Desikasthothramala-Raghuveeragadhyam

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1.Jaya

jaya mahaaveera

 

Hail

thee the most valiant,

 

The

mangalasasanam continues in the gadhya in the first two passages. Desika calls

Rama mahaveera from which this work came to be known as

Mahaveeravaibhavam. The word veera is derived as veerayathi ith

veeraH. One who oversteps or overpowers. The vanquishing hero. The verb eer

means to go and with the proposition vi it takes the meaning of advancing

to conquer.

 

2.mahaaDheera

Dhoureya

 

Who

is stringwilled and the leader of all.

 

Dhee

means intellect and Dheera is the one who is not only wise himself but also

gives his wisdom to others. Dhiyam raathi ithi DheeraH, raathi meaning

to give or to distribute.

 

Dhuri

bhavaH DhoureyaH. Dhura means the

foremost and Dhoreya is the one who is in the lead.

 

Balakandam

 

Now

Desika starts the RamakaTha.We can see and enjoy the poetic fervour of the

gadhya passages abounding in sabdhalankara such as anuprasa

 

3.dhevaasura

samara samaya samudhitha nikhilanirjara

nirDhaaritha niravaDhika maahaathmaya

 

Oh Lord, whose greatness as the valiant leader was

established and acknowledged by all the devas during the battle between devas

and asuras.

 

maahathmaya

–You who has the glory

 

niravaDhika- which is unlimited, avaDhi means limit and

nir +avaDhi is limitless.

 

nirDhaaritha- which is ascertained as such

 

nikhila

nirjara- by all the devas

 

samudhitha – who assembled

 

samaya- at the time of

 

dhevaasura

samara- the battle between the

devas and asuras.

 

When

there was mighty battle between the devas and asuras the devas , not able to

vanquish the asuras prayed to the Lord Naryana who helped them to win the war.

Then the devas in one voice accepted Him as their master with incomparable

prowess. This is a elaboration on the prevous epithets, mahaaveera and

Dhoureya.

 

Ramavathaara

 

4.

dhasavadhana dhamitha dhaivatha parishadh abhyarThitha dhaasaraThi bhaava

 

O

Lord, you took the form of the son of Dasaratha, being entreated by the host of

devas who were oppressed by Ravana.

 

This

covers the incidents which were instrumental for the avathara of the Lord as

Rama. The devas, being tormented by Ravana going to Brahma and all of them

praying to the Lord Naryana who promised to incarnate on earth as the son of

Dasaratha.

 

dhaaSaraThi

bhaava- who took the form of the

son of Dasaratha.

 

abhyarThitha- being entreated by

 

dhaivathaparishadh- the host of devas

 

dhamitha- who were overpowered by , dhma means control.

 

dhasaanana- the ten-headed Ravana.

 

5.dhinakara

kula kamala dhivakara

 

You

are the Sun that makes the lotus of the clan of the Sun.

 

dhinakara

and dhivakara means the same , the one who makes the day, that is, the Sun. The

Sun makes the lotuses bloom but here Desika fancies the clan of Surya itself

as a lotus which is blossomed by having

Rama as its descendent. Hence Rama is addressed as the Sun who makes the lotus,

that is suryakula, bloosom. It means that the fame of the clan of the Sun

spread because of Rama like the fragrance and the beauty of the lotus spreading

everywhere when it is opened by the Sun.

 

6.

dhishadhaDhipathi raNa sahacharana chathura dhaSaraTha charama rNa vimochana

 

You

who released Dasaratha, who was adept in helping Indra in battles against

asuras, from the third debt .

 

Dasratha

was known to have helped Indra in his battles against asuras. One such was the

war against Sambarasura, in which Kaikeyi, acting as his charioteer, helped him by taking away from the

battlefield when he was fatigued as the reward for which she was given two

boons wich she asked when Dasratha planned to crown Rama.

Every

mortal has to discharge three debts, rNa , namely , devarNa , debt towards the

devas, rshirNa, debt towards rshis and pithrrNa, debt towards forefathers. The

first is cleared by performing yaga, yajna etc.The second is discharged by

learning vedas. The third has to be discharged by getting a son to continue the

clan so that the rites towards the pitrs

will go on in the next generation. As Dasarata was without progeny he

could not discharge the debt of pitrs. That is why Desika addresses Rama as dhaSaraTha charmarNa vimochana,

as the pitrrNa is the last one remainng for Dasaratha.

 

7.Kosalasuthaa

kumaarabhaava kanchukitha kaaraNaakaara

 

 

You

who had concealed your real identity as the cause of the universe and manifested as the child of Kousalya.

 

..kaaraNaakaara-

Oh Lord who is the cause of the universe,

 

Kanchukitha- who was concealed as by a cloak , kanchuka

meaning a cloak. The Lord of the universe was concealing Himself as by a cloak

 

Kumaarabhaava- in the form of a child

 

Kosalasuthaa- of the daughter of the king of kosala, Kousalya.

 

The

Lord is the supreme realityty, the Brahman of the upanishads, from whom

everything originates, by whom everything is sustained and into whom everything

merges back, yatho vaa imaani bhoothaani jaayanthe, yena jaathaani jeevanthi, yasmin abhisamviSanthi, and

He has disguised Himself as the child of Kousalya in His incarnation as

Rama.

 

Desika

as a devotee composer, enjoys the leela of the Lord who appears in different

forms in His incarnations. The sloka of Desika in Yadhvabhyudhaya where the

devas appealing to the Lord to descend to earth, which the word avthaara

literally means, in order to lessen the

burden of Bhoodevi, exactly fits in here

in the context of Ramavathara.

 

The

devas praise the Lord thus:

 

namyasya

namathaH kshudhraan varadhasya varaarThinaH

puthraiH

pithrumathaH kreedaa kaTham the kena

varnyathe.(yadh.1.48)

 

natavat

bhoomikabhedhaiH naaTha dheevyan prThakviDhaiH (yadh.1.49)

 

It

means,

 

"How

can anyone describe your leela by which you bow down to devas who are inferior

while you yourself is the one to be worshipped.Being the one who can give all

boons you ask others for boons. You revere your own children as your fathers. Like

an actor you play act donning different costumes thus."

 

Though

this applies to all avatharas it is more suitable to Ramavathara. Krishna never

concealed His divinity fully like Rama., who prays to the devas on several

occasions and bows down to sages and others, behaved as a son to Dasaratha and in

short acted like a human being throughout and unlike Krishnavathara His divinity

was known to very few.

 

 

 

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