instantly etc)
"Thathpreethyaiva cha Mokshah praapyah thenaiva naanyathaa"
Moksha is attained only by the grace of the Supreme Being
(Vishnu)
"Tharathamyam thatho jneyam sarvocchathvam haresthathaa
yethadvinaa na kasyaapi vimukthih syath kathanchana" _
Mahabharatha Thathparya Nirnaya _ Chapt 1 . No 81.
One should understand Tharathamya or gradation and that Sri Hari
is the greatest. Without this Jnana, there is no Mukthi in any
other way.
"Panchabhedaan cha vijnaaya vishnoh svaabhedameva cha
nirdoshathvam gunodrekam jnaathvaa mukthirna chaanyathaa"
One should understand the five differences, total non-difference
between the incarnations of Vishnu from Himself, His limbs from
Himself, His being free completely from all defects and
shortcomings and His being full of infinite auspicious
qualities. Only with this knowledge, will one secure Mukthi and
not otherwise.
"Maahaathmyajnaanapoorvasthu sudhrudhah sarvathodhikah
sneho bhakthirithi prokthah thayaa mukthirna chaanyathaa"
Devotion is Love which is based on clear understanding of the
greatness of the Supreme Being, which is unshakeable and is more
powerful than all other attachments to worldly objects. Only
such Devotion leads to Mukthi - none else.
"Thamevam vidvaanamrutha iha bhavathi"
Only by knowing Him as Sahasra Sheersha etc will one be free
from bondage and death.
"Alodhya sarvashaasthraani vichaarya cha punah punah
idamekam sunishpannam dhyeyo naaraayanassadaa"
After studying all the Shasthras and deeply and repeatedly
analysing them, it is concluded that Narayana should always be
meditated upon.
From these and many other Pramanas, it is clear that any one
who aspires for redemption from the sorrows of the world must
try to study authoritative scriptures to know as much about the
Supreme Being as he can. While the highest class of Rju Jivas
such as Brahma and Vayu could study the infinite Vedas and
understand the infinite qualities stated by them, other souls
specially humans would have to know Him as Sath, Chith, Ananda
and Aathman. This means that He is the very basis for our
existence, He is responsible for our attributes of a Chethana
(like Jnana, Iccha etc), He is of the nature of Bliss and other
auspicious qualities and He is the inner controller of all,
including ourselves also.
In conclusion, let me briefly explain the siginificance of the
words :
"Karunaapoorna varaprada charitham jnaapaya me the"
Karunaapoorna - refers to the specific quality of the Supreme
Being, due to which He gives so much to all the Jivas, without
getting any thing in return. Without that quality, we would
never be able to know about God. By Lakshana (generalising) it
also states that God is full of all auspicious attributes.
Varaprada - He is the true boon giver to all including evil and
good persons, as He is immanent in all others including Lakshmi,
Brahma etc. He also gives the greatest of the boons, which no
one else can give and that is redemption itself.
Charitham - Every auspicous text and Shasthra is nothing but the
description of the Supreme Being. The qualities mentioned in the
Vedas are elaborated with stories in Puranas.
Jnaapaya : He is the one to give us knowledge, just as He is the
one who has caused Ignorance to cover our and God's real
swaroopa. It is only His grace that finally removes the veils
leading us to Aparoksha,
I feel that a Sarvajna like Acharya Madhva would have hardly
used even simple words like these, without simultaneously
imputing enormous meanings into them. What I have written above
is perhaps only a little of what he means. I would only like to
repeat that his words are always : Baalasanghamapi
bodhayadbrusham, durniroopavachanam cha pandithai - His words
will convey meaning even to children, but their full meaning
will not be understood even by scholars. I think the very first
halting step in our growing up, is to know that we can not know
Acharya Madhva's composition in full without his blessings, and
we can not know God ever.
NAPSRao
Dvaadasha sthothra No. 10
After the some what long introduction, I will give the detailed
translation and comments on the Sthothra No. 10.
First let me give the shlokas in Itrans. There are one or two
corrections in the shlokas as compared to the versions available
in the Archives. These were errors which have been corrected..
ava naH shrIpatirapratiradhikeshAdibhavAde |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 1||
surava.ndyAdhipa sadvarabharitAsheshhaguNAlam.h |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 2||
sakaladhvA.ntavinAshaka paramAna.ndasudhAho |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 3||
trijagatpota sadArjitasharaNAshApatidhAto |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 4||
triguNAtItavidhAraka parito dehi subhaktim.h |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 5||
sharaNaM kAraNabhAvana bhava me tAta sadA.alam.h |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 6||
maraNaprANada pAlaka jagadIshAva subhaktim.h |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 7||
taruNAdityasavarNakacharaNAbjAmala kIrte |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 8||
salilaprotthasarAgakamaNivarNochchanakhAde |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 9||
khajatUNInibhapAvanavarajaN^ghAmitashakte |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 10||
ibhahastaprabhashobhanaparamorustharamAle |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 11||
asanotphullasupushhpakasamavarNAvaraNA.nte |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 12||
shatamododbhavasu.ndara varapadmotthitanAbhe |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 13||
jagadAgUhakapallavasamakuxe sharaNAde |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 14||
jagadaMbAmalasu.ndaragR^ihavaxovara yogin.h |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 15||
ditijA.ntaprada chakradharagadAyugvarabAho |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 16||
paramaGYAnamahAnidhivadana shrIramaNe.ndo |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 17||
nikhilAghaughavinAshana parasaukhyapradadR^ishhTe |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 18||
paramAna.ndasutIrthamunirAjo harigAthAm.h |
kR^itavAnnityasupUrNakaparamAna.ndapadaishhi.h || 19||
ava naH shrIpatirapratiradhikeshAdibhavAde |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 1||
The Lord is addressed as : Protector of all (Avana - based on
the dhathu Ava rakshana), One without any peer or similar person
(Aprathi), Greatest one (Adhika), One who causes the creation
etc of all such as Isha (rudra) - Ishaadi bhava (birth or
development) aade - cause or primary agent, The Lord of Shree
(Lakshmi), ocean of kindness (karunaapoorna), Giver of all boons
including Moksha (varaprada), make me understand your great
qualities or stories.
[Aprathi - na vidyathe prathih prathinibhah prathinidhirvaa
yasya sah]
Sri Vishvapathi also comments that the prayer may appear
unnecessary in the case of Acharya Madhva - but should be
considered as applicable to his disciples or for greater depth
and clarity for himself.
The interesting thing in this shloka is that all the adjectives
used for the Supreme Being justify the prayer in the end. He is
the protector at such a fundamental level - being responsible
for the very existence of the soul, his faculties and all his
desires and achievements that without His grace, prayer to any
one else is useless. He is also the Lord of Shree, who is
Abhimaani devathaa of the three Gunas which binds one to Samsara
and only with His grace such bondage is removed by her. He is
the primal cause of all to whom the other lesser persons pray -
like Isha. He overrides their boons at His will. Thus he
destroys evil forces (which usually go to Ishwara for their
boons) which try to prevent or harm Sathvika souls from
following the correct path. The significance of Karunaapoorna
and Varaprada has already been explained earlier in the
introduction.
surava.ndyAdhipa sadvarabharitAsheshhaguNAlam.h |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 2||
The Lord is addressed . He is Suravandya - worshipped by the
gods, Adhipa - the supreme lord, Sadvara - one who gives boons
to the good people, the Mukthas or redeemed souls, or who gives
only good boons which lead to further development of devotion
etc leading to Mukthi (unlike the boons given by Brahma and
Rudra etc which many times lead to their destruction). He is
also the lord (adhipa) of suravandya (Chathurmukha Brahma). He
also has all auspicious qualities (ashesha guna) and each of
them is Alam - Samyak = complete and perfect. Thus, He has such
qualities as beauty, bliss etc each of which is superlative and
unlimited in itself, but such qualities themselves are infinite
in number.
Some additional comments appear to be needed here:
Harikathamruthasara says -
"ondu gunadolananthagunagalu
onduroopadolihavu lokadolonduroopadi dharisi
thadgathapadarthadolahorage , baandaladavoliddu bahupesarinda
karesutha poornajnaanandamaya paripariviharava maadi maadisuva"
Each of the qualities of the Supreme Being contains in itself
other auspicious qualities. Similarly, each form of His also
contains infinite forms. He is compared to space (akaasha) which
contains all the universe in it and which is both inside and
outside all objects in it. He is called by numerous names and
His essence of auspicious qualities like Jnana and Ananda etc
are the same every where.
The concept is that each quality, say Bliss, itself contains
others like Jnana, Shakthi etc in it. This has to be understood
in the context of Vishesha (Bheda Prathinidhi), by which there
is no difference between the forms, limbs and qualities of the
Supreme Being as conveyed by the Veda text - "Neha naanaasthi
kinchana". There is no limitation like His "seeing" with His
eyes, or "hearing" with His ears. It is explained in Bhagavatha
that one black hair on the moola roopa which took the form of
Lord Krishna performed such extraordinary deeds. There should
also be no concept that the incarnated form has only some
attrbutes of the Moola form - as there is no difference between
them. It is the divine will as explained by the concept of
vishesha that we see them as different forms or different
qualities - while He is one with His body being constituted with
infinite auspicious qualities. Its is apparent that Acharya
Madhva has summed up all this with the expression -
Asheshagunaalam here.
NAPSRao
PART 10.4
sakaladhvA.ntavinAshaka paramAna.ndasudhAho |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 3||
He is the destroyer of all darkness in the form of primoridal
ignorance for the good people. He is also the giver of the
unworldly bliss. He is the very embodiment of extraordinary
qualities. (Aho - Aashcharya).
The philosophical propostions that this shloka conveys are very
important. Vishnu is the only redeemer of the jivas from
Samsara, which is due to bondage due to the three Gunas, whose
Abhimani devathaa is Lakshmi. As her power is also delegated by
God, He is the primary agent for the bondage of the Jivas due to
Ajnana. It is in this context that Acharya Madhva has
interpreted the word Janmadyasya, in bhAshya on the second
Brahma suthra as -
"Brahmano lakshanamaaha - "srushti sthithi samhara niyama jnana
ajnana bandha mokshayathah". The unique characteristic of
Brahman who is Jijnasya is that He is responsible for creation,
maintenance (status quo), destruction, control, knowledge,
ignorance, bondage and redemption. Acharya Madhva is also
defining the status of Moksha - which is Paramananda -
exquisite bliss, which is revealed as the essence of the Jiva
(mukthi yogya), when the obscuring veils of Ajnana on his own
swaroopa and on that of the Bimba form of the Lord pertaining to
the Jiva are removed by the Supreme Being.
trijagatpota sadArjitasharaNAshApatidhAto |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 4||
He is the boatman for ferrying the souls of all the three
worlds across the ocean of samsara. (plava iva sathaam
samsaarasaagarottharaka. He is always worshipped by devoteees.
(Sadaarchithacharana). He is the support or protector for
Ashapathi - the consort of Aasha (Saraswathi) - Chathurmukha
Brahma.
This shloka is a beautiful illustration of Acharya Madhva being
called a Veda Rishi. Chandogya Upanishath - 9 Adhyaya and 14 &
15 th Khandas are reproduced :
"Ashaa vaava smaraadbhuyasyaasheddho vai smaro manthraanadheethe
karmaani kuruthe .. "
"Praano vaa aashaayaa bhuyaanyatha vaa araa naabhau samarpithaa
yevamasmin praane sarvam samarpitham .. "
Saraswathi (consort of Brahma) and Bharathi (consort of Mukhya
prana) are called Asha as they are of the nature of bliss. They
give the knowledge by which Aparoskha of the Supreme Being is
obtained. The Upanishath says that they are superior to Garuda,
Shesha and Rudra (who are controlling the intellect and memory).
Mukhya Prana is superior to Asha herself as he is the final
teacher of Thathvas to all the souls. It is his presence that
makes all auspicious and desirable objects like parents,
brothers and sisters, teachers etc have those qualities, as
without him, they do not have any longer those features which
made them dear, lovable, auspicious and so on.. Acharya Madhva
is reminding us, that he is addressing here - one who is
superior to even Prana and Brahma, called sathya in the
Upanishath. The worship of the Supreme Being in the Adhishtana
of Mukhya Prana is prescribed by the Upanishath itself in the
third Adhyaya for securing Moksha. Thus even a simple sounding
Ashapathidhaatho sums up and reflects the entire Chandogya
Upanishath.
triguNAtItavidhAraka parito dehi subhaktim.h |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 5||
He is beyond the three Gunas (Sathva, Rajas and Thamas) which
are controlled by Lakshmi, in her three forms Sree, Bhu and
Durga. He supports the entire world (Parithah - samanthaath, vi
- visheshena , dharaka). He is the giver of the auspicious
devotion which leads to Mukthi - (Mahathmya jnana poorvaka
sudrudha sneharoopa) to one who has understood His auspicious
qualities up to the capacity of the soul and is hence immersed
in love for Him and which is unaffected by other worldly
disturbance and which is far greater than all attachments to
other worldly objects and persons.
sharaNaM kAraNabhAvana bhava me tAta sadA.alam.h |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 6||
Karana and Bhavana are names used to address the Supreme Being.
Karana is the independent primal cause for every thing and every
one. One could recollect - "Thena vina thrunamapi na chalathi"
in this regard. Bhavana has many meanings -
"Svathmaanam yogibhih anusandhaayapathi (bhavayathi)" - One who
is the subject of Aparoksha by Yogis.
"Bhaavayathi sathaam praapayathi sarvam" - One gives every thing
to the good people.
"Bhaavayathi dhyaayathi bhakthaanaam yogakshemam" - One who
looks after the welfare of the good people.
"Bhaavayathi paalayathi jagadithi" - He protects the world.
"Kaaranabhaavana - mahadaadi kaaranaani bhaavayathi -
jagathsarjanasamarthaan karothi" - He makes the secondary
causes like Mahatha Thathva etc get energised and act to produce
the world.
The word Thaatha is used as an affectionate name for his father.
Acharya Madhva is requesting the Supreme Being to be his refuge
(sharanam) and protect him always (sadaa) well (alam).
The propositions of Sarva Karthruthva, the final refuge of all
aspirants are indicated here. The word Thaatha conveys a
personal relationship with God which is but natural for all
great devotees, and also hints at the Rjuthva of Acharya Madhva.
maraNaprANada pAlaka jagadIshAva subhaktim.h |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 7||
He gives both death and life to the souls. He protects all at
all times. He is the Lord of all entities in the world. I
request you to give me auspicious devotion towards you and
protect me from enemies (Ava) - like arishadvarga. The Anishta
from which we should request God to protect us is that which
makes us forget Him or hate Him, which leads us away from the
path to redemption.
taruNAdityasavarNakacharaNAbjAmala kIrte |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 8||
God is addressed. Your feet are red like the glow of the rising
Sun. Your fame is spread all over and is flawless.
>From this shloka onwards Acharya Madhva is describing the limbs
and features of the Lord, whom he is meditating and seeing in
Aparoksha. He has started with the feet of the Lord, as is
traditionally done for such meditation. Reference to the feet
along with their flawless fame - reminds one of the great events
where the feet are associated - such as redeeming Ahalya in
Rama incarnation, bursting the shell of Brahmanda as
Thrivikrama, when Chathurmukha Brahma washed the great feet,
which became the river Ganga flowing in heavens and earth etc.
salilaprotthasarAgakamaNivarNochchanakhAde |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 9||
The adjectives used here can be interpreted in different ways.
"salilaprottha" - born out of water - lotus or Nilothpala (blue
lotus like flower. Saragaka - having the same colour as lotus or
blue flower. Manivarna - being red like the bead or
Padmaragamani. God's nails Nakha - are Uccha - special and
vastly superior, not being made of physical entities, but
consisting in essence of auspicious qualities like Jnana, Ananda
etc. The complete word Salilaprottha . to ucchanakahade" can be
interpreted as referring to the red lotus and red bead whch is
used to indicate the colour of the nails on the Lord's toes.
Alternatively, the first word can be interpreted to refer to the
blue Nilothpala, when the adjective applies to the entire body
of the Lord. The reference is to the tips of the nails indicated
by Ade - Nakhade.
Acharya Madhva is continuing his contemplation of the Lords's
feet - the underside of the feet being red like the rising Sun,
while the tips of the nails on the toes are also red lke the
Padmaragamani, while the feet itself - as the rest of the body -
is blue.
PART 10.5
Contd from previous posting
khajatUNInibhapAvanavarajaN^ghAmitashakte |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 10||
Khe - Akashe jathah khaja or Indradhanush. The receptacle for
the arrows is Thunee.
Acharya Madhva is extolling the part of the legs below the knee
of the Lord. They are like and have the radiance of the quiver
and the Indradhanush. They are themselves pure (pavana) and have
immense strength (Amitha shakthi). Sri Vishvapathi Tirtha gives
another meaning also - Khaja - He makes His appearance in space
for giving boons to His devotees (Khaja). Khaja can also mean
one who is born out of the mind and senses -
Manolakshanendriyaajaathah - Kama or Manmatha. The Lord's lower
limbs are like the quiver for the flower arrows of Manmatha.
After having described His feet, the next higher part of the
Lord's body - the legs below the knee are described as being of
the shape of a divine quiver for flower arrows of the Love God,
Manmatha. They are also radiant like the IndraDhanush in the sky
(Rain bow), they are extremely pure and purify others and they
are immensely strong.
ibhahastaprabhashobhanaparamorustharamAle |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 11||
His thighs are like the trunk of an elephant in shape. The
effulgence and beauty of His thighs has captivated Ramaa, His
consort (she sits on His Lap), like a Bee attracted to a bright
object.
Ibha = elephant, hastha = trunk. Prabhaa - effulgence, shobhana
- beautiful, parama - immensely superior , urustha - located in
the thigh region, Ramaa - His consort, ale - like a bee. Another
meaning is also suggested by Sri Vishvapathi Tirtha - elephants
have the liquid of their being in heat (Madajala) pouring down
their trunks, which attracts bees by its smell. Similarly,
Ramaa is also attracted by His thighs and sits there.
"Karikaraasakthamadagandhalubdhabhringasya karikaropamorusthitha
ramaayaashcha upamaanaupameyabhavo yukthah"
asanotphullasupushhpakasamavarNAvaraNA.nte |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 12||
Acharya Madhva next describes the wiast/hip portion of the
Supreme Being. This is covered by a golden coloured cloth
(Aavaranaanthe). The colour of the dress is similar to that of
the beautiful golden yellow colours of the perfect blooming
flowers of Asana. This flower is called variously Asana,
Bandooka or Honne in Kannada. As appropriate, only the cloth
covering this part is described. (uthphulla - blooming, ante -
waist portion).
shatamododbhavasu.ndara varapadmotthitanAbhe |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 13||
He describes the navel of the Lord. His Navel has the divine
Lotus coming out of it, which is beautiful and exquisite. This
lotus is the origin of Chathurmukha Brahma, who creates the
world and is called Shathamoda - he has a hundred types of bliss
or great bliss as compared to other Mukthas - Shatha being
interpreted as a very large number. C. Brahma has the names of
Shathamoda, Rajah, Murthy, Sathyakah and Hamsavaahanah.
This manner of creation of the entire world has also the
allegorical significance - to show that it does not need the
cooperation of any one else, but is entirely under the control
of the Supreme Being. The well known creator amongst the
Thrimurthies - Brahma himself is created by the Supreme Lord, in
this manner, leaving no manner of doubt about the primal cause
of the Creation.
jagadAgUhakapallavasamakuxe sharaNAde |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 14||
Acharya Madhva describes the stomach portion of the Lord. It
covers the entire Universe in universal dissolution. (The
Universe which is visible after creation is placed in his
stomach and becomes invisible in Pralaya.- Jagadaagoohaka). But
the stomach (instead of being a huge and monstrous object), is
like a tender leaf. He is the divine origin and protects all
those who are themselves called the refuges or supports of the
world - like Chathurmukha Brahma, Shesha etc.
jagadaMbAmalasu.ndaragR^ihavaxovara yogin.h |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 15||
His chest is next described. It is the perfectly beautiful and
blemishless residence of Ramaa, the Universal mother. He is the
greatest Yogi - Yogeswara.
Ramaa, the Abhimani devatha of Prakruthi, which is the
transformatory cause (like mud for a pot) in the creation of the
Universe resides in his breast. This is also an indication that
He is not a product of the causes which produce the Universe,
like the Thirgunas etc, but that He is beyond them She is given
an honoured place right near the heart of the Supreme Being also
showing their close relationship and her dependence on Him even
for staying.
ditijA.ntaprada chakradaragadAyugvarabAho |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 16||
His arms are described. These exquisite limbs (four in number)
hold in them the Chakra (the great Sudarshana, for which there
is no opponent), dara or the conch (Panchajanya), Gadaa
(Kaumodaki) and destroy all daithyas (dithijaanthaprada).
The limbs are a symbol of the quality of protection of the good
people and destruction of the wicked by the Supreme Being. The
Geetha shloka - "Yadaa yadaa hi dharmasya glaanirbhavathi
bharatha, abhyutthanam adharmsya thadaathmaanam srujaamyaham"
can be remembered.
paramaGYAnamahAnidhivadana shrIramaNe.ndo |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 17||
Acharya Madhva next extols the face of the Lord. His face is
the infinite abode of the greatest Jnana (leading to the great
bliss of Mukthi unalloyed with sorrow) -
Paramajnanamahanidhivadana. He is also the Indu or moon which
gives great pleasure to Shree Devi - Shree ramana Indu. An
alternative meaning given by Sri Vishvapathi Tirtha is that He
is the Lord of Shree - Shriramana and his face is like the full
moon.
The most significant point conveyed here is that the face of Sri
Hari is the source of all auspicious Jnana - the Vedas and
Smrithis leading to redemption - in his forms as Hayagriva -
udgeeryanthe anisham yathah. At the beginning of each Kalpa,
Chathurmukha Brahma is reimparted all the knowledge of the
eternal Vedas which are always present in the mind of the Lord.
As Vedavyasa, He has classified the Vedas and created the
Suthras, Ithihasa and Puranas containing all Jnana.
nikhilAghaughavinAshana parasaukhyapradadR^ishhTe |
karuNApUrNavarapradacharitaM GYApaya me te || 18||
His kind glance at the devotee is next described. It is capable
of destroying in one time the infinite binding karmas -
specially the sins and give the matchless bliss of Mukthi. This
shloka also contains some important tenets from the Shashthras
and needs further elaboration.
As the Jiva is Anadi or without beginning, he carries a burden
of Karma always which increases with time continuously. In
Krishnamrutha Maharnava, Acharya Madhva quotes this text :
"Jivamshchathurdashaadoordhwam purusho nimishena thu
sthreevaapyanoonadashakam deham maanushamaarjathe"
"Chathurdashordhwajeevee thu samsarashchaadivarjithah
avidithvaa param devam mokshashaa kaa mahaamune"
Any one who has crossed the age of 14 years will be accumalating
Karma which is adequate for tens of lives, every instant of
their life. The Samsara is beginningless. Therefore how can one
aspire for Moksha without understanding God. There are some
schools of thought which hold that Karma has to be reduced only
by suffering it. This applies both to Punya and Paapa. But, with
the rate of accumalation being far larger than its reduction due
to suffering its fruits, there is just no way for the ever
increasing burden to be ever reduced, let alone destroyed
totally, which is essential for attaining Moksha. It is also not
correct as the Mimasakas and others hold that the jada Karma can
cause action and give results by itself. Only a Chethana can do
so. Thus, only the Supreme Being can by His grace, rid us of its
malefic effects. This is the reason why we say in Pooja every
day - "Aayathabhyaam vishaalaabhyaam sheethalaabhyaam
kripanidhe, karunaarasapoornabhyaam lochanaabhyaam vilokaya" -
Pls look at me with your eyes which are big, deep, cool and
dripping with kindness towards me (your devotee). The kind
glance of the Lord siginifies alleviation from suffering,
destruction of sins and removal of the veil of ignorance which
causes us to go after the trivialities of life, instead of using
it for the attainment of His grace. The kind glance and the
gentle smile at the puny effrorts of His devotees are God's ways
of rewarding him with His greatest gifts. It is but proper that
Acharya Madhva has, in this sthothra, where he has described the
limbs of the Lord ends up in that part which is seen last by the
devotee and which confers on him the desired goal of
redemption.
paramAna.ndasutIrthamunirAjo harigAthAm.h |
kR^itavAnnityasupUrNakaparamAna.ndapadaishhi.h || 19||
Acharya Madhva is signing his name to this sthothra by
indicating the name given by his Guru - Ananda Tirtha. The two
parts of the name Ananda and Tirtha are qualified as
Paramaananda and Suthirtha. There by, Acharya is conveying that
he is not just saying that it is his composition, but intends to
say much more. It is clear that he is not in the habit of
calling himself by superlatives on account of his own sense of
importance - as he has used names such as Ananda Tirtha (3 rd,
7th , 11th , 12th ), Poorna Prajna ( 3rd ), Sukha Tirtha
(4th, 6th ) , Ananda Suthirtha ( 5th ), Nandi Tirtha ( 8th )
, Urusukhatirtha (9th ). The adjectives Parama, Uru etc are
used to indicate that Ananda in his name is to be interpreted in
a yaugika manner - as the superior bliss that is part of the
swaroopa of a Mukthi yogya Jiva. The word Tirtha means Shasthras
that give such a gift as its result. "Parama uthkrushtah
aanandah swaroopanandah yasmaath thadrusham suthirtham
sacchaasthram yasya thaadrushah" - In Sri Vishvapathi Tirtha's
words. He is also a Muniraja - king of ascetics. He has
composed this Harigatha - or prayer to Sri Hari as a gatha or
Katha or poem. Sri Vishvapathi Tirtha gives another meaning also
- Paramaananda is the Supreme Being in the incarnation of
Badarayana, being of the essence of infinite bliss. Shobanam
tirtham guruh yasya sah chaasau - one who has Badarayana as His
Guru. The objective of this composition is stated in the second
line - Nithya supoornaka paramaananda pada - eternal, complete,
matchless blissful state which is Mukthi. If one interprets this
line as applicable to a great devotee like Acharya Madhva, it
could also be interpreted to mean as adjectives of the Supreme
being Himself - Nithya, Supoorna, Paramaanada, whose Pada or
feet are being sought as the reward of this prayer. One
recollects the Bhagavatha texts which convey that an Yekantha
Bhaktha does not even seek Mukthi, but would look for complete
Padaseva of the Lord as his eternal goal.
There are many other thoughts that could be developed arising
out of the words of Acharya Madhva, but enough for the present
context.
NAPSRao