INTRODUCTION

This stotram celebrates the auspicious quality (Kalyana Guna) of Mercy (Dayaa) of the Lord of Thiruvenkatam. Of All the Kalyana Gunaas of Venkataadhri Sekhara Vibhu, His Dayaa is the most important one for the uplift of the Chetanaas. The concept of Prapatthi and Thiruvenkatamudayaan’s Dayaa to realize the fruits of that Prapatthi is the subject of Sri Venkatanatha Kavi in this “Satakam”.

The structure of this stotram containing 108 slokas (one for each of the Divya Desa Archaa Murthys of Sriman Narayana perhaps) is extraordinarily impressive even by Swami Desikan’s standards of poetic excellence. Our Acharya has used ten plus different meters to compose the ten groups of slokas, each of which houses “ ten” slokas. The numbers of slokas and their poetic meters are as follows:

1. Slokaas 1-10: Anushtup meter
2. Slokaas 11-20: Aryaa meter
3. Slokaas 21-30: Oupacchandhasikam
4. Slokaas 31-40: Maalini
5. Slokaas 41-50: Mandhaakraanthaa
6. Slokaas 51-60: Nathkutakam
7. Slokaas 61-70: SikariNi
8. Slokaas 71-80: HariNi
9. Slokaas 81-90: Pruthvee
10. Slokaas 91-104: Vasantha Tilakaa
11. Slokaas 105& 106: Maalini again
12. Slokaas 107& 108: Sardhoola Vikriditham

In the tradition of Sri Sriraama DesikAcchAr Swamy, each set of the ten slokas have the essence of the ten Patthus of Thiruvaimozhi of Nammazhwaar.

According to this tradition, every set of ten reveals a particular meaning, which together covers the Ananatha KalyaaNa GuNams of the Lord of Thiruvenkatam. The ten meanings associated with the ten sets of ten slokas have been summarized by Srirama Desikaacchaar Swamy this way:

1. The Lord of Thiruvenkatam is the one, who can give Mokshaanugraham.
2. He comprehends everything and He is capable of carrying out whatever He chooses to do.
3. He destroys the enemies of those, who surrender unto Him and thereby seek His help.
4. He is the means for attaining ALL worthwhile goals.
5. He is the fruit of ALL worthwhile endeavours.
6. He can be reached easily thru the glorious means of Prapatthi.
7. He will rush to the help of the lowest and the highest with same speed, when they appeal to Him sincerely for help.
8. He is the Supreme Principle standing on top of Thiruvenkatam.
9. He is the one, who took the incarnations of Rama and Krishna.
10. He is the one, who can offer the happiness associated with Moksha right here on this earth.

Swami Desikan goes on to describe in detail the Anantha Kalyana Gunaas of Sriman Narayana in his Taatparya RatnaavaLi and Dramidopanishad Saaram. He is thus paying his tribute to Nammazhwaar’s Thiruvaimozhi in all of these three works. We will illustrate the ten essential meanings of Daya Satakam in the subsequent sections as revealed by Srirama Desikaacchaar Swamy in the tradition of his Achaarya, Navaneetham Krishnamaacchaar Swamy of Oppiliappan Koil.

13 Mar 2012

Slokam 74

hitamiti jagad.h dhR^iShTayaa kluptair.h aklupta phalaantaraiH
amati vihitair.h anyair.h dharmaayitaischa yadR^ichchhayaa.
pariNata bahuchchhadmaa padmaa sahaaya daye svayaM
pradishasi nijaabhipretaM naH prashaamyad.h apatrapaa..74

(MEANING):

Oh Dayaa DEvi of PadhmA SahAyan at ThiruvEnkatam! The ChEthanams accumulate PuNyams in many ways through their karmAs: (1) Buddhi Poorvam / PrAsankikam,(2) abuddhi poorvam / Aanushankikam and (3) Yaadhrucchikam. In the Buddhi Poorva janithaPuNyam, a ChEthanam digs a PushkaraNi, gives away the acquired wealth to BhagavAn and His BhAgavathAs driven either by its own instincts or guided by others (PrAsankikam); in abuddhi poorva punYam case, they perform good deeds without deliberate knowledge about them. Aanushankikam is the case, where the fruits of a kaimkaryam like fan kaimkaryam to a BhAgavathan reaches another Bhaagavathan sitting next to the one for whom the kaimkaryam was intended. The performer of this kaimkaryam is not aware of this auxiliary effect. The third category of PuNyam is accumulated when unintended acts happen at special, auspicious times. For instance, when a fisherman jumps into water in pursuit of his trade at a time without his awareness that it is a Mahaa puNya Kaalam like ardhOdhayam. He had no intention of accumulating puNyam but that puNyam comes his way in an accidental manner. Oh Dayaa Devi! all the above puNyams will not be grand puNyams; they yield some insignificant phalans. Sambhandham with Your glances however leads to grander and everlasting phalans. Those phalans blessed by You make the beneficiaries perform the upAyams like Prapatthi and grants them whatever they seek all the way up to Moksham and ParipoorNa BrahmAnandham. After granting these phalans, your sorrow of not having come to their rescue earlier vanishes.
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